What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 145. Taming the Sandworms, the Final Piece of the Musical Puzzle

"I need to be careful when opening it... It doesn't feel like something normal."

Chloe muttered something, but chose to accept the gift.

Upon receiving them, it turned out to be more than ten giant purplish-red flowers, each as tall as a person, with huge mouths and sharp teeth, as well as yellowish-brown sandworms as thick as an arm and as long as thirty or forty centimeters.

The former image, while infinitely similar to the carnivorous plant from a game I saw in my past life, is far more terrifying.

Look at its big mouth, with its layers of teeth that look like blood droplets, emitting a fishy stench that makes people feel quite uncomfortable.

In comparison, those yellowish-brown insects scurrying around everywhere seemed much more pleasing to the eye.

"It seems it really is an artistic interpretation; if you actually saw it in front of you, it would be quite terrifying."

He casually tossed out a few magical restraints to tame the creatures, then glanced at the introduction provided by the Gray Sand Lord:

"The man-eating flower likes to devour all kinds of meat and can produce blood demon crystals..."

Wind-eroded sandworms can devour all rocks and their favorite minerals, turning them into sand.

His eyes lit up after reading the introduction.

This sandworm is pretty good.

Almost instantly, he figured out how to use these sandworms.

He is currently struggling with the difficulty of mining the igneous rocks on the seabed, as relying solely on manpower would be troublesome and slow.

If these sandworms could bite through rocks and minerals, it would save a lot of effort.

The abilities of demonic insects are surely stronger than those of humans, right?

He also plans to continue digging deeper into the seabed to see if he can discover more mineral deposits and veins.

As for these man-eating flowers...

After thinking about it, he decided to bring it along as well.

He had never seen what the Blood Demon Crystal was before. He could feed it some Blood Pasture Fungus when they got to the seabed and see what changes it would undergo.

……

Soon, he arrived at the underwater ranch.

The first places to arrive were, of course, the places where seabed minerals were mined.

He didn't show himself; he stood aside and watched.

Miners, shirtless, were using magical pickaxes made of holy white iron to shovel at the magma rock, while others were carrying baskets of broken magma rock and mined ore up to the surface.

The gray ants perched on the miners' shoulders, and whenever they reached a spot with ore, the gray ants would touch them with their antennae.

The humans and the demonic insects worked together remarkably well.

The mining operation was also quite fast.

Moreover, since this place is underwater and near a volcanic cluster, the fire magic power transformed by the magic crystal method inevitably spills out into the air bubbles of the coral.

So it can be said to be quite warm.

So they were all scrambling to come here to mine ore. After all, most of those who survived were strong and didn't have to suffer in the cold outside. Even if it was tiring, at least their bodies were comfortable.

When Kroya arrived, the Golden Butterflies and the Fungus People had already gathered around. It was unclear what they were so happy about, but they just kept circling around Kroya.

"You guys are really making a fuss." He sighed and tried to calm them down one by one.

Then, glancing into the mine, he suddenly noticed a familiar face inside—it was… a tortured person.

That is, the first man named Otto who offered to pledge allegiance to him.

At this moment, the victim was also naked from the waist up, leaving his long, ravine-like wounds exposed, his muscles bulging high, working up a furious fire.

He has completely shed the restraint and caution he had when he first arrived, and he even loudly tells other miners jokes that make people smile. It seems that he has completely integrated into the group.

"Hmm, so you're showing it off like that? Aren't you afraid someone will see?"

Chloe curiously beckoned to the knight apprentice maintaining order nearby, just in case: "How long has he been working here?"

The knight apprentice he had summoned bowed respectfully and replied, "It has been four or five days."

"What about the others?" He realized that when he said he didn't care about them, he really didn't worry about them much.

After all, with King Muyao and so many loyal subordinates, they would definitely come to inform me if anything happened.

It's a small matter, I certainly won't bother him.

"There are a few people over there milking and grooming the sheep, and as for the others... I don't know," the knight apprentice replied.

"Alright, go back to your post." Kroya knew this guy didn't know much, so he waved him away.

"Yes!" The knight apprentice immediately ran back, standing even straighter than before, almost like a poplar tree.

Kroya walked directly into the mine.

"Master!"

"Master, you've arrived!"

When people discovered his arrival, they immediately bowed respectfully, believing that their current good life was a gift from Cloa.

And most importantly... you can truly see your own gains.

It's different from those vague and unrealistic promises made by the church.

Every piece of ore, every moment of labor...

They can all see tangible gains, earning more money and supplies for their families. This gradual accumulation is what they love most.

Everyone has a desire to be needed, and they feel a great sense of accomplishment in building Hanjiao Island better with their own hands.

"Well done." As usual, Kroya casually cast a holy light halo to replenish their energy and stamina.

Ote wasn't given any special treatment; he was treated the same as everyone else.

