Chapter 818: A Fresh Harvest and New Deals

The X nutrient shake blended from the nutrient source is a great deal, but its shelf life is only 24 hours. For squad members, researchers, and the military who are out on missions for long stretches, they still need to be stocked with premium nutrient shakes that can last up to three months.

That’s why the Squad Alliance buys up qualified X-2 plants—to make premium nutrient shakes.

The price for high-quality X-2 spinach stalks sits at 200 credits per pound, which already sounds pretty steep. But just last winter, Yang Jin was paying 600 credits per pound for Xia Qing’s spinach stalks—the price has fallen by two-thirds.

Even so, for the lords, this price is still pretty enticing.

“Now I can sell the freshly harvested spinach seeds and stalks without even leaving my territory, and that gives me real peace of mind. Plus, the just-pulled spinach stalks are the freshest, guaranteed to fetch a lot more credits than hauling them back to the Safe Zone. Thanks a lot, Captain Yang.” After logging on to thank Yang Jin, Kuang Qingwei immediately asked, “Feng, you there? Section Six just finished harvesting. I’ll just call you in a bit to handle it?”

Hu Zifeng joined the chat. “I’m here. Just give me a call later.”

Everyone followed Kuang Qingwei’s lead, choosing to turn their seeds and spinach stalks into credits or supplies right after harvesting. That way, they could finally relax.

Xia Qing chimed in too. “Feng, I want to sell as well.”

Hu Zifeng replied, “Got it. I’ll head over and help you harvest right now.”

On paper, Hu Zifeng is Xia Qing’s boyfriend, so it only makes sense for him to come lend a hand. Xia Qing kept it simple, answering, “Okay.”

Tang Huai logged in, fuming. “I’m not selling!”

The Tang Family always needs a lot of spinach seeds and stalks, so it’s totally normal that Territory Two and Territory Twelve refuse to sell to the Squad Alliance. Hu Zifeng shot back, “If you’re digging for insects, sure, sell. Doesn’t mean I’ll buy from you.”

Tang Huai immediately howled, “Did you hear that, Captain Yang? That crazy Hu says he won’t buy any spinach seeds from my territory!”

Everyone else stayed silent…

Hu Zifeng sneered. “Our captain’s busy. He doesn’t have time for you.”

“Xia Qing, did you see that? He says he’s about to help you gather seeds, but right now he’s just yakking away on the walkie-talkie. Why would you want a guy like that?”

Everyone… Seriously, where’s Director Tang? Why isn’t he here to rein in his son?

Over in Section Three, Xia Qing headed up the hillside with a bag in hand. She pulled out her buzzing phone from her pocket. “Captain Yang?”

On the other end, Yang Jin spoke in his businesslike tone. “Xia Qing, I’ll come over now to help you gather spinach seeds and also talk about the buyout, sound good?”

Yang Jin wasn’t there for those fifty X-2 plants on Xia Qing’s terraces. He was after her homegrown spinach seeds and stalks.

Knowing Yang Jin’s speed, Xia Qing agreed.

With him on hand, gathering spinach seeds would go at least twice as fast. And since he called it ‘helping,’ Xia Qing wouldn’t have to pay him any credits.

After dropping Yang Jin off at Section Three, Hu Zifeng headed back to Hill Forty-Nine.

Yang Jin made his way straight to the terraced fields on the high slope, navigating the place like he’d done it a hundred times.

Even setting his own bias aside, he had to admit the crops on Xia Qing’s terraces looked healthier than anywhere else.

Yang Jin walked over and, ever the sharp-eyed one, checked the support posts along the edge of the spinach terraces. Playing to Xia Qing’s favorite topic, he started talking about farming. “The vegetables and crops in your terraces look even livelier than the ones grown in standard greenhouses in Territory One. Is it because of the soil?”

