The Starfield Farming Sovereign (Elizabeth Schofield) novel Chapter 6

All those items bundled together cost a shocking 405 stellar coins.

Out of everything for sale, it was already the best deal available.

Even so, the moment Elizabeth tapped "Confirm Purchase," her chest still hurt.

The 454 stellar coins she'd just earned dropped straight down to a sad 49.

She walked out of the recycling station, took a deep breath of dirty air, and forced herself to calm down.

Things would work out eventually.

For now, she needed to head back to the original Elizabeth's shelter on the Garbage Planet, settle down, and then figure out what to do next.

Following the fragmented, blurry memories in her mind, she trudged unevenly through rotting heaps of trash.

Everything around her screamed ruin.

On a planet that had been stripped of all value, endless garbage mountains were the only resources left for people to cling to just to stay alive.

One bony figure after another crouched between the trash heaps, backs bent as they mechanically dug through the waste.

They searched for scraps to ease hunger, barely usable parts, or discarded junk that could be traded for a few stellar coins.

A dull gray despair clung to every face.

Elizabeth hardened her heart and forced herself to look away from the suffering.

She could barely survive herself. She had no space left for sympathy.

To kill time, she opened her device, planning to check the requirements for buying seeds from the Kingdom Agricultural Research Center.

She quickly found the seed application page on the official site.

"Kingdom Agricultural Research Center—Natural Crop Seed Purchase Eligibility Regulations:

"1. Applicants must hold a Basic-level or higher Grower Certification issued by the Kingdom Ministry of Agriculture.

"2. Applicants must own a clearly registered, standardized, temperature-controlled cultivation facility with an area no smaller than 10,000 square feet;

"3. The facility must be equipped with a complete intelligent planting system, including but not limited to environmental simulation control, sterile hydroponic tanks, spectral growth lighting, real-time soil composition monitors, automated drip irrigation, and fertilization systems..."

...

Elizabeth stared.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What on earth did I just read?

Faced with those insanely strict conditions, she was completely stunned.

She only wanted a few normal seeds. Why did the process look more complicated than applying to adopt a panda?!

She needed a license just to grow crops?

In three lifetimes—whether in the 21st century or the cultivation world—it was the first time she'd ever heard of such nonsense.

In the cultivation world, if she had land and spiritual power, she could plant.

In the 21st century, people grew vegetables in their backyard without any certificate at all!

The more she read, the more absurd it felt.

Haha! She'd been breaking her head over where to find seeds.

And here they were! Without searching, she'd stumbled onto them just like that!

She bent down without hesitation and picked up the dirt lump, holding it like a priceless treasure.

The two children froze. Watching the strange woman laugh eerily while holding the lump, fear flooded their faces.

Instinctively, they rushed in front of the unconscious girl, staring at Elizabeth with fierce caution, afraid she might suddenly attack and take the girl.

On this planet, kindness was rarer than clean water. Any approach could mean robbery—food, parts, or even people.

Driven by hunger, weak children sometimes ended up on others' food lists.

Elizabeth ignored their hostility. All her focus was on the dirt lump in her hands.

She wiped away the grime, revealing the uneven skin beneath, dotted with tiny sprouting eyes.

That was right. It was a potato.

It was mutated and spoiled, but undeniably a potato!

Holding back her excitement, she looked up at the terrified children. She lightly shook the potato and asked as calmly as she could, "Do you have any more of these?"

The children's gazes sharpened. They pressed their lips tight and said nothing, guarding the girl like wolf cubs.

Elizabeth didn't push them. She reached into her storage button and took out a low-grade liquid supplement.

Inside the clear tube, murky liquid sloshed around. Yet on this hopeless wasteland, it shone with the irresistible promise of survival.

"I'll trade this for all the 'dirt lumps' you've got. How about it?" she said evenly, holding it out. Her voice was steady, as if she were making the simplest deal in the world.