There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

"..."

Maybe I'm seeing things. I didn't see any signs of sprouting on the ground when I passed by just now.

Or did I mistake the radish sprouts for roadside weeds?

I rubbed my eyes and decided to bend down to examine the field. But when I squatted down to look again, the green seedlings in the field seemed to have increased a little more than before?

In the blink of an eye, the green seedlings and leaves on the ground sprouted like bamboo shoots after a spring rain, eagerly emerging from the earth. I stared wide-eyed, not daring to blink for a moment, afraid of missing this magical scene.

In just five minutes, or even less, the field was covered with potato seedlings, which grew from small spots to patches, and from patches to patches, forming a carpet-like green space.

By the way, this radish is a super radish modified by the colony system; it's a special variety that can grow in just three days.

Plants whose growth cycle is broken down into three days can actually grow at a speed visible to the naked eye? Is the process of absorbing nutrients and accumulating strength to break through the ground simply omitted?

While I was lost in thought, the radish seedlings continued to grow relentlessly. The round, tender green leaves took on a deeper color, shedding their original immaturity and gradually developing distinct edges.

The slender buds also grew rapidly, extending their own arcs like tentacles climbing out, gripping the desolate ground. Suddenly, messy hairs sprouted from the branches, nimbly coiling around the cracks in the sand and gravel like venomous snakes. The wild growth, with its pleasurable reproduction and gluttony, presented itself before me, yet it treated its sole audience with indifference, like a hazy dream, gradually making one lose control of reality...

Watching seeds sprout too much is making me lose sanity; I'd better not look at the other plots and go back to sleep.

Aside from the bandaged arms and the wildly advancing crops, today is still a peaceful day on the ranch.

Chapter 116 Rainy Day

"Watch Blue Cat, learn from Blue Cat, I'm proud to have knowledge!"

Okay, I'll learn, I'll learn, okay?

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is here, and I made a wish to Buddha. Buddha said, 'I can grant you a wish.' I said, 'I wish all my friends and family members to be healthy forever.'"

Hmm? This absurd scene is actually quite heartwarming?

"Buddha said, only four days. I said, spring, summer, autumn, winter. Buddha said, no, only three days. I said, yesterday, today, tomorrow. Buddha said, no, only one day."

Is it meaningful for you to torment Buddha like this?

"I said, 'Good Buddha, which day?' I said, 'Every day.' Buddha wept and said..."

Pangolin... wait, what exactly did Buddha say?

"I'll scatter your ashes within three days!"

Screw you!

After a night of mind-numbing torture, I slowly woke up from my sleep, shook my head, and tried to shake those voices out of my head. But a constant hissing noise kept ringing in my ears, and my mind just wouldn't quiet down.

Did the mind-numbing techniques of those "ghostly" videos ruin my brain?

I knew it! Brainwashing like this every day was bound to cause problems!

When I sat up, I looked out through the broken stained glass window and saw fine rain slanting down, weaving a continuous curtain of rain that poured down from the sky, adding a faint ripple to the gray sky outside.

It turns out it wasn't the brainwashing that went wrong, it was just that it rained!

This was the first rain I witnessed since arriving in Mineral Town.

I opened the door, and a gust of biting cold wind rushed in, making me slightly dizzy. Then, a fresh and moist air entered my lungs, completely waking me from my lingering dream.

I instinctively reached out to catch the raindrops falling in front of me, but a sharp pain shot through my right hand, making me gasp. The cold, damp air from outside was indeed pouring in, and the sudden inhalation of a large amount made me cough.

It really is one misfortune after another...

No, I strained my right hand yesterday, so that's only the first mishap of the day. Could there be another mishap waiting for me?

"Hey! Marcus! What's wrong with you? You look so disheveled!"

Zack's booming voice came from outside the ranch, and happened to witness my miserable journey through my own ranch.

Hmm... Misfortunes never come singly, achievement achieved.

The story of how I lost a hand while working will surely be spread throughout the town.

"It was a little accident, but it's perfectly fine," I explained awkwardly, running through the light rain to the wooden fence to open the gate for Zack.

Incidentally, I focused my attention on the corner of my field of vision and checked the character's status for injuries.

