No one went to confirm things directly with Dr. B. Instead, everyone started bombarding the few farm owners with questions, their voices raised in a clamor of curiosity and greed. Some even pulled up their entry and exit records, the digital screens flickering as they scrolled through the logs. When the higher-ups saw those guys walk out with double the amount of goods, their eyes practically turned red with envy.
When someone questioned whether the goods produced by this 'method' were actually good or not, the high-vitality herbs that Jing Shu had cultivated would conveniently appear at just the right time. She laid them out on the cold lab tables, their leaves vibrant and unnaturally green against the sterile white. After a series of tests and verifications, with sensors humming and readouts flashing, everyone was stunned to discover that the 'Water of Life' Dr. B created was ridiculously powerful.
Austin, which had never been able to grow medicinal herbs before, was now producing massive harvests thanks to the Water of Life. It was a huge leap in technology, marked by the sight of lush greenery taking root in places that had been barren for years.
If this were in China, there would probably still be skeptics, but this was America. People here didn't play mind games. American ads always matched the real product, while back home, the words 'for reference only' were practically standard.
The key point was that Dr. B hadn't made a big public announcement about this research. Many of the higher-ups, thinking they're clever, 'dug out' the truth themselves. They came to the brilliant conclusion that Dr. B only needed thirty percent of the daily yield as payment to continue his research, and because production was limited, he hadn't gone public with it.
That 'truth' was something those self-proclaimed smart guys discovered on their own. They acted like they had uncovered a secret group of miners quietly hauling away gold, and though those miners thought they were being discreet, they had still been caught red-handed. If someone had gone around shouting, 'I found a gold mine! I can dig this much every day!', people would have doubted them and sent inspectors right away. But when someone is sneaking in a pile of stuff every day and coming out with more the next morning, tell me, who wouldn't get jealous?
Soon, people from all sorts of channels began sending materials to Dr. B, some even offering him fifty percent of the yield as compensation just to get in on it.
The daily quota of 1,000 pounds (around 450 kilograms) of goods was quickly snatched up. The first group of farm owners weren't happy at all. They had barely tasted the sweet profits, and now it was already gone?
The newly involved upper management wasn't satisfied either. A group of them gathered in the dimly lit hallway, their faces shadowed and their voices low as they began to formulate new plans.
Meanwhile, inside Dr. B's lab, Ms. C frowned as she calculated the accounts, her pen tapping a rhythmic beat against the clipboard. "Bit, we have already poured in over 6,000 pounds (about 2,700 kilograms) of food and materials. We can't hold out much longer. That's basically everything we have managed to gather so far."
The floor was piled high with all sorts of supplies, the air smelling of dry grain and dust. Even the monk and the monkey had been dragged in to act as fake laborers, moving crates back and forth to maintain the illusion of heavy activity. This stuff couldn't be faked by Water of Life alone, and the farm owners weren't stupid. The losses had to be absorbed by Dr. B himself. It was exactly what you would call "throwing out a bigger bait to catch a bigger fish."
Dr. B continued fiddling with his test tubes, his fingers moving with practiced precision as he moved a rack across the bench. He shrugged, the fabric of his lab coat rustling. "Honestly, what I admire most is our beautiful Miss Jing. The reason this plan has gone so smoothly is all thanks to her. She managed to bribe some of the higher-ups and even passed off those high-vitality herbs as real. Amazing work. As for you, C, listen up, someone is going to come to us soon. They're done with this turtle-paced profit rate."
Ms. C sighed. "Let's hope so."
Jing Shu smiled politely. Her herbs were the real deal, cultivated with Spirit Spring. To be honest, Spirit Spring was a whole tier above Dr. B's Water of Life. If something that only caused swelling and growth like Water of Life was already this sought-after, it just showed how insanely precious her Spirit Spring was.
Even more valuable was its ability to heal and extend life. The Ant Queen, whose life was nearly at its end, had been drinking from Spirit Spring No. 3 for over half a month. Now she had regained vitality and no longer looked ancient and frail, her chitinous shell gleaming with renewed health.
"I hope everything goes well," Jing Shu murmured to herself. At this point, she and Dr. B were already grasshoppers tied to the same rope. They had both invested heavily, but Dr. B had gone all in.
People who have tasted success always want more. What they didn't realize was that Dr. B was already running dry. This whole game of using early trust to build an unshakable illusion was all part of setting up for the final destruction.
Sure enough, things played out just as Jing Shu predicted. Within two days, word spread throughout Austin Castle. The farm owners, the rich elites, and even slave traders from the underground black market all showed up, their expensive boots clicking on the stone floors.
Some people had broken the market rules, disrupting prices, and the capitalists finally decided it was time to monopolize.
They had all sent in various grains and crops during this period, each one receiving higher-quality goods in return. They had verified the effects of Water of Life with their own eyes. Some wanted to buy it outright or get the formula, but Dr. B had already given them a convincing explanation earlier.
Because of that, their reverse psychology kicked in, and now everyone just wanted to monopolize production and expand capacity. Nobody even considered buying the Water of Life anymore. That was exactly what Dr. B had intended from the start.
This group spent two days negotiating and eventually united half the castle's major figures to divide the "cake." From then on, they would control the production and distribution of Water of Life. Naturally, Jing Shu blended right in among them. She was one of the people eating that cake, after all.
"Dr. B, the production of Water of Life is too low right now. It can't possibly meet the needs of the castle residents," said the head of the group, one of the castle's directors. He was so fat that he looked exhausted just lying there on the sofa, gasping for breath as his chest rose and fell in shallow heaves. "After discussion, we have all agreed to move the site to the source area of the materials. That way, we can process tens of thousands of pounds of goods every day. It would be a historic milestone for both Austin and you, Doctor."
"Exactly. With that kind of output, you would earn more rewards and could fund even more research," another added, leaning forward with an eager glint in his eyes.
Dr. B looked tempted but hesitated, his fingers drumming on the edge of a centrifuge. "That area is full of cracks from the last earthquake, and there are a lot of unknown lifeforms down there. It's dangerous. There's even the risk of lava eruptions. If we move there, we would need to transport all my lab equipment, plus at least a few dozen security personnel. And you all know I'm still working on repairing the Luminite. I can't just leave. Water of Life's formula and application require extremely precise data and techniques. No one else can make it but me."
"Doctor, we can put the Luminite project on hold for now," said the director firmly, his voice echoing in the small room. "As one of the castle's administrators, I authorize you to go on-site. Water of Life's value far surpasses that. We should prioritize expanding its production. Resources are tight, and everyone here wants to see output increase."