Blessed by Abundance, Scourge of Terra

Because in this nation, the number of Originium Infection patients hadn't changed much between centuries past and centuries to come.

"If you're going to earn, earn big money, earn good money, earn fast money—no one in the world knows how to spend money better than nobles."

"I beg to differ. From what I know, most people who use Originium Arts frequently develop a certain resistance to it. Even if they get infected, they can live a long time. They don't need..."

Upon hearing this plan, Warfarin immediately retorted. Bloodlines in this world really did carry some weight.

Certain races, even if infected, showed no symptoms at all. And because of this innate advantage, most of them became nobles.

Huang Cao shook his head mysteriously. "Who said I'm going to earn their money? I'm going to earn the money of those nobles who have no talent for Arts but rely on technology to strengthen themselves."

Warfarin suddenly caught on. "According to your logic, those nobles happen to be the high-risk group for Originium Infection."

Good heavens, how sharp was this guy's mind? What terrifying business acumen was this?

From ancient times to the present, no one had ever thought of this, let alone connected all these relationships.

Warfarin felt her horizons broaden considerably.

"Overpraise, overpraise." Huang Cao let out a smug chuckle, then wrote out the ingredients for the weak Originium inhibitor based on the copy in the Originium Database.

But he tweaked the ratios of every component in the original formula and added a few irrelevant but eye-catching herbs.

After all, with so many years of study, Huang Cao could now be considered an Originium Master. Altering the drug's proportions was to prevent counterfeiting.

Before he made his fortune, he absolutely wouldn't allow anyone else to take a cut.

And the modified formula only retained 30% of the original's effectiveness, but even that was enough to make dying nobles flock to it.

Up until now, at least on land, no nation had yet developed a usable Originium inhibitor.

No matter how low its efficacy, it was still a lifesaving thing.

Warfarin glanced at the formula, then tucked it away. The task of preparing the medicine was now hers.

The materials listed were relatively easy to find. With simple chemical processing, the raw ingredients could be extracted directly from the stems and leaves of certain plants.

Warfarin's future reputation as Mister Blood was no empty boast.

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There will be another update in the afternoon.

Chapter 27: Kal'tsit: Who deleted my mom's code?

Meanwhile, on another part of the land.

A slender woman in a black robe faced the yellow sand, walking alone through the desolate ruins.

"The water source here..."

The ancient legend named Kal'tsit awakened from her slumber, searching for the traces of her last life, ready to set foot once more on this suffering nation.

Actually, she was the green big cat who lost a fight last time. Still fuming, she came back to settle the score.

She wanted to observe the pure white king, but the clear water flowing from this river valley made her stop in her tracks.

As a learned ancient Immortal, Kal'tsit's knowledge reserves were nothing short of vast.

Though slightly inferior to a certain blade of grass with the entire Originium Database, the latter couldn't match her in the ability to apply knowledge.

Shaking the dust off her ears, Kal'tsit followed the stream's source across several mountains. Looking down from above, she spotted a glimmer of light in the gray night.

"How can there be firelight here? With this level of Originium crystallization, no normal creature should be able to survive."

Puzzled, Kal'tsit crossed the mountain range connecting Kazdel and Victoria, only to discover that just one mountain apart, the environment had changed so drastically.

The Victoria side of the range was barren, with not a blade of grass. The Kazdel side, however, was lush and verdant, even carrying faint floral scents.

Especially at the foot of the mountain, a golden giant tree over six hundred meters tall radiated dazzling light. Beneath it were several small towns, now deep in night.

Strangely, every household had its curtains tightly drawn.

After all, with such a huge light bulb overhead, glaring and blinding, who could sleep without closing the curtains?

Kal'tsit had been to this area before. Both sides of the mountain range used to share the same scenery—everywhere plagued by catastrophes and Originium crystals.

But why had the Kazdel side changed so quickly?

Could it be that Civilization's Continuation had malfunctioned? Had Theresia unlocked my mom's code?

Bearing these questions, Kal'tsit instantly turned into Assassin's Creed, covering her face and ears as she stealthily slipped into the town.

But how could she possibly hide from Huang Cao, who was still enjoying Warfarin's soft lap pillow?

Wherever branches spread, there is my domain!

Within his territory, wherever plants existed, they were his eyes. After filtering, all information converged in Huang Cao's mind.

So by the time the town's children were almost old enough to run errands, the entire territory still had no security force.

Because even if a bad guy did get in, Huang Cao could remotely control the plants to grow vines under his feet and drag him into the soil as fertilizer.

Like Kal'tsit right now.

But since this big cat wore a cloak and mask, Huang Cao couldn't tell who this woman was for the moment.

Still, there were two ears on her hood. From appearance, she should be a Feline, and she had entered his territory from the direction of Victoria.

Could it be that someone from Victoria wants to privately seek cooperation with me?

But you, this cat, come empty-handed, with nothing at all, trying to negotiate cooperation—do you really take me for a beggar?

It's also unlikely she's a scout sent by Theresia, because Theresia would never dispatch a Feline, let alone have one circle in through those mountain ranges in Victoria.

So this is no ordinary noble! A heavy fist is required!

Anyway, I'm a Sarkaz—what can you do if I beat up your envoy? Who told you to sneak in?

Even if this really does end the cooperation over this incident, Huang Cao can just cite Theresia's lack of trust in him as an excuse and pass it off as an accident.

