Chapter 178: Chapter 177: A Beautiful Life
For Nanali, recent life felt like a dream.
Especially after she had signed a contract with the Northern Trading Company, those heaps of gold coins made Nanali’s heart flutter. She even doubted more than once if she was dreaming.
As a poor Alchemist, Nanali’s greatest dream was to be able to conduct any research on Alchemy without restrictions. Instead of considering what was cheap and what was readily available every time she ran experiments, she had even thought about using wild herbs as substitutes in her alchemical recipes, simply because they didn’t cost anything…
Of course, those attempts all ended in explosions. But that was to be expected; if wild herbs could replace alchemical materials, Alchemists wouldn’t be so expensive to begin with.
But now, Nanali didn’t have to worry about these issues anymore.
Her Alchemy Workshop had signed a contract with the Northern Trading Company. The technology for the greenhouse and the Slime Fertilizer was exclusively licensed to the Northern Trading Company. Moreover, due to the value of these two technologies, Nanali had been promoted two levels, becoming a Level Three Alchemist.
She could not only obtain the alchemical supplies she wanted from the Alchemists’ Association but could also get some rare and precious alchemical materials from the Northern Trading Company. Furthermore, Mr. Fress of the Northern Trading Company had promised that these materials would be sold at cost price. For Nanali, this was naturally a big surprise. It could be said that Nanali was now living the wonderful life she had always hoped for, peacefully conducting her research and experiments in Alchemy every day without worrying about starving or becoming homeless…
Of course, she had not forgotten who had brought all this to her.
Upon hearing the knock, Nanali gently swirled the potion bottle in her hand, and after ensuring that the solution inside had calmed down, she then spoke. As she responded, the previously closed door opened, and Fang Zheng walked in.
“How are things, Miss Nanali?”
Seeing Fang Zheng enter, Nanali’s face broke into a happy smile, but soon after, she sighed wearily.
“I’m sorry, there hasn’t been much progress…”
“Is it difficult to yield the materials?”
“Um… Mainly, there are some raw materials for which I can’t find good substitutes, and the ones I have managed to prepare always have various problems.”
While saying this, Nanali looked toward the nearby wooden rectangular container that resembled a planter box. It held a solution that appeared to be fresh water, covered with a perforated wooden board, on which some crops were planted. However, these vegetables were not doing well. They were either listless, wilted, or already dried up.
“It’s going to take a lot more time.”
Nanali said this helplessly; Fang Zheng nodded in understanding. In truth, he had thought things too simply. Initially, Fang Zheng thought that with Slime Fertilizer, concocting a nutrient solution for hydroponic cultivation wouldn’t be difficult. However, only when it came to experimentation did he realize it was not so simple.
Indeed, Slime Fertilizer could be compared to Golden Fertilizer; it could accelerate the maturing period of crops and make them grow better. However, it was ultimately just an auxiliary product. It’s like a health supplement; it might make you stronger and prolong your life, but it can’t replace staple foods like rice, noodles, and steamed buns. If you need to eat, you still need to eat—food and drink water.
Slime Fertilizer might replace a part of the soil, but it couldn’t completely take its place. Although Nymph had provided a list based on her analysis of the nutrients solution from Earth in the Ironblood World, how to blend all elements on this list well was a challenge for Nanali.
Not to mention, agricultural research consumes a lot of time. Developing a nutrient solution isn’t something you can judge by just tasting; you need to grow crops, wait for them to mature, and bear fruit. Only after ensuring everything is fine could you move on to the next step.
Luckily, Slime Fertilizer significantly shortened the growth cycle of crops; otherwise, Nanali would have wasted much more time.
Now, Nanali had developed more than a dozen nutrient solutions, but it seemed none were usable.
“Is configuring the nutrient solution harder than expected?”
Fang Zheng casually remarked as he reached for the experiment record book next to him and began to flip through it. Nanali nodded reluctantly.
“Yes, I’ve tried refining many combinations of herbs, but the results have been unsatisfactory. Some look promising, but the raw materials are quite expensive…”
Ever since Nanali had refined fertilizer from slimes and created the greenhouse, she had abandoned her former “only the best” approach and instead began favoring “only the cheapest” method. Her alchemy skills and knowledge were solid; however, Fang Zheng now realized that this girl could get really stuck on certain issues…
“You shouldn’t worry about the costs for now,”
Fang Zheng sighed in resignation as he looked at the girl in front of him. Previously, when money was tight, she never considered costs, but now that they had more money than they could spend, she had started to think about costs.
