Chapter 370: The Assistant of Territory Eight

The patrol convoy finally delivered the seeds, and the lords began discussing sowing and fertilizing on the channel.

Qi Fu spoke first. "Finally made it in time. Another day and the plots I've been watering would've dried out. Wheat and rapeseed both need about four hours of soaking. I've already started soaking them—I'll sow them in the evening."

Kuang Qingwei asked, "Does anyone want the crab-shell fertilizer from Guisan Base? This is the last batch—there won't be any more. The earthworm greenhouse in Territory Forty-Nine was wrecked by the refugees. Next spring, earthworm castings are probably going to get even pricier. Everyone should stock up on as much fertilizer as they can right now."

Guisan Base had been destroyed, so its specialty crab-shell fertilizer was naturally out of stock.

Shi Zhong asked, "Brother Kuang, how many points per jin for the crab-shell fertilizer?"

Kuang Qingwei sighed, "Eight points per jin. It's gone up."

"Eight points? Fertilizer's really getting unaffordable." Zhao's mother replied.

The points in their hands had to be spent on walls, seeds, and greenhouses—they had no spare money to buy fertilizer for next spring's planting.

After everyone had grumbled for a while, Kuang Qingwei gathered his courage and asked, "Territory Eight, Xin Yu, you there? Is your fungal powder factory almost done?"

With finished fertilizer so expensive, the lords had to compost as much as they could to keep their farming costs down.

Xin Yu was rarely online. Just as everyone thought they wouldn't get a reply, an unfamiliar voice spoke up.

"Hello, lords. I'm Zhou Zhaoping, assistant to Territory Eight. Our territory's first batch of fungal powder will go on sale November 15th, priced at fourteen points per jin. Any lords who need it can place your orders now—the first ten to order will enjoy a twenty percent discount."

What?!!!

Everyone was stunned, and without thinking, they all missed Tang Huai.

Because if Tang Huai were online, after hearing Zhou Zhaoping's words, he would certainly have cursed up a storm, perfectly expressing what every lord was feeling right now.

Damn!

Didn't Territory Eight just haul in building materials and recruit workers a few days ago? From building the factory to production to selling the product—in only half a month?!

Did they recruit refugees, or high-level speed evolvers?!

Reseller Kuang Qingwei rushed to grab a discount slot. "Hello, Uncle Zhou. I'm Kuang Qingwei from Territory Six. I'll order 300 jin of fungal powder."

Although he hadn't seen the finished product yet, the fungal powder cultivation technique used by Territory Eight had been given by Zhang San, so the quality was absolutely guaranteed. So even though Territory Eight's fungal powder was pricier than what the Safe Zone and Territory Nine sold, Kuang Qingwei placed his order without hesitation.

"Understood." Assistant Zhou of Territory Eight spoke at an unhurried, even pace—very similar to Tang Zhengpo, and very pleasant to listen to. "Once the fungal powder comes offline, I'll send it over to you right away along with the instruction manual."

Tang Zhengpo, who hadn't been online for a long time, also spoke up. Xia Qing noticed his voice sounded a little weak. "Assistant Zhou, this is Tang Zhengpo from Territory Twelve. I'll order 600 jin of fungal powder."

Everyone…

Wow!

Zhou Zhaoping replied, "Understood. Once Chairman Tang finishes his sowing, I'll come pay my respects."

Luo Pei also came online. "Hello, Uncle Zhou. I'm Luo Pei from Territory One. Territory One orders 1,500 jin of fungal powder, and the Battle Alliance orders 3,000 jin."

Zhou Zhaoping responded respectfully, "Understood. Once Captain Luo is free, I'll come by in person to thank you for saving my life."

Luo Pei replied warmly, "You're too kind, Uncle Zhou. I led the team to reinforce Hui Er Base because I was paid points for it."