Character Status: Right arm strain (minor)

Status impact: Operational capability -50%

Treatment status: Bandaged (89% quality)

Duration: 1 hour 3 minutes

The injury in my hand has almost healed, and now it should be in the final recovery stage. But it is precisely at this stage that the pain in my entire arm is the most pronounced. Due to the excitability of the peripheral nerves, the nerve pain in my arm is now extremely intense. It feels as if the damaged tissue is rapidly regenerating inside my body, and the speed of muscle and nerve growth and connection has been accelerated by eight or nine times, resulting in a continuous stream of nerve throbbing pain whenever I raise my arm.

We should be more cautious when using this medicine in the future. It is true that the medicine is effective, but the side effects of rapid recovery are also amplified. If you encounter a fracture or trauma, the itching of the skin and the pain in the bones alone could drive you crazy.

Meanwhile, the muscles that had been under immense strain in the power-up mode were still spasming. Even something as simple as using both hands to open a gate made me tremble like a Parkinson's patient, and my facial expression was anything but calm.

Zack stared at my bandaged arm and my distraught expression for a long time before finally holding back from exposing me, only saying, "...I'm glad you're alright."

Seeing Zack rushing over from outside in the drizzle, carrying an umbrella in his hand in a strange manner, I asked, "Zack, is there something you need so early? Why aren't you using an umbrella?"

“Dart asked me to give this to you yesterday. He said he guessed you wouldn’t have an umbrella.” Zack handed me the umbrella and we stood side by side under the eaves, watching the rain falling all around us, seemingly enjoying the atmosphere as well.

“I settled the cash with my brothers’ merchant ships yesterday evening and wanted to bring the money to you, but I couldn’t find you. I ran to Boss Date, but he said you had just left, so I ran back to the ranch, but I still couldn’t find you.”

Of course! Before I left the tavern, I confidently told the owner I was fine and didn't need treatment. But as soon as I left, I went straight to Dr. Dort and was bandaged up like a mummy. Who would have guessed?

Really fragrant!

"Hehe, how much did I make from selling these potatoes?" Here comes the main point: I spent all the remaining 20,000 yuan I had in order to build a good relationship with the Brown Pool tribe where Jay lived. Now I'm completely broke, and my original plans to buy chickens and cattle and recruit soldiers have to be put on hold.

"Here's what happened," Zack said apologetically, explaining somewhat embarrassedly, "Yesterday, a merchant ship from the Navigators' Alliance came, intending to buy the goods at a price higher than the market rate. However, a plague of insects has broken out in Twin Town, the next stop on the route, and the residents are stockpiling food to avoid the danger."

“However,” Zach changed the subject, “Twin Town and Mineral Town are only separated by Mount Mads, and the insect plague could easily spread there, so I took it upon myself to refuse them and leave these potatoes for the people in the town.”

That's when I understood why Zack was in such a hurry, with that "three visits to the thatched cottage" spirit, to give me the money. It turns out he was being generous with other people's money, using my money to offer to someone else, and that's why he felt guilty and came to me about it.

Seeing my thoughtful expression, Zack continued, "But Marcus, don't worry, I borrowed money from the brothers. The market price is 100 yuan per kilogram, and yesterday's purchase price was 150 yuan per kilogram. I'll make up the difference for you."

Two hundred kilograms of potatoes cost 20,000 yuan, but the price was suddenly raised to 30,000 yuan. Zach will have to give me half of that amount as compensation.

I took his money with a displeased expression and reprimanded him without any politeness: "You've got some nerve, Zack! You didn't even dare to make your own decisions! Of course, I'm in charge of my goods, why should you arrange things for me!"

“Marcus…” Zach, this big guy, looked at me pitifully, like a baby weighing over 200 pounds.

Tsk, Boss Dart even said he was the captain of a sea ship, a hero in the Sailors' Alliance who pioneered sea routes, how come he's just as carefree as me?

...It must be my imagination.

I took out 20,000 yuan from the envelope and threw the rest back into his arms.

“Marcus, you don’t have to do this…” Zack thought I was making a fuss and hurriedly tried to return the money to me. “This was my shipping mistake, and I have to take responsibility!”

