Chapter 166: Unexplained Attractiveness

And the two thousand male Beastfolk at the Planting Base, when they saw Lin Manzhi open the box she brought and reveal a green‑leaved plant bearing cyan fruits, all of their eyes brightened several notches.

No wonder she's the female the Leader selected!

This Lord Lin, rumored to be the founder of the Fierce Sand Escort Bureau, now seeing that she has brought green food impossible to appear in the desert, even though they have no Pheromone planting, makes everyone from the bottom of their hearts admire a female!

Next, this Lord Lin even taught them how to cultivate, actually letting them personally touch such a precious plant.

For the first plant, Lin Manzhi, as the only person on site with planting knowledge, selected the main stems of the fifty planting plots chosen yesterday, demonstrated on the spot, and said:

"We watered this ground last night; now we'll dig a hole in the raised soil, plant the Holy Maiden Fruit root into the earth. Be careful not to compact the soil when burying the root; each plant should be spaced about half an arm's length apart."

While speaking, Lin Manzhi held the Cherry Tomato she had planted in the soil with both hands; Mo Lie, standing nearby, had already inserted the Cherry Tomato's support into the mud, took Lin Manzhi's hand, steadied the main branch bearing fruit, and tied the prepared rope onto the support.

When everything was finished, the main branch of the Holy Maiden Fruit was tied to a straight Wooden Stick, the whole plant stood perfectly upright, displaying clusters of fruit and buds, and it was simply unbelievable to behold.

After teaching one plant, Lin Manzhi was led aside by Mo Lie; because these past days they had shown talent in farm work, the fifty selected planters could now try planting themselves.

Everyone stared without taking their eyes off.

Lin Manzhi spoke, "All right, you give it a try."

Holding the Holy Maiden Fruit that reached waist‑high in their hands, this time Xiang Sa definitely wouldn't misjudge the scent; the plant smells so distinctive that they almost want to chew the leaves and stems together.

Most of them are herbivorous bloodline planters, although now male Beastfolk, after evolution, need to accumulate energy in their Spirit Core through meat, and thus have grown to like eating meat.

Although plants are scarce in the desert, they have traveled to neighboring lords' territories adjacent to the desert and seen countless plants, some bearing fruit larger than this, yet they have no interest in any of them.

Strangely, when they touch this plant called Holy Maiden Fruit, they seem to awaken an ancient herbivorous gene… drooling!

Wah— Wah— Wah!

This! Is! What!?

Why is this Holy Maiden Fruit saying, "Eat me, eat me~~"

They were chosen to farm then, feeling aggrieved: "I, a towering four meters tall, weighing over a thousand jin, a mighty and robust Beastfolk, you make me tend tiny flowers and grass?"

How unlucky, we only want to follow the Leader to kill enemies, fight, fight!

At this moment, they held the Holy Maiden Fruit seedling, eyes glazed, continuously swallowing saliva, standing still as if poisoned.

"Seen enough?" Mo Lie narrowed his eyes, a cold light flashing in his deep blue irises, "If you haven't learned, do you need me to say it again?"

The tall and burly planters: "……"

Suddenly feeling a chill, how terrifying!

Under Mo Lie's cold stare from behind, everyone jolted awake with a shiver; Xiang Sa, clutching the scorching Holy Maiden Fruit, trembled and explained:

"Um, this… I was just curious, I absolutely didn't have the nerve to touch anything belonging to you or Lord Lin; we'll plant it right away!"

When the others heard the Leader speak, the special rank suppression feeling embedded in their genes instantly resurfaced, and they quickly regained composure, for after all, food is less important than life.

Lin Manzhi blinked.

She saw everyone's reaction to the Holy Maiden Fruit appearing in the desert, and felt craving, extremely craving.

Now they are also staff of the planting grounds, guarding the area all day; with Mo Lie present they certainly don't dare betray with petty moves, but fear isn't the same as genuine support.

If those two thousand Beastfolk could become willing, that would be even better.

She smiled softly, watching the crowd crouching and working, and said cheerfully, "You've worked hard; once this Holy Maiden Fruit ripens, the Leader said each of the two thousand people at the Planting Base will get one. If you want more, you can go to Yuequan Lou to purchase."

The crowd's expressions changed, as if an unbelievable happiness like rain from the heavens slammed onto their heads.

One each would cost two thousand pieces! So following the new Leader does come with such benefits!?

In an instant, everyone planted the Cherry Tomatoes more lightly and quietly, and the six hundred Cherry Tomato plants were quickly finished.

Two mu of land—generally can grow 5 000 Cherry Tomato plants; the six hundred she brought didn't even fill a fifth of a single Planting Greenhouse.

Lin Manzhi thought, at her rate of Four-Block Ten-Day Spiritual Field, it would take at least nine days before she could harvest a second batch, but that would still be only six hundred Cherry Tomatoes.

If only there were a Hundred-Day Spiritual Field, a batch could mature in a day.

Seeing the seventeen Planting Greenhouses before her, Lin Manzhi's eyes flashed; she sank her mind back into her space, instantly harvested the Agave from the Hundred-Day Spiritual Field with roots intact, placed it into a storage compartment; as long as it isn't taken out, it will remain in the freshly harvested state, ready to be planted later.

Lin Manzhi kept at it, planting Cherry Tomatoes in the Hundred-Day Spiritual Field, waiting to harvest them tomorrow morning and then bring them over to plant.

As long as the Cherry Tomatoes are planted here at the planting grounds, there's nothing else for now; Lin Manzhi followed Mo Lie back, pondering on the way.

When all the soil in the Planting Base is filled, eight more Planting Greenhouses can be built, totaling twenty‑five; if all are used to grow Cherry Tomatoes, at least 125 000 plants could be cultivated.

Relying only on her five‑block Accelerated Spiritual Fields in her space, it would still take two or three months, enough time in reality to grow from seed to harvest.

Indeed, to achieve her goal of healing the Spirit Core through daily food and drink, planting must be done in reality; the farm‑style fields in the game lack enough Spiritual Fields, making them only suitable for cultivating medicinal plants that require years.

In the following days, Lin Manzhi brought Cherry Tomatoes to the greenhouse each day for transplanting; the people at the Planting Base harbored countless doubts about the seedlings she brought, but with Mo Lie present, no one dared to voice them.

That's the ultra‑awesome feeling of having a powerful backer.

Lin Manzhi's Planting Base became unimpeded; a single Planting Greenhouse with two mu of land was huge, and after three busy days, she added 450 mature tomato seedlings.

She simply planted the 59 Agave in the warehouse as well; the tree‑sized Agave immediately filled an entire greenhouse.

At this point, the fruit on the first six hundred tomato seedlings turned red, entering the prime picking season.

On the way back with Mo Lie, Lin Manzhi's voice carried a hint of joy: "Tomorrow we can first harvest a batch of Holy Maiden Fruit and medicinal liquid and take them to Yuequan Lou for sale."