Lucas emerged from the basement and flicked on the electric lights. After confirming that the room's layout and door locks were untouched, he stripped off his attire and changed into a set of casual modern clothes.
"I'm starting to feel like some kind of international thief," Lucas muttered to himself. He pushed open the front door and walked out, turning on all the lights in the courtyard.
Hoo... hah...
He took a deep breath, only to realize that the air on this side was still as poor as ever—even here in the countryside, backed by a lush forest.
He walked over to a small outbuilding near the courtyard gate. Unlocking it, he found a mountain of stacked boxes. These were items he had ordered online, which he'd instructed the couriers to leave inside. To make things easier, he had even given the couriers a key to the shed, as he spent 99% of his time in the otherworld.
Lucas reached out and touched the boxes, pulling them into his spatial storage until it reached its limit. Looking at the remaining half of the mountain, he rubbed his chin and sighed. "I might be buying too much lately."
His instinct was to haul everything that might be useful back to the otherworld, even if he didn't have an immediate use for it. It was better to have it and not need it.
Suddenly, his phone began to blare.
"Na na na na na na naa na..."
He pulled the phone from his pocket and saw the name Zhang Ji—the current head of Phoenix Medicine Herbs, the place where he had previously sold his wild ginseng.
"Hello, Dr. Zhang," Lucas said, locking the shed and walking back toward his house.
"Lucas! Where have you been today? I've called you a dozen times!" Zhang Ji's complaining voice crackled through the speaker.
"Uh..." Lucas stammered, quickly spinning a lie. "I was out today and my phone died. I literally just walked through the door."
"Fine, fine, that's not why I called," Zhang Ji said, his voice suddenly shifting to one of sheer excitement. "Lucas, it's a success! The anesthetic agent you provided the formula for—it's been synthesized. It's incredible! It puts people under effortlessly with absolutely zero side effects..."
Lucas listened quietly as Zhang Ji rattled off the medical details. This was the first-generation anesthetic derived from the formula provided by the Poison-Fang in the Otherworld.
The raw materials were plants Lucas had brought back and planted in his backyard. He owned about a dozen acres of land there, which he used exclusively to cultivate Otherworld flora. To cover his tracks, he had established the "New Species Research Studio." His goal was to study the medicinal properties of these alien plants and eventually create optimized formulas to bring back to Sedona City.
This anesthetic was his "bait." He had partnered with Phoenix Medicine Herbs to develop it, taking a 60% stake in the new company in exchange for the formula and a 200-year-old wild ginseng. He remained a silent partner, leaving the networking and bureaucratic hurdles to the influential Phoenix Medicine Herbs.
"Dr. Zhang, since I provided the formula, I already knew it would work," Lucas said, cutting him off before the man could drown him in complex medical jargon.
"Right, right," Zhang Ji said, sounding like he had much more to say. "Anyway, do you have more of those herbs? The company is running low, and I need to submit samples to the Health Bureau tomorrow for filing..."
"I have some on hand, but we really need to find a way to mass-produce these," Lucas noted. He only had a small patch of them; the research samples had mostly been direct imports from the other side.
"Leave it to me. Just provide the seeds, and I'll lease the land and hire the workers," Zhang Ji said without hesitation. He knew Lucas's reclusive nature.
For Zhang Ji, this was the key to revitalizing Phoenix Medicine Herbs. As a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) institution, they had always struggled to break into the modern surgical field. If they could market an all-natural, side-effect-free anesthetic, their reputation would be unmatched.
Lucas, of course, had no interest in fame. He hadn't even told Zhang Ji where he actually lived. He didn't want people knocking on his door and risking the discovery of him.
"By the way, Dr. Zhang, I have a few other new species. Can you help me test their properties?" Lucas asked. He needed to know if certain Otherworld plants were toxic, edible, or held hidden medicinal value.
"Sure, just ship them over with the rest," Zhang Ji replied. He'd just hand them over to his daughter, a Ph.D. in medical science, to handle the testing.
"Deal." Lucas nodded and hung up after a few more pleasantries.
Hiss...
Lucas smiled. Everything was moving according to plan. Once he understood the properties of the Otherworld flora, he could begin a massive agricultural revolution back in Sedona City—introducing optimized edible vegetables and highly effective herbal medicine.
"Time to ship these out and head back to the castle for some sleep." Lucas grabbed a headlamp and began walking toward the fields in his backyard.
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