Shi Huaiya's old face was nearly unable to hold up. His actions had been guessed by the other party so quickly, as if he were dealing with a scheming old monster.
"Could this be some new type of agricultural fertilizer?"
"I do have a fertilizer formula, but compared to this test tube, fertilizer is far less valuable. Mr. Beatrix, you also know that our association has recently had quite a few more people infected with Originium Infection, right?"
"Of course. If you ask me, those young people don't value their lives at all. What is Originium? It can only be used on machines, not on people. Our bloodlines are ordinary. Once we catch this thing, at most we'll have another twenty-odd years to live."
At the thought of this, Shi Huaiya wore an expression of endless lament.
In the middle-aged man's eyes, life was the most important thing. Wealth and everything else came second.
After all, one needed to be alive to enjoy everything in the present. Contracting Originium Infection meant losing the rest of one's life. Even if one won, one would not be able to enjoy the victory.
"This thing can suppress Originium Infection. It can turn twenty years of life into twenty-five or even thirty. Of course, the effects may be somewhat exaggerated, but it does work."
Huang Cao poured the liquid in the test tube into a tiny coffee cup and mixed in some hot water.
"I'm sure there are relatives in your family who are suffering deeply from Originium Infection, Mr. Shi Huaiya. This thing is extremely precious, so be careful not to spill it. Just drink it directly."
In reality, it was not precious at all.
After all, this Originium Inhibitor had been produced after being diluted tremendously, and its effects were nowhere near as good as described.
Under extreme conditions, it could indeed extend one's life, but those extreme conditions were only slightly removed from having just contracted Originium Infection.
For a severely infected person, this diluted Originium Inhibitor could at most allow them to linger on for another six months.
And by "linger on," that was exactly what he meant. They might also drop dead after only a few days. There was an element of luck involved.
"I understand, but please don't tell anyone else about this secret."
Shi Huaiya carefully tucked the coffee cup into his coat, afraid that even the slightest amount of liquid might spill.
"Mr. Beatrix, the business opportunity lies between you and me, and also among the public. I understand the value I possess, but I'm not afraid of anyone coveting it. At worst, I'll simply leave."
"But you may not be able to seize your opportunity."
Huang Cao saw greed in Beatrix's eyes.
This was not a good sign. Desire could make people lose their reason, and reason was a necessary prerequisite for the success of future plans.
Beatrix instantly came to his senses upon hearing this. His tone became respectful as he said, "As expected, the younger generation never disappoints. You truly have courage. Wait for my good news tomorrow."
After chatting a little longer, the two left the dining table about half an hour later.
But someone was destined to lose sleep that night.
Both Beatrix and Huang Cao were looking forward to how the situation would change tomorrow or the day after.
A Transaction Benefiting Both Sides
Early the next morning, Huang Cao savored his fragrant coffee while waiting for news from Mr. Shi Huaiya.
The Shi Huaiya Family could not be considered royalty, but they were still a force to be reckoned with among the emerging nobles. With his help, Huang Cao could avoid a great deal of unnecessary trouble.
Sure enough, before long, Mr. Shi Huaiya arrived at Huang Cao's residence with a large black briefcase, looking mysterious.
"Brother, you're really going to make a fortune this time. I can invest everything my entire family owns. I only want a tiny share of the profits."
Huang Cao chuckled softly and did not appear anxious. "You aren't planning to leave Victoria in a hurry, are you?"
Mr. Shi Huaiya shook his head. "Originally, I wanted my grandson or granddaughter to lead the family away from Victoria. But now I want to accumulate more resources for my descendants. Leaving now would be too soon."
Shi Huaiya now felt that the other party was a treasure basin. At this point, he only wanted to continue gaining more benefits from the young man. As for his status and everything else, he had long since cast them aside.
Doing business in Victoria required one to have no shame.
More importantly, Mr. Huang had made it very clear the previous night. If he wanted to leave, he could do so at any time. He simply would not leave the opportunity behind for Shi Huaiya.
This was the legendary opportunity. When it arrived, it came without the slightest warning.
When faced with an opportunity, the important thing was not when it came, but whether one could catch it.
"Don't make it sound so serious. I never mistreat my friends. Fifteen percent—that's the share of the profits I'm willing to give you. However, this is limited to profits from medicine."
"That's enough, my friend. From this moment on, you are the most honored guest of the Shi Huaiya Family."
