Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

That's right, I'm talking about grapes, beets, and sugarcane. On the cold snowfields, sugar is a wonderful thing, a life-saving medicine, and a sacred object to soothe the soul. Even maltose, which is currently made from starch, is quite precious, judging from Yelena's expression.

Raisins, wine, rum, various candies, and beet leaves are all excellent foods. Back in the Star Alliance, Xia Lin never dreamed that sugar would become something she longed for. Large-scale dissociation equipment can easily separate pure monosaccharides and disaccharides from various biomass waste liquids and then synthesize them into various sugar products.

It is an essential ingredient in everything from medical glucose solutions and culture media to various candies, snacks, and desserts.

Unfortunately, here... if Xia Lin wants to eat candy, she either has to luxuriously use her already limited starch reserves to make maltose, or she can only drink medical glucose.

As a sample, Ivan took some fabric and stuffing bags back with him, while Xia Lin returned once again to the arduous and utterly unpleasant task of painting the walls, a task that continued until the crossbowman Ivan had brought with him brought a cart full of ore samples.

He was a relatively taciturn man who left without saying a word after completing the transaction, taking with him several bundles of fabric and packed stuffing that had been used as the traded goods.

In a sheltered valley about 70 kilometers from the farm, Patriot's troops and the infected who volunteered to follow him had set up a temporary camp. It was more of a pile of rag tents and broken wooden crates. The biggest possessions were probably the two Originium-powered trucks.

This thing was stolen from the Ursus military. With the parts running out, it's almost finished. Moreover, the guerrillas can't get any liquefied Originium fuel to use as fuel.

According to Xia Lin, Originium is a high-energy material. After liquefaction and refining, it becomes a liquid that emits a faint blue light. When injected into a specialized Originium engine, it can be used as a power source.

Conventional Originium power generally relies on the driver's Originium Arts to activate and operate it. Relatively speaking, the engine structure is simple and cheap, but the driving time is short and it is prone to instability.

Advanced Originium-powered systems utilize etched Originium components, essentially functioning as an automated spellcasting mechanism. Users can control these systems with relatively simple Originium Arts skills, or even with almost no Originium Arts skills required, such as the power core of city mobility modules.

As for devices that can generate electricity on their own without any human intervention, they are extremely precious ancient artifacts.

Basically, the majority of them come from archaeological excavation and restoration, while the remaining half are imitations by large companies such as Black Steel and Rem.

Incidentally, they were able to replicate it because they had large, mobile factory equipment similar to Rhodes Island landships that they dug out of the ground.

If you were to ask someone on this planet where mobile city modules come from, they would answer that small ones are made in large cities, and large city modules would be made in industrial cities in countries like Victoria. But if you were to ask where industrial city modules come from, the answer would probably be very consistent—they are dug out of the ground!

Chapter Nineteen: White Rabbit Mushroom Tea

Chapter 19

The camp, nestled in a sheltered valley, looked very rudimentary. Most people could only dig a hole in the ground and build a makeshift shelter with intertwined branches to sleep in, while the shield guards could squeeze several people into a dilapidated little tent.

There was a natural spring in the valley, but unfortunately the water output was small, just enough for drinking and cooking, so everyone looked dirty and slovenly, and gave off a strange smell.

The number of infected following the Patriots, along with the Shield Guard soldiers, has exceeded one thousand. This is no small number. Managing such a large population, as well as taking care of their daily needs, requires a great deal of energy and manpower.

The resources they consumed were astronomical. Even though the infected spontaneously formed hunting and gathering teams, the gradually increasing availability of wild vegetables and animals with the arrival of early summer slightly alleviated the food crisis. However, compared to their consumption, it was still just a drop in the ocean.

On the soft soil around the spring, some infected individuals skilled in farming were clearing land, preparing to plant some fast-growing vegetables and food for long-term settlement. Unfortunately, Patriot and every Shield Guard warrior knew perfectly well that this was just a phantom of hope.

With the arrival of early summer, the Ursus army, which has been dormant all winter, will once again become active to hunt down this rebel army, the guerrillas who attacked the mines, and various bandit groups, whether infected or not.