“It’s not just the soil,” Xia Qing replied. Every single seedling in these terraces had grown under her careful watch. That was her pride, her way of answering for her work. Yang Jin could tell at a glance how well her crops were doing, and that gave Xia Qing a real sense of accomplishment. “There’s actually some high evolution element soil in the greenhouses of Territory One, too.”

Yang Jin asked sincerely, “Is it because of the water or fertilizer, then?”

“That’s not all either.” Xia Qing motioned for Yang Jin to help hold down the clear plastic film covering the X-2. This transparent sheet was specially developed by Hui Three Base for X-2 protection—letting the almost mature spinach stalks soak up sunlight while making sure exploding spinach seeds couldn’t tear through it and wreck the greenhouse. “This greenhouse isn’t fully sealed. It’s connected to the outside air. I’m about to trim the leaves, Captain Yang, help press it tight so the seeds don’t jump out.”

After confirming Yang Jin had the exit pressed down, Xia Qing gripped the pruning shears and snipped a small notch in one leaf. Instantly, the wounded spinach plant responded. A second later, its main stalk shot its seeds at high speed in every direction.

Most of the seeds hit the plastic film with a pop. A few ricocheted into the neighboring stalks, setting off a chain reaction. In just a few seconds, all fifty spinach stalks had been triggered, each launching their seeds until they were completely emptied.

Where there had just been half-meter tall spinach stalks, now everything lay limp on the ground. Once Xia Qing and Yang Jin made sure every plant was spent and harmless, they lifted the plastic film and started picking up seeds and clearing the stalks.

Yang Jin worked fast, doing the math while he moved. “A standard greenhouse costs 350,000 credits to build. If you need to block out the Devastation Element, you’re paying 3,000 to 5,000 credits a month on filter cartridges. Skip the greenhouse and use Yi Stone to shield the same area? That’s at least 240 grams of Yi Stone. Spinach takes three months to grow. If you plant 1.5 acres of X-2 and protect it with Yi Stone all the way through—using mid-grade Yi Stone—that’s 2.4 million credits right there.”

Xia Qing nodded. “If you want to shield a big field from the Devastation Element the whole time, greenhouses are a better long-term investment. One can last 15 years or more. But if you just want to block the Devastation Element during rain, Yi Stone makes more sense.”

As Yang Jin finished gathering the last of the seeds in front of him, he inched up closer. “Did you shield your X-2 from the Devastation Element the whole time?”

Xia Qing answered, “No, just during the Devastation Rain.”

“What about the field nearby? That one’s shielded the whole time, right? I see you have a ring of purple sweet potatoes planted there. Those the original variety?”

That field was exactly what today’s deal was about. Xia Qing nodded. “Right. So, planting a single winter crop of spinach on that terrace—counting just the Yi Stone and not water or fertilizer—costs 130,000 credits.”

Which is why the homegrown spinach seeds are so pricey.

Yang Jin understood, and moved on to ask about the spinach quality. “Are we harvesting that batch later? How much better is this round of homegrown spinach?”

“Not yet. I’ll let them ripen naturally.” Xia Qing still knew her spinach’s quality inside out. “Five days before the Devastation Rain, my last test showed 2.5‰ Devastation Element content, 7.6 Evolution Element. Now they’re mature, so the seeds should still be at that level.”

Yang Jin was amazed. “You’re something else. That’s 0.8 points higher in Evolution Element than the professional breeders get in their standard greenhouses!”

Xia Qing had always known her spinach beat the Safe Zone’s breeding projects, but she didn’t feel much pride about it. “That’s all thanks to Third Brother’s detailed guidance. He really helped me level up this harvest.”

For the past six months, Xia Qing had sent soil samples to Territory Seven every week. Her Idol tested them personally, then tailored fertilizer blends for her. Xia Qing mixed and spread the special fertilizer herself, plus protected the spinach terraces with Yi Stone throughout the season.

In Idol’s eyes, the Evolution Element boost in Xia Qing’s homegrown spinach still wasn’t good enough. He wanted her to hit an extra two points this round and get to 8.0.