Chapter 13 The Farming Dilemma <TOC> Chapter 15 Agricultural Machine Brothers
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Translator: SumTLMan
When Red Falcon moved too far away, it could no longer transmit real-time images or even sound; only text messages could be received.
Taking advantage of some free time, Zhou Yi organized the company’s first self-service barbecue team-building event.
The location was outdoors, around a bonfire. On the table, stainless steel trays held slabs of meat, this was a wild sheep hunted by the Warrior Crabs.
Originally, Zhou Yi wanted to bring out seasoning bottles like cumin, chili powder, and barbecue sauce, but he wasn’t sure if these aged foods had any side effects.
He himself wasn’t worried; his White Suan Ni body was no different from the Light Absorber species.
But his two employees were normal humans with regular digestive systems.
Safety first, after all.
However, since the meat was fresh, just a sprinkle of salt made it delicious.
A Jin ate heartily, grilling and eating simultaneously, fully indulging himself. Beside him, Gong Zheng paid attention to his manners, choosing to chew slowly in small bites, but still kept putting piece after piece of meat into his mouth.
“Today is the company’s first gathering, and also your welcome party.”
Zhou Yi handed each of them a backpack. “Onboarding gifts, open them and take a look.”
A Jin wiped the grease off his hands with his clothes. He turned the bag over and over but didn’t know how to open it. It was Gong Zheng, more worldly, who realized after a moment to unzip the zipper, revealing the contents inside.
“These clothes are really impressive.”
A Jin took out the black windbreaker inside, tried it on, looked left and right, his face full of satisfaction.
Both gift packs contained a windbreaker jacket, a pair of sweatpants, a sports water bottle, a hat, a set of underwear, two pairs of socks, a pair of sneakers, two towels, and an umbrella.
The difference was that A Jin received a pair of work gloves, while Gong Zheng got a quad-footed cane.
They changed into the full outfits; except for their hair and faces being a bit dirty, they didn’t look much different from people of his own era.
“These shoes, you don’t have to worry about stones at all; they don’t hurt your feet in the slightest!”
“They look really impressive.”
A Jin walked back and forth, couldn’t help but laugh.
Beside him, Gong Zheng had a solemn expression: “These things can’t be made by cities… They’re all divine-era artifacts sealed in the Dead Sea.”
“Such precious items, I can’t thank you enough.”
The apprentice alchemist hastily bowed.
A Jin saw this and quickly followed suit, bowing as well: “Thank you, Chairman!”
Zhou Yi said: “Eat.”
And so the meal officially began.
Zhou Yi asked about the marauder groups.
Last time, he took care of a trio, but it was best to figure out whose territory Grub Grain Town belonged to. Since the Wasteland Development Company was setting up here, they would inevitably interact with local forces.
Gong Zheng put down the meat skewer in his hand and said seriously: “Chairman, the marauders all come from the west; nearby, only Chicken Head Town to the west can serve as a base. But to travel between Chicken Head Town and Grub Grain Town, one needs to pass through the Death Dunes in between. We lack the necessary tools here and simply can’t get through; we can only wait for merchants from Chicken Head Town to come over.”
“Although the Stinging Antlions are ferocious, they are very afraid of bird species. The people from Chicken Head Town just need to lay down chicken feathers, blood, and bones along the way, and they won’t be attacked; it keeps the creatures at bay. But we can’t do that here.”
“So when merchants from over there come, they undercut prices, and we have no choice but to sell them what we find, or use mushrooms to buy linen, gloves, and some metal tools at high prices. The items sold to the town are usually second-hand and already damaged.”
“Nowadays, unless marauders are roaming and pillaging randomly, they usually have backing forces behind them.”
He sat on a stone, a reminiscing look on his face: “When I was an apprentice at the Alchemist Association, I heard other apprentices say that cities raising marauders is an open secret. Cities compete with each other through trade economy, technological knowledge, and ideological output. It seems peaceful on the surface, but in reality, they’re always thinking about swallowing up their competitors.”
“Within cities, they compete in economic capacity, living environment, and attraction to Enhancers. Outside the cities, they compete in combat mobilization capabilities. Marauders affiliated with different cities usually appear and pillage around other cities, both to strike at competitors and to gain substantial profits.”
“As for the marauders here.”
Gong Zheng returned to the topic: “I’m not sure how many there are, but it’s certain that they have Enhancers. Many residents in town have seen marauders appearing in the Mushroom Forest; they’ve sealed off the area, and there are knights riding monsters patrolling there.”
Zhou Yi thought of the mindset of that alchemist he had eliminated earlier.
——At a time like this…
The marauders appearing in Grub Grain Town seemed to have ulterior motives.
“Mushroom Forest… Chairman, I heard something from my father.”
The young man A Jin, who had been silently eating, joined the discussion: “My father said that in the past, some elders saw a miracle in the Mushroom Forest. They said there was a giant there who couldn’t stand up.”
“He said the giant was very tall and strong, like a sand dune. The giant might have been injured or had a broken leg… In any case, it tried to get up but couldn’t stand straight.”
“It’s like someone trying to prop themselves up but ultimately failing, and just lying back down.”
“But he told me not to tell anyone about it, to avoid causing trouble.”
Zhou Yi asked further: “Are there any other rumors about this giant?”
A Jin shook his head.
The trail seemed to have gone cold again.
Silence lingered for a while.
Gong Zheng spoke again: “I don’t know about this giant, but I do know about the Giant Mushrooms in the Mushroom Forest.”
“The Giant Mushroom species takes a long time to grow; it’s one of the raw materials alchemists collect for toxins.”
“These large mushrooms constantly squeeze out the living space of other plants around them. They absorb a large amount of Dead Light energy from the surrounding area and have a high energy absorption rate themselves. Living too close to a Giant Mushroom makes survival difficult.”
“But in the southern Mushroom Forest, a large concentration of Giant Mushrooms grows without affecting the growth of Black Hand Mushrooms and Exploding Mushrooms at their base, which is very strange.”
“According to A Jin, marauder groups led by Enhancers frequently appear in the Mushroom Forest, and hunting groups have repeatedly tried to enter…”
Gong Zheng paused for a moment and said seriously: “Chairman, allow me to propose a bold guess. The various Light Absorber species of mushrooms, led by the Giant Mushrooms there, may have parasitized that giant, continuously siphoning its energy, causing the already injured giant to struggle and now be completely immobile.”
“That giant may very well still be beneath the surface of the Mushroom Forest, being further drained by the mushrooms.”
Gong Zheng looked solemn: “If this giant who can’t stand exists and can, by himself, nourish and grow such a large mushroom colony, his strength is at least at C-class. A lifeform of this level already has the ability to destroy cities. If you plan to investigate and explore there, please be extremely cautious.”
Zhou Yi couldn’t help but take another look at this alchemist apprentice.
In the wasteland era, material conditions were harsh, but there was still no shortage of intelligent and talented people.
They were just limited in their thinking by their living environment and horizons.
Zhou Yi said: “This guess is valuable; I’ve noted it down.”
However.
The immediate priority is to get the farm up and running; the Mushroom Forest will be visited sooner or later but needs to be scheduled for later.
Zhou Yi recorded a new goal in his journal.
——Investigate the Mushroom Forest and find the giant.
Chapter 13 The Farming Dilemma <TOC> Chapter 15 Agricultural Machine Brothers