Warhammer: Rebuilding the Golden Age Starting with Farming

Chapter 8 Scientific Breeding

The chainsaw in Andy's hand hissed.

Without the slightest hesitation, the serrated edge cut directly into the still-pulsating red power supply pipe.

"Pfft."

Thick green liquid splattered out, splashing onto Andy's breastplate and making a sizzling, corrosive sound.

The golden "Primordial Eden" stopped pulsating instantly, and its light dimmed slightly.

Andy reached in and scooped up the seed, which was about the size of a basketball, and stuffed it into the bag made of discarded canvas at his waist.

The surrounding vine jungle instantly erupted into chaos.

With the core removed, the defense mechanisms that were previously only in a semi-dormant state were fully activated.

Countless thick vines lashed out from the darkness, and the enormous carnivorous plants emitted a teeth-grinding shriek.

But it was too late.

Andy didn't even look back.

He turned around to face the metal control column whose outer shell had been cut open.

[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name 12199.99]

STC's field of view locked onto the internal structure within 0.1 seconds.

Andy extended his mechanical arm, inserting his five fingers directly into the gaps in the metal casing.

"Snap! Bang! Swish!"

With a sharp, tearing sound, Andy forcefully ripped a black rectangular module out of the control column.

Without a doubt, this is a black box.

In the distant Golden Age, the design philosophy of the STC system was absolute idiocy. In order to enable a group of colonists with no scientific literacy to survive in the alien wilderness, the designers encapsulated all the complex computational logic, genetic maps, and security protocols in this sealed box.

Users don't need to know the equation of photosynthesis or understand the principle of gene cutting. They only need to input their needs, and the black box will automatically take over everything.

But it was precisely this overly convenient design that led to the complete collapse of human technology later on.

Because no one knows exactly how it works inside the box, if the person who knows how to use it dies, or the box breaks, the technology is lost.

For example, this black box contains the core control program and gene database of this hydroponic farm.

Without the black box, simply taking the seeds is useless.

The item has arrived.

withdraw!

Andy tucked the black box under his arm and activated the overload mode of the leg hydraulic system.

He transformed into a gray afterimage, traversing through that wildly dancing green hell.

All the vines that tried to stop him were cut down by the chainsaw he casually swung.

Five minutes later.

Andy burst out of the shaft and jumped onto the half-track truck.

He floored the accelerator, and the truck roared as it sped across the wasteland, leaving the mine, which had become a plant hell, far behind.

……

Two hours later.

The shelter's main door, which had been blown off, had been resealed by the refugees with scrap metal plates while Andy was away.

Andy parked the car at the door and jumped out.

The corpses of the skinners on the ground had not yet been cleaned up, and the smell of blood was still strong.

Gamma-9 was holding the automatic gun, standing next to the corpse, excitedly lecturing several newly promoted guards.

Upon seeing Andy return, Gamma-9 immediately jogged over to greet him.

"My sage! Your miracles have worked once again!"

Gamma-9 held the gun up and pointed it at a corpse on the ground.

The corpse's head was smashed open, and red and white matter was scattered all over the ground.

"Just now, a few reckless thugs tried to cause trouble again." Gamma-9's voice trembled with excitement. "I was simply following your teachings, raising this holy lance, and pulling the trigger."

"I didn't even aim! I felt the machine spirit take over my arm, and the bullet itself sought out the enemy's sinful skull!"

Andy glanced at the corpse, then at the numerous bullet holes on the surrounding walls.

About thirty shots were fired, and I was lucky enough to be hit by one.

"Well done."

Andy gave him a casual remark and didn't call him out.

Sometimes, giving your subordinates a little false confidence is more effective than teaching them ballistics.

"Go find a big bucket," Andy ordered as he walked inside. "It has to be metal, the kind that can hold two hundred liters of water. Also, find me some wires to connect to the generator."

Although Gamma-9 didn't know what Andy was planning, he had to maximize his execution capabilities.

Ten minutes later.

A rusty iron drum, originally used to hold industrial waste oil, was moved to the center of the hall.

Andy had the place cleaned and filled with partially filtered groundwater.

The refugees gathered around, looking at the strange iron man with curiosity.

They had no idea what this ruthless metal monster was up to now.

Andy pulled the black rectangular module out of his waist bag, which was the black box he had stolen from the farm.

He cleaned the interfaces on the black box and plugged in a few wires that had been pulled from the generator.

The indicator light on the surface of the black box lit up and turned yellow, indicating standby mode.

Then, Andy took out the golden "Original Seed of Eden".

A gasp went up from the crowd.

