Kai walked the east end of the farm — dry, cracked soil under his boots.
This was where he planned to start his tobacco beds. But not like a rookie. Not anymore.
He stood in silence, then tapped open the system and dropped to a knee.
"Merge starts at the dirt."
MERGE GROUND – PLOT E
Materials: 4 merge energy
Targets: 2 adjacent G1 soil plots
Result: G2 Soil Bed
Traits Gained:
– Moisture Retention +60%
– Root Memory
– Plant Flavor Amplification
✅ MERGE
The soil shimmered — particles tightening, turning darker, denser, alive. Worms surfaced and then tunneled back down. The smell hit his nose — earthy, rich, potent.
He ran his fingers across it.
"Now we grow."
Cash from the seed rights sale cleared.
No hesitation.
Kai ordered 500 chicks through a backchannel name. Paid in full.
This wasn't expansion.
This was occupation.
He built 6 more coops that night, framing them fast with merge-charged wood from previous structures.
MERGE STRUCTURE – COOP UNITS
2 Coops → 1 Titan Coop
Trait: Auto-waste channeling
Trait: Merge-Aura Passive Boost for Layers inside
Status: Online
By the time the birds arrived, he had merge-ready housing for every one.
He sorted 40 matured birds into the tray and ran a full merge sequence:
• 40 Lv.1 → 20 Lv.2
• 20 Lv.2 → 10 Lv.3
• 10 Lv.3 → 5 Lv.4
• 4 Lv.4 → 2 Lv.5
• 2 Lv.5 → 1 Lv.6 Apex Layer
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
He produced 7 Apex Layers and 2 Legacy Merge Candidates.
Selected three top-performing Apex hens and activated the Legacy Merge Protocol:
✅ MERGE
Legacy Layer Created – "Crimson Crown"
Traits:
– Yield Surge Aura
– Egg Flavor Memory
– Territory Claim – Coops within 50m gain +10% output
– Dominance Sync – Calms all hens during storms
Kai grinned.
"She's not a hen. She's a system node."
With the G2 soil humming, Kai planted his first batch of tobacco seeds by hand.
50 beds, spaced across merged terrain. Each one locked into the system.
Once they sprouted past 8 inches, he ran merge chains:
• 2 x G1 → 1 x G2
• 2 x G2 → 1 x G3
• 2 x G3 → 1 x G4 Blackleaf Tobacco
Merge Traits:
– Flavor: "Ash Burn Velvet"
– Nicotine Efficiency +90%
– Lung Flow Stabilizer
– Crave Spike (+45% mental pull)
He dried the first harvest in a custom tent built beside the Merge Shed.
Smoked one cigar.
It burned slow, pulled clean, and left a hum in his spine.
"Tastes like the end of a long war."
Kai launched a new crate tier:
Merge Grown Crate – Black Edition
1 Legacy Egg
2 Titan Eggs
1 Verdant Lettuce Head
1 Tin of Merge Blackleaf
1 Loyalty Coin
Price: $60
Subscribers: 20+
He also updated the Merge Crate branding.
Now every box was pressed into merged wood — tougher, smoother, more aromatic.
Trait: "Scent Memory" – Boxes retain and enhance aroma of contents
Trait: "Hands of the Farmer" – Opens easier if touched by Kai
His customers didn't even notice.
But their bodies did.
Repeat orders tripled in a week.
At the close of the week:
Chickens: 620
Apex Layers: 12
Legacy Layers: 3
Coops: 14
Lettuce Beds: 44
Tobacco Beds: 60 (18 merged)
Crate Orders: $27,000
Tobacco Sales: $5,400
Total Revenue: $32,400
Merge Energy Reserve: 18 Units
Farm Control: 1.5 acres
MERGE GROWN LEVEL UP
Tier: Independent Farm Rank 4
Merge Bonus:
– Ground Merge Rate Discount
– Crop Trait Prediction Panel
– Merge Soil Memory +1 Cycle
Special Unlock:
– Merge Blackleaf Line – Eligible for branding submission
– Merge Egg Trail – Flavor mapping for personalized crates
New Opportunity:
Merge Territory Protocol – Claim Additional Land via Merge Beacon
Kai read it all and just nodded.
"Everything starts with dirt. Everything ends with taste."