Chapter 26 - Twenty-Four: The Pest Problem

Chapter 26: Chapter Twenty-Four: The Pest Problem

Lin Yue stood beneath the darkening sky of the Golden Space.

The crack above her widened.

Black mist leaked through it.

It twisted like smoke.

The Moon Wheat bent away from it.

The trees trembled.

Even the stream seemed to flow more slowly.

Lumi stood beside Lin Yue, tiny body glowing gold.

Shen Rui drew his sword.

Lin Yue raised one hand.

"Don’t."

He looked at her.

"Don’t?"

"We don’t know what it is."

"It is breaking into your magical space."

"Yes."

"That seems sufficient."

Lin Yue considered this.

"Fair."

She looked around.

"What do we have?"

Shen Rui glanced at her.

"Excuse me?"

"Resources."

"You’re making an inventory?"

"Of course."

He stared at her.

There was a giant black crack in the sky.

The magical world was shaking.

And Lin Yue was making a farming inventory.

He smiled despite himself.

"Fine."

The Emergency Inventory

Lin Yue began listing everything.

Water.

Food.

Seeds.

Tools.

Building materials.

Medicines.

Animals.

Fertilizer.

Firewood.

Stone.

Metal.

Stored grain.

She paused.

"Anything else?"

Shen Rui thought.

"Lumi."

Lumi proudly raised her head.

Lin Yue smiled.

"She’s not a resource."

Lumi nodded approvingly.

Shen Rui looked at the Guardian.

"Good. She agrees."

Lumi immediately bit his sleeve.

"Apparently not."

The First Intruder

Something dropped from the crack.

It hit the ground.

Plop.

Lin Yue blinked.

A black blob sat in the middle of the field.

It was approximately the size of a melon.

It had six tiny legs.

Two glowing red eyes.

And a mouth.

The mouth opened.

It sneezed.

A puff of black smoke appeared.

Lin Yue stared.

The creature stared back.

Shen Rui raised his sword.

Lin Yue grabbed his wrist.

"Wait."

"It looks dangerous."

"It looks..."

She studied it.

"...ridiculous."

The creature sneezed again.

Lumi walked toward it.

The blob squeaked.

Lumi sniffed it.

Then sneezed.

The blob sneezed.

Lumi sneezed again.

The blob sneezed again.

Within seconds—

the entire field was filled with sneezing.

Lin Yue covered her face.

Shen Rui started laughing.

"This is your pest problem?"

Lin Yue coughed.

"I haven’t classified it yet."

The Classification

Lin Yue approached carefully.

The Golden Space produced a message.

[UNKNOWN ORGANISM.]

[ORIGIN: EXTERNAL.]

[THREAT LEVEL: LOW.]

Lin Yue blinked.

"Low?"

The creature sneezed.

A nearby Moon Wheat stalk turned black.

Lin Yue’s expression changed.

"Perhaps not that low."

Another message appeared.

[PROPERTY: ECOLOGICAL CONSUMER.]

"What does that mean?"

[IT CONSUMES BIOLOGICAL ENERGY.]

Lin Yue looked at the blackened plant.

"So it’s eating the crops."

The blob burped.

Lin Yue stared.

"You ate my Moon Wheat."

The creature smiled.

She pointed at it.

"That’s theft."

The First Pest

Lin Yue immediately grabbed her notebook.

Shen Rui laughed.

"You’re taking notes again."

"Of course."

She began observing.

Movement.

Feeding behavior.

Response to light.

Response to water.

Response to soil.

Response to plants.

Response to Lumi.

Response to sound.

The creature followed her.

Everywhere.

Lin Yue stopped.

It stopped.

She moved.

It moved.

She walked backward.

It walked backward.

She turned.

It turned.

Shen Rui watched.

"It likes you."

Lin Yue frowned.

"That’s inconvenient."

"Why?"

"Because I don’t know what it is."

The creature climbed onto her boot.

She looked down.

