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

Chapter 169. The Wine in the Tree, The Hanjiao Island Transformation Project

"Is this what you brought back?"

Kroya blinked, looking at Father Kevin, who was dragging a sheep and a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and holding a net filled with jellyfish while tying up a tree, and suddenly found it a little funny.

Father Kevin's elaborate yet solemn and elegant vestments were so dazzling that even Chloe couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed when he held these items.

It's like a priest who only hangs out in high society suddenly going to the market to buy groceries, and not being very skilled at it.

Father Kevin ignored the smile in Chloe's eyes.

"Yes." He nodded with a serious expression. "That area is a special place that I have never seen before. I can't understand what kind of place it is."

"Despite being filled with chaotic and violent demonic power, there are also such magical beasts and... rivers flowing with honey and milk."

He thought about it all the way, even recalling all the scriptures he usually read, but he still couldn't find anything similar to this place.

If it weren't for the undeniable demonic power, he would have even suspected that it was some kind of sub-plane cultivated by legendary mages or saints.

Faced with his doubts, Kroya offered no explanation. If she didn't know, she didn't know; that was how she maintained the mystery.

He glanced at those things and was finally somewhat satisfied—maintaining the portal was quite taxing for him, and he estimated he could only open it once every two weeks.

Furthermore, it needs to absorb more of the demonic power of the Mammon Vine in order to successfully cast the spell.

Having brought back so many things, he has enough to study and cultivate for a period of time.

In order to get these things as quickly as possible, he didn't even talk to the priest to find out why the priest had come here.

Now that the problem is finally solved, he's also ready to satisfy his curiosity—

"Why did you come to the North?"

"What has drawn you here?"

The priest was slightly taken aback, not expecting Chloe to veer off to such a different topic. After a moment's thought, he replied:

"Because of the devil of greed."

"The Grand Master of the Knights sensed the presence of a greedy demon in the North and specially dispatched the five of us here."

Defeat the demon and bring the salt back.

His expression changed from serious to one of heartache mixed with compassion: "The more disasters a place is plagued by, the more cultists and demons there are."

Neither the Chief Minister nor we know why the Kingdom, the Mage Association, or the Church itself are unwilling to send anyone to provide disaster relief.

When the disaster is over, who knows how many people will be left alive in the North, and how chaotic it will become.

As he finished speaking, he couldn't help but close his eyes and press his fingers to his heart, as if praying to God.

Kroya listened quietly without saying anything.

To be honest, even when faced with such a large-scale natural disaster, he could only protect a small area at most; he would be powerless to help in many other places.

If he truly has enough strength and resources, he wouldn't mind doing good deeds, as it would allow him to gain more territory and different kinds of music.

But he wasn't strong enough.

Then you can only protect those you can protect.

But greed... that's a good thing for him, since he was worried that Gitte wasn't providing him with enough magic power.

If there were more Mammon vines, could he maintain the portal to the lower plane indefinitely?

There must be even more strange magical beasts and plants in that gluttonous demon's paradise. If we could get them all, it would be a huge help to him.

"With this priest by my side, their safety is guaranteed, and they can get more training, obtain flower vines, and incidentally improve their favor with the priests..."

As soon as Kroya thought about it, she suddenly felt that she could help out, since it was a sure thing.

So he pretended to ponder for a long time before speaking, "I can send my apprentices to help you get rid of the demon. I'm also willing to take on any victims, and I can even provide you with enough food and supplies."

"But I must have all of the Mammon vines."

He stated his terms.

The priest agreed without much thought.

I promise you.

"Thank you, you are a truly compassionate mage, may the light of the goddess protect you."

For Father Kevin, between the Mammon vine and saving the people, he would certainly choose the latter—the glory of the goddess is not in the sky, but on earth.

He believed that his other four companions would make the same choice.

"You're welcome. Please go back now, I'll have someone arrange accommodations for you. Oh, and please call the apprentices in for me."

"……OK."

The priest left.

A short while later, the apprentices came in.

Their eyes were filled with anticipation—Kroya was never stingy with rewards, and they wondered what kind of reward he would give them this time.

Kroya looked at them and first said to the team leader, Ryan, "You did a good job. I will make you a set of magical equipment."

Furthermore, I will publicly award you a house and one hundred gold coins after all the apprentices have returned.

The custom-made he mentioned naturally refers to a complete set of magical equipment, including armor, weapons, and boots, perfectly suited to Ryan.

Furthermore, it will be upgraded and improved based on Ryan's strength, which is quite a good reward. For a knight, having a suitable set of equipment is more important than anything else.

Compared to this set of magical equipment, the house and gold coin rewards are just bonuses—of course, they are symbols of glory, something that everyone will envy.

Ryan was overjoyed and immediately knelt down to pay his respects, saying solemnly, "Thank you, Master! I will certainly do more for you!"

"Hmm." Kroya nodded slightly, gesturing for him to stand up, then said to the others, "Each of you will receive a magical artifact I made. Feel free to choose any you like from the storeroom."

"Thank you very much, Venerable Master!"