Although the seed had separated from its mother plant, it still radiated an alluring glow.

In a world filled with ashes and rust, this pure gold is nothing short of a miracle.

"What is this?" Gamma-9 couldn't help but ask. "Some kind of powerful bomb?"

"Wrong answer, this is delicious."

Andy gave a brief answer.

He threw the seed directly into a large iron bucket filled with water.

"Gulp."

The seeds sank to the bottom.

Andy's fingers flew across the simple input panel on the black box.

The STC database has begun overwriting the original genetic code.

The seed was originally designed to "rapidly build an ecosystem," which is a highly aggressive, rampant growth pattern.

What Andy needs to do now is to castrate it, remove all its aggressive traits, and cut off its reproductive ability, leaving it with only one function—starch accumulation.

This is commonly known as "gaining weight".

[Command input: Aggressive traits - Remove.]

[Command input: Fiber stiffness - decrease.]

[Command Input: Growth Cycle - Extreme Speed.]

[Command input: Nutrient conversion rate - maximize.]

Andy pressed the confirm button.

The water in that large iron barrel suddenly began to boil.

The once clear water turned murky because the black box was releasing the highly concentrated nutrient solution catalyst stored inside.

Immediately afterwards, the bucket of water turned an eerie fluorescent green.

A gurgling sound came from the bottom of the bucket, as if a pot of water was boiling inside.

Gamma-9 was so frightened that it took two steps back.

"Sage, is this...is this some kind of alchemy?"

"This is agriculture," Andy said, staring at the changes in the bucket without turning his head. "Scientific breeding."

Five minutes passed.

The once calm water surface suddenly swelled up with a large bulge.

The large bag grew bigger and bigger until it finally broke through the water's surface.

It wasn't some terrifying tentacle, nor was it a man-eating flower with its mouth open.

It was a white, round thing with a smooth surface, like a big steamed bun.

It is still expanding at a visible rate, taking up space inside the iron barrel.

Ten minutes later.

"bite."

The black box emitted a crisp beep, and a green light illuminated.

The growth process has ended.

The metal bucket was already full.

A huge white sphere, weighing at least 100 kilograms, was stuck at the mouth of the bucket, still emitting heat.

A strange smell wafted out, completely unlike the greasy, putrid smell of corpse starch.

It was a pure, fresh plant fragrance, with a hint of earthiness and a touch of sweetness.

The hall was deathly silent.

The Adam's apples of hundreds of refugees bobbed up and down simultaneously.

In this bottom nest where people grow up eating human flesh, this smell is a completely new shock to their olfactory system.

Gamma-9's single eye stared intently at the large white sphere.

"This...this is..."

"High-yield starch polymers".

Andy stepped forward and drew a tactical dagger from his waist.

He made a cut in the white sphere.

There was no green sap flowing out; the cut surface was pure white, and the texture was somewhat like a slightly firm pear, or a bit like a raw sweet potato.

Andy cut off a small piece and put it in his mouth.

Although he didn't have taste sensors, his component analyzer immediately provided the results.

[Composition Analysis: Starch 85%, Moisture 12%, Cellulose 2%, Trace Elements 1%]

Toxicity test: None.

[Review: The taste is raw and astringent; it is recommended to cook it before eating.]

Andy chewed twice and swallowed.

The simulated feeding system breaks down the starch into bioelectricity.

"It's edible."

Andy gave his final evaluation.

He handed the other piece he had cut off to Gamma-9, who was standing next to him, completely dumbfounded.

"Here, have a taste."

Gamma-9 took the white object with trembling hands.

He couldn't even believe it was real.

He took a small, careful bite.

That crisp texture, that subtle sweetness that melts in your mouth.

Gamma-9 has never eaten anything like this in his life.

The best thing he had ever eaten was the expired nutritional paste that dripped from the nests above; it was like toothpaste.

And this...this one is alive, it's fresh.

Two streams of turbid tears flowed down Gamma-9's old face, dripping onto the floor along his prosthetic limb.

"Waaaaah..."

The priest who had just killed without blinking an eye was now crying like a 200-pound child.

"Praise be to Om Messiah! This is the nectar of God!"

"This is a Holy Communion that only the high lords of Terra's palace can enjoy!"

The surrounding refugees could no longer hold back.

They didn't need Andy to give the order; a hunger born of biological instinct drove them to gather around.

Andy plunged the dagger into the giant starch ball.

"Gamma-9, don't rush to cry."

Andy patted the priest on the shoulder, making a metallic clanging sound.

"Cut this thing up and make porridge."

"Each of you get a bowl, and once you're full, get back to work."