Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

“Ohhh, I see.”

“Ehhh, so that’s how it is.”

“What, what, what? So much has happened?”

Negris and Anthony had a lengthy exchange about the Highest Mobilization Order, the Land of the Fallen, and the origin of the Undead led by Gold Tooth. When they turned around, they almost spewed out blood. Ange had once again reached her hand into the Temple of Rest to start farming.

“Say, Ange, we’re discussing the situation of the Material Plane, can’t you listen for a moment?” Negris said irritably.

Ange tilted her head and asked, “Can I farm?”

Negris felt a deep sense of powerlessness in his heart: “No…”

“Oh.” Ange responded casually and resumed her farming.

Negris and Anthony looked at each other

Anthony said, “I was a bit worried before, worried that if you knew about this, you’d get involved. But now it seems, I worried for nothing, right?”

Negris nodded his head, speaking with a mixture of despair and relief: “Yes, our lord is only interested in farming. From now on, anything unrelated to farming, there’s no need to tell us.”

“Uh, speaking of which, I do have some news related to farming. Humanity is facing a great famine, does your lord have surplus food? I’ll buy it all.”

It isn’t the first time that humanity is facing famine. Even when Anthony was still of ‘human’, population had faced famine more than once. After he became Anthony, famine had become an annual occurrence.

Despite the helplessness, during his struggle to climb up, famine often served as his best opportunity to build up merit. He also had a willing heart to build up merit in this manner because it could save many lives.

Most of the famines were due to uneven distribution. Large landlords and trade communities monopolized grain trade. They would transport grain from low-price areas to high-price areas, but transportation came with risks and delays. If any kind of disaster occurred, road obstructions would trigger a chain reaction, not to mention those who hoarded for higher prices.

A few famines, however, resulted from reduced crop production, population surge, and wars. The great famine that Anthony referred to was one of these.

“The Prime Material Plane has been rather peaceful over the past decade or so. There hasn’t been any significant warfare, and small conflicts don’t affect the big picture, which has led to an explosion in population. The supply of food was already somewhat tight in the past few years, and given the drought in the south this year, a reduction in crop yield is foreseeable. If there’s no sufficient food supply, no one knows how many will die next year.”

Anthony said anxiously, “Our eastern diocese is okay, I’ve built quite a few granaries over these years. But the Western Diocese is in trouble. Now that Nikola is dead, I have to compete for the position of the Pope, and I must win over the hearts of the people in the Western Diocese. What could be a better way to win their hearts than relief efforts?”

“Um, are you providing relief or actually trying to win hearts?” Negris asked, speechless.

“Is there a difference? Just because I want to win over people, does it mean the disaster victims I saved do not count as those I saved?” Anthony said matter-of-factly.

“That’s true, but you’re overthinking it. No matter how capable Ange is, she’s only one person. The amount of grain she can grow, no matter how large, would not suffice for the human famine. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to afford the equivalent commodities,” Negris said.

“What equivalent commodities?”

“Soul Flame, faith.”

Anthony terminated the connection and avoided the topic of food. The commodities Ange needed were unfortunately currently beyond his possession.

Despite his true converts to the Undead, his livelihood still depended on the Church of Light. It would be impossible for him to send his followers to Ange, or the Church would tear him apart immediately.

In contrast, Ange farmed out of personal obsession where equivalent exchange mattered, and wealth like magic crystal coins held no meaning for her. Only Soul Flame had value to her.

The original location of the Dragon Temple had been cleared, now only an empty flat area remained.

Brooks painfully took out the materials from the dimensional space. These materials, after all, were his meticulously collected items, many of them rare and precious. Anything that could catch the attention of the Dragon Clan Leader couldn’t possibly be junk.

Just like a middle-aged giant dragon’s collectibles or secret stash, he was forced to take them out. It really was agony.

“With such good materials, the teleportation array that would be built will be top-tier. Even the teleportation array on Dragon Island wouldn’t dare use materials of this quality,” Brooks muttered.

All the materials were laid out properly. Brooks stood in the middle, his magical power surging. A series of magical patterns spread out from his body, layer upon layer.

It was as if these circles were attracting, or perhaps an invisible hand was manipulating them. The materials on the ground slowly floated up, moving to the corresponding positions of the magical patterns.

All the materials were moved into position, Brooks slapped his hands downwards, and the magical patterns and materials fell simultaneously. With a series of dull thuds, a complete teleportation array was finished.

Sofia’s eyes widened, dumbfounded, “That… that’s it? The previous teleportation array took the boss several years to gather the materials, and it took us thousands of people months to build. My God, he did it with just a wave of his hand?”

Naeli gave a smile and consoled her, “Don’t be surprised. If you knew his identity, you would know that this is exactly what one would expect.”