Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"By the way, this check written by the head of the Rhine Security Department must be cashed as soon as possible, I'm afraid those guys won't pay it."

Razer, who aspires to start her own security company, excitedly flicked the crisp check with her index finger, getting one step closer to meeting her initial funding needs.

"Rheinland's guys are really generous!"

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Bountiful Harvest on the Snowfield

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On the Ursus snowfield, a simple tractor rumbled along the farm road, its trailer filled with freshly harvested wheat. Strictly speaking, the yield of the Covenant's alien improved wheat is not high among a group of high-yield crops, at about 650-800 kilograms per acre. Its main advantage is that it is almost undemanding in terms of environment and can be planted in most alien reclaimed lands.

Products that sacrifice production capacity for adaptability, and the starch produced is typically used in industry, including pharmaceuticals, glucose production, and other chemical feedstocks.

Although the Covenant's energy costs are relatively low, neither the super fusion reactors they use nor the large industrial-grade antimatter reactors are truly unlimited energy sources, in addition to the enormous energy consumption of large facilities such as gravity forging furnaces.

In reality, while we wouldn't say there's a shortage of energy, it's certainly not to the point where we can afford to waste it.

The idea that in the interstellar age, energy will become cheap, and the emergence of various fusion and new high-energy power technologies means that energy consumption can be disregarded is similar to how people in the coal-burning era thought that after the invention of the internal combustion engine and gasoline engine, they could squander energy at will, or how people in the petrochemical era thought that the invention of nuclear energy could be disregarded.

In reality, while energy technology has improved since the advent of the interstellar era, the scale and energy consumption levels of energy-intensive industries have also increased exponentially. Using single-atom assembly technology in food or other low-value industries is utter nonsense.

Therefore, agriculture remains a very strong industry, at least in terms of its relatively low energy consumption.

Life itself is the most powerful nanotechnology factory in the world, and a low-power one at that, though the cost is that the synthesis and manufacturing rate is not very high.

For example, this kind of highly adaptable and fast-growing wheat still needs at least two and a half months of growth time, as well as sufficient water and fertilizer.

"The unloading area is over here, follow the guide!" On the hardened threshing ground outside the heat collection tower, simple tractors, handcarts, and horse-drawn carts came and went, unloading the harvested wheat and then bundling it by hand.

The entrance to the previously built thermal mill and drying facilities was packed with people, who were busy throwing bundles of wheat onto the conveyor belt and collecting dried starch at the exit.

"Don't mix up the first-class and second-class flour. Who told you to stuff in the third-class flour? The stuff you make will be the first thing I distribute to your family!"

Talulah, carrying a megaphone, stood at the edge of the field and loudly directed the farmers. These infected farmers were already passable at farming, but with such a bumper harvest, even their wheat-harvesting skills were passable.

Talulah now bears almost no resemblance to a ducal lady. Wearing a straw hat, a long-sleeved dress, and carrying a trumpet, she speaks fluent Ursus rural slang, resembling a typical country peasant woman.

After all, talking to these infected people and ordinary farmers about high-sounding concepts is useless. Only loudspeakers and various vulgar terms that rural people can understand can make them understand what they should do.

For example, one type of flour refers to refined flour composed of germ powder and some endosperm components. It is used in pharmaceuticals and industry, and can also be used in the food industry, but in principle, it is not recommended for people to eat it—because it really doesn't taste very good.

The second type of starch contains coleoptile and endosperm components and is used to manufacture glucose powder for fermentation and brewing.

Similarly, the products are mostly medical chemical raw materials and are not recommended for human consumption. Of course, there is no problem if you insist on consuming them.

The last three types of flour are coarse flour containing rice husks and bran, used for making roughage. They are not recommended for human consumption at all. Standard horse feed, and even in horse feed, is only for draft horses that can tolerate roughage. Anyone who dares to feed it to dairy cows will be chased for eight blocks by Alina, who is in charge of the ranch, and her legs will be broken.

You see, the milk produced by these cows is mainly supplied to the school run by Xiaolu, ensuring that the children attending the school have at least a cup of fresh milk to drink every day. If feeding them this kind of roughage causes the cows to stop producing milk or reduce their milk production, not only Xiaolu, but also the students' parents will come knocking on their door with sticks to argue with them.

