Warhammer: Black Emperor

Chapter 64 "The Farmer"

Cradle of the Sea, Castello Island, three sidereal days before the arrival of spring.

A bronze-skinned woman in her twenties came over holding four bags.

"Mrs. Marlena, the labels on these four bags of seeds are gone, and our family can't tell them apart."

She placed the seeds on the ground and said anxiously.

Castello Island is located in the center of the cradle of the sea. Every school of fish in the Coral Sea passes through here in different seasons. The islanders have not had the habit of planting since ancient times.

Their family was the first to follow the shaman's call and exchanged the seafood they hunted for seeds in preparation for farming.

Because they didn't know which one was best, their family bought four.

The shaman said that the light and soil on Castello Island are very suitable for growing these fruits, and they are very easy to care for.

They decided to look at the harvest to determine what and how much to plant the following year.

Now that the labels are gone, the family has looked through them for a long time but still cannot tell what the four types of seeds are from the four oval, dark brown seeds.

It is impossible to follow Malena's instructions and plant them in the areas most suitable for their growth.

"Carey, don't worry, let me take a look."

Malena's magnetic words immediately soothed Carrie's anxiety.

The "tillman" untied a bag, glanced at it, and identified it.

But she knew that the islanders had to learn how to distinguish them, so she grabbed a handful of seeds with her fair hands and spoke patiently.

"This is a papaya seed. Besides being larger, its surface is smoother. Do you understand?"

Kairi nodded vigorously and asked curiously.

"What about the others?"

"This is a sweet potato seed. Its surface is much rougher."

After a moment, Kerry picked up four bags of seeds and said worriedly before leaving.

"Lady Marlena, is it true that there is no salt spray in the spring?"

In the spring, the island of Castello experiences occasional tidal surges, and because it is close to the equator, the salt mist formed by the evaporation of water droplets splashed by the waves covers the entire island.

At this time, not only metal equipment and buildings will be corroded, but even weeds and other plants not near the sea will die.

What the Carey family is most worried about is salt spray weather.

"Absolutely not."

The "tillage farmer" said firmly that she knew the first attempt was important, but with her enhanced spirituality, she could predict the weather and she was sure that salt spray would never occur.

After Carrie left, Marlena took out the data pad of the backup star map and continued her research.

------

Castello Island, autumn, four sidereal years later.

Banana trees stand in rows on the beach, their broad leaves swaying in the wind.

Bunches of green bananas hang on the branches, as if they will bend the trunks at any time.

In the pineapple field, golden pineapples are embedded among the emerald green leaves, exuding an enticing sweet fragrance.

In the center of the island, in the reclaimed farmland, rice ears hang low, and the golden grains sparkle with the light of harvest in the sun.

In the cassava field, the thick stalks stand upright.

The islanders, taught by the "cultivators" and skilled in the use of various agricultural tools, are busy with the third harvest of this sidereal year.

For the first time in thousands of years, islanders no longer need to risk their lives by going out to sea to fish during tsunamis or other weather conditions.

Relying on the stored grain from one season's harvest, they don't have to worry about food for the whole year.

Disaster prevention and mitigation facilities are being rapidly constructed under the guidance of technical experts sent by Nimrod.

From the top of the palace, Vieri Barella, the leader of the Trani, who had been forced to serve Nimrod, surveyed the prosperity below.

He had no choice at the time, but in recent years, he has not only witnessed the rapid development of agriculture, but also seen fishermen board advanced fishing boats to fish more safely and efficiently.

Now, other larger islands are also actively requesting to join the development, and ten islands have been fortunately selected in the second batch.

Vieri had long been loyal to Nimrod and had recently completed a year of service. He successfully passed Nimrod's assessment and became a "sailor."

Vieri sighed. At the same time, Nimrod was handling official business in the palace of the new hive city when he received a communication message from Wojciech Belek.

"My Lord, the battlecruiser that the Mechanicus has built for you is complete. Sage Kivio-9, please come and receive it."

Upon hearing this, Nimrod decided to start implementing his new round of expansion plan.

After unifying Vostronia, he has spent the years developing the two worlds he controls.

There were only two habitable planets in the Vostroya system, and he had no new targets for conquest in the system.

In the vast Milky Way, the conditions of each galaxy vary greatly.

Many galaxies do not even have a planet suitable for human habitation, and the cost of transforming these planets is too high, so it is naturally not worth developing.

Of course, Nimrod also knew about some special galaxies, such as the yet-to-be-discovered Coronus Expanse and the Cradle of the Serpent, which had twelve habitable worlds that could be classified as paradise worlds.

The ships he had previously owned were designed for intragalactic navigation and were not designed for subspace navigation.

Nimrod did not expand rashly. On the one hand, he focused on developing Vostronia, and on the other hand, he sent various regiments to take turns boarding ships for void training.

He also used the Cradle of the Sea to produce food and reached an agreement with the Mechanicus on the modification and upgrading of ships.

Only after the construction of the new flagship was completed could he finally start a new round of expansion.

Nimrod sent a message to Yelena and convened a cabinet meeting.

A shift later, after receiving the report and everyone gathered in the palace, he got up and headed for the palace.

After sitting on the throne, Nimrod looked at the people below who were all dressed in black robes and began to give orders quickly.

"I'm about to go on an expedition. During my absence, Yelena will still be in charge of the cabinet and will continue to develop according to the existing system."

"As you command, my king. I wish you a triumphant return."

After Nimrod finished arranging government affairs, he looked at the captains below. They were full of fighting spirit and eager to follow the king they were loyal to on the expedition.

"Howard, you will be in charge of overall defense while I'm gone."

"As you command, my lord."

Howard responded. Although he was happy about Nimrod's trust in him, he still felt a little disappointed that he couldn't go with the team.

"Bukayo, Gul Gul..." Nimrod called out the names of ten regiment leaders in succession, "Follow me to the battle."

The lucky person who was called clenched his fists, while the other team leaders looked disappointed.

Nimrod took ten regiments and sailed to Sopot on ships.

When the ship entered the starport, he had already found his flagship through the viewport of the bridge. Compared with the other ships around it, it was a behemoth.

The overall shape of the ship is long and narrow, with the front end sharp like a spear and the rear end thick and heavy like a mountain.

Its surface is covered with turrets and weapon platforms, the most special of which are the ether cannons on both sides.

The entire ship was like a giant beast ready to pounce on its prey at any time.

Nimrod then met the Mechanicus personnel who came to greet him at the starport, and Kivio-9 bowed slightly.

"King Nimrod, welcome."

"Sage, it's nice to meet you."

After the greetings, Kiviole-9 said.

"Request to fulfill contractual obligations."

"permit."

Nimrod replied, and then the sage's visor lit up.

"Identification procedure started/delivery object verification passed."

The mechanical tentacles of Kivio-9 connected to the interface of the data board in Wojciech's hand, and at the same time, the synthesized sound of the sound array sounded.

"Identify contract/Execute delivery obligations/Please proceed to Dock A-2/Receive transaction subject//Battlecruiser."

(End of this chapter)