Main World.
Winter, Year 29 of Konoha.
Institute of Technology, Country of Roran.
A month had passed.
The machines in the laboratory had gone from nothing to something, from parts to complete units, from complete units to working machines. The first Air Food Synthesis Machine was already undergoing testing, producing dozens of jin of starch a day. Not much, but enough. Enough to prove this path was viable.
Yōsa stood in the center of the laboratory, facing an elderly man with white hair.
The old man's name was Shigeng. He was the oldest scientist at the Rōran Institute of Technology, sixty-seven years old that year. An immigrant from the Empire, he had originally spent half his life farming at the Empire Institute of Technology-not growing grain, but "growing technology." Studying soil, fertilizer, and crop growth.
The people at the Empire Institute of Technology called him "Grandpa Soil," because his head was full of soil.
"Your Highness." Shigeng took a thick report from inside his clothes and presented it with both hands. "This is a new agricultural fertilizer technology I developed using fragments of technology derived from Air Food Technology."
Yōsa took the report and opened it. His gaze moved slowly across the pages, his brows drawing together slightly, then relaxing, then knitting even more tightly.
"Agricultural waste, municipal garbage, insect carcasses... converted into agricultural fertilizer?"
"Yes." Shigeng's voice was aged, but steady. "The core of Air Food Technology is 'decomposing organic matter under high temperature and pressure.' I adapted that principle. No starch synthesis, only decomposition. Agricultural waste-straw, fallen leaves, rotten fruit-is thrown into the machine, pulverized, and treated under high temperature and pressure to remove harmful substances while retaining nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The powder that comes out is fertilizer."
Yōsa turned a page.
"What about municipal garbage?"
"The