Chapter 34: The Trouble of Expanding the Planting Area

Andrew’s acquisition price of three hundred Credit Points really delighted Fatty Lei.

This was three times the price they had agreed upon. For Fatty Lei, who was still in a poor stage, even ten extra Credit Points would have been good.

What’s more, it was a purchase price of three hundred Credit Points per Sweet Potato, how could Fatty Lei not be excited by that?

Fatty Lei knew that on his “one-row plot,” about several dozen Sweet Potatoes hung in all sizes. Just from a rough calculation, he could earn over ten thousand Credit Points.

“It seems my earlier bluffing finally paid off,” Fatty Lei thought with glistening eyes, almost crying.

In fact, Fatty Lei deeply regretted his earlier bluff about being “honest,” but he couldn’t take back what he’d said once it was spoken.

After all, wouldn’t that mean slapping his own face? And a loud slap at that.

So Fatty Lei had to tough it out.

Now it was great, and goodness was rewarded.

“Are you very happy? Do you feel like crying?” Andrew thought with mischief in his heart as he saw Fatty Lei’s excited state. But seeing Fatty Lei like this still gave Andrew relief in his heart.

After getting excited for a moment, Fatty Lei suddenly remembered something.

“Mr. Andrew, I have something to tell you, so you should prepare yourself,” Fatty Lei said to Andrew with unease.

“What is it?” Andrew felt very curious as he saw Fatty Lei shift from happiness to hesitation suddenly. He didn’t know what Fatty Lei was going to say.

“The thing is…” Fatty Lei didn’t drag it out but briefly explained his worries to Andrew. It was about some environmental issues in his world, the disturbances from Xenomorphs and Bugs, and the fear of having no harvest because the Sweet Potatoes couldn’t be picked.

“Hmm… so it’s like that…” Andrew now understood the situation after Fatty Lei spoke.

“Those Xenomorphs and Bugs are easy to handle, since our planting area isn’t large yet. For now, my Steward and I can still guard it together. But if we expand the planting area later, the two of us definitely won’t be enough,” Fatty Lei expressed his worries about the future.

What Fatty Lei said was likely to happen because if their business boomed, Fatty Lei would have to expand the planting area, which would make manpower insufficient.

Andrew thought for a moment and said to Fatty Lei, “Your worry about not being able to harvest isn’t a problem. Our family encountered this before. It’s a sign the fruit isn’t ripe yet; once mature, they’ll drop off the vines on their own.” First, Andrew reassured Fatty Lei not to fret about the harvest.

“The remaining issue isn’t something we need to worry about now, either. After all, with such a small area, Mr. Odin can still manage it. So what we need to consider now is the future, since the planting area will grow with business expansion.”

Fatty Lei nodded, “Right now, of course, we needn’t worry. My Steward and I can handle it. But after expanding, we won’t have time to manage everything.”

“So why not hire more assistants, Mr. Odin? In your world, hiring some creatures to tend the plantation shouldn’t be very expensive?”

Andrew suddenly remembered this question; he found it strange Fatty Lei wasn’t hiring more workers. Plus, guarding a plantation shouldn’t cost much in wages.

After all, in Andrew’s world, one could simply buy some Slaves cheaply. It wasn’t troublesome at all—just provide food and no wages were needed. And those Slaves worked hard without complaint.

Fatty Lei sighed deeply and then said to Andrew, “Mr. Andrew, you don’t understand the situation here. It’s not at all what you imagine. If I could hire people, I would have done it long ago…”

Fatty Lei went on to tell Andrew some conditions of his world.

…

“Since I can’t leave this place temporarily, I have no way to recruit workers. Plus, where I live, no intelligent beings exist except for Xenomorphs and Bugs that want my life,” Fatty Lei gave Andrew a rough summary of his surroundings so he could understand.

Of course, Fatty Lei didn’t tell him about being a traveller who crossed worlds. Fatty Lei would never say that to anyone, including his Intelligent Butler, Wangcai.

Fatty Lei wasn’t a fool—he knew what should be kept secret.

Andrew also fell into thought, “Hmm… if that’s the case, then expanding the planting area is truly troublesome. With so few hands, if we expand and the guarding fails, our losses could be huge.”

