Earn Money

Rowan resisted the urge to dash, telling himself time and again Mina will get in trouble if he runs. 

He joined the two men in a shabby tea house outside. 

The men were silent. 

Rowan refused to speak first. 

If they are trying to break him by silent treatment, they will lose. 

It's one interview method he has absolute confidence at never breaking him. 

One of the men sighed after some time, and started explaining. 

"It is like this, Mr. Pendragon. The base has cleared out a vast area outside the forest. We understand it's just a plain land with no protection, so the base is providing incentives for the young people to move outside. We see you have a plot of your own inside the base. However, if you exchange it with the cleared area, the base is willing to give you one to ten increases in the area. What do you say? " he asked. 

"It's one to ten, not one piece less." The man beside him added. 

Rowan was shocked and relieved at the same time. 

" Let me get this straight, Big brothers. You want me to give up on my perfectly protected plot inside the ten meter high walls, and take land in the middle of nowhere, as compensation." Rowan said. 

Both of the officials looked guilty. 

"No chance in hell." Rowan answered. 

"Little brother! Think about it. You have to construct your house in the next three days. No matter what method you use, it's impossible." One of the men said aggressively. 

"If nothing else works, I can still pitch a tent there and build a mud house. It takes only one day to construct." Rowan told the guy. 

The aggressiveness seeped out of the man. 

"Little brother! Help us out alright! We are just little men trying to make a living ourselves." The other man begged. 

Rowan stayed silent. Unlike him, the base employees could not stand the silent treatment. They explained various ins and outs of the thing, drawing a pie in the sky. 

The base seemed to go with the explanation that the land outside was cleared by design to keep people from panicking. 

The plan these guys came up with is not bad. They could convince one person to live in the empty land, then they can advertise it as a new real estate project by the base. 

"If you give it for free, I will take it." Rowan answered. 

"Just taking it is not enough. You must live there." The men answered. 

Now Rowan understood why they wanted to exchange the land with his plot. 

As long as someone buys it with money, no matter how useless the bought object is, it has value. 

This land is also like that. 

"If you subsidize the truck rental and diesel, along with that, if you give me the material cost price on the materials to build the house, then I will lease out ten acres of cleared land from the base..." Rowan answered, drawing a different pie for these men. 

"Ah! Also priority price on buying the land. " he added. The cost of leasing for him is zero, but no one needs to know that. They can earn from other people buying this cleared land. 

The two men looked at each other. 

Their conversation with their eyes failed. 

"Give us a moment. " They said, as they walked to the corner and put their heads together. 

"You know, this boy is a genius. Buying land is impossible, but many people will be interested in leasing at a low price. " guy no.1 said. 

"We can say it's to be leased as farmland " Guy no.2 added. 

They both seemed to have completely forgotten the place is a pretty useless land where nothing but black bushes grew. 

All the same, they only need one real person to advertise on the radio. 

The rest will happen automatically. 

"Fine. We agree." They said after some time. 

Inner Rowan jumped in happiness. 

This way, he is getting a deal on all the construction materials, and going to feed his slimes at low cost. 

Rowan couldn't be happier. The little employees of the base government couldn't be happier. 

The problem with all visionary projects is to find the early adapters. Getting the first customer is the most important part. Once a person is caught, the others automatically line up. 

They immediately went to the radio station, to arrange an interview for the very 'woke' citizen Rowan Pendragon. 

Rowan knew the anchor. 

She's a beast tamer. 

Her name is Leighton Miller, and she's the most popular freshman in the school. 

Also, the daughter of the most powerful tamer in the city. 

"Wow! This guy couldn't look more ordinary if he tried. At least bring us a pretty one, Uncles." She grumbled looking at the two men. 

Rowan just smiled at her helplessly. He has killer skin, shampoo-ad hair, spectacle-ad eyes, but all of them put together weirdly gave an ordinary feeling. 

Jeffery's stomach is going to hurt if he knows Rowan had a chance to meet Leigh. 

The radio turned on, and the pre-program small talk commenced. 

"Friends! Today we have with us the first man who is going to lease the cleared land outside base H. Let us give a warm welcome to this brave citizen. Please introduce yourself, Mister." Leigh said. 

"Hello everyone. I am Rowan Pendragon." Rowan answered. 

"Hello Mister Pendragon ! What inspired you to lease the cleared land? '' Leigh asked enthusiastically. 

"It's so I could marry Leigh Miller. " Rowan answered. 

That's not in the script. 

