Chapter 00030: Heaven Watches While Men Act
# Heaven Watches While Men Act
Chapter 30
Novel: AFK Game: Portal to Another World
Chapter 30 - Heaven Watches While Men Act
"Handing the potatoes to Viola shouldn’t be a problem, right? With the help of Druids, they should be able to grow them..."
Li Chengxi stared at the screen.
On it, an image showed Viola presenting potatoes to the tree elves.
The potatoes were bought from the vegetable market by Li Chengxi right before it rained—two full sacks in total.
That many potatoes would be too much for him alone to eat, but still not quite enough to plant extensively.
It wasn’t that Li Chengxi was being stingy—he really just couldn’t carry more...
But it didn’t matter much.
As long as these two sacks of potatoes were cut into chunks and planted as seeds, they'd gradually multiply on their own.
And with Druids, who were best at nurturing plants, it wouldn’t take too long.
The saying goes, “The people regard food as heaven.” On the flip side, those who can fill others' stomachs—become like heaven themselves!
Li Chengxi hadn’t been eating the offerings that Viola presented him for nothing.
He’d looked closely and realized—there were no potatoes anywhere in the Leon Territory.
The main vegetables were lettuce, cabbage, carrots, and onions.
The staple grains came from barley, oats, and wheat.
There wasn’t even rice.
Once he realized that, Li Chengxi began thinking about how to use food to consolidate the people’s loyalty to Viola.
Naturally, high-yield crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn were his first choice.
But the soil in Leon Territory was poor, arid, and rain was scarce.
The climate was also rather cold, which meant sweet potatoes and corn would grow poorly.
Compared to them, potatoes were the ideal choice.
After all, think about it: on Siberian family farms, what else do they do besides dig up potatoes?
So then, how does one plant and grow potatoes?
In modern times, there’s an incredible resource called a search engine.
A single search gave Li Chengxi access to everything from videos to illustrated guides—short of physically guiding your hands, it taught you everything.
As soon as Viola came back with the mountain bandits in tow, Li Chengxi handed over the potatoes and the planting instructions.
Potatoes aren’t just vegetables—they’re also a staple crop, they can be used to brew alcohol, and they store very well.
If the storage is done properly, they can last nearly a whole year without spoiling.
Even more importantly, potatoes grow quickly.
In a year, they could be harvested up to three times.
With Druid aid, four times might even be possible.
Everyone knows—in times of chaos, the one with wealth isn’t king.
The one with grain is.
Only with grain can one raise an army.
Li Chengxi hadn’t forgotten that Viola was a princess from a nearly-destroyed kingdom.
She’d definitely see the enormous potential in these potatoes.
If they were proclaimed as a high-yield crop bestowed by the Demon God, it would also greatly aid in spreading the faith.
Even if people aren’t believers, they still need to eat.
Once they eat these potatoes, they’d hear about the Demon God too.
In short—get everyone familiar with the name first.
On screen, the tree elves were listening to Viola energetically describe the benefits of potatoes while voicing awe and admiration.
Tree elves traditionally refrained from eating cooked food or animal meat.
Their staple food was fruits and tubers.
Occasionally, they’d catch insects for protein supplement.
Though the woodland was safe, food shortages had always troubled them.
Hearing about the yields of potatoes, many of them began chanting praises with great excitement.
Zhuoya: "Your Highness, the Lord has asked us to establish trade with outsiders. In this matter, we’ll need your assistance."
Viola: "The vines and crafted goods of the tree elves are highly prized treasures among the nobility. I believe we’ve no need to worry on that front. However, the trade roads leading out of Leon Territory have temporarily been cut off. Even if we have goods, we can’t sell them anywhere."
Zhuoya: "Then what should we do? We promised the Lord that trade would open."
Viola: "Rest assured. The Lord is not the type to get angry over such matters."
It seemed like the tree elves were worried they couldn’t meet some goal Li Chengxi had casually thrown out.
Probably still terrified of the Plague Goddess appearing again.
Zhuoya: "May we find an unused open space? We’d like to plant a mushroom ring there—to make it easier for Your Highness to travel between the city and our woodland."
