Chapter 243

Chapter 243

Lorant didn’t care much for formalities. He looked at the two managers he had summoned and began laying out his next plan.

He first explained to them the unique abilities that had been discovered in the Curry Monster. Then, leaning back in his chair, he said, "As I mentioned, the Beast Tower has come up with these results regarding the secondary products of the Curry Monster. What do you think? Any ideas?"

Emma and Nia exchanged a glance. Emma pushed back a strand of hair that had fallen to the front and said seriously, "I believe we should take this opportunity to officially announce the findings. These results would undoubtedly capture people’s interest."

"Who wouldn’t love gaining some useful perks just from eating? With this added benefit, they’ll be more inclined to choose Blue Star Restaurant when deciding where to eat," Emma elaborated with conviction. "Plus, since you need to consume curry regularly to maintain the toxin resistance, Blue Star Restaurant will have a loyal customer base," Emma continued, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "This is an advantage no other restaurant will have, period!"

Lorant nodded, his expression giving away nothing about his thoughts on Emma’s words.

Observing Lorant’s expression, Nia then said, "Actually, I think we could produce curry as a standalone product without tying it to Blue Star Restaurant."

Both of them had seen the Curry Monster before and understood that curry came from this peculiar beast pet.

So, it was possible to turn curry into a standalone seasoning, much like the candy ears.

Previously, curry was a specialty of Blue Star Restaurant, but with this new attribute, it could clearly open up a much broader market. If it remained tied to the restaurant, its growth might be limited by the number of Blue Star Restaurants.

Lorant nodded again, this time showing more satisfaction.

"Nia has a point," Lorant affirmed with a nod to Nia.

Nia subtly straightened herself, trying to appear composed, but her eyes couldn’t help glancing at Emma.

Emma had likely considered this too. With the candy ears as a precedent, it was easy to come up with these ideas.

However, Blue Star Restaurant was currently under Emma’s temporary management, so subconsciously, she didn’t want curry, a specialty of Blue Star Restaurant, to be outside her control.

Nia, on the other hand, thought differently. If the by-products of the Curry Monster were separated from the restaurant, it could end up under her jurisdiction.

"We could consider large-scale farming of the Curry Monster, just like we do with the candy rabbits," Lorant said, his fingers unconsciously tapping the armrest of his sofa.

Originally, he hadn’t planned to do this with the Curry Monster, mainly because he didn’t think curry would have as large a market as the candy ears.

But now, it seemed that curry could be more than just food; it could function as a special potion with unique abilities, giving it a vast market.

As long as the price wasn’t significantly higher than related potions, people wouldn’t mind regularly using curry to ensure they wouldn’t easily suffer from ingested toxins.

This was especially true for practitioners who frequently ventured into the wild. In the wild, they couldn’t pick and choose their meals like customers sitting in a restaurant.

They couldn’t request specific seasonings or flavors.

In extreme situations, they might have to eat whatever they could find.

In such times, if the toxins were mild enough not to hinder their activities, it wouldn’t be a big issue. Between starving and taking a small hit of poison, anyone would choose the latter.

But if they had good toxin resistance, their food options might be broader.

Some plant beasts or other beasts that produced more severe toxins could be added to their life-saving menu.

This would provide a huge advantage for practitioners.

More importantly, this advantage wouldn’t require much cost. Instead of specifically buying corresponding potions, they only needed to develop a good habit of regularly consuming a certain food to gain this benefit.

Lorant could already picture the curry seasoning flying off the shelves once it hit the market.

Without saying much more, he dared to assert that large organizations would definitely include this food in their members' diet.

"However, for now, the number of Curry Monsters is not enough to support such large-scale production. It will take some time before we can breed them on a large scale like the candy rabbits and start selling curry extract."

"But we can start preparing in advance. Nia will be in charge of coordinating with Tang En to order a suitable machine from the Congress of Magic. We can divide the curry into two types: powder and blocks, and initially sell them at the beast pet shop. Once the scale matures, we can separate it out, just like the Candy Rabbit House."

Lorant nodded in satisfaction, setting the next course of action for the beast pet shop.

Emma bowed her head, while Nia nodded excitedly, having noticed Lorant giving Emma a warning glance, indicating he wasn't entirely satisfied with the manager's performance that day.

A few days later, Robert sent an invitation from the Beast Tower, saying that he had gained some understanding of that special Fluffy Slime and had analyzed their special fur.

He wanted to invite Lorant to come and see his results.

Naturally, Lorant accepted the invitation with pleasure.

He skillfully made his way to the Slime breeding center behind the Beast Tower, which Robert had specially renovated.

The base that previously bred large numbers of beast pet Slimes was now dedicated to breeding Spark Fur.

The importance placed on this special Fluffy Slime was evident.

Behind this warehouse, another two-story building had been constructed, even larger in area.

This was now the new base for breeding ordinary beast pet Slimes.

As one of the important pillar industries of the Beast Tower, Tang En placed considerable importance on this place.

Although Robert was primarily in charge of the various tasks, as the head butler of the Beast Tower, Tang En had arranged many reliable people to work here.

