Chapter 533: Harvest and Experiment

The Giant Kelp Forest stretches in a long strip, totaling about 36,000 acres, with the western end close to the sea and the eastern end far from the shore. Liszt has so far explored the western coastal area, reaching about one-third, which is approximately 12,000 acres, including about 2,500 acres of Magic Giant Kelp. Further east, the water depth gradually increases to 80 meters, with an uneven seabed, some areas exceeding 100 meters in depth.

The fish living in this part of the Giant Kelp Forest are also getting larger, and even sharks and other fierce predators lurk on the seabed.

Naturally,

Even underwater, where Liszt's mana is less effective, he can still easily kill fierce sharks, especially with the help of the great water magician Acheronides.

As long as there are no sea monsters, he remains safe underwater: "The eastern area of the Giant Kelp Forest is no longer suitable for marine farming. The water is too deep, and there are sharks. It is very dangerous for ordinary fishermen to come here to harvest Giant Kelp... Even if the territory promotes mana, it will still be dangerous for ordinary fishermen to possess mana in the future."

A knight's domain is the land and the sky.

The sea lies beyond their reach.

Even knights with water affinity are limited in the sea, and a misstep could result in drowning. Neither knights nor magicians can conquer the sea. The human body is ill-suited for action in the sea. Whether as a dragon knight or a magister, venturing into the water invites disaster.

This is why the Sapphire Duchy relentlessly targets the mainland—even island nations struggle to master the sea, much less landlocked countries.

Without the mermaid Acheronides, Liszt too would struggle to harness the sea.

At least until technology enables underwater operations, the sea remains a realm of danger. Even in Earth's technological age, humans cannot fully tame the sea, and can only gaze helplessly at the vast ocean teeming with resources. Only a handful of nations can extract oil from the sea.

However,

With the mermaid Acheronides by his side, the sea loses some of its mystery.

"Acheronides, exploring the Giant Kelp Forest will require considerable time. Today, we'll focus on developing the Magic Giant Kelp. I've reconfigured the layout of the Giant Kelp Worm Grass. Moving forward, the cultivation area for Magic Giant Kelp will shift closer to the coast... Underwater, you'll harvest all the Magic Giant Kelp in this area and let it rise to the surface. I will send fishermen to salvage them."

"Okay."

Acheronides is a hardworking mermaid who never refuses Liszt's assigned tasks.

Watching her swiftly sink into the sea, Liszt feels deeply moved. Among the many rewards the smoke mission has brought him, the most important is Acheronides. Even the Fire Drake Leo cannot compare to her status in his heart. If he had to choose one to give up, he would rather abandon Leo.

Of course.

He would never reveal this thought to Leo.

Otherwise, if Leo gets upset, he might really fly away. With the good food and care he receives here, he might not be willing to leave.

...

The harvesting operation of the Magic Giant Kelp quickly begins.

Nearly 600 acres of Magic Giant Kelp are outside Liszt's planned range and can be cut down.

It is not difficult to distinguish Magic Giant Kelp from ordinary Giant Kelp—the former has slender leaves, while the latter has slightly thicker leaves.

Acheronides' work ability is unquestionable, and soon large clumps of yellowish-brown Giant Kelp are floating on the sea surface.

The sampan harvesting team of Black Horse Island has grown to over 300 boats. Liszt dispatches 100 of them, densely searching the sea surface for the drifting Magic Giant Kelp and transporting them ashore. Then, serfs load the Magic Giant Kelp onto carts and take them to the magic workshop in Port Town, handing them over to Cris Truth.

There are inevitably some ordinary Giant Kelp that Acheronides hastily cut by mistake, but magicians have methods to distinguish between magic and ordinary plants.

Liszt does not forget to instruct the officials in charge of transportation: "Do not throw away the ordinary Giant Kelp that were cut by mistake. Send people to explore whether they are edible and if they have any other valuable uses."

With 36,000 acres of Giant Kelp, it would be a great waste if they are neither edible nor useful.

The 600 acres of Magic Giant Kelp ready for harvest are being continuously harvested by Acheronides alone, but the progress is slow.

Liszt also dives underwater to harvest as much Magic Giant Kelp as possible. His ability to hold his breath while diving has improved significantly; he can now swim underwater for twenty-five minutes without needing to surface—this is without the help of Acheronides controlling the water flow, showing his rapid progress.

First, according to the Magic Giant Kelp plantation project he devised last night, he takes the two Giant Kelp Sprites and three Giant Kelp Spirit Bugs he has already contracted to relocate the insect grass patches. He tries to move them closer to the coastal area, ensuring their coverage areas don’t overlap, thus maximizing the planting range.

Then, he selects an area where the water depth does not exceed twenty meters to set up an experimental field.

He’s testing the growth, harvesting, and reproduction of Giant Kelp.

From his understanding of algae, it is a very primitive plant, and some algae cannot even be called plants but rather primitive life forms.

But in this world, most algae can nurture Spirit Bugs, so they are naturally classified as plants.

He’d previously observed kelp; the leaves of kelp have small bumps, and when the kelp leaves mature, these bumps burst, probably containing kelp seeds. He had Acheronides experiment with burying a mature piece of kelp in the mud, and soon kelp seedlings sprouted.

Giant Kelp is probably similar to kelp and can propagate in this way.

Moreover, with the help of Fizz and Tahm, he can propagate Giant Kelp more easily, allowing the Spirit Bugs to reproduce on their own using jade powder as the driving force.

Spirit Bugs all have the "magic" of "planting."

For example, Jie La can randomly plant thorns, Nami can randomly plant mangroves, Mickey can randomly plant corn, and Fizz and Tahm can randomly plant Giant Kelp. However, Spirit Bugs are not professional farmers; when they plant, they scatter seeds without regard to quality, density, or location.

Once scattered, they don’t tend to the plants, which requires human management.

Especially during the seedling stage, the seedlings scattered by Spirit Bugs vary in strength, and many aren’t viable. Seedlings bred from manually selected seeds are more qualified.

The only regret is that Spirit Bugs cannot distinguish between Potion Seeds and ordinary seeds—essentially, Potion Seeds still require manual breeding.

For now.

Planting Giant Kelp isn’t urgent; Liszt is mainly experimenting with Giant Kelp harvesting and continued growth.

He cuts off ten meters, twenty meters, and thirty meters of Giant Kelp in the experimental field, leaving behind Giant Kelp of different lengths to see if they will die or keep growing. If they keep growing, then Giant Kelp can be harvested in batches; if not, seedlings will have to be cultivated.

By evening.

Liszt reunites with Acheronides, who has been busy all day, and receives good news: "Brother, Acheronides found another Giant Kelp Spirit Bug while harvesting Magic Giant Kelp."

"Really? Show me where it is."

He dives, finds the Spirit Bug, scatters jade powder to lure it, and successfully contracts it. By now, he has obtained two sprites and four Spirit Bugs from the Giant Kelp Forest!

It’s like stumbling into a nest of Spirit Bugs.

And there is still two-thirds of the Giant Kelp Forest waiting to be explored. The smoke task hints at a more core secret inside, which might just be the Great Sprite he has been eagerly anticipating.

"Great Sprite, oh Great Sprite, don’t rush. Once I finish harvesting this batch of Magic Giant Kelp, I’ll come find you!"