Chapter 115: Northern Black Bee
"The future development direction of hybrid barley can be divided into two types: one is to cultivate independent varieties that can stably withstand cold weather, and the other is to cultivate female lines that are naturally without stamens to facilitate pollination and hybridization."

Rhodes recorded the situation in the experimental log and shook his head with a headache.

No matter which direction he chooses, he will need to spend a lot of time on research.

Hybrid barley needs to be planted in ordinary fields and cannot become a magical plant, which greatly limits Rhodes' magical transformation.

He could only use generations of selection to pick out the varieties that met the standards from the vast amount of hybrid barley.

It would be difficult to see results in the short term. In order to free himself up to do other things, Rhodes needed to find an assistant to carry out this process for him.

Train farmers and teach them how to conduct hybridization experiments?

The Agricultural Guild will indeed offer relevant courses in the future, but not now.

At present, many farmers are still at the stage of relying on the weather for their livelihood.

Not to mention fattening with manure, they don't even have the idea of ​​selecting large, plump, good quality seeds from seeds.

Just grab a handful of wheat and plant it in the field, which results in the quality of crops varying greatly in the future, and the yield per acre never being able to be increased.

Guild education was still at the literacy stage, that is, teaching residents to read and write.

Technical education is just starting, that is, at the blacksmith side of Mole Town, the situation is better because of production requirements.

It was unrealistic to expect farmers to help, so Rod decided to find the master of pollination in nature to do the work for him.

"Since there is honey produced in the North, it means that there are native bees that can withstand the cold weather living here."

At lunch time, Rod looked at the muffin that Lily handed over.

The pancakes are golden and soft, and are topped with a layer of crystal clear white honey, exuding a sweet and tempting aroma that whets your appetite.

"Do you know where the honey in Pingdingshan comes from?" Rhodes asked Lily curiously.

Lily tilted her head as she was about to eat with her knife and fork in hand.

After realizing what was happening, he quickly took out a small notebook from his arms.

"Ah, wait a minute, let me see. Something sweet. Sugarcane sugar from overseas? No, maple syrup from the southern part of the principality? Oh, that's not it either. Honey from the north! Yes, that's it!"

After finding her own records, Lily quickly introduced them.

"Well, this is white honey shipped from Hekou Town. It comes from a special kind of bees called Northern Black Bees on the snowy plains. The price of honey is 6 silver coins per pound. It's very expensive."

The Black Bee of the North? Rhodes nodded.

He was relieved to hear that there were indeed hardy bees surviving here.

Very good, pollination of hybrid barley should not be a problem.

Just as Rhode was thinking this, Lily looked back and suddenly said angrily:

"But I received a notice from Hekou Town that the supply of honey will be suspended in the short term! They said there is no supply, which is too much! Don't they know that this is prepared for you, my lord?"

Putting down the little notebook, she used a fork to bite a large piece of honey muffin into her mouth, and her little face was puffed up by the food.

Thinking about not being able to eat for a while, he complained incoherently.

When he heard that the honey supply had been stopped, Rhodes recalled the chaos that had been going on in the Northern Frost Cult during this period.

As this evil cult wreaked havoc in the north, not only was trade routes blocked, the production of many local goods also suffered a devastating blow.

Rhodes didn't care whether there was honey or not, but the current situation of the bee colony made him worry.

Lily was in charge of his living arrangements and had no idea where the honey came from.

Rhodes did not make things difficult for her. After lunch, he came to the Moon Rabbit Garden next to the Magic Field.

This is the home he built for the Snow Moon Rabbits, and it is also a production base for making magic potions.

At this time, the center of the Moon Rabbit Garden.

Enveloped in the fragrance of fine lavender, Lunsa was half-crouching in front of her sister Lucia.

She took the green medicinal mud handed to her by Xueyuetu and gently applied it to the wound on Lucia's face.

The scar left by the dinner knife on the fair and delicate cheek of the red-haired little girl was particularly eye-catching.

Every time she saw him, Lunsa couldn't help but feel distressed.

Fortunately, there is a chance for this situation to change.

As the head of the medical corps, Lunsha does not need to organize competitions, unlike the other three battalion commanders who are busy.

She did not leave Pingdingshan immediately, but stayed in the Moon Rabbit Garden, following these magical rabbits to learn about the use of medicines.

Higher lavender can disinfect and kill bacteria and treat various infections.

Besides that, there is a magical medicine here that amazes her.

Higher Centella asiatica is a new magical plant cultivated by Rhodes a few months ago. It has a powerful effect in healing wounds.

As this batch of high-grade Centella asiatica matured, it was mixed into a healing ointment by Snow Moon Rabbit.

Just apply it on the wound, and a 30-centimeter-long knife wound on the abdomen can be completely healed in less than half a minute.

In addition, the healing ointment also has the effect of removing scars.

After some time, Lenza cleaned the ointment off Lucia's face.

