Free Web NovelChapter 156: Chapter 156: Seed Cultivation
By the time he arrived at the administrative area, Sane was also just returning with the three little ones from the intelligence division.
Seeing him, Sane smiled and said:
"I went to look for you earlier but saw you were busy, so I went to Aaron’s place to handle some matters." Mentioning this, his expression darkened slightly: "It seems the punishment you handed out last time wasn’t enough. There are still those who, dissatisfied with Aaron’s private life, act recklessly, even deliberately providing false intelligence, causing the intelligence squad to lose a member."
Kaelen’s face turned completely dark, and he said coldly: "How did you handle it?"
"Execution." Sane’s snake pupils contracted, his killing intent surging to the heavens: "Harming the tribe out of personal grudge, if not executed, should I keep them to celebrate the new year? Aaron wanted to resign from his position as intelligence squad captain and join the merchant caravan as a member. I haven’t made a decision yet."
He handed the fabric pouch hanging at his waist to Kaelen and said: "Here are the seeds the children brought back, try them and see if they are useful."
Kaelen took the fabric pouch, his long eyelashes drooping slightly, and said as he walked:
"Actually, I think letting Aaron solely take over the merchant caravan’s tasks is quite good. Although he is smart and sharp, he dislikes being constrained; putting him in the merchant caravan suits his personality. And I think we should still let him take the captain position; after all, the merchant caravan’s vision is much broader and more open-minded than those who only know how to hole up in the tribe."
On this point, Sane agreed. Actually, he saw right through that Aaron knew about this false intelligence and deliberately let the reconnaissance squad carry out the mission. The unfortunate one who died and the one who provided the false intelligence were part of the same gang; their original scheme was aimed at the remaining members of the reconnaissance squad, but Aaron had prepared beforehand, so they ended up harming themselves.
Sane had said it before; when Aaron became ruthless, even Sane had to concede defeat.
However, he still didn’t agree with Aaron knowing yet still letting the reconnaissance squad walk into danger. So if Aaron hadn’t taken the initiative to resign, Sane would have considered demoting him.
While Sane was lost in thought, Kaelen had already opened the seed pouch to examine the quality. Compared to the average-quality seeds Kaelen gave the children yesterday, the seeds currently in his hands were of outstanding quality.
Not only that, the quantity seemed to be more than from normal cultivation.
He tilted his head to ask Ryder and Finnick about the cultivation situation in the space yesterday. The three children, who had been silent all this time not interfering in the adults’ matters, immediately became animated upon knowing they could speak. Oliver stretched out his chubby hand, continuously calling ’ah pa, a pa’.
Kaelen chuckled, reaching out to hug him. Finnick crawled out of the carrying pouch, climbed onto Sane’s head, and made a nest there. The mouse cub stretched and let out a yawn, holding onto the edge of the fabric pouch with his two forelimbs, and said softly:
"They grew very fast, Papa, Finnick didn’t even have to use his Wood Magical Energy. But we could only plant them once; when I tried taking the harvested seeds to plant a second time, they didn’t sprout. Even using Wood Magical Energy didn’t make them sprout."
After speaking, the boy closed his eyes again, seemingly checking inside. When he opened his eyes, a chaotic pile completely blocked the exit to the administrative area’s courtyard:
"This is because Brother Edward saw me bringing seeds into the space to plant, so he also tried bringing some in. He told me to give them to Papa to see if anything is useful."
Last night, after seeing his two younger brothers planting, Edward immediately felt interested. He hurriedly left the space to bring all the fruits in his room inside. Then, he even wore the concealment array to wander around the Temple’s flower gardens, collecting whatever fragrant flowers and exotic grass he found.
Kaelen and Sane looked at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Did the children’s resonance space now become a transit camp?
It was a pity that only mental bodies were allowed to enter the space. If people were allowed to enter, perhaps they wouldn’t even have to go to the Northern Continent to rescue Edward. The children had also experimented themselves: animals, whether alive or dead, couldn’t enter; energy-containing objects could only have their energy bodies enter; plants could enter; other items, including food, couldn’t enter. In short, only things related to cultivation like seeds, saplings, and unprocessed green food could be brought into the space.