Then they took out the wind-eroded sandworms and placed them on the igneous rock.

These wind-eroded sandworms come from the gray desert and naturally prefer scorching environments, especially igneous rocks that contain the magic of fire.

As soon as they were placed there, they couldn't wait to burrow down into the ground.

Their mouths resembled drills, drilling and spewing out a pale white liquid that melted the magically hardened magma.

As they burrowed inside, they devoured the softened magma rock, then spat it out.

The igneous rock that has been processed in this way will become like fine, grayish-black sand, accumulating in the holes they have dug.

In less than ten minutes, a dozen or so wind-eroded sandworms burrowed into the bottom of the mine pit, which was about thirty meters wide, turning it into a sand pit.

It was all piled up, a grayish-black sand.

It also contains minerals such as chromite mother stone that they don't want to eat and spit out.

The miners were stunned by what they saw.

This... they worked so hard to mine for half a day, and it was all for naught compared to some demonic insects just crawling around a few times.

After the initial surprise came worry: if these insects were present, would they lose their jobs? Would Kroa no longer need them to continue mining?

Cloa was fully aware of their psychological changes.

To be honest, the speed at which these wind-eroded sandworms gnawed at the igneous rock was indeed a bit beyond his imagination.

However, it is still impossible to completely replace human labor with insects.

Not only can it not replace them, but he also needs to add a binding spell to these insects to ensure that they can dig wherever a person points them to, according to their will.

If we just let them dig randomly, they will definitely create holes all over the earth, and there might even be a risk of collapse.

These demonic insects are not very intelligent, and the consciousness transmitted by the astral spirits is somewhat vague, so they must be restrained by humans.

He thought for a moment, pondering what kind of magic it might contain.

He planned to use intimidation to force these sandworms, which didn't have much intelligence, because guiding them would be too slow.

Moreover, imprinting them with magic that forces them to obey will likely be quite troublesome no matter how you guide them.

Generally, he doesn't use this method, but specific situations require specific approaches. This method is necessary when dealing with sandworms.

"You guys pick up the ore and leave here first."

He immediately ordered people to pick up the ore that needed to be picked up and then leave the mine.

I mustn't let these people know what I'm about to do, or my image of being wise and powerful will be tarnished.

After everyone left, he waved his hand.

Three pairs of mage hands immediately reached out and grabbed all the sandworms, letting them struggle and writhe inside, trying not to escape, without letting go even a little.

The mage stared at the sandworms, and the magical melody emanating from him grew somber and dangerous—he was conveying a message: if you refuse to be controlled, you will all die.

It's that simple.

For these insects, adapting to their environment in the face of danger is actually a kind of evolutionary desire. When Kroya clearly conveyed this meaning, they had no choice but to accept it in order to survive.

"Alive..."

The wind-eroded sandworms all conveyed this awareness.

"That's right."

Kroya was satisfied and began to imprint the magic she had chosen onto them.

[Imprint complete, Wind-eroded Sandworm (Magic Chain)]

This demonic insect grows a long magical chain on its head; pulling on this chain will cause it pain.

As the markings indicated completion, a long chain, about half a meter long, formed of earth-yellow magic, immediately grew from the head of these insects.

It looked particularly strange as it dragged behind them.

Kroya reached out and grabbed a chain. With just a gentle tug, the wind-eroded sandworm emitted a painful "squeaking" sound.

Then it obediently followed Kroya's instructions. Whenever he felt that the other party was going the wrong way, he would gently tug, and the wind-eroded sandworm would obediently change direction.

It's like an old ox with a nose ring on it.

"That's good, that's good."

Kroya nodded in satisfaction, then suddenly sensed something and stared thoughtfully at the wind-eroded sandworm—it was a voice of resentment and disgust, which could actually speed up the progress of his second chapter.

"Isn't it enough to just have positive emotions?"

As he was pondering, he suddenly sensed a very peculiar melody coming from afar.

The music transitioned from pain to tranquility, carrying with it a deep sense of reluctance and a lingering attachment to the world.

no doubt.

That was... the music of death.

"...This...this feels so familiar. Who died?"

Kroya frowned, the second chapter of the Orange Song in his mind was changing at an alarming rate.

The music of death was also incorporated into the second chapter of Kroa's story, making the entire second chapter seem to come alive instantly, pulsating with life.

Countless musical notes fluttered and danced.

Lights of various colors flickered inside the mine.

The countless magical sounds that Kroya absorbed spread outwards as they pulsed, instantly forming a vast, solemn, and grand structure capable of containing all sounds...

symphony.

Thank you, Lao Yu, for the donation.

Thank you so much to Yi Shui Han He, Kuai Kan Kan Shu Ba, Ni Ping Sha Xiang Shuo Wo Shou Qie Ti Tang De Niang Hao ...

(End of this chapter)