Under Xu Huo's impassive gaze, Dr. Deng's expression shifted several times before settling into unease. He asked cautiously, "You're joking, right?"
After two long seconds, Xu Huo's expression finally relaxed a little. With a hint of a smile, he said, "I am joking for now. Just make sure I don't end up thinking the nearly hundred million White Cash I spent was a complete waste."
Building the Laboratory itself hadn't cost much. The real expense was the medical equipment Dr. Deng needed for his research, especially his work on the Perfect Potion. The large machines were extremely expensive, and this wasn't something a few pieces of equipment could solve. They needed highly precise material separators, which most Sub-districts couldn't manufacture. They could only be purchased through official channels from advanced Wormhole Points, and only as a complete set. Want to buy the most important machine and supply the rest yourself? Sorry, that wasn't possible.
Even then, they'd bought an older model.
Still, when he added up the other equipment and the cost of building the Laboratory, it didn't seem particularly expensive. After all, the water purifier Xu Huo had brought out of a Dungeon had sold for about the same amount.
"The water purifier is different," Dr. Deng said. "The Game Government's claims that drinking water from a homemade purifier for a long time can lead to premature degeneration sound a bit like a scare tactic, but Player degeneration probably can't be separated from the environment."
"The Game Government may not have developed the Perfect Potion because of this."
He sighed. "Sometimes I feel like this might just be the rule of Evolution. If taking large amounts of Evolution Potions had no Aftereffects at all, this world would be far too frightening."
"You mean degeneration is like an incurable disease.