Chapter 133

Cyrus specially created a book with illustrations of overseas plants and spices, along with some explanations.

He deliberately aged the books, making them slightly damaged and incomplete...

Afterwards, the book was placed in the wooden box containing the sea route map left behind by Duke Bill, Cyrus gave it to Samuel Fern.

--Instruct him to bring back as many of the plants and other plants depicted in the books as possible.

Now, Samuel Fern has returned and successfully completed his mission.

Cyrus bid farewell to Rice Ball and the Orca pod for the time being, and then the small boat led the Windrider back to the harbor shore, where the boatmen carried wooden crates down one after another.

Samuel Fern stood to the side, holding a booklet explaining what was inside the boxes.

These boxes also had clear markings engraved on them.

With each word Samuel uttered, Cyrus's smile deepened.

Some names alone might not give you a sense of reality.

Samuel stopped speaking at the end of the pamphlet.

This booklet contains a complete record of the plants, seeds, spices, and other precious but inexpensive items he brought back from the New Continent.

He also has another booklet.

After all the boxes were unloaded from the Windrider, Cyrus immediately ordered them to be transported to the castle by Par Lake.

He needed to take inventory at the castle.

After all, the Harbor Base is crowded with people and eyes.

Samuel wanted to go back to the castle with them.

Before arriving at the castle, Samuel handed another booklet to Cyrus.

This document records all the gold, jewels, and other valuables he brought back.

--As instructed by the lord before sending him to sea, he should not use force or threats, but rather obtain the goods through barter or other legitimate means.

Samuel is very clever.

Before setting sail, he brought with him a large quantity of goods from his territory, some rare, some beautiful... He traded all of these things for other goods, and the goods he brought back were of even greater value.

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On the way back to the castle from the Harbor Base.

Samuel first gave Cyrus a brief account of what happened during their voyage to explore the New Continent, and what the New Continent looked like...

Even after arriving at the castle, this simple speech was not yet finished.

Cyrus then suggested that Samuel could stay in the castle first, and that she could tell him everything that happened after they went to sea at any time.

He also wanted to know more about it.

Samuel agreed.

In the castle's main hall, boxes were neatly arranged one by one.

There were no servants in the hall.

Ferdinand and Walker stood to one side.

Judas held a book recording plants, spices, and other things in her hand. After returning from her voyage, this book, which had been forged by Cyrus, was even more tattered.

Gibran followed behind Cyrus, waiting to begin tallying the gold and valuables Samuel had brought back when the chests were opened.

His Holiness the Pope, who hadn't accompanied the group to the Harbor Base, has come to join in the fun.

He sat casually in the chair, stroking the white fox Rice Cake that had jumped onto his lap with one hand.

While the other fluffy creatures stayed in the room to nap, Rice Cake slipped out on her own. In the end, her fluffy, snow-white tail wrapped around His Holiness the Pope's ankle, forcibly staging an accident.

His Holiness the Pope rested his head on one hand, his golden eyes fixed on Cyrus, who was spinning around in the middle of the box, and suddenly smiled.

Cyrus turned around upon hearing the sound, looking puzzled.

What are you laughing at?

Segalot responded with a "it's nothing" look.

Cyrus was puzzled.

He received no answer, so he began to open the first box he had been eagerly awaiting—the box was full of Potato.

Each plant is a yellowish-brown color and quite heavy, some still covered in soil or sprouting new shoots.

This box of Potato can be kept as seed potatoes and planted right now.

Different regions have different planting seasons.

Potato, also known as Potato, can be planted up to two times a year: spring potatoes are planted in the spring and can be harvested in June or July; autumn potatoes are planted afterward and harvested around November.

In some regions, due to seasonal limitations, only one crop can be grown per year.

Cyrus compared the explanations in the books exchanged from the System Library and confirmed that it was entirely possible to plant two crops of Potato a year within the Desinia Territory.

This is undoubtedly very good news.

Samuel's return is timely; we can begin cultivating the tubers now, planting them in the plantations established around the castle.

Later, the boxes that Cyrus had been waiting for were opened one after another.

Sweet Potato, Corn, chili peppers, and even cocoa...

Sweet Potato and Corn are planted around the same time of year.

The first planting period is in April, with Corn planted earlier, while Sweet Potato and Corn are harvested between August and September.

Sweet Potato require careful temperature control during planting, as they prefer warm conditions.

The second planting period is in June or July. Autumn Corn is generally sown in mid-July, while Sweet Potato need to be planted earlier, in June.

The next harvest time for Sweet Potato and Corn is around September or October.

In comparison, Potato, Sweet Potato, and Corn are all grown in two varieties per year, and the time difference isn't that significant.

More importantly, all three are high-yield crops.

Samuel came over and opened two more boxes.

