The next morning, Locke handed the completed Nine-Headed Snake seeds, along with the Five-Headed Snake seeds that Gregor and Williams had accelerated through backcrossing, to Witch Scarlett.
Witch Scarlett looked at Locke in surprise, as well as at the pot of Five-Headed Snake Magic Plant in the [Transplantation Pot] in his hands. "I didn't expect you to develop a subspecies of the Nine-Headed Snake Magic Plant in such a short time."
Witch Scarlett flipped through Locke's breeding journal, which she had obtained from a Plantation staff member. She completely ignored the records of the various Potions resources Locke had requested from the Plantation over the past two weeks.
After all, it was Augustine's money, not hers as an employee. Besides, Locke had used that money to develop the Five-Headed Snake Magic Plant. Even if Augustine's board found out, they couldn't find fault with it.
To Augustine, it was already highly cost-effective if researchers at Wizard University could use funding to effectively develop some Magic Plants.
After all, the Shop Alliances were often "cheated" by wizard instructors from various wizard academies. Before development began, those instructors made grand promises, but in the end, everything was done by students, so naturally they couldn't develop anything worthwhile.
As Locke's trader, Witch Scarlett was more concerned about the Five-Headed Snake's effects. "The Five-Headed Snake's burden on individual wizards has actually been reduced by a full two-thirds. This is truly wonderful. That alone can completely increase the sales of our Nine-Headed Snake series of Magic Plants."
Witch Scarlett was pleasantly surprised. She glanced at Locke and said, "Working with you is truly delightful. Augustine, I only casually mentioned the minor flaw in the Nine-Headed Snake Magic Plant on the market. Who would have thought you'd take it so seriously and actually breed a new subspecies."