"Chief, we've harvested too much wheat... We don't have time to process it further. If we delay any longer, we won't have enough manpower, and the soybeans will be in trouble."

We're about to start harvesting soybeans and corn. The corn will be used to make corn syrup, the soybeans will be used to make soy sauce and soybean oil, and the soybean meal will be used to make high-protein feed.

Moreover, as a high-protein crop, if it's not harvested in time, a rainstorm will force everyone on the farm to kneel down and weep.

"Keep the coarse flour for feed, and put the rest into the temporary warehouse. Do the same for the second-grade flour, keep half of it, and prepare to put the rest into the temporary warehouse. Then notify General Helag and have him send someone to pick it up."

"Won't the farmer have any objections?"

"No, I asked, and he told us to handle some of it ourselves, whether we sell it or use it locally. In short, we shouldn't delay the next round of production."

Industrialized agricultural production is just like a steelmaking furnace; even if it incurs losses, it cannot delay the next round of production. If it stops halfway, the losses will be even greater.

"After harvesting the crops, we need to plant new ones immediately, and try to harvest another crop before the winter snow, and then replace them with soil-nourishing plants."

Talulah flipped through the booklet "Simple and Easy-to-Understand Agricultural Knowledge That Even Monkeys Can Learn," which Lao Xia had left for her, and said, "We keep our share of the produce, and then we process the rest and send it to the boss. They've been urging us to deliver it several times already."

"Tell them that they will have to work overtime every day for the next month, and ask the canteen to prepare late-night snacks and use all the freshly slaughtered beef. At this time, not eating well can be fatal."

As everyone knows, during the summer wheat harvest season, the harvesters need to eat meat and good food. Moreover, they need to work non-stop to harvest, which requires a lot of physical strength.

"An average yield of 600 kilograms, ah, as expected, this is what happens when an amateur goes to farm. Oh well—"

Old Xia scratched his head. This harvest was really all thanks to the Star Alliance's genetic engineering and agricultural technology. It was almost the same as the harvest from simply scattering seeds and relying on the weather.

"Xiao Ta, I'll send you some technical materials on field management and crop management. Once you've learned them, gather these people during the off-season and give them a proper training. This can't go on like this."

Farming is a technical job, you know. The water-fertilizer ratio, when to water, when to apply fertilizer, when to weed, when to dry the field, what kind of fertilizer to use, and how to deal with pests and diseases are all serious scientific techniques.

The difference in harvest between doing well and doing poorly can be as alarming as nearly double, especially with high-yield crops.

And it could easily ruin the land, but the problem is these Ursus infected...

When have we ever farmed this kind of land? Our low level of education and ingrained farming practices have led to persistent bad habits that are difficult to eradicate.

"It seems that the decision to bring cash crops to Kazdel and Lungmen was the right one."

The level of education in Ursus is not high, and for a considerable period of time, they can only grow low-end crops. Old Xia is really afraid that they will kill all the precious and delicate cash crops they grow.

"Agricultural science popularization is also a very important task. Well, I'll try to recruit some agricultural experts when I have time, although I don't have a high opinion of the quality of the agricultural-related technical personnel in Terra."

It's quite bizarre that Xia's Agricultural Products Company has weapons development personnel, but it hasn't recruited a single agricultural technician.

Of course, no one else saw anything wrong with it, because the continuous stream of produce he was sending from Ursus indicated that the operation was already quite large-scale, and no one thought he was lacking agricultural technicians. But who could have imagined that this was all thanks to the efforts of the interstellar improved crops?

Old Xia had a lot of complaints and was even planning to recruit a group of qualified agricultural technicians for training, and then send them to Ursus to provide agricultural education to the local infected people, at least to stop them from urinating in the irrigation canals and adding farmyard manure on their own.

Old Xia had already adjusted the water-fertilizer ratio and fertilizer requirements for the crops before he left. All we had to do was apply the fertilizer, which even the monkey knew, according to the booklet he left behind. The yield would be more than this level, and we could add at least another 100 kilograms per mu.

Then this group of people thought that this "high-yield crop" must need more nutrients, so they took it upon themselves to add fertilizer. As a result, according to the video posted by Talulah, the soil began to harden slightly, and they had to have the Reunion Movement's operators form a patrol team to stop this behavior.

