My Apocalypse System Arrives 10 Years Early

Chapter 430: Chapter 284: The Scouring Wind Finally Reaches North America

The United States is also a major agricultural power, and every year, China imports vast quantities of its agricultural products, such as soybeans, corn, sorghum, wheat, cotton, and pork. However, much of it is genetically modified, especially the soybeans, corn, and cotton, so Li Xiang had no interest in any of it.

He set his sights on America’s staple grain: wheat.

In the past, the United States had banned the genetic modification of wheat, its staple grain. Though the rules have been relaxed in recent years, the proportion of GMO wheat is still very small. How could you not call Americans devious? They sell the genetically modified stuff to other countries while keeping the non-GMO food for themselves.

Imported foods and food additives generally require a ”non-GMO certificate.” Without one, a product isn’t very competitive in the North American market.

Night fell. On the plains bordering Iowa and Nebraska, an earthy yellow halo emanated from Li Xiang’s feet. Earth Veins spread out like a spiderweb, reaching the United Grain Company’s granary complex twenty kilometers away. This 3.2-square-kilometer storage center held last year’s winter wheat harvest from Kansas—a full 20% of America’s high-quality hard red winter wheat was stored here.

A vibration like muffled thunder rumbled from deep underground. Twelve 45-meter-tall silos cracked open at once. Swathed in the earthy yellow light, waves of golden wheat flowed down through fissures in the soil and vanished into the void.

A light screen, visible only to Li Xiang, flickered to life. ”Kansas hard red winter wheat: 5.2 million tons. Protein content: 13.8%.”

Next, with a flash of movement, he appeared on the outskirts of Fargo City, North Dakota.

Li Xiang strode across the frosty, frozen ground. A cold snap had turned the spring wheat warehouses in the Red River Valley Plain into natural freezers. He pressed one hand to the snow-covered earth, his Earth Superpower piercing the permafrost, which was frozen at -15 degrees Celsius. The Durham wheat stored here—the core ingredient for macaroni—was transferred wholesale, along with its moisture-proof liner. The system’s voice was as cold and mechanical as ever. ”Extra-hard Durham wheat: 3.8 million tons. Test weight: 82 lbs/bushel.”

After that, Li Xiang made his way to the Palus Plateau in Washington State.

Now that his Earth Pivot World Record had reached its third form, all his Earth Superpowers had naturally grown stronger. His Earth Vein Perception Ability, in particular, had increased tenfold, expanding from a radius of about two kilometers to around twenty. As a result, his efficiency at ”extracting” the wheat had improved dramatically.

Under the moonlight, the cluster of white silos resembled the ribcage of a colossal beast. This was where 70% of America’s white wheat was stored.

Li Xiang’s Superpower seeped along a tributary of the Columbia River, neatly carving out the nitrogen-purged storage units in their entirety.

By the time the alarms began to blare, 2.7 million tons of soft white wheat, valued at 480 million US Dollars, had already vanished into the depths of the Earth Vein. The lingering fragrance of wheat even triggered the sensors of a patrol drone fifty kilometers away.

Unfortunately for them, this was an attack from a higher dimension.

Moving at his Extreme Speed of Mach 11, Li Xiang’s figure blurred. In a single dash, he arrived in Chickasha Town, Oklahoma.

A strategic grain reserve, disguised as a fertilizer plant, was buried 18 meters underground. Li Xiang’s Superpower morphed into countless earthen spikes that pierced the blast-proof concrete layer. The emergency reserve of hard red winter wheat stored within was ripped out, root and all. The resulting gust of air flipped over laser security devices that had been disguised as heaps of grain.

”Strategic wheat reserve: 1.8 million tons. Vacuum-sealed, unopened.” The system automatically filtered out the tracking chips embedded within.

Even if it didn’t filter them, the chips would have lost their connection to Earth the moment they entered the Otherworldly Warehouse.

In a single night, Li Xiang zipped across the United States. Such was the advantage of Mach 11.

By the time dawn broke over the Mississippi River, 127 core granaries across America’s seven major agricultural belts stood empty.

Standing on the banks of the Missouri River, Li Xiang tallied his spoils. He had plundered a total of 22.6 million tons of ”new wheat” from the previous year’s harvest, equivalent to 43% of the entire United States’ annual wheat exports.

The river’s surface reflected the static hissing from a distant granary’s monitor. All electronic records had been utterly erased by a Geomagnetic pulse.

A Geomagnetic pulse was a type of Earth Superpower, so it was naturally included as part of the Earth Pivot World Record.

And yet, even all this wheat wasn’t enough to fill his massive warehouse. Its volume had now reached a staggering 134,218,000 cubic meters.

All the supplies in his warehouse, including everything he had scrounged up before, now took up only about 40% of the space. That meant he still had over eighty million cubic meters free.

’Whoops, how could I have forgotten? North America has another very famous agricultural product.’

American Ginseng.

Another name for American Ginseng in Chinese literally translates to ”Flower Flag Ginseng,” a reference to the American flag.