Looking at the barely visible scar on her sister's face, she smiled happily.

Just one more time and Lucia would be able to regain her once delicate little face and return to her original lovely appearance.

Lunsa also thought of the injured girl in the hospital.

Despite the work during this period, smiles returned to their faces.

But if given a choice, no woman would want to live her whole life with an ugly face.

Rhodes came to her side and looked at the two sisters, one big and one small.

Surrounded by flowers in the garden, the heroic elder sister is holding her lovely younger sister, forming a harmonious picture.

He said, "Don't worry, as long as they complete the daily learning tasks of the medical soldiers, they can all receive treatment with the healing ointment."

Seeing the lord coming, Lunsa raised her head and said respectfully: "Thank you for your kindness, sir, for giving them hope to survive."

Lucia, who was in her arms, glanced at the two of them.

She silently picked up a Snow Moon Rabbit next to her and trotted to the other side of the garden.

Rhodes looked in the direction of Lucia. When he got there, he saw the girl helping the cute Snow Moon Rabbits prepare potions and deliver the medicines to them.

When the Snow Moon Rabbit rubs her head gratefully, a happy and innocent smile appears on her face.

It's different from being manipulated in front of you like a puppet.

When Lucia is with small animals, she actually shows the liveliness of a little girl.

This is a good thing, Rhodes thought. Staying indoors all the time will make you sick.

With Xueyuetu's help and company, he can also understand the girl's mental state at any time.

Noticing that Rhode was observing his sister, Lunsa stood up and whispered:

"Please rest assured, sir. Mansaru and Flynn deserved the death penalty. I will enlighten Lucia and let her understand the truth. She is an innocent and lovely little girl and will not pose any threat to you."

After getting Rhodes' nod, Lunsa felt relieved.

When she first learned from her father Loren that her sister was adopted by a new lord, Lunsa couldn't help but worry.

Although his father had a very high opinion of the new lord, the nobles were best at superficial disguise.

She didn't know the new lord's true character.

And given her sister Lucia's cuteness and temptation, if she fell into the hands of someone with bad intentions, she couldn't imagine what kind of inhuman harm the girl would suffer.

It turned out that she was wrong, extremely wrong, and her father's vision was extremely correct.

Thinking of the ugly scene in her mind before, Lunsa couldn't help but lower her head, feeling ashamed for doubting the lord in front of her.

Rhodes could feel the girl's emotional changes.

After realizing that he was once considered a pervert, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

I thought if I really wanted to let go and have fun. Just based on his status and this face, there would have been a lot of mistresses in the capital Fuxing City vying to support him.

There's no need to go to a hellhole like the North to target a little girl.

Rhodes criticized the girl harshly in his heart, but he just regarded it as a form of entertainment to relieve stress, so he smiled and didn't care.

He talked about the real reason he came to find Lunsa, which was about the source of honey in the estuary town.

As the daughter of Knight Loren, Lunsa had an in-depth understanding of the various commodities in Hekou Town and quickly answered his questions.

Lunsa replied: "The black bees in the North are irritable and very difficult to tame. Only the Epark people have mastered this skill. In order to avoid war, they often live in seclusion on the snowy mountains of the plateau to prevent outsiders from discovering their traces."

With Lunsa's explanation, Rhodes gradually understood the situation of the Northern Black Bee.

This kind of bee lives on snowy mountains and is difficult to find in other areas.

Only the Aipaks were able to tame them and establish settlements in the snowy mountains.

The Aipaks, translated from the kingdom, mean beekeepers.

The North is vast and boundless, with tens of thousands of different ethnic groups living on this snowy plain, each with its own unique skills and customs and traditions.

Different from barbarians like the Wolf Chief, the Aipak people live in seclusion in the snow-capped mountains, and each tribe has a small population, often only a few hundred people, and lacks threat.

This made the principality's attitude towards them relatively friendly.

Anyway, they are hiding in the snowy mountains and won't come down, so there is no value in attacking them.

The two sides do not disturb each other and live their own lives.

Apart from regularly trading honey with caravans, the Aipark people live an almost isolated life in their peach gardens.

Lunsha continued, "There is an Aipark tribe on one of the snowy mountains in the Nuxue Mountains, 120 kilometers away from Hekou Town. Two years ago, I visited that village with my father."

"Although the White Frost Cult is wreaking havoc on the trade routes, the road to the snowy mountains is difficult. The local tribes should not have been destroyed, but only temporarily cut off from the outside world."

Rhodes asked, "So you know the location of the village and the way up the mountain?"

The traces of the Northern Black Bees were hard to find, and what Rhodes needed was not a few dozen or a few hundred, but a swarm of over ten thousand.

There is no purchasing channel near Hekou Town.

In this case, he decided to go to the snowy mountains himself to look for the mysterious Aipark people.

