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Chapter 826: Conference of Agriculture Mobilization Movement

Translator: TransN Editor: Meh

The Months of Demons this year lasted for nearly five months. By the time murky clouds that overhung the Western Region were dispersed by warm sunbeams, it was late spring.

Roland faced a pressing issue.

It was spring plowing.

Although the war against the Southernmost Region during the Months of Demons, when the other powers were all sort of in a state of dormancy, had won him a lot of time to prelude the unification operation, it was also undeniable that he had consumed tons of food in winter.

Due to the lack of food input and the rapid increase in the population, the food in the granary in the Border Area was, for the first time, exhausted. Roland was secretly happy that he had entrusted the seeds of Golden Ones developed by Leaf to Petrov and had ordered him to promote engineered food to the public right after the seizure of Longsong Stronghold; otherwise, they would not have peacefully made their way through the Months of Demons this year.

The concrete boats traveling between the border and the Longsong area was the lifeline of the First Army, for they transported pancakes made from coarse-grained wheat flour to soldiers fighting at the front.

As a result of the urgency of the matter, Roland convened a spring plowing conference right after the celebration of "Victory Day".

On that day, not only the Ministry of Agriculture but the whole City Hall, including secondary officials in the Longsong area, the district governor, Petrov, and the governor of Fallen Dragon Ridge, Spear, were all summoned to the Neverwinter castle. It should be noted that Spear Passi was directly transferred by Maggie. Ghastly pale and frightened, she complained about her rough flight when she landed and bowed to Roland.

Calvin Kant, the lord of the Northern Region, was absent, but he sent his daughter Edith and his second son Cole to attend the conference on behalf of him. Roland was not sure if it was an illusion, but he noticed, somehow, that the Pearl of the Northern Region had become more radiant since her return from the Great Snow Mountain. Compared with her resplendency, Cole seemed increasingly frail and insignificant. Roland also wondered whether his attire was a little too... androgynous?

Anyhow, the attendees of the conference came from all parts of Graycastle, except the Eastern Region, whose lord had yet to pledge fealty to Roland, and the Central Region, where Roland had yet to establish a well-functioning city hall. Without these two regions, the conference could be considered as the first National Congress.

Roland surveyed the hall in satisfaction and then tapped the desk.

Everybody instantly became silent. All the eyes rested upon the king.

"You must be wondering why I wrote the word 'operation' on the banner." Roland pointed to the red banner on the wall behind him. "Because this is essentially a war. It determines whether we can successfully implement our strategic plan this year and whether we're doing the right thing for people in Neverwinter! I promised to refugees when I took them in that as long as they worked hard, they would never starve."

"In the past three years, I fulfilled my promise. My domain expanded from a small, underdeveloped border town to more than half of the territory of Graycastle. I see no reason that we can't make it happen this year. Our kingdom would only be stable when our subjects aren't worried about food. Therefore, I need every one of you to take spring plowing seriously. All of you have to reach your agricultural production target this year in accordance with the plowing regulations and guidelines drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture." Roland paused for a second and then continued, "Also, starting from this year, there'll be an assessment specifically targeting the agricultural progress in your jurisdiction, which will include evaluations on how much virgin land you've cultivated, the number of farmers in your domain, as well as the agricultural production. These factors will be incorporated into the criteria for a competent governor!"

Perceiving the confusion among all the attendees, Roland smiled faintly. "It's OK you don't know about these evaluation items, because Sirius, the Minister of Agriculture, will later spend one day explaining to you in detail. In conclusion, if you fail to meet my criteria, it tells me that you aren't competent to rule the region and are no longer suitable for the governor position."

Nobody uttered a word, but Roland could clearly sense the tension among them from their expressions.

This was exactly the effect Roland wanted to achieve. The abortion of the feudal system not only meant the cancellation of feudal rights but also meant the abolishment of the hereditary system. Roland allowed those officials to receive benefits from the government, but he would not tolerate any delays of his development plan.

The agriculture assessment was simply a start.

