Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 287 - 23: The Second Miracle

Gwivelle was inexplicably healthy.

Despite the fact that Roman had fished her out of the mountains when she was as skinny as a little monkey,

she was still robust and showed no signs of aftereffects.

It was as if all the nutrients in her body had been utilized in critical areas.

She herself hardly ever fell ill, like a human embodiment of a virus immune entity, who could probably wander through a plague zone and still not contract any diseases.

If a person was lucky enough to avoid any serious diseases in their lifetime,

their immune system would excellently, rapidly, and appropriately eradicate all pathogens and then update and strengthen itself until their dying day.

Is this scientific?

Very much so!

The essence of crop improvement is selecting superior traits from ordinary rice.

High yield, disease resistance, lodging resistance, adaptability, ideal plant architecture, reduced growth period, appearance, and taste.

These are all choices of genetics, the better the better.

Thus, Roman always had a great liking for Gwivelle, only he knew the kind of potential this little witch held within her.

Whether it was sinking ships, making mistakes, poor academic performance, or being lively and playful, all could be forgiven!

Some witches might not be able to participate in manufacturing.

But there were other witches who, if used well, were like cows that could soar into the sky!

Witches of such extraordinary caliber that even the top biological labs and masters of the modern society could not compare!

"Come, my little princess, let’s go farming."

Roman stood beside the experimental field, took Gwivelle’s small arm, lifted her off the horse’s back with a grace and gentleness as if he were attending to a princess of the royal family.

Gwivelle was amused by his attitude and laughed, "Roman, can I really do all the things you mentioned?"

Roman’s stern expression resembled that of a Seth, "My little princess, do not doubt yourself, any lack of confidence and doubt will diminish the effectiveness of your spells."

"But you’re calling me a princess... It feels so strange." Gwivelle said shyly, her cheeks slightly blushing.

"As long as you use your magical power to let those rice plants showcase their advantages, you will indeed be the true Rice Princess of Origin City!"

’It still feels so strange...’ Gwivelle thought to herself, wondering if there really was such an odd title for a princess. Rice is just rice, couldn’t there be a more pleasant name? Like Roman’s princess? Like Gwivelle Riptide, those names sound much better.

She cast aside those thoughts and turned her gaze toward the paddy field, where the seedlings had recently been transplanted.

This plot had the best soil and was the most level, cultivated with great effort by the farmers.

Roman helped her remove her small boots, placed them at the edge of the ridge, and both of them stepped into the soft, muddy field, the water three to five centimeters deep, surrounded by neatly arranged saplings.

He led her by the hand to the very center of this plot of water field.

Roman released her hand, turned around, took two steps back, and spread his arms wide: "Come now, Gwivelle, my princess, perform your miraculous powers for me."

...

What is a miracle?

Roman had shown them a miracle two years ago.

The agricultural revolution was a miracle.

Increasing food production was the greatest miracle of this era!

And now, he had fulfilled his insignificant mission.

But he couldn’t create another miracle in the short term.

That would require specific factories, cutting-edge equipment, scientific researchers, agricultural biotechnologies, and development in multiple areas.

Now, Gwivelle was about to perform the second miracle for him.

Her crimson eyes were filled with expectant light.

How could she disappoint him?

The witch of destiny clasped her fingers tightly together in front of her chest, like a nun in prayer, standing in the center of the experimental field and unleashing her power.

"Oh rice, oh rice, seeds of the Earth, I bless you with life. May you grow naturally and prosperously, strong and beautiful, overcoming all diseases. You are excellent, all of you are excellent; grow quickly, grow quickly..."

She murmured these words, her complexion visibly paling, and finally with a cry, she collapsed as though completely drained of energy.

Roman’s quick reflexes caught her.

"How could you be so tired, Seth? Is it that exhausting?" he feigned concern.

Gwivelle responded with a weak smile, "It’s not exhausting, but it felt ineffective after just one use, so I blessed it several times."

"Several times?"

Gwivelle curled up in Roman’s embrace, with her feet resting on his left arm, still dripping mud, and whispered, "I cast the spell five times."

The more blessings, the higher the chance of improvement.

She did not understand the essence of improvement, but she was clear about the effects of her spells.

Moreover, blessing a rice paddy truly consumed less energy than blessing other things. fгeewebnovёl.com

What Roman should really do was to gather all the pregnant women and infants and have Gwivelle bless them one by one to ensure their healthy growth and immunity to illness and risks.

But blessing a child also required a great deal of energy.

Compared to something small like rice, humans were considered large organisms.

Even using traditional breeding methods, he could increase the average yield per acre of rice by thirty to fifty percent in four to five years.

As for humans... it was hard to compare.

Did they expect to increase the rate of twins?

Or to endow them with better physical condition, stronger immune systems, smarter brains?

But if they really were to bless, the growth cycle would be far too long.

Just to establish a complete mental world would take about a decade.

That was far less appealing than short-term gains.

Besides, they were just people.

They were everywhere.

If they died, they died, a natural selection.

There was nothing Roman could do about it; it wasn’t his fault, after all.

Increasing food production to support those humans who were not easily eliminated was most important.

He was expecting to take in another twenty to thirty thousand people from the pirates this year.

That was an enormous burden in terms of food.

There had been food storage after the summer harvest, and by the end of winter, Roman could store at least three million catty of food.

Now that the trade route with the pirates had been established, this food stock would only provide temporary relief.

Don’t even think about purchasing millions of catties of food from pirates or elsewhere.

It was simply not possible, the difficulty was too high.

Why did pirates dump so many slaves on Roman?

Because they snatched the farmers’ food and turned them into slaves. If they couldn’t sell them off, they had to kill them. They couldn’t afford to keep them alive!

Compared to societal development, war was purely a loss-making business!

Why could pirates keep fighting?

Because by exterminating the population and wiping out everyone mercilessly, those who survived could take over the dead’s assets, thus making a fortune.

The essence was to reduce the population to increase wealth per capita.

Roman had his assessment—factor of the times, idiotic behavior!

He had already been accelerating the production of all kinds of food.

Large-scale land reclamation, improvement of rice and wheat varieties.

The same went for the pastures, where Gwivelle selectively blessed a few exceptional breeds of roosters, rams, boars, stallions, and bulls.

The importance of breeding was self-evident.

A good genetic sire could improve the offspring’s size, adaptability, disease resistance, meat quality, and meat yield.

In the past, ten pounds of pasture could only exchange for one pound of pork, and an acre of pasture might only yield one pig in the end.

After genetic improvement, eight or even seven pounds of pasture could exchange for a pound of pork.

It might not seem like a huge increase, but given the base numbers, a ten-percent improvement was not insignificant.