Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest

Roman, in his past life, had played a mobile game called "Noah's Ark," which had a rather complex core.

It involved character development, business simulation, real-time strategy, and long-range dispatch missions, among other game modes.

In his previous life, during his time in high school, Roman faced a heavy academic workload. Seeking moments of mental peace, he chose "Noah's Ark" as his pastime.

However, human energy is limited, especially during senior year—squeezing in half an hour for gaming was simply a suicidal act. Unsurprisingly, he collapsed on the eve of his college entrance exams.

Regarding this miserable end, Roman could only say it was self-inflicted; he had it coming.

Then, upon opening his eyes, he found himself in this damned medieval era, filled with various magical legends.

Fortunately, he was born in Rome. "Noah's Ark" had also descended into his mind.

But he wasn't sure if it was due to transmigration or a network disconnection.

The UI interface of "Noah's Ark" was constantly in a loading state...

Roman was nearly ready to accept his fate, thinking this life would just be this way.

He had lived here for over a decade, his brain had been completely switched. Now, just like Zhang Wuji who had learned Tai Chi, he had forgotten everything and retained only the basic understanding of a transmigrant.

This civilization seemed to be in the early stages of the Middle Ages.

The decay and corruption of the nobles made him frown, and the renowned Riptide Family was no exception.

Roman knew this was a limitation of the era, but it didn't mean he was indifferent to the status quo.

On the other hand, as a beneficiary, he didn't need to act against the trend when powerless; that would be akin to seeking his own death.

Until a few days ago, when "Noah's Ark" finally finished loading, he finally had a foundation for seizing the future.

Damn it!

This noble young master couldn't continue even for a day!

I need to break away from the family!

Roman was very pessimistic about the future of the Riptide Family.

War was imminent, a terrifying storm was brewing like never before.

And a decadent family was hard to awaken.

Instead of sucking the blood and marrow out of the lower-class people along with other nobles, he preferred self-exile.

How could he shatter this medieval age while remaining with these parasites?

To other nobles, this treatment was almost tantamount to being sent to Ningguta or exiled to Lingnan.

But Roman thought this wilderness was merely undeveloped.

If he couldn't develop it, no matter, he could just quietly grow for a few years and then go out and seize others' territories.

After all, the world was vast and full of opportunities.

...

"Your name?"

'Roman.' He was accustomed to this name in both his past and present lives.

"Heavenly Destiny created successfully."

Suddenly, a 3D figure appeared on the screen, with a "Heavenly Destiny Roman" tag above its head.

"Heavenly Destiny" was the universal title for players.

Roman had waited many years and finally entered the game's internal interface.

The game developers had blended several different game modes into "Noah's Ark."

What gave him a headache was that, as a new account, only the "Breathing Story" feature was available in "Noah's Ark."

"Breathing Story" belonged to the business simulation category.

In simple terms, it involved honing life skills, farming, woodcutting, quarrying, mining, and constructing farms.

However, the core of this mobile game was character extraction and development.

The characters in "Noah's Ark" were collectively referred to as "Angel Envoy."

Roman vaguely remembered that he needed to recruit Angel Envoys through the "Recruitment Pool," enhance their levels and skills, and then deploy them for battles or expeditions...

Other modes were unusable because Roman didn't have any "Angel Envoy."

"Today's check-in: Receive 100 original stones."

The check-in system still worked, but unfortunately, there was no beginner's benefit of a guaranteed six-star from the first ten draws.

Roman noticed that recruiting an Angel Envoy required 160 original stones.

With only 100 original stones, he couldn't perform the first recruitment; even the "Recruitment Pool" was grayed out and unclickable.

Moreover, relying solely on check-in resources for recruiting Angel Envoys was like trying to put out a fire with a cup of water; the resources were simply insufficient, and he needed other methods to obtain original stones.

Roman wasn't in a hurry. He was currently unclear about the impact "Noah's Ark" would have on this world.

Thus, the recruitment of Angel Envoys was not urgent; he would save up the daily 100 original stones, the only benefit for now.

Being new here and not even having a place to live, it was better to play it safe.

Roman straightforwardly clicked on the "Breathing Story" icon.

"Breathing Story... Successfully loaded."

"Other modes pending unlock."

"Loading..."

