Striving in the Fields

Rumble!

The Spirit Core of the crab-type puppet continuously outputted energy, causing the giant mechanical crab to gallop across Little Duke Farm.

Wherever it passed, the soil was overturned and shredded.

The ordinary farmers in the agricultural team followed behind, picking up small stones, tree roots, and the like. These items could easily obstruct the crab-type puppet's subsequent work and had to be cleared manually.

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

"This is good weather, Boss Little Duke. It's going to rain right after we finish planting the wheat, so next year's harvest will definitely be good," Old Sef said, puffing on his pipe.

"I hope so."

"Honestly, Boss Little Duke, I was really surprised when you bought the farm. I've repaired cards at Little Sam's Card Shop quite a bit, and it's a good business. You can sit in the shop and stay dry from the rain. Farm work isn't as comfortable, being exposed to the elements every day."

"But I still prefer the farm; it's free and unrestrained."

"Haha, I guess everyone has their own preferences. However, Boss Little Duke, the money you're spending to hire a Spirit Plant Master for your hybrid wheat must be considerable."

Old Sef actually didn't have high hopes for Duke.

Most people who ran farms were Spirit Plant Masters, as farm owners could use breathing techniques to guide the breath resonance of spiritual plants themselves. Hiring a Spirit Plant Master to cast spells was not a small additional expense.

Duke just smiled in response.

Who said he was going to spend money!

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

Levin immediately ran off to the workers' dormitory to make coffee.

Although Duke's own house was still under renovation and he couldn't move in yet, the row of workers' dormitories was almost completed.

Every time he came with Duke, he would bring some unused luggage from his rented apartment.

Old Sef accepted the coffee and pastries, his beard trembling with laughter. "Mmm, such a hospitable Boss Little Duke. Come, let us raise our cups together and express our respect to Boss Little Duke."

Soon, a light rain began to fall.

This did not hinder the agricultural team from continuing their work, and the construction team was also still working on renovations in an orderly fashion. Everything at Little Duke Farm was proceeding smoothly.

"Boss, Aunt Abby's neighbor has a large hound that's pregnant. We could buy a few puppies from her," Levin suggested to Duke, looking at the scene outside the dormitory with a hint of longing. "They'd definitely be great!"

"Is that large hound a 0-Ring Spirit Beast?" Duke asked casually.

He reached into his pocket, where Little Dou was curled up, licking Duke's palm with his tongue. With Little Dou, a young spirit beast, Duke no longer looked at non-spirit beasts.

Levin shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Then never mind."

"Oh."

"You don't need to worry about it. When I go to Chen Jiao City next time, I'll buy a few Four-eared Hound puppies. They'll be fiercer than any non-spirit beast hound when they grow up."

"Really, Boss!" Levin asked excitedly.

"Of course."

The farm was so large; if there weren't a few spirit hounds to guard it, he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly at night.

Among 0-Ring spirit hounds, the Four-eared Hound was known for its loyalty and ferocity. With proper training, there was a chance it could evolve into a 1-Ring Spirit Beast, the Six-eared Spirit Hound. However, compared to ordinary spirit hounds, the Four-eared Hound was slightly more expensive, but Duke could afford it now.

Buying the farm, planting wheat, and building houses had cost him about 30 gold dragons. He still had over sixty gold dragons left.

Moreover, he still had many refurbished cards in hand.

"Boss, can I raise the Four-eared Hounds? When I was little, I used to raise hounds with my grandpa... After my grandpa died, my dad sold all the hounds."

"You have experience raising hounds?" Duke was delighted. "Alright, when I buy the Four-eared Hounds, I'll entrust them to you for feeding."

"Okay."

Levin grinned foolishly.

Working under Duke, he felt incredibly relaxed. Duke was better than any boss he had ever met. And now, coming to work on the farm and being able to raise his favorite hounds, all of this made him excited.

It rained lightly for two consecutive days.

The agricultural team, braving the rain, finished planting all one hundred acres of wheat. The construction team continued renovating the houses, which would also be ready in a few more days.

The head of the construction team said, "Boss Little Duke, we've contacted the drilling team for you. They'll be here in a few days to drill a well. Once the well is drilled, our renovation should also be finished. When we connect the water pipes, you can move in right away."

"Okay."

Returning to the town.

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

"Okay."

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

And the number of fixed daily departures had also increased, with two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Even so, every car was packed to capacity.

The Pioneer War had begun. Duke couldn't see the battles, but he experienced the war's impact every moment.

The carriage was stinking.

It was mainly the mercenaries, their sweat mixed with the smell of blood.

These mercenaries were generally 0-ring Knights, not only riding the carriage themselves but also bringing their contracted spirit beasts along. They were all low-level 0-ring spirit beasts, kept in the beast compartments at the bottom of the Black Beetle Car. The smell wafted through the gaps into the carriage, making the stench even stronger.

"The passage to Emerald Sea Valley is almost cleared. It won't be easy to pick up any more scraps soon," a mercenary said, unbuttoning his shirt and speaking loudly.

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

"Not as much as your mercenary group. I heard you wiped out a 2-ring spirit beast - a Blood Shrew's - nest. You must have captured quite a few young ones, right?"

"No, the young ones had already grown up. If they were still pups, we'd have really struck it rich!"

Duke, overhearing this from the side, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

Like the Long-Haired Mongoose, the young of the Blood Shrew had a chance to evolve into a 2-ring Phantom Beast, the Mad Blood Shrew, after forming a contract with a Knight. However, compared to the Long-Haired Mongoose evolving into the 2-ring Phantom Beast, the Armored Mongoose, the evolution probability for the Mad Blood Shrew was significantly lower.

"Some get rich while others get unlucky," a mercenary suddenly mused. "The leader of the Broken Sword Mercenary Group, the 1-ring Great Knight Draimon, died under a beast tide."

"I heard about that. Tsk tsk, I always said the name 'Broken Sword' was bad luck. See? The leader just died, and the tough fighting in Emerald Sea Valley hasn't even begun!"

"Sigh, has anyone heard any news about which Great Arcane Mage will personally come to Emerald Sea Valley to fight?"

"I don't know. Didn't an airship from Elvin Mage Tower come a few days ago? Could it have been Great Arcane Mage Elvin?"

"Doesn't seem like it. I inquired, and Great Arcane Mage Elvin is still quite young, his career is on the rise. Why would he rush to start the Pioneer War?"

"Then what was the airship from Elvin Mage Tower doing here?"

"It seems they were here to support the CBD Spirit Ore Company. Great Arcane Master Elvin has shares in CBD, so it's definitely CBD wanting to occupy the spirit ore in Emerald Sea Valley."

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

Currently, the Pioneer War was still in the early stage of exploration. They were clearing the passage to Emerald Sea Valley. Once the passage was opened, the real climax of the war would begin. When humanity tried to occupy the Spirit Spring of Emerald Sea Valley, the high-level spirit beasts there would certainly not agree.

It might take more than ten years to completely clear out all the high-level spirit beasts.

However, these things were irrelevant to Duke for the time being.

After arriving at his stop and getting off the carriage, he took Levin straight to the Scrap Card Station. After bribing the old man at the gate, he learned that several warehouses of scrap cards had just arrived. He immediately decided to go all out.