I'm in Warhammer, I just want to grow mushrooms

Chapter 95 hits the nail on the head

The residence of the upper nest.

Li Nuo sat quietly on the balcony on the second floor, with a bedtime snack brought by his robot servant Brandi at hand.

The neon lights of the downtown area in the sky tear through the city skyline, making this small garden building even more quiet.

The communication was connected, and the voice of Pamir, the manager of Baiguo Manor, was heard, sounding a little tired.

"Boss, in the past ten days, the estate has sold approximately 10 tons of white spine tobacco leaves. After deducting costs, the estimated pre-tax net profit is approximately 50 credit points."

The net profit before tax of 25 credit points, after deducting 10% comprehensive tax, the profit waiting to be distributed is 22.5.

After dividends are distributed according to the equity structure and 20% dividend tax is paid, the credit points obtained are about 12.

Just taking Baiguo Manor as an example, he earns nearly 12 credit points every day, which is equivalent to 120 throne coins.

One Terran year means a net profit of approximately 4.4 Throne Coins!

"Well done, Pamir. With your family here, I feel confident about the production and sales of white spine tobacco."

Pamir laughed dryly, feeling somewhat embarrassed:
"But, Boss, we have also encountered some troubles. Several companies that sell cigarettes in Xiachao complained that our prices are too low, which has caused a serious impact on them. They sent a representative and want to have a meeting with you."

Li Nuo asked:

"How much do they want us to raise the price to?"

"It has to be at least doubled, that is, ten ration cards per cigarette." Pamir said cautiously:
"I suggest we talk to them. The Lewei family is behind these companies. They may not be able to beat us on price, but they can make private workshops in Xiachao afraid to buy from us."

Li Nuo frowned slightly. "Why don't private workshops dare to buy from us? Did the Lewei family threaten them?"

"Yes, Boss. The representative sent by the Lewei family hinted to me that any private workshop that dares to buy our cheap tobacco will be forced to close down for privately making and selling cigarettes."

"Oh, so that's it..." Li Nuo asked thoughtfully:

"What about the Kram family? Don't they also sell cigarettes in the Lower Nest? Why didn't they come to you?"

"I don't know about that." Palmier paused.
"But I heard that the Kram family's market share in the Upper Nest was severely impacted by the Lewei family. I guess they won't be able to take care of the Lower Nest market in the short term."

The Kram family can make up for the loss of the upper nest from the lower nest.

This might be an opportunity for me and Isabel to start working together.

While Li Nuo was thinking, a crackling noise came from Pamir.

Someone is trying to steal Pamir's communicator.

"What are you doing?! I've already reported your words to the boss! Move your hand away!"

“Crackle, crackle…”

There was constant noise in the microphone, and suddenly there was a muffled bang, followed by Pamir's low cry of pain.

The crackling noise disappeared, and this time the voice that appeared on the communication channel came from another person.

"Hello? Are you Li Nuo who bought Baiguo Manor not long ago? Our Lewei family has already investigated your background thoroughly."

The person who spoke had a frivolous tone and mysterious self-confidence, as if everything he knew was set in stone, giving people a feeling of superiority:

"Li Nuo, you just made a fortune relying on your parents' inheritance. You don't really think you can buy Baiguo Manor at a great bargain, do you? Do you know why this manor was so miserable before?"

Made a fortune relying on the inheritance from your parents?

Li Nuo was stunned for half a second when he heard this description, and then he remembered that this was the background information of Shangchao's identity.

The so-called parents, inheritance and windfall were all fictitious, arranged by his superior, Delton, and were simply used to explain the house and throne coins held by the upper nest identity.

From what the other end of the phone said, it seemed like the other party thought of himself as a lucky guy who got a bargain.

Ha, interesting.

Li Nuo remained as indifferent as ever and did not refute the other party, but just listened quietly.

He naturally knew the reason why Baiguo Manor was in such a bleak state before. Wasn't it because the young master of the Lewei family ordered illegal psychics to destroy the manor?

What? Are you, the Lewei family, planning to buy the manor from me now?
Li Nuo's guess was soon confirmed.

But he ultimately underestimated the greed and cruelty of the nobles.

