181: Chapter 181 Threshing Wheat into Flour! Racing Against the Iron-Heeled Legion

11:20 AM.

Third-level Dome Greenhouse.

Lin Wan squatted in front of the Air-drying Rack, holding a handful of threshed wheat stalks, checking the residual grain rate.

Song Ya was over with the sixth group, leading four Agricultural Technicians to pack the threshed wheat grains into cloth bags, marking each bag after weighing.

"Lin Wan, threshing for groups one through five is complete. The cleanliness rate is ninety-six percent, and the residual grain rate on the ears is below four percent, which is acceptable."

Song Ya's voice came from a distance.

"What about groups six through ten?"

"They start at one in the afternoon and are expected to finish by three."

Lin Wan stood up, brushed off the wheat husk fragments from her knees, and pressed her communicator.

"City Lord."

"Speak."

"Reporting progress on the second harvest's threshing. Groups one through five are done, ninety-six percent cleanliness. All threshing will be finished by 3 PM. Tonight we'll disinfect and clean the Hydroponic Racks, and tomorrow morning we'll start grinding flour. The Synthesizer will switch to grinding mode, and the first batch of nine hundred kilograms of flour will be out tomorrow afternoon."

"How many people will nine hundred kilograms cover?"

"Based on a standard of three bowls per person, nine hundred kilograms is enough for three thousand people for one day."

"Three thousand people."

Lu Chen paused for a beat on the other end.

"What is the current number of registered residents?"

"The number Chen Li reported this morning was over seven thousand eight hundred."

"Seven thousand eight hundred to three thousand... on the first day, we can cover less than half of the registered residents."

"Yes, but the grinding is continuous. After tomorrow, we'll produce eight hundred to one thousand kilograms daily. We can complete one full round of coverage within three days."

"How long is the flour gap?"

Lin Wan calculated quickly.

"It will take five days to finish grinding all the flour from the second harvest, around the sixty-fourth day. The third harvest of wheat is also on the sixty-fourth day. After harvesting, it will take two days to thresh and grind. There will be no gap in between."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure."

She flipped open the Planting Log in her hand.

"The thirteen tons and four hundred kilograms from the second harvest can yield about eight and a half tons of flour. This batch can sustain us until the third harvest. The third harvest will be seventeen to eighteen tons, yielding eleven to twelve tons of flour, which can cover thirty thousand people for at least four days."

"And after four days?"

"The fourth crop will be sown immediately after and harvested on the seventy-first day. The Greenhouse has entered a stable production cycle, one harvest every seven days. How could it be interrupted?"

Lu Chen was silent for two seconds on the other end.

"The seventy-first day."

Lin Wan heard the change in his tone.

"City Lord, what's wrong with the seventy-first day?"

"The main force of the Iron Hoof Legion will arrive at the Rustwind Wasteland on the seventy-first day at the earliest."

Lin Wan's fingers stopped on the Planting Log.

The Full-spectrum LED Lights in the Greenhouse provided even illumination, making the golden wheat ears look translucent.

She pressed down hard on the page.

"There's a chance the fourth harvest won't make it in time."

"If we need to relocate."

"What happens to the Greenhouse during relocation?"

"The Greenhouse moves with us. The dome is part of the Polaris, so wherever we go, the Greenhouse goes."

"Then there's no problem."

Lin Wan's speaking speed returned to normal.

"As long as the Greenhouse is still there and the Lighting System is still running, the fourth harvest won't be affected."

"What about water?"

"The Atmospheric Water Molecule Extraction Tower runs continuously, producing one thousand seven hundred liters daily, covering both Greenhouse irrigation and daily usage. Even if the external environment changes during relocation, the extraction tower draws water from the air and doesn't rely on external water sources."

"Good."

Lu Chen's voice softened over the communicator.

"Lin Wan."

"In."

"The planting area for the third harvest is eighty-five percent. Can we push it higher?"

"Ninety percent at most. We need to leave ten percent for vegetables and cash crops. The Strawberries and Watermelons can't give way."

"They won't."

"Then ninety percent."

"Alright, adjust the third harvest to ninety percent."

"I'll adjust it when we sow tomorrow morning."

"There is one more thing."

Lu Chen's pace remained unchanged.

"Regarding the Composting Cycle Test, Liao Dacheng said three to five days. Which day is it now?"

"The third day. We can open the valves and test the first set of Hydroponic Racks tomorrow or the day after."

"Good, let me know as soon as the test results are out."

"Understood."

The communicator hung up.

Lin Wan closed the Planting Log.

Full-spectrum LED Lights projected down from the dome, covering fourteen thousand square meters in simulated sunlight.

The seeds for the third harvest of Fast-growing Wheat hadn't been sown yet. The Hydroponic Racks bore traces of having just been cleared, with leftover green Nutrient Solution in the pipes from the previous crop.

Sowing starts at 6 AM tomorrow, harvesting in seven days.

The sixty-fourth day.

Lin Wan put this date together with the seventy-first day Lu Chen had mentioned.

A gap of seven days.

What was seven days enough for?

Enough to grow another crop.

She walked toward the Strawberry section. The fruits of the second batch of eight Strawberry plants were already four centimeters long, pale red turning white at the top, with a deeper red at the bottom.

Five to seven days.

The sixty-fourth to sixty-sixth day, coinciding with the third wheat harvest.

She squatted down and touched one of the plumpest Strawberries with her finger; it was firm and the flesh was growing well.

"Song Ya."

She called out loudly.

"In."

"Adjust the third harvest's planting area to ninety percent, starting tomorrow morning."

"Ninety percent? That's five percentage points more than planned."

"The City Lord's request."

"Alright, I'll adjust the layout."

Lin Wan stood up and looked at the three Improved Watermelon plants in the corner of the Greenhouse.

The Watermelons were already the size of two fists, with clear skin patterns—green background with white stripes.

They would mature between the seventy-fifth and seventy-eighth day.

By then, there was a chance the Iron Hoof Legion would have already arrived.

She pushed the thought down and walked toward the threshing area.