The sound of technology whirled through the forest near Johan’s farm. Science roared as he pulled the cord of the magik chainsaw the delivery guy had dropped off this morning.

  The chainsaw looked like a normal one, but instead of a gasoline engine, it used small magik stones from E Rank magik beasts. Making it much lighter.

  The magik stones acted as one-time batteries, but they weren’t as expensive. If anything, they were cheaper than using gasoline. The magik chainsaw was the hardest thing to get.

  First, the cost was about thrice that of professional brands, and people also had to go through a tedious permit process to own one. The Agni Clan handled that for Johan, so he was more than grateful.

  “Muhahaha!” Johan’s laughter was overshadowed by the chainsaw.

  Eunally and Nunally looked from afar, curious about the new toy, but also startled by the noise. Cerberious seemed most annoyed since his naptime ended abruptly.

  Johan only moved towards the trees, intent on cutting them down fast so the dog could go back to sleep. However, before the spinning chain could touch the tree, he stopped.

  “How do you cut a tree again?”

  The chainsaw had him so excited that he had forgotten to renew his knowledge of the subject. Like any normal person, he had come across videos of people cut tree with a chainsaw while an AI voiceover explained things in an overdramatized way about half of the time.

  And like most people, he only went ‘That’s cool’ then moved on. Never expecting that he’d one day need that knowledge. If he had, he’d have practiced his notch techniques.

  First, cut downwards at an angle, then a straight one to carve out a triangle, then circle to the back and cut till the tree tilts under its own weight. Johan repeated the steps over and over in his mind for the umpteenth time.

  He pulled the cord on the chainsaw once again and made the first cut. Although he expected some resistance, the chainsaw glided through too easily. The shower of shredded wood did spook him a bit; good thing he had safety goggles on.

  It was so easy to cut that he almost made the cut too deep. Good thing the tree was strong and didn’t tumble over. As Johan kicked the notch out, the carved part facing the emptied field, he circled to the back and put the chainsaw to work.

  Once again, it shredded through with ease. Johan quickly pulled back when he heard the first crackle. It sounded like when he fed dry sticks to a bonfire, but more amplified.

  The tree leaned forward, into the empty field, as he turned the chainsaw off and got cover behind a nearby tree. As the trunk made a 60-degree angle with the ground, a sharp snap echoed.

  Within the rustling leaves and aggressive splintering, the tree crashed onto the ground with a thud. Eunally and Nunally came over swiftly, running around and poking at the felled tree. Cerberious looked unenthusiastic as always.

  However, Johan discovered a big problem. Yes, he had cut down the tree, but the stump it left behind had him stumped.

  In the videos, they either burned it or pulled it out with a car. Johan didn’t want to risk burning it, and he couldn’t get a car inside the Tower.

  “What was the point of cutting it then?” Johan deadpanned, eyes set on the tree stump about as thick as his body.

  Maybe burning it was the only option he had?

  As he grappled with the ideas in his head, Cerberious walked past him and faced the tree stump. Cherbie’s growl caught his attention. As if saying ‘watch this’.

  Cherbie opened its mouth and bit down on the trunk. Its fangs sank into the wood like a hot knife through butter. And with a twist of its head, it uprooted the trunk like a dead twig, roots and all.

  Tossing the stump aside like a toy, right next to the fallen tree, Cherbie growled at Johan. It wasn’t a threat, just a negotiation.

  It does sound like a threat, though. Johan sweated, taking out one jar of dehydrated Nefel’s blessing pulp.

  Watching Cherbie chew on the jar, all smiles, Johan had a bright idea. If it liked the dehydrated pulp, then it should like the fruit, right?

  Johan had about twenty of them in his storage, and he needed to remove ten more trees. However, giving a fruit per tree stump would be too much.

  “Cherbie.” Johan squatted next to the head, enjoying the sugar rush, the Nefel’s blessing in his hand. “If you help with my work, I’ll give you one fruit per hour.”

  The icy, sweet scent seemed to have jolted Cherbie awake. It looked at the fruit and Johan a dozen times, drool already dripping down its open jaw.

  “What about it?” Johan, with his totally normal smile, waved the fruit around.

  Cherbie’s shining eyes followed it around before it decided to nod.

  Expensive gifts tamed everyone, be it cranky in-laws or high and mighty Guardian beasts.

  In two hours, Johan had gained an extra 600 square meters to work with. Combined with the original open space, this much should be enough for him till his class got upgraded.

  “Cutting too many trees isn’t good, even inside the Tower.” Johan gave the trees that Cherbie had helped him gather in one corner a silent prayer.

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  He still had to trim the branches off the first few trees. It was only halfway through that he understood that part. Still, with Eunally’s help, the rabbit had become way too adept with the sickle; it didn’t take too long.

  Nunally had already started to fill in the holes left behind by the stumps, levelling the field on her own. Johan wasn’t sure how to further cut the trees; should he do it the short way or the long way?

  In the end, he sliced half of them into manageable chunks and left the others intact till he had more information. With the wood stored in the corner temporarily, he moved on to the next work.

  Ruby Berry seeds.

  He took a handful of ripe berries from the bush and went into his tent. Slicing them in half, he looked at the crimson flesh with bright green seeds.

  With a spoon, he spooned out the flesh and squeezed the juice away, placing the mushy pulp, with the seeds, in a beaker. After that, he poured in 100 ml of magik water and stirred it till the water turned blood-like red.

