The drive passed quietly.

The hum of the jeep filled the silence as the Stronghold's dusty road stretched ahead.

When they finally reached the house, Isaac stretched his arms and stepped out first, followed by Chairman Lucius and Selene.

The sun was still high, the heat shimmering faintly over the fields.

"Would you like some tea?" Isaac said, glancing back at them. "It'll be a good way to pass the time while we wait for the crops to grow. You'll see what's new about them soon enough."

"Tea is good," Chairman Lucius said as they walked toward the porch.

"Then—"

"I'll prepare some tea for all of us," Selene said, cutting him off gently.

She didn't wait for a reply.

Moving with easy familiarity, she slipped past them and entered the kitchen as if it were her own house.

The sound of cupboards opening and a kettle being set on the stove followed soon after.

Isaac and Chairman Lucius exchanged a strange look.

Then, the old man turned his sharp gaze toward Isaac. It wasn't a glare of hostility, but one of warning.

Isaac lifted a hand slightly, his expression saying he had nothing to do with her actions.

Chairman Lucius narrowed his eyes, pointing at them and then at Isaac, the silent gesture clear: I'm watching you. Don't try anything funny.

Isaac smirked faintly.

His raised brow seemed to say, And if I do try something, what will you do about it?

The chairman's hand moved to mimic a chopping motion, ending the exchange.

The message couldn't have been clearer.

Selene's voice floated from the kitchen.

"You two are quite close," she said, looking at them through the open kitchen. "You act like old buddies with all that silent signaling. How do you even know what the other person's talking about?"

"We're not close," Chairman Lucius said flatly.

"Yes, we are quite close," Isaac replied at the same time.

Selene blinked, then laughed softly.

"Right. I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

The old man shot Isaac another glare while Isaac grinned, enjoying the reaction far too much.

A few minutes later, Selene brought the tea to the table.

The aroma of roasted leaves filled the room, simple but pleasant.

They sat together, sipping quietly as the conversation drifted to minor topics about harvest schedules, recent Sanctum policies, and the rising mana concentration in the central region.

While they were on a time limit, it was important to relax when they could. Only by having a clear mind could they plan their future moves.

The peace was interrupted by a loud honk outside.

Isaac placed his cup down and stood up.

"That must be the delivery."

He stepped out of the house, the others following.

A massive truck had pulled up beside the field, its rear loaded with covered crates.

When the driver rolled back the tarp, the stench hit them immediately.

Rotten flesh, thick and sour. Dozens of monster corpses were piled inside. Half-decayed, poisonous, and barely recognizable.

Selene instinctively covered her nose, grimacing. "That's awful."

The driver, wearing a Sanctum of Masters uniform, climbed down and approached Isaac.

"These are the corpses you ordered," he said, offering a handshake. "Since you asked for unusable or difficult-to-process materials, this is all we could bring. Took us a while to find this many."

"Good work," Isaac said, shaking his hand firmly.

He signed the delivery form, and after a few more words, the truck rumbled away, leaving the foul cargo behind.

Selene tilted her umbrella to shield them both from the sunlight as she walked up beside him.

"When did you order these?"

"Before coming here," Isaac said, crouching beside the nearest corpse to inspect its state. "Had to make sure they were delivered by the time I got back."

Selene nodded and didn't say anything more.

She simply waited, watching as he stood, brushed off his hands, and stepped back.

Isaac took a deep breath and activated one of his new skills: Seed Imprinting. This time, he used the secondary effect: Biomass Conversion.

A faint green light pulsed from his palm and spread outward.

Energy rippled across the air, enveloping the corpses.

The stench grew sharper for a moment, then faded as the bodies began to dissolve.

Flesh, bone, and poison melted away, absorbed into the green radiance.

Isaac felt the mana stir inside him, flowing through his veins like a second heartbeat.

The scale of energy would have drained most mages completely, but for him, it was barely a ripple against his deep reserves.

One by one, the corpses vanished.

In their place remained a swirling mist of luminous green particles that gathered into a faintly glowing mass hovering over the soil.

A translucent message appeared before his eyes:

Harvested 5000 Biomass.

Seed Imprinting has reached Level 2.

He nodded once, then raised his hand.

The Biomass responded, shifting and compressing into a manageable sphere before he guided it into one of his empty storage rings.

Selene exhaled slowly, her eyes wide.

"You can… convert corpses into your own resource?"

