Chapter 171: Chapter 170: The Focus of the Grand Alchemist
Upon hearing Fang Zheng say it was for feeding dogs, Nanali was quite calm. Initially, she was just like Kuliya, unable to understand at all, but after Fang Zheng shared his concerns with Nanali, she too shuddered. Clearly, she also did not want people to eat the fruits grown with “Slime Fertilizer” and then undergo bodily mutations or give birth to deformed children.
It’s known that in the Main World, slimes are classified as one of the harmless Demon Beasts. Still, they are Demon Beasts, grouped under the slime species in the taxonomy!
Of course, being a Demon Beast does not mean it cannot be consumed, as many Demon Beasts can be killed for their meat. Unless they are too highly contaminated by Chaos, having undergone secondary mutations, people could still try them.
But the problem is… slimes are not among them.
You could say killing an ice wolf or something and treating it as stewed dog meat is one thing, but slimes look like oversized jellyfish without eyes and shells, which makes anyone’s first impression be… can this be eaten?
Although “Slime Fertilizer” is just a refined extraction from the bodily fluids of slimes, and exactly for this reason, Nanali hadn’t thought much about it initially. But after hearing Fang Zheng’s reminder, Nanali also realized. So, she supported Fang Zheng’s statement,
Especially since she had been monitoring the rapid growth of the Tachibana Fruits, which were inflating like balloons, changing everyday. Sometimes, even the farmers they hired felt that the fruits were growing too fast to be normal… Under such circumstances, of course people should not consume them randomly.
Even though Nymph had proven through scanning that these Tachibana Fruits were just slightly larger due to external stimuli and were harmless to the human body, Fang Zheng still saw it prudent to err on the side of caution. With transgenic organisms nearly becoming synonymous with the Black Plague back in his own world, he certainly did not want to make such a mistake here.
Fang Zheng’s plan was to first introduce greenhouses and Slime Fertilizer, and as long as he confirmed the fertilizer was safe, he could proceed with soil-less cultivation. Once these three were handled, Nanali’s rank as an Alchemist would surely increase, and then he could delightfully count Spirit Crystals behind the scenes. After all, in Fang Zheng’s view, these three items were enough to change the agricultural landscape of the Main World, and he was not interested in tinkering with anything else for now.
As for Nanali, Fang Zheng was not worried. He had interacted with her for some time, finding that aside from the slightly skewed thinking influenced by her mother, her fundamentals were solid. This alchemical work also brought significant benefits to Nanali, who was no longer fixated on unattainable high goals as before but was more down-to-earth.
However, Kuliya clearly could not accept this explanation like Nanali. She had gone crazy over the Tachibana Fruits, and right now, in the snow and ice, such juicy fruits were right in front of her, yet she could only look and not eat. Was this not killing her?!
Is it just the fear of poison? Today, even if I, Kuliya, have to die here, I am determined to taste a Tachibana Fruit before I do!
“… I’m going back to find my grandfather. You guys wait here!”
Upon saying this, Kuliya turned and hurriedly left. Now, her mind was filled only with thoughts of Tachibana Fruits. Although she was afraid of poisoning, they were just checking for poison, after all, something trivial for the Alchemists’ Association!
Watching Kuliya dash off without another word, Fang Zheng was startled, and then he turned towards Nanali. He had actually planned to have Nanali discuss her further thoughts, but the young girl just stared at the Tachibana Fruits for a while before leaving these words and running off?
Confronted with Fang Zheng’s question, Nanali too just shook her head in bewilderment. She couldn’t understand what folly her friend was committing. They had agreed to check out her invention, and no sooner had they walked in, a few minutes had barely passed, and without even giving Nanali a chance to explain, she had turned and run. What the reason was… Nanali had no idea!
In fact, at that moment, Kuliya had already pushed aside what she had promised Nanali and had only one thought in her mind: to quickly ascertain whether the Tachibana Fruit was poisonous. If it wasn’t, she was determined to take a bite!!
This had been her heartfelt desire for over ten years!
With that thought, Kuliya nearly tapped into her full strength as a Swordsman, rushing home at top speed.
“Grandfather! Are you there? Grandfather!!”
“What’s the matter, Kuliya?”
Hearing Kuliya’s shouts, an elderly man dressed in an Alchemist’s robe with graying hair came out of the room. Seeing his granddaughter panting heavily, the old man was also taken aback.
“What happened? Did someone bully you?”
“No, no, no one bullied me…”
Hearing the old man’s question, Kuliya raised her hand and waved it a bit, then hurriedly looked at the old man.
“Oh right, Grandpa, do you still have that water bird?”
“Of course, what do you want to do with it?”
“I need to take it for testing!”
Upon hearing the old man’s answer, Kuliya immediately grew excited.
“You know Nanali, right, Grandpa? Nanali has really come up with an incredible invention this time!”
Seeing his excited granddaughter, the old man was slightly taken aback.
“Are you talking about the little girl from the Tilda family? What has she tinkered with this time?”
At this point, his face also showed a keen interest. Having seen his granddaughter grow up playing with Nanali, he naturally knew a thing or two about Nanali’s “skills.” In fact, Kuliya had often mentioned Nanali’s “great inventions” before him, though those mentions were mostly tinged with helplessness and teasing. But seeing her now… Had she really come up with something extraordinary?
“She created something called a greenhouse, which allows people to grow crops in winter, and she also made a type of fertilizer that can accelerate crop growth!”
Upon hearing Kuliya’s response, the old man’s expression changed instantly. Perhaps Kuliya was just thinking about finding time to go and bite into one of those Tachibana fruits, but as a Grand Alchemist, the old man immediately realized the potential value of this invention the moment he heard Kuliya’s answer.
“Did that little girl really come up with something ? Do you have the blueprints?”
“Of course, right here.”
Kuliya immediately took out the blueprints and handed them over, and the old man took them, opening them and looking over them carefully.
“Hmm…? I see, it’s by covering the crops with a structure, is that it… Hmm? Using Slime’s skin combined with tempered fine wood? I see, this indeed takes into account the cost of materials and setup time, just like a huge oval tent… Oh? And this fertilizer…”
Although there wasn’t much written on Nanali’s blueprints, just seeing the materials and effects was enough to make the old man’s eyes sparkle.
“Kuliya, have you confirmed all of this already?”
“Of course, Grandpa. That greenhouse is particularly awesome, it looks light and flimsy, but it’s actually quite warm inside. And that fertilizer is amazing too, they say that with this fertilizer, it only took a little over half a month for the Tachibana fruits to mature!”
The old man was also greatly surprised at this time. Under normal circumstances, it would take three months for Tachibana fruits to mature, but with this fertilizer, it took less than a month?
“Is this why you came to me for the water bird?”
“Yes, I want to check if those Tachibana fruits are poisonous at all. They always worry that the fruits’ rapid growth might lead to adverse effects…”
“Hmm… good, a qualified alchemist should have this kind of cautious temperament.”
Looking at his granddaughter, the old man nodded his head.
“All right, then I’ll go with you to see what good thing your good friend has really come up with.”