Chapter 68: Children's Day, Adding an Extra Chapter

"No rush, let me try the spray force of this water outlet first."

Batu Nan jumped into the pit, using his face to feel the splashing water flow.

"Right, this impact force is undoubtedly a high-terrain water outlet."

The pit was quickly filled, and water overflowed directly.

Following the slope, it flowed toward the dried-up riverbed.

"Did we hit the spring eye this fast?"

Hearing the commotion, Broly and the others gathered over to ask.

The surrounding people knew they were the Gold Masters providing the activity funds this time, and they all made way.

"This is a very high-terrain water vein, but whether it can serve as the Kaxisi River's new spring eye is still hard to say; we have to keep digging down to see the outflow volume and the stability of the underground water vein's flow.

If only this part of the water vein has high terrain but the overall underground water vein is still lower, then after some groundwater flows out, the underground water vein might drop in height.

And this place would only be able to become an ordinary well eye, not a spring eye……"

Batu Nan called on everyone to start digging the water outlet downward; these hired well diggers each carried professional tools — they were once specialists in excavating deep wells, every one of them capable of working underwater.

As the outflow pit was widened and the water outlet deepened, these men began taking turns diving down to work, holding their breath; this continued from noon until afternoon, and only when the water outlet could no longer be dug deeper did the group stop to rest on the ground nearby.

"Looks like it was all for nothing again."

Watching the water flow in the pit calm completely, someone sighed.

From the moment water was struck until now, over four hours had passed, and the outflow hadn't even fully wet the riverbed within five hundred meters.

Although water still overflowed from the pit and flowed down the slope into the riverbed, it was visibly decreasing.

And such a water outlet cannot become a new spring eye; even if a dedicated slope were dug to channel it, it would likely run dry in a few days.

It might moisten the nearby riverbed, but compared to reviving the Kaxisi River, it is utterly a drop in the bucket.

"Sell this water outlet's location to the people of the nearby settlements, recoup some funds, then move to another spot."

"There are many Oasis Religion believers in the nearby settlements; the private water outlet business isn't easy, and if those Oasis Religion guys notice and harass us, we're done for."

The ban on private well-digging greatly affected these well diggers, yet the well-digging trade still persists; some villages that truly cannot afford daily water due to high prices secretly hire them to dig private wells.

Although getting caught could mean being hanged, water-scarce people pay well, and generally no one betrays them, so they manage to get by.

Until the Oasis Religion rose; that sect believes the people of this land once over-excavated the ground, causing Divine Punishment, and they branded these well diggers as chief culprits and heretics who brought about the Divine Punishment.

This led to fewer and fewer people hiring them to dig private wells; the well diggers could only survive by secretly digging hidden wells and hauling water out to sell.

This practice is called the private water business in the Kathisi Region; compared to official water, the well diggers' water is cheaper, but it easily draws official crackdowns.

And directly selling water outlets is called the private water outlet business; compared to the private water business, this carries higher risk, and in places with many Kaxisi Oasis God believers, it is even more likely to be reported by believers.

After discussing, Batu Nan and the others came to ask Broly's opinion; strictly speaking, this water outlet belongs to Broly the Gold Master, only the current Kathisi Region laws do not recognize such a thing.

"You want to sell this water outlet, why?"

Broly was a bit confused.

"Outflow is too low; it can't become a new spring eye. Sell it, and we can at least offset some losses."

Batu Nan explained — today's diggers all cost money to hire.

"Outflow isn't large, so just make the opening bigger, right?"

Broly still didn't understand; this was the first time he'd seen that digging underground could actually produce water. "It's not that simple; places where high terrain can retain water usually have hard geology — like here, the underground is mostly large chunks of hard rock. Even that water outlet over there, we only stopped because we hit bedrock and simply couldn't dig further."

This world's technology is both advanced and backward; advanced in that people here could manufacture humanoid Teigu and even Gundam-like Teigu a thousand years ago; backward in that a thousand years later most people still use primitive tools for production.

Take these well diggers — they have decent professional digging tools, but their digging power comes almost entirely from manpower.

Manpower is useless against massive underground stones; unless they find more powerful digging tools or underwater explosives, they can only give up.

Someone had already dug away the mud around that stone at the bottom of the pit, trying to pry it loose, but the result was no end in sight.

Some experienced old masters believe that stone may be fused with the mountain body below; even wanting to build large tools for forced demolition would be extremely difficult.

Even if forcibly demolished, whether the water vein below could let the outlet become a new spring eye remains a question mark.

"So it's just that you can't dig further, not that the water outlet itself can't continue downward, right?"

Broly asked.

"Stopping now cuts losses; continuing might mean huge cost for zero gain — that is our judgment."

Batu Nan reported seriously; he was quite responsible toward Broly, the Gold Master willing to support his spring-eye venture — money that shouldn't be wasted must not be wasted; Batu Nan practically wanted to split the budget in half and spend it carefully — twenty-odd million seems like a lot, but really it's just that.

"Since you're not digging anymore, let me continue, okay?"

Broly asked again; he felt he wasn't a professional spring-eye digger, so he hadn't intervened.

But now the professionals have given up, so it's time for this non-professional to try.

If possible, Broly wants to learn well-digging skills so he can dig his own wells when he returns to Nappa Star.

If Nappa Star has underground water……

"Uh, sure, but how do you plan to dig?"

Batu Nan asked; the boy's body was sturdy and he possessed monstrous strength, but against the giant boulder blocking the way underground, what use was that physical strength? "Hmm, you all move far away."

Broly thought a moment, decided to use the method he used to dig his home on Nappa Star to dig this water outlet, but first he needed the people on the slope to leave.

"What's up, why suddenly tell us to move far away?"

Main was a bit confused; she was still chopping ingredients.

"Quick, grab the ingredients and go; Big Bro's probably planning to blast this little hill."

Akame carried the pot, Kurome held the bowl, and the other kids all held something.

They loaded them onto the carriage and drove it down.

"What little hill, isn't this a slope?"

Main found it strange but followed the group; Esdeath and Merad followed too, all looking puzzled.

Until, from the foot of the mountain, they saw a green light suddenly flare on the mountain, then a boom — the ground shook violently; when it stopped, looking at the mountain missing half its body, their mouths fell open.

"Is this something a human can do?"

Not far away, Batu Nan and the other well diggers who had also arrived at the foot of the mountain watched this scene, and someone murmured to themselves.

"Crash..."

With half the mountain body gone, the massive opening let the groundwater inside the mountain surge out, and in just an instant it flooded the dry riverbed for several kilometers down the mountain.

Happy holiday to minor and adult children alike! (Chapter End)