While breeding Slimes didn't generate much profit, it significantly boosted the Beast Tower's social standing, which Tang En naturally valued highly.

Since breeding this special beast pet Slime, Robert had become incredibly enthusiastic about this magical creature.

Of course, he had already been quite passionate about beast pets, as they were the result that the Beast Tower had been pursuing for centuries.

So even when such a great mage was assigned to this seemingly tedious repetitive work, Robert had no objections.

However, upon discovering that breeding beast pet Slimes wasn’t just simple, repetitive work but involved so much research and could yield different results, Robert became even more motivated, as if he had found a new purpose.

Even when everyone at the Beast Tower was rushing to the beast pet shop to study the brand-new, enticing Light-winged Butterfly beast pet,

Robert resisted the enormous temptation and stayed alone in the Beast Tower, tinkering with his Fluffy Slime.

His persistence finally bore fruit.

He had not only figured out the breeding method for this special Spark Fur Slime, further increasing the number of this magical beast, but he had also solved Lorant's question regarding the special use of Spark Fur's by-products.

When Lorant arrived, he found that the original breeding base now served more than just the function of breeding Spark Fur Slime.

He walked past Fluffy Slimes bouncing around with faint static electricity on their bodies towards the eye-catching machine in the semi-open indoor area.

At first glance, Lorant thought it was one of his spinning machines that had been moved here.

But he knew clearly that each of those spinning machines was heavily guarded, inaccessible to ordinary people, let alone secretly moved here.

Moreover, since the spinning machines had not been officially sold yet, and during this time, Lorant had his craftsmen add numerous security features to the mass-produced spinning machines,

it would be nearly impossible to replicate one without a year or more of effort, even if someone managed to buy a spinning machine. During this time, Lorant had his craftsmen add numerous security features to the mass-produced spinning machines.

By the time others managed to decipher it, Lorant had already made a fortune with this machine.

But as he drew closer, Lorant realized this was not one of his Jenny spinning machines.

It was a machine that borrowed the structure of a spinning machine but had undergone extensive magical modifications.

A crystal-powered magical textile machine.

Robert was stuffing a large pile of sparking fur, cut from the Spark Fur Slimes, into the machine.

With a rumbling sound, a huge stack of bracelets appeared on the other side, right in front of Lorant.

Lorant: ?

Curious, he picked one up and examined it closely.

A fluffy bracelet made from the sparkling fur of the Spark Fur Slime. Perhaps because of the machine’s fine craftsmanship, it didn’t look much like yarn.

At least it didn’t feel like a piece of fabric cut from a sweater or something similar.

The bracelet Lorant picked up had little design; it was just a simple wristband.

The width of a finger, with small buttons at both ends, it was plain but still a functional accessory.

For mages of their skill level, this simple, no-frills design was already a pretty impressive feat. In Lorant's mind, as long as the things these eccentric fellows produced weren’t ugly enough to be unwatchable, it was already a big win.

"Robert, what are these?" Lorant asked curiously, holding up the wristband and peeking around the machine.

Robert stopped what he was doing, turned off the loudly rumbling machine, and walked over, his face beaming with excitement as he played a guessing game. "Guess what this is!"

Lorant frowned slightly, inspecting the simple wristband in his hand.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t see anything special about it.

Excited, Robert took one and slipped it onto his own wrist, gesturing for Lorant to do the same.

The moment Lorant fastened the buttons, he suddenly felt a wave of warmth, as if someone were holding a torch in front of him, giving him the sensation of carrying a warm pack.

His body was already regulated by a temperature-stabilizing array.

After putting on the wristband, the temperature around him briefly spiked before the array adjusted it back to normal.

"How about it? Did you feel that?" Robert asked eagerly.

Lorant looked up in surprise. "Is this a thermoregulation array?" He eyed the simple wristband suspiciously.

He’d had temperature-regulating wristbands before but had upgraded to a more advanced array. Lorant knew those wristbands, which could regulate the surrounding temperature, were much more complex.

They were wider and heavier due to the materials, more like a solidly made bracelet.

What really surprised Lorant was that he knew Spark Fur’s special property was fire resistance, not temperature regulation, according to the ability chart.

But even though he wasn’t sure if the wristband also granted fire resistance, the temperature around him had indeed noticeably increased.

Unaware of what the ability chart said, Robert proudly boasted to Lorant, "This is the effect of Spark Fur!"

Seeing Lorant's obvious look of surprise, Robert became even prouder, thinking that Lorant was impressed by his research abilities.

"Didn't we previously experiment and discover that this type of Slime's special fur has a fire-resistant function?" Robert couldn't help but gloat, like a child showing off a new toy to a friend.

Lorant nodded silently, having already hinted at the research direction based on the ability chart when he first saw the Spark Fur Slime.

In subsequent experiments, Robert indeed uncovered many results along this direction.

The breeding of Spark Fur and its special fire-resistant properties, as described in the ability chart, were all discovered by Robert.

