Chapter 196: Sky-High Seeds! Crazy Market
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The off-white saltpeter ores were extremely pure, and it was not difficult to unload Earth Tiger with the convenience of the storage space.
It didn’t take long before all the saltpeter ores were transported to the second floor’s safety warehouse for storage.
Based on the efficiency rate of his previous manufacturing process, the amount of saltpeter ores collected this time around could produce tens of thousands of bullets, which would greatly alleviate the issue of the shelter’s current empty ammunition reservers.
Clapping his hands in satisfaction, Su Mo went down the stairs and returned to the first floor.
“The next task is to develop all five mu of the Black Soil Land that was generated, and plant a batch of vegetables before the disaster!”
Time waited for no one, and every day of a big disaster would be a torment, and everyone would live with fear.
However, when faced with a welfare disaster instead, the time one had to prepare was completely insufficient, seeing that one had to perform a series of basic tasks in order to reap the benefits of the welfare disaster.
Su Mo brought up the diesel oil reserves in the shelter. After filling up King Kong, he drove with Oreo on board and both of them headed for the Black Soil Land.
The thick layer of snow would provide the ground with natural nutrients and moisture.
Maneuvering King Kong, Su Mo shoveled the path with the excavator’s bucket as he went along and smoothly opened a dirt road from the shelter to the Black Soil Land.
On the snowy ground, a four-kilometer-long straight line appeared between the two destinations, which looked spectacular when contrasted with the snow-white surroundings.
At first, Oreo sat in the passenger seat as she curiously watched Su Mo control the bucket as he worked.
Later, Oreo barked, indicating her desire to get out of the car. After that, she ran behind King Kong happily all the way.
After practicing the various maneuvers based on the expert’s instructions in the training ground session, Su Mo had become more skilled in controlling the big guy.
Without much effort, he arrived at the Black Soil Land that covered an area of about five mu.
Even if it was covered with snow, he could still see parts of the black soil exposed on some of the higher slopes.
Su Mo got out of the vehicle and began to estimate how much work he had in store, before returning to the vehicle and kicking off the excavation process.
The days in the wasteland were short but fulfilling.
Without the threat of an enemy or disaster looming in the background, most humans were surprised to find that, compared to before, not only were they not idle, but they had become even busier instead!
Whether they were lone wolves, in small shelters, or even in large shelters.
Almost like clockwork, all humans had spontaneously busied themselves clearing out a piece of fertile land in preparation for the arrival of the upcoming welfare disaster.
As for seed prices on the trading market, those had been raised to sky-high prices at this time.
Su Mo still remembered that, when he exchanged for seeds the first time, he only had to offer a bottle of water in exchange for a variety of different seeds as, at that time, seeds were useless in the eyes of others.
Those seeds could neither be eaten nor planted by the majority of humans, and they were not even as valuable as a unit of stone on the ground.
This was also the reason why Su Mo managed to purchase it at such a low price.
However, now that the news of the upcoming welfare disaster had spread, and everyone received the planting buff, seeds had become the hottest commodity, prices continuing to soar without end.
What, a small packet of tomato seeds for a large piece of bread? You don’t care whether I’ll take it or not? Unless I am stupid, I wouldn’t… Okay okay, I’ll buy it, you black marketeer!
What, you want to trade one kilogram of spring wheat seeds for a gun and 50 bullets? Are you crazy? Okay, okay, I’m the one who’s crazy!
Any seeds with nutritional value were being snatched up by the market.
Even some fruit tree seeds that would take a few years to mature were not spared by these “irrational” players. Once new seeds were released, they would be swept away by the large shelters.
The seed market had entered an extremely vicious cycle. In the eyes of some speculative people, this was an opportunity to manipulate this large market and gain unimaginable materials and profits!
Moreover, in this process, the status of the Huaxia people was blossoming and steadily rising!
As long as there was a shelter where there was a Huaxian, even if the person in charge was of another race, when they saw the Huaxia person at this time, their eyes would shine without exception!
With the buff, every Huaxia person was an incomparable treasure that could increase the shelter’s productivity during this disaster by three, or even five, times!
Clearing out land? No, no, those jobs can be left to others!
Turning over the ground? No, no, these can also be reserved for others!
All the Huaxians were surprised to find that, in the entire process of planting, they were only required to do one thing!
Throw the seeds into the dug pit and then bury them with a shovel. That was it!
This sudden change in status made these people confused at first, but when some clever people awakened, a wave of worshipping the god “Su Mo” once again set off on the wasteland.
Of course, Su Mo, who was working hard while this trend was going on, was not aware of this.
Even if he knew, he was only one person in the face of a multi-billion dollar market. He was still too powerless to maintain any order at all.