Viola: "Mushroom rings are the most commonly used teleportation portals by Druids, right? Of course. I’ll have someone guide you to find a suitable spot in the castle courtyard."
Zhuoya seemed to relax after hearing that.
On screen, the chibi-styled Zhuoya wiped her forehead in relief.
Viola: "As for the potato cultivation, I’ve already ordered the soldiers to clear a patch of land outside the city gates. The Lord referred to it as a test field. Once commoners see the output of these potatoes, I believe the word will spread very quickly."
This was also a suggestion provided by Li Chengxi.
For any new crop, farmers wouldn’t dare to plant it on a large scale right away.
What if the harvest failed? They’d be left to starve.
But farmers aren’t fools either.
Once they actually see just how much crop a test field can generate, there’s no need to persuade—they’ll be begging to plant it themselves.
Viola: "But none of us understand how to plant them. We’ll need your Druids to help us."
Zhuoya: "Of course. We’re also very interested in this new crop bestowed by the Lord. Please allow us to participate—we definitely won’t disappoint you or the Lord."
Viola: "Then it’s settled. In a bit, I’ll have someone take you to see the test field. Also, there’s one more thing..."
Li Chengxi moved the camera with his mouse as new dialogue subtitles appeared onscreen.
He had other matters to look into as well...
——— ———
At the same time, in the Lord’s villa.
“Impossible! Impossible!! There’s no way Her Highness the Princess would know about my ledger!!”
Lord Leon flew into a rage, flinging a golden goblet to the floor.
Like a madman, he tore down a painting from the wall, revealing a hidden safe behind it.
But when he saw the slightly open door of the safe—and that it was completely empty inside—his blood ran cold.
This meant the ledger he’d just seen in the plaza wasn't forged by Princess Viola.
It was the real thing.
His own ledger.
"Who?! Who stole my ledger?!"
His butler stood trembling in the corner, not daring to say a word, frightened out of his wits.
In theory, the ledger should’ve been impossible to steal.
Even if someone had somehow stolen the key from the lord unnoticed, no one could possibly have known the password—unless he’d muttered it in his sleep?
There were no signs of the safe being tampered with.
No matter how skilled a thief, no one could’ve opened a Dwarven Craftsman's safe so easily.
And yet, the safe was empty.
This could only be called divine work—a godly technique.
Now that the princess knew the secret of the ledger... what would become of him?
That ledger didn’t just record massive corruption by the Leon family.
It even contained evidence of selling contraband to foreign nations.
Crimes punishable by execution of nine generations.
The furious Lord Leon panted like a caged beast.
Suddenly, a terrifying thought struck him.
If Her Highness already knew the contents... why hadn’t she acted?
Granted, the Avarus Demon Kingdom had more or less collapsed, but Viola still commanded two thousand elite troops, along with dozens of Royal Guards.
Meanwhile, he had only about a hundred territorial guards—whose primary job was to maintain local order.
As for combat capability... best not to mention it.
With such a vast gap in military strength, Princess Viola could have easily marched in and seized his estate.
But she didn’t.
Why?
“My Lord… Could it be that Her Highness is pretending not to know?”
“Impossible! Her Highness has been scheming to wrest my territory away since the moment she arrived!”
In truth, Viola had no such intentions at all.
Lord Leon, haunted by guilt and paranoia, was sinking into delusions.
Then, he suddenly stopped and jerked his head up.
"I see it now! She's waiting—waiting until she spreads belief in the Demon God far enough. Once there are enough believers, she’ll use this as a reason to cast me out! That [i]must [/i]be it!"
This logic had clear flaws—for example, why would she return the ledger to him if she intended to use it against him?
But the paranoid Lord had already decided this was the truth.
His head couldn’t think of any other explanation.
“I can't let this territory slip from my hands! Absolutely not!”
He cast a fierce glare toward his butler, who immediately began trembling like a leaf.
The butler already knew what His Lordship planned to do.
As the saying goes, “Heaven watches while men act. Above your head, three feet is the divine.”
That saying isn’t wrong.
One truly shouldn’t commit evil.
After all, the entire conversation between the lord and his butler had been seen—clear as day...
(End of Chapter)