Wasteland Lord: Starting from Thirty Days to Live

"Everyone, I need to use the restroom."

Vittorio got up, left the three of them, and went behind a tree.

"Activate".

At his command, the parchment appeared before them.

At this moment, a forest scene appears on the parchment, densely covered with various kinds of text.

First.

【Oak forest edge scree slope: soil layer 0.2-0.5 feet thick, gravel accounts for 65%, containing trace amounts of iron.

Load-bearing capacity: Poor; Tillability: Extremely poor; Digging difficulty: Low.

the second.

[Contaminated coniferous tree: Mature, about 15 feet tall, approximately 30 years old. The wood is extremely hard and brittle, and rich in resin.]

Availability: Fence Spikes (Researchable: Requires 10 Lord Points)

Not suitable for: building materials (prone to cracking), firewood (pungent smoke, slightly toxic)

The third.

【Contaminated thorn bush: a perennial clump with thorny branches and thick, dark purple leaves.】

Usability: The leaves have mild hemostatic and numbing effects, and can be combined with other plants to create anesthetic and hemostatic herbs. (Researchable: Requires 150 Lord Points)

Not suitable for consumption (hallucinogenic)

This series of information describes the characteristics of almost all the vegetation and even the soil within sight.

The description of the ghost finger grass is interspersed among them.

【Contaminated ghost finger grass: a perennial tuberous plant with highly poisonous sap that is dark purple in color.】

Usability: Edible coarse starch can be made from the white root core (already developed).

Not suitable for consumption: raw (the fiber in the root and stem is highly toxic, while the fiber in the core of the root is slightly toxic)

This is the source of Vittorio's confidence!

By using the system's built-in information labels, you can figure out the uses of all plants, minerals, and even soil!

Just like those buildings can be analyzed and blueprints obtained.

These naturally occurring plant minerals can also be systematically analyzed and researched.

Ghost finger grass is one of them.

It is a root vegetable similar to potatoes, except that its edible roots contain toxins due to soil pollution.

But if your fiber is toxic, what does that have to do with my starch?

The system's answer is to discard the excess plant fiber and keep only the starch!

This technology requires 50 Lord Points to research.

Coincidentally, he had saved up 290 after entering Raven Pass.

That night, I gained another 28 points by killing fourteen rotten hounds at Raven Pass—and thus learned a new fact: killing monsters can also increase Lord Points.

In addition, the path leading to the castle is considered part of the map exploration, which adds another 15 points to his score.

So far, he has a total of 333 lord points, so spending a mere 50 is no problem for him.

As he chose to conduct research, 50 Lord Points were deducted, and knowledge about how root plants produce starch entered his mind.

Furthermore, you can check the system logs at any time if you're worried about forgetting.

The system's map showed that there were very few edible plants along the way.

However, this ghost finger grass is the only one that can be used to make food, and it keeps appearing in the field of vision, indicating that it is widely distributed and extremely abundant in this area!

Even if it were enough to feed over a hundred people, it wouldn't be enough to eat them all in a short time.

In short, by taking advantage of information asymmetry, Vittorio can confidently say that he has solved the problem of food security!

In fact, Vittorio had already discovered the plant that morning, when they were resting halfway up the mountain, before they even reached the castle, but he hadn't looked into it closely at the time.

Later, when negotiating with Edmund, he had a flash of inspiration and used the grain as a bargaining chip, which was exactly what he had been thinking about using this information gap.

And that is Vittorio's "knowledge" and "luck"!

When they returned to the open space where they were cooking, Rem's previous disdain had completely vanished, replaced by a different expression.

He looked completely convinced.

"This stuff is really delicious and very filling."

"More importantly, this thing grows all over the mountains and fields. With just a little processing, we can have enough food for all of us for half a month... no, a month!"

"I am truly grateful to you."

Rem excitedly shook hands with Vittorio.

"No need for thanks, but do me a small favor and tell your Lord Tieyan that I discovered these little things and that I taught you this method."

Rem patted his chest.

"It's nothing."

The next day they returned to the vicinity of the castle with a basket of devil's finger grass, where Edmund was waiting for them.

