The large firms didn’t know why the Purcell clan had to do this. This was just too risky, and in their evaluations, the Purcell clan wouldn’t dare take such a risk just because the large firms wanted to increase the price of food. Unexpectedly though, the Purcell clan did do it.
Two days later however, these large firms finally knew why the Purcell clan dared to take the risk of selling cheaply. They really did have the grains. Furthermore, it was around at least several hundred thousand kilograms. Even though it wasn’t a lot compared to the food requirements of the Purcell Duchy, it was able to stabilize the mood of the citizens.
The grains that the Purcell clan brought out was naturally the corn that Zhao Hai produced. Zhao Hai wouldn’t give Laura the unprocessed corn. Otherwise, the amount transported to Laura would have been more. Zhao Hai wouldn’t have this so he only gave Laura the corn that was processed.
This was also due to Zhao Hai’s personal selfishness. There was no corn on the Ark Continent, so if Zhao Hai gave Laura unprocessed corn, Laura might try planting them herself. By that time, Zhao Hai wouldn’t be the only one who could produce corn, which would depreciate its value in the end.
Zhao Hai, however, didn’t process the cornmeal. Instead, he just skinned the corn to the navel, and then processed it into corn kernels and let Laura use it however she wanted. If Laura wanted to get cornmeal, then she could just grind it on her own.
With the addition of these new grains, the price for food stabilized within the Purcell Duchy. But these large firms didn’t try to be patient. They moved to buy these new grains for themselves. This officially began the food war within the Purcell Duchy.
These days, Zhao Hai had been very attentive about the situation in Casa City. He also observed the Ica plains for several days. His observations showed that the pests he summoned really made it so that nothing could be produced. The entirety of the Ica plains, nearly 700 square kilometers, were infested and nothing was spared1.
Zhao Hai really didn’t think that such a small insect could have so much destructive power. This destructive power was just too astonishing. For about two weeks, the entire Ica plains were infested and none of the crops remained. But these insects actually hadn’t died yet since the space had set their lifespan for a specific time. They began to attack the windbreak zones2 that the Purcell clan painstakingly built.
These pests could even devour a tree. Though the speed of doing so could not compare with their speed of eating the crops, the damage to the trees wasn’t small.
Zhao Hai was, in fact, not in control of these insects. He found out that he could only kill them with his pesticide and that his pesticide was quite formidable when used on those insects. This was unlike in the game where you couldn’t kill the insect that you placed. Zhao Hai wasn’t in the mood to help the Purcell clan in exterminating them however, since the crops had already been thoroughly eaten and killing them wouldn’t make any difference.
After the matter in the Ica plains had been solved, Zhao Hai placed all his attention on Casa City. He looked after the bamboo rice everyday, and even though he was not ready to process it himself, he let Laura take it and process them in his stead. This was because the bamboo rice was not something only he had, so he wasn’t worried about the issue of it being leaked out.
After calculating the time when he had used Cast Pests on the Ica plains till now, it had already been half a month. It was now the time to let Green visit the Purcell clan to break off the engagement.
While he thought about this, Green came in from the outside and told Zhao Hai, “Master, the army is gone. Today’s bamboo rice has been transported away.”
Zhao Hai nodded his head. Several days earlier, the corn had been completely sold out by Laura. Now, Laura’s caravan would have to come here everyday to take away the bamboo rice.
However, Zhao Hai would never let them go into the Stony Mountains. He would just let them wait at the foot of the mountain and, under the cover of the Fog of Darkness, place the grains. Then he’d pull back the fog towards the mountain, allowing the people there to take the food and transfer them into the sacks and carriages that were provided by Laura.