In the first half of the 17th century, Western missionaries discovered how incredible Chinese ginseng was, and how expensive it sold for in China. Some clever individuals figured it couldn’t possibly be unique to China. They reasoned that it might also grow in places with a similar latitude, climate, and environment to Changbai Mountain, and they soon zeroed in on the region of Quebec, Canada.

And sure enough, their search yielded a similar plant. It was later discovered in the forests of the Northeast United States as well, and subsequently, more discoveries were made throughout the Atlantic Coastal Forest areas of both Canada and the United States.

A Chinese worker surnamed Mei gave it its Chinese name, a nod to the American flag. However, Americans and Europeans rarely eat American Ginseng; many have never even heard of it, figuring it’s probably not much different from a carrot. The vast majority of it was shipped across the ocean and exported to China.

At this time in China, traditional codonopsis was nearly extinct. Furthermore, Emperor Kangxi, in order to protect the Qing Dynasty’s ”ancestral homeland,” had strictly forbidden any logging on Changbai Mountain. As a result, the domestic supply of ginseng was scarcer than ever before.

The arrival of American Ginseng from Canada was the perfect solution to this pressing crisis. After careful study and deliberation, the Imperial Hospital determined the herb’s properties, channel tropism, and medicinal effects, officially incorporating it into traditional Chinese medicine. And with that, the gates to the Chinese market swung wide open for American Ginseng.

Li Xiang arrived at the black earth on the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania, and his Earth Superpower spread out like a web.

This was North America’s American Ginseng Golden Triangle: Wausau City, Wisconsin; the Waterloo Region in Ontario Province; and the southern foothills of the Catskill Mountains in New York State. A staggering 80% of the world’s top-grade American Ginseng came from this area.

Ginseng Fields, Wausau, Wisconsin.

Under the moonlight, five-leaflet compound leaves unfurled in the night breeze. The roots of ginseng over thirty years old were gnarled like silver threads. Li Xiang plunged his hands into the ground, and the black earth within a five-kilometer radius churned like a tidal wave, ripping the five-leaflet American Ginseng from the soil.

The system’s prompt rang out. ”2,200 kilograms of 30-year-old prized American Ginseng logged.”

An underground storage center in Waterloo, Ontario.

Inside a -18°C cold storage unit, vacuum-packed, 40-year-old prized American Ginseng was stacked in neat rows. Li Xiang stomped on the concrete floor. His Superpower pierced the blast-proof layer, and the frozen earth beneath condensed into a channel of Ice Crystals. Three thousand kilograms of Ginseng King, valued at 230 million US Dollars, slid down the icy chute and into the Earth Vein. The alarms remained silent, their circuits disrupted by the Earth Element.

Southern Foothills of the Catskill Mountains, New York State.

In an organic ginseng field shrouded in morning mist, 25-year-old American Ginseng plants were just beginning to sprout. An earthy yellow light flared around Li Xiang as hundreds of fissures split the ground open. Thumb-thick ginseng roots automatically twisted themselves into bundles. By the time a helicopter patrol passed overhead, 1,800 kilograms of 25-year-old high-grade American Ginseng had been deposited into the system’s warehouse.

Wildlife Sanctuary, Upper Peninsula, Michigan.

Infrared monitors suddenly flickered with static. The Earth Superpower transformed into countless fine filaments that burrowed into the Humus Layer. A 60-year-old wild ginseng, hidden deep within an oak forest, was pinpointed. Its body was a translucent, amber color. With a flick of his fingertips, twelve supreme-grade amber American Ginseng Kings burst from the earth, each one worth its weight in gold.

Li Xiang had taken quite a few detours, jumping from one place to another, but his efforts had paid off.

Before dawn, 42 storage facilities and ginseng fields across North America’s seven core American Ginseng production regions stood empty.

A virtual light screen, visible only to Li Xiang, flickered with a summary of his haul: ”Total harvest: 9,200 kilograms of high- to supreme-grade American Ginseng (25-60 years old), and 16,790 kilograms of quality American Ginseng (5-25 years old).”

Morning dew dripped from the few remaining ginseng leaves. It wasn’t until noon that the ginseng farmers of Wausau discovered that all their surveillance footage had been reduced to nothing but a mess of distorted, earthy yellow static.

It wasn’t just the American Ginseng. Wisconsin’s cranberries, California’s almonds, and even its wine all began to mysteriously vanish.

On a moonlit Texas ranch, an entire herd of Angus cattle suddenly floated into the air. Li Xiang made a grasping motion with his hands, and an earthy yellow halo enveloped more than ten thousand head of beef cattle.

Soon after, the bison herds of Wyoming, the lobster pounds of Maine, and the king crab fishing fleets of Alaska were all plundered as well.

Maine lobster is what’s commonly known as Boston lobster. They were originally exported through the port of Boston, which is how they got the name.

Americans were going insane. Absolutely insane. But this was far from over. It was merely the appetizer.