When Edmund and the others saw the basket of ghost finger grass and heard Vittorio say it was food, their first reaction was the same as Rem's—disdain.

However, when Rem enthusiastically peeled, mashed, filtered, and dried the meat, and then made a pancake with an egg right in front of them, they stopped laughing.

One of the old men even stood up in disbelief.

"Who taught you this?"

Vittorio stepped forward and nodded.

"It is I."

"This is practically alchemy... no, it's science! This is something only the scholars of the Pure Dust Territory could accomplish!"

Clean Dust Retreat?

Vittorio thought of this as a country near the Kingdom of New Augustus, renowned for its technology and innovation, where knowledge and scholars were respected throughout the land, making it one of the most powerful nations on the continent.

Vittorio showed no modesty in the face of these shocked expressions.

"This is indeed a simple but useful piece of knowledge."

Everyone was speechless, and even those who thought Vittorio had just gotten lucky were unable to refute him.

Edmund's eyes also changed.

For the first time, he finally looked at this frail young man, whom he had previously looked down upon, with a proper gaze.

He thinks more deeply than anyone else.

He has lived in this area for over a decade, hunting, fighting, and gathering.

He knew every inch of the surrounding land well, but he had never discovered the truth about the Ghost Finger Grass.

According to Rem, this young nobleman did not rely on anyone else; he demonstrated a process that they could not understand on his own, extracting edible "starch" from poisonous plants.

This method completely overturned Edmund's understanding.

Edmund thought, "This can't be some kind of luck as he claims; it can only be that he possesses some kind of knowledge that I don't know."

It must be said that Edmund's intuition was very sharp; in a sense, he was already close to the truth.

Because of Vittorio's actions, he felt a sense of unease and curiosity for the first time.

He looked at Vittorio with a complicated expression.

This young man may indeed have special value!

"So, Mr. Edmund, have I passed your test?" Vittorio asked with a smile.

Edmund's face was somewhat tense, and it was impossible to tell whether he was displeased or just pretending to be calm.

He remained silent for a long time before finally nodding.

"Yes, you did it."

…………

……

Edmund kept his word and let them into the castle.

However, Vittorio didn't think that was enough.

What he needs are partners, not potential enemies who are only superficially allied.

So they needed to have a talk before moving into the castle.

South Hall, inside the castle.

At this moment, the South Hall was empty except for Edmund and Vittorio.

They sat at that long table, negotiating face to face.

"Mr. Edmund, I can see that you are fighting with your flesh and blood and your will against the slow death of the entire land. There are no reinforcements, no hope, and you are being devoured every day."

"But as I've said before, I'm different from my father. He valued gold, I valued people. So he took away the gold, and I brought hope."

"I did not come empty-handed this time; I have prepared a great deal of knowledge needed for reconstruction, which is exactly what you need."

Edmund sat opposite him, lost in thought.

After a long pause, he spoke.

"What do you want to do?"

Vittorio smiled; Edmund's willingness to let him make the first request was a huge step forward.

In that case, he would make a request that Edmund could not refuse.

"I hope to finalize a cooperation agreement."

"First, I'll trade my knowledge for safety. I'll help you find resources and optimize processes—which may include planting and construction—in exchange for manpower and ensuring the basic safety of me and my team."

"Secondly, I hope there is a channel of communication. When we encounter any problems during construction, we can sit down and negotiate, discuss them together, and not let any suspicion ruin our cooperation."

"Finally, I'd like to express a little of my personal feelings. I know you hate my father, and therefore you hate me too. So I don't expect you to treat me as a lord, nor am I here to be your lord. You can treat me as your survival advisor or ally."

"You've been struggling in the mire of despair for years. Don't you want to know if, with a knight's tenacity and a clever, cunning mind, you can snatch more from the clutches of death?"

Edmund's expression finally changed, though very subtly, but Vittorio caught it precisely.

Vittorio knew he was tempted.

Edmund hesitated for a moment, then finally stood up and reached out his hand from the other end of the long table.

"Remember your words, I'll be watching you."

Vittorio also stood up, extended his hand, and revealed a determined smile.

"Yes, Mr. Edmund."