In addition to the Northern Black Bees, you can also find valuable plants along the way while climbing the mountain to enrich the harvest of the magic field, killing two birds with one stone.

After finding out that she could help, Lunsa nodded confidently and said quickly:

"Don't worry, sir. Honey is an important commodity in Hekou Town. I remember the relevant roads very clearly. If you need, I can take people there immediately."

Rhodes responded with satisfaction: "Very good, go and prepare your luggage for departure, and meet me at the gate in an hour."

After making plans for her departure, Lunsa left the Moon Rabbit Garden and went to pack her equipment.

Rhodes took two sets of military medical kits from Xueyuetu.

Each set contains two tubes of barley [energy drink], two tubes of lavender [disinfectant], two portions of Centella asiatica [healing ointment], one tube of black wolfberry [blood tonic], and multiple disinfectant bandages.

If a war breaks out in the future, medics will carry multiple medical kits.

Follow behind the soldiers to provide treatment for the wounded at any time.

Hanging the medical kit on the side of the snow horse, Rhodes put on thick leather armor, a sword at his waist, a longbow on his back, and waited for Lunsha to arrive.

He didn't have to wait too long. After changing from his cotton coat to his military uniform, Lunsa trotted to the gate.

Without the cover of thick outer clothes, the girl's nearly 1.7-meter tall figure is revealed.

The two long, slender legs have beautiful lines and move with light steps.

After coming in front of Rhodes, Lunsa stood straight with her legs tightly together.

The leather armor on the chest of the girl in front of me was slightly raised, but not by much, and she had a white fur shawl on her shoulders to keep warm.

With her heroic short hair, the unique temperament of the female knight is perfectly displayed, which is strong yet gentle.

This is a scene that can never be seen inside the kingdom.

The girl over there is unable to possess this kind of heroic spirit that has been cultivated since childhood.

Even if he was wearing a military uniform, it was most likely some nobleman's evil intention of flirting in bed.

After feeling the beauty of Lunsa, Rhodes tried to look away to avoid showing impolite attitude.

He turned over and jumped onto the snow horse, motioned for Lunsa to sit at the back, and prepared to set off.

"Sir, are you going there in person?"

Lunsa did not refuse and simply got on the horse and sat behind him.

But it was still a bit surprising that Rhodes set out in person.

Originally, Lunsa thought that she would follow a group of cavalry.

But I didn't expect that I would set out with the lord.

Few lords would be willing to travel all the way out into the wild to suffer the cold.

The image of him lying beside the warm fireplace in the room, hugging the woman's smooth body, was more in line with her imagination of an ordinary lord.

"Ordinary cavalry can't climb the snow mountains. There is only one snow horse in the territory. We will try to get back before tonight." Rhodes did not explain too much.

The numerous problems facing the development of the territory during this period were giving him a headache.

Staying in Pingdingshan is too busy all day, so it’s better to take the beautiful girl out and relax.

After Lunsa sat firmly, the snow horse under Rhodes took a step forward.

The cold air spread from the horse's hooves and rose rapidly.

According to Lunsha's guidance, the snow-capped mountains where the Aipak people live are about 130 kilometers away from Pingdingshan.

The Snowfield Colt is an excellent warhorse that can travel a thousand miles a day, so this distance is no problem for it.

The road to the snow-capped mountains was rugged and uneven, and due to the lack of clearing by the caravan, a layer of snow more than one meter thick accumulated on the road.

When ordinary war horses step through the snow, their hooves will sink deeply into it, seriously slowing down their running pace.

But the snowfield colt is different. Relying on its racial talent, it can step through the snow without leaving any dents.

The cold air beneath the horse's hooves lay just above the snow.

It was like a pure white carpet spread forward, allowing it to run rapidly in the air.

Rod felt like he was sitting in a convertible supercar traveling at high speed.

Among the towering mountains, between the pure white snow line and the gray-black stone beach, a white phantom passed by.

He raised his head and enjoyed the experience of this exhilarating ride.

The biting cold wind hit his face, and the increasing altitude made the air thinner and difficult to breathe.

The snow horse's body shook as it kept jumping over high slopes and cliffs.

While enjoying the process, Rhodes suddenly remembered something.

He quickly looked behind him.

With his physical fitness as an extreme knight, he could certainly easily withstand the full speed of the snow horse.

But Rensha behind him has not yet been promoted to knight, and he might not be able to withstand such bumps.

Under his gaze, Lunsa closed her eyes, grasped the saddle with both hands, and squeezed her thighs tightly to stabilize her body.

She was breathing rapidly, and her originally rosy cheeks turned a little pale, and it was obvious that she was struggling.

In this situation, as long as she hugged her body from behind, she would immediately feel much more relaxed.

It’s a pity that the girl was so strong-willed that she chose to bear it herself.

Looking around at the scenery, Rhodes slowly stopped the snow horse.

(End of this chapter)