“So, Mr. Andrew, could you sell me some Slaves from there? That way, I’d have more manpower. Based on what I know of the Fantasy Dimension, your world must have plenty of Slaves,” Fatty Lei looked at Andrew with shining eyes.

Actually, besides wanting to buy Slaves to boost manpower, what Fatty Lei truly wanted was to buy two girls.

And why Fatty Lei wanted those girls… everyone should understand that…

Andrew showed a look of apology at Fatty Lei. When Fatty Lei saw that expression, he startled inwardly, thinking, “Could Dimensional System rules block such trades?” But Fatty Lei recalled stories from his original world where “Slaves” were tradable in those tales.

At that moment, Andrew shook his head with a bitter smile and said to Fatty Lei, “Mr. Odin, you’re new, so you don’t fully grasp many trading rules yet. So it’s no surprise you’d think this.”

“Does that mean these can’t be bought?” Fatty Lei asked curiously.

Andrew smiled bitterly and said, “Oh, they can be bought, and the prices are cheap.” Hearing that, Fatty Lei relaxed inside. “Then what else?” He wasn’t sure why Andrew wore that expression.

“The price to buy Slaves is low, since so many Dimensional Planes have Slaves. But you must realize, the Fantasy Dimension and Sci-Fi Dimension are different worlds. The System charges an exorbitant Transmission Fee—it’s ridiculously high.”

Andrew finally revealed the reason.

“How high?” Fatty Lei suddenly felt his dream of buying girls was destroyed.

“In my place, one Credit Point buys you a hundred Slaves. They’re strong Bull-headed tribesmen, but the Transmission Fee for each one costs you one billion Credit Points…”

“Cough, cough!”

Fatty Lei choked at Andrew’s one-billion Credit Points Transmission Fee.

“What?! One billion Credit Points per person for transmission?! You can’t be serious, Mr. Andrew! That’s absurd!”

Fatty Lei couldn’t believe it—one Credit Point for a hundred Slaves, yet the Transmission Fee was one billion per Slave. It felt like robbery.

By that rate, buying a hundred Slaves would cost a fortune in transmission fees alone.

Andrew smiled bitterly and nodded, “How could I joke about this? The System truly charges that much.”

Fatty Lei glanced back at Wangcai, “Wangcai, tell me, it this for real?” In Fatty Lei’s view, as the Intelligent Butler, Wangcai should know these details clearly.

Seeing Fatty Lei ask, Wangcai nodded and replied, “Lord, what Mr. Andrew says is true. The System added this rule to prevent powerful Deities from breaking Dimensional Rules.”

“Well, I’ll be darned!” Fatty Lei cursed. “So it’s to avoid breaking Dimensional Rules—that explains the huge fees.” Fatty Lei reflected silently.

After hearing Wangcai, Fatty Lei gave it some thought and found it made sense.

Just imagine—as a Merchant in a Sci-Fi Dimension, if he had enough funds, could he buy one of the Three Pure Ones?

If such a supreme being from the Mythological World came to the Sci-Fi Dimension, it would completely disrupt the Rules here.

They might even destroy the whole Dimensional Plane.

Thinking this over, Fatty Lei understood everything.

“But if I can’t get workers, we’ll have no way to expand the planting area later,” Fatty Lei said with a frown. “Without enough guards, anything planted would be ruined.” Fatty Lei expressed his worries to Andrew.

After all, once harvested, Fatty Lei planned to keep seeds for expansion. Andrew would push for that, too.

A bigger planting area meant more Credit Points for them both. It was simple logic anyone could grasp.

“Hmm… your concerns are valid, Mr. Odin,” Andrew said. “Since these plants are vulnerable when sprouting, any damage could cause major losses.”

“But what else can we do now?” Fatty Lei shrugged and spread his hands at Andrew. “With the current growth, I think we’ll have harvest soon. Then I’ll need to decide whether to keep seeds for expansion or not. It’s a key issue we must resolve.”

At that moment, Wangcai’s voice came from behind Fatty Lei.

“Lord, you needn’t worry so much. This problem is easy to solve, really!”