Even some wealthy free towns and villages were targeted by the Ursus soldiers, which meant that the Patriots forces had to frequently change locations and take the initiative to draw the attention of the Ursus army and disrupt their organized capture and slaughter of the infected.

In this situation, it would be impossible to move thousands of infected people, and they could not possibly settle down here.

Whether they are relocating mobile villages or mobile outposts in Ursus, they are all familiar with the water sources and safe havens here.

Therefore, the team had to withdraw quickly. In the past, the infected were usually placed in relatively hidden places explored by the scouts, forming small strongholds for the infected, or settled in mobile villages that were still willing to accommodate the infected.

However, compared to the northern wasteland, which has a better mass base, the situation in the south is much worse, and the locals are more hostile to the infected, as can be seen from the future encounter between Talulah and the Reunion Movement.

This is a spiral of hatred manipulated and exploited by the upper echelons, using internal contradictions among the people to deal with them, comparable to the identity vertical cut in Europe and America, to prevent these people from uniting to overthrow their rule.

Those glamorous mobile cities are all built on the countless corpses of infected miners and the civilians in the lower tiers who live like rats.

If this method is not used, the flames from the lower levels will eventually consume the entire Terran society.

On Earth, even when faced with a well-organized army armed with firearms, the resistance of unequipped people can still terrify rulers.

Terra is a world lacking sufficient firearms, and the Originium Arts of the lower classes are not much easier to withstand than the armies of the upper classes; their destructive power surpasses that of Earthlings.

Under such a spiral of hatred, such a large group of infected civilians is a real headache for the Patriots. They cannot keep up with the speed and mobility of the troops, and they have no chance to gain a foothold.

Moreover, once abandoned by the Shield Guard, they might even turn into bandits under the pressure of survival.

This will further worsen the situation of other infected individuals, and even the Shield Guard itself will be gradually strangled on this wasteland. This is why Patriot was willing to lead the team to join Talulah's Reunion Movement.

Because he really had no better options, and the Reunion Movement seemed to make some sense and be feasible at the time.

“Dad, we’re back…” Ivan walked into the Patriot’s tent. The burly man, shrouded in armor and cloak, didn’t speak, but simply turned his face toward Ivan and looked at him quietly.

“We brought a batch of warm clothing and fabrics; it's from the farmer I mentioned to you last time…”

"Insurance?"

"So far, he seems trustworthy. He also has an infected girl under his care, and I haven't found any signs of abuse..."

"Very good," Patriot nodded. This was the only good news recently. A farmer who sympathized with or at least did not reject the infected might consider arranging some of the infected who could not move with the troops there.

However, this would undoubtedly require owing a huge favor, and nobody likes having a bunch of burdens inexplicably placed in their service.

In the snowy plains of Ursus, people are the cheapest resource, especially further north. In years of poor harvest, a young and beautiful Ursus girl might only be worth half a sack of potatoes to be bought from her parents.

The other party might not even give him that face or want to do him a favor, since according to Ivan, this might be an armed reclamation farm of a large company, which is not short of military force.

Moreover, patriots would not attempt to use violence to threaten or attack and rob such farms.

Perhaps the other infected guerrillas would do the same, but compared to their lack of knowledge and political experience, the Patriots knew that doing so would do nothing but turn their few, almost non-existent, friends into an already numerous and troublesome enemy.

It could even cause a collapse in the treatment of the entire infected population, and he couldn't stop other infected people from doing so.

After all, it's incredibly difficult to persuade a group of people filled with hatred to let go of their hatred and face the harm done to them with a smile.

And as it turns out, it's useless, but at least it can restrain our own people from doing it.

“I’ve put the new deal requirements here…” Ivan placed the stack of papers aside. “Dad, the hunting party has lost a few more members. We… lack medicine, food, equipment, and clothing. To be more precise, we lack everything except manpower.”

"No," Patriot knew what he meant. But he shook his head; a certain threat might persuade the rancher to take in some of the infected and provide more supplies, thus lowering the price.

But will the Shield Guard stay here forever? That's impossible.

