The Boss King actually disguised himself as a novice village chief?!-Chapter 38 - Hydroponics
38: Chapter 38 Hydroponics
38 -38 Hydroponics
The woman’s hearty accent called out, beckoning Lind from inside.
He pushed open the door and saw two panting Undead, as well as what they were carrying.
The iron needle vine creeper was dragging a string of tubers the size of thumb pads, somewhat resembling potatoes, caked in a thick layer of black mud.
He had just mentioned the lack of food, yet in the blink of an eye, the Undead had brought him a surprise—indeed worth their weight in gold as his own ‘Traveling Frogs’.
Undoubtedly, the other Undead were also making an effort.
“Well done, Undead.
With your help, Star Dragon Ridge will have more confidence in getting through the harsh winter.”
As Lind spoke, the enticing aroma of meat soup wafted over to the other side.
The female Undead sniffed quietly, her eyes fixed on him.
“Don’t worry, I’ll have someone estimate the weight and then pay you immediately,” he assumed they wanted to be rewarded instantly.
Soldiers had already come over, but only the fruits’ weight could be accounted for, not the vines.
This wasn’t a job for the NPCs of Star Dragon Ridge, the Undead had to solve it themselves.
Gold Coins weren’t so easily obtained after all.
…Gurgle.
The sound from the stomach was quite abrupt.
Lind: “…”
A moment of silence.
“Would you like a bowl of meat soup?” he offered.
“May I?” The response came not from the female Undead, but from a male one standing aside.
“Of course, you are also members of Star Dragon Ridge,” Lind nodded with a smile: “I’ve said before, Star Dragon Ridge welcomes Undead who wish to save the world and will provide all the assistance I can!”
The male Undead quickly said, “Lord, I am Ace Aimu, willing to burn myself for the sake of Star Dragon Ridge, for saving the world, even if it means diving into the fire!
Thank you for your generosity!”
The female Undead shot her companion a puzzled look, asking with her eyes: Didn’t you say not to just eat anything?
Why be so proactive now?
Ace Aimu responded with a glance: Yes, just as you’re thinking—we’ve really done it.
The female Undead’s eyes shook with excitement: So, you really want to try the meat soup too, right?
No matter how we eat, there won’t be a burden.
Ace Aimu smiled: Yes, this must be a crucial part of the chain quest, I’m finally getting to my favorite farming section.
Lind watched the two Undead exchange dark looks and signals, puzzled.
They had the ability to use private chats, so why were they communicating in such a way?
“I’m Romantic Bumbler,” confirmed the female Undead, finally snapping back to reality: “Thank you very much, I…”
Gurgle.
Her stomach learned to interrupt.
“Romantic Bumbler, Ace Aimu,” Lind nodded: “Pleased to meet you both.”
After the food was weighed, which was just over 10 pounds, Lind readily paid them in Gold Coins.
The amount of food wasn’t significant, but as long as the Undead kept bringing it back, the survival pressure of Star Dragon Ridge would drastically reduce.
Indeed, rather than treating the Undead players like obedient puppets who follow quests, it was more realistic to see them as ‘Traveling Frogs’ who always bring surprises back home.
They always did bring surprises.
Ace Aimu and Romantic Bumbler followed Lind into the cottage.
They had initially gone to the Scavenger’s Nest to try their luck, not expecting to actually find mutated crops.
Thankfully, the players’ innate “True Sight” panel capabilities had allowed them to discern what was edible.
Inside the cottage, the fragrance of meat simmered in the air.
The soldier who managed the weapon shop, the veteran in charge of the collection point, and the mysterious old nun who always glared; they sat around…
This game certainly seemed to make sure NPCs were alive, not disappearing once out of the player’s sight.
For most players, the only buildings they could access within Star Dragon Ridge were the ramshackle houses built by Loves White Silk and a few others, used for logging in and out.
The NPCs’ houses were inaccessible to anyone.
“To actually stumble upon NPCs eating!” Ace Aimu became even more confident about the chain quest.
This type of “performance” clearly indicated important plot elements.
“Old Pete, serve them the meat soup,” Lind instructed.
At that, Old Pete began ladling out the soup.
Almost green with envy, Romantic Bumbler’s stomach roared from incredible hunger, filling them with the feeling of a school cafeteria, causing both to internally criticize the game developers’ peculiar sense of humor.
Fortunately, the soup bowls they received still contained two chunks of meat.
Ace Aimu was not in a hurry to eat.
With just a glance at the meat soup and ensuring there were no special effects, he initiated a conversation: “My lord, we brought back these foodstuffs from the Scavenger’s Nest.”
