Chapter 760 Major Problem
During the inspection, Angus found a few significant problems in the facility. The first problem is land fertility. Through his observation and [Analyze], Angus finds the farming area slowly degrading.
This happens as the land is used to cultivate various herbs and medicinal plantations. Unlike ordinary crops, herbs and medicinal plantations absorb more nutrients from the land. Normally, the land vitality could be recovered over time and not easily degraded.
However, the degradation rate is sharply increasing as they use it for herb and medicinal plantations.
If this situation happens for many years, the area becomes a wasteland. Though there is no visible effect for now. Angus still notices this impending disaster with his basic modern knowledge and [Analyze].
'The medicinal herbs in this world are many times more potent than on Earth. I didn't expect them to consume more nutrients and land vitality like this. Ordinary fertilizer will not be able to restore it. It seems I need to research more about this.'
'For now, good fertilizer is enough to reduce the degradation rate. I also need to discuss this problem with brother and Father later.' thought Angus while inspecting the soil below.
Besides the land degradation, Angus noticed another problem while reading the production report. He found that food crop production was drastically reduced as most of the land was used to cultivate medicinal herbs and plantations.
In the short term, it will not be a problem since they could buy crops from other territories. However, if there is a crop failure or price rise in the food supply, the whole region may experience a food shortage. Then, it may also affect the entire territory's economic and social problems.
*BUB* *BAB* While Angus thought about the facility's major problem, they heard a soft explosion in the distance. Using his sharp perception, he knows the previous guards are catching and battling against the unknown spies.
Some spies even try to run away and are pursued by the guards, especially the high-grade Sur Knight. This sudden development surprised everyone.
"Excuse me, my lord. I think we should go back first since there is a situation nearby." said one of the nearby knights.
"Hmm... Let Mother and Madam Nesa go back first. Don't worry about us. We have faced more dangerous situations before." said Angus before returning to contemplating.
Seeing Angus is thinking hard while reading the report in his hand, the nearby knights speechless at this. He had already heard the rumor that Baron Victory had frightening combat power. But his job is to ensure the young master in front of him is safe.
Angus's way of conduct completely shattered the usual noble behavior. Moreover, the knights and guards also realize Anna and Princess Jayna are not surprised at the sudden situation.
Although the fight and explosion happen far away from them, ordinary young noblemen are usually scared hopelessly when they hear the explosion echoing sound from far away. Yet, the three of them keep calm as if nothing happened.
"Wait... we should have some village on the outskirts of our territory, right? Maybe we could hire them to plant crop products. I will propose a better agriculture system later to increase our production rate. *Sigh* This is tougher than I thought." muttered Angus.
Usually, Angus didn't care about the well-being of others. However, it is a different case if it is connected to him. Land degradation and food crop production are related to his antidote miasma. It is his responsibility if he somehow creates a disaster for others.
Besides, he is also one of the people responsible for producing the Miasma Antidote. He needs to keep a steady supply of the Miasma Antidote solution. He wants to create not just a few or ten years of supply but decades or more years.
Therefore, he couldn't let the whole territory suffer or be destroyed just to reach his supply. Besides the two problems, Angus finds other issues such as worker quality, the working rules, and various management problems.
'It is quite fortunate that the whole facility is heavily secured. Otherwise, someone will easily sneak in and impersonate our own worker with their current way of doing.' thought Angus inwardly.
"Grass.. Grass... More Grass..." grumbled Anna, pointing at the plantation nearby with a disgusted face.
Seeing the pouting Anna, Jayna couldn't help but hug the little girl and pinch her fat cheek.
"Mommy, why is Daddy looking at grass? Isn't it better to look at fatty Pork than grass?" asked Anna while pouting.
"Anna, don't say that. The plantation has its role in life." lectured Jayna patiently.
"By tasting disgusting?" replied Anna while tilting her head.
"No, Anna. The plantation is also a source of food..." said Jayna while lecturing about the cycle of life.
While hearing this, Angus finds few solutions for the degraded soil. However, he still needed to consult with his father and brother as it involved many people and movements.
