Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton - Chapter 1043

Chapter 1043: Chapter 610: Just One More Pound Chapter 1043: Chapter 610: Just One More Pound “`
“Two thousand?” Ange looked at the magic rice seeds in his hand, tilting his head before quickly putting them away. When he took them out again, each seed had become plump and was emitting a faint glow–these were the enhanced magic rice seeds.

Radiad frowned at Ange’s actions. What did it mean? Was switching to a different type of seed the only response to his challenge?

Radiad’s provocation was not a spur-of-the-moment decision; he had recognized Ange.

The Lord of Annihilation had not mentioned the restoration of Radiad’s memory, and Ange hadn’t made any particular effort to disguise himself, so Radiad recognized him at a glance.

Radiad had intended to provoke Ange, to anger him and make him act irrationally, but Ange’s reaction was unexpected. Changing seeds? Why? Could there be seeds with higher yields than two thousand per acre?

Impossible, absolutely impossible. The more reasonable explanation was that he was scared, terrified. Since he couldn’t win anyway, he might as well switch to some ordinary seeds to muddle through the contest, to prevent his high-yield grains from being leaked. It must be so.

In a world where the average grain yield is around two to three hundred catties per acre, convincing Radiad of the existence of a seed with a yield of over two thousand catties is more far-fetched than believing he could get pregnant.

What to do? Radiad turned to look at the phantom on the stele. He could never have imagined that the Lord of Annihilation would project himself here to participate in the grain contest.

Although he didn’t know what conditions were required to manifest a projection, the fact that the Lord of Annihilation had only done so twice before indicated that the cost must be substantial.

Yet, after listening to their reports, especially about a magic array that made crops grow in an hour, the Lord of Annihilation decided to join the grain contest immediately. Was there something special about that magic array? Wasn’t it just a time acceleration magic array?

Indeed, a time acceleration magic array was a fantastic thing, but even the legendary Time Dragon could achieve the same effect. It was hardly something to make the Lord of Annihilation risk a hefty price to compete.

After his grains had been enhanced by divine power, they reached a yield of sixteen hundred catties per acre. He inflated the number a bit to scare Ange, hoping to provoke him.

To his surprise, Ange simply changed his seeds and ignored him, leaving Radiad at a loss for what to say with all his prepared remarks stuck in his throat.

If he had skin as thick as lightning, he might still throw out trash talk, but ultimately, Radiad was too simple and couldn’t bring himself to do it, so he begrudgingly readied himself for the competition.

The center of the competition field featured a ring divided into four equal quarters by two crossed fences, each quadrant precisely measuring five acres–not more, not less.

Why was each quarter of the circle exactly five acres? Of course, it was Ange who measured it.

Now, the soil in each quadrant had been removed and was being adjusted according to the data provided by the competitors.

Thunder stood on a pole in the center of the circle, passionately announcing, “Dear ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to our thrilling grain contest! The fourth and final championship round is about to begin. Once this match is over, we will know who the champion of the contest is.”

“In the matches decided so far, the current leader is the team from Steel Bone Area, called ‘Stuffed and Bloated,’ with an output of seven hundred and thirty catties per acre.”

“Steel Bone Area is a human settlement within the Dead Line, unbelievable! A human settlement beyond the Dead Line? Isn’t that supposed to be the domain of the deceased?”

“Seris from Steel Bone Area informs us that this is a misconception. There are many human settlements beyond the Dead Line, with cities and villages, farms and commerce guilds, roads and travelers. It’s no different from other places.”

While saying this, Thunder pointed towards the contestant area and Seris, accommodatingly, stood up and waved to the audience. Dressed in a tight-fitting black dress that highlighted her voluptuous figure, along with her dignified posture and friendly smile, the audience was immediately convinced.

If the world within the Dead Line was as dreadful as the legends suggested, how could it possibly produce such a fresh and tender living person? They all should have been wizened old witches, shouldn’t they?

“The co-sponsor of this event, the Silver Light Mercantile Company, has already acquired the Black Soil Commerce Guild within the Dead Line. Those interested in traveling or business cooperation can contact the Silver Light Mercantile Company,” Thunder said, giving the company a good plug before returning to the topic at hand.

“Now, let’s get back to the field. As usual, we’ll start with soil preparation. The growing environments for crops are utterly different. For example, the granularity of the soil, its pH, moisture–if we can’t plant in the right soil, even the highest-yielding grains might yield nothing.”

