Chapter 434: Chapter 330: National Treasure
"Your Majesty! Look at this..."
Watuo promptly paid his respects, then looked at Long Yi helplessly.
"Come, let’s have a chat."
Before Kirei could reply, Long Yi had already taken him by the shoulder and led him aside.
Watuo was dumbfounded. Was Long Yi blatantly disregarding the authority of the Emperor? And the Emperor’s guards, they hadn’t followed at all. Weren’t they afraid that Long Yi had hidden intentions?
"What is the matter with you? With something so important on hand, rather than safeguarding it, why would you show it off to the Fertile Plains Federation?" Long Yi whispered.
"Hey, hey, let go of my neck! I’m losing vision!" Kirei hastily smacked at Long Yi’s arm to stop him.
"Cough, I apologize. You alright? If you are, answer my question!" Long Yi released his arm.
Kirei straightened up, sorted out his thoughts, then said, "Actually, this question is very simple. First, you answer me this question: where is the most fertile land in the world?"
"Are you kidding me? Of course, it’s the Fertile Plains Federation. Aside from two mountains, the whole place is a plain, and it’s rich, black soil. Otherwise, how could they call themselves the Fertile Plains Federation?" Long Yi retorted.
"Well, do you know what their utilisation rate of arable land is?" Kirei asked.
"They taught us geography, right? Around 20%?" Long Yi returned.
"No, it’s only 18%. Within the Fertile Plains Federation, vast amounts of land are left unused because they have a sparse population and prohibit any foreign immigrants. So, despite being a year-round food exporter, they still can’t cultivate more land." Kirei explained.
"Right, and then?"
"Let’s revisit our predicament again." Kirei cleared his throat, which was still unpleasant from Long Yi’s grip. "Look, our White Dragon Empire is a nation keen on economic growth. Although we do have some farms, their output is not significant. Almost 30% of our annual food supply relies on imports from the Fertile Plains Federation, which makes us the Federation’s largest trade partner. This means that we have forged a relationship with the Federation that is hard to sever. On one hand, the White Dragon Empire has a huge demand for food, but our funds must be kept aside for war reserves and can’t be used to purchase more grain. Furthermore, we don’t have enough suitable people to cultivate more arable land; and on the other hand, the Federation has been trying to further increase its food output to consolidate its position as the world’s largest food exporter. They’re keen on turning more land into arable land."
When the emperor had explained this much, Long Yi should have basically understood – the Emperor planned to barter technology for food.
"How did you negotiate with them?" Long Yi asked.
"I have a memorandum around here, would you care to have a look?"
Kirei took out a thick stack of documents from his spatial bracelet.
"Nevermind. Just give me a brief run-down. I won’t bother looking into these details." Long Yi didn’t care for such things.
"In summary, we provide them with advanced agricultural machinery and personnel for maintenance, and they pay the rent in food. There’s more numerical detail here, but I think you’re not interested in that. So, the gist is that."
Long Yi nodded in agreement. The wily emperor had thought things through. This way, advanced machinery could be lent to others, but the real operation and maintenance had to be their own people. If it were copied by others, the technological advantage would gradually fade. Especially as the Crystal Core technology of the Fertile Plains Federation was rather renowned.
"Alright then, after listening to you, I basically have no objections. Just do it as you’ve planned. Since it was you that negotiated this, we definitely won’t be at a loss. But what do you want me to do?" Long Yi decisively abandoned the part he wasn’t good at.
"The Fertile Plains Federation hopes to negotiate some mechanical details according to the crops they grow. As you know, those guys in our Science Academy don’t have much experience," said Kirei.
I don’t have much experience either! I’ve never dealt with the real thing, either! I only know about it from TV! How am I supposed to know how a combine harvester works?!
"Leave it to me!" Despite being all riled up inside, that’s what Long Yi proclaimed.
Never tried it? Why not give it a shot?
The Fertile Plains Federation’s primary crops are soybeans, rice, and wheat. These are the highest yielding and most important crops. From sowing to harvesting, the entire process must be mechanized. This was a challenge to Long Yi’s thinking. As a modern man, he’s seen most of these machines. But having seen them does not mean he’s taken them apart; understanding their precise workings required a significant amount of imagination.
Luckily, there were no shortages of smart people in the Science Academy.
After nearly a month of tackling the problem, finally, they came up with a comprehensive solution.
When Long Yi presented the solution to the Fertile Plains Federation and Emperor Kirei, Kirei was left stupefied.
"Hey! You mean to tell me that these machines can be so advanced? They can even harvest and sort into feeds?!" The Emperor whispered in disbelief.
Long Yi blinked, then slapped his forehead. Apparently, he had overestimated the level of mechanization in this world. His instincts had made him assume that the epitome of mechanization would be a combine harvester. But evidently, the Fertile Plains Federation’s understanding of mechanization was merely large-scale plowing and the like.
"No matter, I’ve designed it all already, I’ll just raise the price later," said Long Yi, shaking his head helplessly.
