Published: March 11, 2025
Chapter 51: Luring Monsters?
Because the people on the continent do not place much emphasis on agricultural production, every year there are places that suffer from crop failures due to pest disasters, and many people have starved to death in these places, leaving a deep impression on Galen.
However, Galen also had to admit that the natural conditions on the Ark Continent are truly remarkable. Here, there are high-yielding white rice trees, which grow like bamboo and can reach over ten meters in height, producing rice twice a year. Therefore, most people on the continent do not starve to death.
The rice produced by these trees is the most common food for slaves, and the requirements of these trees for soil are not very high. Many places on the continent cultivate them, so food shortages do not easily occur.
However, Galen did not buy the seeds of these rice trees because he was very clear that while the rice trees have low soil requirements, it is impossible to grow them in Iron Mountain. This is because rice trees have one critical flaw: they are highly sensitive to metals.
An experiment was conducted where a piece of iron weighing around a hundred jin was placed in a rice tree field of ten acres. As a result, all the rice trees in that area died within ten days.
It is precisely because of this characteristic of the trees that Galen did not purchase the seeds. The area they came to was formerly Dwarf Iron Mountain. Although the iron ore in the mountain has been mined away, the iron content in the soil is still much higher than in other places. It would be a fool's dream to try to grow rice trees here.
Therefore, Galen chose to cultivate nut oil trees as the main crop. Nut oil trees have very low soil requirements, can provide benefits for many years, and are suitable for mountainous areas. This was the answer he got after consulting several experienced old farmers, so he chose nut oil trees.
However, like rice trees, nut oil trees also have a very deadly flaw: they are prone to pest disasters.
Compared to rice trees, nut oil trees are much more susceptible to pests. On average, there is a significant pest disaster affecting rice trees once every five years, while nut oil trees are affected by pests almost every year. Fortunately, these trees are hardy and can grow almost anywhere, so the yield keeps up.
But this flaw is fatal for the budah family. They need to plant nut oil trees on a large scale to make them a primary source of income for the family. However, if the nut oil trees are always affected by pests, then they are doomed.
Galen had been worrying about this issue for a long time, and now that Zhao Hai mentioned there is a special pesticide for killing insects, a huge weight finally lifted off Galen's heart.
Seeing Galen's happy expression, Zhao Hai smiled and said, "However, I don't really agree with using these two substances. Both are toxic, and using them on crops will leave traces of toxins in the crops. Although these toxins do not significantly affect human health, long-term consumption can accumulate a large amount of toxins in the body, which is harmful to health."
Galen was taken aback and then frowned, "This is indeed a problem. It seems we can't use this for the food we consume in the future."
As soon as Galen said this, Zhao Hai couldn't help but feel a bit awkward. He really didn't expect Galen, such a serious person, would show a cunning side.
However, Zhao Hai was surprised that Merlin and the others actually nodded in agreement, as if they found Galen's reasoning very reasonable.
What Zhao Hai didn't know was that since they were driven here, Merlin had developed a bit of a misanthropic mindset. They viewed everyone as having betrayed them and as the culprits who brought the budah family to this state. It was precisely for this reason that Galen would say such things, and Merlin would agree.
Zhao Hai shook his head, not wanting to think about this anymore. He turned to Galen and said, "Grandpa Galen, let's go inside and check the screen to see how many undead beings are outside. Then we can come up with a plan to capture them."