The Lewei family did not intend to buy the manor, but to seize it in an almost blatant manner.

The person on the other end of the phone said in an unquestionable tone:

"You spent 50 million credit points to purchase Baiguo Manor. We are willing to pay an additional 10 million. The 60 million will be paid in six installments, with the first payment of 3 million. I will contact you in three days. I hope you can make a wise decision by then."

"Bang." The call was disconnected.

Li Nuo was neither anxious nor annoyed. After waiting for a while, he called Pamir.

Pamir was punched in the stomach, and he gasped from time to time when he spoke:

"Boss. Before the psychic mold spread, the man just now appeared in the manor. He is a manager of the Lewei family. He proposed to buy Baiguo Manor for 80 million, but we did not agree. Looking back now, I strongly suspect that the psychic mold was placed by the Lewei family."

Don't doubt it, this is the fact. It's just that the Lewei family kept their own scandal secret, so you can't know the truth.

Li Nuo said in a gentle voice:
"You go and rest first, I'll take care of this matter."

"Okay, boss." Pamir hesitated and advised:

"Don't agree to the deal. The Lewei family's 60 million will be paid in six installments. Who knows when we can get all the money."

"Well, I understand. I won't step into the trap they dug."

After hanging up the phone, Li Nuo thought again and again, selected Isabel's communication code, and sent a new text message.

Private workshops were threatened by the Lewei family and dared not buy the cheap tobacco leaves from Baiguo Manor.

In that case, let's try to reach a cooperation with the Kram family and sell cheap tobacco to Isabel.

She just happened to have a cigarette production line, so she could directly process tobacco leaves into cigarettes for sale.

For me, it was nothing more than giving a portion of the profits to Isabel, no big deal.

After sending the message, Li Nuo couldn't sleep because he had just completed the simulation, so he planned to check the news on the communicator.

"Drip drip."

The notification sound came, it was a message from Isabel.

"Li Nuo, I only found out about your purchase of Baiguo Manor two days ago. I wanted to remind you to be careful of the Lewei family. But your communicator didn't work before, and I was too busy, so I accidentally forgot about it. If it's convenient for you, I'll send someone to pick you up tomorrow and we can talk face to face. The Lewei family's forced purchase of the manor is not that simple."

Li Nuo gladly accepted the invitation.

That night, he checked the news until late at night.

The next morning, the Kram family's car arrived.

This time the car was a new one. Isabel probably worried that her brother would eavesdrop on her again, so she changed her car on purpose.

Not long after getting in the car, Li Nuo arrived at the headquarters building of the Kram family in the first district.

In the office that overlooked half of the city, Li Nuo saw Isabel who was dressed in formal attire.

Today, Isabelle was not wearing a black long dress with a waist and a small round hat with a veil.

She was wearing an ordinary white lab coat, and her long hair was tied into a ponytail and hung behind her head, revealing her slender neck.

After Li Nuo entered, Isabel brought him hot tea and they sat down face to face.

"Li Nuo, perhaps you don't know yet, but the Lewei family bought eight manors in one go during this period. Your Baiguo Manor is very likely to become the ninth."

"Why did they buy so many manors?" Li Nuo looked at the curling white mist in the teacup, quite puzzled:
"Do they want to control the origin of the raw materials for tobacco leaves?"

"No, that's not it. They're trying to grow ghost mushrooms." Isabel waved her hand, and a holographic screen was cast on the desk between them.

The holographic screen shows maps of the second and third districts.

These two large areas are the concentration of manors, mainly responsible for producing crops and cash crops needed for the entire hive city.

The social production structure of the Hive City-Epimet is unique in the entire human empire.

Other nests rely on the lower and middle nests to provide support for the upper nest.

It's just the opposite in Epimate. The second and third largest areas of the upper nest provide support for all other areas.

Such abundant productivity is based on extremely advanced agricultural technology.

The manor at Shangchao is the essence of agricultural technology.

This can be seen from the planting cycle of white spine tobacco.

In the world before the time travel, the planting cycle of sun-drying tobacco leaves was half a year or even a year.

But at Baiguo Manor, a batch of tobacco leaves matures every 45 days.