"And apparently it doesn’t understand personal boundaries."

The Second Intruder

Another black blob fell.

Then another.

Then five.

Then twenty.

Lin Yue’s eyes widened.

"That’s not good."

Shen Rui looked up.

The crack continued widening.

More creatures appeared.

Some were tiny.

Some were larger.

One had wings.

Another had horns.

One looked like a black chicken.

It landed beside General.

General stared.

The creature stared back.

General crowed.

The creature crowed.

General became furious.

Lin Yue sighed.

"Oh no."

The two roosters began chasing each other around the garden.

The Family Emergency

Lin Yue returned to the farm.

Her stepmother, Madam Zhao, was waiting.

"What happened?"

Lin Yue pointed toward the Golden Space.

"Pests."

Madam Zhao frowned.

"What kind?"

Lin Yue hesitated.

"Magical."

Madam Zhao nodded.

"Then ask Lumi."

Lin Yue blinked.

"That’s it?"

Madam Zhao shrugged.

"She’s the Guardian."

Lin Yue looked toward Lumi.

Lumi was currently chasing the black chicken.

"I’m beginning to question her qualifications."

Madam Zhao smiled.

"You trained for years to understand wilderness survival."

"Yes."

"You studied ecology."

"Yes."

"You studied agriculture."

"Yes."

"And now?"

Lin Yue sighed.

"Now I’m dealing with a magical chicken."

Madam Zhao patted her shoulder.

"Every farmer has difficult days."

The Farmer’s Solution

Lin Yue returned to the Golden Space.

The black creatures were spreading.

But they weren’t attacking people.

They were eating plants.

That gave her an idea.

"They’re pests."

Shen Rui nodded.

"So?"

"Every ecosystem has predators."

She looked at Lumi.

"Can you find something that eats them?"

Lumi tilted her head.

Lin Yue pointed toward the forest.

Lumi ran.

Five minutes later, she returned with—

three frogs.

Lin Yue stared.

"That’s your solution?"

Lumi nodded proudly.

The frogs hopped toward the nearest black blob.

The blob froze.

The frog opened its mouth.

CHOMP.

The blob disappeared.

Lin Yue’s eyes widened.

Shen Rui laughed.

"Your magical pest has a natural predator."

Lin Yue smiled.

"Of course."

The Balance

The frogs began eating the black creatures.

But Lin Yue noticed something.

There weren’t enough frogs.

She needed more.

Instead of magically creating them, she improved their habitat.

She built small ponds.

Added shallow edges.

Planted wetland vegetation.

Created insect-rich areas.

Within days, frog numbers increased.

The black pests declined.

Lin Yue smiled.

"Integrated pest management."

Shen Rui nodded.

"Meaning?"

"Don’t fight every pest directly."

She pointed toward the frogs.

"Build an ecosystem that keeps them under control."

He smiled.

"You’ve turned a magical invasion into an agriculture lesson."

"That’s because agriculture is everywhere."

The Crack Remains

The pests were under control.

But the crack remained.

Lin Yue studied it.

The Golden Space continued warning:

[BREACH ACTIVE.]

She tried closing it.

Nothing.

She tried reinforcing the boundary.

Nothing.

She tried asking the system.

Nothing.

Finally, she looked at Lumi.

The Guardian approached the crack.

Her golden mark glowed.

The darkness retreated slightly.

Then surged forward.

Lumi stumbled backward.

Lin Yue caught her.

"Enough."

Lumi shook her head.

She wanted to try again.

"No."

Lumi looked at her.

"You’re not fighting it."

Lumi blinked.

"You’re protecting the space."

Lumi nodded.

"Then we do this differently."

The Golden Boundary

Lin Yue began planting.

Not crops.

Trees.

Around the perimeter of the Golden Space.

Then shrubs.

Then grasses.

Then moss.

Then flowers.

She established layers.

A biological boundary.

The roots connected.

The fungi connected them.

The water system connected them.

