Striving in the Fields

Rumble, rumble!

The crab-shaped puppet's spirit core continuously released energy, sending the enormous mechanical crab racing across Little Duke Farm.

Wherever it charged past, the soil was overturned and churned to pieces.

The ordinary farmers on the farming team followed behind, picking up things like loose stones and tree roots. These could easily obstruct the crab-shaped puppet's subsequent work and had to be cleared by hand.

The sky was gloomy, and raindrops had already begun to drift down.

"This weather's just right, Boss Little Duke. It'll rain as soon as the wheat is planted, so next year's harvest is sure to be excellent." Old Sef said this around his pipe.

"I hope so."

"To be honest, Boss Little Duke, I was really surprised when you bought a farm. I've gone to Little Sam's Card Shop to repair cards plenty of times. It's a good business—sit in the shop and stay sheltered from wind and rain. Farm work, on the other hand, is uncomfortable. You're exposed to the elements every day."

"But I still prefer the farm. It's free and easy, without a care in the world."

"Haha, all I can say is that each has its own merits. But Boss Little Duke, with this hybrid wheat of yours, hiring a Spirit Plant Master won't be cheap."

Old Sef actually wasn't very optimistic about Duke.

Most people who ran farms were Spirit Plant Masters. After all, a farm owner could use breathing techniques to guide the breathing resonance of spirit plants. If they had to hire a Spirit Plant Master to cast the spells, that would be no small additional expense.

Duke merely smiled at this.

Who said he was going to spend money?

He turned to Levin and said, "Go brew a few pots of coffee, then bring out the pastries I bought for the farming team."

Levin immediately ran to the workers' dormitory to brew coffee.

Although Duke's own house was still being renovated and couldn't be occupied, this row of workers' dormitories was nearly finished.

Every time he came over with Duke, he brought some unused luggage from the rental house.

Old Sef accepted the coffee and pastries, his beard trembling with laughter. "Mmm, Boss Little Duke is certainly hospitable. Come, let's raise our cups together and express our respect for Boss Little Duke."

Before long, a light rain began to fall.

This did not interfere with the farming team's continued work. The construction team was also still renovating the buildings in an orderly fashion. Everything at Little Duke Farm was proceeding smoothly.

"Boss, there's a large hunting dog next door to Aunt Abby's house. It's pregnant, and we can buy a few puppies from them." Levin gazed at the scene outside the dormitory with a trace of yearning and suggested to Duke, "It'll definitely be great!"

"That large hunting dog—is it a 0-Ring Spirit Beast?" Duke asked casually.

He slipped a hand into his pocket. Inside, Little Dou was curled into a ball, licking Duke's palm with its tongue. With a young Spirit Beast like Little Dou, Duke had already lost interest in ordinary hunting dogs.

Levin shook his head. "It doesn't seem to be."

"Then forget it."

"Oh."

"You don't need to worry about it either. Next time I go to Chen Jiao City, I'll buy a few Four-eared Hound puppies. Once they're grown, they'll be fiercer than any ordinary hunting dog."

"Really, Boss?" Levin asked excitedly.

"Of course."

The farm was so large that without a few spirit hounds to guard the place, Duke wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night.

Among 0-Ring Spirit Hounds, Four-eared Hounds were renowned for their loyalty and ferocity. With proper cultivation, they also had a chance to evolve into the 1-Ring Spirit Beast—Six-eared Spirit Hound. They were somewhat more expensive than ordinary spirit hounds, but Duke could afford them now.

Buying the farm, sowing the wheat, and building the houses had cost roughly thirty gold dragons in total, and he still had more than sixty gold dragons on hand.

Besides, he still had quite a few Renovation Cards stockpiled.

"Boss, can I be the one to raise the Four-eared Hounds? I raised hunting dogs with my grandfather when I was little... After my grandfather died, my father sold them all."

"You have experience raising hunting dogs?" Duke brightened. "Good. Once I buy the Four-eared Hounds, I'll leave them in your care."

"Mm."

Levin grinned foolishly.

