Cave Refuge

Speaking of Companion Spiritual Treasures, Zachary suddenly remembered something. It seemed that within the Eagle Sauce Zoo, he had not seen any trace of the Mysterious Ships.

It wasn't until Zachary left the territory of the Eagle Sauce Family that he saw those Mysterious Ships reappearing on the water surface.

However, he didn't know whether it was because the round of natural disasters associated with the Mysterious Ships had ended, but now the frequency of Mysterious Ships appearing on the water was significantly less than before.

When the Mysterious Ships first appeared, within a hundred meters, one could surely see those aimlessly wandering ships on the water.

But now, not to mention within the Eagle Sauce Zoo where Zachary hadn't seen a single Mysterious Ship, even after leaving the zoo, on his homeward journey, Zachary only occasionally saw a few scattered ships.

At this time, the Mysterious Cores needed for the upgrade of Zachary's Companion Spiritual Treasure were just too many, so now, unless it was a bulk trade of Mysterious Cores, Zachary had given up the idea of sporadic purchases as well as going out alone to raid Mysterious Ships.

Precisely because of this, Zachary chose to ignore the few Mysterious Ships he encountered along the way. Having seen them, he would simply take a glance and then decisively leave.

Since Zachary didn't meddle in affairs along the way, the entire homecoming journey was very smooth.

When Zachary returned to Magic City's Base 3, as he entered the gate, he was somewhat surprised to find that the bustling prosperity here far exceeded his expectations.

If the last time he returned it felt like a weekday evening on a pedestrian street, with people out strolling but not too many, and a fair distance between each person,

this time, the streets felt like the pedestrian streets on New Year's Eve, with surging crowds essentially in a state of elbow-to-elbow congestion.

Seeing so many people on the streets, the idea of taking a stroll around instantly vanished, and Zachary decided to go straight home.

This time, standing at his front door, the barriers that were put up during renovation had already been taken down. It seemed that in the time Zachary was away, the house had been fully renovated.

Just as Zachary approached the gate, he saw it automatically open. Mr. Thompson and another middle-aged man were laughing and talking as they walked out of the room.

As Mr. Thompson stepped out, he saw Zachary standing not far outside the door. Seeing Zachary, Mr. Thompson was visibly taken aback, not expecting Zachary to return at this time.

However, once he confirmed he wasn't mistaken and Zachary had indeed come back, Mr. Thompson's face immediately showed a delighted expression. He then said to the middle-aged man who came out of the house with him, "Old Jefferson, I apologize, but I'll have to break our appointment today."

At this moment, the man Mr. Thompson called Old Jefferson, looking at Zachary, whose features bore some resemblance to Mr. Thompson, immediately thought of Mr. Thompson's son, who he often heard was fond of adventuring.

"This must be your son. It's not easy for him to come back. You should spend time with your son at home. When you're free, we can meet up next time. But since you're cancelling this time, you're buying the next time we get together."

Hearing Old Jefferson say this, Mr. Thompson spoke with a generous spirit, "I'll host, I will. Next time we have the chance, I will definitely treat you to a great meal."

After Mr. Thompson spoke, Old Jefferson didn't linger anymore. After briefly greeting and getting to know Zachary, he directly left.

Having sent Old Jefferson off, Zachary then entered the house with his father. Perhaps because renovation materials were limited at that time, even though the house had been remodeled, it was more about removing unnecessary spaces and improving the utilization rate of the space in the house.

In other words, there had been more changes in terms of structural renovation, but there was hardly any new furniture added in terms of interior decoration.

Not seeing his mother at home, Zachary casually asked Mr. Thompson, "Where's Mom?"

"Your mom went to play cards with friends and probably won't be back until tonight. If you miss her, I can call her to come back now."

Hearing his dad say this, Dong Tianyu, who is Zachary, immediately stopped him, "No need for that, let her enjoy herself there. Since I've been away, has anything happened here?"

Hearing Zachary's question, Mr. Thompson immediately recalled the experiences right after Zachary had left and said somewhat relieved, "It's lucky you left so decisively, and it's also lucky that your mom and I didn't think about making you stay another night. Not long after we said goodbye to you, Ye Liuyun came to see us, and soon after that, many people came looking for you."

Hearing Mr. Thompson say this, Zachary asked curiously, "What happened?"

"What else could it be? Didn't you and Ye Liuyun contract an area in the Plantation Area? You managed to get a lot of soil very smoothly, and those people came to ask for your help in extracting soil from underwater."

Hearing Mr. Thompson's words, Zachary was somewhat speechless. Having had the experience himself, he knew there was actually no expertise involved in extracting soil from underwater. As long as you had a Companion Spiritual Treasure capable of diving, anyone could get the soil from underwater.

Because Zachary's Storage Space was very large, he managed to get enough soil in just one trip, but even if others didn't have a huge Storage Space like his, they would just have to make a few more trips to get enough soil.

"And then what? After they found out I left, what else happened?"

Upon hearing Zachary's inquiry, Mr. Thompson thought back to the situation then and hesitated a bit before saying, "Honestly, I'm not too clear about the specifics. After they knew you had left, Ye Liuyun and those people came by twice more, and after many unsuccessful attempts to contact you, those people stopped showing up at our doorstep.

But from what Old Taylor mentioned, it seemed like Ye Liuyun was troubled by something during that period and looked morose every day."

Hearing Mr. Thompson say this, Zachary felt not a bit of sympathy for Ye Liuyun. After all, leasing the land in the Plantation Area was initiated by the Taylor family, and they also took the lion's share of the profits. Therefore, in Zachary's opinion, there was nothing wrong with all the pressure being on Ye Liuyun.

"What's the situation in the Plantation Area now?"

Hearing Zachary's question, Mr. Thompson suddenly showed an embarrassed expression and after hesitating a bit, he spoke slowly, "Although our family has a small share in the land contracted in the Plantation Area...

But then a natural disaster struck the Plantation Area when you left, and since I couldn't be of much help, I haven't gone over there since you left."

Hearing Mr. Thompson say this, Zachary was also somewhat speechless. His dad hadn't visited even before he had left, but in any case, when the idea of contracting land in the Plantation Area was proposed by Ye Liuyun, Zachary was actually thinking of finding something for Mr. Thompson to do.

After all, everyone knows that people can't be too idle. It's fine to relax for a day or two in the short term, but if one is idle for a long time, sooner or later, they would wither away.

It was for this reason that Zachary went underwater to extract that soil for Mr. Thompson, to find him an easy job. If it wasn't for wanting to provide Mr. Thompson with work, even if Ye Liuyun offered a lot more in profits, Zachary wouldn't have bothered to go into the sea to dig soil for him.

Zachary just hadn't expected that, having completed his part of the work so smoothly, exactly because of his excellent performance, he ended up being targeted by many people.

But fortunately, it had been a long time since then, and the others had probably forgotten about Zachary already.

Originally, Zachary was prepared to continue inquiring about the current situation in the Plantation Area, but to his surprise, regarding their family's earnings, Mr. Thompson seemed to have forgotten all about it, effectively ignoring the matter.