The Guardian network activated.

The entire perimeter began glowing.

The crack weakened.

Shen Rui stared.

"You’re building a living wall."

"Not a wall."

"A forest?"

"More like a defensive ecosystem."

He smiled.

"You can’t help yourself."

"No."

The Forest Grows

Weeks passed.

The boundary became a young forest.

The trees grew naturally.

Birds arrived.

Insects followed.

Small animals appeared.

The soil became richer.

The water cycle stabilized.

The Golden Space expanded.

[ECOSYSTEM MATURITY: 12%.]

[BOUNDARY STABILITY: INCREASING.]

[BREACH PRESSURE: DECREASING.]

Lin Yue smiled.

The solution wasn’t greater magical power.

It was better ecology.

She looked at Lumi.

"You were right."

Lumi smiled.

A New Discovery

One morning, Lin Yue found something unusual.

A tree near the boundary had black bark.

She immediately approached.

The leaves were golden.

The roots were silver.

It had grown directly beside the breach.

She touched the trunk.

A memory entered her mind.

She saw a vast forest.

Thousands of years ago.

Then the forest burned.

A red machine entered.

The machine absorbed energy from the roots.

The forest died.

Lin Yue withdrew her hand.

"That machine..."

She knew it.

"The Red Root."

Shen Rui looked at her.

"You’ve seen it before?"

"Not personally."

She looked toward the tree.

"But the Guardians remember it."

The Red Root’s Purpose

Huang Ming appeared.

He looked at the tree.

"You’ve found the Boundary Tree."

Lin Yue frowned.

"What is it?"

"It grows where the Root has been damaged."

"Can it heal the network?"

"Yes."

"Then why hasn’t anyone used it?"

Huang Ming looked at Lumi.

"Because nobody has awakened a Worldseed Guardian in centuries."

Lin Yue looked at the tree.

"So Lumi’s awakening changed everything."

"Yes."

"Then the Red Root knows."

"Yes."

"And they’ll come."

Huang Ming nodded.

"They already have."

The First Sabotage

Back in the real world, Lin Yue noticed something wrong.

The western irrigation channel had stopped flowing.

She immediately went to inspect it.

A blockage had been placed inside.

Not natural.

Someone had deliberately damaged the channel.

She examined the obstruction.

Metal.

Ancient metal.

Red markings.

Shen Rui’s expression hardened.

"They’re here."

Lin Yue nodded.

"But they’re not attacking."

"No."

"They’re testing us."

She looked at the water.

"Or studying us."

The Farm Responds

Lin Yue didn’t call soldiers.

Instead, she called engineers.

Farmers.

Water managers.

And the village council.

They repaired the channel.

Then built a second channel.

Then a third.

The original became the primary.

The second became backup.

The third served the southern fields.

Lin Yue updated the maps.

"If someone blocks one channel, we still have two."

A farmer smiled.

"Should we build four?"

Lin Yue smiled.

"Yes."

The farmer sighed.

"I knew you were going to say that."

Redundancy

The same principle spread.

One grain store became three.

One printing press became two.

One clinic became four smaller medical stations.

One bridge became several crossings.

One road became multiple routes.

One seed bank became seven.

The valley became harder to disrupt.

Not because it became richer.

Because it became resilient.

Lin Yue wrote in her journal:

A strong system survives success.

A resilient system survives failure.

Shen Rui read it.

"You really do write everything down."

"Yes."

"What if nobody reads it?"

"Then I’ll make sure they do."

The Unexpected Romance

That evening, Shen Rui brought Lin Yue tea.

She looked at the cup.

"You remembered."

"You always forget to drink."

"I don’t."

"You do."

"I remember eventually."

"After getting a headache."

She smiled.

"You’re becoming annoying."

"I’ve been annoying for years."

"That is true."

He sat beside her.

For a moment, they watched the sunset.

Then he quietly said:

"You don’t have to prove you’re capable every day."

Lin Yue looked at him.