Even Oliver’s Water-attribute energy was restricted. It could be said that in Ryder and Edward’s resonance space, the person who could move most freely was Finnick.
Resigned to his fate, Kaelen bent down to dig through the pile of things Edward had stuffed in to find usable items.
"Ah, this is a strawberry!" Kaelen lifted a red wild berry with a sweet fragrance, boundless joy in his eyes. Ryder hurriedly said:
"Brother Edward let me eat this fruit. It’s a bit sour and sweet, smelling even better than the fruit milk candy Papa makes!"
Sane looked at that red fruit, saliva drooling from his mouth. He gulped down his saliva with a gulp, muttering: "Craving strawberry shortcake so much..."
Kaelen had to bite his lip tightly to prevent himself from letting out a laugh, afraid that the Chief would fly into a rage out of humiliation. Selecting from this pile of plants, he found about seven strawberries; the number of seeds wasn’t very large, but if these seeds were filtered and brought into the children’s space to plant, they would surely harvest a large quantity.
"Hmm? Are these... tea leaves?" Kaelen doubtfully raised a branch with serrated-edged leaves to examine, crushed it to smell, then put it in his mouth.
A highly astringent taste spread across the tip of his tongue, followed gradually by a refreshing sweetness. The familiar taste, the familiar scent...
It was indeed tea leaves! Furthermore, it was wild tea leaves that only grew in high mountainous areas!
Hearing about tea leaves, the rich, fatty flavor of the tea worms in Kaelen’s illusion automatically popped up in Sane’s mind. He immediately leaned in close, looking at the tea branch in Kaelen’s hand with a craving expression.
Unfortunately, Kaelen quickly shattered Sane’s illusion. As life-and-death partners who had gone through thick and thin together, how could he not read the desire in Sane’s eyes?
"Normal tea worms are not like the tea worms in my spiritual tea garden. They are pitch black and hairy, and as small as a toothpick. They curl up together into wriggling clusters, looking incredibly disgusting. Do you dare to eat them?"
Sane imagined that, immediately shuddered, and bounded far away with a whoosh. Kaelen was speechless, returning to his task of digging for treasures in the trash.
Ultimately, Kaelen harvested quite a few incredibly useful things: Lavender, Roman Chamomile, Snow Mint, Rosemary, Cardamom, Buckwheat, and Oats. All were plants that grew in cold regions.
"Ryder, bring these into the space as samples, tell Edward to collect more if there are any left."
After Ryder stored everything in the space, Kaelen asked someone to clean up the useless plants on the ground, then brought out the seed pouch cultivated in the space to test.
When Ryder said these seeds couldn’t be planted a second time, Kaelen’s hopes were half extinguished. Because this situation was just like using Wood Divine Energy to force-ripen; they could only be eaten, not used as seeds. However, he should still try once; who knew, a miracle might occur.
As a result, a miracle indeed came to them.
Kaelen placed a soybean seed into the flower garden in front of the Chief’s room, covered it with soil, and began releasing his Divine Energy into it. The bean instantly sprouted and rooted, stretching and growing at a visible speed.
The three little ones immediately clapped and cheered. Ryder jumped out of the fabric carrier, transformed into his human form, and waddled over to the soybean plant, watching intently as it flowered and fruited, then turned yellow and cracked open. Plump, perfectly round soybeans revealed themselves evenly before the mouse cub’s eyes.
The boy inhaled deeply, his eyes lighting up: "Papa, there’s no unpleasant smell anymore!"
The original soybeans of this world had a pungent and fishy smell when raw; only after being cooked could the smell be removed. Kaelen peeled off a mature bean and forcefully crushed it. Although there was still a slight pungent smell, it was greatly reduced compared to before. This type of soybean had even reached the high quality of modern times.
If the soybean seeds could be improved, then the poisonous mung bean seeds that gave Uncle Alden a headache could definitely be improved too!
Kaelen smiled, immediately telling the children:
"Your responsibilities from now on are much greater. All the saplings in the tribe will be handed over to you to cultivate! Your task is to finish planting all of them before we set off."
The little ones all nodded enthusiastically.
Sane looked at his mate’s hair-raising smile, feeling a bit of pity for his three children.
My poor children, your Papa only smiles like that when he is plotting against others. You have absolutely no idea what tragic future awaits you ahead...
