The next morning started with a different kind of energy.
With three rest areas now available for everyone, people were not waking up packed into the same tight space anymore. They still had work piled in front of them, but the camp felt less strained, and that alone made everyone work better.
Aiden did not waste that momentum.
He split the work with everyone. The settlement wall team stayed focused on posts, beams, and stacking, and the farm team moved out with him to start turning the cleared land into something real.
Aiden kept the wall work moving even while he was away from it. He linked J.E.M. to the flying drone and sent it above the work line so it could watch the layout from a higher angle.
[DRONE FEED: ACTIVE]
[WORKSITE VIEW: SETTLEMENT WALL]
[GUIDANCE MODE: ENABLED]
[LOGGING: ON]
Marrek and Karsen stayed on site, walking the line, checking spacing, and keeping people from drifting into mistakes that would cost time later. The drone hovered above, and every so often it adjusted position to show the next section. J.E.M. fed Aiden the angles and gaps through his interface, so he could give simple corrections even while he was not standing there.
Aiden led Talren and ten others toward the northwest plot. The area was about a mile out, far enough to feel separate from the base, but close enough that they could still move people back fast if something went wrong.
When they reached the cleared space, Aiden stopped and looked over it again.
He had cut a lot already, but now it needed shape.
He paced the edges and used simple markers, stones and short stakes. He settled on a farm plot that was about 420 feet by 320 feet, large enough to expand rows over time without needing a full redesign.
The group spread out and cleared the last of the mess, digging up roots, stacking rocks, and dragging brush out of the way so the rows would stay clean. Aiden then chose three people to log with him, since the farm wall needed stronger posts than ordinary wood.
He needed ironwood.
Ironwood posts would last longer and hold weight better, and if they were building barriers for animals, weak posts would fail the first time something heavy leaned into them.
Aiden went to the nearest ironwood trees and turned on his core powered cutting tool. The tool cut smoothly as he guided it through the trunk. He watched the tree start to lean, warned the others with a hand signal, and let it fall into the open lane they cleared for hauling.
Talren and Havel worked a little farther off, cutting normal trees with the axes Aiden made for them. The axe heads were simple but sharp, and the difference showed in how clean the bites were.
With the mech frame supporting Aiden's body, the heaviest parts were easier for him. He could lift and shift thick ironwood sections into place while others tied rope and pulled, and he did it without straining his back.
As the piles grew, the animal problem stayed in his mind.
There were too many creatures in the forest. Even if the crops grew perfectly, animals could ruin it in one night by stomping rows, digging up tubers, or simply eating the young shoots.
Aiden did not want to gamble months of survival on luck when he could just prevent it now.
So he made the call early. They would wall the farm now, even if it took extra days.
It was not going to be a towering fortress. It was pretty much just a practical barrier. A thick ring of posts and logs, braced, with no easy gaps, and high enough to stop most animals from stepping in without effort.
If something bigger came, the wall might not stop it, but it would slow it and give them time to react. That mattered more than pretending the farm was safe without protection.
The first day ended with the ground more open and the first stacks of wall posts ready.
Aiden walked the farm line once more before heading back, checking the markers and imagining the rows. He could already see where the corn would go, where the potatoes and sweet potatoes would spread out, and where a walking path would cut through so people could move without stepping on plants.
The next morning, they pushed harder.
The wall crew at the settlement had a rhythm now, and Marrek and Karsen kept them on track. The drone stayed overhead like an extra set of eyes, and J.E.M. continued logging movement and progress without getting in the way.
At the farm, Aiden and the group set the first ring of posts. Ironwood went into the most important corners and main braces. Normal logs filled the rest. They used rope and simple cross braces to keep the structure from leaning, and they packed dirt and stone at the base so animals could not easily push under it.
By the third day, the farm wall stood as a real boundary.
That was when Aiden finally moved to planting.
