Chapter 163: Food Cultivation
The townspeople had fled Westbarrow in such a hurry that they brought very few iron tools with them.
Caelum nearly exhausted all the iron in Newhaven before he managed to produce fifty flintlock muskets.
He also made five hundred pounds of black powder.
Each shot from a flintlock musket required twenty grams of powder. At that rate, the entire stock amounted to only a little over ten thousand shots.
A single round of training for the three hundred Wardens consumed at least three hundred shots.
The supply would not last long at all.
The bullets were less of a concern. Most of the ones fired during training could be recovered and reused.
In truth, making ammunition consumed even more iron than making the muskets themselves.
Meanwhile, as Newhaven’s population continued to grow, the food shortage became increasingly severe.
When the mountain stronghold was first built, large stretches of nearby woodland had been cleared into farmland.
But crops planted now could not be harvested immediately.
If this many people relied on hunting alone, they would soon eat every animal in the mountains.
Forget the animals. Even the wild vegetables and fruit had already been stripped clean.
Caelum had anticipated the food problem and kept some of the cane sugar from Torran.
It was barely enough to prevent anyone in Newhaven from starving to death.
But that small supply would not last much longer.
Had Caelum not worried about frightening Torran so badly that he never returned, he really would have confiscated every bit of cane sugar in the caravan.
Problems had to be solved one at a time.
After dealing with the muskets and black powder, Caelum turned his attention to food.
One day, a large group of dirt covered townspeople ran toward him, waving several stalks of sugarcane in the air.
"My lord, we found sugarcane!"
A smile appeared on Caelum’s face as he accepted it.
"Oh? Where did you find it?"
"In a ravine east of here!"
An honest looking old farmer gestured as he spoke.
"We searched for a long time before finding these few stalks. My lord, will this much be enough?"
"It will."
As long as he had sugarcane, the rest would be easy.
Caelum carried it back to his room, where a basin of muddy water had already been prepared.
He set one stalk aside, planning to use it for something else later.
Then he activated the technology tree.
[White Sugar Refining Accelerated Production]
At once, every drop of juice was pressed from the remaining sugarcane under the control of an invisible force.
The liquid heated in midair and boiled down into raw sugar residue before mixing with the muddy water.
Under normal circumstances, the filtration process would take a very long time.
With the technology tree accelerating it, however, the sugar residue went through several rounds of washing and filtration in the blink of an eye.
A few breaths later, a bowl of white sugar appeared before Caelum.
[White Sugar Refining Complete]
The white sugar had been successfully produced.
Several follow up technologies unlocked at once.
This time, the new branches did not consist only of minor firearm and gunpowder technologies.
Entire major branches of the technology tree also opened.
[Agriculture and Food Cultivation Unlocked]
[Education and Literacy Unlocked]
[Smelting and Mineral Surveying Unlocked]
[Black Powder and Powder Granulation Unlocked]
[Flintlock Musket and Rifled Musket Unlocked]
A whole string of technologies had been unlocked.
Mineral surveying required little explanation.
Newhaven already had a blacksmith who knew how to search for mineral veins, so Caelum did not need to personally venture into the deep mountains and forests.
Literacy was not really a technology, but it was still an important policy for improving the townspeople’s education and general abilities.
It would allow Caelum to rapidly produce written manuals for spreading knowledge and providing basic education.
More importantly, manuals created through the technology tree also carried a powerful effect that accelerated the reader’s understanding and mastery of the material.
Powder granulation had many advantages.
It made black powder more resistant to moisture and allowed it to burn more completely, producing far greater power.
That was especially important.
A rifled musket had spiral grooves cut into the inside of its barrel.
These grooves gave the bullet a more stable flight path and extended its range after leaving the muzzle.
The appearance of rifling greatly increased firearm range.
When combined with granulated powder, it would dramatically enhance the power of Caelum’s flintlock muskets.
But food cultivation was the technology that mattered most to Caelum right now.
Food cultivation by itself was nothing remarkable.
The townspeople already knew how to farm without his help.
The technology tree, however, could accelerate the entire process and produce a finished result immediately.
Caelum opened the door and gave an order.
"Bring me some millet seed."
"Yes, my lord."
Soon after, Caelum walked out carrying a sack of millet seed.
Every townsman in Newhaven followed behind him in a long procession.
They were all gaunt from hunger, their faces pale and drawn.
As they walked, they whispered among themselves, unable to understand what Caelum intended.
"What is His Lordship planning to do?"
"Even if we plant now, the harvest will not come immediately."
Someone sighed.
"Unless His Lordship knows magic."
If the food problem could not be solved, they might have escaped the blades and arrows of Thalric only to starve to death in the mountains.
Growl.
Their empty stomachs rumbled one after another.
When they reached the fields, Caelum reached into the sack and grabbed a handful of seeds.
He turned to face the townspeople.
"Everyone, I told you I would solve the food shortage, and I will keep that promise. Watch carefully."
With that, he scattered the seeds across the field.
They drifted through the air and settled into the soil.
Caelum immediately activated Food Cultivation on the technology tree.
[Agriculture and Food Cultivation Accelerated Production]
In an instant, it seemed as though time itself had accelerated.
Within only a few breaths, all four seasons appeared to pass.
The millet in the field sprouted and grew at an impossible speed.
Heavy heads of grain formed almost at once.
[Agriculture and Food Cultivation Complete]
[Agriculture and Cash Crop Cultivation Unlocked]
"This..."
"His Lordship truly knows magic!"
The townspeople stared with wide eyes, convinced they must be dreaming.
Once they recovered, they dropped to their knees in waves and began bowing to Caelum.
"Divine Lord!"
"..."
After witnessing something so impossible, no one would believe Caelum even if he denied being a god.
He had no intention of explaining either.
As the technology tree continued to develop, the things he created would only become more outrageous.
Exposure was merely a matter of time.
There was no reason to hide it.
In fact, this was exactly the effect Caelum wanted.
He wanted the townspeople to worship him from the depths of their hearts.
He wanted them to see him as heaven itself and let that faith replace the place the Emperor of the Grand Concord Dynasty held in their minds.
Otherwise, many of his future plans would be impossible to carry out.
Sooner or later, Caelum would rebel.
These people were still subjects of the Grand Concord Dynasty, so he had to prepare in advance.
First, he would shatter their dependence on the dynasty.
Then he would erect something greater and far more unshakable in their hearts.
Once that was done, half the battle would already be won.
Caelum then used the newly harvested millet as seed and scattered it across the entire field.
Under the acceleration of the technology tree, a vast expanse of ripe millet appeared before them in the blink of an eye.
The sight was beyond words.
"Thank you, my lord!"
"Thank you, my lord!"
The townspeople wept with joy.
Their faith in Caelum deepened, mixed with profound awe.
"Begin the harvest."
Caelum turned and left after speaking.
The townspeople remained kneeling until his figure disappeared from sight.
Only then did they rise and stare at the endless field of ripe millet before them, overwhelmed with joy.
"Harvest time!"
The next moment, they rushed into the fields like a flood.
Just like that, Caelum solved Newhaven’s greatest food crisis.