Although they were far inferior to Ryan, they weren't jealous. Ryan had indeed worked very hard this time and deserved such a reward.

"Go and rest. In two days, set off with the priest and bring back more Mammon vines for me. I will reward you."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand to let the apprentices leave.

After they all left, Chloe finally had the mood to look at the magical beasts and plants that the priest had captured.

The Celestial Body Imprinting Technique immediately gave a name—

Butter sheep, milk jellyfish, reward tyrannosaurus rex and... gray smoke tree.

The first few were understandable—according to the priest, the Tyrannosaurus Rex would drop roasted meat after being defeated.

So what is this gray smoke tree?

He first observed the tree's astral body. The tree's branches were strange; the outer layer was no different from other trees, but the inner layer had strange, independent strands.

There was some liquid flowing inside.

"Huh? What does this have to do with cigarettes?"

Kroa felt increasingly strange, so she simply reached out and snapped off one of its branches with a "snap," and a gray substance that was half gaseous and half liquid immediately flowed out.

It emitted an indescribable fragrance, not at all pungent, but just one whiff made Chloe feel a little dizzy, as if she were drunk.

"This is alcohol." He shook his head to clear his mind of the intoxication, and exclaimed in surprise, "Alcohol that can make me dizzy... the alcohol content and the magic in it..."

He was certainly interested in alcohol.

In this world, this is definitely a luxury. If you can stably control a brewery, even if it only produces the lowest grade of magic beer, you can still make a fortune.

So he kept having his men try brewing beer and distilled spirits with barley, but unfortunately they only produced low-grade drinks. People liked to drink them, but he didn't think much of them.

What he wanted was a magical wine, but the recipe and brewing method were top secret. Even the Holy Spring Merchant Guild only sold it to members of level two or above.

Because this is a technology that can truly make you rich, it is extremely difficult to buy such a technology.

Unexpectedly, after searching for a long time, they unexpectedly found a tree in the abyss that Gluttony had specially cultivated to produce alcohol. It must be something special, right?

With anticipation, he picked up the salt beside him and sprinkled it on the sapling to make sure the salt completely removed the gluttonous demon's magic before taking a small taste.

"Hmm, this taste..." His eyes lit up.

Although he wasn't particularly skilled at wine tasting before, he had tasted some good wines, and since arriving here, he had drunk quite a bit of wine because of his status as a lord.

Compared to the liquor he had in his previous life, the liquor here was honestly vastly different in taste. Unless it was brewed with magical materials, there was no comparison.

But none of the many drinks taste as good as this one.

The wine, cleansed of its demonic power by salt, is clear and carries a faint white halo.

The initial taste is sweet, and the touch of salt actually enhances the sweetness of the drink, like suddenly drinking spring water after a long trek in the desert.

After the sweetness comes the richness unique to wine and a slight spiciness. The heat from this spiciness flows into the stomach, making the whole body feel warm.

After the heat hit my head, I felt a slight intoxication, truly feeling like I was floating on air. The three different flavors blended together harmoniously, without being jarring.

"Good wine!" he exclaimed.

I immediately decided that I must take good care of this gray smoke tree.

According to the angel, if they cannot occupy the abyss as a planting base for cultivating magical plants, then he will need to use the magic of demons to change a piece of land.

It's unknown whether the demonic power purified by his magic will have any special effects on these magical plants and beasts.

Put the gray smoke tree aside for now.

He picked up the jellyfish, which was yellow in color and contained a milky white, oily substance inside, thought for a moment, and then sprinkled some salt on it.

As the salt was sprinkled on, the gluttonous magic within the jellyfish was immediately dispelled, and then Kroa took a bite out of it.

When you bite into the jellyfish's shell, which tastes like bread crust, the cold, milky-white substance inside immediately gushes out. It tastes cool and sweet, almost like ice cream.

He hadn't eaten ice cream in a long time, and the familiar yet cool sensation made him feel quite comfortable. He ate the jellyfish in just a few bites, leaving only the nucleus.

"Milk skin ice cream, tsk..."

He glanced at the core in his hand—based on his observation, this core should be the jellyfish's body, and as long as it exists, it can continue to grow.

Next, he tasted the buttered lamb and the Tyrannosaurus Rex meat. The former tasted like freshly baked bread with butter on it, while the latter was a very special and chewy roasted meat.

The taste was quite good.

Especially that sheep; according to Kroya's observation, those buttered breads are actually its wool, meaning it can keep shearing.

It's like a portable bread oven.

After tasting everything, he opened the priest's jar containing the honey and milk. Just then, Jitter, who had been locked up nearby, suddenly spoke up:

"My lord, have you obtained the river of milk and honey?"

"Yeah, right, do you know anything?" Kroya then remembered that the guy had been locked up, so she casually lifted the magical cloth and asked.

"You can use this to make a pact with demons from lower planes!" Gitte said. "The flower vines inside my body tell me that the gluttonous milk and honey water have an indescribable allure for a particular demon race."

"They are a race of fallen angels."

"They are so eager for these milk and honey waters that they are even willing to accept contracts to help you serve."

