Chapter 102 – Solving Small Town Problem
Lin Jiu discussed solutions with the system.
The system, quite pleased with Lin Jiu’s recent spending, was in a good mood and unusually talkative. It even ignored its usual petty concerns.
[Host, you’re quite a generous person. Let me recommend a serum. After drinking it, it will completely clear their remnant tribe genes and, more importantly, keep them alive.]
Lin Jiu immediately objected, “Do I look like someone who’s interested in keeping them alive?”
The system slyly offered a sinister suggestion.
[Killing them is too easy, but why kill them when you can use them? Buy the serum, clear their genes, and use them to negotiate with the Haijia clan for magic crystal cores. If they don’t provide the crystal, you don’t release the captives. Once the Haijia Tribe realizes their precious mutated sea monsters have turned into ordinary people, imagine their reaction.]
Lin Jiu: … They’d probably be furious, right?
[Just picture them fuming, yet helpless. Doesn’t that sound satisfying?]
Lin Jiu: Very satisfying!
[Then what are you waiting for? Buy the serum!]
Lin Jiu: …
He nearly impulsively spent the magic points but fortunately stopped himself in time.
Lin Jiu: You make a good case, but what if I spend the magic points and they refuse to trade the magic crystal cores?
[That’s impossible. Vera has already confirmed that many mutated sea monsters were killed in the explosion at the Underwater Palace. These few you’ve captured are likely all they have left.]
Lin Jiu: So, they don’t have many mutated sea monsters, which means these captives are crucial to them.
[Exactly! The Sea Tribe can’t afford to lose them—they’ll definitely ransom them back.]
Lin Jiu, unmoved by the system’s pitch, decided to wait for Si Xu to return and consult him before making a decision.
Lin Jiu: How much magic does one vial of the serum cost?
[Advanced Gene Suppression Serum, 500 magic points per vial.]
Lin Jiu: …
This is too expensive!
But if it can be exchanged for a few magic crystal cores, it might be acceptable.”
The Haijia people, like the Sirens, are marine creatures. When they are away from seawater for too long, they feel uncomfortable. Their scales turn dull, dry up, and fall off—this is common.
When Lin Jiu saw the mutated Haijia that were brought back, they were in this condition.
Without the medicine to restore them to human form, they could only stay like this.
The Special Security Division (SSD) already knew about Si Xu bringing back a dozen mutated Haijia. Since they would need the SSD’s help in the future, Si Xu didn’t hide this matter.
Si Xu wasn’t sure if the Cecil family would escalate this to an international issue. If the M Country intervened, it would mean that the Cecil family’s influence had already reached M Country’s government. The stronger their influence, the more the Cecil family could not be allowed to remain.
The dozen or so mutated Haijia were imprisoned in the SSD’s facility. Without seawater, they were being held as if they were human, and it was unbearable for them.
When Lin Jiu first met Si Xu, he immediately told him the advice the system had given him.
Si Xu didn’t rush to have Lin Jiu buy the medicine. He wanted to wait and see how the Cecil family or M Country would respond before making a decision.
Si Xu’s main purpose for returning was to produce the medicine. On the way, he had already contacted his grandfather to secretly gather materials. After returning, Si Xu went straight into his weapon crafting space—a system-provided space for him to create weapons, much like Lin Jiu’s smart kitchen. This time, Si Xu was making medicine.
Having experience with creating gene enhancement drugs, it took Si Xu less time this time. In just a day and a night, he successfully produced a batch of pheromone-removal medicine. Although its effectiveness couldn’t compare to what the system provided, it worked.
Si Xu planned to have this batch of medicine tested in a small town in F Country first. Only after confirming its effectiveness would they start mass production and discuss pricing.
The town was in a dire situation, with people dying every day and giant sea monsters lurking. Ever since the Z Country ability users left, Croff hadn’t had a single peaceful night. In addition to worrying about the town, he had to deal with the heavily injured ability users from M Country and H Country. Both nations were pressuring Croff for answers, and it was clear what kind of “truth” they wanted.
But blaming the Z Country ability users was impossible. Croff couldn’t even say a bad word about them. They were now relying on the Z Country ability users, so making them testify and push all the blame onto them was out of the question.
