Chapter 503 Tarantan Metaphysics
In the Saint Turis territory of the Principality of Shiga, about thirty kilometers away from Delburg, there is a farm belonging to the Lowell family.
Ms. Karina, a black magician who sold herself as a mercenary and accepted punishment to serve Brother Lowell after being defeated, set out from Delburg on horseback after lunch. After running on the compacted dirt road for more than half an hour, with a thin layer of dust covering her cloak, she arrived at the farm.
"Sorry, I'm late. Where is Mr. Ji Tang?"
Ms. Karina jumped off her horse and threw the reins to the butler who was waiting at the intersection. She strode into the farm while asking questions.
"Over at 'Experimental Field No. 3'." the deacon replied.
Ms. Carrera walked around the wooden houses scattered on the farm with ease and entered the experimental field area... Then the female black magician took a deep breath.
The experimental fields, which were sparsely populated when I came last time, are now full of various crops.
That would have been fine, as she already knew that these top-notch fertile lands would be used by the Undead Sages for "breeding"...but what made Ms. Carrera feel outrageous was that with her experience and knowledge, she could only barely recognize the varieties of a small half of the crops, and she could not recognize the others at all.
After passing two large lush experimental fields divided into small squares and planted with unnamed crops, Ms. Carrera found her target - Ji Tang, who was wearing half-body armor (with parts that the undead could not wear), and two undead wise men wearing strange shorts (T-shirts and shorts).
Ms. Karina took out the azalea badge and pinned it on her chest, then strode towards the three undeads: "Mr. Ji Tang!"
"Please wait a moment." Ji Tang, who was holding a notebook and taking notes, took the time to turn back and nodded apologetically, then turned back and listened attentively to the two agricultural experts explaining the requirements.
As Ms. Karina approached, she heard one of the undead wise men chattering about incomprehensible words such as hybridization, self-pollination, haploid, mutation, etc.
Ms. Karina stopped two meters away from the three people with a look of awe on her face. Although she was confused, she tried hard to remember what the two undead wise men said.
Carrera, who would sell herself as a mercenary, certainly did not come from a good family... Before she was lucky enough to be picked up by a traveling spellcaster and became a magic apprentice, Carrera was just a farm girl who grew up in the countryside.
It was precisely because of her background that she knew what the existence of these undead wise men meant - although the various crop varieties cultivated in this experimental field could not be seen for the time being, the "No. 6 cucumber" brought by the undead wise men from the Rhine Kingdom, which only had a growing period of 90 days, could be planted three times a year in the climate of the Principality of Ishga, and the yield per mu each time was said to reach more than three tons, was enough to astound Karina.
The only dissatisfaction is probably the way the undead are named... Ms. Karina really doesn't understand why they are always unwilling to give these crops a more formal name.
Karina stood by for a while. After the two agricultural experts finished explaining what they needed to say, they waved their hands and told Ji Tang to leave so as not to disturb their research.
Ji Tang put away his notebook and walked over. He greeted Karina and strode out: "Sorry to have kept you waiting. What's the matter that brought you here so urgently?"
Karina quickly followed: "Mr. Ji Tang, someone in the capital of Shiga seems to be trying to harm you. According to the news sent back by Enwei, it seems that someone has contacted the 'Underworld' organization——"
The feudal forces of the Shiga Kingdom seemed to have acquiesced to Saint Turis's "going it alone", but the lich Envi, who had lived in the shadows all his life, didn't think that the gang would give up willingly, and volunteered to go to the royal capital to infiltrate the enemy and gather intelligence. This guy who was good at hiding his tracks and secretly tampering with other people's cognition was quite suitable for this kind of spy work.
"Mingyu? Organization?" Ji Tang didn't understand.
"'Hell of the Netherworld' is the leading assassin organization in the underground world of the Navalon continent." Ms. Karina explained in a heavy tone, "There are many unknown strong men who do not exist in public channels or have been proven to no longer exist. They are used by 'Hell of the Netherworld'. The assassinations of that organization can even threaten the high-ranking priests of the Orthodox Sect."
"Fuck, there are still assassins from this organization?" Ji Tang's body trembled.