Cyrus's gaze fell upon them—one of the boxes contained something white and soft, but somewhat damp...

The contents of the other box were somewhat rotten.

Samuel said, "My lord, these are the Cotton and tomatoes you asked me to find."

"But because the return voyage took too long... both items were damaged to varying degrees, especially the tomatoes. I had already thrown away quite a few rotten and spoiled fruits during the voyage."

Cyrus squatted down next to the box to inspect it.

The most important thing about Cotton and tomatoes is the seeds; as long as there's nothing seriously wrong with the seeds, it's fine—he checked them over, and there weren't any major problems.

Cyrus told Samuel that both of these things could leave seeds.

He then proceeded to open the boxes containing spices—the variety of spices was also exceptionally rich.

After taking inventory of all the crops.

Cyrus compared the book he had forged with the pamphlet Samuel had given him.

Then, he discovered that he had found almost all of the crops he was looking for!

After that, as long as he cultivates and plants the crops as soon as possible, he can harvest a batch of grain in the fall, and then use a portion of that grain as seeds for further planting.

Before autumn planting, he needs to promote crops within his territory.

After opening the boxes containing crops, Cyrus had already formulated a planting plan in her mind. At this moment, most of the boxes in the castle hall were open, while the remaining half were closed.

Cyrus took out a booklet listing precious items such as gold and gems, and, with less interest than before, began to count them.

By the time it ended, a considerable amount of time had passed.

The next day, Cyrus bestowed great rewards upon those who had distinguished themselves at sea, including Samuel, and everyone received a considerable fortune.

At the same time, news of the Windrider's successful exploration of the New Continent and its return spread like wildfire to all corners of the world.

The Saint Airo Empire.

His Majesty the King has become increasingly irritable lately—due to constant raids and disturbances within the empire, and the forced division of border territories, some of which have been occupied by the Bovell Kingdom and the Bia Kingdom.

The Bia Kingdom had further broken away from its status as a vassal state of the empire.

This infuriated the king.

Not long ago, news finally spread that Nitaya, the second prince of the Yami Kingdom, had handed over the Yami Kingdom to the lord of Desinia.

At that time, the empire was in a passive and retreating situation. By the time the news was learned, the Yami Kingdom had already been successfully taken over by Desinia, and even many of the surrounding small countries and territories had been subjugated.

To the King of the Saint Airo Empire, this was as if Desinia had stolen what he originally wanted.

The contrast between the two situations made the king feel even more unbalanced.

Now, the Windrider that the Desinia lord sent to explore the New Continent earlier has returned!

News of the container being unloaded trip after trip at the Harbor Base also spread...

Anyone with a discerning eye can probably guess what might be inside the box.

Furthermore, this is the second person after Duke Beal to successfully sail out to sea and return – Samuel Fern's name, along with Cyrus's fame, has reached many people's ears and attracted much attention.

Prince Kashu comforted the king, who was sulking, in the room.

Prince Warner, Prince Kien, and Princess Lennar then came out.

They left the area where the king lived and came to a quieter, less crowded courtyard, which was also Lennar's residence.

Lennar angrily plucked a newly opened flower bud, then threw it on the ground in frustration a moment later. "Father's getting senile!"

"How could he allow you to lead cavalry to attack the Desinia Territory!"

"Has he forgotten who saved his life?!"

Kien reassured him, "Big brother has already rejected Father's opinion, don't be angry."

The Desinia Territory cannot be attacked... at least not now.

Moreover, Kien doubted whether the current empire still had the ability to suppress the Desinia Territory.

In the contest between the two, the advantage probably no longer lies with the Empire.

Unfortunately, the king became increasingly unable to see the situation clearly.

Kien looked at his older brother Warner.

--I don't know what my brother is thinking... He seems to have a good impression of that Desinia lord.

But Kien also knew about his older brother's deep-seated ambition...

Warner remained silent.

He simply leaned against the wall where lush green vines were beginning to droop, gazing into the distance with a distant and profound look, as if deep in thought.

Lennar continued, dissatisfied, "Father is far too biased towards Kashu!"

Between the eldest prince Warner and the third prince, the late queen always favored the third prince, and now the king is doing the same. Lennar is very resentful on behalf of her eldest brother.

After she finished speaking, she looked at Warner and said in a slightly lower voice, "Brother, Father still relies on you the most."

"Your father scolded you this time only because..."

"I know."

Warner said, "Lennar, don't overthink it, and don't always go against Kashu, otherwise Father will just scold you and make you attend more banquets..."

"Oh, stop talking."

Lennar's expression turned grim.

She understood the implication of attending so many banquets—it was time for her to get married.

Lennar clutched her skirt; how she longed to go to the Desinia Territory!

Warner then told Lennar to rest well before taking Kien away.