Life in a Simulation - Chapter 16

In the blink of an eye, six more years had passed.

Zhou Ming was now 12 years old, but his deliberately trained physique and rapidly growing height made him look stronger than an 18-year-old adult.

The land he rented from Baron Connor had increased from 10 acres six years ago to 20 acres. Of these, 6 acres were still used for growing wheat, while the other 14 acres were used for growing peas and forage.

As his farming skills became more and more proficient and the effectiveness of the strongest manure continued to show, the average total yield of the 6 acres of wheat he planted had increased from 70 talents six years ago to 100 talents.

Other farmers’ wheat fields also saw some increase in yield after applying manure, but the increase was only slight and far from the exaggerated yield of Zhou Ming’s wheat field.

The farmers in the town gossiped and asked him for tips, but after taking a look, they still thought Zhou Ming’s farming methods were too complicated and not practical for hundreds of acres of land. So, they gave him another nickname—”Lucky Little Layne.”

As for the other 14 acres of pasture, Zhou Ming used 20 talents of grain to exchange for four lamb from the shepherd Reodo, and with an annual rent of 2 talents of grain, he adopted a heifer.

With these one cow and four sheep, Zhou Ming let his sister Alice learn how to graze. In less than three years, these cattle and sheep grew well, gave birth to offspring, and produced milk. In less than four years, their number doubled, bringing a lot of meat and dairy products to the two siblings.

There were also more than a hundred chicks that Zhou Ming raised to prevent and control pests and diseases in the wheat fields and pastures. The dozens of eggs they laid every day not only improved the living conditions of the two siblings but also made their growth rate much faster than that of their peers.

Moreover, since Zhou Ming was still under 16 years old and had not reached the age of being obliged to work for the lord on a weekly basis, the work in the wheat field was not heavy, and his sister Alice could also help with grazing the chicks, cattle, and sheep. Zhou Ming had plenty of time every day to exercise his body.

And the object of his exercise was the knight.

Knights are the ultimate representatives of military power in this era and the solid foundation for the ruling class to maintain their rule. Becoming a noble and powerful knight is almost the dream of all the lower-class people in this era.

Zhou Ming naturally also went to understand how these human tanks, the knights, were trained.

Taking advantage of several opportunities to give gifts to Lady Madeline, Zhou Ming, who entered the castle, secretly observed the knights training in the training field to see what was different about them.

Horizontal slashing, vertical chopping, straight thrusting, shield collision, horseback charge, archery, axe throwing, javelin throwing… that’s all.

Zhou Ming felt that these knights’ combat skills were not much different from the combat methods in a game he had played before called “Mount & Blade.”

It was nothing more than faster hand speed, more accurate archery, and stronger impact force… all of which came from practice.

However, seeing those knights split a log as thick as a bowl with one sword; crash a thick wooden board as big as a door with a shield, making it shatter with a loud noise; and wearing a set of heavy armor, riding on horseback at high speed, and chopping off the heads of the straw men on the side of the road like cutting melons and slicing vegetables, he was secretly amazed. Such terrifying military power could probably kill a hundred farmers armed with wooden sticks in the wild battlefield in less than an hour?

“I must not confront these knights with invincible defense and strong attack directly. Unless using crossbows or longbows with strong armor-piercing ability for concentrated fire from a hundred people, it might be possible to defeat such a knight. Or, enter the age of firearms and use matchlock guns and cannons to blast them to death…”

Many plans flashed through Zhou Ming’s mind in an instant.

But… for him, none of these plans were very realistic at present. Black powder goes without saying, and the two raw materials, saltpeter and sulfur, are both resources that are difficult to collect in large quantities. The complex spring mechanism inside the crossbow also requires a highly skilled craftsman to make.

As for the longbow, the height requirement is above 1.8 meters, and it requires a draw force of nearly 40 kilograms to pull the bowstring and ensure accuracy at a distance of 1,200 meters…

“I’d better start with the most basic exercise. With a strong body, even if I can’t beat these knights, self-preservation should be more than enough.”

So, starting from the age of eight, every morning, after drinking a cup of cow and sheep milk, eating a few eggs, and gnawing on a large piece of barley bread smeared with butter, Zhou Ming would then start doing 500 push-ups, 100 frog jumps, and a 2,000-meter run. In the evening, he would tie several sandbags to his body, take a sharpened birch rod in the backyard, and aim at the mouth, eyes, neck, chest, and heart of a human-shaped wooden target. After a three-step charge, he would thrust fiercely, repeating this cycle 1,500 times.

“Brother, why do you do these things? Can’t you come over and play with me for a while?” One day, Alice, who was bored and sitting at the entrance of the yard, pouted and asked Zhou Ming, who was training.

Brother is always doing these boring things and never knows to play with me for a while.

Hearing the voice, after completing the last set of spear thrust training, Zhou Ming put the birch rod aside, wiped his face with linen cloth, and then sat next to Alice, looking at her with a gentle gaze.

His only sister, though only 10 years old, had already grown into a budding beauty. Perhaps it was due to the good genes inherited from their parents, or perhaps it was because of the good nutrition in recent years.

Her crystal-clear, milky white skin, long wavy golden hair, a delicate nose like a jade shoot, a cherry small mouth with a bit of coquetry, and a pair of charming big eyes, as well as the beginning of a small scale in front of her chest… Zhou Ming admitted that his sister would definitely grow up to be a tall and graceful beauty, a well-known beauty far and near.

Even now, when she walks on the road, she can already attract the attention of some farmers and knights.

“Layne, I heard that your sister Alice is very beautiful. Bring Alice to the castle tomorrow. I want her to be my little mistress,” one day when Zhou Ming went to the castle to pay his respects to Lady Madeline, the lord’s youngest son, Donny, said to him like this.

Since ancient times, beautiful women have often brought disaster. His sister is so beautiful that she has been targeted at the age of ten. It is hard to imagine what will happen when she grows up.

“Alice, it’s not that brother doesn’t want to play with you. It’s that brother must become strong quickly and develop some skills! Only then can I protect you well and keep you safe from those bad people,” Zhou Ming kissed Alice on the forehead and held her in his arms.

“Okay, I understand. You are really good to me, brother,” Alice nodded understandingly. She was raised by this brother, and in this world, no one is better to her than her brother.

“Alice is so well-behaved. Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, there was a daughter of a farmer named Cinderella…”

He told seven or eight stories in a row, until Alice, with a smile on her lips, fell into a sweet dream, using his arm as a pillow. Only then did Zhou Ming carry her to bed and gently cover her with a blanket.

“Alice, even if brother ends up with nothing in the future, I will not let you get hurt at all!”

Looking at his sleeping sister, Zhou Ming made a silent vow.

Life in a Simulation - Chapter 16

Comments for "Chapter 16"

Hate that cliffhanger, don’t you?

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