“We’ve invited the most brilliant planting masters to mix the perfect soil based on the data provided by the competitors…”

At this point, the players who were eliminated in the preliminaries couldn’t help but start complaining, “The most brilliant? Who is that? That’s quite a bold claim! Let’s see them, bring them out. There are many masters here on the field,” they exclaimed.

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However, to everyone’s surprise, the contestants in the final round remained silent, not echoing the jeers from the crowd at all. Logically, the finalists should be more arrogant, but there was no reaction to the word “most powerful”–a term that was obviously against the rules?

“Why aren’t the masters responding? ‘Most powerful,’ doesn’t that mean everyone else is less competent? How infuriating. How can they tolerate that?”

One of the contestants, who looked like an old farmer and did not join in the rabble, said, “I know about this. I am familiar with one of the contestants from the Girl Silk Team. Her crop’s highest yield was only 298 pounds, and she couldn’t break the 300-pound mark. What was her result just now? How many pounds?”

Someone glanced at the scoreboard on the field. The number behind the Girl Silk Team was 353 pounds.

The old farmer-like contestant continued, “Nothing else has changed, only the soil has been mixed. If the master who mixed the soil is called ‘most powerful,’ they dare not rebut him.”

No sooner had the old farmer finished speaking than those who couldn’t even make it to the finals sat up straight and didn’t dare to make another peep.

In Kvada, just tweaking the soil could increase the yield by over fifty pounds. No one dared to utter a word if such a master was called ‘most powerful.’
The small commotion in the contestants’ area went unnoticed, for Thunder dominated the entire arena, stirring up everyone’s emotions. There was no spare attention for other matters.

“Alright, the soil adjustment is complete, and the temperature and humidity have been set. Each contestant has three opportunities to pause or they can operate remotely. Do not step over the red line before pausing, or you will age rapidly under the effect of the ‘Time Acceleration Magic Array.’ Now, let the competition begin. Please start tilling and sowing!”

Everyone began tilling and sowing, and it was obvious that aside from Ange, the other three teams were a bit rusty, not like seasoned farmers–the seeds they planted were crooked and twisted.

However, Ange’s furrows were even, and the seeds were spaced out neatly and uniformly.

This was a very important technique. If you could plant ten furrows of crops but you only plant nine, you have effectively cut your yield by ten percent. If you could sow ten pounds of seeds but you only sowed nine pounds, it similarly reduces yield by ten percent.

However, the density of the plantings can’t be too high either. Too many plants fighting for sunlight, water, and the fertility of the soil will also reduce the yield.

This requires a deep understanding of the crop, knowing every optimal trait to achieve the best density.

After sowing was done, the ‘Time Acceleration Magic Array’ was activated, and the crops began to grow rapidly in the field.

This live growth spectacle was even more stunning and complex than the Simulated Magic Formation. Every now and then, one had to stop to fertilize, weed, and pollinate, but each person only had three pauses, so using them wisely was a real test of the contestants’ wisdom.

If they didn’t want to pause, they could also operate from outside the red line. As long as they didn’t cross it, they were free to manage their crops however they wished.

This didn’t pose a problem for anyone. Even Silba, the mighty Dragon Sorcerer, was within his magical casting range even for a few acres of land.

So, everyone started showing off their skills, weeding, pest control, and fertilizing. When it came to pollination, aside from Ange, the other three finally couldn’t stand it anymore and each used their pause time.

They paused temporarily, leisurely completed the pollination of their crops, and then resumed.

But they soon witnessed a miraculous scene in Ange’s plot of land. Little tornadoes formed perfectly over the florets, sweeping up the pollen into the air, and then scattering it randomly.

Whisking up and falling down, whisking up and falling down, in less than two minutes, Ange had completed the pollination without needing to pause.

At this point, everyone could see that only the Salted Fish Team were true farmers. The other three teams were relying on their crop breeds to bully others. If they could get their hands on those crops, anyone could do it.

And so, the final round was over. Amidst Thunder’s roaring, the yields of each team were measured one by one.

The lowest was the Little Elf Team with 1,300 pounds, the third was the Black Eye Socket Team with 1,400 pounds, and the second was the Radiad God Worshipping Team with 1,500 pounds.

The highest yield was from the Salted Fish Team, but the moment the yield was announced, Radiad immediately became enraged: “Damn it, he did it on purpose.”

The yield per acre of the Salted Fish Team–2,001 pounds, just over two thousand pounds.

Negris laughed himself silly, “Hahahaha, you sly Dead Skull, you must have been weighing it out. No wonder I felt the Libra God Power flickering non-stop.”

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