The two held hands tightly, symbolizing a newly established cooperative agreement.

but……

"Oh, but you can let go now, you're squeezing my hand a little."

"Hmph, I didn't use any force. You should exercise, kid."

Okay, maybe it's not that sturdy yet.

But everything is difficult at the beginning, right?

It's a good thing as long as it starts.

…………

……

Mia now has a challenging task: to lead newcomers to the castle on a tour.

This task was originally supposed to be done by Uncle Rem, but Mia volunteered to take his place.

"Adults are always busy, so children can do what they can to help them, right?"

Mia looked up at the handsome older brother with white curly hair and red eyes.

That was Vittorio.

Vittorio smiled and patted Mia's head.

"You're quite sensible, kid."

"Don't call me a brat. My dad says in a few years I'll be an adult, and I can fight too!"

"Well said, who's your father?"

"My dad is Edmund!" Mia said proudly.

Vittorio looked surprised.

"Wow, that man must be over forty, and you look only six or seven. Considering the average marriage age of sixteen here, how do you put it... You're still going strong!"

"What are you thinking!"

Mia shouted angrily.

"Edmund isn't my biological father, he's... my adoptive father! All children without parents call Edmund 'Dad'! Also, I'm not six years old, I'm ten!"

Vittorio nodded.

"Oh, my hero father."

Mia was a little angry. She had originally decided to give this older brother a proper tour because he was good-looking.

Now... let's take a less serious look around!

Two people, one big and one small, walked around the castle, starting their tour from the farmland.

Why do you want to visit the castle?

"Before I begin any reforms, I need to understand the situation here. I once heard a saying: 'No investigation, no right to speak.'"

"Hmm... Anyway, I'll just show you everything, right?"

Mia pointed to the people working in the field.

"They are farming."

"I saw it. Do you know what crop they're growing?"

"Barley and rye are planted in rotation; this year it's barley's turn."

"Oh, but you can't continue planting in the third year. Even if you continue, it won't grow much food. They say it's because the land has been 'drained'!" Mia thought, squinting her eyes.

"It's typical predatory farming; they don't even have the concept of fallow."

"So I guess the concept of fertilization doesn't exist here anymore?"

"Fertilize?" Mia asked, puzzled.

"Besides seeds, do they add anything else to the soil?"

"Well... in the first year, they would burn the weeds and trees on the ground and bury them in the soil so that the crops would grow better."

"That means we basically don't use fertilizer except for wood ash." Vittorio understood.

Vittorio then went to the fields to observe the people's work and discovered that they used a primitive, lightweight plow to turn the soil, casually scattering seeds from seed bags at their waists as they did so.

Because this plow has a primitive structure and is driven solely by human power, the plowing is very shallow, only about 5 to 10 centimeters deep.

The practice of scattering seeds carelessly also leads to a waste of seeds.

Many seeds fall too shallowly and fail to germinate, or are eaten by birds. Uneven seed distribution also wastes soil fertility.

"What about weeding?"

"I can weed, but I can never get them completely weeded."

"Do you know how to water it?"

"They'll just water it when it rains."

Do you know what the harvest is like each year?

"They all taught me that you can plant one part and harvest three parts!" Mia said proudly.

Vittorio had a complete understanding through the question and answer.

Agriculture here is very rudimentary, or rather, primitive.

It's unclear whether the catastrophe led to a decline in agricultural talent here, or whether the people of this world were simply not good at farming.

In short, Vittorio believes that their cultivation methods have a great deal of room for improvement.

Planting one crop and harvesting three is a complete waste of land and labor, and will also cause food shortages.

Under the same conditions, with intensive farming, it is entirely possible to achieve a yield of 10 or even more for every 1 planted.

"Okay, I understand. Let's move on."

However, Vittorio was not surprised by their backward farming practices, but Mia was.

"You know so much, are you really only ten years old?"

Vittorio had planned that if she couldn't answer, he would go to the field and ask others.

"Because I study every day, Edmund's dad says I'm the smartest kid here!" Mia said confidently.

"Okay, smart kid, keep it up."

The two crossed the field and continued walking, soon smelling a foul stench.

Vittorio stared intently in the direction the smell was coming from, and a white, bare buttocks appeared before his eyes!