Chapter 22: Mercenary's Life

This great sandstorm lasted over two hours before ending.

During that time, Kantisi came over once.

Then she left quickly.

With Luo De present, the drawbridge guarded by the Atia Mercenary Group required no concern from her.

This also allowed Kantisi to focus more energy on other drawbridges.

Compared to the exhausted mercenaries, Luo De, who had slaughtered no less than a hundred monsters, was somewhat fatigued but still in good spirits.

After the sandstorm.

After setting the time for the victory feast with the Atia who were cleaning the battlefield, Luo De hurried back home.

Just as he pushed the door open,

The sight of the mess before him made him sigh involuntarily.

The plot that had resisted a small sandstorm, after painstakingly planting for half a month, was destroyed again.

His planted sorghum fence was fine—some damage but mostly intact; the grass grids weren't badly damaged, just some wheat grass had fallen, and the short seedlings either lay flat or were pulled out, leaving only shallow bare pits in the ground.

Compared to that plot, which was completely destroyed, the test field fertilized with Fertility Blessing remained unharmed; the seedlings that should have been limp stood tall like spears, completely unaffected by the sandstorm.

"What exactly is added to this Fertility Blessing?"

Luo De curled the corner of his mouth, squatted down, and pinched those seedlings.

The feel was still the same as before.

It wasn't as stiff as it looked on the surface.

Now Luo De was completely baffled.

This is unreasonable.

Yes.

Fertility Blessing contains grass element crystals.

But when did element crystals become this effective?

Luo De has also been reading quite a bit lately.

Regarding element crystals, he specifically looked through his own materials and the papers written by the Raw Theory scholars.

Yet no source mentions that grass element crystals can give ordinary crops such a powerful ability to resist natural disasters.

Luo De pinched a handful of soil, rubbed it, and his brows furrowed immediately: "Could it be that they're actually using the power of the Dendro Archon in here?"

Ordinary, sparse soil.

It looked no different from the other test field.

The water and soil used in both test fields were identical; the only difference was that this plot had been given the prescribed amount of Fertility Blessing.

As a result, despite unchanged soil, these Fertility Blessings let the crops grow ignoring soil fertility and gain resistance to wind and sand comparable to that of monsters.

【The so-called Fertility Blessing is actually using the grass elemental energy inside, extremely high in concentration and activity, as a nutrient to promote crop growth and provide a protective film similar to an elemental energy shield.】

After writing that, Luo De observed carefully for a while, then added another note in his notebook.

【Continuing to add Fertility Blessing can replenish the damaged grass element protective film.】

The instructions for Fertility Blessing state:

If a natural disaster occurs, Fertility Blessing must be replenished immediately afterward.

After adding Fertility Blessing, Luo De easily inferred this conclusion from observation.

After recording these, he turned the pen with one hand and rested his chin on the other, continuing to ponder.

Judging from the current results, the effect of Fertility Blessing comes mostly from its grass element crystals.

Then, without the technology to refine grass element crystals, could we substitute Fertility Blessing with elemental creatures capable of transforming the surrounding environment?

Luo De's mind quickly flashed several innate grass element creatures.

Grass slime, grass floating spirit, floating grass mushroom beast.

Among them, slimes are distributed across the entire Tiwatedalu, a very common monster with low intelligence and average attack, often used by humans or other monsters as tools or food.

The distribution of floating spirits is relatively limited; most are found in Inazuma, which is far from Sumeru, and Sumeru rarely sees reports of floating spirits, with grass floating spirits being especially scarce.

As for the mushroom beast, this creature is a Sumeru-exclusive elemental being; no other country has reported its natural presence. Floating grass mushroom beasts are usually found in Sumeru's rainforest regions, also in desert areas, but due to unsuitable environment, their distribution is relatively sparse.

Luo De carefully recalled the characteristics of these three elemental lifeforms he had seen.

A bold idea sprang to mind.

Should we or not?

Catch some grass slimes to tame? Use them as Fertility Blessing?

The reason Luo De thought of grass slimes rather than the more widely distributed floating grass mushroom beasts in Sumeru

is that mushroom beasts are extremely aggressive, attacking almost anyone who approaches.

This trait means Luo De hasn't yet figured out how to tame mushroom beasts, and even if he could, he couldn't conduct experiments in A Ru Cun.

If one day he's not home and his captive mushroom beast breaks free and runs out to attack people, that would violate A Ru Cun's rules, surely earning him a few lashes and causing panic among the villagers.

Therefore, the relatively mild-tempered grass slime became Luo De's target.

"No, can't be too impulsive."

After writing this idea in his notebook, Luo De felt his once-empty purse again, still deciding to wait until he had gathered enough data before acting.

Time passed day by day like that.

After Luo De's third batch of test seeds sprouted, the Blazing Light Hunting Beast, long absent, finally returned from the desert.

Counting the time.

This time, the Blazing Light Hunting Beast's mission kept it in the desert for nearly two months.

Upon seeing Dixiya again.

This mercenary squad leader, who is always full of energy, shows an indescribable fatigue on their face.

She, who always pays great attention to her personal image, can be described as completely disheveled.

The pleasant scent of perfume was overwhelmed by a faint bloody smell; her shoulders, arms, thighs, and abdomen were all wrapped in bandages, and even the bandages on her abdomen were seeping out traces of blood.

The other squad members also each carried some injuries, more or less.

It was obvious.

The Flaming Light Hunting Beast has run into a tough opponent this time.

What's worse,

Luo De keenly noticed that the Flaming Light Hunting Beast was short-handed.

Not even a single one.

"Hey, Luo De."

The exhausted Dixiya forced out a smile: "Sorry, I might not have time to drink with you today; I'll treat you tomorrow."

Having said that,

She then limped toward the Flaming Light Hunting Beast's camp.

Looking at the Flaming Light Hunting Beast, whose overall atmosphere was oppressive, Luo De, who hadn't had a chance to speak with Dixiya, chose not to chase after her to comfort her, merely letting out a heavy sigh.

This is the life of a mercenary.

Licking blood from the blade's edge, one cannot guarantee safety from morning to evening.

No one knows whether they will return unharmed from their next mission.

Thus, being a mercenary requires seizing pleasure in a timely manner, leaving no regrets.

(End of chapter)