As long as the planting cycle is well arranged, tobacco leaves will be planted and harvested every day, and uninterrupted shipments can be achieved. This shows how powerful the agricultural technology mastered by Epimate is.

It is a bit strange to use a manor to transplant ghost mushrooms.

It’s not that ghost mushrooms can’t be grown, but there simply aren’t that many nutrients available locally—that is, corpses.

Li Nuo immediately grasped the key to the problem:
"Isabel, I think I guessed what you are going to say. The production capacity of the eight manors is based on a huge supply of nutrients. The number of people who die in the hive every day cannot meet the needs of the eight manors at the same time. So, you suspect that the Lewei family has mastered other ways to obtain corpses, or they have discovered new nutrients to replace corpses. Is that right?"

Isabel was shocked. She had just opened the holographic map, but Li Nuo had analyzed so much key information.

Could it be that the Governor's agents' genetic modification program can also enhance their thinking abilities?

"Yes, you are right, Li Nuo." Isabel covered her chest and calmed herself down.
"However, I invited you to a meeting not to explore the source of the Lewei family's corpses. What I want to ask is, are you willing to sell Baiguo Manor to me? I am willing to pay 70 million credit points, and it must be paid in cash."

"Seventy million?" Li Nuo narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing that things were not simple.

After thinking it over, he asked:

"Isabelle, let me ask you one more question. Has your Crum family also found a way to obtain a large number of corpses?"

Isabel pursed her lips and tapped her chin. "I'm not afraid of you knowing. It's true."

Li Nuo asked again:

"Could it be that the Lewei family told you? Aren't you worried that this is a trap?"

Isabel shook her head slowly:

"No, the channel for obtaining the body is not what the Lewei family told us."

"That is?"

Isabel fell silent, her brows furrowed, her expression somewhat conflicted, her hands crossed on the table, her thumbs twisted and tangled together.

Li Nuo was not in a hurry and waited slowly for the reply.

The fact that the other party did not refuse outright showed that she was willing to reveal the truth, but she was not without reservations.

Someone or something is preventing Isabel from telling the truth.

After a long while, Isabel stroked her forehead and sighed softly:
"Li Nuo, too many things happened in the day after the cleanup operation. I feel a little confused now. I need someone to help me sort it out."

"If you are willing to talk, I will listen and keep it confidential." Li Nuo responded seriously.

"Okay, come with me to the secret room. You're the only person I can talk to right now."

Isabel stood up and took off her data tablet, hairpins, pens, bracelets, necklaces and other things.

Li Nuo understood and took out all the electronic items on his body.

Isabel exclaimed softly:
"Do you know the rules of confidential conversation?"

"Yes, I know. When I discussed something with a water merchant before, he taught me common sense in this area."

Isabel brought out a locked box. "That's perfect. Put your things in here. The box has two locks and two keys. You and I will each take a key."

Li Nuo put the things into a box and asked Isabel to lock it up.

Just like that, the two of them stepped into the secret room and sat down again in the fully enclosed space with an anti-electromagnetic layer.

Isabel got straight to the point and threw out the main points:

"The new way to obtain corpses was provided by the chief merchant representative of the Coin Guild, Binis. Binis told my father that the Coin Guild in Epimate had reached an agreement with merchant representatives from several other imperial worlds. With the permission of the Imperial Law Department, the other party would provide corpses on a stable basis."

Li Nuo's pupils shrank slightly, and he immediately asked back:

“Isn’t it illegal to trade in corpses?”

"Yes, corpse trading is illegal, but Binis found a loophole in the imperial law."

Isabel explained to Li Nuo all the amazing things that happened, and he felt his eyes were opened.

Trading corpses between two independent entities is indeed a violation of Imperial law, and the Imperial Ministry of Justice will not tolerate it.

However, if the same entity is transporting the corpse, it may not be a violation.

In simple terms, the local coin guild will join forces with other imperial worlds to form an interplanetary corporation.

The company's production base is located in Epimet, an estate in the second and third districts.

In order to transport the means of production to Epimet, it makes sense to use a cargo ship to transport the corpses.

Although it is reasonable, the Imperial Ministry of Justice is not a pushover.