  He poured the contents into another beaker, passing it through a cloth, dropping the remaining pulp and seeds back in the first beaker with fresh magik water. He repeated the process three times until the water remained clear.

  “These should be ready by tomorrow,” Johan observed, the gel-like coating on the seeds bubbling against the water.

  After he had planted these, it was only a matter of time before he got Rank C berries.

  Vitality potions weren’t as popular as healing potions among the Hunters. They did give a boost of energy, but wouldn’t heal. Whereas the healing potion healed and also gave a boost in energy.

  Still, they had a market, albeit a smaller one. Johan wasn’t planning to aim for it; he only wanted better vitality potions for himself. Even after pulling an all-nighter, a single potion helped him recover well.

  His body still demanded sleep, but with these potions, he could push through a few days of work if ever needed.

  That type of thinking is gonna get me in trouble, I swear.

  Even as he felt that, Johan helped Eugene stock up the potions he had brewed last night instead of sleeping. Well, in a few days, a lot of this work would be off his shoulders.

  After that, he’d get proper rest, that’s what he had promised to himself. Till then, he could only roll with things.

  As noon approached, Johan stifled a yawn and drank another potion alongside tea to avoid a midday crash. He still had to plant the Golden Pear saplings, oversee the Sherry leaves harvest, and brew the potions for Yuna’s guild.

  Even if she said that it wasn’t urgent, potions were more important than money to a guild. They were a safety net that always helped.

  Johan especially wanted to make more of those D+ Rank potions. Yuna had told him about the damage doubling mechanism and how well it worked.

  Although the chances of it activating were low, it was worth the gamble. Also, he couldn’t wait to brew the (+) healing potions when he got the upgraded Golden pears.

  He could only pray in front of the newly planted saplings, begging one of them to bless him. Still, it wasn’t that easy, so he could only return to the mart to handle some paperwork.

  It was mostly follow-up details on the store next door and some forms for the potion bottling machine that’ll arrive tomorrow. The workers had started work on the place and were following the normal floor plan that would match what Johan needed.

  Since Lucas’s deal was delayed a bit, he wasn’t swamped with extra work. By the time the clock reached 3 in the afternoon, he had finished all of the pressing tasks.

  With the time he had, Johan wanted to get some information on how to handle the wood in the Tower and read a few more books from Hunter Net while having lunch outside. Maybe even buy the second Hunter phone he needed?

  However, just as he stepped outside, wanting to catch a bus to the nearest Hunter Mall, a black car with tinted windows stopped outside the mart.

  Haskins. Jr stepped out of the car, dressed in a three-piece black suit. He looked professional for once instead of his high school delinquent cosplay.

  At first, Johan thought that he was just here for someone else, at least he hoped so. His hopes weren’t answered as the guy walked up to him, hands in his pockets.

  “I am here to make you an offer.” He started, the twisted smirk on his lips still. “An offer you can’t refuse.”

  Now, what was this Temu Godfather trying to pull here?

  Johan wanted to tell this knock-off mob boss to get out of here. He used to feel intimidated by him at one point, but facing Hunters like Lucas and Merilyn multiple times had lessened the impact of someone like this.

  Now, before he went on another tangent, Johan was about to shoo away this stray dog. But it started speaking first.

  “The first son of S.M. Duran wants to meet you.” When Haskins. Jr said that Johan’s thinking shifted.

  This was an opportunity.

  ***

  It had been an hour since Haskins. Jr had left, leaving Duran’s card and handwritten letter with him.

  The letter was in a rather polite tone and neat handwriting, asking him what time he would be free to meet and speak about his produce. Seemed like S.M. had caught a whiff of the weight-loss vegetables.

  The first son did handle the Foods department of S.M., so this wasn’t a bad thing. Leaving the weight loss factor aside, which Johan only wanted to use as bait, the vegetables gave a good buff to the Hunter.

  Such increases could help the Hunters during raids, especially if used strategically. Agni Clan had no hand in this sector, and neither did the Association.

  Johan’s initial plan was to let the vegetables spread through the rich wives for the weight loss help, then, when he had enough attention, he could reveal the other benefits it provided and aim for the Hunters.

  After all, Hunters already relied on packaged food, and the industry had only grown larger with time.

  Still, there was one thing he knew for certain.

  “Has no one told you that it’s super annoying when you pace around like that?” Sasha’s face scrunched up like a cat’sthato had her nap disturbed.

  “Yuna has.” Johan quipped, but soon shook his head. “So, you can listen to me through the phone, after all.”

  He had a vague feeling, but her sudden appearance only solidified this. Even more so when she looked away, whistling.

  “I have no idea what you are talking about.” A robot would speak more naturally.

  “Has anyone told you that you can’t lie?” Johan smirked, watching her face turn red.

  “Guild Master has.” She rebounded quicky however. “Are you really going to meet him?”

  Johan looked at the letter and card on the mart’s counter. He had taken it from Haskins with the intention of meeting Duran.

  “It is a good opportunity to expand my business, something that’d help me towards my goal. No reason not to do this.” He shrugged.

  S.M. had a huge stake in the Hunter supplies industry, a pioneer in the country, even. If anyone could realize the magik vegetable’s full potential, it was them.

  But Johan had another reason, a very compelling one at that.

  He showed the chat history from the second son of the S.M., who hadn’t stopped sending him messages.

  “An older brother should help keep the younger one in check, no?” Johan smirked.

  This was the way the world worked, new or old.