105: Chapter 105: Delivery Continues, Old Case Temporarily Shelved

Third day, morning. Blue Moon Island, Outer Port Pier.

Manager Wei's grey-bottomed speed boat docked on time. He was still wearing that grey cloth robe with the frayed cuffs, and still carrying that old, paint-chipped wooden box. As he stepped off the gangplank, he glanced at the water by the Pier—the clear zone around the Starlight Coral mother branch was a large circle wider than last month, spreading nearly six zhang north from the outside of the berth.

"This coral is growing faster than expected." Manager Wei placed the box on the stone platform of the Pier and squatted down to watch the water for a while. Beneath the surface, the cold light of the mother branch was almost invisible in the daylight, but the difference in water quality was visible to the naked eye—within six zhang, the seawater was as clear as early spring mountain stream water, while beyond six zhang, it was the normal light grey-green. The boundary in the middle was as straight as if cut by a knife.

"When the mother branch was put into the water, Elder Tianji said it would spread thirty zhang a year." Lu Changyuan stood by the Pier. "Now it seems—the water current conditions of Blue Moon Island are better than estimated."

"A good thing. Purifying the water area is also good for the raw Materials of the purification liquid—the fewer the Impurities in the water, the fewer the Impurities in the purification liquid." Manager Wei stood up and patted the water droplets off his hands. "Is the cargo ready?"

"One hundred and twenty bottles. Chen Mo is already waiting in the hall."

Lords Mansion meeting hall. Chen Mo had lined up the one hundred and twenty small bottles of purification liquid in four rows on the long table, thirty bottles per row. The spirit wax seal on each bottle was intact, and a small slip of paper was attached to the bottle—batch number, production date, quality rating. Attached to the side was a stack of raw material source records and ratio records. Following the requirements Manager Wei left before he last departed, every batch had the corresponding raw material traceability and ratio changes copied out.

Manager Wei casually picked up four bottles from the first row—one from the front, one from the middle, and two from the end. He unscrewed the seal of the first bottle and poured a few drops into his palm. The liquid was clear, lacking the extremely faint light grey of the previous batch—this time the purity was better. He leaned in to smell it, then took out a testing needle as thin as a hair from his box—the standard acceptance tool for the Zhenhai Army logistics, which would turn different shades of light blue according to the purity after the needle tip touched the purification liquid.

The needle tip entered the liquid. It turned a very uniform blue.

"This batch is more stable than the last." Manager Wei checked the four bottles one by one and put the testing needle back into the box. "After the first batch of eighty-seven small bottles was sent to several front-line strongholds for trial use, I compiled the feedback from below—there are test reports for all three uses. Wound cleaning: The debridement effect on wounds eroded by shallow Devilish Qi is at least thirty percent faster than the existing purification powder. Poison miasma cleaning: After dilution and spraying on the inner walls of tents and sentry posts, it can suppress low-concentration residual Devilish Qi below the safety line within twelve hours. Talisman paper efficiency enhancement: The talisman masters of the Zhenhai Army talisman room tried mixing a small amount of purification liquid into the talisman ink of the Evil-warding Talisman, and the evil-warding effect improved by about twenty percent, and the durability of the talisman paper was also extended."

He took the inspection sheet out of the box and signed his acceptance on it.

"The demand is much greater than expected. The three-month trial supply only covered two months' worth of quantity, but the people below are already asking—can it be renewed after the three-month period expires? How much can be renewed?" Manager Wei handed the signed inspection sheet to Lu Changyuan. "I will speak directly—the military wants to negotiate a one-year long-term contract after the three-month period expires. The premise is whether the monthly production can be stabilized at over two hundred bottles."

Lu Changyuan took the inspection sheet and did not answer immediately. Chen Mo spoke up from the side.

"Manager Wei—at present, the Trial Workshop only has one Formation pot with three people. I bring two apprentices myself, and from preparing Materials, ratios, controlling fire to producing liquid, sealing, and testing, one pot takes three hours, and we can produce at most one pot a day. Making one hundred and twenty to one hundred and fifty bottles a month is already the limit. Adding a pot requires recruiting three more apprentices, with a training cycle of at least one month. Besides adding pots, the monthly supply of old sand and thunder bamboo sawdust is also limited—these two are natural by-products of the thunder bamboo, not something you can collect as much as you want."