“The price of the nutrient solution will definitely be higher than the Slime Fertilizer, so don’t think about lowering costs for the time being. In short, use all the materials you have on hand to make the nutrient solution that meets the needs, and then consider how to reduce costs. Initially, we never planned to sell our nutrient solutions to farmers, as most probably couldn’t afford it anyway.”
“Not selling to farmers?”
Upon hearing this, Nanali paused.
“Then who are we selling to?”
“The Kingdom of the Holy Church is a very good partner.”
Fang Zheng was confident. After all, as a Templar, he understood the Kingdom of the Holy Church’s ideology and their methods quite well. Even if the nutrient solution were produced, it was unlikely that the initial costs would be substantially reduced. But if the Kingdom of the Holy Church were to purchase it, money was never a concern for them.
And if it were used to maintain order and combat Chaos, it would be even less of a concern.
Like the mercenaries who followed Fang Zheng to the Dark Capital, although their losses were heavy, the Sanctuary didn’t skimp on rewards and compensation when they returned. According to Shi Dong, the mercenary group had received enough compensation to equip half of a fully-armed elite cavalry unit.
The Sanctuary is wealthy and generous when it comes to spending in this area—there is no waste.
After getting money, Fang Zheng also had the Alchemy Workshop repaired and renovated. Now, this Alchemy Workshop didn’t look as run-down as before; in fact, it looked much better.
By now, Nanali’s Alchemy Workshop was no longer doubling as a “shop,” but had been transformed into a professional research institute. She no longer needed to take on commissions to make and sell things for money, but simply consider how to spend her funds on Alchemy research. As for those greenhouses, Fang Zheng still kept them. After all, Nanali’s research was in the field of agriculture, and they would still be needed for large-scale experiments. The crops they planted, once they flowered and bore fruit, didn’t need to be sold anymore. They were previously sold to build a reputation for their product, but now that the Northern Trading Company had taken over, what remained naturally became gifts for the greenhouse farmers and welfare for the employees sent by the Alchemy Trading Company.
As for whether they ate them themselves or sold them, that was none of Fang Zheng’s business.
Importantly, after the Northern Trading Company obtained the exclusive authorization for the greenhouses and the “patent” for the Slime Fertilizer, the troubles that previously lurked around had disappeared. Now that the Northern Trading Company had the exclusive rights, other forces wanting to acquire this technology had to deal with them. As a researcher, Nanali was naturally excluded.
Of course, the Northern Trading Company had returned the favor by sending a team to guard the Alchemy Workshop. From this perspective, Fress was quite insightful, and he knew how to protect his “research assets.” Others might have been a bit dissatisfied, but Nanali herself was a home-body, preferring not to go out if she could help it, so she didn’t really mind.
However, Fang Zheng hadn’t come to see Nanali just to discuss the nutrient solution issue.
“In a few days, I’ll be leaving for a period. If anything arises in my absence, I’ll leave it in your hands to manage,” he said.
Upon hearing Fang Zheng speak, Nanali couldn’t help but pause.
“Mr. Ezio, are you leaving?”
“I have some private matters to attend to.”
Dealing with these matters had taken Fang Zheng almost a month, neither particularly long nor short. He had lived quite leisurely during this month, but it was leisure spent with a purpose. The Cash Summon was just for a month, and once this month passed, the next would bring a different card pool UP.
Fang Zheng didn’t know what the card pool UP would be next month; after all, this wasn’t a game. So, he intended to use the remaining time of this month to visit the Dimensional World—preferably the Magic World—to try his luck at acquiring a magic department’s Soulstone. For Fang Zheng, this would be more than ideal.
Hearing that Fang Zheng was leaving, Nanali was visibly reluctant. She was already living a solitary life, and the arrival of Fang Zheng and Nymph had given her a taste of the long-missed family atmosphere. Although Fang Zheng’s intentions were mysterious, Nanali didn’t think he was a bad person. And he had helped her with so many things… This had made her quite dependent on Fang Zheng, albeit imperceptibly. But now, he mentioned he would be leaving temporarily…
Seeing Nanali’s anxious expression, Fang Zheng gave a slight smile.
“I’m just going on a trip. It won’t take too long.”