Chapter 98 | Reincarnated as a Necromancer, I Turned a Death Desert Into Paradise

Shane stood on the ridge of the bean field, his brow furrowed.

The old druid was right. In the northwest corner of the bean field, a layer of white frost had surfaced on the originally dark brown sandy soil.

Shane walked over to the spot, squatted down, and pinched a small amount of the whitish sand with his fingers, placing it on the tip of his tongue to taste.

Feeling a distinct astringent and salty taste, Shane spat out the soil residue. He then moved to another spot and repeated the action, tasting four or five different places in succession.

Elon stood by his side, silently watching him finish. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, “How is it?”

“You're right. It's a bit salinized.”

Shane stood up and pointed to the nearby soil. “The salt precipitation in this northwest corner is quite severe. The salt concentration on the surface is already high enough to damage the roots of the water beans.”

He then pointed to several water bean seedlings at the edge of the ridge. Their leaves were slightly curled at the edges, showing an unhealthy yellowish-brown color.

“When the roots are damaged, water absorption is hindered, and the leaves start to wither and turn yellow from the edges. If we don't improve this in time, the entire bean field will suffer next.”

Elon looked in the direction he pointed, his brow furrowing as well. “I remember checking it the last time we turned the soil. There were absolutely no signs of this back then.”

“There indeed weren't any back then.”

Shane squatted down again, drawing a circle on the whitish surface with his fingertip. “Evaporation is high in the desert. The salt in the groundwater rises to the surface through capillary action, and once the water evaporates, the salt is left behind in the topsoil.”

“Under normal circumstances, plants can discharge some of the salt through their own regulatory mechanisms. However, if the rate of salt accumulation on the surface exceeds the upper limit of the plant's self-regulation, this situation occurs.”

He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the entire bean field. “And I suspect it's not just a surface issue. The salt distribution deep underground might also be uneven.”

“If the groundwater table itself is highly saline, then turning the soil alone won't solve the root problem.”

Elon nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly turned his head to look at Shane. “How about we let Sara's children help check the underground situation?”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Shane raised his hand and made a gesture in the direction of Sara's nest.

A moment later, the distant sand bulged slightly, and three small earth stingers crawled out of the ground in single file.

Their bodies were already a size larger than when they first arrived, and their shells had turned a steady dark brown. Clearly, the flesh and blood of those sand worms from a few days ago had taken effect.

The little guys trotted all the way to Shane, their tail hooks curling up in unison as they waited for orders.

Shane didn't waste words. He squatted down, pointed to the whitish ground in the northwest corner of the bean field, and then to the desert boundary further away. “Go underground in this area. Sense the soil moisture, the salt distribution, and the depth of the groundwater, then come back and tell me.”

The bodies of the three little guys shook in unison, their tails flicking, before they dispersed and burrowed into the sand in three different directions.

After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the first small earth stinger emerged from the sand.

It wobbled over to Shane, tapped its giant pincers on the ground twice, and made a series of short clicking sounds.

Soon, the other two also returned one after another. The three little guys lined up in front of Shane, each reporting what they had discovered.

Shane listened closely, and Elon translated in real-time beside him. “The first one says that about two arm-lengths deep under the northwest corner, there is a distinct salt enrichment zone extending northwest.”

“The second one says that the groundwater level is about one arm-length higher than in the central area of the oasis, but the water is quite salty, tasting similar to that white stuff on the surface.”

“The third one says... well, she says if you don't believe her, you can dig a hole and taste it yourself.”

Shane's lips twitched. He couldn't help but look at the third small earth stinger, who was holding her head high with her tail raised extra high, wearing a smug expression of “look how capable I am.”

“Alright, I believe you.”

Shane withdrew his gaze, rapidly integrating the information in his mind. The underground salt enrichment zone extended northwest, the groundwater table was high and salty, and surface salinization had already begun to affect the growth of the water beans.

If no measures were taken, this bean field would be ruined.

Elon had clearly reached the same conclusion. He glanced at the attendants who were starting to gather and watch, then turned to Shane and lowered his voice, asking, “Is there a way?”

“Yes.”

Shane's answer was swift and decisive, without the slightest hesitation. “Dig ditches and sink deep wells.”

“Ditches and wells?”

“Yes.”

Shane squatted down and drew a simple diagram in the sand with his finger. “Dig a drainage ditch along the northwest direction of the bean field. The depth must exceed that of the salt enrichment zone, allowing the excess salt in the groundwater to gather into the ditch.”

“Then, sink several deep wells in the low-lying area on the south side of the bean field. Use Moon Sand to filter the well walls, allowing fresh water to seep from the wells into the groundwater layer. The water pressure will drive the salt toward the drainage ditch, slowly draining the underground salt away.”

Elon nodded repeatedly as he listened, and finally couldn't help but ask, “Is there enough Moon Sand?”

“There's still some left from what we brought from Greystone Post. It's enough for our needs.”

“And the construction period?”

Shane looked up at him. “We have the undead.”

Elon paused for a moment, then couldn't help but smile. “True.”

Once the plan was set, Shane acted extremely fast. That very afternoon, he summoned eight skeletons to begin digging a ditch along the northwest side of the bean field.

The skeletons' movements were perfectly uniform. Row after row of them swung their bone shovels with extreme efficiency. In less than half an hour, the prototype of a ditch two arm-lengths wide and half a meter deep appeared in the sand.

By then, Shane had already brought Sara to the edge of the ditch.

“Sara, this section of the ditch wall needs reinforcement. Use your petrification ray to petrify a width of half an arm-length from the inside of the ditch wall outward, creating an integrated stone wall to prevent it from collapsing.”

Sara understood. She raised her tail hook, and a deep green glow landed precisely on the side wall of the ditch. The moment the gray sand touched the petrification ray, it began to change color, turning from loose sand particles into a solid, grayish-white rock surface, as if a thin layer of stone bricks had been applied.

“Beautiful.”

Shane rarely gave praise, and Sara's tail hook immediately curled up even higher, her steps becoming a bit lighter.

This wasn't all. He began to direct the five small earth stingers who had been waiting nearby. “You five, line up along the southern low-lying area. Each of you will be responsible for digging one well site, to a depth of one arm-length below the water table.”

Upon receiving the command, the little guys immediately dispersed, took their positions, and began to excavate the soil with their tail hooks pointing downward.

Earth stingers were natural diggers. The edges of their shells were rough and hard, making them look exactly like desert drills.

Sand churned rapidly around them, and the depressed ground deepened at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The attendants watching from the side couldn't help but marvel at the speed of the small earth stingers:

“My god, this is way too fast!”

“This efficiency is more than ten times faster than me using a shovel...”

“Lady Sara is truly amazing. Even her children are so capable.”

“In the future, the beasts of burden working in our oasis might all have to be replaced by earth stingers.”

As they spoke, some even began to spontaneously gather and help.

By that evening, all five deep wells had completed their initial excavation, and sturdy, durable well walls had been constructed using Moon Sand and petrified sand blocks.

The ditch had also extended to nearly twenty Zhang long. Although it was not yet fully dug through, it had already begun to take shape.

Shane squatted by the well and examined it for a long time. A shallow layer of clear water could already be seen at the bottom of the well. The water quality was indeed much clearer than before, and the filtering effect of the Moon Sand was immediately apparent.

Elon stood to the side, looking up at the western sky covered in evening glow, and said softly, “At this rate, the problem will be completely resolved in another two or three days.”