Roland uncovered the curtain behind him, revealing the big red number underneath, and said, "I'll set an easy target for you for the first year in terms of other criteria. But in terms of agricultural production, I want you to reach this number!"

Everyone gasped. "2,500,000 kg?"

Roland was not surprised at their reaction. The average production in this era was 500,000 kg for a mid-sized city and 750,000 for a big one like the old king's city. The first time they had grown Golden Ones in Border Town, the food production was a little over 350,000 kg, which had been considered as an unprecedented big harvest at that time.

Of course, the actual food production was largely influenced by farmland areas and the number of farmers. Unlike Border Town which relied heavily on high-return crops, big cities totally depended on the surrounding villages and small towns, as well as the work of thousands of farmers to obtain such a big quantity of food. Because of this, he decided to include farmland areas and the number of farmers in the evaluation.

The fewer farmers were, the more workers would be in the factory.

Roland signaled everybody to be quiet. "In fact, when you see the testing field for Golden Twos, you'll understand this target isn't that unrealistic. After numerous repeated tests by Leaf, Golden Twos can now yield food more than two times Gold Ones per unit. The wheat-straw in the field is overloaded by ears of wheat."

Petrov exclaimed in surprise. "Your Majesty... is it true that Golden Twos can yield two times more?"

Among all the officials outside Neverwinter, Petrov was the only one who was impressed by the amazing production rate of Golden Ones. During the war in the Months of Demons, the Longsong Area had provided the First Army with over half of the total supplies, thanks to the cultivation of Golden Ones that had generated a huge amount of excess. In comparison, the normal wheat they had previously grown could not even suffice to feed people in one city.

"That's right, but Golden Twos isn't perfect either." Roland looked at Leaf standing next to him and announced, "Now I'll hand over to Miss Leaf from the Witch Union, who will talk about the features of Golden Twos in detail."

After a slight nod, Leaf walked up to him with a bag of grown wheat in her hand and showed it to everybody. She said, "Golden Twos is different from any wheat you've grown before. It can only be grown once. So, you have to come to Neverwinter annually to get new seeds. I've strengthened the root of the plant so that it can absorb nutrition from the soil deep down the earth. That's also the reason it requires a lot of fertilizer; otherwise, we'll have to adopt a fallow system by marking out three farmlands and using them in a rotation. Also..."

Roland stroked his chin in satisfaction while watching Leaf become more confident and comfortable to speak in public. Golden Twos could be viewed as a new type of wheat that produced its own "Jinkela". Its roots could extend four to five meters underground and absorb nutrients more efficiently. Apart from being unable to reproduce, it surpassed Golden Ones in every aspect.

This sole defect of Golden Twos was actually a merit for Neverwinter. As the plant could not reproduce, the other cities would have to rely on the new king's city's supply once they started to grow Golden Twos. At the same time, other low-yield wheat would be obsolete and pushed out of the market. In a sense, Golden Twos enabled Roland to create a food monopoly, and the government would definitely benefit a lot from the control of the food resources.

Roland believed no farmers would want to grow normal wheat again after they tried out Golden Twos.

The promotion of the newly-developed seeds throughout the whole nation would largely alleviate the problem of food deficiency.

With more food... he could feed more people.

Because now, he no longer contented himself with ruling Graycastle only.

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Chapter 827: War Supplies

Translator:Transn_IOL

Editor:Meh

Edith was the first to raise questions after Leaf finished. "Your Majesty, is it safe for us ordinary people to consume the magic-engineered wheat?"

It was probably the problem that the people here were most concerned about. After the Pearl of the Northern Region brought that up, not only Petrov but also Spear were anxious to get a straight answer.

Roland replied with a smile, "First of all, there's no significant difference between Golden Twos and Golden Ones, for both of them are developed by Leaf. The only difference is that Golden Twos yields more food than Golden Ones. Second, although it's enhanced by magic power, the plant itself doesn't contain any, so you don't need to worry that it will cause harm to ordinary people. In fact, the oatmeal and the pancake I ate a few days ago were actually made from Golden Twos in the testing field."

