Chapter14- Living Plants

Upon hearing the NPC's words, a bad premonition immediately arose in Ethan's heart.

Following the NPC to the plantation, the plot of land where the Mutant Seeds had been planted was now filled with chilling screams.

Hearing these screams, Ethan furrowed his brows.

Approaching the site, he saw that the plantation was in utter disarray, not a single spot was left intact.

Huge chunks of soil had been turned over, and the Earth Dragon Laborer was covered in crisscrossing wounds.

The culprits were actually these plants!

The effect of the Mutant Seed was not exaggerated; it could turn all planted crops into living beings.

At this point, the tomatoes were jumping off their stems, fighting amongst each other.

The victorious ones would hold up the losers over their heads, savoring the taste of "blood" from their victory.

The pumpkins were waving their vines around, displaying their power like cowboys of the west.

Even the potatoes buried in the ground were leaping up, contesting who had a harder head...

Ethan looked helplessly at this scene, which was akin to a pandemonium.

Not to mention doubling the food, even the original food production was gone.

Facing such a scene, he had no good solutions, and could only let the NPCs and Earth Dragon Laborers temporarily work in another plantation.

After settling everything, Ethan found the plants a major headache, but there was nothing he could do for now.

He returned to his throne, and as he was pondering over the problem of the Mutant Seed, a system message popped up...

Ethan clicked on it curiously.

What appeared was the updated summoning page, which now offered the possibility of summoning new types of soldiers.

The system didn't specify any conditions to unlock these types, making Ethan wonder if he needed to have all current soldier types before unlocking the next phase of summoning.

He planned to pay attention during his next summoning to see what conditions need to be met to summon new soldier types.

There were three new types in total:

[Divine Dragon Spearman], a D+ grade monster. Summoning cost is 40 food, 30 wood, 50 iron. Description: As a melee soldier, they wield a two-meter-long spear. Despite being a close-range unit, the damage they can inflict spans a three-meter circular area around them. However, their armor is weak and requires protection.

[Divine Dragon Ram], a D-grade monster. Summoning cost is 60 food, 100 wood, 100 iron. Description: As a siege weapon, the Divine Dragon tank is undoubtedly the best choice. The low cost can open city gates. It requires three Divine Dragon soldiers to operate and cannot defend itself.

[Divine Dragon Healer], an F+ grade monster. Summoning cost is 20 food, 30 wood. Description: A rare healing soldier type among the Divine Dragon race, capable of healing teammates' injuries.

Looking at these new soldier types, Ethan thought the healer might be worth considering, which would be of great help in a war of attrition.

As for the other two, he didn't currently have a need for the Divine Dragon Ram, and while the Spearman seemed good, it was too expensive in the early stage.

Ethan had a lot of gold, but he couldn't afford the iron resources.

The daily consumption of iron had already reached 10 units.

He had only explored one unknown map so far, and the rest were still in the shadows.

The output of resources was also unpredictable.

He considered himself lucky to have acquired three iron mines and one gold mine this time.

You should know that every day in the chat channel, people are begging and pleading for someone to help them get through their difficulties.

The likes of Ethan, who repelled the first wave of attack and subjugated the NPC Dark Lord, are few and far between.

You could say that Ethan is the only one who has done it, a godsend in the game's beginning!

Not to mention, he now has a hidden quest: to become the puppet master of the Sunset Empire.

Ethan has obtained some intel.

From the information provided by these NPCs, he found out that the Elders in the Riverside lord's mansion are B-level power!

And such Elders, there are four of them in the mansion!

This information is the highest level of intelligence that ordinary NPCs can access.

If the Elders are just the tip of the iceberg in the mansion, it means there are even more powerful figures hidden beneath the iceberg.

And the most terrifying thing is that Riverside is just an inconspicuous small city on the border of the Sunset Empire.

From this, one can imagine how strong the Sunset Empire really is!

Ethan temporarily stopped thinking about this hidden quest.

To him, it is too difficult for now.

The immediate problem is the food issue.

The daily food consumption in his camp has now reached 154, relying solely on the food obtained from exploration is too unstable.

If he buys food, it can support him for a while.

