Chapter 231 - A Time Leap! Massive Harvests!
Chapter 231: A Time Leap! Massive Harvests!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Black soil was formed under colder conditions when surface vegetation died, and the decayed matter eroded over a long period of time, evolving into humus.
This sort of soil was extremely rich and high in organic matter. It was also fertile, light and airy, and world-famous as the best soil for cultivation—so much so it had been dubbed the “grain storehouse”.
As for the patch of black soil near the Underground Shelter, it was at its prime the minute it emerged. In addition, the large amount of snow it was buried under meant that even fertilizers were not needed to satisfy the nutritional needs of the seeds growing across all five acres of the land.
Of course, the crops in the fields needed water to grow, so replenishing their water supply in a timely manner was extremely necessary.
After calling Moore, Su Mo set out with him, one walking in front of the other, to spread the snowflakes they had individually collected in a thin, even layer over the ground.
Once he had ensured that every inch of the soil had enough water, Su Mo only needed a thought, and his storage space opened of its own accord.
After subtracting the thirty days he had given to Zhong Qingshu and the three days he had previously used up, he currently had a balance of 167 days’ worth of time currency left in his storage space.
This was entirely more than enough time for him to plant the seeds in the vegetable field!
He pulled up the properties panel that the system had created. The panel showed that the four different crops had different maturation times as well.
The ones that took the longest were the soybeans. It would take 85 days before they reached their harvesting period.
Next was spring wheat, which took 80 days. Carrots took 60 days, whereas Chinese cabbage took the shortest time—only 58 days and they could be harvested.
These varying times meant he would have to use the most cost-effective method. Su Mo picked out two thirty-day time currency coins, as well as two ten-day coins and one five-day coin.
“Moore, I have a task for you after this.
“Do you see those two plots of land? Your task, later on, is to carefully use a shovel and dig out what’s planted underground.”
Su Mo produced a shovel. As he showed Moore how to painstakingly dig the plants out from beneath the soil, the bear’s eyes gleamed with intelligence as he nodded rapidly.
As far as a lightning bear warrior like Moore was concerned, he might not be able to understand the twists and turns of human ways, but he could pick up things several times faster than a human if you demonstrated directly for him.
Moreover, after getting used to his identity as a farmer and learning from Oreo’s example, Moore had already begun considering himself the leader of planting!
When he heard that they were going to go harvesting now, he was naturally excited beyond measure. His ursine head bobbed up and down repeatedly as he tightened his bear paws’ grip on the shovel.
After directing Oreoas well as Big Spark and Little Spark to leave the field, Su Mo turned and grasped at what seemed to be thin air. Several coins landed leisurely on his palm.
These coins of various colors radiated different colored beams of light according to their individual quality.
As the tips of his fingers moved slightly, parallel to the ground beneath him, Su Mo waited no longer. Standing on a high slope, he decisively tossed down the first thirty-day time currency coin.
Bang!
A crisp popping sound burst forth from between his fingers. As if he had triggered some rule between heaven and earth, the same sound reverberated from the entire patch of black soil.
What, exactly, was time?
Even before transmigrating, no one could give a definite answer to this question. All they had were theoretical speculations.
Su Mo was filled with curiosity as well about these sorts of arcane matters.
A sound drifted to his ears as if the soil was cheering and weeping all at once. Curious, Su Mo gazed at the spot where the coin had landed.
The brilliant, golden coin was light as air. There was nothing unusual in its arc of descent, and it immediately melted into the black soil the minute it came into contact with the ground.
In an instant, a pale golden film spread across the entire five acres of black soil.
This film was not a physical, weighted thing. Instead, it was like a protective cover that shielded the soil and all the seeds within it.
However, before Su Mo could go down and explore, the golden film began melting spontaneously. In an instant, it had completely adhered to the surface of the ground.
Following that, the entire plot of black soil and the seeds planted within it began to undergo rapid changes, as if a fast-forward button had been pressed.
It was a very peculiar sensation. Staring at it would make one feel as if they had entered an alternate world.
In this world, Su Mo could stand back and be an observer, watching as the sun rose and set repeatedly.
He had an unobstructed view, watching the color of the earth change rapidly.
At the same time, under the effects of the time currency, several bright emerald-green shoots tenaciously broke through the soil that covered them and emerged into the open.
One minute, thirty days.
It felt as if Su Mo was the Creator as the sun rose and set every two seconds. The visual impact brought about by this peculiar experience was terrifying!
“Fast-forwarding time in games can be achieved by just pushing a button, but when you do it in real life as well, it feels…
“It feels amazing!”
Like playing a game using a cheat plug-in, when Su Mo tossed down another thirty-day coin, changes finally began occurring within the earth itself.
The sweet smell of plants began wafting through the air.
“This is… the process of flowering and pollination.
“The time currency is so considerate when speeding up all the processes—it even sped up this part of it. That means…”
“My patch of black soil has been cared for assiduously for one whole month!”
After this coin had fallen, the Chinese cabbages and carrots were ready for harvest. After Moore had carefully dug out his first Chinese cabbage according to Su Mo’s instructions, his movements became much brisker.
Every time he dug down with his shovel, he would bring up an emerald-green Chinese cabbage. Laid out neatly on the ground, they looked very pleasing to the eye.