This will only lead to the demise of everyone by attracting Ursus's hounds. And once they leave, will the coerced farmers still treat the infected with such a neutral or even friendly attitude?

"He said he wanted to hire some people?"

"Yes, he meant that he's had more work lately and needs some help, but he doesn't trust us, which is why he's resorting to this method..."

"Then let's do it this way. It's good to let them go out and get some exercise..." Patriot nodded. That's a good idea. It's like the other party is issuing a commission or a task. He can organize the infected to complete the commission and then receive the reward. It's best to handle things officially.

It won't deplete the meager trust and goodwill we have, and it's a win-win situation where the infected get the much-needed medicine and clothing, while the other party can delegate some of their endless peripheral tasks to them.

Outside the farm, at the edge of a clearing in the woods, Xia Lin planted a road signpost, then took out two wooden stakes and a plank from the truck bed. "Yelena, bring me the toolbox."

The "good" girl deftly pulled out a toolbox from under the driver's seat, grabbed it, and jogged after Xia Lin.

The white rabbit became increasingly useful, and Xia Lin assigned her almost all sorts of chores, from serving tea and water to carrying bags and tools, to taking care of animals and doing simple farm work. Yelena seemed to enjoy being relied upon.

This gave her a sense of value and being needed, making her feel like she truly belonged on the farm, rather than a guest who might be kicked out at any time.

"Give me the nails." Xia Lin drove the wooden stake into the ground. After it was stable, he held the stake with one hand, reached out to Yelena for a box of simple nails, held the nails between his left fingers, and held a small hammer in his right hand. "Hold the wooden board up a bit."

"Bang bang bang!" After several heavy blows, one side of the wooden board was firmly nailed to the post. Then the other side was nailed on, and a thin wooden board was nailed horizontally on top of the board. A standard wooden bulletin board was completed.

Xia Lin took out a large stack of waterproof paper from her bag and pinned it to the bulletin board. It listed the things she needed help with and the promised rewards, including logging, clearing gravel and bushes, etc. The work area had been cordoned off with ropes of different colors and small wooden poles.

Although Ivan clearly knows how to read, Xia Lin still attached very clear and distinct pictures. After testing by White Rabbit, it was determined that even a ten-year-old kid with a rudimentary understanding of writing could understand them.

Although the rice is not yet mature, it is just rows of crisp seedlings that have just entered the first leaf-forming stage.

However, you can't wait until your seeds are fully grown before you start cultivating the land, just like you can't wait until you're all set before making a new pot for cooking.

The area circled is a standard 20 mu of land, which is the kind of farmland with 667 square meters per mu.

In addition to the basic work of clearing tree roots, gravel, and shrubs, the work also included digging irrigation ditches. This land is about 1.5 kilometers away from the farm, so that a large number of people would not gather around the farm and cause any tragedies that no one wants to see.

The tools were provided by Xia Lin. After obtaining a batch of scrap iron and stuffing it into the furnace, there were no major problems with the farm tools, even if someone took the tools and ran away.

He didn't care, since it wasn't worth much anyway—but he would naturally hold Ivan and his men accountable later.

The reward food was nutritional biscuits, which Xia Lin only remembered after being reminded by the white rabbit. The nutritional biscuits were made by stuffing all the cut shrubs, sawdust, algae, chicken manure, and feathers from the farm into the decomposition tank and then resynthesizing the organic biomass. Although it was hellish food for Xia Lin, it was a dish made from the organic biomass obtained from the decomposition.

But for those hungry infected miners who lack food, it's a delicacy. Of course, it's normal for people living in an advanced interstellar society not to think of this, but the fact that White Rabbit only thought of it after so long suggests that she may have gone astray as well.

After all, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. At first, she thought that nutritional biscuits were the best food she had ever eaten, but before long she had fallen in love with fried potatoes and mashed potatoes. Now even potatoes can't satisfy her anymore; only egg tarts and fried chicken can move her.

"Alright, let's go back—" Xia Lin called out to Yelena after finishing her work order. They still had a lot to do when they got back. First, they needed to dig a new, larger reservoir to raise fish.