“Snore snore—”
“The Calamity Shadow region is quite suitable for growing some plants…”
“Dribble dribble, snuffle snuffle—”
“I feel like…”
“Gulp, snuffle snuffle—”
Ace Aimu helplessly stopped and turned to look at Romantic Bumbler, who had buried her entire face in the bowl, seriously focused on her meal.
He genuinely didn’t understand; in the real world, what delicacy couldn’t you find?
Even if too lazy to go out, food delivery could satisfy the craving.
In contrast, the food at Star Dragon Ridge outpost was very bland; he had just tasted it, adding just a bit of salt.
The meat was rough and sour, to the extent that one would rather starve than eat it.
Romantic Bumbler also noticed his gaze and put down her licked-clean bowl, giving a thumbs-up.
Her eyes conveyed a message: You think it’s great too, right?
She was nearly going crazy with dieting, needing to maintain her weight for work, and unfortunately, she gained weight very easily, which meant she dared not even add dressing to her salads. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Whenever she was hungry at night, she couldn’t even drink water, for fear of swelling up the next day.
A meat soup with just a little salt not tasty?
Being able to hungrily consume meat soup without worrying about getting fat was indeed a wonderful thing.
Ace Aimu suddenly felt that he might have had a bit of a miscommunication with Romantic Bumbler just now during their exchange of glances.
Could it be that she really came in just to eat?
“Can I have another bowl, please?” Romantic Bumbler asked with a beaming smile, passing over her bowl.
Shaky Chef Old Pete was online again.
Ace Aimu forced himself to ignore her eating style and said, “My lord, perhaps we could try cultivating our own crops to solve the food shortage issue.”
Gathering food to exchange for Gold Coins was important for other players, but for Ace Aimu, who was keen on “farming,” he just wanted to get Official support for farming and was eager for the farming part to open up.
“It’s tough to grow edible crops on this land,” Lind said.
If it were truly possible to cultivate their own food, he certainly wouldn’t oppose it.
The reality was that crops buried in the ground wouldn’t survive, and while mutated crops were not inedible, digging for them in the Calamity Shadow region came with greater sacrifices than gains.
“I have a question,” Ace Aimu asked: “I saw that the vegetable garden’s soil has sprouted, were the potatoes sprouted before being planted, or did they sprout after planting?”
“After sprouting,” Lind replied.
“So you’re saying there could be a problem with the soil,” Ace Aimu said, slightly excited: “My lord, if I can cultivate crops without soil…
uh”
He suddenly stopped as the game’s realism made him subconsciously forget it was just that, a game – where the logic is different from the real world.
Lind, however, instantly understood Ace Aimu’s thoughts.
Hydroponics.
Quite the imaginative leap, but hard to realize.
Yet, if truly successful, maybe they could eat food free of curses and pollution.
He wasn’t much worried about mutations from overconsumption because discussing toxicity without considering dosage was nonsensical.
Without eating mutated crops for over a decade, there’s no chance of mutation, but by that time, people might have already starved to death.
“Oh?
Have you got a solution?” Lind asked, feigning intrigue.
“Do you have any beans?” Ace Aimu wanted to test the rules of this game world first.
“Yes.”
“If we can really grow bean sprouts from beans, that would suggest hydroponics is viable,” Ace Aimu didn’t mind NPCs hearing him talk.
The technology was too complex for NPCs to copy.
He also thought NPCs wouldn’t understand a word, but he was speaking more for Romantic Bumbler beside him.
However, noticing that all NPCs were looking at him, he subconsciously lowered his voice.
The game was too realistic.
Being watched put quite the pressure on him.
If it indeed worked, he’d also need to gather information offline.
And with this backdrop of a post-medieval apocalyptic world, he’d have to start from scratch with hydroponic technology.
“There’s no plastic either, I’d need to start from scratch with refining, does it mean finding oil?
Suddenly, I miss Minecraft’s crafting table.” It was just a fleeting sentiment; he wasn’t sure to what extent the game would support this.
Besides, this was a Magic World, playing it with purely scientific methods would lose its charm.
Hydroponics was just speculation, a brainchild that had just been born.
Ace Aimu then expressed his second idea, which was also his initial plan: “My lord, perhaps we can try planting mutated crop seeds in the Calamity Shadow region.
The Scavenger’s Nest there would make a fine field.”
Lind’s eyebrows raised: “Your idea isn’t bad!
So, Ace Aimu, Romantic Bumbler…
”
“Hmm?” Romantic Bumbler, who was busy eating, heard her name and looked up puzzled: “Here!”
“Go gather information on mutant seeds, to solve the territory’s food shortage.
If you succeed, perhaps you can lease a plot of land for cultivation, and the crops you grow can also be collected.”
Ace Aimu’s eyes lit up: “We’ll make it happen!”
The farming system activation was right in front of him!
