Once upon a time there was a greedy snake.

Chapter 29 An Unprecedented Abundance

It was a disaster.

The young Ignis, who lived in seclusion on the holy mountain, walked aimlessly through the mountains.

Previously, he had lamented that after going into seclusion, he seemed to have nothing to do. Apart from eating some berries to keep himself from getting hungry, he could only sit on the rocks and watch the sunrise and sunset, quietly waiting for life to pass by. But now, he had no mind to think about these things at all, because just finding berries was enough to take up his whole day.

If he were the only one living in the Holy Mountain, it would actually be fine. Although there is no more prey in the Holy Mountain, it still has abundant resources. He could not starve to death by eating berries and finding honey.

But now, after a large number of Ignis people poured into the Holy Mountain, in just three to five days, there was nothing left to eat around where he had gone into seclusion.

Berries, while they can provide some temporary relief from hunger, are not very filling – which means that starving people have no choice but to stuff more berries into their mouths if they want to fill their stomachs.

The nearby berries have all been eaten, and everything edible has been consumed. To find more food, we must venture deep into the mountains.

Just like him right now.

Deep in the mountains lies the place of the Snake God. Although the Snake God did not explicitly say that he could not come, he had hinted that it was best not to come.

But right now, he really has no other choice.

When hunger began to torment his stomach, thinking became a luxury. At this moment, he was controlled by his survival instinct; he only wanted to fill his stomach and survive.

Just as he was about to faint from hunger, he suddenly smelled a strange odor.

He found it hard to describe the smell. It had the sweet scent of berries, but it was inexplicably mixed with a strange stench—especially after smelling that stench, he even instinctively wanted to escape.

However, the survival instinct brought about by extreme hunger still controlled him, leading him step by step towards the source of the smell, and step by step into the hidden depths of the mountains.

Then he understood.

Why has the serpent god always been reluctant to let him venture deep into the sacred mountain?

In his line of sight, a mountain of excrement appeared.

It wasn't an exaggerated description, but a literal description of a mountain of excrement, a massive pile of feces so large that he had to look up to see the top.

"This……"

The overwhelming stench even brought the young Ignis, whose mind was controlled by hunger, to a more awake state. The strong smell was so nauseating that it actually lessened his hunger considerably.

Clearly, deep within the sacred mountain lies the place where the serpent god defecates.

That's definitely not a place for outsiders to come to.

Realizing something was wrong, he immediately tried to leave, since this place was far too secluded for the Serpent God—moreover, the stench was far too strong, permeating the entire mountainside. If he stayed here any longer, he even felt he might be suffocated on the spot.

But just as this young Ignis was about to turn and leave...

But he found berries.

Although he usually eats quite a few berries, this is the first time he has ever seen such a vigorous growth of rock berries—they can no longer be measured in "clumps," as the rock berries grow like giant trees.

It's not just rock berries; wild berries, bloodthorn berries, saber-toothed plums, giant sun plums, lichen apples... everywhere you look, there's a dazzling array of edible fruits. In fact, due to the abundance of fruit, many have even rotted on the branches.

"No wonder the food smells so good..."

The young Ignis took a deep breath.

He then quickly held his breath and focused his mind. That one breath had almost choked him to death, and it was because of that that he realized why these fruits grew so abundantly.

Simply because all these fruits grow on that mountain of excrement.

"This……"

The young Ignis was caught in a dilemma.

However, after a moment's hesitation, the hunger in his stomach finally overcame the stench in front of him, so after holding his breath for a moment, he used an animal skin to carry a large pile of fruit and returned home with a full load.

Along with some excrement dug down from the cesspool.

Although bringing these things back was somewhat disgusting, the young Ignis had already realized that the reason why the fruits in the deep mountains could grow so well was definitely inextricably linked to the excrement of these serpent gods.

"Perhaps...we can give it a try."

With this in mind, the young Ignis began his practice.

The practical method is also very simple: find a cymbidium goeringii plant that has already had all its fruit picked, and then plant it on manure, just like in the deep mountains. Fortunately, although there are no berries nearby, there are plenty of cymbidium goeringii plants that have been picked bare.

After that, he achieved astonishing practical results.

Ten days and nights passed, and the rock berry, which normally only bears fruit once a year, had already produced new fruit.

"This, this is simply..."

After confirming that the rock berries tasted fine, he immediately gathered all the starving people together.

After that, a large amount of excrement was transported out of the deep mountains.

Just like herding wild animals, they planted all kinds of fruits neatly together, and buried large amounts of dung at the base of the plants, just as the young Ignis had demonstrated.

In just ten days and nights, they reaped a rich reward; there was so much fruit that they couldn't even finish eating it all, and it had to be left to rot on the trees.

The food supply for the starving people, who had previously had very little food, suddenly became more abundant than ever before.

"Perhaps we can get rid of these uneaten fruits..."

Recalling the peculiar aroma emanating from the rotting fruit he had smelled deep in the mountains, the young Ignis man gazed at the newly cultivated orchard and fell into deep thought.

However, what he didn't know was that while he was pondering, a figure wearing an animal skin cloak and with an exaggeratedly large belly was also surveying the orchard from a distant treetop.

"How is this possible?"

The high-ranking mage, with his exaggeratedly protruding belly, suddenly had his pupils contract upon seeing the vegetation laden with fruit trees.

"The Holy Mountain can actually accommodate this group of people... Oh no! The King's orders have gone wrong!"

Thinking of this, the high-ranking mage quickly leaped away, heading towards the city of Ignis.

Half a day later, in the depths of the royal palace, David Day, who was eating, also learned of everything that had happened in the distance.

The face of the newly risen radiance instantly darkened.

(End of this chapter)