However, Lao Xia also understood the mentality of these Ursus farmers who had never seen the world and whose only crop was moss that grew on the ice plains. Farmers are all like that, afraid that the crops will be lacking something, because if they are lacking something, people will go hungry.

However, in Ursus, the infected farmers seemed overjoyed. No one could be unhappy when a mountain of real flour was piled up in front of them, especially since they hadn't had enough to eat for several years.

As time went by, the wheat on the drying ground turned into soybeans and corn, and finally into soybean meal and corn stalks. When the first rainstorm came, the last truckload of corn stalks was delivered to the warehouse.

"Cheers!" The gray earthenware cups clinked together, the pale golden liquid overflowing with foam. Sweet ale brewed with corn syrup and wheat was the best gift to celebrate a successful harvest. The rough farmers sat around the fire pit, arm in arm, talking and laughing loudly. In front of them was a stew of potatoes and meat that had been cooked until very soft, and a soup of borscht with sugar.

“I never imagined I’d see something like this in Ursus…” General Herag sighed, his hand on his sword. “I’ve seen countless noble banquets—lavish, magnificent, exquisite, cozy—but never one like this, a banquet for everyone…”

"Perhaps Bozo Casti is right; I am just an old stubborn man clinging to past glories."

“You can’t say that, actually…” Talulah didn’t know how to comfort him. There were some secrets she couldn’t tell him, such as what the communication tower was for. She could only say it was a small heat collection tower.

The heat collection tower is simply explained as a device that uses a mirror to reflect light onto a water tank to heat it, thus providing hot water even in winter—a seemingly simple principle with no difficulty—that goes unnoticed.

"Now you should tell me what happened to that mountain? What did you do about the earthquake and the huge explosion?"

Herag looked at the active volcano that was still erupting slowly, the golden-red lava waterfall standing out conspicuously against the night sky.

"Natural disaster," Talulah replied. "Only a very few people know the truth. No matter who you ask, the answer is always the same: natural disaster."

Terra's natural disasters are truly a universal excuse, because they do have no obvious pattern and do include volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. No one can provide evidence to prove that they are caused by natural disasters—unless they witnessed Ms. W pressing the detonation button at the scene of the explosion.

“Okay, natural disaster—” Hrag shook his head noncommittally. It was indeed a universal excuse. He was certain that it was not a natural disaster, or rather, it was more than just a simple natural disaster.

However, there is no evidence, and no one in the world has any evidence. Moreover, the truth makes people prefer that it doesn't exist, after all, what does it mean to be able to control and trigger natural disasters?

"Don't be too nervous. I'm not here to interrogate you or inquire about your stance, although..." Although Saint-Germain Castle did give him this mission through a secret envoy.

The Inner Guards are untrustworthy, and the Black Serpent is even less so. Moreover, even in this predicament, the conservative nobles are still the type who only obey orders and not commands. Expecting them to test the waters would probably just lead to an immediate civil war in Ursus.

Helag was the only candidate the emperor could choose to test. He had a certain degree of loyalty to the empire, and unlike the nobles, he was not arrogant and had basic respect for the royal family, making him the perfect candidate for testing.

After all, both Amiya Logistics and Xia's Agricultural Products Company are registered in Ursus. They didn't have much of a presence before. There are hundreds of thousands, even millions, of companies of all sizes in Ursus, from large ones to garage companies. If the Imperial government had to pay attention to every single one of them, it wouldn't be able to do anything.

However, as Swire Sugar began to increase its sugar supply and announced that it was high-quality sugar from Ursus, the two companies came into the Emperor's sights and were associated with the so-called "infected mob forces" in the northern snowfields.

For the young emperor who hoped to change Ursus's militaristic system and transform it into a normal industrial economic development path, it's not that he had no interest in these two companies that could actually produce in the snowfields; he just hadn't found a good opportunity to get involved.

However, Black Serpent's view differed from his. For Black Serpent, he had witnessed the rise and fall of this land countless times. Countless heroes rose and countless ideals and ambitions were shattered, but in the end, nothing could be changed. This snowy plain of suffering was the greatest shackle for the Ursus people.

In his view, the only way for Ursus to survive was to keep attacking south and plunder enough warm and rich land with military force. To achieve this, it was necessary to maintain the huge northern mines and incorporate a large number of infected into the army as disposable warlock cannon fodder.