"You have successfully owned a farm, but it's still too early to live a good life; you also need to build houses, cultivate land, clear weeds, chop wood, and mine ores …"

"Though you own nothing, you still have many tasks to complete."

"With enough diligence, you can make this farm more prosperous."

"What is the name of your farm?"

'Origin.' Roman cherished this land because it marked the beginning of his life.

Then Roman saw the interface shift.

A pixelated landscape appeared.

A pixelated figure stood in front of a green slope near a water source, backed by a forest.

'Is this the game corresponding to the real scene?' Roman thought to himself.

That little figure was naturally himself.

"Noah's Ark" clearly considered the place in front of him a farm.

He pulled back to a God's-eye view and found that the farm's range was exceedingly broad, seemingly treating his fief as his farm, which was indeed the case. However, perhaps due to the limitation of the body's field of view, places he had not reached appeared blank.

There was only his solitary pixelated figure.

Quite normal—he had to rely on himself to make his way and feed himself.

Moor had been explaining dry-mouthed for a long time.

But Roman Riptide did not respond to his justifications.

He was calm, staring into the void for a long while.

Already anxious, the Agricultural Officer Moor began to feel shaky at the sight.

Had Roman Riptide's face shown displeasure or anger, he might have felt somewhat relieved, knowing at least that this lord's attitude came from the heart.

But Roman's expression, calm as an abyssal cold pool, as if scrutinizing something, made him quiver with fear.

In Moor's mind, scenes of what might happen next emerged—under Roman's cold gaze, the two knights behind him would step forward and mercilessly tear apart his clean and tidy clothes, then throw his plump body into the pigpen; he would despair, cry out, but Lord Roman would merely glance coldly as if looking at some filthy swine and then turn around unfeelingly and vanish, leaving him to scream in agony, then lowering his head to fight with pigs for food…

After naming the farm Origin, Roman finally found time to pay attention to Moor, who had been rambling from the start.

"What were you saying just now?"

Moor quickly repeated himself.

Roman nodded and seeing that it was still early in the day, headed towards the hillside.

"Lord, this place is not yet complete. Give me one, no, half a month, and I will build a manor to your satisfaction," Moor said anxiously as he followed Roman, planning to drag all those lowly serfs to perform labor immediately—mind your heads, you Agricultural Officers, still stuck in spring plowing?

"Half a month? That's too long," Roman looked around, noting the strategically chosen location.

He wasn't afraid of external enemies.

This place was a basin surrounded by high mountains, with natural barriers and only a few passable roads, making a large army's approach as difficult as sneaking through Yinping straight into Shu Han.

Half a month too long?

Moor was distraught, his forehead beginning to sweat again, wiping it repeatedly with his handkerchief.

"Then give me ten days..."

"Ten days is still too long," Roman surveyed the site.

The slaves seemed confused by his arrival; was this an inspection of the works?

They dared not look up, only kept their heads down and worked listlessly.

"You lowly serfs, the man before you is your honored master, Roman Riptide Lord; without Lord Roman, you would starve…" Moor, following protocol, stepped forward and began loudly disciplining.

Roman thought these were all empty words; he took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, and revealed strong, muscular arms.

Moor turned around and was immediately startled.

He saw Roman walk up to four ragged slaves; under their panicked gaze, he took on his shoulders a log that they struggled to lift together,

Moor nearly passed out, "Lord Roman, you shouldn't be doing such things!"

"Are you suggesting I should sleep in the wilderness tonight?" Roman looked at Moor displeased.

He strode over to the foundation, grunted once, and firmly inserted the two-hundred-pound log into it, preparing to build a simple frame structure.

"You're not relegating me to the pigpen, are you?" Moor asked with a downcast face.

The steward who let his master work probably couldn't even go to the pigsty.

Roman lifted his chin slightly, his expression indifferent, "If I can sleep well tonight."

Moor's face looked like a frosted eggplant, clumsily stepped forward to support the log; he had never done such lowly work, but now he had no choice but to hold his nose and follow suit.

Roman looked at the virtual panel's prompt—

[Construction Experience +1]

…

[Level 1 Construction: 1/100]

[Level 1 Planting: 0/100]

[Level 1 Gathering: 0/100]

[Level 1 Breeding: 0/100]

…

Let's start from developing life skills, shall we?