Having only played with the national team and done grassroots work full of life for such a long time, Ji Tang almost forgot that this other world has all kinds of characters and background settings that sound quite second-rate and seem to exist only in ACG...
"Wait a minute, since this happened, the ones in danger should be Enwei, you and Lowell, right?" After reorganizing his thoughts, Ji Tang reacted.
Ms. Karina raised her hand and pointed at Ji Tang's head.
To be precise...it was pointing to the part inside Ji Tang's skull where the branding rune was engraved.
"Even though I have little practice, I can still discover your secrets after spending some time with you and your compatriots... Mr. Ji Tang, you rely on the special matrix runes carried by this ancient skeleton to move freely in the material plane, right?"
Ji Tang's body trembled...
The national team didn't make any progress in their research on the login helmet, but after getting access to runeology, they did more or less figure out the essence of the "login" phenomenon - this is actually not that difficult . Just learn a little about runeology and understand how outrageous the function of this "magic chip" is. Take the skull of any player who has been forced offline and observe the inside, then use some imagination... you will have an idea.
"For those who cannot break the protection formed by your special matrix and completely destroy your undead body before you are transferred to another place by the power from Yang, you are indeed immortal." Ms. Karina said solemnly, "But if... someone can instantly turn the ancient skeleton carrying your consciousness into ashes, or someone who can use some means to isolate you from the connection with Yang's matrix... then you can be killed."
Perhaps worried that Ji Tang would not understand her expression, Ms. Karina added with a stronger tone: "The Underworld, which can only be hired with a sky-high commission, has a mission completion rate close to 100%... For the powerful people I mentioned, no one can tell how many they have."
Ji Tang's expression also became serious: "Is that so..."
They won’t die even if their skeleton bodies are destroyed. Professor Yin Zhengliang, who lost his “game character” after being “online” for only half a day, is still fine... But this does not mean that the national team is willing to consume “game characters” at will. Who knows whether Lord Yang will cover the situation?
"We think this matter should be handled with caution. From now on, I will temporarily protect your safety." Ms. Karina continued, "Enwei should be able to come back tomorrow, and then he will be responsible for the safety of the other undead wise men."
Ji Tang didn't rush to express his opinion. It was such a big matter...his word wouldn't count.
"Well... Well, I'll be away for a while. Please take me back to Delburg first."
As Ji Tang spoke, he went into the warehouse next to the experimental field and took out an empty bag of fertilizer.
Then...he stood in the fertilizer bag in front of Ms. Karina and was forced to leave the line on the spot.
Ms. Karina: “…”
When Ji Tang came online half an hour later ( Earth time), his "game character" had been transferred to the Lord's Mansion in Delburg by Ms. Karina.
"I told the others about it, and also informed Sister Zhao." Ji Tang crawled out of the fertilizer bag and said as he put on his clothes, "Ms. Karina, Brother Lowell, our safety is not important. What's important is you guys. You can't have the chance to 'resurrect' like us."
Even if the "game character" is really destroyed into ashes, the worst that can happen is that a new login helmet will be consumed - with so many people in the national team brushing up their "working hours", it is not a big deal to exchange for a few more "game accounts".
Karina and Rowell, who were waiting next to the fertilizer bag, looked at each other, smiled bitterly and shook their heads.
Given Ji Tang's excellent character, Lowell and Karina had actually foreseen his reaction... and the same was true for the other undead wise men.
"Speaking of this 'Underworld' organization, what is the specific situation? Is there any way to deal with it?" After Ji Tang finished dressing, he strode over to the two spellcasters and sat down.
Brother Lowell looked at Karina. As a stay-at-home monk who seldom traveled , he didn't know much about this underground organization active in other parts of the continent.
"I don't know a lot, I just know that this organization is very difficult to deal with—" Ms. Karina had just opened her mouth when Anthony, who usually squatted beside Lowell as a "human messenger," pushed the door and walked in.
"I don't mean to bother you. Yang asked me to come in and pass on a message." Anthony apologized verbally without sincerity, and then started to talk about business. "Yang said that there is no need to worry about the 'Infernal Prison' organization... Although those assassins are indeed very strong and have the ability to slightly affect the transition of power in the small country, they are actually a group of middle school students with a righteousness game. They are not a threat to us. This is Yang's original words."