Roland somehow remembered the fervent discussion about natural food, hybrid food, and genetically engineered food in the modern world. Some people stressed that the best food was natural food, but they had forgotten what natural food had originally looked like.

The origin of Golden Twos was very complicated. To fully explain it, Roland had to educate them on genetic mutation and the mechanism of heredity, a part of knowledge that even Leaf did not know much about. Although Leaf's ability could induce great changes to plants in a short period of time, she had to constantly supply the plants with magic power to sustain the change, and the change could not pass down to next generations. If the change was too great, the plants would die instantly when the supply of magic power suspended.

Therefore, when Leaf cultivated golden wheat, she used her ability mainly to create genetic mutations and accelerate the growing speed of the plants. Then, she picked out those fit for survival and eliminate those that were not. After numerous rounds of selection and reproduction, she finally cultivated a species with a distinctive character. The process was no different than traditional farming, except it was a lot faster. The selection process, which usually would take hundreds of years, had been completed in merely two years.

Roland had once seen what an original watermelon looked like. It was a fist-sized fruit wrapped in a hard shell with several pieces of yellow flesh in it, pretty much like a mandarin. By the 17th Century, however, the flesh had turned to a red color and the fruit itself had also become much larger. Unfortunately, over half of the fruit was filled with white tissues, with only four or five spoons of eatable flesh.

Apart from watermelon, many fruits people often saw nowadays looked quite different from what they had looked like in the past. In fact, the same held true for plants and animals. The most typical example was dogs, an originally non-existent species that had transformed from wolves as a result of generations of human influences.

Therefore, the so-called natural food was also a product of repeated human selection and filtering. The true, original food was most likely tasteless.

Plus, not only human beings but also other species, from mammals all the way to microorganisms, were all constantly changing to adapt better to the environment. In Roland's opinion, it was as natural for human beings to build a power station as yeasts ferment bread, because life itself was a part of nature.

Roland knew these theories were beyond the understandings of these local officials, so he simplified his answer to two sentences: a) It was safe to eat Golden Ones, and it was certainly OK to eat Golden Twos; b) I ate them as well. The best way to persuade them in this era was that the king set an example for his people.

Seeing that everybody was now convinced, Roland went on, "Furthermore, like what we're doing in Neverwinter, all food trades in your city should be supervised and controlled by the secondary City Hall. Private food sale is forbidden. Barov, the Governor-in-Chief, will talk about the detailed implementation of the policy."

Countess Spear Passi raised her brows. "Your Majesty, if Golden Twos does provide high yields as you've described, there must be a large excess after all subjects are fed. That'll create a huge financial burden for the government if City Hall plans to buy back all the excess. The population in Fallen Dragon Ridge is just a little over 10,000. Considering that, do we also have to produce so much food?"

"Yes, because we aren't going to consume the excess of food but to store it."

"Store it?" Spear was a little surprised.

"For the upcoming Battle of Divine Will." Roland pronounced the words slowly.

Other than attracting immigrants to Graycastle, the other reason he forced local officials to promote Golden Twos was this battle that was going to determine the survival of all human beings. Since Roland was born in peacetime and had not experienced the cruelty of a prolonged war, he could only make war preparations based on what he had learned from histories.

The worst scenario Roland could think of was that the population reduced by 30% and that all young, abled ones went to war, leaving women and children working in the plant to provide supplies to the front. In that case, the farmland would be very likely deserted. If, however, they had food excess that could last two to three years, they might be able to survive the most difficult wartime and wait until things turned better.

Roland had discussed the matter with Karl Van Bate, the Minister of Construction. The latter believed that a granary that was well-designed, well-structured and well taken care of could preserve grains for at most five years. Although stale grains of one or two years old would not taste as good as fresh ones, nobody would give much thought of it when they were overwhelmed by the bitterness of a war.

