11: Chapter 11 When the Planetary Defense Forces Start Farming

As Fu Haoran took over the ranch, various troubles followed one after another.

Fu Haoran had bought up a large amount of unsellable soybeans at a low price. Who could have imagined that a granary claimed to hold ten million tons of soybeans would split down the middle, letting tons of beans pour out like a flood?

The scene was truly spectacular.

The preliminary investigation results indicated structural aging; it was deemed an accident.

However, misfortunes never come singly.

His assistant, Lola, ran over to report, "Boss! Another farm just sent over three hundred head of cattle! We simply don't have enough manpower!"

"Why can't we hire anyone?" Fu Haoran was a bit puzzled.

Lola immediately got angry. "Exactly! The union came to cause trouble again yesterday, saying they won't allow us to hire anyone unless we triple the wages!"

"They also demanded a hazard allowance and that daily working hours not exceed four hours. I didn't agree, so they said they would continue the strike!"

Fu Haoran frowned. He was already offering the highest hourly wage, yet these rednecks were still not satisfied.

Even if his money had been blown in by a strong wind, it wouldn't last if spent like this.

"Mr. Fu, I believe we need to increase the slaughtering prices to relieve the pressure."

Before the assistant could finish, someone screamed, "Wild boars!"

Dozens of black-maned wild boars were emerging from the bushes.

They were as sturdy as calves, and the largest one was nearly the size of a pickup truck.

The moment the wild boars upended the grain piles, dust flew everywhere.

"Run!"

Everyone turned pale with fright. A charge from a wild boar could send a person flying.

This group of wild boars were old hands at this; they caused destruction with practiced ease, chasing everyone around.

When they saw someone with a shotgun, they would immediately scatter, but as soon as the hunters weren't paying attention, they would launch a sneak attack.

One wild boar knocked over a forklift parked nearby, snatched up half a sack of soybeans in its mouth, and bolted away.

More black shadows surged out of the woods. Fifty? A hundred?

It was a dark mass of them, impossible to count.

The nearby cowboys watched with schadenfreude.

"Hahaha, this Asian kid is stunned, isn't he? This is just a small-scale boar sounder. With so many soybeans scattered here, more boars will come. This place will soon become a buffet."

"This kid definitely won't last a month!" A redneck sneered, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. "You can't kill all the boars, and the cost of clearing them out is more expensive than the ranch itself. Just wait for bankruptcy!"

Others nearby joined in the jeering. "That's right. Small-caliber rifles can't kill boars, and it's hard to catch them in a car. Even if you do, you have to worry about the boars flipping the vehicle."

"Using a helicopter to hunt is just burning money. No matter how you calculate it, it's not worth it!"

Suddenly, two pickup trucks with Environmental Protection Agency markings crunched over the mud and stopped at the farm.

A fat official, Calvin, stepped out of the car with a cigarette in his mouth.

Calvin tossed his cigarette butt into the mud and pulled a folder from under his arm.

"Mr. Fu." He opened the folder and tapped his finger on the bottom line of text. "I'm here to notify you."

"In this slaughterhouse of yours, the disposal of offal hasn't followed the Montana Agricultural Waste Management Regulations. The waste piles are in violation, and these soybeans piled in the open have attracted biological gatherings, which constitutes an ecological hazard."

Calvin said smugly, "The total fine is 2.7 million dollars."

"I'm giving you two choices now: one is to pay the money, and the other is to suspend operations for rectification."

"As for the rectification process... environmental impact assessments, hearings, construction reviews—by the time the whole set is finished, it'll be at least three months."

"By then, the slaughter season will be long gone. Whether this ranch of yours can stay in business is hard to say."

"Of course, there is a third option: within three days, you clean up all these animal scraps piled in the slaughterhouse and solve the wild boar problem while you're at it."

As he spoke, he glanced at the chaotic slaughterhouse and the black shadows of boars constantly darting out of the woods, then sneered. "I suggest you just pay the money honestly. With your lack of manpower, you can't handle this at all."

Lola wanted to say something but hesitated. From the beginning, she felt that buying the farm and slaughterhouse, and then extensively expanding and renovating them, was a terrible investment.

Aside from the slow returns, every step of the way had been a headache.

"Mr. Fu, I think we should cut our losses in time to minimize the damage..."