The Fertile Plains Federation was thrilled with the range of solutions Long Yi presented, although they had some doubts. They had never seen or even heard of such highly-automated machinery. Long Yi hadn’t expected them to believe it. After all, even Long Yi found these machines to be incredibly novel when he first saw them.
Long Yi didn’t need to worry about pricing; Kirei’s intelligence ensured he wouldn’t be on the losing end.
This partnership would inevitably cause the Fertile Plains Federation to lean towards the White Dragon Empire to some degree. That, Kirei probably longed to see.
After previous hunting, the Crystal Core supply of the White Dragon Empire was once again replenished. This time, all the production units under the laboratories were working full steam to produce Energy cores and Molten Beast cores. Moreover, a secret group had made preliminary progress in its research on golems. Some people had begun to fix the simple damaged parts of the golems. However, it was a challenge to restore the core components of the golems. Of course, Long Yi did not intend for them to. The use of these golem cores was too vast to be grasped with current human technology. For now, Long Yi could only hope for his Giant’s Scepter and the Giant’s Tablet.
Whenever Long Yi had a moment, he would immediately take out these two items and study every detail closely.
The Giant Tablet was easy enough. Within the Giant Clan, it was likely just a common item with a simple logic to its use. But the Giant’s Scepter didn’t have any intuitive method of operation. Any manipulation required the infusion of the Giant’s Power. Long Yi had tried it a few times in secluded places, but the results made him wary. The Giant’s Scepter’s power was astonishingly great. Its mere act of turning sand into glass in front of him was enough to startle Long Yi.
If one wanted to turn sand into glass, the simplest method was to apply high temperatures. But with a flash from the Giant’s Scepter, a crystalline layer of glass appeared on the surface of the sand on the ground, with no change in temperature.
Of course, Long Yi’s Giant Power depleted quite spectacularly.
However, the one to do all this, Long Yi, still had no clue what had occurred.
Apparently, the Giant’s Scepter had some intricate use, but Long Yi dared not try again. Because once, he accidentally removed all the hair on his leg. This meant that the Giant’s Scepter was not limited to inanimate objects. If one of its functions was to turn his muscles into fat, it would be utterly embarrassing.
Long Yi dared not show this item to the scientists at the academy; it was a treasure of his Giant lineage. Who knows if there were any spies from the Black Dragon within the academy?
At this moment.
The Black Dragon Empire.
Within a massive warehouse in an underground secret laboratory, five naked dragon knights stand in a row, their Mount Dragons close by. These dragons were close relatives of the Black Dragon but were not pureblooded dragons. If it were ordinary times, they would not be of importance, nor would anyone care about their welfare. But now, the Black Dragon Emperor is here, and the important military ministers of the Empire are here. And so was the Dean of the Dragon Knight Academy.
Everyone was gathered here to witness a revolutionary, groundbreaking transformation.
A pallid Tilian stepped up slowly and bowed to the Emperor.
Black Dragon Emperor Kaniel nodded with a smile, signaling him to start.
Tilian turned around and took five bottles of black liquid from his box. These liquids were not quietly resting at the bottom. Instead, they hovered in the middle of the bottle, constantly splitting, merging, warping, and even making squeaking noises.
"Your Majesty, this is my latest research achievement, the product of scientifically fusing failure artificial female demons, Black Dragon Breath, and the flesh and blood of demons. I am more than honored to announce that my Super Dragon Knight potion has been successfully manufactured. Today, I will perform the first test right before all of you, make sure you don’t blink!"
Tilian went in front of the first dragon knight, drew out a huge syringe, and extracted the restless liquid. The dragon knight began to tremble uncontrollably, it was clear that he was frightened.
"Don’t be afraid, this is a great honor. In just a few minutes, you will become incredibly powerful, and even the Celestial Clan from Heaven Realm will no longer be your match!"
Without further ado, Tilian injected the liquid into the heart of the first person, then the second, the third... all five individuals had the Super Dragon Knight potion injected into them.
At this point, the first person to receive the injection started reacting. His whole body convulsed uncontrollably, and he knelt on the ground. Blood poured out of his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
"Rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, this is the Super Soldier potion replacing the blood in the dragon knight’s body. Once it is fully replaced, the dragon knight will gain even more strength!"
Soon, the dragon knight exploded, and the red blood spilled out. The red beneath their skin gradually turned black, their skin rapidly healed, and slowly turned black. Their bodies started growing, becoming incredibly sturdy, and their Fighting Aura level also increased!
Eventually, all five dragon knights ceased transforming. They all became immensely tall. They were protected by a black exoskeleton over their entire body. Their skull-like heads had red eyes flashing. They opened their mouths, revealing their full set of sharp teeth.
"For the Emperor!"
"Long live the Emperor!"
The newly born super dragon knights roared out, causing Fighting Aura to surge in the air.
Kaniel’s heart was thumping. He had not expected such success! These intelligent super dragon knights! (To be continued. If you like this piece of work, we welcome you to vote or offer up moon tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users can read at m.qidian.com.)