It was worth noting that there were high-yield crops other than wheat in Leaf's testing field. After two years of experimenting, Leaf had successfully enhanced other imported crops, such as sugar canes, corn and potatoes, and cultivated their high-yield breeds. Corn and potatoes, in particular, genetically produced more food than wheat. The reasons Roland chose to promote Golden Twos rather than these two plants were: a) he could not easily create a monopoly on food trades as they could reproduce; b) their storage life was shorter than grains'.

Of course, agriculture was a very complex industry, which involved food for both human beings and animals... For example, poultry relied heavily on fodder beans. However, Roland had no time to carefully plan that part out at the moment, as the food problem in wartime was already a project big enough for him to worry about.

Since most of the attendees knew what the Battle of Divine Will stood for, nobody raised questions on the policy pertaining to the survival of human beings again. At the end of the conference, Roland fastened his eyes onto Scroll and said, "I hope that we add agriculture to our secondary education as a subject so as to train people into experts who specialize in farming various plants and crops."

As the education level in other cities was incomparable to that in Neverwinter, Roland felt it hard to realize the democratization of education throughout the whole Graycastle. As such, he believed it was easier to dispatch some trained professionals from Neverwinter to supervise the agricultural industry in other cities. The movement would set a precedent for the other industries, such as chemistry, architecture and medical science. He did not expect his subjects to conduct their own research or construct new theories, but simply to apply what they had learned to the mundane operation of the industry.

After the conference, Wendy brought Roland a piece of news.

The witches who were exploring the snow mountain of the Western Region had safely docked at Neverwinter.

When Roland arrived at the wharf, someone dashed to him and threw herself into his arms.

Her blond hair tickled his cheeks. The air was impregnated with the scent that Roland was so familiar with.

"I'm back," Chuckling, Nightingale whispered in his ear.

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Chapter 828: Nightingale's Secret Plan

Translator: TransN Editor: Meh

Roland was too overwhelmed by the swell of emotions to develop an immediate response. He wanted to reproach her for risking her own life, but his words, which were about to come out, finally yielded to a look of resignation when he saw Nightingale's beaming smile.

In the end, he patted her on the back and said, "Be more careful next time."

Nightingale nodded and then shook her head. She whispered to him in a voice that nobody but he could hear, "Unlike Anna, I can't convert those drawings to physical entities... This is the only thing that I can do for you." She then paused for a moment and went on, "But please don't worry. My top priority is to protect you... and stand by your side. I won't recklessly put myself in a dangerous situation."

Nightingale flushed at her own bluntness. Although her voice kind of trailed off in the middle, Roland still clearly heard the word "you".

The act had probably consumed all Nightingale's valor. With these words, she disengaged herself and vanished in the Mist.

It was hard to imagine that the girl, who had to obviously muster all her courage to proclaim her feeling, would actually challenge a fearsome monster to a duel in the ruin, with nothing but a flintlock and some explosives in her hand.

Roland was deeply moved.

"Please let me continue to protect you in the future."

Hearing Nightingale's calming voice from behind, Roland somehow felt a sense of security which he had not experienced for a long time.

Next, as a common practice, he gave all the other witches a welcoming hug.

Nonetheless, Roland was a little discomforted by the look of the Taquila survivors.

Unlike the laughing and cheering union members, the Taquila witches, following their leaders, landed in an orderly manner, each with a black box on the shoulder. When they passed Roland, however, they stared at Roland, eyes fastened onto him, full of ardent desires and a feverish aspiration that made Roland shudder uncontrollably.

Roland knew very well the reason behind their lusty gazes. Apparently, Pasha and some of the other witches had informed the God's Punishment Witches at the snow mountain of the Dream World. Apart from exploring, the purpose of their expedition was to transport the soul device to the Great Snow Mountain and transfer their souls to the devouring worms.

Roland did not mind wild gazes from women, but the problem was that most of the God's Punishment Witches had a male appearance. Roland understood that due to the limitation in the choices of shells, they were forced to pick male God's Punishment Warriors. However, for Roland, it was a very unnerving feeling to be stared by a person of the same sex.