I interrupted him without hesitation: "Don't flatter yourself. I won't let you off easy just because you're pitiful. This is the money I owe you for the seeds last time. If it's more, I'll ask you for it next time. If it's less, then I won't take responsibility."

Zach stood there stunned, watching as I went back into the house and slammed the door shut. He couldn't tell if I was being serious or just saying it out of anger, when another voice came from inside, "Don't make decisions on your own next time you ship!"

Zack muttered to himself, "So Marcus is still angry?"

Then a sentence was added from inside the room.

"According to my decision, everything should be left to Mineral Town!"

Chapter 117 Achoo (Everyone, please don't catch a cold!)

I am indeed angry.

This Zack is seriously underestimating me. As a resident of Mineral Town, does he really think I would want to profit from this national crisis? And he expects me to take responsibility for this little thing, thinking I'm too poor to afford such a loss?

Hehe, in just three more days, my first batch of super radishes will be ripe! After that, there will be a second batch of potatoes, strawberries, and pineapples. With continuous harvesting, there shouldn't be any problem supplying the entire town with food.

However, Zack's mention of this insect plague still worries me a bit, as it's causing food prices to rise. That means it's definitely not just a pest of one crop, but rather a devastating pest like locusts.

If the virus spreads along Mount Mads, wouldn't the first place to be affected be my home, located at the foot of Mount Mads?

With this in mind, I also need to prepare by cultivating more fast-growing staple crops and stockpiling enough food before the insect infestation to ensure a proper supply for everyone in town. As for fruits like strawberries, which aren't very filling, planting will have to be delayed.

Otherwise, given Mineral Town's long-term reliance on imported crops, the Navigators' Alliance, with its business philosophy, would undoubtedly resell them at exorbitant prices. At that point, it wouldn't just be one family crying, but the entire town would be in tears.

Having made up my mind, I started tidying up the room. I originally planned to wait until my injury subsided before going out, and then I would tidy up my "Disheveled Knight" and "Black Flamebringer" outfits before leaving.

But then I suddenly remembered that I had left in such a hurry that the umbrella that Mr. Dart gave me was still outside, so I quickly opened the door to get it.

In that split second as I opened the door, I suddenly remembered a question I had overlooked earlier.

If Zach feels guilty and intends to bear my loss alone, he could simply give me the money quietly, or even have the owner of Todat hand it over to me. Why go through all this trouble to explain it to me personally?

unless……

This guy figured I wouldn't take the money; is he trying to scam me?!

Zack, you bastard, may you be consumed by the dark flames!

But then I thought, what if I really am a greedy and treacherous person? The money Zack gave me would be like lambs to the slaughter.

If his actions were motivated by self-interest, his logical course of action would have been to conceal the price increase and absorb the consequences himself. Given the severe information asymmetry, no one in the town, except for him, would have known about it!

Zack's purpose wasn't to give me money, but for other reasons.

What could it be?

He came here for two reasons: to pay me and to tell me that the price he was offering was lower than the market price. But in a sense, these two things are the same; they both involve money.

So the problem lies in the accompanying information. It also conveyed a message that an insect plague had occurred across from Mount Mades, and a food crisis was imminent.

The trade route to Mineral Town was reopened by Zach, so he definitely knows more about it than I do. Twin Town, as part of the established shipping route, should be a much larger town than Mineral Town, a tiny rural area with only a handful of residents.

Even the larger Twin Towns suffered such a severe impact and needed to stockpile food to avoid danger. When disaster strikes the Mining Town, which does not produce food, the damage will inevitably be even more severe.

So Zack's real intention was to send me news of the insect plague? And to make me take responsibility for it?

Otherwise, even if the townspeople could afford it, Zach would have to add heavy bulk grain cargo to the already overburdened and impoverished trade routes, which would be a form of harm to his sailor brothers.

Gems and antiques that have increased in price fiftyfold will still find buyers, but grains that have increased in price tenfold will likely be unwanted. Even if they did buy them, the result would only be widespread bankruptcy among the townspeople. This is the dilemma Zach faces.

On one hand, there are the townspeople who urgently need food, and on the other hand, there are his close brothers who are also his confidants, so Zach has to make a choice.

but……

It seems that Zach didn't make this choice, but instead came up with a solution from a different angle!