Despite her complaints, Pan Ying figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a look.
Driven by a certain curiosity, she opened her phone and visited Zhengming Company’s official website.
“Berries, Berries… Found them!”
Zhengming Company’s primary business was still supplying logistical support to the City Guard, so the section dedicated to genetic organisms was rather limited.
If Jiang Ming hadn’t insisted that the company’s web development team set aside a dedicated section for them over the past few days, the website might not have contained any information about Berries at all.
Even so, Jiang Ming had only obtained genetic templates for two types of Berries, so the website currently featured information about Oran Berries and Pecha Berries alone.
For all the other varieties, he’d followed the example of the System’s Pokédex and displayed nothing but shadowy silhouettes, leaving visitors curious about what was yet to come.
Of the two available varieties, Pan Ying naturally chose the one she’d received.
Oran Berry: One of the most basic Berry varieties.
It has a rich flavor, and every part of the fruit is edible.
It can restore a small amount of a Pokémon’s stamina, and its effects are even better when it’s processed into Energy Cubes.
Pan Ying carefully read through the description, but the more she learned, the more questions she had.
Take Energy Cubes, for example.
Judging by the name alone, they seemed to be some kind of special food made from Berries.
Perhaps something similar to candied or dried fruit?
After finishing the description, Pan Ying found herself with absolutely no desire to buy any.
She casually picked up the Oran Berry from the table and examined it again.
No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like an ordinary orange—except that its blue color was rather unusual.
“Rich flavor, every part edible…”
Muttering the words to herself, Pan Ying headed into the kitchen and washed the Oran Berry.
Practice was the only way to test a theory.
She decided to try this so-called Berry for herself.
After cutting it into pieces, she examined the flesh.
It did look somewhat different from that of an ordinary orange.
Could this really be a completely new variety of fruit?
She picked up a piece and popped it into her mouth.
Pan Ying’s eyes widened instantly.
The dominant flavors were sweet and sour, accompanied by a faint bitterness.
As she chewed, a slight spicy sensation tingled across her tongue.
“Not bad at all!”
Pleasantly surprised, Pan Ying looked at the remaining pieces of Oran Berry on the cutting board and reached for another.
But just then, she somehow found herself thinking about the Sunkern sitting nearby.
She turned around, picked up the remaining fruit, and carried it over to the little Pokémon.
“Sunkern, would you like some Berries?”
Pan Ying clearly remembered the care guide mentioning that these Berries could help Sunkern grow faster.
“Sunkern!”
Sunkern nodded happily, its expression practically radiating excitement.
The next moment, a perfectly sized piece of Oran Berry went straight into its mouth.
Watching the look of pure satisfaction on Sunkern’s face, Pan Ying felt as though she’d been healed by the sight herself.
A pleasant warmth spread through her body, leaving her feeling cozy and content.
I’ll buy some more of these Berries from Zhengming Company in a few days, she thought.
I just hope they aren’t too expensive.
Within a single day, every Sunkern had been delivered to its renter.
The renters’ information was also forwarded to Jiang Ming as soon as it became available.
He carefully reviewed the records and found no problems.
Most of the renters were simply making use of Sunkern’s ability to assist with electricity generation.
A few, however, had gone a step further.
Determined to maximize their Sunkern’s contribution to power generation, they’d even rented additional solar panels in advance.
Jiang Ming had no objections.
After all, assisting with power generation was precisely the ability he’d emphasized most when promoting Sunkern.
As long as the Pokémon themselves were capable enough, these renters would effectively be advertising Zhengming Company on its behalf.
All that mattered was that they treated their Sunkern well.
As for Sunkern’s power-generation capabilities, Jiang Ming had complete confidence in them.
In fact, just yesterday, Director Ye from the Coastal City Energy Bureau had personally visited him to express his gratitude for Sunkern’s outstanding assistance with solar power generation.
The reason was simple: the batch of Sunkern Jiang Ming had delivered earlier had exceeded all expectations.
More than a month had passed since the first Sunkern had been created.
Those original Pokémon had long since outgrown their infancy and reached their larger, mature form.
Naturally, their ability to concentrate sunlight had improved enormously.
A single mature Sunkern could now bring a solar panel rated at nearly 2,000 watts to its maximum output, tripling the amount of electricity generated! Read this novel at novelping dot com for the best experience.
And all the Energy Bureau had to do in return was water them appropriately each day.
For Director Ye, who was specifically responsible for solar power generation, such a bargain was impossible to ignore.
That was what had prompted yesterday’s meeting.
Director Ye’s request was straightforward: he wanted to purchase more Sunkern.
The more, the better!
After all, the Solar Power Generation Center was responsible for supplying a significant portion of Coastal City’s electricity.
Even if Jiang Ming went all out to cultivate Sunkern, the center would still be able to make use of every single one.
To be honest, even Jiang Ming was a little astonished by the situation.
He wasn’t exactly an expert himself.
In his previous life, he’d never seen a living Sunkern in person; everything he knew about the Pokémon came from watching the anime.
His confidence in Sunkern’s ability to assist with electricity generation came entirely from what he’d observed in the System.
Sunkern couldn’t fully absorb all the sunlight it gathered, so it had to release the excess energy back into its surroundings.
Until he saw a mature Sunkern in action, even Jiang Ming hadn’t known just how powerful this ability could become.
So Sunkern’s ability to concentrate sunlight is actually this strong…
Jiang Ming began calculating how much he should charge for each Sunkern.
The first batch had been provided to the Energy Bureau under a rental agreement purely as a promotional measure.
He’d wanted to demonstrate Sunkern’s capabilities and build the company’s reputation.
However, the Energy Bureau was a government institution.
If it genuinely wanted to purchase Sunkern outright, Jiang Ming couldn’t deliberately turn down the offer.
Besides, given how well Sunkern performed in power generation, anyone with a bit of common sense would treat these Pokémon well.
And really, how badly could you mistreat something that only needed watering?
Still, this time, he’d have to follow normal commercial procedures.
In the end, Jiang Ming couldn’t settle on a price.
He decided to discuss it with Xue Wenhui.
Inside the Vice General Manager’s office, Jiang Ming and Xue Wenhui sat opposite each other across a tea table, seriously discussing how much each Sunkern should cost.
“Xiao Ming, if I remember correctly, you told me that cultivating a single Sunkern wasn’t particularly expensive, didn’t you?”
“That’s right. I’ve already solved the most expensive part—the genetic code. Even after accounting for equipment depreciation, the main cost of cultivating a Sunkern is the nutrient solution it consumes. The total comes to less than [amount missing from the original text] Federation Credits.”
As a basic material for biological cultivation, generic nutrient solutions had long since become inexpensive, costing only a few hundred Federation Credits per liter.
Jiang Ming could get an even better price by purchasing them in bulk.