300: What did I actually lay off back then?

A voice, hoarse to the extreme, as if squeezed out of a throat with every ounce of strength, rang out from behind.

"Boss..."

Lin Yu gave a response.

Old Ghost was staring at him intently, his posture teetering. In those cloudy old eyes, waves of immense shock were surging.

Feng Rui and Li Mo's hearts instantly leaped into their throats.

It was here.

This was the true core handover.

Peripheral "contractors" like them didn't even have the right to participate.

Old Ghost pushed off the doorframe and took one step after another with extreme difficulty, as if every step was on the edge of a knife. He came before Lin Yu and stopped three paces away.

He wanted to say something, his lips trembling, but he couldn't make a sound.

He wanted to kneel.

But his body was so stiff it wouldn't obey him.

Throughout his life, he had seen the intrigue of the black market and had experienced brief moments of glory. He thought he had seen through this world—that it was nothing more than the law of the jungle, where the winner takes all.

Until today.

Until he saw with his own eyes that the once destitute youth, who had haggled with him over a few low-grade mental stabilizers, had become the sole ruler of this divine kingdom of scientific research that he hadn't even dared to imagine in his dreams.

This impact had transcended fear and awe.

Suddenly, Old Ghost seemed to remember something terrifying.

He jerked his hand up, fingers trembling violently from overexertion, and pointed toward a corner of the laboratory.

"Boss... I... I..."

He was incoherent, beads of sweat rolling down from his temples.

Everyone followed his finger.

In a corner of the laboratory, at an independent workbench, a youth around seventeen or eighteen in overalls was wearing goggles, fully focused on dismantling an exceptionally intricate Alchemical Puppet Core with tools.

His movements were skilled and focused. He seemed oblivious to everything happening outside; it was as if the entire world consisted only of the complex parts in his hands.

"That... that's my son..."

Old Ghost's voice carried a sob, filled with a fear as if doomsday had arrived.

"He... he used to be a mechanic... but he has... a talent for mechanical structures... I... I took it upon myself to bring him in... I haven't had the chance to report to you yet..."

Before he could finish.

"I don't care."

Lin Yu spoke, his voice flat and without any fluctuation.

Those three words were like three heavy hammers, slamming hard into everyone's hearts.

Old Ghost's sobbing and fear were instantly crushed, and his whole body froze.

Feng Rui and Li Mo's minds buzzed, going blank.

Don't care?

What did that mean?

Bringing family members into a top-secret Research Institute without permission was a capital offense in any organization.

This new lord actually said... he didn't care?

Just as their brains completely stalled, Lin Yu's next sentence drifted over.

"I only look at results."

Old Ghost jerked his head up.

Feng Rui and Li Mo's bodies shook violently, as if struck by an invisible bolt of lightning.

A hint of realization and shock also flashed through Wang Qingxuan's cold eyes.

So that was it.

This was his way of managing people.

He didn't care about the process, he didn't care about the rules, he didn't even care if you were loyal.

He only gave you a goal.

If you could complete it, you had value.

"Old Ghost."

"Here!" Old Ghost subconsciously straightened his back. All his previous emotions vanished, replaced by an absolute focus like a soldier receiving orders.

Lin Yu didn't spare another glance at the hardworking youth, as if he were truly just air.

His gaze fell back onto Old Ghost.

"I'm giving you two tasks."

"First, I want you to break through the attribute enhancement bottlenecks of all existing Potions."

"Second, I want you to increase the attribute enhancement efficiency of Potions by at least ten times."

The entire corridor became so silent that a falling needle could be heard.

Feng Rui and Li Mo weren't just shocked; they were horrified.

Break through bottlenecks?

Increase efficiency by ten times?

Was he even speaking human?

The Four Major Pharmaceutical Companies, together with the Military Research Institute, had spent over a century and invested astronomical resources, yet they hadn't been able to solve these problems.

And now, he just casually assigned it as a "task"?

This was no longer just arrogance.

This was commanding a mortal to perform a miracle.

However, Old Ghost's reaction was completely beyond their expectations.

After a brief moment of daze, there was no fear or difficulty in those cloudy old eyes. Instead, a flame bordering on madness ignited.

It was the fanaticism of a scholar encountering an ultimate puzzle, or a madman seeing a destruction button.

Instead of being intimidated by this impossible task, he seemed to have been injected with new life.

"Infinite supply of resources."

Lin Yu spoke again. The flat statement was like a nuclear bomb dropped into a dead, silent lake.

"There will be dedicated personnel to coordinate with both the Abyss Domain and Blue Star."

His gaze was unfocused, as if piercing through everyone in front of him to see somewhere much further away.

"Don't disappoint me."

Feng Rui and Li Mo's breathing stopped completely.

Their brains could no longer process this continuous onslaught of information.

Infinite supply?

Coordinating with the Abyss Domain?

This was no longer a problem money could solve. This was mobilizing the resources of two worlds!

All their attention was fixed intensely on Old Ghost.

Did he dare to accept?

Did he really dare?

This kind of promise, this kind of pressure, was enough to crush any normal person into dust.

In Old Ghost's cloudy eyes, that flame of madness burned to its peak upon hearing those words.

Instead of being crushed, he seemed to have been doused with the most potent catalyst.

"Understood!"

He suddenly straightened his somewhat hunched back. His entire being seemed to have its bones replaced in an instant, transforming from a fanatical scholar into an unsheathed sharp sword.

"Please rest assured, Boss!!"

His answer was crisp, without a shred of hesitation.

That wasn't an agreement made on impulse, but a resolution to sacrifice everything after finding an ultimate faith.

At that very moment.

Slap!

A crisp, loud slap exploded without warning in the silent corridor.

Everyone flinched and turned their heads in unison.

Li Mo stood there, his left hand covering his rapidly swelling right cheek, his whole body trembling.

He had slapped himself.

And with all his might.

Feng Rui shuddered in fright, almost thinking Li Mo had gone mad from the pressure.

Wang Qingxuan also glanced over slightly, puzzled by this abrupt action.

Only Old Ghost looked at Li Mo, a complex and indecipherable emotion flashing in those flame-filled eyes.

Li Mo's hand was shaking, but not from pain.

It was because of regret—an overwhelming, torrential regret.

Back at Qingyun Pharmaceutical, it was he who, for the sake of so-called "optimizing personnel structure" and to suppress the influence of the old guard, had personally signed the order to lay off Old Ghost's team.

He was such a total idiot!