"So two hundred bottles—cannot be done in the short term?"

"It can be done, but it takes time." Lu Changyuan put the inspection sheet on the table. "Let's finish the three-month trial supply on time first. Discuss the matter of adding pots after the trial supply ends. I will take advantage of this last month to recruit and train apprentices first—when the pot arrives, the people will be able to start working. In terms of raw Materials, the growth rate of the thunder bamboo is increasing, and the by-product yield will be higher than now in three months."

Manager Wei nodded. He did not pester—the military wants stability and honesty.

"Before the three-month period expires, I will send over the draft of the long-term contract. The conditions will be discussed in detail then—but the general direction is to raise the unit price from forty-five Spirit Stones, and the specific increase depends on costs and production capacity." He stood up, folded the copy of the inspection sheet, and put it into the box. "Additionally—the payment for the first batch plus this time, totals nearly ten thousand Spirit Stones. This business is not just a way out for Blue Moon Island—the Zhenhai Army logistics side also has a supply of Materials that can be brought out. Do it well."

"Thank you for your trouble."

When Manager Wei left the Pier with one hundred and twenty bottles of purification liquid and the original copy of the inspection sheet, the sun had just risen to half the height of the mast. The grey-bottomed speed boat turned out of the berth, circled half a lap in the Outer Port, and sailed north—in the direction of the Zhenhai fortress.

Lords Mansion accounting room. Su Qingli finished writing the day's income record. The second batch of payment—one hundred and twenty bottles, forty-five Low-Grade Spirit Stones per bottle—totaled five thousand four hundred Spirit Stones. Added to the first batch of three thousand nine hundred and fifteen Spirit Stones, the total income for the two months of the three-month trial supply was nine thousand three hundred and fifteen Spirit Stones.

She wrote a line of small characters in fine handwriting under this row of numbers.

"Starting from this month, Blue Moon Island has fixed money to live on."

The characters were not large. The brushwork was steadier than when she wrote "Blue Moon Island no longer relies only on windfalls to eat" last month.

"Chen Mo says if we add a pot, the monthly production capacity will reach about two hundred and fifty bottles." Su Qingli pushed the account book to Lu Changyuan opposite. "According to the current unit price, after adding the pot, the monthly revenue from purification liquid will rise from five thousand four to over eleven thousand—about one hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones a year. Added to the annual mining volume of the Cold Dragon Abyss micro spirit mine (eight thousand to ten thousand Spirit Stones), the annual first-layer output of the cold marrow jade shell (three thousand five hundred to seventeen thousand five hundred Spirit Stones), and the grain conversion price of the jade spikes—this is not counting the seaweed, fish schools, and shellfish farms that can be raised after the Starlight Coral spreads."

"Adding a pot costs money. Apprentices cost money. Raw material storage costs money." Lu Changyuan pushed the account book back. "Finish the last month of the three-month trial supply steadily first—calculate the account for adding the pot after getting the renewal contract."

"I know. I'm just calculating it once. To have a bottom line in my heart."

Lu Changyuan stood up. Chen Mo came over from the Trial Workshop, holding the day's raw material consumption record—less than half of the old sand inventory remained, the thunder bamboo sawdust was enough for another month and a half, and the stock of finely shredded outer skin was abundant. He handed the record to Su Qingli for filing, then poured himself a glass of water.

Just at this moment, a talisman light lit up on the communication platform at the doorway.

Leng Feng's Cold Dragon Abyss observation post—the first complete two-day record had arrived. Lu Changyuan unfolded the communication talisman. Black fish school quantity: fluctuating between seven hundred and one thousand two hundred. Water temperature: dropped by one and a half degrees cumulatively within two days—the rate of decline was slower than initially. Pressure intensity: taking the vibration amplitude of the sounding line in the six hundred to eight hundred zhang range as a reference—no obvious change in these two days, a stable straight line.

Luo Qingcheng's judgment was being verified step by step by field data: the giant beast was sliding back into deep sleep. The pressure would not disappear, but the intensity was weakening, and the frequency of fluctuations was decreasing. The black fish school would not disperse immediately—but they were just the first batch. At the end of the record, Leng Feng added a line of small characters: "Yesterday noon, three medium-sized silver-scaled sea breams were found on the outer edge of the Restriction. The normal habitat depth of silver-scaled sea breams is four hundred to five hundred zhang—they were driven up from a deeper water layer. A circle larger than the black fish and krill."