Even though he knew the souls beneath these shells were female, he could not help feeling a little queasy under the scrutiny of a group of big, strong "male" warriors. It was even worse when the stares were overflowed with some ineffable eagerness.

After the greetings, Roland returned to the castle and found Nightingale had reappeared at his desk, her slender legs dangling in the air.

"So it's true... that those shells can enter the Dream World?"

It seemed some union witches had also learned the news.

Roland shrugged. "I was surprised at first as well. They will intrude the dream if they disconnect themselves in the area covered by the beams of light. Those beams are more a transportation channel than a connection with the deities."

Nightingale pursed her lips without uttering a word. Her eyes, however, brightened as she listened. She even cocked her feet to Roland's knees. Evidently, she was much bolder when they were alone.

"No!" Roland immediately objected. "I know what you're thinking. You want to convert yourself to a God's Punishment Witch and enter the dream. I won't allow you to do that."

Roland had learned long before that Nightingale, unlike Anna, was more audacious. So he instantly renounced her crazy idea after noticing what she was planning on. If he did not, Nightingale would probably really plunge into action.

"But I..."

"There's no room for negotiation," Roland interrupted her decisively. "Entering the dream world doesn't mean you're fused with my mind, nor does it mean that you'll become immortal. It's just a fake, strange world which has been eroded by some unknown power. Perhaps someday it'll just vanish. Plus, even if you enter my dream on a daily basis, that's just one night. What about all those other moments? Are you planning to live in a shell that doesn't feel forever?"

Nightingale lowered her head. After a long silence, she muttered, "I just feel it's too unfair that they can go to places you once visited."

Roland was amused by her brooding tone. "It's an unimaginable price they've paid for. A senseless life of eternity is more terrible than a life of imprisonment. The Dream World is simply a small comfort to them. There's no need to envy them. You said 'My top priority is to protect you and... stand by your side'. Are you planning to break your promise?" Roland mimicked her voice. "I don't want a bearded God's Punishment Warrior to stick around all day."

Abashed, Nightingale turned her head immediately. "I, I got it! I didn't say that I would live in a shell. You did though."

Roland smiled. "Would you like some Chaos Drink?"

She instantly turned back. "Yes!"

"Well, she's really easy to please," thought Roland.

Roland produced a pack of delicious dried fish from the drawer and put it on the desk, after which, he uncorked a new drink coming in a sky-blue bottle and filled Nightingale's glass. Roland said, "Thank you for your help. Agatha told me if you did not severely wound that monster, everybody would have been in danger."

Nightingale gulped down the drink and exhaled a long breath. She nibbled one piece of dried fish and rubbed her nose. "Anytime. You're being over-polite."

Roland shook his head. "No, I'm not. If all the members of the exploration team of the Witch Union are killed in this operation, it'll be a permanent loss for Neverwinter. Therefore, your job is equally important as Anna's. You just specialize in different things. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Nightingale could not help smiling. She soon continued to chew her dried fish as if to cover her joy and the intricacies of her little mind. "Um... right, you said the Dream World has been eroded by an unknown power. What does that mean? Will you be in danger?"

Roland was amused by the stiff manner in which she switched her subject, yet he did not point out but simply replied, "That's a long story, but one thing is for sure, which is whatever that world becomes in the end, it won't affect the real me. No beams of light will appear if I don't want to dream."

As to the unknown power, Garcia said the Martialist Association would eventually lead their new recruits to uncover the mysterious veil of the dream world. No matter what she referred to, Roland would only know what she was talking about after seeing it.

Compared with the erosion, Roland cared more about the newly amended Mathematical Olympiad textbook.

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Chapter 829: Findings at the Snow Mountain

Translator: TransN Editor: Meh

The Mathematical Olympiad textbook itself did not bear much significance, but the premonition attaching to it did. During the initial exploration of the Dreamland, Roland had discovered that the books that he had never read were all blank, and this theory applied to both the books on bookstands and those in the library. Most books were nothing but blank sheets topped with a cover. He even speculated that those book covers were productions of some thin threads of his memories fading into oblivion. If he had never seen a book, it would never exist in the dream world.