Huang Cao pondered for a while and glanced at him. A few seconds later, he said:
"But this friendship will only last through your generation. With your body, you can live for at most another forty years."
"You can rest assured about that. We Shi Huaiya are Victoria's most honorable family when it comes to integrity and morality."
Faced with the man's guarantee, Huang Cao felt that so-called loyalty was not something a single sentence could make anyone trust.
If one doubted someone, one should not employ them. If one employed someone, one should not doubt them.
Huang Cao took a Seed from his sleeve. "Swallow it. Let me witness your morality. At the same time, I'll guarantee that your family will escape future calamity."
Without the slightest suspicion or hesitation, Shi Huaiya swallowed the Seed on the table, barely the size of a soybean, in one gulp.
The instant he swallowed the Seed, his memories were instantly incorporated into the Originium Database by Huang Cao.
At the same time, Huang Cao only needed to move a finger to turn him into a plant that knew only how to bask in the sun within a few breaths, no matter how far away he was.
Shi Huaiya had undoubtedly handed his life over to Huang Cao.
Huang Cao had not expected him to act so decisively. For a moment, he felt that something might be seriously wrong with the man's mind.
"Doing business in Victoria is already a massive gamble. Facing those lofty nobles, I'm at risk of being assassinated at any moment. At least after eating this, the danger will be exposed before my eyes instead of lurking in the shadows, waiting to stab me in the back."
"And at present, I only need to consider one thing: whether this so-called danger is willing to trust me."
"Mr. Huang Cao, do you think my sincerity is sufficient? Before leaving Victoria, I can have every member of my family swallow one of those Seeds."
Faced with such a mad request, Huang Cao naturally could not refuse.
He simply could not understand what indescribable benefits could have made Shi Huaiya reach such a decisive conclusion and stake everything on a gamble that had appeared without the slightest warning.
Mr. Shi Huaiya said with a sigh of relief:
"You shouldn't be an ordinary person, should you? Your lifespan is far longer than that of an ordinary person like me.
"To exchange my life and the lives of my entire family for the protection of an Immortal—this seems like a very fair and equal deal to me."
Shi Huaiya took a sip of water and continued. His tone remained completely calm. "But I have one request. Could your protection last only until we leave Victoria? This land is not a place where my family can settle..."
If circumstances allowed, Shi Huaiya did not want to become involved in any power struggle. Unfortunately, his position made it impossible for him to retreat.
It was not that he was incapable, but Victoria was too vast, with too many experts and schemes within it.
Even if he could withstand them while he was alive, his descendants might not be able to withstand them after his death.
Who knew whether his descendants' intelligence would be normal?
Therefore, if he wanted to keep his family from being controlled by others, the best method was to find a smaller place. But he had yet to find such a place, and that was why he had been unwilling to leave Victoria.
"Fine. If your family encounters a disaster that threatens to wipe it out, I'll find you a place where you can recuperate and rebuild."
The man's request was perfectly reasonable. At least Huang Cao saw no scheme in it.
Besides, the other party's memories were in his hands, leaving him almost no room to hide anything.
"There's no need for everyone to swallow one. Have your heirs swallow the Seeds in the future. I'll also keep my promise. Once your family leaves Victoria, the effect of this Seed will naturally disappear."
Shi Huaiya nodded. Some might ask whether this was foolish. In truth, he was thinking far further ahead than most people.
In the eyes of this old tiger, the young man chatting with him so confidently was definitely not an ordinary spice merchant.
He was instead a far more mysterious existence, whose lifespan far exceeded his imagination.
Cooperating with Huang Cao would not only greatly strengthen the family's power, but also give them a trump card to play at the very end.
The struggle among Victoria's nobles was growing increasingly intense, and assassination schemes were being staged everywhere.
What the emerging nobles lacked was not wealth, but historical foundations—such as the protection of powerful beings.
After all, certain ancient families passed down a saying:
"Elves endure forever; one alone will be passed down forever."
Now that the Shi Huaiya Family had the protection of an Immortal, they could not possibly end up completely annihilated, no matter what happened.
Shi Huaiya had almost certainly won this gamble, because Huang Cao was also a man who kept his word.
Moreover, Huang Cao did indeed need a trustworthy local power to handle certain matters for him.
