Chapter 454 The Secret of the Seed

"Go ahead, little one."

Liszt held a restless rubber bug in his palm, slogging through the mud to a pre-planned empty rubber plantation—the plantation was meant to cover over ten thousand acres, so the layout had been determined in advance.

The rubber bug opened its mouth, and a faint green light emerged.

It was a tiny seed, which immediately took root and sprouted upon landing, then rapidly grew into a towering insect-grass tree, visible to the naked eye.

The dynamic growth of the plant struck a chord with Liszt: "A seed can grow into a towering tree, and spirit bugs are born this way... But what about the magic seed inside me? What connection does it have with the seed of the spirit bug grass?"

Spirits seem to begin as seeds.

If his guess is correct, the Fire Dragon might also emerge from the magic seed.

So, both spirits and dragons start as seeds, and their seeds are clearly not ordinary seeds but condensed magic—the seed of the spirit bug grass also functions like a regular plant seed, but the magic seed likely can't be planted to sprout.

"I hope it doesn't sprout in my heart, using me as fertile soil, draining my mana, and nurturing itself into a Fire Dragon."

As the new rubber tree insect-grass grew, his mind raced.

At one moment, he compared the similarities and differences between spirit seeds and magic seeds; at another, he thought about how humans grow from fertilized eggs, which can also be seen as seeds; then he concluded that maybe all life starts as seeds; and then he inexplicably thought that the mermaid Acheronides didn't seem to come from a seed.

When she was first born, she was inside a shell, with her body fully formed except for her legs below the knees.

"Perhaps Acheronides was originally a shell?"

Just as spirit bugs didn't originally exist, ordinary plants suddenly mutated and gave birth to spirit bugs; perhaps mermaids didn't originally exist either, and a shell suddenly mutated to give birth to a mermaid.

This idea felt a bit odd.

He didn't think Acheronides seemed like a transformed shell—the inside of a shell isn't exactly pretty: "But how did Acheronides' shell come to be, and where did she originate? If I can solve this mystery, perhaps I can create new mermaids in bulk."

Although Acheronides is not yet an adult and is still being nurtured, her importance is undeniable.

Nami was discovered by her, the kelp bug was discovered by her, the ring reef, Pearl Lake, and black giant clam were found by her, the pink conch was also discovered by her, Cris Truth was rescued by her, the green caterpillar and the green-headed duck were discovered by her, and the six-headed king sea snake was also lured by her.

Basically, all ocean-related mission rewards are tied to Acheronides—after all, Liszt is not an aquatic creature.

A knight can conquer the land and, someday, the sky, but the ocean might be beyond even a dragon knight's reach—except for a dragon knight riding a water dragon, which can surely roam the seas freely.

He didn't dwell on these thoughts for long.

The insect-grass had been settled.

Liszt picked up the now calm rubber bug and began to examine the new rubber tree insect-grass. He noticed that this insect-grass was completely different from the previous two—it was far larger, with a thicker trunk and more branches. Especially its leaves, which were exaggeratedly large, even bigger than banana leaves.

It bore no fruit.

Probably like a regular rubber tree, it could produce rubber by tapping the trunk.

"The biggest mutation of this new insect-grass is probably its leaves. I'll pick a leaf to study." Liszt carefully plucked a leaf imbued with magic.

The magic quickly dissipated, turning it into an ordinary leaf.

From the broken end at the base of the leaf, a small amount of rubber oozed out, proving that the new rubber tree could still produce rubber—it hadn't lost this ability. In Liszt's view, rubber is as valuable as magic potions, so losing the ability to produce rubber would be a failed mutation.

"Such a large leaf, and quite sturdy." He tugged at the leaf,

but it didn't tear, "It could make a fan, or maybe... a packaging bag? Like wrapping zongzi, using its leaves to wrap delicacies? It just feels like such a use doesn't quite suit a rubber tree."...

After settling the new rubber tree and insect grass.

Liszt's next priority is to complete the new smoke task: stockpiling enough food for ten thousand people to survive the winter.

But soon he discovered a serious problem: "It's not even October yet, and winter lasts from mid-December to mid-February. So when should I start stockpiling enough food to complete the task? Should I start now?" He wasn't sure if the food stockpiled now would still be good by winter.

However, he had to start anyway, as there was no way to stockpile enough food in a hurry.

Assuming basic food and clothing needs are met, a strong adult male consumes about 600 pounds of grain a year. Subtracting the consumption of the elderly, weak, women, and children, and adding the extra consumption of knights, we can estimate that a single citizen needs to consume 2 pounds of grain per day.

Ten thousand people need 20,000 pounds of grain a day, equivalent to 10 tons.

The grain required for ten thousand people over two months is 600 tons.

"From now on, I need to find ways to purchase grain daily from various parts of Coral Island, storing 3 tons each day. By December, I can probably store 100 tons; the grain produced by the territory, aside from consumption, can also store about 100 tons; plus the curing of meat and seafood, storing another 100 tons is feasible... There is still a shortfall of 300 tons."

These 300 tons must be sourced from outer islands.

The cost will undoubtedly be high.

Currently, the income from Flower Brew is mortgaged until next year, and the income from Black Tulips, Flower Soap, and rubber is barely sufficient to sustain the territory's development.

To purchase more grain, he must raise additional gold coins.

"If there's no other option, start selling black pearls and see if the market is eager for black pearls smaller than a sea bowl." He once sold a fist-sized black pearl to Levis for several hundred gold coins.

Now, with an increasing number of black pearls.

The price will inevitably drop, but regardless of how much it drops, it will still be more valuable than the white pearls produced by the Duke's pearl oysters in Tranquil Lake—white pearls merely calm the mind, whereas black pearls not only calm the mind but also dispel wind-attribute magic power.

Additionally, they are larger and possess more abundant magic power.

"Ten times the price, they can definitely be sold! Now, large black clams can no longer be found in Pearl Lake, but there are still many small black clams. Just catch a batch and you can earn gold coins... I don't need to worry about the territory's finances at all. I have no money, but I have specialties!"

So after returning to Flower Town, he promptly took a few black pearl samples and hurried to Tulip Castle to negotiate the black pearl trade with Levis and his wife.

If there is no market on Coral Island, sister-in-law Gloria can take them to Golden Island for sale.

I believe the noblewomen on Golden Island will pay a hefty sum of gold coins for the black pearls.