Chapter 181. Instant Results

Chapter 181: 181. Instant Results

The first thing Carlos saw the following morning was a Lizardman carrying two grain bags across the bridge.

It waited while a Hearthkeeper moved an empty basket out of the way, then followed her toward the kitchen. Cosmic had sent the ingredients Mira checked yesterday. Eighteen meals were going into her normal cooking count, and Carlos had not needed to stand between them explaining each bag.

He liked seeing that.

Near the eastern approach, Kaia had marked where the new tower would stand. The two Iron Wall Material Packs lay beside the workers she had assigned, still closed. Carlos went there first and gave permission to begin the checked layout.

Each pack provided five five-meter Iron-reinforced Wall Sections. Kaia placed four around the main-land crossing approach and reserved the other six for the exposed storage addition. They would protect the working areas she selected, not surround every patch of new ground.

The old section lifted for the bridge was fitted into the approach. A movable wooden barrier remained across the crossing, with room for the guards to open it when someone passed.

Carlos opened the Guard Tower Blueprint. Its inspection showed the familiar Common platform, requiring Wood x50 and Stone x20. He had enough stone left from the reward, but the Hall upgrade had used the two hundred wood he had kept for this work.

He messaged Cosmic right away. So what he was a neighbor now? Even neighbors chat instead of meeting every other day.

--

[Carlos Goldwin]- I need Wood x100 for the tower and work near the bridge. Can you get it today?

[Cosmic Merchant]- Yes. I have a seller asking Iron x60 for that amount. The listing is ordinary timber. I will send it so you can confirm the payment.

--

Carlos checked and accepted. The wood arrived through the recorded trade, and he used fifty with twenty stone for the tower. The remainder stayed for the approach work.

The platform rose beside Kaia’s marks, giving one Archer a clear view across the crossing. Nessa checked its sight line after the light faded. She pointed at a stack that would block the lower view, and the workers moved it before carrying more material there.

Carlos left them finishing the wall sections. He had something smaller in his inventory that he wanted to use properly too.

Rowan was beside the tomato enclosure with Tarin when Carlos found him. The two inherited plants had climbed their frames, and a ripe fruit hung low on each. Their inspection records showed the inherited Impactburst trait, the same as the original vine.

Carlos looked at them with satisfaction. After seeing what one tomato had done beneath the Ravager, he wanted a basket ready for every party he sent out.

Tarin supported the fruits while Rowan cut them free, putting both into separate padded spaces. With the unused fruit Carlos brought back, they had three detached tomatoes held for use now.

The other fruit stayed on the vines for seed maturation. Rowan marked it before walking past the pepper test with Carlos.

The Hellfire seedling had opened its first leaves, carrying a faint red line along their edges. Its first-harvest timer was still running, and the seven reserve seeds remained sealed.

Carlos told Sela to keep showing Mira the inspection results as the plant developed. If it produced useful peppers, he wanted the kitchen to try them against the ones their buyer supplied.

"I brought you something," he said, taking the little bone fragment out.

Tarin’s ears lifted. Rowan held out his hand.

"From the conquest?"

"There were bones everywhere. Huge ones and small ones. I remembered bone meal and took this. I was sure we could use it for the fields."

Rowan turned the piece slowly, then held it over the soil. His fingers stayed around it for a while before he asked where Carlos had picked it up.

Carlos described the gravel beneath the ribs. It had been loose before the Crawlers appeared, not something pulled from a moving enemy.

"There is no active force moving through this piece," Rowan said after inspecting it. "We can prepare a little and see what the plant takes from it."

"So it is useful?"

"The roots can use what is inside. Bring a bowl that is not used for food."

Carlos smiled and went to the workshop himself. He borrowed a small hammer, a clean stone mortar and a work bowl, telling the worker what they were for before bringing them back.

Rowan wrapped the fragment in cloth while Carlos broke it into smaller pieces. Tarin held the bowl steady, keeping it on the work board rather than on the soft soil. The crushed material was ground finer before Rowan sifted out two hard pieces that had not broken properly.

There was less than Carlos had imagined. He had looked at the giant ribs and pictured sacks of it, but his little sample gave them enough to treat one small planting.

--

[Prepared Graveyard Bone Meal]

[Common Grade]

[Soil supplement]

[Compatible use: Root development and flower formation]

--

"I knew it," Carlos said, reading the panel again.

Rowan gave him the bowl to hold while Sela brought two small planting containers. They used soil from the same Rare row and two Common Bean seeds from the same stored batch.

One received a measured little amount of the bone meal mixed below the planting depth. The other received none.

Blue provided ordinary water under Rowan’s direction. Carlos watched the ground darken in both containers, then asked whether they needed to wait days.

"They have to sprout first," Rowan said. "After that, I can use Life Bloom on each. Both uses are available today."

Carlos stayed while the workers finished the nearby watering. By the time Tarin came back from putting the tools away, green tips had pushed through both containers.

Rowan touched the first plant. The little stem thickened, leaves opening along it before flowers appeared and became pods. He moved to the second and used the remaining charge.

Carlos crouched near them once the growth stopped. He counted six pods on the untreated plant, then nine on the one given bone meal. Sela pulled one container slightly forward so he could see the lower branch properly.

The pods were still Common. Their inspection showed the difference he had been looking for.

--

[Common Bean Plant is Bone-Enriched]

[Root development improved]

[Pod yield increased]

--

Tarin bent closer. "It has more on the lower stems too."

"Yes," Rowan said. "Mark the amount we mixed in. I want to use that same amount for the next planting."

Carlos stood with the bowl in his hand. Both Life Bloom charges had been used, the sample was nearly gone and the result was sitting in front of him. He smiled and put the bowl down before opening his inventory again.

A very big piece of bone appeared on the clear ground beside him. Tarin stepped back to make room for it, then looked at Carlos.

"I picked this up on the way out too," Carlos said. "I was curious about the big ones, so I kept a piece. How much can we make from this?"

Rowan went closer and ran his hand over the bone. He looked from it to the small bowl they had used for the test.

"This is a lot, my Lord. It will be useful for now. We will be able to prepare more as we need it."

Carlos grinned. He stored the two unground pieces from their first sample together in the labelled work bowl, leaving the large piece where Rowan could examine it properly.

From the yard, a heavy strike made him turn.

Garr was practising with the new Epic Guardian. The shield carrier met his hammer on the upper edge, stepped back once and turned its body before the next blow.

Kaia called the older Guardian beside it into the same position. Their two shields closed the gap Garr had been aiming for.

Carlos went over and watched the next attempt. They were using movements practised inside the upgraded Hall, and the newer Guardian reacted quickly enough that the older one could settle beside it instead of being left behind.

Brann stood outside the practice space with Ada’s permission to watch. His hammer remained on the ground. Carlos stopped beside him.

"You get your turn when she clears you," he said.

Brann watched the shields meet again.

"I learn too."

"Of course you do. I upgraded your Hall for all of you."

The Bearkin looked at Carlos, then back at the training. His grin was smaller than the one he wore before a fight, but Carlos liked it just as much.