Above The Sky
Chapter 390 - 390 361 Food War 13

390: Chapter 361: Food War (1/3) 390: Chapter 361: Food War (1/3) “Interesting, genuine biological warfare indeed,”

As he read the report, Ian nodded with interest, “However, the plants in this world are much more resilient than those on Earth in my previous life; common viruses, bacteria, and fungi are mostly ineffective against them.”

“Especially the Sublimation Plants, apart from their biomass, they also possess an Origin Structure capable of self-correction.

The likelihood of succeeding on the first attempt is extremely low.”

Back on Earth, the Gros Michel banana had been wiped out by a specialized strain of Fusarium oxysporum.

This facultative parasitic fungus could infect a variety of plants and could remain in the soil for many years, rendering the contaminated land forever unsuitable for growing the original crops.

But that was only true for asexually reproduced crops like bananas.

While other plants would suffer from diseased, they were not difficult to recover.

In Terra, however, the ‘Root Rot Fungus’ developed in Fiery Flame Land was indeed a more terrifying biological weapon than Fusarium oxysporum; with Ian’s expertise in Biological Alchemy, he instantly recognized how dreadful this thing was.

——It corrodes root systems, hinders nutrient transport, affects leaf development, and can be spread by a variety of insects and animals…

It can even secrete highly toxic toxins that corrupt the soil.

If released on Earth, it would be a regional ecological disaster for sure.

But its opponent is the even hardier plants of Terra!

On this planet, Ian dared not underestimate its vegetation—for all he knew, there could be things like the Carlin’s Flower around.

Just considering the plants from South Ridge alone, they could even transmit vaccines against various diseases through Spirit Energy, so if one plant gained immunity, the entire region’s organisms would be immune!

As for the idea of soil corruption, that seems almost laughable, as if South Ridge lacked organisms that feed on poison or can detoxify—an ecosystem that could even thrive despite nuclear radiation, just look at the prosperity of the South Sea Great Labyrinth’s ecology.

Therefore, the report from Fiery Flame Land also mentioned that they couldn’t contaminate a region’s soil for an extended period; they could only influence specific crops through lengthy research and cultivation, causing key areas to yield less produce at critical times.

The requirement was much lower, and the effect was not necessarily worse.

As long as they could induce a wave of reduced food production in South Ridge during wartime, followed by a blockade from Duke Sorin, the Southern Ridge Legion would be forced to surrender without fighting.

“Oh, so this is Fiery Flame Land’s wartime strategy.

They’re not foolish enough to send troops to fight guerilla and security wars in South Ridge.

Instead, they go straight for the food supply,”

Tucking the report into his waist pouch, Ian knew he had made a significant discovery.

He could not only reasonably predict Duke Sobin’s defection in advance but also get the Imperial Capital to start guarding against Fiery Flame Land’s biological warfare sooner.

However, why hadn’t he seen any of this in the dreams of the Worm Nest?

Ian pondered carefully and then smiled—infested by the Hive, he had steamrolled his way across the Sorin Duchy, neither the Empire nor Fiery Flame Land could stop him.

Naturally, he wouldn’t remember such trivial matters as biological warfare.

“Even so, for Fiery Flame Land to have established this kind of small-scale biological data collection outpost within the Empire, they must have a large-scale laboratory in the western region of the Empire.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to develop biological weapons like the Blood Wrapping Worm and Root Rot Fungus so quickly by cultivating local strains from South Ridge.”

“Duke Sorin must have completely sided with Fiery Flame Land.”

Ian checked the other documents, which were mostly local commercial trade data.

At this point, they were confirming the self-sufficiency and export data of South Ridge’s food, ensuring that the long-prepared crop reduction could force the military and citizens of South Ridge into surrender.

These were not major concerns; even the Empire’s bureaucrats, despite often being idle, would typically uncover such matters.

But Ian believed that since Fiery Flame Land could corrupt a figure like Duke Harrison, they would likely not hesitate to corrupt some officials in South Ridge either—it was their blind eye and complicity that allowed the special forces to be so rampant.