After the other lords had placed their orders, Tang Huai—who'd been so busy lately he hadn't had time to get online—also spoke up. "Uncle Zhou, I'm Tang Huai, proxy for Territory Two. Territory Two orders 500 jin."

Territory Two ordering 500 jin of fungal powder was even more surprising than Territory One ordering 1,500 jin. Was Tang Huai planning to farm with the refugees?

After Territory Eight's assistant confirmed receipt, Li Si asked coldly, "Territory Nine, Li Si. You're producing compound fermentation fungal powder, selling at 14 points per jin—lower than cost. Can fungal powder like that guarantee quality?"

Zhou Zhaoping replied politely, "The organic fertilizer fermentation fungal powder we produce can ferment at least one ton per jin of vegetable leaves, kitchen waste, manure, crop straw, leaves, wheat bran, or corn husks. No activation needed—fast fermentation. Our product has passed inspection at the Red One Product Quality Testing Center. As long as you follow the instruction manual, the kill rate for the three categories of harmful substances can reach over 96%. Please rest assured, lords."

They'd passed inspection at Hui Er Base's Product Quality Testing Center—what could Li Si possibly say to that?

"Territory Nine, 4 jin."

The moment everyone heard that amount, they understood—Li Si was planning to study Zhang San's fungal powder quality, and had wasted a twenty-percent-off slot for nothing.

After Li Si placed his order, only Territories Three and Seven in this area hadn't ordered yet.

Zhang San didn't need to buy fungal powder at all. As for why Xia Qing wasn't ordering, the lord alliance's allies all knew perfectly well.

Qi Fu asked proactively, "Xia Qing, aren't you composting? Buy a few more jin of fungal powder and ferment the leaves into fertilizer—you can use it next spring."

An ally had handed her a ladder. Xia Qing went along with it and explained, "I am composting, but I don't have any points right now. Once I've finished planting the wheat and rapeseed, I'll head into the Evolution Forest to try my luck. If I can hunt something or gather edible plants and trade them for points, I'll order from Uncle Zhou right away. I hope I can still squeeze into the top ten."

The top ten was definitely out of reach. Although they weren't on the same walkie-talkie chat channel, the lords in this area—even all of Hui San Base—knew Territory Eight was going to produce fungal powder using Zhang San's patented technology. Once the news came out that pre-orders were available, orders would surely flood in.

In a disaster year of scarce supplies, anything you produced would sell easily as long as the price was reasonable.

There were only two problems here: first, could you get the raw materials and the technology; second, did you have the ability to protect the factory through the chaos of a disaster year and successfully deliver the goods to the buyer.

Clearly, Territory Eight had both. As long as costs were controlled, this business wouldn't lose money.

Once the lord channel discussion ended, Xia Qing arranged a sowing time with Qi Fu. As she was harnessing the lead sheep to the sheep-drawn plow to head out and till the fields, she received a call from Luo Pei.

Luo Pei's tone was warm. "Xia Qing, if it's not convenient for you to buy composting fungal powder, I can order extra from Territory Eight. How much do you want?"

Xia Qing explained, "Thanks for thinking of me, Brother Luo. I traded with Third Brother for 30 jin of composting fungal powder a while back—more than enough for this year."

Seeing that Xia Qing already had fungal powder, Luo Pei asked, "Good. When are you sowing? If you're free before the 10th, come to Mountain Forty-Nine. I'll teach you the essentials of shooting at moving targets."

She could finally learn real skills from the sharpshooter teacher again. Xia Qing was delighted. "I'll till today, sow tomorrow. Any day between the day after tomorrow and the 10th works."

After setting the time, Xia Qing hummed a little tune and headed off to till the fields with her companions.

To get the lead sheep to work, the ritual had to be done right. Xia Qing first hung up some Chinese toon leaves for it, praised it thoroughly, stuffed it with compressed rations, and only then officially got started.

After exchanging farming experience in depth with her allies, Xia Qing realized that in her two seasons of planting, she'd missed one step: leveling the ground.