Chapter 643: Wetland

The large excavators had an astonishing weight, and all they carried out were heavy work. With their engines emphasizing on twisting force and horsepower being ignored, it was just natural that the speed was not too fast. Although a unique ‘sand chain’ was installed, the maximum speed they could travel on the desert was only 30 kilometers per hour.

It took four to five hours to complete the 150-kilometer journey. Although the driving cabin was air-conditioned, it was inevitable for the drivers to be drenched with sweats and felt dizzy. By the time the excavator drivers arrived at the experimental oasis, the drivers were already not in a good mood. Even though there was the temptation of a high salary, they only brushed it off disorderly by responding, “Don’t worry, boss. Of course, we’ll work hard since we’re paid anyway…”

“I’ve been driving the excavator for more than ten years, and I have done all kinds of projects. There has never been any problem before…”

“It’s really hot here, but it’s alright since the salary you give is good enough. It’s just right for me to do my job…”

Then, they ran into the cool oasis by beating each other to it.

The hot sunlight and the arid environment in the desert were the natural enemies of all plants, but when the water supply was sufficient, the situation would reverse strangely.

In the daytime, the intense and prolonged harsh light would cause the photosynthesis of the plant to proceed rapidly. The growth rate was so fast that it was unimaginable for ordinary people. At night, the harsh climate would subject the surface part of the plant to severe hardening. The plants that could survive would naturally have a strong vitality.

At this time, the harvest obtained by the six LS Group’s expedition groups that had ventured to the major agricultural states of the federal territories to collect fine seeds had been screened and planted on the experimental oasis. Several fruits and vegetables of short growing span had already produced a fragmentary satisfying harvest. Although the quantity was not significant, the amount harvested every day was still enough for the consumption of 40 to 50 people.

There were only slightly over 30 people of the scientific team working on soil, and water conservation, the breeding experts, farmers, cooks, construction workers, and resident doctors total up together. It would still be enough to provide ample supply for ten excavator drivers.

They used the wheat-fragrant bread sandwiched fried-brown patty with a topping of lettuce that was cleaned with clear river water and a bottle of cold and refreshing stout to get rid of their exhaustion. The lunch was simple but delicious. When the reliable excavator drivers had satisfactorily filled their stomachs, their fatigue vanished and was replaced with high spirits instead.

Only then did this group of simple-minded guys with well-developed limbs finally noticed that the oasis did not seem to have anything within their sight that needed to be excavated.

A brawny man who was sturdiest among all drivers squatted by the ditch and splashed away the sweat on his big face and the grease on the corner of his mouth with clear water. After wiping his face using his sleeve and putting on the helmet, he told the short and fat employer who was squatting beside him, “Boss, it’s 1.30pm now, so we can start our work already. In the next four hours, we’ll do whatever you tell us, but I don’t think there’s any work for us to do here anyway.”

“John, I’m not the boss here. Wait for a while, I’ll ask the real boss what you guys should do.” Charlie, who had a picnic together with the crude drivers, stood up and took out a handkerchief to wipe his face before striding to the largest simple prefab house at the riverside area.

Before he could reach the door, the tempered plastic door of the prefab house suddenly opened. A slightly tired-looking black-haired young man walked out with two faint dark eye circles on his face.

“Boss, the ten excavators have arrived; the workers can start work at any time.” Charlie hurriedly stepped forward and greeted Zhang Lisheng respectfully.

“Very good, Charlie. Tell them to start excavating at the edge of the oasis: the deeper, the better,” Zhang Lisheng, who had just completed a long casting of a spell, casually instructed.

This order was exactly what Charlie expected. The CEO of the LS Group nodded with an equally respectful manner and turned around to go back to the drivers before conveying the young man’s order loudly.

Upon hearing this strange order, the drivers began to whisper among each other. ‘He wants us to dig the sand?’ ‘The deeper, the better?’ ‘Is he trying to dig out an oil rig from the sand or something?’

“Idiot! Half of the car in Noah is powered by electricity! The petroleum will soon become worthless and will not be as valuable as water…Oh, water! They must have wanted to dig out spring water! Since there’s an oasis here, there should be a water source nearby too! What a smart idea!”

“Oh, my God! You actually have the audacity to call other people idiot? If water could be dug out around the oasis, would desert still exist in the first place? Use your brain, buddy…”

Since they have taken the high wages from the employer, they still began to carry out work despite finding it perplexing.

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The drivers casually chatted with each other as they walked to their excavators and began to discuss the operation method seriously. When a tacit understanding was formed, the ten steel machines began to quickly operate at the edge of the experimental oasis, driving the large shovel to start leveling the dunes.

Digging in the sand was much more efficient than that in ordinary soil. In just after a while, deep trenches appeared in the desert. With the ingenious crossover operation of vertical and horizontal direction by the excavators, a considerable square pit with the side length of more than one kilometer began to be formed.

