Chapter 70: Abundant Harvest! Expansion!
Soren entered the gathering place of the Fermi Ant Tribe.
This is an independent gear, about twice the area of Modo City, gathering a significant number of Fermi Ant Tribes, likely totaling around thirty to fifty thousand.
The gravity of this gear seems to be independent, and upon reaching it, one can clearly feel an increase in gravity, roughly about 1.5 times that of the Material Plane. The floating city is vast, and as soon as Soren arrived at this gear, he noticed the broken outline. However, this floating city had already been transformed into a nest by the Fermi Ant Tribe, and it is uncertain how much of its original structure remains. He slipped into the shadows to try to get closer, but as he approached the central hall of the ant tribe, he attracted the attention of some massive female ants.
Psionic Sensation.
These rather large ants are the Queen’s guards.
A deity in the form of a saint could potentially be worn down by sheer numbers in a naval battle, and after observing his surroundings, Soren left a spatial sigil behind.
The sheer number of Fermi Ants is overwhelming, and their race characteristics resemble those of a swarm; attacking an individual Fermi Worker or Fermi Warrior poses no problem, but if someone were to attack the Queen of the Fermi Ant Tribe, all the Fermi Ants controlled by her would rush in for support. In other words, attacking the Queen of the Fermi Ant Tribe would be like poking a hornet’s nest, instantly triggering a frenzied pursuit by tens of thousands of Fermi Ants. Generally, adventurers would avoid provoking the Queen of the Fermi Ant Tribe, as the costs would be far too great.
Soren left the gear through a green portal.
He wandered around in the shadows and discovered a gathering place of Korna demons, some wandering astral predators, and a group of Lust Demons.
The mechanical realm has quite a few demons.
Lust Demons seem not too different from Succubi, though Succubi have Demon Wings, while most Lust Demons possess the wings of Fallen Angels, unless they are half-breeds, in which case their wings tend to be more feathered. Soren does not like to deal with demons since they won’t act without sufficient benefits; even if they do, they often have ulterior motives. He was only prepared to see if anything unusual would happen nearby; if not, he planned to mobilize the power of the Tower Spirit constructs and the Golem Legion of Modo City to deal with the Fermi Ant Tribe.
However!
This time’s assault is practically equivalent to a direct war.
Thus, preparations require some time; Modo City’s military must operate according to orders, and a simple test of interdimensional astral transportation is also needed. There can be no negligence in actions in other planes, or Modo City’s hard-earned Golem Legion could be entirely wiped out!
……………….
Modo City.
Time flew into early June.
In the fields outside Modo City, a stretch of golden wheat waves extended for more than ten miles, resembling a golden sea. The heavy and plump wheat ears looked so pleasing, and the joy of the harvest permeated throughout Modo City.
Modo City cultivates winter wheat, typically sown from late September to early October of the previous year, maturing by late May to mid-June of the following year. In Soren’s planning, the agriculture in Modo City is closer to a farm economy and estate economy, with the initial land reclamation done by clay golems, followed by digging ditches to irrigate the farmland, fertilizing, cleaning, and fine tilling. Some land was even cultivated initially using witches to cast the “Fossil to Mud” spell; if it were a non-magical world, the first year’s yield would likely be minimal, but in a world filled with magic and deities, everything became possible.
Modo City welcomed a bountiful harvest!
Since the establishment of Modo City, Soren had always needed to rely on food supplies from the Southern Coast and outside sources, but this year’s abundant harvest directly eliminated Modo City’s dependence on external food sources.
Currently, it is impossible to tally exactly how much food has been harvested, as the harvest is still ongoing.
However, according to statistics from the Modo City Hall officials, the food harvested this year should be sufficient for three hundred thousand people for over two years. The city hall is now preparing to establish granaries, as the importance of food in this era is extremely high; a city without a ten-year food reserve cannot be considered prosperous.
This is just the second batch of reclamations; judging by the conditions of the fourth and fifth batches, Modo City will have no trouble supporting a future population of over a million.
The entire Modo City became busy.
Regardless of whether they belonged to the citizen class of Modo City or the recently freed serfs, nearly every day was spent harvesting food from the fields, and even in the hardest work, smiles could be found. Within just a day or two, the originally constructed cement roads of Modo City were filled with sun-dried harvested grains, as the yield exceeded expectations. With the Overseas Islands’ rapidly changing weather, failing to dry and store the crops promptly would be problematic if it rained. Ultimately, the city hall had to issue orders prohibiting the drying of food on Modo City’s main thoroughfares.
The messenger of the Agricultural Goddess soon arrived.
Since Soren was not in Modo City, the High Priest was responsible for reception this time.
