Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton
Chapter 1358 - Chapter 1358 Chapter 919 Too Many Dead Creatures

Chapter 1358: Chapter 919: Too Many Dead Creatures Chapter 1358: Chapter 919: Too Many Dead Creatures Ange and the others turned their heads to look and saw several swordsmen clad in City Defense Army attire, with the speaking swordsman being, in fact, the leading Intermediate Swordsman.

“I just knew…” Nagi muttered into the communicator, then opened the hatch and jumped out, greeting them with enthusiasm, “Greetings, Lord, are you on duty? Must be tough, much respect.”

While speaking, he firmly grasped the hand of the leading swordsman and shook it vigorously.

Initially, the leading swordsman’s face showed disgust and his expression indicated he wanted to shake off Nagi’s hand, but upon feeling the hardness passed from the other’s palm, the swordsman’s face expressions softened.

Without drawing attention, the leading swordsman tucked the hard object from his palm into his chest and kindly said, “During the forest fire season, all mechs within the area of Foehn Wind Town must be conscripted for employment to cut firebreaks in preparation against wildfires. Register at the logistics point five kilometers outside the town; someone will assign you tasks and supply you. There you’ll log work hours and settle the payment.”

Nagi nodded reluctantly, returned to his mech, and said with a wry smile, “What bad luck, we can’t leave now. Follow me.”

The two logging mechs, along with Ange, set out of town. After they had moved some distance, Nagi explained, “It’s a fire prevention task; our mechs have been conscripted. They don’t dare let us go. Now, we either cut firebreaks for two days and leave after completing the task, or abandon the mechs and leave, or leave on foot. What should we do?”

The monarch didn’t ask what to do but instead questioned, “Did you just slip something to them? They still won’t let us go even after taking your stuff? Isn’t that a giveaway for nothing?”

Nagi was not angry, though, and explained, “Fire prevention tasks are high priority, and no matter how much you bribe them, they won’t dare to let us go. But it’s not for nothing; didn’t you hear how he changed his wording? It went from conscription to employment.”

“Initially, the upper order should be to employ mechs within the jurisdiction, but without bribing a bit, they would never tell us if it was employment or conscription. If we went up there naively without registering, it’d be conscription, and we’d toil for nothing, even having to provide our own food, drink, and Demon Crystals.”

“But if we register first, not only do we get food, lodging, and energy covered, but also a fee for the work hours. The fire prevention tasks pay quite well for the work hours. Some Commerce Guilds specifically take on these tasks. They’re considered good jobs that usually we freelancers wouldn’t get a chance at.”

After hearing this, the monarch couldn’t help but express, “So many details involved, and you just shook hands; it’s truly complicated. It was right for Ange to have you lead.”

“Heh, after all, information is a resource too. Nobody is obliged to proactively share what they know with you. It’s a pity I didn’t understand this when I was younger; took many detours back then. Well, let’s not talk about that now. What do we do? Do we work, or do we run?” Nagi posed the question.

Listening to a goblin, not even fifty years old, talk about ‘when I was younger,’ felt quite odd, given that it wasn’t even as long as the time the monarch had spent growing one of his toe bones.

After some thought, the monarch said, “Let’s take a detour, leave on foot. To the next town with a teleportation gate, right?”

“Right, but fire prevention isn’t just a one or two town affair; we might have to travel quite a distance before we find a town not conscripting logging mechs. The distance might be too great for the logging mechs to manage. The best option would be to transport them by airship, but airships and land vehicles are probably also conscripted within the range. We might not find an airship willing to transport us.”

As Nagi analyzed the situation bit by bit, it made the monarch’s head spin; he almost wanted to ditch the logging mechs and set off on foot instead. The monarch had gone through quite a bit of effort to disguise himself in order to avoid attention; he had carefully wrapped his bones in bandages before donning his clothing and leather armor, and without keen eyesight, his disguise was hard to see through.

“Let’s go fight the fire,” Ange suddenly interjected.

“Huh? Fight the fire? Aren’t you in a hurry?” the monarch asked, surprised.

Ange shook his head; he had used Tyrone’s Stargazing Mirror, and from seeing the light to making contact, there was a long time, usually measured in years, so he wasn’t in a rush.

If it had been anything else, it might not have mattered as much, but now it was a wildfire. The idea of a spreading fire consuming the entire forest made Ange feel that this was more urgent.

He was the coexistence master of two Trees of Life, watching the forest burn would definitely make Little Sapling “yah” at him.

“Well, that’s settled then,” the Monarch didn’t need to worry anymore, they’d just deal with the wildfire before leaving.

A group of them arrived at the logistical registration post about five kilometers outside of the town, which was nothing more than an inconspicuous canopy tent. Two Soldiers were idly sitting there, and without a reminder, no one would associate it with a logistics registration post, easily overlooking it.

Nagi spoke up, “I’ll go and register. What name should I use?”

The Monarch wasn’t good at naming things either. After staring blankly with Ange for a while, they finally decided to use the name Vegetable Bone.

Nagi ran over to register and also gleaned a lot of information, then returned with some colored markers and supplies.

By sticking the colored markers on their chest, back, shoulders, and a small one on Ange, they immediately became official members of an organized group.

“Alright, we are now part of the Foehn Wind Fire Wall Emergency Rescue Team, Vegetable Bone Logging Group. There’ll be an airship coming to pick us up soon. We’ll ride to the frontline to report. I just inquired, and this foehn wind is quite renowned,” Nagi explained.

“Renowned? Is this town well-known?” the Monarch asked.

“No, no, no, the foehn is a natural phenomenon. According to their description, the monsoon blows from low elevations, crosses the mountains, and as the altitude rises, the moisture in the monsoon turns to rainfall. Only the dry winds cross the mountains, and such winds are called foehn winds.”

“The dry foehn winds can quickly dehydrate the forest, and with just a spark, the forest can ignite and continue to burn all the way until winter snow and rain cover it and put a stop to the fire,” Nagi repeated the information he had learned.

The Monarch looked at the weather, which was still intensely hot in the midst of summer: “Half a year till winter, will it burn for half a year?”

Nagi nodded, “That’s what they said. The purpose of the Foehn Wind Fire Wall is to cut a sufficiently wide firebreak in the forest to create separated patches, which, combined with the Magician Group’s guiding of moisture, will moisten the foehn winds.”

The Monarch nodded in agreement, “The plan sounds feasible, but it requires a significant investment. Does it happen every year? Does the royal family have that much money to spend here?”

“I don’t know about that,” Nagi shrugged.

The Monarch was about to ask something else when suddenly he saw Ange turn his head to look into the distance. He followed Ange’s gaze and then said, “I guess they don’t, it’s already coming.”

The horizon was ablaze with an orange-red glow, illuminating the sky.

The Monarch and Nagi earnestly worked here for three days, and with everyone’s collaborative effort, they cut several spacious firebreaks.

The fire line in the sky came closer, and a huge amount of dense smoke drifted over, turning into ashes that thickly covered the ground.

However, drifting along with the dense smoke was something else. After two days of searching in the forest, Ange found a bright green leaf–the Heart of the Elf.

This was not a good sign. The Heart of the Elf was essentially the Faith Elemental Force, a totem. The formation of the Heart of the Elf in this manner indicated only one reason, too many creatures had died in the forest.