One meter, two meters, three meters… as more and more dry yellow sand was shoveled out of the bottom of the pit, the height of the bottomless hole gradually increased, forming a topography similar to a dry lake.

The loud sound of the joint operation of the ten excavators had long attracted the attention of the workers who were building prefab houses and the farmers who were watering and fertilizing various varieties of crops in the oasis. It was clear that they also thought that digging the desert was a ridiculous thing and could not help looking around using this as the topic of their conservation as they discussed in a whisper to kill their time in their spare time.

On the roof of a newly built prefab house, a half-naked burly white man with his solid muscles exposed and short blond hair was making the final adjustment of the solar charger while telling his partner who was looking after the motor on the ground, “Look, Charles. I can’t even see the ‘heads’ of those excavators anymore. I guess the pit must have been dug up to at least six meters deep now. Looks like we’ll have to take a detour next time when we go back home.”

“What the hell, Robert? Can you please stop worrying about any excavator for the time being? Just put on your uniform and fasten your safety harness, please! Don’t be the reason why our salary would be deducted again, okay?” A worker who looked slightly aged with the evidence of the wrinkles on his face who was scrupulously wearing canvas overall under the hot weather shouted with a low voice with his head lowered.

“Oh, buddy! Can you please don’t get emotional? This prefab house is not even 250 centimeters high. I can even jump directly down from here. Do you really think that I’d need a safety harness…”

“Damn it, it’s the law, okay? Protective measures must be taken when working above 150 centimeters from the ground…” The aged worker on the ground shouted in agitation, but what he received in return was a slow, unhurried reply from his young partner, “But this law is unreasonable. We all know that those politicians and lawmakers are all idi… idio… idio…”

Through the corner of his eyes, the half-naked sturdy man on the roof caught sight of the distance and became stunned right away. His jaw dropped unconsciously as he suddenly stood up out of the blue. However, with a slip of his leg, he fell to the ground.

“Oh, god! R-Robert, are you okay? Don’t move around! Try to move your fingers first. Can you move your fingers? Try to move it…” Everything happened too suddenly. After a few seconds of bafflement, Charles finally realized that his work partner had encountered an accident. He hurriedly knelt on the ground and adeptly reminded Robert of the steps to check his own injuries.

The shouts attracted the attention of the people laboring nearby. They intuitively surrounded them, and some even shouted, “Doctor, doctor! Someone is injured…” while running to the distant medical room.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Robert, who was regarded as a wounded, sat up amidst the concerns and said with his eyes staring straight into the distance, “F-Fountain! Charles, I saw a fountain from the roof! This is unbelievable! I’m not hallucinating in this f*cking hot weather, right?”

“Fountain? What fountain? This is a desert! Did you hurt your head? Don’t move yet, buddy. Don’t move…” The aged worker said nervously.

At this time, a more surprising scene suddenly appeared. Robert was in a daze for a while as a doctor carrying a first-aid box ran towards them while shouting aloud, “Everyone, move away. Give the casualty enough space to breathe…”

When the doctor ran towards them, Robert suddenly leaped from the ground and ran to the giant pit a few hundred meters away from the edge of the oasis at a fantastic speed.

The brawny man reached the edge of the pit a few seconds later and began to jump and bounce like a child screaming loudly, unable to hold back his excitement, “Fountain! It really is a fountain! I’m not hallucinating! These excavators have dug out a swamp, and the fountain is everywhere! It’s everywhere! Everywhere!”

It was difficult for people who had no experience in living in desert cities to imagine the great importance the sandy residents had attached to water. Water represented prosperity, hope, future, life, and everything in the barren desert…

The crazy demeanor of the bare-backed burly man in the distance caught the attention of everyone in the oasis. After that, everything that took place next made them hardly believe their eyes.

Underneath the bottomless pit, the ground that should have been dry sand was covered with fertile black-yellow wet mud that was mixed around with a flowing stream of water. Streams of a fountain of four to five meters high splashed downward and turned the sand into a swamp.

The ten excavators trudged through the wetlands with great difficulty as slow as snails, but the drivers pushing them were like heroes as they cheered with excitement.

“Boss, it seems that you have created another great miracle. This is indeed ‘big news’!” Standing at the window of the specially made simple prefab house while looking at the jubilant crowd, Charlie turned his head and looked at the black-haired young man who was rocking leisurely on the rocking chair and complimented him sincerely.

“Don’t be so proud yet, Charlie. We can’t say it’s ‘big news’ by digging up just a small underground lake,” Zhang Lisheng stopped rocking his chair and stood up before shrugging and saying, “We’ve only completed the first step. Next, we should go to meet Professor Carnegie and talk about how to maintain soil and water to turn the wetlands into an oasis. ”