He might even strengthen the other party's trust in him, ideally swindling some subsidies from the Victoria noble.

Of course, it's also possible Theresia deliberately chose an outsider to test him.

Either way, teach them a lesson first; even if it's a loss, it won't be much.

And then Kal'tsit paid a heavy price for her uninvited arrival.

Ever since Kal'tsit entered the town, she moved with a hitch in every step, her gait abnormally awkward.

Either stepping into a ditch or tripping over a vine, she couldn't count how many times she'd fallen flat on her face.

If Kal'tsit had a good figure, falling like that would soon flatten her out, but she was already flat to begin with.

Kal'tsit even started muttering to herself that today she'd met a ghost—walking along, and a fruit falls from the sky, smacking her right on the forehead.

After walking for a while, even an ordinary person would sense something was off, let alone Kal'tsit.

So she found a shadowy spot, crouched down by a rock, her gaze sharp as a torch, constantly turning her head to stare intently at everything around her.

"Those ears look a bit familiar, and that silhouette—why does it resemble Kal'tsit from Walk in the Dust?"

By the time Kal'tsit had stumbled her way to the outskirts of the town, Huang Cao realized this Feline's outfit seemed oddly familiar.

Old thing, you haven't changed your clothes in centuries, have you!

You're probably marinated in that scent by now.

Since it's Kal'tsit, now that you're here, don't think about leaving—my Eden is exactly where someone like you belongs!

Theresia might hold back out of consideration for her kin, but...

"What did you see?" Warfarin looked down at Huang Cao, her tone tinged with curiosity.

"Saw a big green cat, sneaking into my territory to cause trouble."

"Aren't you going to drag her into the dirt for fertilizer?"

"Don't paint me as that cruel. Even if I buried this cat, she'd just sprout up somewhere else in a few years."

"Is this Feline male or female..."

"Female, of course. Look at my castle—is there any other male besides me?"

"...So you want to recruit her?" Warfarin's tone turned a bit sour.

But someone didn't pick up on the shift in her words.

"I'd like to, but it's not that easy."

"Whose fault is it that you're messing with her like this? Now you've made an enemy."

"It's not about her holding a grudge against me—it's about others holding a grudge against her."

Huang Cao sighed. He'd wanted to say he'd just use her directly, but it seemed that wouldn't work either.

Why did Kal'tsit return to Kazdel so quickly?

In the original story, how many years after the war ended did this cat start colluding with Theresia?

This cat was beheaded just over a decade ago, and now she dares to come back? The veterans of that war are still alive, and plenty are in his own territory.

Most Sarkaz should recognize that face.

And if you're coming back, fine—but why not change your face when you get here? Aren't you afraid of being locked in a dark room and severely punished?

Here, Huang Cao had to tip his hat to the legendary apocrypha once more!

The Undead Spirit Furnace could simulate Kal'tsit's miserable imprisonment, which was at least a satisfying vent for his anger.

"So what's the deal with this Feline?"

"Actually, you know her too. She's the one who caused a ruckus in Kazdel over a decade ago—Ka!l'!tsit!"

"Don't know her. Give me a simpler name." Warfarin still wasn't clear on who Kal'tsit was.

Huang Cao then realized that not everyone knew the name Kal'tsit—after all, the Doctor gave it to her, so it wasn't strange that many didn't know her real name.

"You should know about the multinational coalition's invasion of Kazdel over a decade ago."

"Of course I do. I even served as a field medic for a while, though I got kicked out not long after..."

"The commander of that multinational coalition was Kal'tsit—the very Feline hiding in my territory right now."

"Ah?!" Warfarin was stunned speechless.

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Chapter 28: Falling Leaves Bring Tidings, Kal'tsit Becomes...

The golden tree above her head blazed like the sun.

Kal'tsit pulled her cloak lower, intent on continuing to conceal her figure.

Yet, for some reason, a voice suddenly reached her ears.

"Falling leaves bring tidings: in distant Eden, a grass-eating demon has become the Sarkaz Demon King. People say this is an age of abundance."

What kind of bizarre nonsense was that? Why had the morning glory beside her suddenly spoken in human words?

Kal'tsit plucked the trumpet-shaped flower next to her, forcing her mind to clear.

At the same time, she pulled a gas mask from her pocket and put it on. Walking across this eerie land without some protective measures would never do.

But that didn't mean Kal'tsit intended to leave. On the contrary, the abnormality of this place had indeed caught her attention.

Could it be one of Dad's colleagues causing trouble again? Was there some research project I didn't know about?

As an ancient monster herself, Kal'tsit wasn't fully aware of all the bizarre research projects the big shots of the Pre-Civilization had undertaken.

Take this golden giant tree, for instance.

The Deep Blue Tree? Clearly not. Though both bore the word "tree," their forms and functions were worlds apart...

Well, for now, there might be differences in form, but their functions seemed roughly the same. At its peak, the Deep Blue Tree could subsume the Originium.

Yet she had never heard of any big shot's research project involving a glowing golden giant tree.

And this tree seemed to be specifically effective against Originium—wasn't that conflicting with her mother's project?

Among all the research of the Pre-Civilization, the most promising was their family's Originium Project.

So even if other projects had potential, everything revolved around the Originium Project. The Continuation of Civilization and the Deep Blue Tree had to develop on their own without affecting the Originium.