This behavior is undoubtedly exploiting loopholes, and all we need to do is plug the loopholes.

But it's no use blocking it.

In the human empire, there is a group of extremely special beings.

They can establish countries within countries, rule several planets at the same time, and even take over a whole star region.

They can also build fleets and establish their own countries outside the territory of the human empire.

They are the nobles among the imperial nobles, and even the governors of the hive cities have to bow down to them.

They are Rogue Traders.

Such privileged groups have great autonomy.

So far, more than one Rogue Trader has shown interest in the trade of ghost potions.

Led by the Rogue Trader, a production line of ghost potion was established within his own dynasty, and the Imperial Ministry of Justice could only watch helplessly.

At that time, the imperial world that provided the corpses would continue to provide the corpses, and Epimet would just need to provide agricultural technology and fungus strains. It would even be possible to move the entire manor directly to the Rogue Trader's planet.

Anyway, considering the reputation of the Rogue Trader, it is unlikely that the profits that Epimate deserves will be taken away from him.

If the circulation of the mycelium of the ghost mushroom is not controlled, it will not be long before many imperial worlds will follow suit and use similar methods to bypass the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and produce ghost potions on a large scale.

The direction in which things are developing is terrifying.

“There’s a lot of division within our family.”

Isabel looked worried and rubbed her eyebrows:

"Some people think that artificial psykers made with ghost potions can make the Astronomican brighter and expand the territory of the human empire, which coincides with the Emperor's Great Crusade. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice will not classify ghost potions as contraband.

"Another group of people think that the circulation of ghost potions will shake the industrial foundation of the human empire, causing the empire world, which should have been producing food, to instead produce ghost mushrooms that cannot be used as food. The Ministry of Justice may set ghost potions as controlled items, allowing Epimate to only produce a small amount of potions each year, which would eliminate the need for so many corpses."

Isabel sighed deeply:
"This is where I feel conflicted. Both sides have their reasons. If the family doesn't make a decision quickly, it may miss out on the trade boom brought by the ghost potion and lose countless profits. But I always feel uneasy..."

Li Nuo tapped on the table, making crisp "tap-tap-tap" sounds with his fingertips:

"Isabel, I dare not say anything else, but you can absolutely trust my judgment on the matter of the ghost potion."

"Your judgment? What do you mean?"

Li Nuo sat up straight and emphasized:
"Don't believe the Coin Guild's lies. Ghost potions will definitely be considered contraband. From now on, research, production, and sales are prohibited. The same goes for ghost mushrooms. Anyone who touches this taboo industry chain will be destroyed by the Ministry of Justice."

Isabel was slightly startled, and subconsciously wanted to refute it by citing the "needs of the great expedition" as an example, but when facing Li Nuo's fiery eyes, she lost the confidence to refute.

"Can you tell me why you are so sure?" Isabel leaned back in her chair, feeling a force called "greed" leaving her body, allowing her tense nerves to slowly relax.

the reason is simple.

I, a Warhammer fan, have watched so many Warhammer 40k commentary videos, and I have never seen any blogger praising the ghost potion so much.

If this thing could be approved by the Imperial Ministry of Justice and become a medicine that everyone can use, it would be impossible for it to disappear in the short video industry.

It has long been used by different Up hosts to make videos to attract traffic!
There are only those unpopular things that are short-lived and quickly banned by the empire that will be let go by short video Up masters.

Take the fungal alien Aker Hailes, for example.

Another example is the ghost potion that we are discussing right now.

So, don’t ask too many questions, don’t inquire too much, the water in this industry is deep and you can’t control it.

Isabel, just listen to my advice and everything will be fine.

As his thoughts raced, Li Nuo changed several words in his mind, and finally said:
"Assuming the Warp is stable, it would take two to half a year of Terran time to sail from Terra to the edge of the Empire. If there are Warp turbulence and storms, the sailing time is likely to increase to more than ten Terran years.

"If you were the Emperor, would you want the message for help from the border of the Empire to take nearly half a year to reach Terra?

"Isn't this human empire big enough?"

Li Nuo hit the nail on the head, and Isabel fell silent.

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