I cultivate mushrooms in warhammer

Chapter 67: Spending Money Makes You Stronger (3.9k)

“If I hadn’t met you earlier, I would have almost thought you were an old monster who just had a rejuvenation surgery.”

Isabel sighed sincerely and took out a data pad from her handbag:

“I completely agree with your statement just now. Whoever controls yeast will control the future of the tobacco, food, brewing, and genetic engineering industries. I happen to have a case involving tobacco here. Let me use it as an example to introduce you to the current situation in the tobacco industry.”

“Please, go ahead.”

Li Nuo listened attentively.

Isabel pressed the data pad, projecting a holographic image.

The case she was talking about came from the Kram family's competitor—the Lowe family.

The Kram family started with tobacco before expanding into the pharmaceutical market.

The Lowe family was the opposite; they were one of the pharmaceutical giants in Bentsu Capital, and they began to enter the tobacco industry because the pharmaceutical market was saturated.

The Kram family had a first-mover advantage in Ghost Potions, which threatened the Lowe family, and the latter launched a fierce attack on the tobacco industry.

A new type of cigarette called Golden Mint appeared on the market.

Its scent resembled the natural aroma of mint leaves, the initial burning aroma was rich and refreshing without losing the flavor of mint, the main aroma was mellow and long-lasting, and the aftertaste was clean and fresh.

Apart from the expensive price and the relatively large throat irritation, this new type of cigarette had almost no shortcomings.

“Golden Mint is the work of the Lowe family. Once launched, it crushed similar competing products from the Kram family and seized one-fifth of our high-end cigarette market share.”

Isabel smiled bitterly:

“I am responsible for this part of the market. I have already arranged for the research institute in Zhongchao to reverse engineer the formula of this cigarette, but the progress is very slow. If the time is delayed for too long and customers develop loyalty to Golden Mint, then the lost market share may not be so easy to regain.”

Li Nuo pondered, “Do you have a sample on you?”

“Yes.” Isabel took out a ladies' cigarette case from her handbag, opened the lid, and took out two cigarettes.

The one on the left had white cigarette paper, a light green filter tip, and the words “Kram Mint Cigarette” written on the gold-stamped code.

The one on the right was the opposite, with light green cigarette paper and a white filter tip. It was the Lowe family's Golden Mint.

Li Nuo wrapped his fingertips in a handkerchief, clamped the two cigarettes, smelled them, and carefully observed the material and color of the cigarette paper, filter tip, and tobacco.

After completing these steps, he used Appraisal to verify his judgment.

The appraisal result was the same as his analysis.

The raw materials of the cigarette paper, filter tip, and tobacco of the two cigarettes could be said to be exactly the same.

The only difference was the different fermentation process.

The Lowe family's fermentation process was better, making the mint tobacco leaves burn more evenly, and the aroma was therefore more abundant.

In numerical terms, the Golden Mint's aroma was about 10% stronger than the Kram Mint.

Don't underestimate this 10%.

In the eyes of old smokers, a 5% difference in aroma concentration is enough to distinguish the two cigarettes.

“Isabel, I would like to ask, how much profit can this kind of cigarette create each year?”

Li Nuo asked, putting the cigarettes back in the box.

Isabel closed the box and twirled it with her fingertips:

“Net profit is confidential, I can only tell you the gross profit. The average gross profit for the past five years has been 1.3 million Throne Coins per year, with an average annual sale of 200 million cigarettes. In addition, about 30 million cigarettes are the tithe project responsible by the Kram family, which will be unconditionally transferred to the Governor's tax affairs department and submitted to the Imperial Ministry of Internal Affairs by the Governor.”

The primary reason why the nobles of the Nest Capital are nobles is that they are responsible for preparing the tithes for the Governor.

Anyone who can help the Governor with the tithes is qualified to become a noble.

Leaving aside the cigarettes used for paying taxes, let's just talk about those sold in the Nest Capital.

A gross profit of 1.3 million Throne Coins is truly a huge sum!

Li Nuo's heart rate obviously accelerated.

“Isabel, I would like to ask, suppose I accidentally discovered a more excellent yeast. How should I use it to exchange for wealth?”

“Use yeast to exchange for wealth…” Isabel thought for a moment and replied:

“There are two main ways. One is that you sell the patent and production technology of the yeast as a package and obtain a one-time income. Secondly, you can also start your own company, establish a production line, and produce related products.”