Kroya pondered for a moment: "Then do you know the contract magic that connects you to the fallen angel race?"

He was somewhat interested, but he didn't say he wanted to do it immediately. His only question was whether the real angel would give him a reward if he changed the fallen angel.

"...I don't know yet, but please wait for me for a while, and I should be able to learn it." Jitter replied after a moment of silence.

"Then we'll talk about it after you've learned it. In the meantime, you'd better stay here obediently and not go out."

At this moment, Kroya stood up and walked outside, and the three-colored magic prison shattered as he left.

However, dense clusters of tiny orange flowers also grew, preventing the flower vines of Gitt and Mammon from leaving the area.

With these flower vines and eternal magic as double insurance, unless this guy has lost his mind, there's absolutely no way he can leave here.

Since this guy likes this castle, we should stay inside until we can absolutely trust him.

I still have things to do.

……

He gave the guards at the Han Reef Island pier a few instructions not to worry about the castle, and then returned to his own territory.

Back in the familiar laboratory, he called Rob over and instructed him, "The Han Reef Island renovation project I mentioned before can begin."

I will distribute the supplies gradually.

Robert's eyes lit up.

"Yes, as you wish!"

The butler quickly left Chloe's castle, relaying Chloe's orders one by one.

At the mage's command, everyone on the entire Han Reef Island sprang into action—they would carry out a major overhaul of Han Reef Island according to the blueprints and materials that Kroya had prepared.

People took tools from the warehouse and first thoroughly transplanted and cut down the plants on the island.

Han Reef Island is a tropical island, so the vegetation on the island is naturally very lush, even to an exaggerated degree, not to mention that the island's magic has increased since Kroya's arrival.

The increased magic concentration is like heaven for the plants.

They grew wildly, so much so that now, apart from a few main roads, the rest of Hanjiao Island is a barren, undeveloped wilderness.

Kroya had originally planned to completely transform Hanjiao Island, and perhaps accept more people in the future. Now that there was enough time and resources, she decided to start the transformation while the sun was still shining.

Led by the children of the harvest, people transplanted some crooked and twisted trees to the back mountain, while cutting down or digging up grass and shrubs as needed.

Of course, there is also enough green vegetation so that the island doesn't look like a deserted island.

They started from the entrance pier of Han Reef Island and gradually spread across the entire island like ants carrying food.

The people working on the vegetation were busy, and behind them, the people leading sandworms were also busy.

They were the "road repair team," each of them leading a sandworm and carrying a container filled with white mud on their backs.

Wind-eroding sandworms will flatten all the protruding rocks and uneven land on the ground.

Their job was to lay down some white paving mud on the prepared roads.

This soft mud will solidify the sand, turning it into a flat and clean road.

Thanks to their tireless efforts, a straight road is gradually taking shape, leading from the Hanjiao Island pier into the interior of the island.

The white clay gradually solidified under the sun's rays.

The road became spotless, and with the straight trees and various flowers and plants transplanted on both sides, it felt as if one were walking in an elf kingdom.

Although Cloy hadn't studied urban planning, he could at least build things in a neat and straight manner.

Anyway, there's no need to build any commercial districts or anything like that on Hanjiao Island.

During the road construction, some people followed the instructions of the Woody Teng King and walked towards the forked roads, opening up small paths leading to various areas—residential areas and planting areas—from the main road.

The residential area is naturally centered around Hanjiao Town, with new bungalows built around it as residences.

This will be where the official inhabitants of the Reef Island live—Kroya promised them that as long as the Reef Island develops well, they can gradually shed their status as servants and become free people.

This promise is truly exciting.

The difference between a serf and a free man is enormous. A serf is essentially a slave or servant owned by the lord, whose life does not belong to themselves.

Free citizens, on the other hand, are free to leave and enter the lord's territory at will, and choose where to settle down.

By now, Kroya no longer needs to use the status of a farm servant to restrain these people, and they can no longer leave Han Reef Island.

Who else in the world can offer them room to grow and such favorable conditions and environment?

People aren't stupid; who would leave such a great place?

The town of Han Reef was a sign of the transition from serf to free people.

The planting area starts from the magic field on the back mountain and spreads throughout all the vacant areas of the island.

With a continuous supply of magic crystals and magic power from the magic veins, the magic field grapevines are no longer the small grapevines that used to cover only an acre of land.

It is expanding across the entire island according to Kroya's instructions, and wherever it covers, it becomes a demon field.

Kroya's ultimate goal is to transform the entire Desert Reef into a paradise for magical plants and beasts, with a wide variety and large quantity.

Only more magical beasts and magical plants can allow him to unleash the power of his cheat ability.

He felt that if he put in the effort, he might be able to replicate the complex and magical "natural formation" that the elves used to create the Fountain of Life.

While people were busy transforming the reef island, Kroya was also busy... He was creating a "Demon Field" to prepare a surprise for Stein and his mentor who were coming soon.

Wow! A thousand votes! Thank you all so much for your support, I'm extremely grateful! I'll definitely update more next month if I have some time!

(End of this chapter)