My God, I am the emperor, the lord of mankind.

Chapter 328 Matruda
Matruh on the southern continent was a wealthy port city—at least until the war began.

If there hadn't been this sudden war, perhaps along with the prosperous trade brought about by the rich mineral resources around it, it would have become as prosperous a giant city as the federal capital and the Federal Supreme City where the Creation Parliament is located.

But unfortunately, there is no if in everything.

At this time, the Matruh Port that appeared in front of Zhu Houcong had long lost the prosperity of the past ships loaded with ore and the thousands of sailboat races.

On the contrary, there were only a few ships, and the few ships that went out to sea were mostly whalers for ocean fishing.

Most of the ships are dilapidated, covered with rust eroded by wind and waves, and creak when the waves blow.

Most of the fishermen on it have sad and reluctant expressions when they drive their boats out to sea.

This was accompanied by the sound of footsteps on the deck of a federal sergeant in military uniform walking out of the cabin behind him.

The expression on his face became increasingly sad, but he still had to turn around and call the crew to sail.

"How come the Federation has even started recruiting fishing boats?"

Natasha, who was taking Zhu Houcong to stroll around Matruh's port market, saw the imperial soldiers busy not far away.

He couldn't help but frown, deeply aware of the seriousness of the situation.

"What else can there be? The Federation does not have enough ships on the Southern Continent Islands, but the delivery of supplies cannot stop. There are sage backgrounds behind those giant ocean-going companies. The Federation army cannot deploy them at will, and the nearby mines are due to the wizard's disaster. , in order to avoid risks, most of the mining ships have returned to the federal mainland to avoid disaster... Only the fishermen who have settled in the southern continent can be randomly selected by the federal fleet."

An old woman selling wheat next to her heard the well-dressed young lady in front of her, who was holding the hand of her male companion, and replied casually.

Then he stretched out his gray-brown arms with a little dirt between his fingers, and continued to sell loudly.

"Matruh rice! Two runes per pound, the larger the quantity, the better - it's all grown and eaten by the family! People from the Southern Continent don't lie to people from the Southern Continent!"

And Natasha looked at the Matru rice in front of her, which was considered "famous" in the Federation. When she heard the old lady's hawking, her face looked like she was constipated. She pulled Zhu Houcong and was about to leave quickly.

It was not surprising, what surprised the old lady was to hear her cries.

Theoretically, the aristocratic lady who should never have too much contact with Matru rice, the staple food of the lower class, in her whole life - the male companion next to her stood in front of her at some point.

After reaching out and grabbing a handful of these marble-sized "rices" in front of him, he suddenly fell into deep thought for some reason.

Forehead--

Are you sure this thing is rice?
Zhu Houcong picked up a bunch of the largest rice beads from the stall of the old woman in front of him, each one was about the size of his thumb, put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it.

After a moment, Zhu Houcong came to a conclusion.

Although the earthy smell is stronger, it is essentially the same as the rice transplanted from Southeast Asia in the Ming Dynasty.

It's just that it's a little too big.

"This is a unique variety from the Southern Continent that was cultivated by the sages of Matruh using etheric magic in combination with the local soil and water quality - I'm sure you city dwellers have never tasted it."

Although the old lady in front of her was dressed in shabby clothes, there was a cunning look in her brows typical of those who have experienced a lot.

Seeing that Zhu Houcong was interested, she immediately became energetic and started selling.

"Ether technology——"

Zhu Houcong asked with slight interest, but before the other party could answer, Natasha next to him pulled Zhu Houcong aside.

He began to explain to Zhu Houcong what these so-called Matru rices were.

After listening, Zhu Houcong suddenly understood, but what made Natasha a little doubtful about life was.

Obviously Zhu Houcong already knows that these things are basically technology and hard work, and dogs will not eat them, but Zhu Houcong seems to be completely unabated in his interest in these "Matruh rice".

Matru Rice, one of the agricultural applications of Federal Ether Technology.Born in the wave of industrialization, the most glorious achievement it created was that when it was just cultivated, it sent a certain sage to the ICU for rescue, thus becoming famous in one battle.

It was a scandal in the federal territory.

The reason is that during the ripening process, a large amount of original ether that has not been completely converted is mixed into the rice.

These purely natural etheric energies begin to wreak havoc as soon as they enter the human body.

Even sages will fall victim to this trick, let alone ordinary people.

Therefore, the cultivation and import of this object is prohibited within the federal territory, and is only allowed to be cultivated in the southern part of the continent where there is no Aether Engine.

But for Zhu Houcong, this thing could be promoted by Ming Dynasty.

After all, the Ming Dynasty did not have the terrifying technology of an ether engine to gather ether from thousands of miles around into a few small cities, causing ether to condense.

Moreover, the thin concentration of spiritual energy in the Ming Dynasty and the ubiquitous ether energy in this world cannot be compared at all.

It's not that Zhu Houcong doesn't have spiritual rice that can condense spiritual energy.

When he first transplanted low-level elixirs from the world of immortal cultivation, Zhu Houcong hoarded a large amount of spiritual rice in order to feed the spiritual beasts, and he specially opened up a large piece of land in Xiyuan for planting for the consumption of the Imperial Army and the princes.

These spiritual rice from the world of cultivators can indeed absorb the surrounding spiritual energy to support themselves. Cultivators can increase their cultivation by eating it, and mortals can strengthen their bodies by swallowing it.

The only downside is that.

First of all, although this thing does not have high requirements for spiritual energy, it still has requirements. At least the thin spiritual energy in other places in Ming Dynasty except Xiyuan is difficult to support the growth of spiritual rice.

Secondly, the growth cycle of this thing is extremely slow, twice as slow as the three to four months that ordinary rice matures.

It’s difficult to ripen it once a year, let alone promote it nationwide.

Even the Imperial Army in Xiyuan cannot have much left after a year of consumption.

But the so-called "Matruh rice" in front of us is different.

If it can absorb the ether in the air and feed it back to itself.

So is it possible to follow this idea and design an ordinary rice that can absorb the thin spiritual energy of the Ming Dynasty to promote its own growth, and then promote it to ordinary people for planting?

Natasha held her forehead and looked helplessly at the man in front of her who was filling out a mailing certificate for an officer who had just passed by and escorted some supplies back to the Governor's Mansion.

Zhu Houcong sent the rice he just bought from the market back to his residence.

The young man in military uniform in front of him looked even more helpless.

I just saw Zhu Houcong suddenly taking out the Sage Certificate, and thought that the Sage had some unexpected tasks that he had to carry out himself.

But who would have thought it was just a matter of sending something back to the hotel.

But when the sage in front of him was filling out the form.

The sage asked a few questions unintentionally, but the young officer in front of him looked heavy.

"How is the battle on the front line? Have we captured or killed the new Law Wizards?"

"There is still a stalemate on the front line. Our sages organized several raids in an attempt to behead the Order Wizards, but they failed to break through the blockade of the Order Knights surrounding them... In the battle of Corwin, the three sages They all suffered serious injuries—Sage Baron is still lying in the hospital.”

When the young officer in front of him said this, he looked sad and there was a trace of worry in his eyes.

In fact, judging from the current battle situation, if support from the mainland does not arrive, the southern continent's front line is in danger of collapse at any time.

(End of this chapter)