Working under Duke felt incredibly easy. Duke was better than any boss he had ever met. Now that he had come to work at the farm, he could even raise the hunting dogs he loved most. All of this filled him with excitement.

It drizzled for two days straight.

The farming team braved the rain and finished sowing all one hundred acres of wheat. The construction team continued renovating the houses, which would also be finished in a few more days.

The head of the construction team said, "Boss Little Duke, I've already contacted a well-drilling crew for you. They'll come drill the well in a few days. By then, the well should be finished, and our renovations ought to be done too. Once we connect the water pipes, you'll be able to move in with nothing but your luggage."

"Good."

Back in the small town.

Duke said to Levin, "Tomorrow we'll go to Chen Jiao City to buy some things, and we'll bring back the Four-eared Hounds."

"Mm."

The fare for the Black Beetle Car to Chen Jiao City had gone up.

The number of fixed departures each day had also increased, to two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Even so, every Black Beetle Car was still packed so tightly that not another person could squeeze in.

The Pioneer War had begun. Duke couldn't see the battlefield, but he experienced the effects brought by the war every moment.

The carriage reeked.

The main source was the mercenaries, whose sweat mingled with the smell of blood.

Most of these mercenaries were 0-ring Knights. They didn't just ride themselves—they also brought along their contracted Spirit Beasts. They were all low-level 0-Ring Spirit Beasts, locked in the beast compartment in the Black Beetle Car's abdomen. Their stench drifted through the cracks into the passenger compartment, making the stink even stronger.

"The passage to Emerald Sea Valley is almost finished being opened. It won't be so easy to pick up scraps after this." A mercenary sat with his clothes hanging open, talking loudly.

"Haha, you've had quite a haul these past few days."

"Not as big as your Mercenary Group's haul. I heard you wiped out the nest of the 2-Ring Spirit Beast, the Blood Shrew. You must have caught plenty of cubs, right?"

"No. The cubs had already grown up. If they'd been little ones, we really would've struck it rich!"

Duke couldn't help raising his brows when he heard this.

Like Long-Haired Mongoose, Blood Shrew cubs also had a chance to evolve into the 2-Ring Phantom Beast—Mad Blood Shrew after forming a Knight Contract. However, compared with Long-Haired Mongoose evolving into the 2-Ring Phantom Beast—Mongoose Armored Beast, Mad Blood Shrew had a considerably lower evolution probability.

"When some people get rich, others suffer misfortune." A mercenary suddenly sighed. "The leader of the Broken Sword Mercenary Group, the 1-Ring Great Knight Draimon, died under the siege of the beast tide."

"I heard about that. Tsk, tsk. I told you long ago that the name Broken Sword was unlucky. See? The leader went and died just like that, and the hard battle at Emerald Sea Valley hasn't even begun!"

"Hey, have any of you heard which Great Arcane Mage is coming to Emerald Sea Valley personally to start the war?"

"No idea. Didn't an airship from Elvin Mage Tower come over a few days ago? Could it be Great Arcane Mage Elvin?"

"Doesn't seem like it. I looked into it—Great Arcane Mage Elvin is still young and his career is on the rise. There's no need for him to rush into launching a Pioneer War, is there?"

"Then what did the airship from Elvin Mage Tower come here for?"

"Apparently it came to lend its support to the CBD Spirit Ore Company. Great Arcane Mage Elvin owns shares in CBD. CBD must want to seize the spirit ore in Emerald Sea Valley."

Listening to the mercenaries boast along the way, Duke learned quite a bit about the Pioneer War.

The Pioneer War was still in its early pathfinding phase. They were currently sorting out the route to Emerald Sea Valley. Once the route was opened, the true climax of the war would begin. By then, humanity would want to seize Emerald Sea Valley's Spirit Spring, and the high-level Spirit Beasts there would certainly refuse.

In the end, it might take more than a decade to completely wipe out all the high-level Spirit Beasts.

But for the moment, none of this concerned Duke.

After getting off at his stop, he took Levin straight to the Scrap Card Station. After bribing the old gatekeeper, he learned that several more warehouses of scrap cards had been put into storage and immediately decided to go all out.