Li Nuo asked:

“Why should I sell the patent and production technology of the yeast as a package? Can't I share the patent for a fee?”

“I'm sorry, Li Nuo, once the yeast is given to others to use, the yeast's gene segment will no longer be a secret. The major families can easily copy it, and it will not infringe on your patent.”

“Oh right, that's true.” Li Nuo suddenly remembered how advanced the gene technology of the Warhammer world was.

Cloning and modifying genes is as simple as drinking water for the major families.

After the new yeast is made public, those who are interested only need to collect its samples and tamper with the gene segments that do not affect fermentation to turn the yeast into another new yeast.

The fermentation effect of the two yeasts is the same, but the similarity of the gene segments is not 100%, so it can be regarded as two patents.

This kind of competition is quite common in the world before time travel, and it naturally exists universally in the Warhammer world.

Therefore, selling the patent as a package, or starting your own company and keeping the samples firmly in your hands, are Li Nuo's only two options.

Li Nuo preferred the second option.

“Isabel, how does your Kram family plan to fight back against the Lowe family? Don't tell me you want to get their yeast samples…”

“Shh~” Isabel raised a finger in front of her full lips and chuckled:

“No matter how dirty we nobles are behind the scenes, we will keep ourselves clean on the surface. The first principle of communicating with nobles is to see through but not to say through. Once you say the wrong thing, you will have one more enemy.”

“Sorry, I was being nosy. Thank you for reminding me.”

Li Nuo expressed his admiration for Isabel's sophistication. This otaku who is focused on research is still too naive…

Chatting all the way, the two arrived at the Golden Rose Bank.

Li Nuo followed Isabel into the bank's VIP room, opened a private account, and received a cash transfer from the Kram family.

A moment later, the two returned the same way, and Isabel sent Li Nuo back to his residence.

As soon as Li Nuo entered the door, he went straight to the study and bought all the research equipment, experimental equipment, yeast, tobacco leaves, and other things that could be bought on the market.

What is coming is a crazy, hysterical, and obsessive fungal simulation!

…

In the Upper Nest's home, in the basement.

Brandi transformed the warehouse into a laboratory, installed the experimental equipment, and neatly arranged the yeast and tobacco leaves that had been transported in. Then, she closed the door, leaving Li Nuo alone to sit quietly in the laboratory.

The table in front of Li Nuo was covered with bottles and jars, containing all the yeast publicly sold in the Upper Hive.

After observation, Li Nuo confirmed that the yeast had no fungal capabilities.

Even without it, the fungal capabilities of the mushroom fungi were already sufficient.

He opened the system interface and touched the surrounding equipment in turn.

A large amount of system text quickly refreshed before his eyes.

【You have discovered a constant temperature incubator, a constant temperature shaker, a high-pressure steam sterilizer, a dry heat sterilizer, an automated ultra-clean workbench, an automated inoculation chamber, a holographic microscope, an automatic homogenizer, a liquid nitrogen freezer, a spectrophotometer, a centrifuge, a pH meter, an automated chromatograph, and an automated laser mutagen.】

【Absorbing these devices will permanently upgrade the analysis of fungi and fungal simulation functions.】

【Do you want to absorb?】

Spending money makes me stronger!

Li Nuo waved his hand:

“Absorb, absorb, absorb, absorb, absorb, absorb them all!”

There was no need to worry about Brandi discovering the equipment was missing. Even if she knew, it wouldn't matter.

Servitors are trusted by the Imperium of Man because they are reliable enough.

As long as Brandi doesn't come into contact with Chaos code, she will never betray him.

Even if she finds the equipment is missing, she will pretend not to know and will not spread the secret.

The newest novels are first published on 69shu ba!

“Whoosh — — — —”

All the equipment disappeared into thin air, and a waterfall of system text cascaded down, ushering in a significant upgrade to the system functions.

The changes brought about by this operation can be described as a qualitative leap.

First of all, Li Nuo unlocked the automatic simulation function.

Tedious and mechanical operations such as removing bacterial contamination, cultivating mushrooms, and laser mutation experiments can all be handed over to the system to run automatically in the background, without having to set aside time to perform simulations step by step.

Take the Water Thunder Fungus as an example.

