Chapter 380: A Game of Seeds and Profits

Yang Jin suggested a 60-40 split in his favor, but when I pushed for 50-50 he agreed immediately. That tells me his initial offer was inflated all along. In his mind even 50-50 was a win—maybe he would’ve settled for 60-40, or even 70-30 if pushed.

Next time, I can push even harder. After all, I hold the rare resources.

Xia Qing pressed on, “How much water does hydroponic spinach actually need?”

Yang Jin had already done his homework. “Each hydroponic spinach plant needs about 500 milliliters of water—that’s just 10% of what regular soil-grown spinach consumes.”

Xia Qing did some quick math, then brought up her next term. “There’s only so much spring water. The max we can do is 3,000 hydroponic spinach plants. Are you okay with that?”

Those 3,000 plants would burn through 1,500 liters of water—the entire output from the spring in Xia Qing’s territory for five days. That pure spring water isn’t just for drinking—it’s for feeding chickens, sheep, soaking seeds, growing high-Evolution Element spinach and other Green Lantern crops. So expanding cordyceps fungus production too much isn’t really an option.

Yang Jin nodded. “That works for me. Growing cordyceps on hydroponic spinach takes four months. If all goes well, each plant should yield at least twenty cordyceps buds. The price per bud hasn’t been set, but it won’t be less than twenty credits each. That’s a huge profit margin.”

Even at the lowest estimate, just one spinach plant with cordyceps is worth at least 400 credits. For 3,000 plants, that’s 1.2 million credits. After deducting costs, the profit’s still impressive. Xia Qing smiled and nodded.

Yang Jin kept the negotiation rolling. “The germination rate for Green Lantern spinach seeds is two-thirds. So to grow 3,000 hydroponic plants, you’ll need 4,500 seeds—meaning you need to supply 2,250 of them. This bag has exactly 2,250 seeds. Mind if I take it with me?”

Xia Qing was speechless.

How does he manage to wheel and deal while counting seeds at the same time? With how shrewd he is, I’m sure he picked out only the biggest, plumpest seeds.

Even though Xia Qing knew that working with him meant serious credit gains, she still wished she could grab Old Goat and beat him up for being so sharp on the deal.

Yang Jin set the bag of spinach seeds right on top of the spinach stalks in the sealable bag, ready to move on to the next trade.

“I’ve managed to get my hands on a nano stealth paint made with new materials. Use it on knives, guns, cameras, grenade launchers—any metal surface—and it hides from standard radar. Right now this paint is strictly military issue, not for sale, and it’s insanely expensive: 10,000 credits per kilogram.”

Xia Qing stared blankly.

“Think about it. Your spinach seeds are at peak value—unless you can boost their Evolution Element content, this is as valuable as they’ll get. Sure, 10,000 credits per kilogram for paint sounds outrageous, but with just a handful of seeds you could trade for some. Tempted?”

Xia Qing hesitated.

“Luo mentioned you’re joining the Azure Dragon Squad’s winter training this year—using our Speed Evolver to practice long-range sniping. Need us to supply equipment too?”

Xia Qing was lost for words.

“Gui San Base has been destroyed and a lot of used building materials have hit the market. I managed to score a batch of secondhand stainless steel pipes perfect for greenhouses. Need them? Two greenhouses’ worth—for just 200 spinach seeds.”

Xia Qing wanted to sigh again.

“White San Base just harvested top-grade Green Lantern rice. Azure Dragon Squad is looking to trade for some, 400 credits per jin, but shipping is tight so there’s a purchase limit. You can buy up to 400 jin. This rice is way better than our base’s military supply—their Yellow Lantern rice only has 13‰ Devastation Element. Want some?”

Xia Qing was nearly running out of patience.

“Fine, I’ll buy! Everything you brought today is great—I’ll take it all!”

But she still asked, “Can’t I trade for White San Base’s Green Lantern rice seeds instead?”

