The plants with metallic leaves in the monitor were still swaying gently, as if they were breathing. Chen Hao stared at them for a full minute, then suddenly pushed the mouse away, got up, walked to the holographic projection table, and slammed the start button.

"Stop looking at it, it's getting more and more creepy." He muttered to himself, "We can't just keep going around in circles with the system, we have to do something practical."

Nana stood beside the control panel, her robotic arm slightly retracted: "What have you decided to do?"

“Farming,” he said decisively. “Turning the soil, sowing seeds, fertilizing—it’s the old way of doing things passed down from our ancestors. No matter what strange things grow outside, we still have to eat, right? But this plow of ours—” He turned around and dragged a crooked wooden plow from the corner of the wall, “It takes two days to plow the land and three days to repair the tools. It’s as inefficient as sneezing, and it even has recoil.”

Nana glanced at the blackened wooden plowshare: "The current farming efficiency is 32.6%, and the breakage frequency is once every seven days on average, which does not meet the standards for sustainable agriculture."

“Look, even the machines are rejecting it.” Chen Hao threw it on the ground. “Let’s upgrade. Let’s start with the basics—a plow revolution!”

Nana paused for two seconds, then deployed the optical projection, and a silver-gray three-dimensional structural diagram appeared in the air. The lines were smooth, the curves precise, and there was even a flow channel design at the bottom.

"Referencing the improved plow design in Europe at the end of the 18th century, and combining it with modern materials mechanics models, we recommend using a high-strength alloy frame with an arc-shaped cutting edge at the front end, which can reduce traction resistance by 47%."

Chen Hao looked up at the cool design drawings, his lips slowly drooping: "The drawings look nice, like weapons from a sci-fi movie. But where are we going to find alloy? The most metallic thing I've ever picked up from the junkyard is a rusty battery spring."

"There are currently no qualified metal materials available among the available resources," Nana reported truthfully.

"Then there's nothing we can do?" He scratched his head, the smell of sweat mixed with dust hitting his nose. "We can't expect a piece of iron to fall from the sky."

As soon as she finished speaking, Nana's optical eyes suddenly flashed: "An abnormal geological signal has been detected. The coordinates are located on the northwest side of the karst cave area, at a depth of 8.7 meters. The density value exceeds the standard. It is preliminarily judged to be an underground metal sedimentary zone."

Chen Hao was stunned: "Wait...you mean, it's really possible to dig iron out of the ground?"

"The compositional analysis is not yet complete, but the characteristic spectrum is highly consistent with that of nickel-iron meteorites."

"Holy crap!" He jumped up, nearly hitting the projector. "This isn't iron falling from the sky, it's iron being buried in the ground! This place has finally done something decent!"

"Artificial mining and purification processes are required."

"Then what are we waiting for?" He grabbed the shovel from the corner and headed outside. "Before those metal grasses learn to walk, let's build our own iron plow!"

---

As night fell, they had already dug three meters deep at their target location.

Chen Hao was panting heavily, his t-shirt soaked and clinging to his back, the grime on his face etched with deep lines from the sweat. He swung his shovel, and suddenly, with a loud "clang," the impact sent a shiver down his spine.

"We have it!" He tossed aside the clods of dirt and pulled out a dark gray ore, its surface pitted and uneven, like the residue of something that had been burned and then cooled.

Nana used a probe to take samples and test: "The iron content is 47.3%, the nickel content is 11.2%, and there are traces of carbon, which meets the basic conditions for forging."

"So, you mean we can forge iron?" Chen Hao grinned. "Are we going to replicate the progress of human civilization?"

"The technical approaches are different, but the essence is similar."

They built a makeshift furnace by the field, piecing together the furnace chamber from discarded metal cans, and stuffing the bottom with charcoal and scrap plastic as fuel. Nana adjusted the angle of the air duct to increase the oxygen supply, and the flames quickly turned from red to blue.