To achieve this, it is necessary to legally deem infected individuals no longer human, but rather a tool, a consumable item sacrificed for the happiness of the majority, in Black Snake's view.

The young emperor's path of closing mines, developing the economy, reclaiming the autonomy of the nobility, strengthening central authority, and stabilizing the rear—a path arduously built on the snowy plains—was seen by the Black Serpent as utterly unrealistic and heretical.

Talulah's ideal was even more ridiculously naive—she had seen countless heroes with this plan, only to be driven to their doom by natural disasters and harsh environments.

What the young emperor and Talulah saw as hope was, in his eyes, a dead end that countless predecessors had traversed, only to be met with devastating defeats.

Only blood and fire can cleanse this country, only by binding everyone to the war machine can Ursus find its only way out. This is the final conclusion that Black Serpent has drawn from his long experience and lessons learned.

In a sense, it can't be said that his ideas were flawed. If nothing unexpected happened, the young emperor's reforms were bound to fail, and Black Serpent's approach was one of the ways Ursus could survive.

After all, if Terra's technology and production capacity cannot overcome the natural environment, then as the population grows, it will soon exceed the carrying capacity of the Ursus snowfield, and then it will inevitably lead to warlord conflicts and large-scale uprisings like Kazdel.

Rather than turning the entire country into a wasteland, it's better to find a way to trigger a war in advance, or at least bring the flames of war to someone else's homeland. That's Black Serpent's plan.

If that doesn't work, then use another small-scale, protracted civil war to deplete the growing population.

No matter how many people die on the front lines, or which side they are from, Black Serpent finds it acceptable. What he wants is war and persecution of the infected to continuously deplete the population beyond the capacity of the Ursus Snowfield, thus preventing the final scene from occurring.

Therefore, for the young emperor, there was no choice but to investigate any enterprise or force that could still produce luxury goods on the snowy plains. However, as a son of a wealthy family, he could not afford to sit under a dangerous roof, so he had to test the waters a few times before formally investigating and supporting them.

The first round involves Helag, with whom some kind of deal exists; the second round involves his secret envoy; the third round involves Witte, the finance minister whom he deeply trusts; and finally, a member of the royal family is dispatched for the final inspection.

"So, what are you planning to ask?" Talulah retorted rather rudely. "And what do you want to know, General?"

“No, I was originally going to ask, but there’s no need now. I’ve already gotten what I wanted.” Herag bowed slightly. “Excuse me, I’ll be leaving now, Ms. Talulah.”

The military transport ships at the temporary transshipment warehouse have been loaded, and the starch will be sold locally directly through the Hragh defense zone, becoming various nearby raw materials and primary products.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Making Penguin Sounds

Chapter 28

In the old town of Lungmen, in the Guard Bureau's detention cell, "Oh, Director Carret, what a rare guest." Swire sat down at the interrogation table with a grin. "Why would the deputy director of Rhine Life Security appear in a chaotic place like the resettlement area? Aren't you afraid of being robbed?"

“Uh…” The Luber man in front of him remained silent. Since the other party was able to find out his identity, there was nothing to argue about. Silence was the best course of action at the moment. In any case, the Lungmen Guard Bureau had no evidence that he had been involved in human trafficking.

"You're not saying anything because you think we can't find anything on you?" Swire smiled broadly. "But you know, that resettlement area was originally used as a storage area for agricultural and sideline products for the Xia Group. Whether it's sugar, wine, or various processed foods, the biggest problem is preventing employees from stealing and eating them, so..."

"There are a lot of hidden cameras there, and Mr. Xia paid for it. Unfortunately, the place where you made the transaction is right under the cameras."

Actually, no. The plan does include setting up a camera surveillance network, but the equipment hasn't arrived yet. The Longmen electronics assembly base has only just completed factory construction, and the equipment hasn't arrived yet, so it's just on the plan.

"Uh..." Still silence. This could be real, or it could just be a trick. As I said before, silence is the best strategy at this moment.

If there is indeed a camera recording this, then he will be executed within 72 hours due to conclusive evidence.

Before that, Rhine Labs would preemptively fire them; there's no doubt that assassins are already on their way to silence them, and whether they speak or not, they're going to die anyway.