But the Mathematical Olympiad textbook on Zero's desk debunked his theory.

He wondered why he had not noticed the peculiarity at the beginning. Had he overlooked it during the exploration in the first two or three months, or it was actually a change that occurred later?

If it was the latter, he had to probe into it.

If the Mathematical Olympiad textbook could come out of thin air and gradually restore its original appearance, would other books do the same trick? What about things he had never beheld?

Roland tried to figure out the connection between the three events, which were the strange power he had obtained, the extermination of Fallen Evils, and the release of the Force of Nature. He was eager to find out if they were the driven factors of the changes to this world.

"Your Majesty?"

Nightingale's voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

Roland looked down and found that he was stroking Nightingale's feet with his hands without noticing it. The thin fabrics of socks did not prevent him from touching Nightingale's smooth skin and dainty toes.

Nightingale looked a little embarrassed. "I changed my socks, but since I couldn't take a shower on the ship, I'm probably still a bit dirty... Would you mind if I taking a shower first?"

Roland was abashed. He did not know why he did that when his mind was apparently on some serious matters.

Plus, the equivocal remark "take a shower first" seemed to contain some unintended meanings, but his action was absolutely unintentional!

While he was rummaging for an appropriate answer, the knocking on the office door greatly alleviated his trouble. After Nightingale vanished in the Mist, Roland cleared his throat and said, "Come in."

Agatha came into the office. After an unceremonious bow, she asked, "All the samples from the Great Snow Mountain have been transferred to the Third Border City. Do you want to take a look?"

Roland managed to calm himself down in the guise of contemplation. He then gave an approving nod. "Of course, let's go now."

Agatha replied a "yes", but she soon turned around at the door and asked, "Are you not feeling well?"

"Why did you say that?" Roland was a little surprised.

Agatha answered in a serious tone, "Your voice sounds a little weird, which is a typical symptom of a cold. Although the Months of Demons has passed, it's still the coldest time of the year when snows melt, and people are most vulnerable to diseases at this time around. You aren't a witch, so you should take care of yourself, not only for you but for the whole human race. Do you understand? Before we take off, I suggest sending for Lily and asking her to check on you."

...

The physical examination did not take long, but Roland drank a bottle of "anti-illness water" made by Lily in great amusement. Under the protection of both his guards and the witches, Roland descended to the bottom of the Impassable Mountain Range.

He was a little relieved when he saw the Taquila survivors.

Since all of them were frequent visitors of the Dreamland who had experienced the pleasure of the Dream World except Pasha and Alethea, they looked more approachable. The visitors included Phyllis a.k.a. "No. 76", Faldi a.k.a. "Magic Bug Nest", Dawnen a.k.a. "Matte Curtains", and Ling a.k.a. "Shadow Walker". Among them, Phyllis was the only one who had a female appearance.

Alethea ventured, "I've heard that you plan to raise those unknown bugs in our hall and tame them? Mortal king, I have to say you're as bold and crazy as those researchers in the Quest Society. You know one day, your curiosity will eventually destroy you. Those are species left by enemies from the deep ocean!"

Roland shrugged carelessly. "That's why I want you to guard them. The captured bugs aren't aggressive. They can't even drill holes. One secret chamber would be enough to confine them. Plus, according to Agatha's observation, these bugs don't have self-consciousness but the instinct of feeding and reproduction. There's a chance that the multi-eyed monster regains its control over them. However, if Neverwinter is so defenseless that even a creature as stupid as that can approach our city wall, we would probably have been wiped out long before."

"Isn't Agatha also a member of the Quest Society?" Alethea swayed her tentacle disapprovingly. As she had also been a higher ascendant before her conversion, she did not pay as much respect to the Ice Witch as Phyllis did.

Agatha, who happened to become the subject of their conversation, simply twitched her lips, apparently having no intention to involve herself in this altercation.

"If you really want to make a fuss about it, Celine is also a member of the Quest Society. If she hears you say this nonsense, she'll certainly go against you." Pasha came forward and apologized to Roland, "Alethea meant no offence. She's just worried that those mutated bugs will have negative impacts on Neverwinter."