Medium-sized demersal fish began to float up. According to Luo Qingcheng's judgment, larger medium-deep layer creatures would be driven to the periphery of the Cold Dragon Abyss and linger. But as long as one did not actively attack them or release large Spells deep into the abyss—they would not impact the Restriction. Being trapped outside the Restriction was safer than drilling down.

The communication platform lit up again. This time it was Tie Zhan's reply—the second letter, with only one sentence.

"I have arranged for someone to look for the private accounts. Warehouse Chief Cui's transfer order needs to be searched in the old archives, wait for news. Additionally—the old archives of Liyuan Ferry are in Governor Xue Zhen's jurisdiction, searching for the transfer order requires cross-jurisdictional assistance, and the procedures cannot pass Governor Xue Zhen's barrier. Wait until I find the private accounts and the original file matching the transfer order number before talking about the next step."

Lu Changyuan finished reading the communication. Like last time—wait. Private accounts need time to find (the seventh warehouse was dismantled and rebuilt), transfer orders need authority to search old archives, Liyuan Ferry's archives need cross-jurisdiction—every step requires waiting. But Tie Zhan's judgment was very clear: do not alert Governor Xue Zhen first.

He folded the communication, locked it in a hidden compartment side-by-side with the previous one.

Afternoon. Spirit field thin soil area.

The first batch of seed-saving fields for the earth vein jade spike had been turned and prepared. Su Qingli led several spirit farmers to peel, screen, and dry the fullest spikes specially left during the first season harvest. The seed grains were a circle larger than ordinary wheat grains, with an extremely faint jade-white luster on the surface—exactly the same as described by Elder Tianji. Expanding seed saving for the next season—expanding from forty mu to over eighty mu, requiring two seasons. After two seasons, the grain self-sufficiency rate could approach seventy percent.

Lu Changyuan stood by the ridge for a while. The soil in the jade spike field had changed from crushed stone thin soil to dark brown—the root system of the earth vein jade spike was improving the soil quality while digging down. When planted in the first season, the soil was still greyish crushed stone color, and after one season, the color had begun to turn dark. Elder Tianji said: three years can turn thin soil into arable land. This statement was being verified season by season.

On the way back, Su Qingli took out a letter that had just been opened from her bosom. Her expression was not very good.

"Lord. Transferred from the Zhenhai fortress Logistics Department—it arrived this afternoon."

Lu Changyuan took the letter. The envelope was stamped with the official dispatch stamp of the Zhenhai fortress Logistics Department, and the inner page was a copy of an inquiry application. Applicant: Jubao Pavilion Outer Sea East Road. Inquiry matter: The purification liquid formula may contain undeclared spirit plant sources. Three inspection requirements—first, Blue Moon Island must submit the procurement sources and storage records of all raw Materials for the purification liquid. Second, it must be proven that the raw Materials do not contain spirit plant varieties not registered with the Zhenhai Logistics Department. Third, it must be proven that no prohibited Formation or blood sacrifice means were used in the production process.

A line of explanation was attached to the end of the letter: The Logistics Department has accepted this inquiry, please submit a written reply and supporting Materials within ten days.

"It's not a direct report—it's through the formal inquiry channel." Su Qingli lowered her voice. "A formal inquiry is not equal to an investigation, but it is equal to recording the inquiry content into the compliance archives of the Logistics Department. If there is no reply within ten days—the inquiry will automatically escalate to an item to be investigated. Once it reaches the investigation step, the Logistics Department will not be able to suppress it."

"They calculated the time well." Lu Changyuan folded the letter. "Ten days—just stuck in the middle of the last month of the three-month trial supply. Once the inquiry is received, the supply must be stopped first; if not stopped, the responsibility for problems during the inquiry period will be borne by oneself. This is using the rules to block me—either prove my innocence, or the last payment for the three-month trial supply will not be obtained."

"What should we do?"

"Check the accounts." Lu Changyuan put the letter into his bosom, his pace did not stop. "Tomorrow morning—gather everyone. Take out all production records, raw material procurement invoices, and consumption details from the first pot—line them up one by one."