"I know."

"Do you?"

She smiled.

"I’m trying."

He nodded.

"That’s enough."

She leaned her head against his shoulder.

Neither spoke.

Lumi peeked around a tree.

She saw them.

Her golden eyes brightened.

A tiny flower appeared between their feet.

Lin Yue looked down.

"Lumi."

The Guardian pretended not to hear.

Shen Rui laughed.

"She approves."

Lin Yue’s cheeks warmed.

"She’s a meddler."

Lumi wagged her tail.

The Hidden Message

That night, the Golden Space produced another warning.

[BOUNDARY STABLE.]

[BREACH CONTAINED.]

Lin Yue relaxed.

Then another message appeared.

[EXTERNAL ROOT ACCESS DETECTED.]

She frowned.

"External?"

A map appeared.

A thin red line stretched from the western mountains.

It passed beneath the valley.

Then beneath the farm.

Then stopped at—

the old well.

Lin Yue’s heart sank.

"They’re already underneath us."

Shen Rui stood.

"How deep?"

Lin Yue looked at the map.

"Deep."

"How deep?"

She zoomed in.

Her face became pale.

"Far deeper than the ancient city."

Beneath the Well

Lumi ran toward the old well.

Lin Yue followed.

The stone beneath them began glowing red.

A low mechanical sound echoed underground.

Clank.

Clank.

Clank.

Something was moving.

Shen Rui drew his sword.

Lin Yue grabbed her shovel.

He stared at it.

"You’re bringing a shovel?"

She looked at him.

"It’s my farm."

"That’s your answer?"

"Yes."

The well shook.

Dust fell from the stones.

Then—

a section of the floor opened.

A staircase descended into darkness.

Unlike the ancient Guardian chamber—

this staircase was newly constructed.

Metal.

Red markings.

Machine components.

Lin Yue stared down.

"They’ve built a tunnel."

Shen Rui looked at her.

"Into the farm?"

"No."

She shook her head.

"Into the Golden Space."

The Choice

A message appeared.

[BREACH POINT IDENTIFIED.]

[OPTIONS AVAILABLE.]

SEAL DESTROY INVESTIGATE

Lin Yue stared at the choices.

Destroying the tunnel would be easy.

Sealing it would be safer.

But investigation—

could reveal who had built it.

She looked at Shen Rui.

"What would you choose?"

"Seal it."

She nodded.

"That is sensible."

"You’re going to investigate."

"Yes."

"I knew it."

She smiled.

"But I won’t go alone."

He sighed.

"I knew that too."

Lumi stepped forward.

The tiny Guardian’s golden mark glowed.

She looked into the darkness.

Then took the first step downward.

Lin Yue followed.

Shen Rui followed her.

Behind them, the farm remained peaceful.

Above them, the moon shone over the fields.

And beneath them—

something ancient was waiting.

Not a monster.

Not an army.

A machine.

One that had been secretly growing roots beneath Lin Yue’s farm.

And when Lin Yue reached the bottom of the staircase, she saw the impossible.

A vast underground chamber.

Hundreds of red cables disappeared into the earth.

Ancient machines covered the walls.

At the center stood a massive metal tree.

Its roots penetrated the ground.

Its branches reached the ceiling.

And hanging from one branch—

was a single golden seed.

Lumi stopped.

Her entire body began glowing.

The machine activated.

A voice echoed through the chamber.

"WORLDSEED GUARDIAN IDENTIFIED."

Lin Yue stepped forward.

"Who are you?"

The machine answered:

"I am the original caretaker."

The chamber trembled.

"And you have entered my farm."

Lin Yue frowned.

"Your farm?"

The machine’s red lights brightened.

"Correction."

A pause.

"Your farm was built upon mine."

Lin Yue stared at the enormous machine.

Then at Lumi.

Then at the golden seed.

For the first time, she wondered whether the Golden Space had truly been empty when she inherited it.

Or whether—

something had been sleeping there all along.