Chapter 27: The Eighth Child’s Burden
[Congratulations, Master! You have successfully fused 100 ordinary wheat seeds and obtained Bronze-tier Strong-Acting Wheat]
[Bronze-tier Strong-Acting Wheat seed]
[Effects: strong resistance to natural disasters, growth cycle period halved, able to produce 10,000 catties of wheat per acre of land. The resulting wheat can be used to improve the body and treat a certain degree of illness]
Watson’s lips curled into a smile when he looked at the wheat seed in his hand.
The fused wheat seed was the size of a thumb. It was sparkling and translucent, like jade.
“What is this? It looks very delicious.”
“Why did the handful of wheat seeds in Lord Watson’s hand suddenly disappear?”
A few farmers nearby were drinking water, but when they saw Watson performing the system fusion, water began spurting out of their mouths. Everyone came over and looked at it curiously, as it was the first time they had seen a jade-like seed.
“This is the powerful wheat that I used magic to fuse. Planting it will increase the output value by a lot.” Watson smiled and handed the two seeds in his hand to the nearest farmer. The farmer had given him two hundred seeds earlier, but the end result was only two.
“How many times can the output value increase? Can it be doubled?”
Someone asked, seemingly disapproving.
It was not that big of a deal even if the output value was doubled. A normal acre of land could produce 100 catties of wheat, and ten acres of land could at most produce 1000 catties of wheat. That was if one was lucky to be free of drought or flood disasters.
One catty of wheat could be sold for one copper coin, and 1000 catties of wheat was equivalent to 10 silver coins. In addition, the Holy Dragon Kingdom had a system. Anyone who owned a territory and planted it had to pay half of the grain as tax every year. In this way, ten acres of land could only earn five silver coins a year.
Of course, the kingdom had another policy, which was that those who did not farm did not have to pay taxes. This was to protect a down-and-out baron like Edward. After all, working hard for an entire year might bring in profits if they were lucky, but it would be a loss if they were unlucky. That was the reason Edward put the land aside.
Unlike Miles Manor which had three hundred acres of land, the six farmers could handle ten acres of land with ease. The reason they came together was because they saw Watson’s talent and wanted to curry favor with a future powerhouse.
However, despite Watson’s strength, he was still a child who approached problems too simply.
At the sight of those disapproving expressions on their faces, Watson smiled and raised a finger. “Not twice, but this number.”
Ten times?
The farmers looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes. It was worth it if it was ten times the yield.
“It’s a hundred times.”
“What did you say, Lord Watson? A hundred times?”
The breathing of the six farmers became heavy, and their eyes were full of disbelief.
A hundred times. Miles Manor had three hundred acres of land, and a year’s wheat yield was only 30,000 catties. According to Watson’s words, if this place was filled with the fused powerful wheat, it could produce 100,000 catties a year.
The less land, the more yield. Was he for real?
If someone else had said this to them, they would have laughed in disdain and thought that they were crazy. However, the person who said that was Watson, a Silver-tier mage. How could he joke with them? Still, Watson was still young, and such a possibility was not impossible.
“You’ll soon find out whether it’s true.”
Watson didn’t say much. He was just thinking how surprised the farmers would be if news broke out that the wheat seed’s growth cycle was halved and that it could be planted one extra cycle compared to ordinary wheat.
…
It took half an hour to fuse all the wheat seeds brought by the farmers.
The farmers brought tens of thousands of seeds. After fusing, only hundreds of white jade-like seeds were buried in the ground. It was as if jewels had grown out of the ground, and the air was filled with the unique fragrance of plants.
The six farmers finally understood why they had brought six people over from the ten acres of land. If the field really was as Lord Watson claimed and could produce a hundred times more crops…the outcome would be completely unimaginable.
After arranging work for the farmers, Watson crossed his arms behind his head and returned the way he came.