The truth was simple: they had repeatedly provoked and attacked the Z Country ability users, who fought back in self-defense. The serious injuries of the ability users from M and H Countries were not the Z Country’s fault but resulted from their battles with the mutated sea monsters.
Many people had witnessed the events at the shore, and medical reports confirmed that the injuries were caused by the mutated sea monsters. If anyone doubted this, they could check the testimonies and diagnoses, and if that wasn’t enough, other ability users from the two countries who were present could testify. If they still didn’t believe it, they could take their people back home for treatment.
All of them were contaminated with pheromone residue, and neither M nor H Country would let them return at this critical moment. Kroff knew this and was able to ignore their repeated questioning.
The only good news was that Si Xu’s team had sent over a batch of pheromone-removal medicine.
The people delivering the medicine walked confidently into the temporary base, unafraid of contamination because they had already taken the medicine in advance.
The person Si Xu sent personally handed the box containing five vials of the medicine to Croff. They insisted on staying to witness the medicine being administered to the unconscious individuals and evaluate its effects before leaving.
Croff selected five people who had been unconscious the longest and were suspected of consuming giant blue demon eggs. After administering the medicine, they waited for three hours before the individuals woke up, allowing all the medical personnel and Croff to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, they had a cure.
Now that the medicine was proven effective, Croff could officially negotiate the purchase with Si Xu on behalf of F Country.
The town’s situation was critical, and there was no time to waste. Croff immediately contacted Si Xu, hoping he could help negotiate a better price.
Si Xu, knowing the medicine worked, had been waiting for Kroff to reach out.
Si Xu hesitated and said, “I’ve done my best in negotiations, but they’re only willing to reduce the price by one.”
Four energy crystal stones—that was beyond Kroff’s imagination.
Kroff: “No way, that’s too much. We don’t have that many unknown energy crystal stones.”
Si Xu picked up on the implication: F Country had already agreed to trade magic crystal cores for the medicine, but the amount they could offer was beyond their means.
Si Xu asked, “How many can you provide? I’ll negotiate for you.”
After a moment of hesitation, Kroff replied, “At most, we can offer one.”
Si Xu smiled, “If that’s your nation’s level of sincerity, I don’t think I even need to ask. They won’t agree.”
Kroff said, “If possible, can you give me their contact information? I’ll negotiate with them myself.”
Si Xu: “That’s definitely not possible. You should understand how important an ancient family is to a nation, especially one that remains anonymous to avoid detection. I can’t give you their contact information.”
Croff certainly knew the significance of an ancient family to a nation. Just like in M Country—according to gathered intelligence, M Country had at least three ancient families, all living reclusively and rarely appearing in public.
The strange creatures that the Z Country ability users had captured were also descendants of an ancient family; otherwise, M Country wouldn’t be so anxious.
Kroff was deeply troubled. “Four crystals really is impossible. We just don’t have that many.”
Si Xu hesitated and finally said, “I’ll ask my superiors to step in and try to lower it to three. For the sake of diplomatic relations and the tens of thousands of lives, we won’t stand idly by.”
Croff still frowned deeply—three was still too much for them to handle.
Without hesitation, Si Xu shifted the burden to H Country. “I heard that H Country has two energy crystals.”
The M Country has even more unknown energy crystals.
The ancient families in M Country surely possess a significant amount of these unknown energy crystals, as Croff should already be aware without Si Xu needing to explain further.
Si Xu said, ‘It takes time to produce the medicine, General Kroff. You’d better make a decision soon.’
The next sea monster attack could involve either a mutated sea monster or a giant one. If the giant Blue Demon personally comes to F Country, the damage it causes would be far greater than what a few energy crystals could compensate for.
Although Si Xu said this, in reality, the pharmaceutical company under the Mohong Group had already begun manufacturing the medicine. The people involved in the process were carefully selected, each responsible for a specific step, with the system monitoring everything. If anyone had any ulterior motives, the system would erase their memory related to the medicine.
While the Special Security Division wasn’t officially involved in the production of the pheromone-removal medicine, it was closely following the progress of the situation. This was primarily because F Country’s government had reached out to Z Country, seeking their assistance.
This was no longer a personal issue; it had escalated to an international matter. Since the Special Security Division would later have to face pressure from M Country and H Country, Si Xu and Lin Jiu discussed it and decided to approach Si Qinian to suggest handing over the formula for the pheromone-removal medicine.