Li Nuo now only needs to give the system an order to “remove bacterial contamination,” and the system will automatically follow the standardized experimental procedure to try to separate and purify strains that have not been contaminated by bacteria.

Only when the system gets stuck in a dead loop and is completely unable to remove a certain bacterium will Li Nuo need to intervene.

Similarly, laser mutation experiments are also the same.

There are only three directions for fungal mutation:

Beneficial mutation direction, neutral mutation direction, harmful mutation direction.

The so-called beneficial is to remove the harm of the fungus and amplify the beneficial aspects.

Neutral refers to improving yield and disease resistance.

The harmful mutation direction is the opposite of the beneficial one, referring to amplifying the harm.

Doesn't the fluorescent spore have strong toxicity?

Li Nuo wiggles his little hand, manually sets the beneficial mutation direction, and the system can automatically perform the simulation operation.

In less than 10 minutes, the fluorescent spores underwent benign mutations under the action of the laser mutator, becoming a non-toxic fungus, retaining its light-emitting properties during metabolism.

In this way, Li Nuo obtained a brand new fungal ability:

Light Art!

This fungal ability is not useless; it can have unexpected effects.

After activating Light Art, it only takes 1 kilogram of fluorescent spores per minute to keep the light going.

The basic illumination range is about 10 meters, and the illumination intensity is 500 lux, which is roughly equivalent to a 50W LED lamp.

The closer to the light source of Light Art, the higher the illumination intensity; the farther the distance, the lower the illumination intensity.

Increasing the consumption per minute can simultaneously increase the illumination range and illumination intensity.

After Li Nuo unlocked Light Art, he wanted to see how bright this thing could be.

So, he did something stupid, consuming 1 ton of fluorescent spores at once, releasing a strong light that was enough to blind a titanium alloy dog's eyes.

At that moment, he seemed to see a white sun rising in the room, flashing bright light at his eyes at close range.

He immediately terminated Light Art and fell headlong on the sofa, taking a full ten minutes to recover.

Li Nuo excitedly waved his fist, turned over, and continued to study the changes in the system.

Automated simulation frees up hands, this change is obvious.

In addition, after the holographic microscope was absorbed by the system, a virtual holographic image appeared in Li Nuo's field of vision.

Through this image, he can directly see the cellular structure of the fungus.

When used with a spectrophotometer, centrifuge, pH meter, and automated chromatograph, the holographic image will present dynamic monitoring data.

The data that can be monitored includes, but is not limited to:

The growth density and cell concentration of yeast, the quantitative analysis results of proteins and nucleic acids, the number of separated and purified fungal cells, and the content of specific components of metabolites, etc.

In short, it is replacing a musket with a cannon.

Li Nuo began to think about his research and development path and subsequent sales plans.

The first thing to do is to consolidate his industrial base.

Li Nuo chose to start with the tobacco industry.

There are two main reasons.

First, the tobacco industry is aligned with his major.

Second, the net profit margin of tobacco is high.

In the future, if he helps the governor complete a portion of the tax revenue with tobacco, he will definitely be able to jump into the aristocratic class.

So, how to make the tobacco business bigger and stronger?

There are many forces in the Upper Hive, interpersonal relationships are complex, and the market is basically saturated, which is a typical red sea.

In contrast, the Lower Hive can be said to be a blue ocean.

The regular tobacco sold on the family counters is extremely expensive, starting at a unit price of 20 ration cards.

Therefore, handmade cigarettes produced by private workshops are very popular. Not only is the quality poor, but they also have a certain degree of toxicity.

More than 90% of the Lower Hive tobacco market is occupied by private workshops, and only 10% of the share belongs to family businesses.

Li Nuo's idea is very simple.

Use cheap and healthy tobacco to control the entire Lower Hive market, use production costs and research and development costs to form market entry barriers, squeeze out family businesses, become the sole supplier of all private workshops, and thereby master sufficient cash flow to provide guarantees for his subsequent research and development and production.

Aren't the Kram Family's boutique-grade cigarettes twenty ration cards per cigarette?

OK, family, Li's Cigarettes are giving everyone benefits.

Cigarettes of the same quality only cost five ration cards in our live broadcast room.

We are taking the people-friendly route, grabbing the sinking market, and wanting economies of scale.

As for the brand, grade, and prestige, it is not too late to plan after mastering the entire Lower Hive market.