Fu Zhu looked at Jade, smiling as he pointed to the fully mature grapevines outside.
"Madam Jade, I probably don't need to help you calculate how many grapes a single one of these vines can produce in a month, do I?"
Jade ran her tongue over her slightly dry lips. As a businesswoman, how could she not be sensitive to numbers?
The moment she saw the vines outside mature, her mind instantly calculated the number of grapes a single vine could produce in a month—a figure that was terrifyingly high compared to other crops!
More importantly, the cultivation area could be continuously expanded during the planting process!
Once the cultivation area reached a certain scale, Fu Zhu's claim of crashing the agricultural economy within a month was by no means an empty threat!
Thinking of this, Jade immediately turned to Fu Zhu, her eyes filled with desire.
Fu Zhu saw her look and, having already guessed her thoughts, waved his hand.
"Go discuss it with Himeko. If she thinks it's appropriate, then I'll sell them to you."
Money was already completely irrelevant to Fu Zhu. If he wanted to, he could use the item duplication exploits from various Minecraft mods to generate credits. If that wasn't enough, he could simply install a mod like Equivalent Exchange and directly wholesale credits.
However, the consequence of doing so would be the complete collapse of the credit system that the IPC had painstakingly built. As of now, he still had a rather good impression of the Corporation—specifically, the Strategic Investment Department.
Besides, Evernight had mentioned before that the Garden of Recollection would be his enemy, so it was best to have as many allies as possible. There was no need to farm credits.
Seeing Fu Zhu agree so readily, Jade nodded gratefully.
"Thank you."
Fu Zhu simply gave a casual wave of his hand without saying more. He walked out of the Astral Express to the farm outside to harvest grapes and apples, preparing to begin the brewing process.
…
While Fu Zhu was busy harvesting for his winemaking, Sunday was toiling away in the kitchen. The cleaver in his hand flew up and down, dicing the small mountains of vegetables piled beside him.
However, after doing this simple, repetitive work for a long time, he couldn't help but feel a little tired.
It was at that moment that a voice he knew all too well sounded out, and a hand reached over to pick up a spare cleaver.
"Let me help you, Big Brother."
Sunday's hand, holding the cleaver, froze. He then turned his head, his heart filled with joy, and saw Robin with a faint smile on her lips, methodically helping him chop vegetables and bringing out the already prepared dishes to place them aside.
Sunday looked at Robin's profile, unable to form a complete sentence for a long while. He had so much he wanted to say to her, but when the words reached his lips, they became a simple inquiry.
"Have you been well lately? Did something happen on Penacony? I heard from Fu Zhu that you almost weren't planning on coming."
Seeing Sunday's concern for her, Robin smiled and nodded in response. "I've been doing well lately, Big Brother. You don't need to worry about me. As for Penacony…"
At the mention of Penacony, the original smile on Robin's face vanished once more. She took a deep breath and looked seriously at Sunday beside her.
"Brother, you should be aware of Mr. Gopher Wood's plan back then, right?"
Sunday gave an almost imperceptible nod and asked calmly, "Which part are you referring to specifically?"
"The Swarm Disaster of the Cosmos."
Upon hearing those four words, Sunday's brow immediately furrowed.
He was naturally aware of the Swarm Disaster; it was part of Mr. Gopher Wood's original plan. However, at the time, the plan was only to use the Swarm Disaster to reignite fear in the masses. Neither Mr. Gopher Wood nor he had any intention of letting a real Swarm Disaster recur in the universe.
However, the plan was never fully implemented. Fu Zhu had appeared out of nowhere, given them a sound thrashing, and completely shattered their plans.
But now that Robin was bringing up the Swarm Disaster, could it be that some trouble related to it had emerged?
"What's wrong? Is Penacony infested with bugs?"
Those words weren't spoken by Sunday, but by Fu Zhu.
Carrying a pile of crude wine, Fu Zhu had walked over. He had intended to carry out the final aging process here in the kitchen, but he hadn't expected to walk in on such an explosive piece of news.
Seeing Fu Zhu arrive, Robin immediately curtsied. Fu Zhu, however, waved his hand with a slightly disgusted look.
"Being so formal makes you seem like an outsider! Your brother is a member of the Express crew now. That makes you our family-in-law!"
Although it was true, Sunday couldn't help but feel that something was… off.
Robin covered her mouth and chuckled, then nodded. "It was my oversight. But thank you all for taking care of my brother during this time."
"A small matter." Fu Zhu waved his hand dismissively, then steered the conversation back on track. "Getting back to what you were saying, you mentioned the Swarm Disaster. Don't tell me Penacony is really infested with bugs? And you mentioned before that this is related to the End Poem?"
Returning to the serious topic, the smile on Robin's face receded.
"Yes. To be precise, something happened in the Dreamscape. Within one system hour after the End Poem concluded, numerous bugs were witnessed in all twelve Hours. Not long after, Mr. Mikhail from the Reverie informed me that the Reverie was in trouble and was about to be overrun by the Swarm.
"After I relocated the people from the Reverie, I sent some men to investigate the bugs that had suddenly appeared. The results were rather… suffocating."
After speaking for so long, Robin had to pause for a moment to catch her breath, a wry smile appearing on her lips.
"According to the Family's investigation, the initial Swarm was kept hidden by Mr. Gopher Wood. But they weren't real bugs; they were products he recreated using certain methods. In a sense, the Swarm in the Dreamscape could be considered Memetic Entities of Remembrance.
"But it's precisely because they are memetic entities that after the End Poem placed an indelible brand on all living things, the already abundant Memoria in the Dreamscape instantly reached a terrifying peak. When those bugs split, they also inherit the brand from their original body. This has caused them, which should have been fragile and unstable, to be able to survive for long periods like real creatures, and with a continuous supply of Memoria to supplement them… I'm afraid Penacony is about to face a genuine Swarm Disaster!"
Hearing this, Fu Zhu understood. This matter was indeed related to the End Poem.
"Alright, I get it. But Robin, you don't have to worry too much. I'll accompany you back to Penacony later to deal with this."
With Fu Zhu's assurance, Robin felt a little more at ease. However, she then recalled something else and quickly reminded him.
"Right, Fu Zhu, I received news from my subordinates before I came. After the End Poem event, the number of Memokeepers entering Penacony has surged. But as of now, we still don't know their objective."
"It's fine. We have the Memokeepers' harshest mother right here."