Whenever this subject came up, Si Qinian’s expression always turned complex. He never asked any questions but could guess where most of Si Xu’s ‘fortuitous encounters’ came from. Since Si Xu wasn’t saying, he didn’t press, acting as though he didn’t know anything.
He told Si Xu that there was no need to hand over the formula. He should keep it safe himself. After all, they were citizens of Z Country. In case of any incident, they would certainly help their own people, so why hand over the formula?
The next day, Croff responded, agreeing to purchase 30,000 vials of pheromone-removal medicine in exchange for three energy crystals. His only condition was that the medicine needed to arrive quickly—preferably within 24 hours.
In truth, both Si Xu and Lin Jiu knew that F Country didn’t actually need that much medicine, but it was a precautionary measure.
With three energy crystals secured, Lin Jiu had no problem sending them extra medicine. He was very generous about it.
Later, Lin Jiu learned why F Country agreed so quickly—it was because they had spotted an enormous sea monster approaching their waters.
The giant sea monster was so massive that just seeing its outline was enough to terrify anyone. There was no room for hesitation; if they delayed any longer, F Country would be lost.
Si Xu didn’t disappoint Croff either. The medicine was delivered in less than 24 hours.
Si Xu had wisely anticipated this and had rushed to produce the medicine as soon as he returned. After three or four days of nonstop work, they finally completed the batch.
With the situation urgent, Z Country delivered the medicine and immediately returned with the three energy crystals. Whether Kroff could solve the pheromone problem before the giant Blue Demon landed would depend on his ability to act.
Everyone in the know was on edge until the next morning, when Si Xu received word from Croff that they had made it in time. All those contaminated with pheromones had taken the medicine, and the giant Blue Demon had stopped approaching and was now moving away.
Kroff even sent Si Xu several photos of the giant Blue Demon.
In the photos, the giant Blue Demon’s enormous head emerged above the water, with thick tentacles thrashing around, causing the sea’s surface to rise. The creature was clearly very close to the shore. Just seeing such a massive sea monster would terrify anyone.
As expected, the international news that day was dominated by reports of the giant sea monster. The photos in the news were even clearer than the ones Croff had sent. The sheer size and the rough, dark blue skin, as solid as rock, struck fear into anyone who saw it.
F Country publicly confirmed the existence of the giant Blue Demon and the dangers of the giant Blue Demon eggs. They also revealed the situation of the sleeping town, urging people to learn from this and avoid engaging in such dangerous activities. It wasn’t just about risking their own lives—jeopardizing an entire nation was far more serious. Fortunately, with Z Country’s help, F Country managed to overcome this crisis.
After the sleepers woke up, the entire incident was thoroughly investigated.
It turned out that those who went to sea hadn’t been exceptionally skilled warriors fighting through a sea of giant monsters to steal the Blue Demon egg from the open ocean. Instead, they had been fishing for mutated seafood in safe waters and caught a smaller giant sea fish. They brought it back to town, butchered it, and sold the meat, and the egg was found in the fish’s stomach.
The coastal town was heavily irradiated, and with great danger came great opportunity. Every day, many people flocked to the town to buy mutated seafood. F Country’s regulations differed from Z Country’s, and they were not as strict. Even non-ability users could go to sea as long as they could block the radiation.
The giant sea fish meat sold out quickly at high prices, but no one wanted the egg, assuming it was just an internal organ they wouldn’t eat.
Since no one bought the egg, a few people decided to open it to see what was inside. When they cracked it open, they found an undeveloped ‘octopus.’ They were thrilled, realizing it was an octopus egg, and believed the liquid inside the egg was edible.
The underdeveloped ‘octopus’ was sold to a local family, while the remaining liquid was bought by only a few people. The rest was split among several people and taken home, some of which they consumed, and the rest they stored in their refrigerators…
This was the entire cause of the town’s disaster. They had no idea how dangerous the egg was. If they had known, they would never have touched it.
To prevent anyone from bringing such eggs ashore again, international news outlets provided detailed descriptions of the egg’s size and color, sharing the entire incident to raise awareness. The ocean is extremely dangerous, and no one should let their guard down.