"From now on, you'll be my company's representative, responsible for selling my medicines publicly. Your share will remain the same as before: fifteen percent."
Shi Huaiya and Huang Cao continued discussing matters for a while, intending to settle every detail of their future interests. Perhaps because they had already clarified their positions on principles, their subsequent conversation went exceptionally smoothly.
"Besides that, Mr. Shi Huaiya, what is your impression of the noble members of the Victoria Commercial Association? Do you know anyone who is extremely dissatisfied with the old nobles?"
"There are some, in my impression."
Shi Huaiya thought for a few seconds before replying, "And there are quite a lot of them. Is there something about them that deserves your attention?"
Victoria's Stock Market in a Month
"How is Victoria's stock market doing? On the surface, it's certainly flourishing, but in reality, it's like a leaf floating on water. The slightest larger wave can overturn it."
Huang Cao glanced at the brightly lit, bustling streets outside as he spoke.
Mr. Shi Huaiya was utterly confused. "I'd say things are going quite well. Development is happening everywhere, people's lives are manageable, and they even have some spare money to invest."
"Without a doubt, this is a golden age," Shi Huaiya said.
"This so-called golden age is hiding the greatest crisis of the present."
"Mr. Shi Huaiya, you're a clever man. Haven't you noticed anything strange about Victoria?"
"Brother, why don't you spell it out?"
"Wealth seems to remain merely wealth instead of becoming something tangible. There are more than ten million gold coins in the market, but have you ever seen those gold coins reach the hands of ordinary people?"
"The rich are earning more and more, and more and more goods are being produced. But have you ever seen how many people can actually afford to buy them?"
"If they can't afford to buy them, then so be it..."
Shi Huaiya suddenly realized the key point. If people could not afford these things, what was the point of producing them?
"Mr. Shi Huaiya, I think you understand now. This is the crisis Victoria is currently facing."
"Columbia has been causing quite a commotion lately. I believe your family's businesses have also suffered some impact. As one of Victoria's largest export markets, if that place were to disappear..."
Huang Cao continued, "In my view, Columbia's independence is unavoidable. Victoria has already begun planning a military withdrawal, but it still wants to maintain its rule in the short term."
"But the nobles of Victoria have more ways to shift the blame than even a centipede has legs. At worst, they'll pin the blame on the infected. In any case, they can't stir up much trouble."
After hearing this, Huang Cao shook his head again. "First, the Infected are simply too weak right now. They won't be able to build momentum in the short term. By the time they react, it'll be far too late."
"The wealth possessed by the nobles is their most obvious weakness. I want to strike a fatal blow at them. As the vice-chairman of the Victoria Commercial Association, the people you know are our greatest weapon."
"The difference between the emerging nobles and the old nobles, besides their outlook and ideas, is that materially speaking, the former lack land.
"Factories and the like can generate enormous profits, but their losses after a disaster are also extremely severe."
Shi Huaiya lowered his head. "Likewise, after a disaster, land can neither be farmed nor used to establish factories."
"But the nobles possess vast quantities of land, so their losses after a disaster are minimal. The raw materials required by the factories of the emerging nobles almost all come—or must come—from the old nobles."
"Tell me, isn't that frustrating?"
The emerging nobles did not have no land. They simply had pitifully little.
By now, the price of land had long since been driven sky-high by the old nobles. The emerging nobles were not incapable of buying it. But lacking the ability did not mean they wanted to be made into fools.
This was a contest involving both dignity and value for money.
That was why the emerging nobles feared Victoria's decline more than anyone else. They desperately needed to find a solution.
"So can these emerging nobles really accept this? They've coveted the positions above them for a long time. Their strength is enough to pry open Victoria's entire structure, but they simply haven't found someone capable of uniting everything."
"Even within the Victoria Commercial Association, most people joined merely to expand their connections. If they truly helped one another, there wouldn't be scraps of paper on the bulletin board with no one responding to them."
Shi Huaiya naturally knew what the other party wanted to do, so he followed the line of thought and asked, "But how will you make those lofty people listen to you?"
"I can solve their land problem, so they no longer need to depend on the land and raw materials of the old nobles."
Huang Cao took a small iron can from his coat. It was filled with black soil. He casually tossed a wheat Seed inside, and in only one minute, the wheat Seed sprouted and matured.
This thing was, of course, part of his body. It belonged to the power of "Abundance."
Before you continue