Roland waved his hands. "That's fine. Let's go take a look."

He knew that Alethea's fear was not baseless, but what Agatha and Lightning wrote in their reports carried a significant meaning. If he exterminated the bugs because of some potential risks, it would be like throwing out a child along with the bath water. Placing them at the bottom of the mountains was already a safety measure.

"OK. Please follow me." Pasha nodded.

...

Across the spacious hall and a narrow corridor, they found themselves in an empty room almost as big as four or five castles. In the light of several Stones of Lighting in the wall, they detected the obscure outline of the room. Littered with loose soil, the ground underneath appeared to be excavated thoroughly. On the other side of the room, they could hear interminable patters of running water.

Pasha introduced the room to the visitors, "This is a culture room newly set up by Fran. It's absolutely safe in here, for there's only one exit and the underground water was the seepage from the rocks. Are you... really planning to grow mushrooms and mutated bugs in here though?"

Agatha further explained, "Because those huge mushrooms were exactly what the bugs feed on. If they can grow in here like they normally do in the natural environment, we can obtain a large number of mutated bugs effortlessly.

If they could not transplant the mushrooms, they would have to resort to Lily's artificial cultivation method. Roland thought It was a pity that the mushrooms down the ruin at the snow mountain were not edible because of their poisonous nature, for from their size and quantity, they were definitely high protein food that could serve as a meat substitute.

"What are those bugs for?" Phyllis asked out of curiosity. "If you want to study them, just grow a few and that should do."

Roland eyed Agatha and answered, "They'll probably play a big role in the development of Neverwinter if the report is correct."

Agatha responded with a nod. She picked a strange bug crawling on the mushroom and dropped it to the ground. Then, she nailed the bug with two ice pitons in its joints on its head and around its waist.

The bug soon became motionless after a fierce struggle.

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Chapter 830: The Function of the Mutated Bug

Translator: TransN Editor: TransN

As what the Ice Witch had written in her report, the bug, which resembled a hairless spider or an ant with a big belly, had a slim upper body with projected joints and a prodigious lower body almost as big as a grown man's torso.

It was evident that this was not the largest size the bug could grow up to, for, to stuff a Mad Demon into its abdomen required its belly to swell out to be at least two or three times its normal size. Based on the "photographs" taken at the scene, when the bug had a Mad Demon inside its body, it would tuck its head into the ground, leaving its swollen belly up in the air. Therefore, it looked like a huge, fully-grown egg at the first glance.

"Did you kill it?" Phyllis asked.

"That'll save us some trouble. It wasn't aggressive, but it ran pretty fast." With these words, Agatha thrust the long sword made of ice into the bug's belly.

Some stinky, milky-white liquid instantly gushed out.

Agatha said, "The slime can be used as a preservative. It's fluid under normal conditions, but it'll slowly solidify and turn into something like egg white as time goes by."

"And... are we going to eat it?" Faldi frowned.

Agatha shook her head. "I haven't eaten it, but I guess it won't be very tasty. The key lies in another liquid in its body."

This time, after spending seven or eight minutes flaying the bug's back, Agatha took out a slimy green organ.

"It looks like a gallbladder." Phyllis poked out her head in excitement.

"But it isn't gall in here." Agatha carefully cut it open and added two drops of dark green liquid to the slimes on the ground, after which, she produced two ice pitons and quickly mixed the two liquids together. "What comes next is the key."

Roland held his breath, watching the "preservative solution" slowly change.

Before long, the liquid gradually thickened and the Ice Witch's movement slowed down. In about two or three minutes, the ice pitons were stuck in the slimes as if it was glued to something.

Roland stuck out his fingers and pressed the liquid surface, only to find that the slimes had turned into a gel-like substance. Although it felt soft, he could only make a dent of several millimeters in it.

Phyllis exclaimed in surprise, "This is..."

"Biological rubber," Roland answered excitedly. "This is what made Fran get stuck in there."

