Chapter 688: Chapter 426 Periodic Achievements_2
Furthermore, this was why he had the confidence to tell Shelley he could help with solving the pollution of farmland.
Walking deeper into the laboratory, several groups of contaminated soil collected from different farmlands were stored in front of the silvery white experiment table.
Colin took one box and slowly opened it in front of him.
Shelley stood quietly aside, her gaze firmly locked on Colin.
He took a deep breath, cast Radiant Strong Wall upon himself, and began his attempt to research.
The influence of Tainted babbling was variable.
For ordinary people, it barely affected them because they weren’t even aware of the existence of Tainted babbling.
However, for a wizard, especially after becoming an Advanced Wizard Apprentice—who could unlock hyper-sensitivity and had seen Tainted babbling—the influence seemed to greatly increase.
At that time, if one tried to carefully observe those ash-like black spots while in a state of hyper-sensitivity, the polluting influence of Tainted babbling would expand even further.
Simply put, the pollution strength of Tainted babbling intensifies with deeper contact.
This so-called "deeper contact" was a highly subjective concept.
It did not depend on the method of observation nor the mode of cognition, but solely on personal consciousness.
Tainted babbling was like a legendary entity that should not be directly gazed upon, far beyond the current comprehension of wizards.
This characteristic of being impenetrable for deeper research also determined that wizards were fundamentally helpless against it.
Thoughts raced through Shelley’s mind.
About an hour later, Colin carefully replaced the glass cover on the contaminated soil back on the corner of the table, then dissolved the Radiant Strong Wall and walked towards Shelley.
His face was exceptionally pale, and his eyes were lined with red veins, but his gaze remained clear and his face showed joy, even displaying a smile.
However, this smile did not ease Shelley’s worries but instead tightened her heart, prompting her to ask involuntarily,
"How do you feel now?"
"I feel quite alright," Colin smiled, "I can indeed temporarily resist the polluting effects brought by the research activities. However, the source of pollution in the farmland is mixed, somewhat like haze, making it difficult to discern specific details."
Shelley nodded, still concerned, "Let’s do a mental status assessment for you first."
"Alright," Colin calmly nodded.
Even though he felt everything was normal at the moment and that there were no issues, necessary steps still had to be taken.
Another ten minutes passed before confirming the test results were normal, finally allowing Shelley to breathe a sigh of relief.
Then she had time to focus on what Colin had just said.
"Have you seen the source of pollution in the soil?" Shelley asked.
"Yes," Colin nodded affirmatively, "The fundamental cause of plant pollution is the soil itself. The pollutants have not reacted with the air but have directly entered the plants."
The conditions required for plant growth are water, sunlight, carbon dioxide, and elements like nitrogen and phosphorus.
They had previously speculated about the mechanism of farmland pollution.
Apart from the most popular hypothesis—that the pollution was akin to some poison directly contaminating the plants, causing them to wither upon contact—they had other guesses—
Perhaps the farmland pollution did not directly affect the plants but affected some necessary condition for their growth, such as sunlight or carbon dioxide.
However, according to Colin’s recent observations, although it was still not possible to rule out whether the farmland pollution affected plant growth directly or indirectly, at least he could eliminate two indirect factors—sunlight and carbon dioxide.
These atmospheric elements hadn’t been impacted by farmland pollution and continued to provide energy and nutrients to plants normally.
Hearing Colin’s response, Shelley’s face involuntarily lit up with joy:
"That’s wonderful, as long as we can observe the divine pollution, we will eventually find a solution!"
"Yes, but it might still take some time," Colin smiled, his weariness barely concealed.
"I need to rest for a while."
Colin had almost understood his own limits.
He was not completely immune to the Divine Tainted Babbling and the pollution of farmland; rather, he had extremely high resistance.
So high that ordinary contact no longer had any effect.
Yet it was still not enough, the real and earnest attempts at studying it under current conditions made him feel a tidal pressure brought by Divine pollution.
After persisting for just an hour, he had to take a break, inwardly inspect his spirit, noting that the thin veil of stars surrounding him had attenuated several layers.
"As the research deepens, this pressure fears to grow even more..." Sitting in a corner of the lab, Colin felt some concern.
"It seems I need to spend more time on the Knight’s practices, to boost the power of my will as much as possible."
"Rest in bed."
Shelley got up and went out when he was sitting in the corner. When she returned, she brought back a single bed covered with soft bedding.
"Thank you." Colin opened his eyes and didn’t decline; he indeed needed a good rest.
"No need to thank me," Shelley shook her head, "You’re the only one who can observe the farmland pollution now, I can’t help much..."
"In the area of witchcraft knowledge, you are far ahead of me; you’ll be relied upon to figure out the nature of the pollution and study solutions when the time comes."
Colin smiled and lay down on the bed.
Just before he completely drifted into sleep, he suddenly thought—if he could observe farmland pollution, could he now also study the very similar Tainted Babbling?
...
Time swiftly moved on to August.
The sun was up high, making the clouds look whiter than in other seasons.
"Work hard, and the top ten performers tonight will get an extra small piece of black bread!"
North of Golden Barley.
Outside the city walls, where there used to be a few dilapidated serf huts in the wilderness, now stood several massive wooden frameworks.
"If the farmland can recover, this would become an excellent food processing plant or a large granary,"
Colin mused to himself, passing by on his way to his lab.
The serfs were more obedient than he had imagined, needing no wages and uncaring about the laborious work, satisfied as long as they had food and shelter.
This time had indeed saved him much trouble, allowing him more time to study farmland pollution.
Reaching the secluded experimental site, Colin entered the deepest part of the laboratory with practiced ease.
Shelley was bent over, writing something. Judging by the stack of papers beside her, she must have pulled another all-nighter.
"You need to rest too," Colin couldn’t help but remind.
"I will, but enough time has passed, and the information you’ve provided is enough to commence the study..." Shelley looked up and smiled, her complexion unchanged, but her smooth white hair a bit rough, showing her fatigue.
Colin said no more and walked briskly to the experimental table.
Maybe it was Shelley’s words that spurred him, but he felt particularly good that day, even feeling like the pressure from the Divine pollution was lesser.
About an hour and a half later, Colin ended his research, his face involuntarily showing joy.
Shelley had been waiting for a while, looking a bit worried, "Why did you research for half an hour longer than usual today?"
"I figured out the operative mechanism of farmland pollution!" Colin didn’t answer directly but excitedly told her,
"This time I finally excluded all remaining factors, confirming that farmland pollution does not indirectly affect plant growth but directly causes the plants to wither. Moreover, I observed a peculiar phenomenon, the farmland pollution does not enter the plants through water or some other element, it enters actively!"
Shelley froze for a moment, then also showed joy on her face.
It might not seem like a significant discovery, but in reality, for the research into farmland pollution, it was at least a milestone achievement!
They had taken another big step toward successfully resolving the farmland pollution!