When Jiang Ming had used the Berry Blender earlier, he’d assumed that the faster it spun, the better the results would be.
What he hadn’t realized was that this method only worked for Energy Cubes made from a single type of Berry and a small number of recipes involving multiple Berries.
For most Energy Cubes requiring two or more types of Berries, the processing chamber’s speed needed to vary throughout the blending process.
That was the main reason his previous attempts had failed repeatedly.
Now that he’d figured out the problem, Jiang Ming’s results improved dramatically.
His first few attempts were still rather poor because he wasn’t yet familiar with the proper technique, but as he gradually became more proficient, his success rate soared.
“Hahaha! I knew I was a genius!”
Jiang Ming planted his hands on his hips and threw his head back in triumphant laughter.
His outburst startled Dratini, which was standing nearby.
However, after what had happened earlier, Dratini now understood that its Trainer was simply happy.
He hadn’t suddenly lost his mind.
Still, compared with the gloomy, taciturn Jiang Ming Dratini had first met after hatching, the little Pokémon much preferred this cheerful version of its Trainer!
“Dratini, come here for a moment!”
Hearing Jiang Ming call, Dratini hurried over.
“Dra?”
“Here, why don’t you try this and see what you think?”
Jiang Ming picked up a freshly made Liechi Berry Energy Cube and offered it to Dratini.
Several hours had passed, and Dratini’s previously bulging belly had finally returned to normal.
These Energy Cubes would make a perfect dinner for the little Pokémon.
Chomp!
Dratini swallowed the Energy Cube in one bite.
As it chewed, its eyes grew brighter and brighter.
“Dratini!!”
The expression on its face seemed to say, This is sooooo delicious!
Watching Dratini’s blissful expression, Jiang Ming somehow found himself reaching for an Energy Cube and popping it into his own mouth.
“Whoa!”
He savored the remarkably harmonious combination of sweet and spicy flavors, momentarily at a loss for words.
But that wasn’t all.
Once the Energy Cube began taking effect inside his body, Jiang Ming felt as though his strength had increased ever so slightly.
If his physique hadn’t already improved somewhat after eating large quantities of Berries earlier, he probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all.
“If only Big Brother could become stronger by eating these things, too…”
Jiang Ming suddenly thought of the pillar of his family.
At present, the Jiang family’s entire standing rested on Jiang Zheng’s shoulders.
Until Jiang Ming could create Pokémon powerful enough to give him a greater degree of security, his older brother’s strength remained his greatest guarantee that he could develop in peace.
Take Cyndaquil, for example—the Pokémon Jiang Ming had reluctantly passed up when he refreshed the System Shop earlier.
If Jiang Zheng were already a Transcendent, Jiang Ming wouldn’t have to worry about all the possible consequences.
He could simply create Cyndaquil without hesitation!
Unfortunately, even with Jiang Zheng’s exceptional talent, the barrier separating Evolvers from Transcendents was practically a gulf between heaven and earth.
For now, there was little he could do to overcome it.
But the System’s Energy Cubes had given Jiang Ming a new hope: the possibility of helping his older brother become stronger.
Of course, the Energy Cubes Jiang Ming was currently making wouldn’t do much for someone like Jiang Zheng, who was already a Tier Six Evolver.
But these were only basic Energy Cubes!
If there were basic ones, there would surely be intermediate, advanced, and perhaps even special-grade Energy Cubes in the future.
At those levels, they might finally have an effect on Jiang Zheng.
Naturally, it was far too early for Jiang Ming to worry about those possibilities.
A single recipe for basic Energy Cubes already cost 15,000 Reputation Points.
He could only imagine how expensive the higher-grade recipes would be.
For now, his most important task was to follow his existing plan one step at a time and earn more Reputation Points.
“sigh I was hoping to take a few days off and relax. Looks like I’d better get back to making money.”
Life wasn’t easy.
Jiang Ming could only sigh.
The next morning, having abandoned his plans for a vacation, Jiang Ming arrived at the company early and headed straight into the laboratory.
His behavior left Xue Wenhui utterly bewildered.
Just a few days earlier, Jiang Ming had told him that he wanted to take several days off to relax and give his brain a rest.
So why had he suddenly returned to work?
Still, as an elder, Xue Wenhui was pleased with Jiang Ming’s work ethic.
As long as the young man remembered not to work himself into the ground, there was nothing wrong with being diligent.
Inside the laboratory, Jiang Ming was dressed in a full protective suit as he placed the genetic templates for Oran Berries and Pecha Berries into separate cultivation chambers.
Since this equipment could cultivate animals, growing simpler organisms such as plants would naturally be a piece of cake.
With sufficient nutrients and growth hormones, the genetic templates in the cultivation chambers developed remarkably quickly.
In just two days, both had taken shape and grown into small saplings.
After Jiang Ming completed the routine inspections and confirmed that there were no problems, the saplings would be transplanted into a dedicated cultivation room, where they could continue growing until they reached the size he required. This chapter is updated first at NovelPing.
Another three days passed in the blink of an eye.
“So these are the results of your latest cultivation project?”
Outside the cultivation room, Xue Wenhui stared curiously at the two small trees inside.
Each was just over a meter tall.
“Are these also some kind of Pokémon you told me about?”
“No, Uncle Xue,” Jiang Ming quickly explained.
“These are Berry trees. The fruits they produce will serve as food specifically prepared for Pokémon.”
“Fruit trees?” Xue Wenhui paused in surprise.
“Are you saying all Pokémon are herbivores?”
“Not ordinary fruit trees—Berry trees!” Jiang Ming hurriedly corrected his pronunciation.
As for the question of Pokémon diets, Jiang Ming wasn’t ready to explain everything in detail just yet.
For the time being, he could only let Xue Wenhui draw his own conclusions.
Once Xue Wenhui had a proper understanding of Berries and their uses, he nodded in realization.
“I see what you’re getting at. You want to make up for the profits lost from selling Pokémon cheaply by selling specialized food for them, right?”
Xue Wenhui wasn’t unfamiliar with this kind of business model.
For example, Zhengming Company already owned a specialized machine for synthesizing medicinal solutions.
The machine itself was practically given away for free; the company made its money from the reagents and consumables customers needed afterward.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t Jiang Ming’s plan at all.
“Actually, my plan is to make Oran Berries and Pecha Berries freely available to everyone,” he explained.
“Once Berry trees are growing throughout Coastal City, whenever people want to buy a genetic organism, the first thing they’ll think of will naturally be our Pokémon.”
When Xue Wenhui asked how he intended to promote the trees, Jiang Ming explained that the Berries he’d cultivated were highly adaptable and could survive in almost any location.
They also produced abundant fruit, and both humans and genetic organisms could eat them.
They offered a whole host of benefits.
Nevertheless, Xue Wenhui couldn’t help maintaining a degree of skepticism.
Thanks to Coastal City’s excellent geographical location, its residents weren’t particularly troubled by food shortages.
However, staple crops and vegetables occupied a large proportion of the city’s farmland, leaving very little land available for growing supplementary foods such as fruit.
As a result, fresh fruit and similar foods were in seriously short supply throughout Coastal City.
If the Berry trees really were as exceptional as Jiang Ming claimed, then he wouldn’t merely be helping Zhengming Company.
He would be a hero to the entire city!