The ore was placed into the furnace core, and the temperature slowly rose. Chen Hao squatted beside it, stirring it constantly with an iron rod, the heat making him squint.

"Do you think blacksmiths in ancient times had it this bad? Covered in sweat and ash, they had to worry about their furnaces exploding and burying them in the ash."

Historical records show that the early metallurgical accident rate was approximately 1.7 explosions per 100 operations.

"Goodness, on average one out of every hundred times dies?" He shrank back. "So how many times is this?"

"This is the first attempt."

“It’s a miracle I’m still alive.” He wiped his face. “If we succeed later, we have to make a record: On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, Fatty single-handedly propelled the Haona ecosystem into the Iron Age.”

Once the furnace temperature reached the critical point, Nana manipulated the robotic arm to pour the semi-molten ore into the mold. Chen Hao put on tattered gloves, swung a thick iron bar as a forging hammer, and struck the nascent plowshare repeatedly.

Sparks flew everywhere, and the clanging sound echoed across the empty fields.

“Flatten the left side a bit more!” he shouted.

"The pressure on the right side is too high, causing structural stress displacement," Nana warned.

"I know, I know, light touch, heavy touch, more touch, less touch... Oh dear, my skills are harder than drawing an instant noodle commercial."

After working continuously for more than ten hours, changing the fuel three times and repairing the cracks in the furnace wall twice, the first silver-gray plowshare finally took shape as dawn approached.

The surface wasn't smooth, and the edges had some burrs, but the overall outline already showed a neat curve. Chen Hao polished it a few times with sandpaper, then held it up to the morning light, reflecting a cold light.

"How is it?" he asked.

“It meets the basic mechanical requirements.” Nana confirmed after scanning. “The weight has increased by 68% compared to the log plow, but the soil breaking efficiency is expected to increase by more than three times.”

"It's a bit heavy, but it works." He chuckled. "Heavy makes it stable, stable makes it ruthless, and ruthlessness lets the land know who's in charge!"

---

When the sun is high in the sky, the new plow is officially put into the field.

Chen Hao dismantled the old wooden frame, replaced it with a reinforced crossbeam, and firmly secured the iron plowshare to the base. He put on the rope, took a deep breath, and walked into the field.

"Come on, let's see if you deserve the word 'revolution'."

The moment the plow tip touched the soil, the earth neatly turned over to both sides, no longer in haphazard patches as before, but instead carving a smooth, deep furrow. The moist black soil rolled up, releasing the long-lost earthy aroma.

"Wow!" He quickened his pace. "This feels...like switching from a tractor to an off-road vehicle!"

Nana followed behind, continuously recording the burial depth, traction force value, and soil reaction force curve.

"Currently, the tillage efficiency has reached 89.4%, the structural stability is good, and no cracks or deformations have appeared."

"Did you hear that?" Chen Hao turned around and smiled at her. "We've rewritten history!"

He walked another twenty meters, stopped to catch his breath, and leaned on the plow handle, gazing at the entire field. Sunlight shone on the newly turned earth, giving it an oily sheen. The iron plow was planted diagonally at the bottom of the furrow, its silver-gray blade speckled with damp mud, reflecting the light slightly.

"What if we got a few more plows like these in the future, and some animal-drawn ones too—hey, could we raise a cow?"

"There is currently no suitable livestock introduction plan for the ecosystem."

"Yeah, it's not realistic to magically turn into a cow." He scratched his head. "But it's okay, people can pull it too. I may be fat, but I still have strength."

As he was speaking, his foot suddenly slipped, and he stepped into the freshly turned soil, staggering as he did so.

Nana reached out and supported his arm.

"The soil has become looser, so it is recommended to adjust the walking frequency."

"It's okay, I won't get hurt." He steadied himself, patted his pants, and said, "Look how well this soil has been turned over—even, deep, and well-aerated... This is how farming should be done."

He pulled up the iron plow, repositioned it, and gripped the handles tightly with both hands.

"Another round?"