Chapter 339: An Unexpected Joy

The "white flower" in the White Flower Society is not a person's name, but a special type of flower on Jiliu Island.

According to the description of Wali Knight, this is a flower with elegant white petals that are delicate and soft, but it does not have a distinct fragrance.

This seemingly ordinary flower has a relatively thick stem, and beneath the stem grows a rough, ugly, and irregular tuber.

Upon hearing this, Luoning's attention was immediately captured.

"Does this flower only exist in the territory of the White Flower Society?" he asked.

Wali shook his head. "That's not the case. In the past, there were some near the port, but there was a time when the island was short on food, and some prisoners who were starving dug up its tubers and took a bite; they soon became dizzy, vomited, and eventually died. We ended up clearing out this poisonous thing."

He paused, then added, "However, you might still be able to find them in the woodlands outside the port. But it is already October, and the white flowers are almost withered and faded; they aren't very pretty."

Wali subconsciously assumed that Luoning was interested in flowers, as many nobles were very fond of gardening, even if he was a man.

Luoning nodded and stopped chatting about the white flowers, instead discussing with everyone the points to note for tomorrow's operation.

First, they needed to enter the territory of the White Flower Society, and they had to consider whether the other side would set traps in advance or occupy the terrain to ambush them, thereby causing them heavy casualties.

Second, this operation must completely resolve the hidden danger; they could not let the core members of the White Flower Society escape.

Therefore, when necessary, they would need to rely on the Griffin of Mixi Knight to conduct a pursuit.

After some discussion, it was already approaching noon.

Under the hospitality of Wali Knight, everyone had lunch together.

In the afternoon, Luoning took Tangmu and Dawei to leave the port and walked into the woods outside.

According to the description of Wali Knight, the three began to search for the little white flowers.

Perhaps because the port residents had cleared out the poisonous plants quite thoroughly, they walked Along distance without finding any. It wasn't until Dawei discovered a few withered little white flowers beside a pond in the woods.

"My Lord, is this it?"

Luoning walked over; he had never seen this style of flower and could not judge whether what Wali described was the thing in his memory.

"Dig out the tuber underneath and let me see."

Tangmu and Dawei hurriedly began to dig, and soon the ugly, irregular tuber underneath was retrieved.

"What is this thing?"

Dawei examined it curiously.

The surface of the tuber was pitted and bumpy, and it certainly did not look aesthetically pleasing at all.

"Sure enough, it looks like it's poisonous."

Tangmu also voiced his opinion, "My Lord, are you going to take this back for Grand Physician Aierlong to make poison?"

"This is not poison!"

Luoning took the tuber from Tangmu's hand, and the more he examined it, the more he couldn't put it down.

"Don't look at how ugly it is; it can be called a gift from Mother Earth, a type of food ingredient that can bring vitality!"

Now it was Tangmu and Dawei's turn to be confused.

"My Lord, Wali Knight said that eating it causes vomiting, dizziness, and eventually death, yet you say it is a food ingredient that can bring vitality?"

"Yeah, is this thing edible?"

Luoning smiled mysteriously and said very affirmatively, "It's edible, of course it's edible!"

The thing in his hand was none other than a potato, also commonly known as a potato.

This thing is not only delicious, but also rich in starch, vitamins, and minerals; it is an important source of energy needed by the human body. In the cold winter, a bowl of fragrant shredded potatoes can always bring people endless warmth and satisfaction.

And most importantly, the growth cycle of potatoes is short and the yield is high, making it one of the primary food crops.

Historically, it is said that the widespread cultivation of potatoes contributed to at least a quarter of the population growth.

Wubei Territory now has wheat and rice; if potatoes were also rapidly planted and solved the food problem completely, Luoning believed that the population of Wubei Territory would enter a stage of sustained growth.

"We can call the tuber of this white flower a 'potato'. I suspect that the person who died from eating it must have eaten a sprouted, green potato, and coupled with the fact that he was already in a state of starvation and his physical condition was very poor, that is why he eventually died."

As long as someone died from eating it, others would not only stop trying it, but would even spread the word that potatoes were poisonous; over time, it became a highly toxic substance.

He took a Dagger from his Space Ring, peeled the skin off the potato in a few quick strokes, and then cut it into slices.

After cleaning them in the nearby pond, Luoning summoned a Small Fireball above his palm and demonstrated roasting the potato on the spot.

"If we choose normally matured potatoes, after they are roasted at high temperatures, there is no need to worry about the problem of poisoning."

While speaking, the potato in his hand was soon roasted; although uneven heating caused some parts to be a bit charred, a unique fragrance still wafted out.

Luoning took a slice and ate it; although there were no seasonings, he could still taste a familiar feeling, as if he had returned to Earth.

Tangmu and Dawei were initially a bit worried and didn't dare to try it, but seeing Luoning eat it, they also mustered the courage to eat a slice.

Their eyes suddenly lit up.

"It's very fragrant!"

"An unprecedented feeling!"

They admired Luoning even more, "My Lord, you know so many things."

"I've just seen a lot."

Luoning distributed the remaining potato slices to the two of them.

He thought of the White Flower Society; did they not worry about falling out with Wali and losing their food supply because they had already found the correct way to eat potatoes?

"You two go back first; don't mention the way to eat potatoes to outsiders for now."

Luoning said, "If anyone asks, just say I was out for a walk in the woods by myself."

As he spoke, he called out in his heart, and before long, Kaierluosi descended into the woods, though under the refraction of light, its figure was not clearly visible.

"Master, have you encountered any trouble?" the dragon asked with some concern.

During this time, Kaierluosi had been following Luoning. When hungry, it would fly to the sea to hunt, and when tired, it would find an island or reef to rest.

To it, life was still just as carefree and free, but compared to being at sea, Kaierluosi preferred living in Wubei Territory, where the food was abundant.

"There is no trouble."

Luoning smiled and jumped onto the dragon's back; after not seeing him for such Along time, Kaierluosi's level progress had reached 30/12500.

Although it had increased a little, facing such a large base number, it was approximately equal to not having increased at all.

"Let's go, take me for a stroll around the island, and mind our concealment."

"You got it~"

Kaierluosi flapped his wings and took flight, reaching high into the sky in the blink of an eye, and the overall outline of Jiliu Island appeared in Luoning's field of vision.

Jiliu Island is not small; its terrain rises and falls like a hilly region, and most of its area is covered by green trees. Although humans have lived on this island for Along time, the scope of development is still very, very small.

"Let's go over there first."

Luoning pointed to the area with more houses; according to his guess, that should be the territory of the White Flower Society that Wali mentioned.

Kaierluosi's speed was very fast; in just two or three minutes, he arrived above the territory of the White Flower Society.

Luoning saw that a large area of farmland had been reclaimed here, and at this moment, quite a few people were busy working on the fields.

He had Kaierluosi descend a little in altitude, and it was very easy to see clearly what the farmers were working on—digging up Potato.

It was very obvious that the people of the White Flower Society had learned to eat Potato.

"Huh?"

Luoning looked toward the east side in surprise; he had actually seen a second pier on Jiliu Island. (End of chapter)