"Yes." Isaac glanced at her. "Every part of a monster has value if you understand its structure. The skill just saves me time processing them manually."

"That's quite useful," she murmured, half to herself.

"Correct."

With the corpses handled, he turned his gaze toward the fields stretching behind the house.

As the designated Lord, he could claim and use as much land as he could afford to manage.

That meant no one could accuse him of monopolizing the market anymore, not when his authority itself justified it.

"A hundred additional hectares should be enough," he muttered.

Selene tilted her umbrella slightly, watching him curiously as he summoned a pile of potion bottles from his inventory.

There were hundreds, each glowing faintly with mana.

"Are those—?"

"Mana recovery potions," he said, already uncorking them. "I made them myself while training during the classes."

Before she could say more, he began pouring them directly over the soil.

The liquid soaked into the ground, shimmering faintly before fading.

He continued until the field shone faintly under the afternoon sun, the air buzzing with residual energy.

By the end, dozens of empty glass bottles lay scattered behind him.

When he was satisfied, Isaac straightened and exhaled.

Then he activated another skill: Sovereign of Land.

A deep vibration ran through the earth.

The mana from the potions mixed with the natural nutrients of his original farm that of one-hundred-hectare size.

Isaac's control spread like roots beneath the ground, threading through the land until it felt alive beneath his feet.

For a brief moment, his mind expanded, seeing not just the surface, but every grain of soil, every trace of mana flowing beneath it.

Controlling such a vast area might have overwhelmed him days ago, but with his Spirit Power now reaching two thousand, it felt almost effortless.

When he finally released the skill, the faint glow receded.

He opened his eyes, the lingering mana still visible as thin trails rising from the ground.

Selene was still standing beside him, holding the umbrella over them both.

The sun's glare reflected off her silver-white hair, and there was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead.

She'd been there the entire time.

"You can go back to the house if you want," Isaac said honestly, wiping his hands with a towel she gave him. "It's going to take a while before anything happens."

"I'm fine here. It's not that hot," she said with a soft smile.

The smile caught him off guard.

For a brief second, he didn't respond.

The last time she had been to his farm, she had gone back to the house because she could not bear to stand under the sun.

Recalling the past, he cleared his throat. "Suit yourself."

He turned back to the field, forcing his focus onto the task at hand.

From his inventory, he pulled out several small crates containing seeds: his Tier 1 Vitality Grain.

These seeds would grow into Tier 2 Vitality Grain crops thanks to his enriched farm.

"Selene, since you're here, I'm going to explain my skill to you," Isaac said as he wiped the dirt off his hands and turned to face her.

She blinked, a little surprised. "You're going to tell me? Why?"

"There's a reason," he replied, glancing toward the field where faint green runes were still pulsing. "With my new skills, I can alter crops directly. Since you know what the market wants, I figured it'd be better if you advised me on what to change."

Selene hesitated for a moment.

"Are you sure about that? Skill information isn't something you should share so freely. If someone learns too much, they might use it against you."

"It's fine," Isaac said, waving a hand dismissively. "I trust you."

Her cheeks turned pink at the words, though she tried to hide it by brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"That's… unexpected."

He ignored her reaction and continued in his usual calm tone.

"Alright, here's how it works. When I harvest crops now, I don't just get the produce. I also get two additional things: a Gene, and a Gene Blueprint."

"Gene?" Selene repeated, frowning slightly.

"Yeah. I get one Gene Blueprint per crop type, but I can harvest several Genes from each individual plant. Think of the blueprint as the design, and the genes as the materials."

She nodded slowly, following along. "So you can use these genes somehow?"

"Exactly. I can imprint genes into seeds," Isaac said, kneeling to draw a simple diagram in the dirt. "A Tier 0 seed can hold one gene. A Tier 1 seed can hold two."

Selene's eyes lit up with interest.

"How many genes do you have right now?"

"Plenty."

He reached into his inventory and pulled out a folder.

Inside were neatly printed lists, organized by crop type. He handed it to her.

Selene opened it carefully.

The first page was labeled Vitality Grain Crops (Tier 0–2).

…

Vitality Grain Crops (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Nutrient Conversion: Enhances the crop's ability to absorb and convert mana or soil nutrients into vitality.

Gene of Enduring Growth: Allows continued growth even in poor soil conditions or mild mana droughts.

Gene of Grain Resonance (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

.

Wheat Stalk (Tier 0–1)

Gene of Sturdy Fiber: Improves stalk and stem toughness; reduces crop collapse.