Yang Jin explained, “It’s possible—but seeds cost even more. Besides, their rice needs very specific cultivation conditions, and you won’t be able to grow it here in our territory. Trading for the finished rice is just better overall.”

Hearing she couldn’t grow it herself, Xia Qing felt a little disappointed, but realized it was par for the course. Almost none of the evolved plants on Blue Star make life easy.

Except for her spinach.

She’d only managed to trade for top-tier Yellow Lantern rice seeds from Zhang San, and she wouldn’t get to eat any until next summer, after the harvest. Now that Yang Jin had a way to get quality Green Lantern rice, Xia Qing wasn’t about to let herself miss out.

At her age, with her abilities still evolving, she needed all the Green Lantern foods she could eat to fuel her progress.

“I’ll trade for 400 jin of Green Lantern rice.” Xia Qing wasn’t short on credits—just good food—so when the chance came, she’d buy as much as she could.

“Wise choice. If you’ve got the power, eat the best,” Yang Jin quipped, helping himself to another small bag of spinach seeds right under Xia Qing’s watchful eye.

It was painful to see those seeds go—months of hard work, just harvested—yet satisfied with the supplies she was getting in return, Xia Qing felt pretty happy.

Seeing that Yang Jin had no more deals to offer, Xia Qing mentally rehearsed her next pitch—one that would put almost ten million years’ worth of credits on the table, just to let him see how it felt to hand back some of the points he’d earned from her.

“Captain Yang, do you know what the stability rate is for Blazing Fire Squad’s high Evolution Element spinach?”

Stability rates had become crucial in Blue Star’s post-evolution era—a key measure of plant seed quality, showing how many generations a seed could be grown stably. The lower a seed’s Devastation Element content, the higher its stability—and the higher its price.

Out in the open, Green Lantern and Yellow Lantern plants were constantly battered by pollutants, Devastation Element, and bugs from the air, soil, and irrigation. Their Devastation Element content crept up with each generation—worse if Devastation Rain hit, sometimes spiking and turning the plants themselves into Devastation-evolved breeds.

In environments where Devastation Element couldn’t be blocked off, every round of planting saw a 2‰ to 3‰ jump in the new seed’s Devastation Element content.

Like the Yellow Lantern cucumber seeds the lords got when they left the Safe Zone this year—each at 8‰ Devastation Element. By May, after two months of growth, the harvested cucumbers were up at 10‰ to 11‰.

And when the second batch was planted, Blue Star’s worst disaster in a decade hit: the longest Devastation Rain yet. Eighty percent of the cucumber plants spiked to 13‰ to 14‰ Devastation Element. About ten percent even hit or exceeded 15‰, turning into Red Lantern plants and getting yanked out on the spot.

Once a plant reached 13‰ Devastation Element, its seeds couldn’t be planted again. By harvest, they’d be well over 15‰, making them unsafe to eat.

So the Yellow Lantern cucumber seeds given to the lords could only be used for two generations, tops. In technical terms: they had a two-generation stability.

But that didn’t mean that after two generations, every seed would shoot past 15‰. Scientist had found another confirmed rule with evolved Blue Star plants:

The 1% anomaly.

In other words: 99% of the seeds are the same quality as the parent plant, but 1% are different.

Of that 1%, some have Devastation Element content higher or lower than the mother plant. Seeds with more than 3‰ lower Devastation Element are called breeding-optimized; those under 3‰ lower are generally optimized; and those with higher content are labeled devolution seeds.

There’s no pattern to which kind you get—it’s totally random.

For example, from a parent plant with 8‰ Devastation Element, 99% of seeds will also be at 8‰. Of the remaining 1%, those under 5‰ are breeding-optimized, those between 5‰ and 8‰ are generally optimized, and those above 8‰ are devolution seeds.

Researchers at the planting centers select the breeding-optimized seeds and propagate them, producing seeds with more than two generations’ stability, then promoting them for widespread cultivation.