But money always runs out.

What would he do then?

Ethan thought for a while and decided to ask for help from other Dark Lords to solve the Mutant Seed problem.

He opened the Dark Lord's chat channel interface.

[Ding! Detected host's Bloodline as Golden Divine Dragon. It's a super rare Bloodline among millions. Does the host want to hide his identity?]

Ethan was immediately delighted.

As the saying goes, a tree standing out from the forest will be destroyed by the wind.

A Bloodline like Golden Divine Dragon is one in a million.

Although both parties need each other in the trading process, Ethan's powerful Bloodline is definitely a strong competitor in future developments.

No one wants to help their enemies, and his own strong potential would alert other Dark Lords.

If Ethan goes to trade, it's very likely that many Dark Lords would prefer to suffer a loss and trade elsewhere rather than trade with him.

Now with the ability to hide his identity, Ethan no longer has to worry.

He started asking in the global chat.

[Unknown Dark Lord (Ethan): Guys, I have a Mutant Seed, but the plants grown from it are too ferocious to harvest food from. What should I do? I offer a reward of five gold coins for the answer. Looking for generous souls to enlighten me.]

As soon as Ethan's words were out, the previously desolate chat channel became heated.

Although everyone didn't know who this unknown Dark Lord was, the Mutant Seed had caught the Dark Lords' attention.

[Blood Phoenix Dark Lord: Young friend, since you can't handle it, it's a waste to keep it. How about selling this Mutant Seed to me? I'll buy it at a high price, how about 50 gold coins? Besides, I know you're short on food, tell me your location privately, I'll provide you with 50 food for free.]

[Undead Knight Dark Lord: I really don't know about this. I don't need food though. But the Mutant Seed is quite expensive.]

[Mermaid Dark Lord: Unknown Dark Lord? Why are you hiding your identity, are you a weak Monster? Do you need a lot of food? Do you eat fish? I have a lot of fish here, I can sell it to you at a low price, as long as you buy in bulk.]

[Harpies Dark Lord: This Mutant Seed is quite expensive, as I remember. There seem to be people in Riverside who want it. I explored that city before, but I was discovered by the mansion's guards in a short time.]

Ethan looked at these discussions, which were all familiar Dark Lords.

However, the words of the Harpies Dark Lord did provide some information.

He has the right to enter and exit Riverside.

If he has time, he can go and take a look.

Suddenly, a private message came in. Ethan moved his thoughts slightly, and the system brought up the interface.

[Ghost Vine Dark Lord: Unknown Dark Lord, I know how to solve the Mutant Seed problem. How would you pay the 5 gold coins you promised?]

[Unknown Dark Lord: You list 1 food item on the Trading Market, priced at 5 gold coins. I'll buy it.]

[Ghost Vine Dark Lord: Okay. The specific solution to the Mutant Seed problem is to make a scarecrow with real strength to suppress the activity of the plants.]

Ethan frowned.

Would this really work?

[Ghost Vine Dark Lord: I have a scarecrow right now. How to make it is related to my skill information, so it's not convenient to reveal. But I can assure you it's absolutely useful. If you don't believe me, you can also sell me the Mutant Seed. I will buy it for 200 gold coins!]

After hesitating for a moment, Ethan replied:

[Unknown Dark Lord: In that case, change the food item to a scarecrow, list it on the Trading Market, and I'll buy it.]

It wasn't long before Ethan received a sales message on the system.

Ethan didn't bother with small talk and bought the scarecrow directly.

[Ghost Vine Dark Lord: Just stick the scarecrow above the Mutant Seed, it will work 100%.]

Ethan took out a tattered scarecrow from his backpack and was about to ask Ghost Vine Dark Lord some questions.

But when he opened the system, Ghost Vine Dark Lord's avatar showed as offline. Ethan had no choice but to give up, feeling a bit like he had been scammed...

With a strange look on his face, Ethan walked towards the active plants.

At this point, the plants were either dead or injured, and there were hardly any intact plants left.

As soon as Ethan entered the plant garden, he was met with the angry stares of all the plants.

At this point, he had to resort to desperate measures!