He also needed to propose another plan for King Leon to keep the main ingredient of the Miasma Antidote a secret.
During the previous Undermine Council, he noticed many merchants used Heart Kingdom's coin currency. This is the result of their Miasma Antidote sale. To buy the antidote, the Heart Kingdom only receives the payment as their coin currency.
This affects huge growth for the whole nation. Now, the Heart Kingdom's gold coin is quite valuable since it is a necessary currency to buy the Miasma Antidote.
Moreover, the sale also increases significantly as the other nations find it impossible to crack the main ingredient or make their own potion. If the kingdom stubbornly refuses to buy the Miasma Antidote, the kingdom may face an inevitable setback compared to other kingdoms.
This phenomenon becomes more visible in the relatively close kingdom to the monster's habitat. By coincidence, most of the big nations and forces in the world have close territory with the monster habitat.
Angus knows this is a sign of another huge demand for Miasma Antidote. He needs to keep his production going on while not revealing his main ingredient secret.
Then, they continue their walk around the farm facility to inspect more problems.
'*Sigh* I need to improve the management here as soon as possible. Otherwise, more highly skilled spies will be able to infiltrate.' thought Angus inwardly while observing the hard-labored people in the distance.
During this time, Angus finds a few suspicious workers. From the outside, these people look like ordinary hard laborers. However, he could notice their breath and way of moving is full of deceit.
Moreover, he is already informed there are no guards or Sur knights disguised as workers from Jason. The knights and guards have their own prestige. They couldn't just force them to do a hard labored job under the pretext of protecting the facility.
Disguising as the low-grade guards is already their lowest tolerance for the job. If Jacob or Jason forces them to be disguised as hard laborers on the farm, there will be hard retaliation from these high-grade combatants.
"Anna, what did you think of that person?" asked Angus.
"Emm... That fake bubbles?" asked Anna back.
"Yup." said Angus while taking a small pebble.
"What's wrong with the fake bubbles? It just fake bubbles." asked Anna in confusion.
Yet, Anna's answer is all he needs to identify the spies. Without hesitation, Angus threw the pebbles to the few suspicious workers. *Swish* *Swish* *Swish* With a swift movement, most of the disguised workers successfully dodged the pebbles in reflex.
All the high-grade guards and the hidden fifth-grade guard nearby noticed these sudden movements.
"Capture them!!" ordered the fifth-grade guard captain resolutely.
The nearby guards are not stupid. They know these workers have problems as they could dodge Angus' fast-moving pebble. In contrast, Angus focuses on the last person hit by the stone.
He is certain 90% this person is another spy. Yet, he didn't dodge his pebbles and decided to receive them. Still, to make sure of it, Angus decided to test again.
"Jayna, is he a spy?" asked Angus.
"Yes. There is a deep malicious intent in his mind towards this place." Jayna replied coldly.
At this moment, the hit worker suddenly stood up and recovered from Angus' previous hit. Using the chaos nearby, he quickly escapes the area as if he has already heard about Angus and Jayna's conversation despite their long distance.
"A high-grade spy, huh? No wonder..." asked Angus as he created a flame spear in his hand.
*SWIISHH* *BAMM* A moment later, the flame spear punctured the escaping spy's thigh accurately, binding him to the ground [2nd Circle - Flame Spear]. *Sshhzzt* The punctured and burning thigh makes the spy groan slightly, but he still is not giving up.
Without hesitation, the spy took out a sharp weapon out of nowhere. Just as he wanted to ruthlessly cut off his punctured limp, the chain made of fire suddenly erupted from the flame spear [Firecast - Binding Fire].
The chain restricted and slowly burned the spy alive. The combination of fire chain and burning pain made the spy only scream in agony. Some of the guards shuddered at such a brutal scene. However, the disguised and other high-grade guards didn't find it a problem.
The majority of these guards are not ordinary high-grade knights or combatants. Most of them come from the extermination squad that is famous for its ruthlessness in catching spies.