Upon coming closer, it was even possible to see seed packets blooming with flowers amidst the soil that had been turned over and brought up while digging for the Chinese cabbages.
“Be careful and don’t ruin the tops!”
After giving Moore this admonishment and seeing that there was not much time left for planting, Su Mo decided to join in the vegetable harvesting. He rapidly began turning over the black soil.
The fact that there was a human on one end and a bear at the other, coupled with the fact that it was easy to dig up vegetables buried underground, resulted in the bear and the human only using an hour to finish harvesting two acres of land.
Of course, if they had not had the Mountain and Sea Painting Scroll to help them recover from their physical exhaustion and replenish their psychic energy water so they could overcome the trance-like state brought on by such mechanical repetitive labor, they would have needed an entire barrel of water just from the several thousand times they bent down from the waist.
Su Mo waited until they had finished harvesting all the Chinese cabbages and carrots and for Moore to move all the plants to one side before he began the ripening of the remaining crops one last time.
This time, he took out the two ten-day coins and the single five-day coin and tossed them into the vegetable plot.
A surge of light burst forth as the soybeans and spring wheat on the ground rapidly began fruiting. There were plump kernels and fat bean pods on every plant as the sweet smells of harvest rose from them.
One hour ago, the wheat seeds had been “slumbering” in the ground.
One hour later, it had undergone transformative growth and become something qualified to be food!
Although he had already been startled at the Chinese cabbages and carrots, Su Mo still found it difficult to suppress his shock when he saw the large kernels on every wheat stalk.
The smell of ripened wheat wafted through the air and into his nostrils with the wind. It was an amazing, one-of-a-kind experience.
It looked like a golden-colored carpet that had popped out in an instant from the dark soil—a divine sight to see.
Even Oreo, Big Spark, and Little Spark, who were still standing on the slope, were stunned.
The very next second, watching the three animals race down eagerly, Su Mo could no longer suppress his excitement as he walked into the wheat field.
“Oh my god, every kernel of this is money!”
As he walked into the field and brushed the large, plump kernels, a feeling of contentment and happiness spontaneously welled up in his heart.
Every excellent-quality seed was a most valuable treasure in the wasteland.
If he brought this to the market and people saw it, he would trigger an unprecedented stir.
As he pursed his lips and thought about the surge of resources that the base was about to experience, his physical tiredness diminished slightly.
“Should we use a shovel to… dig up this plant?”
Glancing at Moore, who was standing beside him and scratching the back of his head, Su Mo laughed and shook his head as he retrieved two sickles that he had prepared beforehand from his storage space.
‘If there’s no food, we will grow our own!
If the technology does not exist, we will invent it ourselves!’
As long as he still had two hands, the wasteland would not be able to stop him from progressing.
Harvesting this piece of land that was even more precious than gold was merely taking the first of many resolute steps!
“How am I supposed to cut with this thing!”
A trace of gratification appeared on Su Mo’s face as he swung the sickle in his hand and observed the intent expression on Moore’s face as the bear earnestly sought to learn.
Although the previous pet egg had been branded as aggressive, Su Mo was now utilizing it in areas of production.
However, this had not affected Moore’s combat abilities.
After Su Mo had instructed him and showed him hands-on how to store the wheat after it was cut, Moore immediately began working.
What was more, he worked at a frighteningly swift pace!
If an average person’s harvesting speed was 1, and they could only harvest an acre of land per day…
Then Su Mo, whose efficiency had gone up to 5 after his body had gained substantial strength, could manually harvest between five to six acres of land per day.
In terms of numbers, if he did not take into account the times he used the Mountain and Sea Painting Scroll to regain physical strength and psychic energy water to replenish energy, his efficiency could be upped to between 7 or 8.
However, Moore…
He was probably at 20 from the start!
The structure of the bear’s limbs ensured he could swing the sickle steadily and accurately each time, and there was basically no need for him to grasp the ears of wheat by their tops. He only needed a single stroke, and three or four kernels of wheat would separate from the stalk and fall onto the ground.
Moore was like an emotionless grass-cutting automaton. Su Mo had not even reached the end of the wheat field to start harvesting before Moore had already finished cutting down one-tenth of the wheat in just a few short minutes!
“What a terrifying lightning bear. His physique truly makes him an amazing farmhand.”
As Su Mo clicked his tongue and saw how energetically Moore was working, he did not dare dawdle any longer and began working as well. The two of them put in effort together and at least managed to harvest all the wheat from two acres of land before ten o’clock in the morning.
They also took the opportunity to collect all the soybeans and place them neatly beside the pile of wheat.
Panting, both human and bear sat down on the slope to catch their breath.
Thankfully, after this round of harvesting, they could use automated tools to complete all the subsequent stages. The tiring work had finally been completed!
“Moore, hang on for a while longer. Come pull these kernels of wheat off their stalks. After today you’ll be able to have a good rest.”
Su Mo retrieved a water bottle as large as a human head, filled with fresh psychic energy water, and passed it to the bear.
Moore took the bottle and chugged down every last drop of its contents. Energy coursed through him once more as he labored hard beneath the burning sun.
They worked until about eleven-thirty.. When the last batch of plants had been transported back to the shelter by the storage space so they could be stockpiled there, Su Mo was finally able to heave a sigh of relief.