Karina & Rowell: “???”
Ji Tang's mouth twitched: "Chuunibyou?"
Anthony tilted his head slightly, his eyes cast into the air...obviously he was listening to Yang Qiu's "message".
"Well... Yang said that the Underworld demands sky-high commissions because they are too lazy to accept assassination commissions that are not challenging. If it is a commission that they are interested in, they will be willing to accept it even if the employer can only afford one gold coin." Anthony repeated with a strange look on his face, "In contrast, they will have very high requirements for the clients that do not meet the standards of businessmen; if they find that they have been deceived after accepting the commission, they will kill the employer."
"Among the requirements that the Underworld has for its employers, the most important one is... that they can only issue commissions for revenge, and not for 'selfish gain' - if there is no blood feud that can convince them, and the assassins are only using them for profit, they will think that this is the employer's contempt for the Underworld, and will take just actions to maintain the 'honor of the assassins', including eliminating the employer."
Ji Tang tilted his head slightly, Brother Lowell had a blank expression, and Ms. Karina had a stiff expression.
Obviously... Yang would not deliberately instruct Anthony to pass on false information that would lead Brother Lowell to misjudge. Since he has already reached a conclusion, it must be credible.
"I think... I don't have any hatred with anyone in the capital that could be described as a blood feud." Brother Lowell said calmly after slowing down.
He said this with great confidence and conviction - he did not get along with many people in the capital and even in the prosperous holy land, but that was all; in the first three hundred years of his life, he was always the one who took the initiative to step back when a dispute arose.
"It seems that the amazing mission completion rate of 'Underworld' has made people ignore the cost of hiring them..." Ms. Karina said with a twitch in her mouth.
"Anthony, ask Yang for me, how come he knows so much about the 'Underworld'?" Lowell asked curiously.
After a while, Anthony relayed the story with a visibly annoyed expression: "Well... I once spent some time in this organization to earn money for my travels... But after I was maliciously slandered as a butcher, those chuunibyou thought that I didn't fit their philosophy - Yang said so, uh... monk, followed by a long list of unpleasant remarks that are not suitable to be repeated in front of a lady..."
Ji Tang: “…”
Rowell: "...I understand. No need to continue."
"Hehe... should I say, you're worthy of being Yang..." Ms. Karina's mouth twitched even more violently.
"Since everything is fine, I'll get busy then." Ji Tang, who felt the same physiological pain unique to men as Anthony, prepared to get up with an expressionless face.
"Oh, right, Ji Tang." Rowell thought of the business. "I remember that when I was in Westram, the undead agriculturalists didn't seem to be able to cultivate new varieties of crops as easily as they are now? Have you discovered any more useful technology?"
Ji Tang's skull face, which should have no expression, revealed a complex emotion that made the two spellcasters present feel puzzled and bewildered: "How should I put it... It's hard to say whether it is a technological innovation or some kind of metaphysics... Monk, you know, when we were breeding cucumber No. 3 and No. 4 before, the process was very difficult. Later, our experts used two wild cucurbitaceae plants found in the Tarantan Desert as the female parent, and hybridized them with the male parent No. 4 cucumber, and successively bred No. 5 with high cold resistance, and No. 6 with strong disease resistance..."
Lowell: “Uh—”
"In addition to cucumbers...our experts also tried again, crossbreeding a wild nightshade plant found in the Tarantan wilderness with potatoes and sweet potatoes, and obtained the No. 4 potato, which has a starch content nearly 20% higher than native potatoes, and the No. 2 sweet potato, which is more drought-resistant."
Rowell: “This…”
Ms. Karina gradually understood what was said, and her mouth opened wide in an uncontrollable manner.
"As for the batch of Talantan wild lotus roots transplanted to Adler Territory, they only cross-pollinated with local lotus roots, and the yield increased by 15%." Ji Tang let out a long breath and spread his hands, "To be honest, monk, our experts are completely unable to explain this phenomenon. We can only understand that the 'Talantan metaphysics' speculated by Sister Zhao may really exist."
