Foreign Land Reclamation By a Vegetable-growing Skeleton

8 Chapter 8 Terrifying Possibility_1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ange led the Little Zombie further in, the number of ‘people’ increasing along the way, many of whom were skeletons and zombies. They were either carrying baskets on their backs to transport goods or turning cranks to draw water, performing such repetitive tasks.

Among these skeletons and zombies, Ange saw a reflection of himself. He too was a skeleton engaged in repetitive work, his job being farming.

With the presence of these skeleton zombies, Ange and the Little Zombie were inconspicuous. The ‘people’ along the way did not give them a second glance, each busy with their own tasks. For some reason, everyone’s face was filled with worry.

This was Ange’s first time discovering that there were so many types of ‘people’ in the world. There were humans like Aisike, Minotaurs with bull heads, cavemen who walked on all fours with their hands longer than their legs, Succubi with sheep hooves but extremely hot figures — an uncountable variety.

Of course, the majority were still skeletons and zombies. Almost all repetitive work was done by skeletons and zombies, like pulleying, fetching water, and transporting goods.

Ange aimlessly wandered with the Little Zombie in tow, and the further they moved, the more remote it became, with fewer and fewer people. Eventually, in a desolate corner of the vast Underground City, they found a soft flat ground and stopped.

The reason they stopped was because the soil here was soft, fertile, and moist. As a Farming Skeleton, Ange was very sensitive to soil. He could tell at a glance what kind of land was suitable for planting.

The soil here was fertile but too damp and devoid of sunlight.

Even the farmland at the Resting Camp had sunlight, the Underground City did not. However, the absence of sunlight did not mean that there were no plants. On the edge of the flat ground, a kind of luminescent moss grew on the rock wall.

This did not surprise Ange. If moss could grow on the stones of the Breathing Soil, why couldn’t it grow in the Underground City without sunlight?

Having been teleported here for a few months, Ange had not planted anything for a long time. Seeing the soft soil and the moss that could grow, his deep-rooted farming instinct couldn’t help but spring to life.

With no sunlight there was no need to hide from it, without the Resting Wind he didn’t need to dig burrows, Ange readily started gathering the glowing moss, collecting it from various parts.

As Ange was gathering moss, a fierce argument was erupting in the underground council hall.

The main participants were Succubus Rina and Goblin Klegg, arguing over the fact that Aisike had failed to buy food, leaving the Underground City facing a life or death situation that required a final decision.

Rina angrily said, “Your proposal is inhumane, immoral, and unethical! If these people are driven into the wilderness, they’ll surely perish! You’re practically murdering them!”

Klegg calmly replied, “I’m not human, so why should I be humane? By driving away some people, we allow others to survive. Isn’t that the most ethical thing to do? If we don’t do this, we’ll all starve to death this time next year.”

Rina shouted back, “You’re distorting the facts. Whom are you to decide who gets driven away? How many to drive away? And who should survive? You have no such power.”

Klegg responded evenly, “It’s not for me to decide how many people to drive away, it’s the amount of food we have. It determines how many people we can support — the rest we’ll drive out to fend for themselves. Otherwise, when food runs out, we’ll all die.”

Rina suggested, “We can work harder, make the Magic Lamp stay lit longer—we’ll provide more Magic Power. If we all work together, we can definitely overcome this.”

“That resolves this year, but what about next?” Klegg dismissed, “This world can’t support a large population to begin with. We’ve barely managed an additional thousand years due to the wealth left over by the Undead Empire’s world transfer station — but now, we genuinely can’t afford to support everyone anymore. We shouldn’t resist this fate; we should let things return to their original state.”

Klegg paused before adding, “If we drive away the lower classes now, we can still select and retain more valuable talents. If food runs out, you won’t be able to choose who stays or leaves anymore. Prestigious mages will starve to death alongside cavemen, and clever Goblin Engineers will rot with the alluring Succubi who can only flatter and fascinate. That would be the real waste.”

Debating the issue without missing an opportunity to step on the Succubi infuriated Rina, who promptly turned to face Feilin and demanded, “Lord Feilin, Klegg’s proposal is absurd and cruel. I ask you to use your veto and reject his suggestion.”

Feilin nodded, “Indeed, it’s too cruel. But, Rina, if it were up to me, I would suggest initiating the Undead Calamity.”

“What?!” Just as Feilin’s words hit the floor, not only Rina and Klegg but everyone in the council was stunned.

As the name obviously suggests, the Undead Calamity is a disaster caused by the Undead transforming everyone into Undead. That is, all living things in the Underground City would be killed — which was significantly crueler than Klegg’s plan of driving away a few people.

He was entirely capable of doing so as well. All the Undead in the city obeyed Feilin’s orders. With just a thought, he could launch the Undead Calamity.

For a while, everyone believed they had heard wrong. Rina found it harder to accept as well. She failed to accept that the consistently kind and friendly Lord Feilin could utter such terrifying words. Instinctively, she tried to find a reason for him, “Do you mean to transform everyone into a Witch, Lord Feilin?”

Feilin shook his head, “There aren’t enough resources for that. A transformation would only be possible for three or five people at most — it’s pointless.”

“What do you mean then?” Klegg carefully asked. He could accept the expulsion of some because they wouldn’t lay their hands on him. But if the Undead Calamity were to take place, he’d have to compete with others for those three or five spots.

Feilin heaved a deep sigh and asked seriously, “Do you all know the most significant achievement of the Underground City’s development to date?”

The topic suddenly shifted, leaving people bewildered and shaking their heads.

“It’s the harmonious atmosphere we’ve developed. When everyone first arrived, Minotaurs and Goblins were sworn enemies. The Succubi were slaves to the humans. Many races used to prey on each other. Do you know what starving people may resort to once the food runs out?”

Some guessed where Feilin was going with this, their faces filling with solemnity. This was indeed a possibility they hadn’t considered before.

“They’ll wash the freshly born calf of Mrs. Cow next door, throw it into a pot. They’ll skewer a Goblin, season it, and stick it in an oven. They’ll chop off a Succubus’s hoof and make soup out of it.”