Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

“He’s busy harvesting,” the follower replied.

“Harvesting? It’s already impending nightfall and he hasn’t finished? Where did he run off to?” Harvey asked, puzzled.

When he finally found the Great Sage, he understood why he hadn’t finished – there was simply too much to harvest.

“What’s going on? Why is there so much grain? Did you kidnap people to farm this much? You’ve always been against enslaving living beings, haven’t you? Did you change your principles?” Harvey asked, still puzzled.

“What nonsense? No, I farmed it as always. But what do you call this? Ah, optimization! Specific tasks for specific people, officer accountability, and reward for more work done – all sorts of incentive strategies. So complex. But the beings’ enthusiasm was so high that they accidentally planted too much. You arriving now is just timely.”

Harvey was stunned. What did he mean by ‘my arrival being timely’?

“Come on, help me harvest the crops of this field. It’s just become nightfall and the dew hasn’t fallen. If it does, the paddy will get sopping wet, and all our months of hard work will be wasted,” the Great Sage said, looking at the endless field in front of him.

Harvey widened his eyes, or rather would have if he had eyes. His eye sockets almost exploded in shock. Pointing at his nasal cavity he asked incredulously, “Me? Harvest the paddy?”

“Yes, only you can harvest all the paddy before the dew falls. Hurry up,” the Great Sage urged.

“I, the magnificent Undead King, the Lord of Mourning, the Purple Gold Skeleton Harvey – you want me to harvest paddy? You…” Harvey said, outraged.

The Great Sage squinted his eyes, a dangerous gleam flashing in them. “I haven’t slept in five months, slaving away to grow these crops. If the crop is spoiled by dew, all my hard work would go in vain. If you let my hard work go to waste, I’ll ensure that you won’t find peace.”

Harvey shivered and quickly patted his ribs, saying, “No problem, leave it to me. It’s just harvesting paddy, no big deal.”

However, just as he finished, he complained, “But even if I go harvest, there’s no way I can harvest so much paddy before dewfall. I don’t know magic.”

“No, Silver Coin assured me that you could. Silver Coin, quickly come here and teach Harvey how to farm. If we’re slow, dew will fall. If the paddy gets moist, it will easily rot. We don’t have the conditions to dry it. If we pile it up for more than a month, I fear it will sprout. We need to quickly harvest it and move it into the cave, where the draft can blow over it.”

A goblin jogged over, first removing his hat to show respect. “Hello, Sir Harvey.”

Harvey glared at him, “Are you the goblin who said I could harvest the paddy?”

Silver Coin quickly denied it, “No, no, no, I didn’t say you could harvest paddy. I said only the most powerful skeleton could harvest so much paddy in such a short time. Are you the most powerful skeleton here?”

Huh? This sounded nice. The most powerful skeleton? Who could that be except me?

Patting his ribs, Harvey proudly confirmed, “Yes, I’m the most powerful skeleton here. Tell me, how can I harvest so much paddy in such a short time.”

“Oh, you see, I once saw a skeleton harvest paddy by wielding the Scythe of Death upside down while bolting across ditches. Do you have a Scythe of Death?” Silver Coin asked, a innocent look on his face.

If one didn’t know Silver Coin well, one would easily be fooled by his facial expression. Harvey laughed, “Not only do I have the Scythe of Death, mine is of Mourning Level.”

Harvey gestured and a giant scythe appeared in his hand.

“How do I hold it? Upside down? Can I let my Golden Skeleton followers do it? They also have the Scythe of Death,” Harvey asked.

Before Silver Coin could answer, the Great Sage urgently cut in, “Don’t let those idiotic boneheads step into my field! If they come to harvest, more will be trampled than harvested. Let me teach them a thing or two next season, but for this one, you’ll have to help me. Hurry, we’re running out of time.”

With a sigh of resignation, Harvey ran into the field holding the scythe upside down. Darting forward, he left a trail of fallen paddy behind him.

A few wise undead stood dumbfounded beside the field, watching their king dash into the distance, one foot deep, one foot shallow, one foot in water, and another in mud.

There was no choice. Although Harvey was a higher level than the Great Sage, the Great Sage was a wise man who managed the entire Land of Fallen.

And Harvey only knew how to slaughter and sleep. If the Great Sage were to relinquish his responsibilities, the entire Land of Fallen would descend into chaos.

Moreover, the Great Sage was vey annoying. If his hard work were to go in vain, Harvey wouldn’t be able to sleep at all the next long night. The Great Sage would grumble and moan and Harvey wouldn’t be able to find where he’s hiding.

Compared to that, the image of the king was insignificant. It was not a big deal to harvest. Heck, Harvey wouldn’t mind even planting rice seedlings.

Silver Coin said it right. In Harvey’s hand, the Scythe of Death was a powerful harvesting tool. Running like the wind, he didn’t step on a single stalk, yet managed to chop down the crops neatly.

The Great Sage directed the stunned golden skeletons standing by the side of the field to gather the crops. While they couldn’t handle the harvesting, they would be perfect for heavy lifting.

A group of undead who were initially prepared for war were now being shooed into the fields, one foot in water and one foot in mud.

The harvesting process was very fast. Within half an hour, Harvey had finished.

There were even more lifters. Just as Harvey finished, they all followed suit, carrying away bundles and bundles of paddy.