Chapter 71 Ah . . . Animals

I had no idea how long I watched the machine do its work. The workers would put stones inside its net, and then the machine would pull the stones and transfer them into the shallow waters.

It confused me how they were able to mine those boulders and carry them all the way here but not transfer them into the waters.

<Items they forage directly go into the storage, Host. All workers can access their storage anytime, as long as they're within your territory. But in the case of carrying it where it's supposed to be, they need machines for that.>

Daedalus must have built that machine that carried the boulders. It was just a simple push and pull using some kind of lever.

But anyway, the breakwater wasn't even ten percent done. I deduced that it would take two weeks if it didn't rain.

<It's raining here every afternoon. Sometimes, it would last until the evening.>

Were they going to be alright even if there was a storm?

<Tokens don't die and get sick. If they get swallowed by the sea, they'll simply respawn from where they last stood and resume their work.>

How convenient was that?

Though it must be a hassle to constantly respawn, and their portion of work would be halted every time that happened.

There was also a salt production nearby. A small bamboo collecting seawater and transferring it to a small hut, and the sun would do the rest.

When you're near the ocean, salt farming is a must. Aside from the initial setup and harvesting of salt water, you didn't have to do anything. It was simply letting the water evaporate under the sun and produce crystalline rock salt.

The process was kind of slow, though. But it would have to do for now.

I checked the time left before the Blood Moon. There were still three weeks left, and I was sure that my house would make it in time if all went according to plan. I didn't know about the breakwater, though.

Hopefully, it would finish on time.

There was nothing to see here, so I moved on to the rice paddy in the south of my territory, located before the mountain hills.

Turnip was working on the Rice paddy, but he was so slow that he only managed to make a small portion of the first layer of the terrace. Fortunately, there was a worker helping him, and I bet that Daedalus had already explained what to do.

I wasn't disappointed, though, since, by the end of this day, there would already be rice planted on that first layer.

Every small step counts toward reaching the goal.

I stretched my hands over the sky and decided to go to the mountains again to forage some boulders. I couldn't be the only one who wasn't working.

<You're slowly getting used to life here, Host. That's good news.>

More like I didn't have a choice if I wanted to live. The struggle was real even in this life.

<You can let the evil Host take over if you don't want to struggle.>

Absolutely not. Who knows what that lunatic would do once I let him out?

<He'd probably kill players and get more tokens to speed up the construction of your territory.>

Then the answer is NO!

<Your ATP and equipment are such a waste if you don't put them to evil use>

I'd rather let them rot here than kill people.

The system continued to chatter, but I ignored it and focused all my attention on mining. Luckily, I had gotten the hang of ignoring it.

----

Days passed as usual, and I hoped that it would stay like this forever.

A week had gone with no problems and, if I did say so myself, peaceful.

The walls were finished. The barn and chicken coops were also erected. No gates were around the barn and chicken coop since there was already a wooden wall around the entire property.

My property might be small, but the animals could roam around as they liked. It was better that way.

The pig pen was also finished. It had a small muddy area at the side where the pigs could take a bath. It had a small gate wall made of wood. The small farm was also located near it, so the pigs could feed on the root crops if ever.

"The domestication of wild animals is a huge step in all civilization's history, but it carries an ethical dilemma," said Athena with a stoic face.

"Livestock will provide you with food, materials, and clothing, but you have to restrict the animals' freedom of movement, suppress their natural instincts, and even artificially alter their birth rate and life expectancy."

'Augh . . . if you put it that way, then I couldn't help but feel guilty.' I thought to myself and pulled my gaze to the ground to avoid her judging eyes.

"It's human nature to seek as much profit as possible," she continued. "But it's only humane to create the most comfortable conditions for those who spend their entire lives and beyond working for you."

"I . . . I see . . ." I could only reply to her.

"The piggery has good lightning," Athena proceeded to explain as went along the structures inside my territory. "Pigs need regular sun exposure to gain weight, to form fat, and improve the taste of meat. You can add lake sludge to the feed. It contains the necessary elements, like copper, calcium, zinc, sulfur, and magnesium, for a healthy pig. I already asked Ulysses to create one."

"Ah . . . maybe we should look for someone to take care of the animals," I said. "Since I don't really know how to take care of one."

"If you have an extra token, I might suggest more farmers and ranchers. Turnip alone can't tend to everything."

"I . . . I see . . ." Great . . . more Tokens!

<I told you, Host. You should really go out there and search for players to kill>

Please stop threatening human life like they were some kind of prey.

"Each barn contains drains for urine that lead to an underground container surrounded by concrete," Athena further explained. "You can make organic fertilizers from manure and water the field with urine."

". . ." Yep. We definitely needed those tokens.

<The system is glad that we've agreed on something.>

There must be a way to get Tokens without killing players.

<What you're going to do, Host? Beg and ask for their Tokens?>

I was thinking more like a barter. I'd give them food and shelter, and they'd pay me Tokens.

<Good thinking. Trick them into wearing the Evil Accessory so you can have more underlings>

". . ." No.

I was so sure that we could reach some kind of understanding without involving anything related to blackmailing.

<. . . Is that so?>

That's a first. I thought for sure that you're going to go against me.

<I'm rooting for Host to get yourself in trouble with your decisions in life, so you'll summon your other self to fix your mess again.>

. . .

NOT GONNA' HAPPEN!