Roland had noticed in Agatha's first report the peculiar feature of the bugs down the ruin. He had thought it was similar to spiders' cobwebs, but after he had read subsequent reports, he had found the solidified slimes were as flexible and tough as rubber. It could not only cling to the surface of an object but could be also molded into various shapes. These two properties made it highly practical.

Indeed, Roland had been asking people to look for rubber plants. He believed once he found a sample, Leaf could enhance it and subsequently turn it into high-yield crops that could grow on a mass scale. Unfortunately, his search for either rubber trees or rubber grass was fruitless. Nobody, not even people from the Kingdom of Dawn, which was famous for its diverse species, had heard of such plants. As a result, he had to rely on Soraya's ability to produce elastic materials.

The lack of natural elastic materials greatly limited the productivity of Neverwinter.

With more new machine tools being invested in production and a substantial increase in the plant's productivity and processing level, the deficiency in rubbers had become a prominent problem. Roland knew very well that rubber, which could be both natural and artificial, was simply a generalized term for all elastic materials. Nevertheless, he had no knowledge of specific rubber production procedures.

While Roland was suspecting that there were probably no rubber plants in this world, the reports on the exploration of the ruin at the snow mountain came to him as a pleasant surprise.

That was why he decided to cultivate these mutated creatures brought by monsters in the deep ocean despite potential risks.

Now that he had seen the bug in person, he knew that he had made the right decision.

Roland did not care much about the lasting power of the solidified slimes. As long as the material could seal and fasten moving parts, it could veritably be classified as rubber.

Agatha said slowly, "After reviewing the scene reconstructed by Summer, we found it was exactly those bugs that made Fran glued to the hole. They tied her tight with a net of slimes that streamed from their tails. However, the liquid in their belly alone won't solidify. Only when it's mixed with the liquid in the organ at the back will it become sticky and gooey. If Sylvie didn't find Fran with the Eye of Magic, we would have looked for her for another 10 to 15 days."

Pasha nodded. "I see. This is a really good material for making fishing nets and ropes."

Alethea retorted flatly, "Maybe good for fishing nets but not for ropes. It's too soft and stretchy. Nobody will like a rope that stretches infinitely. Plus, I don't think our learned mortal king would bring these unknown bugs to Neverwinter just to have some more salted fish." She paused for a second and then turned to Roland. "No matter what crazy research you want to conduct, don't forget that now you're representing parties other than Graycastle."

Her comment stunned Roland for a second. Roland had never expected that Alethea, who had been brooding on him being the sole leader of the united front, would understand his research intention, and certainly had never expected her to say something that, in a sense, acknowledged his leadership.

At this thought, Roland managed a smile. "Of course. If everything goes well, you'll soon see its wide variety of uses in the near future."

Pasha asked, "By the way, how do we make the bugs eject slimes without the monster that controlled them? We can't kill them every time, can we?"

Agatha put the organ into a leather bag and wiped her hands. "This is what we're going to research later. If nothing else works, we'll have to grow them on a mass scale."

Apart from the "rubber worm", Roland also checked some other new species taken from the ruin, such as the fruit plant that emanated a ghostly glow and a type of boneless transparent fish which lived in the underground river, but they were nothing next to the mutated bugs.

The glow of the fruit plant, which could not be used for street illumination, was simply an offspring of symbiosis, where a large number of glowing beetles nested in the fruit. Once the flesh was gone, those beetles would disperse while spreading out the seeds. The fish could hardly survive in the daylight, but could only live in an underground river. Although it was tasty, Roland did not think they could farm them on a large scale. They could only serve as a luxury for a few.

Having said that, Roland certainly did not expect that every new species would surprise him like the "rubber worm". He was content with the findings in the exploration of the snow mountain.

Before leaving the Third Border City, Pasha brought him two God's Punishment Witches that Roland had never met.

"Your Majesty, they volunteer to transfer their souls to become new devouring worms. But before that, could you take them to the Dreamland to let them experience the wonders of that incredible world once?"

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