Gene of Golden Yield: Increases grain density per stalk.

Gene of Sunlight Efficiency (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Selene flipped through the pages slowly, scanning each line with growing fascination.

"Wait, what are these 'Quality Improvement Genes'?" she asked, pointing to one of the stars.

Isaac crossed his arms. "If I imprint those into their own crop's seeds, it accelerates their evolution rate. They grow faster and can potentially rank up beyond their current Tier."

Her eyes widened.

"…Does that mean you can create Tier 3 crops now?"

"Yes," he said simply, nodding once.

Selene stared at him for a few seconds, processing that.

The realization hit her, and her mouth fell slightly open.

"That's… incredible. Do you have any idea how valuable that is?"

"I have an idea," he said with a faint smile.

She shook her head, still stunned. "And what about cross-imprinting? If you use genes from one crop on another, won't that cause any side effects?"

"None," he said confidently.

Her arms trembled slightly as she held the folder tighter.

"Is that true? You are not pulling my leg?"

"It's true."

She exhaled sharply, trying to calm herself, but it was obvious she was barely holding back her excitement.

"You can make a fortune with this. You can practically rewrite agricultural economics. The Florathi alone would—"

She stopped herself, realizing she was rambling.

"No, forget it. If word got out, you'd have more than buyers knocking at your door."

Isaac smirked.

Selene flipped through more pages.

…

Potato (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Starch Regeneration: Enables constant replenishment of internal energy stores — useful for combat plants.

Gene of Earthen Vitality: Connects deeply to soil essence, regenerating minor damage naturally.

Gene of Adaptive Nutrient Uptake (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Garlic (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Pungent Aura: Releases faint repellent gas deterring pests or monsters.

Gene of Flame Respiration: Generates internal heat for cold resistance.

Gene of Volatile Essence Stabilization (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Tomato (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Solar Harmony: Aligns growth cycle with sunlight mana.

Gene of Crimson Regeneration: Restores lost vitality when exposed to sunlight.

Gene of Photosynthetic Bloom (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Onion (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Layered Defense: Creates multilayered protective membranes, improving resistance to disease.

Gene of Tear Crystalization: Enhances crops for alchemical tear-based components.

Gene of Multiphasic Growth (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Cabbage (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Verdant Barrier: Creates natural protective auras around plant clusters.

Gene of Nutrient Bloom: Boosts root expansion and soil mana flow.

Gene of Symbiotic Amplification (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Pea Pod (Tier 0–2)

Gene of Mana Storage: Stores ambient mana in pods.

Gene of Linked Growth: Allows plant clusters to share mana and nutrients.

Gene of Growth Synchronization (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Tangerine Tree

Gene of Citrine Bloom: Improves fruit mana retention and flavor potency.

Gene of Seasonal Memory: Remembers and optimizes growth per season.

Gene of Mana Pollination (★ Quality Improvement Gene)

…

Each crop type had its own list of potential genes.

Some enhanced growth rate, others improved resistance or product quality. Her eyes caught on a few standout entries.

"This one…" she murmured, tracing her finger over a line. "The Gene of Citrine Bloom from Tangerine Tree crops, it increases natural flavor and improves mana retention. If you combined that with a food crop…"

She looked up, meeting his eyes.

"You'd have something entirely new."

Isaac nodded slowly. "Exactly. That's the kind of direction I was thinking, but I wanted your input before I start imprinting. You know what sells better. We need to alter our crops based on what the races that come to Fortified City 22 want."

Selene tapped her chin, her expression shifting from surprise to focus.

"Alright… if we're aiming to sell the crops rather than the seeds, we should focus on improving yield and maturation speed first. Quality can come next once you stabilize the base market."

"Agreed," Isaac said, waiting patiently as she thought it through.

"Then here's what I'd do," she began, flipping to the first few pages. "Imprint the Gene of Golden Yield from Wheat into the Vitality Grain. Pair that with the Gene of Nutrient Conversion from the same crop. That should drastically improve the yield and reduce the time it takes to mature."

Isaac nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense. More output, faster results."

"Exactly," she said. "Now, for Wheat crops themselves… combine the Gene of Golden Yield again, but this time with the Gene of Citrine Bloom from the Tangerine Trees. It'll enhance flavor and mana compatibility, which would make the grains more suitable for both normal people and mages."

He gave her an approving look. "Not bad. Anything else?"

She glanced through more notes.

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