“It’s a pity that these guys did not bring many seeds. After the fusion, there are only a few hundred, not even half of the ten acres! Tomorrow or the day after, I’ll get Zeke and Zenoah to make another trip to the surrounding farms and buy some seeds.”
The number of seeds after the fusion was too small. It still couldn’t reach the effect of 100,000 catties. At most, it would be 30,000 to 50,000 catties a year, which amounted to several gold coins.
That amount of money was nothing to Watson.
To him, planting Bronze-tier wheat was only the first step. After that, he would continue to fuse and improve the quality. Sooner or later, those crops would become Gold-tier wheat.
“In addition to buying wheat seeds, I also need to discuss with Big Brother and ask for his help to contact the nearby blacksmiths and get a batch of longbows. I can’t forget about my promise to forge weapons for Scarlet.”
Watson realized that he was really working hard. He was clearly the youngest child in the family, yet the burden fell on him alone. As long as his father was more reliable, he would not be like this.
He sighed and walked to the chicken farm.
He had been busy fusing his armor and had told some people to throw Golden Flash to the chicken farm. Watson did not pay much attention after that. He wondered if Golden Flash and the five Gold-tier fowl inside the chicken farm were fighting.
Whoos.h.!.+
Just as he arrived at the chicken farm, a piercing sound rang out, and a rock the size of a fist came at him.
Watson did not move and let the rock land on his body. The rock collided with a thump against the small black s.h.i.+rt he was wearing and shattered. The small s.h.i.+rt was the Ancient Knight Armor that he had just fused, but because it was too ostentatious for him to wear the armor outside, he decided to change its shape.
That was the advantage of Gold-tier armor. Not only was its defense strong, but it could also change at will. Previously, he damaged his clothes often when he used Phoenix Wings, but it seemed he did not have to worry about it anymore.
“What’s going on?”
After tidying up the clothes that were in a mess, Watson looked up and found that the chicken farm was bustling with activity. Five Pentacolor Fragrant Chickens, led by Emperor Cluck, pecked at Golden Flash. As their wings flapped, a strong wind blew, and stones flew everywhere as their claws moved.
Surrounded by the five hens, Golden Flash held its head with its two short and thick front claws and scurried away.
Watson touched his chin and felt that something was not right. Golden chimera had territorial awareness, so he was worried that Golden Flash and the Pentacolor Fragrant Chicken would not get along, but according to his estimate, it should have been Golden Flash who was fighting the Pentacolor Fragrant Chickens. After all, a hundred Pentacolor Fragrant Chickens could not be compared to the Golden Chimera in terms of combat strength. Why was it the complete opposite?
Golden Flash seemed to have noticed him standing at the entrance of the chicken farm and rushed immediately to him before climbing up his shoulder. It pointed at the Pentacolor Fragrant Chicken with its claws and pointed at itself. Its big black eyes were full of tears. He felt extremely wronged.
At this moment, the Pentacolor Fragrant Chicken, led by Emperor Cluck, walked proudly to Watson.
Emperor Cluck shook its five-colored c.o.c.ks...o...b.. as if it despised golden flash for ‘complaining.’ It spread its wings, shook them, and two eggs fell out.
Using its wings to protect the eggs, Emperor Cluck raised its right claw and hooked it toward Golden Flash.
“Golden Flash, did you steal someone’s eggs?” Watson asked.
A whimpering sound came from its mouth. Golden Flash explained while hiding its furry head in its arms, shying away from Emperor Cluck’s gaze.
Watson felt both angry and amused. He understood that it was probably Golden Flash’s first time here. When it saw the eggs in the chicken farm, it could not help but want to eat them. In the end, it attracted the anger of the Pentacolor Fragrant Chicken.
“All that ruckus was really worrying.”
Watson looked at the chicken farm that had become a mess because of the fight between a few Gold-tier magical beasts. He shook his head and decided to rebuild this place in the near future to separate the two different beasts. There still seemed to be many things that he, the eighth child, had to do.