Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

"And that's all?" Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire

"That's it?"

Something felt off. Including the previously matured soybeans, cabbage, and potatoes, there were only five types. Even with the recent rapeseed, sweet potatoes, and garlic, it totaled six types. Where did the ten come from?

Go Okrim thought for a moment, then turned and pointed at the tallest of the ten wheat plants in the sample field that had been planted first. "That wheat looks a bit different from the rest—could it have matured too?"

Kim Haru went over for a closer look. Sure enough, at some point, this wheat plant had already grown a whole bunch of plump, full heads of grain. From their look, they were definitely mature. However, oddly enough, the wheat was still a lush green, not the golden color he was expecting, and the ears of wheat were hidden beneath the leaves, which was probably why he hadn't noticed them.

So, counting this wheat plant, he now had seven types of crops.

But what about the other three?

Kim Haru's gaze wandered around the farm.

Suddenly, he looked toward the lotus leaves in the pond.

"Gojo, can you swim?"

"No, I can't," Go Okrim shook his head and followed Kim Haru's gaze toward the pond. "Are you planning to go down into the pond, Kim Haru-hyung? We could send in the zombies instead."

He pointed at the two zombie-bots, who had just finished watering the fields and were now standing motionless in a corner.

After all, they didn't need to breathe, weren't afraid of water, and could still see. They were perfect for the job.

How the zombies would get back up after going in wasn't his concern. They could just take their time climbing out.

Seeing the two zombies, Kim Haru also felt it was a good idea.

Before long, with their programming tweaked by Go Okrim, the two zombies plopped straight into the water with a splash. Not long after, a fat, white lotus root was tossed out of the pond.

It landed right at Kim Haru's feet.

As expected.

He picked up the lotus root, delighted.

It seemed that the system counted this lotus as one of his crops, and now that it had grown an edible lotus root, it was considered mature.

It made sense, too. Although he hadn't planted it from a seedling or seed, he had brought this lotus to the farm pond himself, so of course, it counted as something he had planted.

Thinking along these lines, Kim Haru's gaze shifted to the pigpen.

Behind the pigpen, a patch of lush pigweed grew abundantly in the woods. Little Oakie, the manager of the pigpen, had the additional task of controlling the pigweed's growth and feeding it to Little Snort, the black pig.

Now that he thought about it, this pigweed had also been grown from seed by Kim Haru. Seeing it reach this flourishing state, it should definitely count as one of his matured crops.

Although pigweed isn't exactly a type of food for people, it's something pigs can eat—and once the pigs grow up, they can be eaten by people. So, in a way, it's still a food source; no problem there.

Counting the lotus and pigweed, that made nine mature crops.

But what about the last one?

No matter how thoroughly Kim Haru and Go Okrim searched, practically turning over every plant on the farm, they couldn't find the last one.

Just as Kim Haru started suspecting a bug in the system, his gaze fell on the dried orange peels he had set on the windowsill.

"I've got it!" Kim Haru immediately pressed the teleportation device. In an instant, he disappeared from the farm and reappeared in the orchard.

The Space-type zombie that he was placed in the orchard is still alive, so even though it was still in the water somewhere, it didn't affect his ability to use the teleportation device.

Once in the orchard, he walked toward the spot where he'd eaten an orange before.

Sure enough, in the same place stood a mature orange tree. It was growing right where he'd spit out the seeds, which had evidently taken root and sprouted—and now it counted as one of his crops.

Having found all ten mature plants, Kim Haru didn't feel relieved.

He looked at the newly grown orange tree, which appeared no different from the other orange trees around it, his expression darkening.

He pressed the teleportation device to return to the farm, grabbed an axe and a hoe, then teleported back to the orchard.

Standing before the new orange tree, he raised the axe without a word and swung.

With a loud crack, the newly upgraded bronze axe cut a deep notch into the tree with a single strike.

The orange tree remained unmoved.

A cold smile tugged at Kim Haru's lips. Two more swings, and the tree was chopped in half, crashing to the ground with a loud rustle.

Still unsatisfied, Kim Haru took up his bronze hoe and began digging at the tree's roots. The bronze hoe was far stronger than the iron one, so it only took a few strikes to fully unearth the roots of the large, well-established orange tree.

Then, Kim Haru switched back to the axe, methodically chopping the roots and trunk into chunks of wood. He even cut down all the branches on the trunk. Only after he'd tidied everything up did he put the pieces into his system backpack, press the teleporter, and return to the farm.

Go Okrim came up to him, saying, "Kim Haru-hyung, where did you go? Why didn't you call me to help?"

Kim Haru set down the axe and hoe before instructing Go Okrim, "Make sure to check the orchard often for the next couple of days. If you find any trees that suddenly grow big, chop them down without hesitation. Don't go easy on them, and be careful."

Go Okrim looked puzzled. "Did something happen?"

"Our orange trees in the orchard started mutating." Kim Haru showed him the wood he had chopped. "Just a few days ago, I spit out some orange seeds, and today, when I went to check, they'd already grown into a fully mature orange tree. Even with some miracle fertilizer, nothing could grow that fast. So it must be a mutated plant."