It was clear!
The Agricultural Goddess was well-informed.
However, given Modo City’s significant harvest this year, it was likely that many were praying to and thanking the Agricultural Goddess during the harvest, so it was entirely normal for her to be informed right away.
A year of farming would be enough to supply food for over two years.
This is precisely what the Agricultural Goddess sought to achieve; if this could be promoted, what she has always wanted to do may indeed become possible. The messenger of the Agricultural Goddess arrived with good intentions, hoping to establish some temples and shrines in Modo City. The Agricultural Temple would specifically send priests and druids to take residence, guiding farmers in cultivation and teaching them how to deal with natural disasters. Sometimes, relying solely on divine protection isn’t sufficient. The bountiful harvest this year in Modo City is partly due to Soren’s domain altering the climate, and the maze of Modo City made the environment more conducive for farming, coupled with the fertilizer produced by Saruman. However, agriculture also has other issues; the druids and priests of the Agricultural Church are masters in this area, knowledgeable about how farmers can implement more rational and fine cultivation.
This matter is beyond the authority of the High Priest.
She quickly connected with Soren through a mental link, and after gaining his consent, responded to the messenger of the Agricultural Church.
The granaries are to be established in the southern part of Modo City.
This year’s food will certainly not be consumed entirely; currently, the city hall of Modo City has nearly one million Gind in surplus finances. The profit from selling grain is insignificant, so under the city hall’s arrangements, a large granary being constructed with the cooperation of golems, workers, and witches is in the planning stages.
The budget for the plan assigned to Gloria by the city hall is sufficient for Modo City to provide food for a population of one million for twenty years.
Such granaries would be hard to establish relying solely on ordinary people; they must leverage the power of witches and magic. Thus, after signing her agreement, Gloria immediately dispatched over ten witches to assist. To store food for over ten years, using magical power is the easiest way to achieve this, as the spellcasters’ libraries can preserve information for hundreds of years without issue.
Having food ensures a peaceful mind.
With sufficient food supplies, the city hall began to expand its population migration efforts from the Southern Coast. Based on their estimates, once the third batch of land reclamation is completed, Modo City’s population could directly expand to around five hundred thousand.
This not only provides sufficient resources for believers to the Lord but also greatly increases the labor population in Modo City.
The population ratio in Modo City has always been unbalanced.
In a city with a total population of fewer than two hundred thousand, the military accounts for nearly one-third; adding the numerous fleets from the Southern Coast, Modo City has barely three hundred thousand people, with nearly one hundred twenty thousand of those being military personnel.
The city hall believes it should balance this population ratio by supplementing a sufficient number of civilians in Modo City.
The southern continent is currently plagued by continuous wars, and the civilian class is displaced. Recently, the Rosad Duchy has been embroiled in internal strife, as the Duchess of Red Dragon’s rule over the Rosad Duchy has been shaken by the Radiant Church’s proclamation of her collusion with demons, and some high nobles have publicly opposed her with the support of other factions.
There is no guilt in digging the corners of one’s enemies.
The city hall of Modo City plans to attract a group of refugees from the southern side of the Rosad Duchy to migrate to the towns surrounding Modo City for cultivation.
Population is wealth.
What Modo City needs to do now is to capitalize on the outbreak of the Saint’s Cataclysm to plunder population from elsewhere. Only when the population meets the needs can Modo City further expand and colonize. There are not only Modo City but also suitable islands in the Overseas Islands for habitation, such as Treasure Island where a city could be established, and other islands could also be colonized.
But all of this hinges on having a sufficient population.
This is similar to the expansion plans of the temples, as all faith stems from population.
The faith provided by two hundred thousand people is completely different from that provided by one million; the massive difference in quantity can significantly impact the weight of the entire Church of the Deity.
According to the High Priest’s estimates, if Soren needs to reach and maintain a standard of Strong Divine Power, he must have more than one million believers, and only this number can ensure he won’t experience a decline in divine power after advancing to Strong Divine Power. Of course, faith intensity can compensate for quantity, but the number of devout believers and zealots is still a minority; hence, generalized believers can only be used as a standard in considerations. Because at that time, even if there are more zealots, it merely provides more power, and both zealots and devout believers will eventually face d*ath. When they d*e, new believers might turn into generalized faith; if the quantity fails to meet the standard then, a decline phase will occur.
Once, a deity rose to Strong Divine Power with two or three hundred thousand believers.
However, with the d*ath of those zealots, in less than a hundred years, He fell back to Medium Divine Power with only two or three hundred thousand believers since many new believers could not reach the standard of sincere faith.
Quality may decline over time, but quantity could potentially increase!
……………….(To be continued ~^~)
