---o---
After accepting the four gold ingots, the middle-aged man personally got up and led Caelus and March 7th to the pasture. Inside, several hundred cattle and sheep, upon seeing humans approach, began to cry out one after another, creating a bit of a racket.
March 7th covered one ear and pinched her nose with the other hand. The smell in a livestock farm was truly something else.
"Caelus, why would you want to rent dairy cows? And isn't this way too expensive...?"
Four gold ingots was a truly exorbitant price! On any other planet, you could probably buy who-knows-how-many cows for that amount!
March 7th couldn't stop herself from mentally complaining about what a black-hearted merchant the middle-aged man was.
Caelus, however, didn't seem to mind. To him, gold was worthless. It just took up space in his inventory. If he truly cared about gold, with the various properties of Minecraft, he could single-handedly crash the gold value of the entire universe.
"March, gold is meant to be used. If you can't spend it, it's worthless."
"Well, you're not wrong..." March 7th sighed.
At that moment, the middle-aged man had led them to the cattle pen where the dairy cows were kept. He spread his hands, gestured toward the hundred or so cows before them, and turned to Caelus.
"Sir, you may take your pick of the cows here. After you've chosen, do you need me to help transport them somewhere for you?"
Caelus shook his head. Then, as if a thought occurred to him, he squinted his eyes and asked the man with a grin, "By the way, during the half-hour I'm renting them, all the output from these two cows belongs to me, right? No objections?"
"But of course!"
The middle-aged man agreed in a single breath. What could you do in half an hour? Even if you milked them to death, you'd only get a little bit. It wouldn't even be worth a fraction of a gold brick. No matter how you looked at it, he was the one making a profit!
Heh heh, I just love these kinds of foolishly rich clients!
Caelus noticed the flicker of glee in the man's eyes and guessed what he was thinking.
Who's profiting and who's losing? That's for me to decide.
Caelus casually selected two bulls.
"These two will do."
The man glanced over and saw that they were stud bulls used for breeding. He was instantly bewildered.
He had assumed Caelus intended to rent dairy cows to milk them, but why had he chosen two bulls? Was he planning on taking them back for breeding? But half an hour wasn't nearly enough time for that.
"Sir, what do you intend to do with these two?"
"That's my business."
---o---
Caelus offered no explanation. After selecting the two bulls, he walked straight into the pen, placed a crafting table to the side, and casually stuffed some wood into it to make a hoe.
Before the noble and March 7th could figure out what he was doing with a suddenly-produced hoe, Caelus had already taken out the Antimatter Legion skeletons he had collected earlier, ground them into bone meal, and scattered it liberally on the dirt ground.
The next moment, countless weeds and flowers sprouted from the soil. The scene instantly stunned both March 7th and the middle-aged man.
"Th-th-this is..."
The man pointed with a trembling, astonished finger at the earth that had suddenly burst into bloom. For a long while, he couldn't form a complete sentence.
He took a moment to compose himself, barely managing to suppress his shock.
"How did you do that?"
Caelus paid him no mind, continuing to destroy the weeds. March 7th, on the other hand, puffed up her chest, placed her hands on her hips, and answered the man with a triumphant humph.
"Don't you go asking about Caelus's methods! That's our secret!"
Hmph! Serves you right for ripping Caelus off, you greedy merchant! Scared you, didn't it!
Hearing that it was a secret, the man obediently shut his mouth. He began to suspect the identities of Caelus and March 7th. Perhaps they weren't some simple young master and lady from a rich family.
Caelus, meanwhile, had cleared away some weeds and finally gotten the wheat seeds he wanted. He then used the hoe he had prepared to till a patch of land, planted the seeds, and used the bone meal to continuously fertilize them.
The middle-aged man, watching Caelus suddenly start farming out of nowhere, was even more baffled. Then he saw Caelus sprinkle some powder on the wheat, and the seedlings that had just broken through the soil instantly shot up into a full-grown stalk.
At this, he was utterly dumbfounded.
What's going on? What just happened? How did the wheat grow so suddenly? Was it because of that powder?
Before the man could even begin to process the situation, Caelus's actions changed once again.