Fu Haoran interrupted, "Thank you for your suggestion, Ms. Lola, but I have my own plan."

Seeing Fu Haoran's persistence, Lola chose to remain silent.

No one knew that facing this scene, Fu Haoran was not annoyed but instead felt a bit excited.

Fu Haoran stood where he was, watching Calvin's pickup disappear at the end of the road.

The townspeople watching from a distance, seeing there was no more excitement, also muttered and drove away one after another.

The area outside the ranch gates finally became quiet.

Lola didn't give up and continued to advise, "Boss, they're gone. But what about the soybeans and the wild boars? And the slaughterhouse..."

"Take the workers to dinner first. We're finishing early today, and wages will be paid as usual." Fu Haoran interrupted her, his voice calm. "Have them all leave the ranch area."

"Boss?" Lola was stunned for a moment.

"Do it. Then you go back to town as well. No matter what sounds you hear, don't come back before dawn." Fu Haoran's tone brooked no argument.

Seeing Fu Haoran's persistence, Lola could only give in.

Soon, in the vast farm, only Fu Haoran remained, along with the grunting of the wild boars.

Fu Haoran didn't go inside; instead, he walked toward the depths of the ranch.

There were some rusted agricultural machines piled here, and usually, no one ever came.

Fu Haoran looked around, and after confirming no one was nearby, he summoned the system.

"System, deploy forces."

The air about ten meters in front of Fu Haoran began to distort silently.

There was no dazzling light, no tearing of the sky.

Only that distorted curtain of light quietly opened a passage.

Immediately after, the heavy sound of tracks and engines broke the silence.

One, two, three... armored vehicles drove steadily out of the distorted air.

On the vehicle bodies were worn Aquila emblems.

The first vehicle stopped steadily in front of Fu Haoran.

The hatch pushed open, and Wade jumped down, standing at attention and striking his chest with his right fist.

"My Lord, 3,320 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Engineering Regiment of the Planetary Defense Force, carrying 3 Chimera armored personnel carriers, 1 Leman Russ Tank chassis modified engineering vehicle, 6 all-terrain transport vehicles, 12 engineering servo-skulls, and 1 rhino main battle tank."

"All personnel have arrived. Please instruct us!"

Fu Haoran nodded. "Clean this place up, pack up the grain and take it away, send a group to hunt, and another group will come with me to work."

"Yes!" Wade turned and made several gestures to the convoy.

Soon, faint sounds, like high-pressure gas leaking, came from the edge of the woods.

Followed by the dull thuds of heavy objects hitting the ground.

"Ssh... ssh-ssh..."

More similar sounds rang out, short and dense, accompanied by the brief, suppressed wails of wild boars before death.

Other wild boars were startled from their sleep. Before they could understand the source of the danger, more and denser beams of light struck.

In the blink of an eye, a huge herd of at least a hundred boars lay neatly on the ground.

Every one of them had a hole the size of a bowl left on its body, the surrounding tissue carbonized, with no blood flowing.

More beams of light struck, and the wild boar herd fell in swathes, like wheat before a scythe.

There were no screams, only the dull thuds of corpses hitting the ground and the hissing sound of lasers searing flesh.

After confirming the clearance was complete, Wade waved his hand, and groups of soldiers began loading the corpses onto the personnel carriers.

A young Guardsman put away his lasgun and whispered to his comrade, "I thought it was some dangerous job, but in the end, they have us dealing with these harmless beasts."

A veteran said happily, "Are you stupid? These beasts will be made into canned meat. We'll have something good to eat later."

Meanwhile, in the mountain forests thirty kilometers away from the ranch, three Black Hawk helicopters skimmed at low altitude, the roar of their rotors tearing through the night sky.

On the ground, over a dozen military Hummers sped along, crushing the dust.

Graystone stood in the command vehicle, staring at the intelligence on his tablet with a furrowed brow. "The 120 men of the Night Owl squad and the 130 men of the Woodcutter squad have all arrived. The employer increased the price to 120 million; the job must be done well."

The deputy commander handed over a communicator. "Captain, the drone captured signs of a large number of personnel active in the ranch!"

Graystone sneered and touched the pistol at his waist. "I don't care how many people there are. Send the word out: we move at 3:00 AM. First, deal with the other squads, then capture the target."

"This 120 million—we're taking it all for ourselves!"