Chapter 47: Farming Problems.

Hearing this, Alexander rolled his eyes and said, "How did you think the Meat Brute Order got the sheep they were feeding us every day?"

"I thought they went into the wild and grabbed them from somewhere," it replied, its voice lacking the bite and self-assurance it usually had.

"That’s how the first sheep were acquired. At that time, they were called mouflon. Those were the ancestors of modern-day sheep."

"After years of domestication, mouflon have become the sheep we know and love to eat. People captured and bred them in captivity for years for their wool, meat, or milk."

"That’s a part of agriculture. Agriculture isn’t just for growing plants to eat."

"So you mean to say humans can raise animals the way they raise plants? And here I thought capturing plants and raising them was already impressive, the worm asked excitedly.

"I thought farming was for raising plants, and it was disgusting and useless. Now you’re telling me we can actually use farming for food? Tell me, what else can they raise aside from sheep?"

"We can raise cattle, pigs, goats, chickens, rabbits, quail, and so on," Alexander said in between mouthfuls.

"Wow," its eyes widened in shock. "So many kinds of food."

Then it asked excitedly, "What about humans? Can we raise humans?"

Alexander thought about the question for a while before he said, "We can, but it isn’t worth it."

"Why not?" it asked, surprised.

So Alexander said, "We can’t raise humans here because we will either be shut down or the principality will take away our humans."

"The Lord of this principality has laid claim to every Drone in their domain. So the best we can get is to be paid for the humans we produce. We definitely can’t eat them."

"We can move away from here into the wilds to set up our farm, but it will be very dangerous. Monsters will attack the farm to steal our livestock, and we might even be killed. The best solution is to become a Lord and have enough strength to create our own principality."

"But even if we solved all of that problem, the truth remains that humans are not efficient livestock. They take too long to mature, are picky with their food, have low fertility rates, and take too long to gestate their offspring."

"A human will need around 12 years before they can produce offspring. Then they will need around nine months to produce one offspring."

"In comparison, female pigs need around 5 to 7 months to mature for reproduction. They take less than four months to gestate and can produce up to 20 offspring in a litter."

"Pigs can also eat nearly anything and will grow much faster. So raising humans would be an inefficient use of our time."

"Wow. If you’re right, then humans are inefficient. We should raise pigs. Let’s go and start our farm as soon as possible," it said, urging Alexander.

"Let’s go and raise our food like gods. We will never starve with a farm. We will swim in infinite meat every time."

Alexander didn’t think their farm would go so well. But he didn’t want to destroy the worm’s fantasy.

He could only say, "Don’t be in a rush. Before we can have a farm, we need money. And lots of it too."

"We need money to buy the sheep and money to buy the land. We also need money to hire Drones to help us. We need money to..."

"Then let’s go and get money," it said, cutting Alexander off.

"Do you even know what money is?" Alexander asked, exasperated.

In response, the worm replied with a question, saying, "What is money?"

Alexander could only shake his head and say, "You have so much to learn."

"Yes, yes. You’re the smartest. You’re the best and greatest," the worm said sarcastically, copying what Alexander did earlier.

"Now will you tell me what money is instead of showing off?" it asked, irritated. "We could have a farm right now, but you’re wasting my time with money."

"No, we cannot. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. We need to earn a lot of money before we can have a farm."

"Even with enough money, I’m not sure the Meat Brute Order will let us have a farm. At least, we need to ask for permission before we can establish the farm."

As he kept listing what they needed to buy or overcome, the worm groaned, "You’re giving me a headache."

"This is just the start. Things will become more hectic and stressful when we own a farm," Alexander said, smirking.

"Just start from the beginning. What is this money you speak of? Can we eat it? If we can eat it, why do we need a farm?" it asked, firing off a barrage of questions.

"Will you at least let me finish before you pester me?" Alexander asked, frustrated.

"Do you remember when I said we should eat that girl? Do you remember the argument I made to justify planning to eat her? Do you want me to make that argument again?" it asked, angry that Alexander was wasting time.

Before Alexander could reply, it said, "You know what? I’ll just repeat the argument since you need it so badly."

"You should know that this meal will surely end. You should also know that I am always hungry. Therefore..."

Alexander quickly interrupted it and said, "Money is that thing that the other titans are eating?"

"Earth stuff? Money is dirt?" it asked in confusion.

Alexander sighed again as he said, "Money isn’t dirt. It is dirt that has been purified into valuable bits of metal. The metal is then used to exchange for goods and services between humans."

Inwardly, he thought, ’It is like teaching a toddler. I really hate teaching.’

Meanwhile, the worm asked, "What makes that kind of dirt valuable? Why can’t you use any dirt or stone for money?"

Alexander had to rack his brain before saying, "In summary, I’ll say value comes from cost of production and demand."