Through manual labor, Xia Lin has successfully dug a 3x3 meter pit, about 1 meter deep, near the drainage outlet of the workshop. It needs to be expanded to 10x10 meters before the first batch of fish fry can be released into it.

Once we have enough materials and manpower to build a small reservoir, we can move the fish from this fishpond to the reservoir, thus expanding the scale of aquaculture to a level sufficient to support industrialized food processing.

Back at the workshop, the two barely rested before grabbing shovels and heading straight to the construction site. Digging holes without an excavator was incredibly strenuous work. Yelena's stamina was far inferior to Xia Lin's, but their arm strength was almost equal.

The sharp shovel pierced the frozen soil full of gravel with a light touch, then threw it out and piled up on both sides of the pit.

Due to a lack of manpower to move the piled-up soil, it is necessary to frequently interrupt the work to discard the soil in a corner, so that it can be used to make synthetic soil later.

The two men were digging at a slow and difficult pace, at an average speed of about 1.5 cubic meters per hour. The total volume of earthwork was exactly 100 cubic meters, which required them to work steadily for 30 hours without sleep. At a rate of four hours of digging per day, the project was expected to be completed in a week.

"Phew—" Xia Lin straightened up after finishing her work. The sky was already showing a brilliant glow. As the temperature warmed up day by day, the weather in this place became sunny and mild. Various animals even dared to roam around the farm. A few days ago, they even caught a fat and strong rodent that was trying to dig into the corner of the greenhouse wall.

Such audacious creatures were thrown into automated processing equipment, where they were crushed and the Originium particles were removed, turning them into a large bowl of minced meat. Xia Lin used it to make a meatball soup, and the two of them ate it happily, hoping that more small animals would willingly walk into their trap and offer their bodies as a sacrifice.

"Would you like some water?" Yelena handed over her water glass, and Xia Lin took a sip without thinking much of it. "Hmm, what's this?"

"Mushroom tea—"

"Mushroom tea?" Xia Lin looked at the unidentified dried fungi inside, but why did it taste a little spicy? This rabbit seems to really like spicy and bitter food. Is it trying to turn itself into a spicy rabbit head?

"Hmm, fermented mushroom tea, Dad taught me how to make it..." Back then, they had just been thrown into the mines, and Grandfather still had some connections in Ursus. He wasn't an infected either, so the guards were a little nicer to them.

At least there was a small cabin to live in, and he did an easy job guarding the warehouse. But after his grandfather passed away, everything began to take a sharp turn for the worse.

"Mushroom tea...this is basically fermented mushroom liquor!?" Xia Lin took another sip, then confiscated her cup along with the "mushroom tea" inside. "What kind of alcohol is this for a child!?"

He has a symbiote that breaks down the alcohol that enters his body, so when he drinks, he basically only tastes the flavor, and it's impossible for him to even get a little tipsy.

Intoxication is identified as an abnormal physiological state by the symbiote and regulated accordingly. If this function is disabled, it is possible to get drunk, but the insurance company will not be responsible for the series of consequences arising therefrom.

For example, if someone gets drunk and accidentally drives the spacecraft onto the space station control panel, or if they get drunk and need to be hospitalized, neither medical insurance nor accident insurance will cover it. The fact that medical insurance doesn't cover it is a serious issue.

As for the accompanying criminal liability, that's even more of a concern; drunk driving is a serious crime in the Covenant.

Of course, the drunk driving referred to here is the kind where the symbiotic decomposition mode is turned off. If it's not turned off, it doesn't matter how much you drink, at most you'll just be a little more "arrogant"—the decomposed alcohol will be excreted through sweat, urine and respiration.

"Ah, this..." Yelena was stunned. She reached out her little hand to take back her water cup. This was the "fermented mushroom tea" that she had worked so hard to make. Finding the right mushrooms had wasted several days of her precious free time. How could they just confiscate it like that?

“You’re not old enough for that, so I said I’d confiscate it. By the way, if you want to drink tea, we can start growing tea leaves, and I happen to have some.”

Chapter Twenty: Black Tea. It's about black tea.