Chapter 94: Chapter 76: Radiant Dust Farm
The elevator was rapidly ascending.
John looked through the panel and saw various crops lying in pristine and brightly lit floors.
There was a hazy mist of water.
The workers wore isolation suits and breathing valves, resembling the research personnel commonly seen in biochemical experiments.
[Eden City - Radiant Dust Farm (Livestock Area)]
Angelica’s access rights only allowed her to reach this far; for safety assurance, higher regions required strict management.
John stepped out of the elevator.
This was an industrial-style floor.
The floor had a ceiling height of at least seven or eight meters, surrounded by large glass floor-to-ceiling windows, resembling a startup company’s workspace.
The ground beneath was coarse cement.
The steel-welded stairs divided the area into a reception area below and independent offices above.
The surroundings were piled with golden straw stacks.
John followed Angelica.
"I’ve only seen straw in data patches."
"These are plastic models. The farm owner tried to use CT-2 straw for feeding... unfortunately, it failed. Even genetically modified animals couldn’t digest that kind of fiber."
Angelica sat on a wooden long bench.
The floor-to-ceiling window was actually a holographic projection, showing a fenced Redwood Barn, vast meadows under the sunset glow, and even the silhouette of a cowboy riding.
"A beautiful dream."
John remarked.
"Is it?"
A coarse voice resonated from overhead.
The office door closed.
A white-haired elder descended the stairs, his metal legs made heavy steps on the steel stairs, likely having few original organs functioning properly.
"This scene is a recreation of my youthful memories, commissioned from a European company, extracting visions I had forgotten."
He wore a cowboy hat and a brown SCHOTT flight jacket.
A beautifully wide old-style leather belt was at the waist of his washed synthetic fiber pants.
"The farm owner, and master of this place."
Angelica embraced him, introducing him to John.
The farm owner had dark skin, a short stubble, graying sideburns, and a dark scar.
He looked like an old Western character stepping out from a nostalgic movie.
He extended his hand to shake John’s.
His fingers were sturdy and his grip firm.
"You’re John, right? Lily mentioned you before she came. So, lad, after tasting the farm food, any special feelings?"
"Not bad in taste."
"Haha, good."
The farm owner patted John’s shoulder, sending forth a scent of traditional tobacco.
"Do you like this window view?"
"Quite peaceful."
"Indeed, before the company wars, my understanding of massive machines was merely as farming equipment, until the first nuclear bomb exploded on our land, and the dust revealed not only fighter jets but hovercars and armed metal robots..."
He reflected with a hint of melancholy, his cybernetic eye flickered.
Even high-precision instruments couldn’t recreate that segment of dreams.
"I heard stories about the old farms, many wanderers at the Damascus Camp lost their lands."
John smoothly mentioned Nando.
The farm owner’s gaze softened.
He explained his connections with the wanderers:
After companies began capturing water sources and lands, some farmers failed to resist and became wanderers.
Others chose to band together.
They merged fragmented private lands and subsequently formed an alliance, transforming their wielded power into a weapon.
"We established our own company, recruited mercenaries, armed cowboys and farmers, and hitched livestock trade to the international market... then expanded, went public, and enhanced our sustainability."
The farm owner spoke of those glorious days.
He leaned on the metal-crafted fence, looking like a nostalgic patriarch at the edge of a wheat field.
"We became capital yet fell apart; after two rounds of company wars, we couldn’t keep up, an expansive nuclear war broke out, and pollution choked the throat of the alliance."
The companies won.
The manor lords’ resistance was declared a failure.
This elder brought his assets to Eden City.
He focused his gaze on the urban jungle made of steel, spending a lifetime’s fortune to support an urban farm.
John was somewhat perplexed.
In Eden City, residents struggle daily on synthetic proteins and unappetizing gruel; with such technology, why not apply it broadly and go public?
"Every company has its eyes on it."
In just a couple of words, the farm owner clarified for John.
"If I do it on a small scale, it’s just making money, similar to what they’re doing, but if I go larger, it’s directly confronting the food companies."
An urban farm sounds simple.
But it is not a civilian project.
The technology and resources required for its actual operation are massive.
After the independence war, just the task of clearing radiation went on for decades, even now, within the border wall of Eden City, some areas’ radiation levels exceed the limit.
Take soil sampling for example:
Besides needing to clear radiation, companies are continuously expanding, factories are springing up everywhere, constantly introducing harmful substances into the soil.
And these bastards won’t tell you—what deadly chemical they’ve concocted in their labs recently.
You have to keep analyzing and prescribe corresponding remedies.
The soil is utterly ruined.
The seeds are problematic too.
The once familiar crops in the world can’t survive in today’s harsh environment, even with soilless culture, hydroponics, or test nutritional substrates, it’s futile.
In fact...
Humanity has never ceased related research; companies have cultivated new crops through genetic engineering.