"But Spark Fur isn't limited to just fire resistance!" Robert exclaimed excitedly. "In one experiment, by using an altered array, I found that simply reversing the mantra syllables of the 'Fire Gathering Loop' magical inscription, changing its magical energy structure, and infusing it into a product woven from Spark Fur through a special technique, we can temporarily hide Spark Fur's original fire-resistant properties and instead transform it into a warming ability!"

Robert excitedly explained to Lorant, regardless of whether Lorant, an ordinary person, could understand the principles behind it.

Lorant couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise.

According to Robert, he had clearly developed a brand new ability based on the original capability of Spark Fur.

Perhaps the original fire-resistant ability of Spark Fur was much more valuable than the warming ability it now exhibited, but as an experimenter, what he considered in his research was not the value of the ability but whether the ability itself was interesting enough.

To a pure researcher, turning iron into gold or gold into iron would be equally fascinating.

Lorant once again realized that the descriptions in the ability chart did not represent the full capabilities of the beast pets.

Whether it was the Curry Monster or the Spark Fur Fluffy Slime, they seemed to have abilities beyond what the chart described.

Without the preconceived interference of the ability chart, these mages could unleash their imagination to the fullest.

Lorant reminded himself not to rely too heavily on the ability chart and refocused on the present.

"So, the machine you've researched, if we feed Spark Fur into it, can produce these wristbands through those improved arrays you mentioned, right?" Lorant asked, stroking the makeshift machine.

Robert nodded, wanting to tell Lorant a bit more about how ingenious his spell reversal was. But then he remembered that Lorant was not a mage and might not understand the intricacies, and upon seeing Lorant stroking the wristband, he immediately shifted the topic.

"Of course, this is not the same as the thermoregulation array you wear," Robert said, touching the purple wristband on his own wrist. "This is actually a simple warming ability."

"Even in the middle of summer, wearing this would only add a little warmth to your surroundings."

Although he sounded a bit regretful, Robert's face didn't show any sign of discouragement. He was already quite satisfied with the results of his recent work.

Lorant was also satisfied with Robert.

The breeding of Spark Fur was progressing very smoothly. This SR-level Fluffy Slime, due to its breed, had a fast breeding and growth rate. Under Robert's meticulous care, their numbers had significantly increased, and with this new research result regarding their fur, the intrinsic value of Spark Fur had risen again.

This was undoubtedly good news for Lorant.

With winter approaching, Slime Family could once again launch a flagship product, which was very important for the entire beast pet shop.

"No, even so, it's already very significant," Lorant said seriously to Robert. "Winter is approaching, and the value and capability that the Spark Fur wristband can provide might be much higher than its original fire-resistant ability."

Lorant had already mentally calculated that the price of the wristband was much lower than other warming magic bracelets on the market. While it may not become a household item like basic down jackets, it could still capture a market among low-level practitioners.

At the same time, it would serve as a significant boost for the Slime Family.

Robert looked at Lorant somewhat bewildered, not fully understanding what he meant.

He was a typical mage from a mage family.

Having never experienced the struggles of people at the bottom, Robert naturally couldn't pay attention to the lives of those at the lower rungs like Lorant did.

But he was still pleased by Lorant's approval.

"Follow me, I’ll show you some of my other creations," Robert said excitedly, leading Lorant further inside. "I have many more projects using Spark Fur, and they are all quite amazing!"

Besides the wristband that warmed the whole body, Robert had indeed developed a large number of other results. However, for now, it seemed like most of them were items without much commercial value.

For example, a cloak that must cover the entire body, even the eyes, to resist fire magic.

Or a fire-starter made by compressing Spark Fur until it produced flames.

While the wristband turned iron into gold, Robert’s other experiments felt like turning gold into iron.

To Robert, they were equally important, but to Lorant, the difference was stark.

Lorant spent the whole day touring Robert’s lab, and even though most of the experiments didn’t yield much practical value, he couldn’t help but marvel at the rich imagination of the mage.

However, what Lorant valued most was, of course, the machine that produced the wristbands, and of course, the now sizable population of Fluffy Slimes with Spark Fur.

Compared to regular Fluffy Slimes, these colorful, spark-filled furballs seemed more energetic. A few of them followed Lorant, hopping along with every step.

Lorant reached out and scooped one up into his arms, feeling that the fur of these little guys seemed to carry a slight warmth. Even in that weather, outdoors, it felt warm to the touch.

But then again, it made sense. There were always some sparks in the fur of these little guys. Although the crackling and flickering sparks didn’t cause any stinging sensation when touched, they might still add some warmth to the Fluffy Slime’s fur.

Satisfied, Lorant rubbed the furball in his arms, which was just the right size and had a good feel. He tucked it into his clothes like a warm pouch and brought it back.

Once outside the range of the Beast Tower, Baby carefully appeared on Lorant’s hand, happily burying itself in the soft fur of the Fluffy Slime.

Watching the little furball nestled in the larger one, Lorant couldn’t help but wonder if Spark Fur had the power to soften hearts.

Otherwise, why would his own heart feel so soft?