Chapter 96

Whoa!

Hearing the observer's addition, the knights and guards on deck burst into uproar.

Whether the volcanic island or the Black Gold Sheep Island, their areas were actually quite large.

But the observer had not added such a note before.

"My lord, it seems this island is truly enormous—never before has the observer added such a note!"

Gervas knew full well, yet nodded with a cheerful expression, "Indeed, it seems we've discovered a large island!"

More than ten minutes later, the island came into view.

Because this island was roughly one-quarter the area of Storm Domain, from afar it looked like another coastline, with neither side visible to the horizon.

The area of Storm Domain was about the same as a large township from my previous life.

One-quarter of a large township was already a very considerable area, equivalent to several villages.

The Stormwind continued cutting through wind and waves, sailing for another twenty minutes before reaching the island's edge.

Amid the impatient anticipation of Mi Gen and others, the raft was lowered into the sea; half the crew remained aboard the ship, while the other half went ashore.

"My goodness, it's truly huge! I never imagined there could be such a large island at sea—along the way, we've already seen at least three streams; this island could support a small town!"

More than twenty minutes after landing, Mi Gen couldn't help but exclaim in wonder.

The main reason was the island's lush vegetation and vast expanse; more importantly, within such a short distance, three streams had already appeared.

This sufficiently indicated the island's abundant freshwater resources.

"But my lord, what valuable thing does this island hold? I wonder if Zhuiyue told you?"

At this moment, Mi Gen remembered the most important matter.

In the past, the islands my lord discovered always yielded valuable finds.

Yet on this large island, after so long since landing, they had encountered nothing valuable.

"I already said—it's this!"

At this moment, Gervas finally saw what he had come for: sugarcane.

After crossing over so long, Gervas had indeed never seen sugarcane in this other world.

So perhaps the sugarcane on this island… well, calling it the only one in the world would be an exaggeration, since the sugarcane here couldn't have appeared out of nowhere.

But calling it the only one in Glory Continent still held some possibility.

"This thing? It looks like bamboo, but not as tall or as hard—skinny and scrawny. My lord, is this little bamboo stick really something valuable?"

Mi Gen stepped forward two paces, squinting closely at the sugarcane Gervas pointed to.

Finally, seeing the abundance of sugarcane around him, Mi Gen even snapped off one stalk.

The result: it broke at the slightest pressure, utterly unremarkable.

The other knights were also intensely curious.

After all, the Nightlight Pearls and Tidal Spirit Springs they'd found before—weren't those real treasures?

Could this little bamboo stick possibly compare to them?

"This isn't called a little bamboo stick—it's called sugarcane. Put it in your mouth and try!"

"Put it in my mouth?"

Looking at its pitch-black skin, even Mi Gen felt a touch of disgust.

"Darl, you try it!"

Mi Gen suddenly spotted the knight Darl beside him and without hesitation shoved the sugarcane into his arms.

By the time Darl realized what had happened, the others had already retreated far away.

Darl wanted to cry—he couldn't possibly give it to his own lord, could he?

"Peel off the skin—it won't look dirty anymore!"

Fortunately, Gervas offered a suggestion, giving Darl a reprieve.

Using a dagger to peel away the sugarcane skin, the interior revealed no black spots.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone—including Gervas—Darl reluctantly shoved the sugarcane into his mouth and bit down…

Mmm!

Darl's body shuddered, then froze in place.

"Is Darl poisoned?"

Mi Gen jumped in alarm, but seeing his lord remained calm, he finally relaxed.

At that moment, Darl came to his senses, his eyes suddenly blazing with brilliance.

He stared at the sugarcane in his hand as if it were a treasure.

Then, before everyone's stunned gaze, he began relentlessly gnawing at the sugarcane.

His ravenous devouring finally made the others realize something was amiss.

"Darl, is this sugarcane delicious? What does it taste like?" Mi Gen hurriedly asked.

Darl glanced at Mi Gen, smiled faintly, then resumed gnawing.

This was a race against time.

"Darl, let me taste a bit?" Mi Gen rushed forward, eyes brimming with curiosity for the sugarcane.

"No!" Darl turned his back instantly, avoiding any attempt to snatch it.

"You—how stingy can you be? I just gave it to you—let me taste just a little!"

The more Darl refused, the more curious Mi Gen became.

Darl's expression made it seem as if this were even better than roasted meat.

Finally, after devouring most of the sugarcane, Darl stopped.

He divided the remaining half into pieces a few centimeters long and distributed them to Lei Meng and the others.

"Good heavens, this scent, it's so sweet!"

"Yes, no wonder that fellow Dar ate so heartily; it's truly sweet, so sweet!"

"It's far sweeter than apples and tomatoes! An apple costs three copper coins! Then wouldn't this single stalk of sugarcane be worth a silver coin?!"

After the knights tasted the sweetness of the sugarcane, they immediately cried out in astonishment.

Even Knight Commander Lei Meng looked at these sugarcane stalks with a surprised expression. "My lord, this sweetness is nearly comparable to honey!"

Gervas nodded with a smile; the sugar content in sugarcane is among the highest of all fruits, which is why it can become one of the primary raw materials for sugar production.

"My lord, this sugarcane is truly a fine thing; I was simply too ignorant just now!" Knight Mi Gen regretted it bitterly; such a good thing had all gone to Dar's benefit.

Now, he himself had only tasted a single mouthful.

Gervas naturally knew what that fellow Knight Mi Gen was thinking.

"Very well, chop up ten stalks and take them back; later, each of you will get half a stalk. The remaining sugarcane must be temporarily protected to preserve the seeds!"

Looking out, sugarcane stalks were visible everywhere ahead.

Although not artificially planted and the density was not high, on such a large island, there must be tens of thousands of jin.

Therefore, chopping off a few stalks to taste posed no great problem.

Indeed, the portion Gervas mentioned for seed preservation would occupy only a small fraction.

He did not immediately tell his subordinates the true major purpose.

That was sugar production.

The importance of sugar need not be elaborated; even in the modern society of his past life, it belonged to strategic materials.

Let alone in this backward world where nobles still relied on honey for sugar.

Therefore, the fewer people who knew this secret, the better.

"Old Jack, remember this location; from now on, this place shall be called Sugarcane Island!"

"Yes, my lord!"

Immediately, the Storm Ship set sail once more, heading directly north, and left the coastline of the Storm Domain.

Viscount Kenneth's Domain, in the strict sense, could also be considered Gervas's half-neighbor.

Although Barony Dar lay between the two, the borders of Barony Dar did not extend to the seashore.

In the area more than twenty li from the coast, there was a protruding small mountain range; on the north side of the mountain range lay Barony Kenneth, and on the south side lay the Storm Domain.

Thus, the sea vessel had sailed for less than an hour before reaching the southernmost tip of the coastline of Viscount Kenneth's Domain.