Aiden gathered the four farmers Talren mentioned and brought them to the edge of the first walled plot.
Old Bram and Old Nessa moved slower than the others, but their eyes stayed sharp. They looked at the soil, the slope, and the way the ground held moisture, and Aiden could tell they had done this kind of work for years.
Aiden showed them the corn seeds first and explained the spacing and depth, then showed the potatoes and sweet potatoes and explained that those needed wider gaps since the growth happened under the soil. He also told them these crops were not common here, so the first planting would teach them what the land liked.
Old Bram rolled a seed between his fingers and nodded once. Old Nessa scooped a bit of soil, rubbed it, then pointed to where the first row should start so water would not pool.
Jorin and Maela were already looking at the rope lines and talking about row spacing, ready to begin.
Aiden looked at all four of them. "Alright, each of you take three helpers, keep them with you, and set the rows the way you prefer as long as the spacing stays even."
Everyone nodded and got to work immediately.
People had new hope now. After the resting area and the walls were finished, they started building simple homes where families could sleep without fear. They were farming for real, not just surviving day by day, and they knew that if they worked hard they would be fed.
It was not like the kingdom, where you could work like a dog and still fear your life being taken away. Here, for the first time in a long time, they felt grateful, and most of that was because of Aiden.
******
After going over the plan with everyone and making sure each person understood their role, Aiden decided it was time to start planting. The choices were set, the numbers were counted, and the land was already prepared. Now all that was left was to put the crops.
Before anyone touched the seed stock though, he split it into three clear batches and made sure everyone saw the numbers.
Two hundred corn.
Two hundred potatoes.
Two hundred sweet potatoes.
It was not just to make the field look orderly It was so the work stayed clear and easy to track. If crops failed later, he needed to know which rows were planted where, and what might have caused the problem. Random planting made it harder to tell what went wrong.
He laid rope lines across the cleared ground and anchored them with stakes, pulling them tight until the rows were straight and consistent. The ropes turned the plot into a grid that even tired hands could follow.
He assigned helpers to open holes at steady distances while the farmers placed the planting stock.
The corn went into clean lines with room to grow upward, leaving enough space for airflow and movement between rows. The potatoes and sweet potatoes were given wider spacing, because their real growth would happen beneath the surface.
When someone asked why he was being so strict about the layout, he kept it short.
By the time the first plot was planted, the area barely looked like the same place. The dirt was no longer scattered and uneven. It was set into straight rows with clear gaps between them, and you could tell exactly where each crop had been placed.
The wall around the field made it feel protected, with a clear boundary and a single controlled entrance. For the first time, it looked more like a real farm now.
Aiden did not stop there.
A few hundred meters away, Aiden had already picked a second spot earlier. The soil there was just as good, and it was far enough from the first field that the two plots would not get in each other's way. It was still close enough to guard and manage without splitting their people too much. He chose it as a backup. If something went wrong with the first farm, animals, disease, fire, or raids, the second one would still be safe.
He sent another team to repeat the same build, and it was much easier this time because they already had experience. They knew the spacing, the order of steps, and how tight the lashings needed to be. Posts went in with confidence instead of hesitation, and the wall took shape quickly because the work was familiar now.
Then the planting repeated in the same measured order.
Two hundred corn.
Two hundred potatoes.
Two hundred sweet potatoes.
The second plot went smoother than the first. The farmers kept a steady pace, and the helpers held the spacing without needing constant correction. The rope lines stayed tight, and the soil was pressed down firmly by hand instead of being crushed under boots.
By the time they finished planting, the sun was already dropping. The busy sounds from the settlement carried through the trees made Aiden smile a bit.
He stood between the two walled fields and looked back toward the settlement and the base. For a moment, he just watched what they had built.
Aiden did not know it yet, but the crops he planted would later on go far beyond this settlement.
What looked like a few quiet rows in the dirt would spread, pull attention, and change how people ate, traded, and survived across this world.