However, what Su Mo did not expect was that, far away in the Tundra Shelter, Su Chan did not truly follow his instructions to keep a low profile…
…
“Sister Shen Ke, the Su Mo that you mentioned, is he so amazing? I think many people in our shelter are worshipping him in the morning! It’s as if…”
“As if Su Mo is already dead! It’s such a grand spectacle!”
With her mouth squeezed, Su Chan followed Shen Ke around like a worm, constantly chattering.
“Young lady, don’t let the others hear you, otherwise big sister won’t be able to protect you. I will have to let them poke your spine before this matter is settled!”
“Su Mo… Su Mo is the hero of us Huaxians, and also our lucky star. You have just arrived here, so you don’t understand anything yet!”
Shen Ke said those words earnestly after hearing Su Chan out. She turned around resignedly, her finger gently poked Su Chan’s head.
“Sister Shen Ke, don’t you like Su Mo too?”
Looking at the appearance of Shen Ke, Su Chan’s mouth widened and made an exaggerated expression, which immediately made Shen Ke apprehensive.
“Don’t speak of such nonsense. Su Mo is the hero of the Huaxians, and of course he’s my idol! We have never seen each other, so how can I say that I like him!”
Seeing Shen Ke trying to cover things up, Su Chan touched her hand to her head with a thoughtful look and laughed.
‘Brother’s charm knows no bounds!’
‘Hmph, but big bro looks down on me too much. He has become the world’s number one person himself, but he wants me to act as a nameless person!’
‘I also have the skills to support myself, okay!’
Su Chan followed behind Shen Ke. After a while, the two came to a fenced open field with an area of about two to three hundred cubic meters.
At the center of the field, there were some small animals captured by humans.
“Here, it’s all yours!” Shen Ke pointed at the animals, and showed an expression of “waiting to watch a performance”.
The next moment, before Shen Ke’s slightly shocked eyes, Su Chan’s body seemed to glimmer with light.
The little animals that were originally jumping around in the field seemed to have perceived something. They ran over and gathered together obediently.
Among these animals, there were herbivorous mountain hares, a hopping silly roe deer, and three or four lazy mountain goats.
Usually, after being caught, these animals would turn a blind eye to the blades of grass blades and the tender stems collected for them by humans.
However, at this moment, under Su Chan’s guidance, all the animals received instructions and began to happily eat the leaves of grass piled on the side.
This astounding scene flashed before Shen Ke’s beautiful eyes.
“That’s amazing, there are people with such great luck!”
“Receiving an ability to be proficient in animal language from an ordinary treasure chest, and attracting these animals by character. The shelter’s animal breeding plan can finally be started!”
…
“Oreo, don’t you understand what I said? I said, go back and bring me a shovel!”
“That’s all!”
After clearing most of the snow on the black ground, Su Mo sat on the ground and gestured toward Oreo, who was sitting beside him.
Even though Oreo had the intelligence quotient of a fifteen or sixteen-year-old human, at this moment, the difference in their thought processes made her turn her head, expressing doubt with her big eyes.
“Woof?”
“Woo?”
“Okay, okay, I know you only remember things when it comes to food. I will go back and get it myself. I can’t count on you!”
Su Mo took out the psychic energy water and drank a few sips to regain his strength. Looking at Oreo’s naughty appearance, Su Mo had no choice but to walk back to the shelter to get his tools.
The layer of snow had been all removed.
He just needed a shovel to handle the corners, before using the excavator’s bucket to turn over the ground, and the land would be ready for planting.
After going back and forth, the arrival of the evening sky heralded the completion of his work.
Driving the excavator and looking at the neat black ground behind him, Su Mo smiled with satisfaction.
It was due to the assistance of mechanical power that he could cover so much land in just one day and even mine for saltpeter ores in the meantime.
For other shelters, it would be difficult to complete such a large amount of work even given two or three days!
Su Mo drove the excavator back to the shelter and parked it outside. He closed the garage gate and the stone door in turn. After having a simple dinner, Su Mo busied himself preparing ammunition again. He also studied the details of the cooperation for tomorrow with the shelter in the west.
His rushed efforts today made Su Mo thoroughly aware of how difficult it was to plant a piece of land.
Without including the process of clearing snow and plowing the ground, it was a troublesome thing to clean up the debris on the ground with a shovel. Besides all these, one had to think about digging holes, controlling plant density, planting, harvesting…
Su Mo was getting a headache!
“Although I am a child who grew up in a rural area, I have never planted land before. If I start from scratch, it is better to outsource it directly. Then I’ll be able to earn big while passing on some of the profits to others.”
Su Mo prepared the nitric acid and sulfuric acid and turned them into guncotton, which was a very familiar process to him by now.
Taking advantage of the preparation period of the first batch of guncotton and the process of cooling and solidification, the details of a general trading cooperation agreement slowly began to take shape in Su Mo’s mind.