In fact, they might even be prepared to profit from hoarding goods during the crisis.

Once the war broke out and this year’s harvest was nearly ruined by Fiery Flame Land’s biological warfare, they could sell off the food they had hoarded over the years, reaping substantial profits.

“The heads of such people are also achievements.

If I became an Inspector Knight, I could check who’s been buying up grain on the market recently.

Going after them one by one, killing all would certainly lead to innocent casualties, but executing every other one would guarantee some would escape.”

Last year, Harrison Port almost ran out of food due to the war with the natives.

If it weren’t for Viscount Grant using his means to secure a batch of aid, a great number of people might have starved to death.

But in the upcoming war between the two nations, not to mention one of the Viscount’s means, Patrick was already dead, and even if he had been alive, it’s doubtful he could have arranged much.

It certainly wouldn’t have been enough to satisfy the greatly increased population of Harrison Port.

Ian took note of this matter in the ‘notebook’ of the silver chip and set up a key reminder.

And most importantly,

“Radiance Grass, isn’t that the specialty of the Leyan Territory, my destination this time?”

The young man left the document storage area and looked at the other items stored in the warehouses.

Indeed, they were all biological samples, most of which had already been infected with various diseases and pests.

There were all sorts of crops, each with different characteristics.

Wheat with yellowed, dried-out leaves; overly vibrant sweet potato vines that looked poisonous; fruit tree branches with various wormholes and grayish-white veins…

Among them was a sample of Radiance Grass labeled ‘Important Sample, Handle With Care.’

This supposedly beautiful Spirit Energy Plant was now entangled with grayish-white fungal mycelium to the point where its original shape was unrecognizable.

It looked like the skeletal remains of a beauty bound in layers of ropes, nothing left but decay, its original blue mist now a dim, dull gray.

[Radiance Grass (Decayed)]

The silver chip also flashed this information.

Because the specialty of the Leyan Territory is the Spirit Energy nourishing extract derived from Radiance Grass, an excellent supplement for Spirit Energy Users, it was viewed as a strategic target by Fiery Flame Land and a first experimental target for the Root Rot Fungus attack later on.

Such an attack surely couldn’t last long.

The Empire’s bio-alchemists were not to be underestimated.

But the problem was that Ian’s prime material for the Second Energy Level Magic Potion had been prepared, and the auxiliary materials could be delivered upon arrival at the location; he was only missing this one base material.

If he was late this time, his advancement would be delayed again.

He didn’t have time to spare.

“I need to speed things up.”

Ian thought to himself somewhat absentmindedly.

He might as well kill all the special ops team members from Fiery Flame Land along the way—after all, he was thinking about joining the Knight Order of Inspectorate and would probably need some achievements.

He turned around, ready to clean up the corpses of the Fiery Ascenders from outside.

Since he needed to borrow their heads, he had deliberately avoided hitting their vital parts from the beginning.

When Ian returned to the caravan, heads of three Sublimators hanging at his waist, the people in the caravan had just started making a fire to cook.

The steward of the caravan was about to step forward to offer his assistance, asking if Ian had forgotten to bring something on his return.

However, when he saw the three heads hanging from Ian’s waist,

“Wait, my lord, could it be…”

He trembled a bit, not out of fear, but with excitement.

Being one of the White Folks himself, he was extremely eager to know the significance of Ian’s haul this time out.

“Yes.”

Ian nodded and took down the three heads.

He then pulled documents from his waist pouch and handed them to the steward.

“Tomorrow morning, send a few trustworthy people with the traitor, these heads, and these documents back to Harrison Port.”

“Rest assured, I’ve killed them all—there is no danger—a great achievement it is.

Send your trusted men.”

“Yes, my lord, I will definitely take care of it!”

Hearing this, the steward swallowed hard yet emitted a gleam of excitement in his eyes and nodded eagerly in agreement.