He harvested the mature wheat and held it in his hand. The two bulls, who had been "watching the show" from the side, seemed to have discovered some priceless treasure. They immediately trotted over to Caelus, who casually stuffed the wheat into their mouths.
The next moment, the two bulls, with hearts floating above their heads, nuzzled up against each other.
With a pop, a small calf, only up to Caelus's knees, was born.
"Holy shit!"
The middle-aged man could no longer maintain the etiquette expected of a noble. He let out a curse, pointing a horrified finger at the two bulls.
"Wait a minute?! How can two bulls give birth to a calf?!"
Even March 7th, who had witnessed all sorts of Caelus's miraculous abilities, was completely stunned. After so many trailblazing expeditions, this was the first time she had ever seen a scene like this.
Could it be? Has Caelus embarked on the Path of Propagation? There's no other way to explain this!
Forget the fact that both cows are male for a second. What about the pregnancy? The birthing process? Did we just skip all of that?
---o---
For the next ten minutes, Caelus repeated the process of planting, harvesting, and feeding the wheat to the two bulls and the calf. Under the numb gazes of March 7th and the middle-aged man, the calf grew into a full-sized adult in less than two minutes.
Another ten minutes passed. The once-spacious cattle pen was now crowded with cattle of all sizes. Caelus himself was starting to feel a bit cramped. Seeing that the numbers were about right, he walked out of the pen, dusted off his hands, and looked at the completely stupefied nobleman.
"There are still ten minutes left on the clock, but let's just call it. These few dozen cows are enough for my purposes. According to our agreement, all these newborn cows are mine. No problem, right?"
The man stared at the situation in the cattle pen, nodded dumbly, then was jolted back to his senses and shook his head frantically.
This caused Caelus to frown with a hint of displeasure.
"What? You want to go back on our deal?"
Seeing the dangerous glint in Caelus's eyes, the man quickly explained, "No, sir, of course I won't go back on our deal. I just want to know how you did it!"
This was only twenty minutes! Discounting the time Caelus spent farming, he had bred over a dozen cows in just ten minutes! This was unscientific!
If I could master this technique, wouldn't I be able to make a fortune?
Caelus noticed the greed in the man's eyes and realized the fish had taken the bait. He immediately put on a stern expression and said, "These cows, which I bred using a special technique, are a secret. How could I possibly tell you?"
"I understand! I understand!" The man nodded repeatedly with a fawning smile, then asked probingly, "But you can't take this many cows with you, can you? How about... you sell a few to me? I don't need many, just two! You can name your price!"
"In principle, I should keep this a secret..."
The man understood instantly. He immediately moved closer to Caelus, opened his palm, and made the gesture for 'five'.
Caelus glanced at it and scoffed.
"It cost me four gold ingots just to rent two of your cows, and now you want to buy two of mine? Do you think that's a fair offer?"
The man naturally knew his offer was a bit unreasonable, but this was business, after all. You always had to haggle a bit.
"Then what is your price?"
"Sixty-four gold ingots."
The man's eyes went wide at the number. "How many?! Sixty-four?!"
Caelus rolled his eyes. Trying to take advantage of me once, and now you want to do it again?
Does he really think I, Steve, am some kind of philanthropist? Compared to capitalists like them, he, Steve, is the King of the Lampposts.
"You don't have to buy them. It's not like I'm forcing you."
The man thought about it. With the two cows he bought, he could breed a huge herd. He'd make his money back in just a few days. Steeling his resolve, he gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.
"Deal! Sixty-four it is!"
...
Caelus pocketed the sixty-four gold ingots and walked out of the farm, humming a little tune. Beside him, March 7th held a stalk of wheat, occasionally using it to playfully tease the dozen or so cows that were obediently following behind them.
"Caelus, wasn't it a bit of a bargain for that guy, selling him such special cows?"
March 7th now felt that Caelus had gotten a bad deal. After all, these cows could reproduce over a dozen offspring in just ten minutes! It wouldn't take more than a few days to make back not just sixty-four, but six hundred and forty ingots!
Caelus, however, just smiled smugly and pointed at the stalk of wheat in March 7th's hand.
"March, the core of breeding isn't the cows, but the wheat in your hand. We're the ones who profited this time."