Leigh recovered surprisingly fast. 

"Ohhhh! It's so you could marry me? But what is the relation between marrying me, and leasing land? I don't understand! " Leigh redirected the topic skillfully. 

"I heard Miss Leigh loves to eat fresh vegetables and fruits." Rowan said. 

Normally, a person would nod. However, Leigh answered properly, like a radio DJ. 

"Indeed, I do." She answered. 

"I plan to grow vegetables and fruit trees in the land, so father-in-law need not make the long and arduous trip to base A just to feed Leigh." Rowan answered. 

Leigh laughed, her laugh sounding like tinkling bells. 

"Tell you what mister Rowan. If you grow enough fruits and vegetables to feed my pet little-puff and I, I promise to marry you." Leigh Miller promised. 

Rowan laughed in answer. By itself there's no joke there, but he knew the 'Little puff' In Leigh's words is a pink mammoth that could almost eat a base out of its food reserves. 

"Then it is a promise. Wait for the big brother's orchard to grow." He told Leigh. 

Leigh nodded like an obedient little girl, as if she's not indirectly scamming a guy with deceptive names. 

"Ofcourse, I will wait for the nice big brother. You must call me and Little-puff for a feast when your first crop comes through !" Leigh said teasingly. 

The regular audiences shuddered at the black-bellied ness of Leigh Miller. 

However, that is what they loved about Leigh Miller.

" It's a promise. " Rowan promised, despite knowing the snickers around the station are people laughing at him. 

Rowan walked out of the radio station to the civil servants happily. 

They looked at him with pity, patted his shoulders encouragingly, their eyes traveling between Leigh and him. 

Their meaning couldn't be more obvious if they spoke. They thought he was a deceived young man, who was getting scammed. 

"Don't forget my vegetables, big brother." Leigh Miller told him as she came out. 

Rowan nodded easily. 

Soon, he was out of the base, driving towards the volcano. The free truck rental is the best thing in the world. Unlike others who are limited by gas prices, his slimes could produce enough gas to run a freight line, so he's not worried. 

He was out of the base for ten kilometers. 

Finally!

Finally, all his slimes could come out. 

After six hours of traveling straight on the road, he saw the puffing volcano in the distance. While the direct distance between the volcano and base is six kilometers, the truck can't drive over straight. As he drove the long and roundabout road giving priority to safety, and the slime feeding grounds, it has taken a long time. 

Rowan drove straight towards the volcano, and stopped his truck in a place dry enough to lack even the most common rabbits. 

He is already amazed he was not attacked till now. 

But then, animals are more sensitive than humans. 

Perhaps they already sensed the abnormal changes around the volcano, and escaped. 

Rowan released all the slimes, and told them to feed on what they could nearby, save for his vehicle and return route. 

The slimes that ate the jatropha forest just stayed there, like little balls of play dough lined on the earth. 

While the rest of the slimes rolled away in various different directions, each seeking nutrition. 

[ Category : Volcano ] 

[ Information: Ready to burst within a day. ] 

Rowan was shocked. 

His walk towards the volcano stopped. 

If he throws the lava slime in there, will the lava burst earlier? 

Never mind. He will know with his sixth sense, and he will run away. 

Rowan climbed the mountain within four hours.

It's already three in the evening by the time he reached the summit. 

He could not descend into the volcano. 

Even enroute, there were many vents, which spewed tar, gas, and sulfur. 

Rowan let out various slimes near these vents, so they could eat what they were suited for. 

The jatropha slimes though, they rolled behind him in a line, like ducklings following their mother. 

When the lava slime jumped into the volcano, they accompanied the lava slime. 

In a moment, all the red spots within the volcano are covered with green. 

What are they trying to do ? Are they trying to bathe in the lava pool ? 

' Even if you bathe in the heavenly spiritual spring, you will only be stupid blobs, you fools. Stop bathing in the magma. You will increase pressure and cause an early eruption! '

 Rowan exclaimed internally. 

Only, none of the slimes listened to him. 

[ Congratulations!!! ] 

[ You have discovered oil slimes love bathing in the magma. ] 

And suddenly, Rowan had a bad feeling. 

He ran towards the truck. 

He started, reversed like the car like a racer, and high tailed it out of the location. 

The ground literally split behind him, and he could see the ash rising with force out of the volcano. 

A mushroom cloud rose up behind him. 

Wind pushed him forward accelerating the already high speed of the truck, making the truck literally fly on the road, at almost three hundred kilometers of speed.