Chapter 218: Capitalist Charlotte (1)
After unloading the goods on Baka Street, Charlotte quickly went to the beef stall to reserve a cow or pig pancreas from the butcher.
"Your cat has a unique taste," the butcher couldn't help but remark.
"Yeah... it enjoys it," Charlotte nodded in agreement.
"Alright, don't worry. I'll save some fresh cow and pig pancreas for you starting tomorrow," the butcher nodded and added, "Do you still need pig intestines? I can save some for you as well."
"I don't need pig intestines for now. It's probably getting a bit tired of them. But as for cow and pig pancreas, I can never have enough," Charlotte quickly declined the butcher's offer.
As good as fatty intestines are, eating them every day can become monotonous.
Upon returning to the clinic, Vivian approached him with anticipation, "Boss, when are we going to start producing insulin?"
"Don't worry, you'll be a part of that process for sure. But we still don't have all the necessary ingredients, so we can't start yet," Charlotte replied as he made his way to the alchemy room, saying, "Today, my task is to improve the formula for the stamina potions and prepare enough intermediate emergency kits for tomorrow's sale."
"Improving the formula? Are you planning to add new ingredients to the potions?" Vivian followed him into the alchemy room.
"Yes, simply increasing the dosage of the ingredients doesn't significantly enhance the effectiveness of the potions. So, I believe it's the ingredients themselves that limit the efficacy of the stamina potions. I'm planning to add some new ingredients to see if it makes a difference," Charlotte explained, taking out three specific ingredients he had purchased for the day.
Dried Three-Leaf Apple, a dried fruit that can enhance male endurance and stamina to a certain extent, is highly favored by middle-aged men.
When you reach middle age, there are always some unspoken issues. Soaking an apple in water will rejuvenate your vigor for three minutes.
Yes, the embarrassing thing about it is that its effects on endurance don't last long.
However, it does provide a significant boost, allowing those who last only three seconds to become three-minute kings.
Judging from Harry's inventory, there are quite a few people in need of this.
According to the book's records, Three-Leaf Apple is relatively common in the wild. When consumed in emergencies, it not only helps alleviate hunger but also aids in the rapid recovery of stamina. It does have a slight side effect, though—after consumption, it's easy for men to pitch a tent.
Among the dozen or so ingredients Charlotte selected, this one could only be considered a relatively less important choice. But reality gives you no choice; it has its uses.
The remaining two ingredients were the Green-Eyed Toad and the Purple Rock from Lake Heron.
The former is a swamp toad named for its green eyes, known for its detoxifying properties and moderate stamina recovery effects.
The latter is famous due to Lake Heron, a renowned lake in the wilderness that has now completely dried up. It was once considered on par with the Elven Life Spring in terms of its powerful recovery effects.
The dried lake shore is full of purple rocks, which are superior materials for constructing healing magic formations and are highly sought after by healing mages.
As the book recorded, grinding the purple rocks into powder and drinking them in water also provides a certain level of recovery.
The purple rocks that Charlotte bought were just scraps and couldn't be used to construct magic formations. So, to Harry, it was almost like giving them away.
"You go ahead and continue making the hemostatic and cleansing potions. I don't need your help with this," Charlotte said, taking a suitable amount of ingredients and carefully grinding them into powder.
"Oh," Vivian retracted her curious gaze and returned to her workstation.
"Master, do you need any help?" Kasha approached Charlotte quietly, asking.
Charlotte shook his head slightly and replied, "Kasha, you can help prepare the ingredients for Vivian. I only need to handle a small amount of materials here, and I can do it myself."
"Alright, understood," Kasha obediently nodded.
Since the properties of the three ingredients weren't particularly strong, Charlotte decided to take a suitable amount and directly add them to the original formula of the stamina potions to see if there was a significant improvement in their effectiveness.
After grinding the three ingredients into powder, Charlotte began the process of concoction.
Having long been familiar with the method of concocting the stamina potion, Charlotte successfully incorporated the three individual ingredients, one at a time, into the potions.
After successfully refining the third batch of potions, Charlotte originally intended to stop and test the medicinal properties. However, hesitating for a moment, he decided to go ahead and refine the fourth batch, adding the three ingredients simultaneously.
The potion was indeed successfully refined, but the originally clear physical stamina potion turned dark purple, with white foam floating on top. It looked somewhat ominous, emitting a strange smell.
"This..." Charlotte looked at the peculiar potion in the bottle and fell into silence. In any case, he didn't dare to test it on himself.
Fortunately, the Jerry brothers were still kept in the neighboring laboratory.
With four labeled bottles of potions in hand, Charlotte went straight to the adjacent laboratory.
Lighting up the room and skipping past Jerry Number One, who had just been tormented the day before, Charlotte took out Jerry Number Two and fed it three drops of the physical stamina potion with three-leaf crimson fruit added. He then put it back into the cage.
Jerry Number Two looked around bewilderedly, then started to anxiously pace in place. Suddenly, it rushed to the side of the cage and began banging its lower body against the iron bars, displaying extreme excitement.
"Oh..." Charlotte looked at this scene, equally surprised, and somewhat relieved at the same time.
If he had been overly confident and tested it on himself earlier, he would have ended up in an embarrassing situation.
It seemed that after adding the three-leaf crimson fruit, the medicinal effect of this stamina potion changed, developing in a strange direction.
However, it remained to be seen how effective the augmentation was. If the potion's efficacy had increased compared to simply steeping the three-leaf crimson fruit in water, it could be marketed as a special potion for men. Perhaps it could even garner popularity by targeting the specific needs of men.
Taking out Jerry Number Three from the cage, Charlotte fed it three drops of the same potion to test the different individuals' reactions to the medication and the more accurate duration of the potion's effects.
After taking the potion, Jerry Number Three also became irritable, repeatedly slamming against the iron bars of the cage, displaying significant effects from the potion.
Then, Charlotte took out Jerry Number Four and fed it the second potion, which included the essence of green-eyed toads. It had no special reaction, just running a few laps around the cage before returning to its nest to sleep.
Jerry Number Five showed similarly ordinary reactions after taking the stamina potion with the addition of Purple Rock from Herlin Lake. There was no death and no overly excited behavior.
At least it was confirmed that the second and third potions had no obvious toxicity and did not produce any special effects.
Confirming that the laboratory door was open, Charlotte took out Jerry Number Six, dipped its mouth into two drops of the dark purple mixture, and fed it.
This mixture looked different from the others. If Jerry Number Six had problems after taking it, he could take it to the adjacent room and ask Vivian to save it.
One second, two seconds, three seconds!
Jerry Number Three, who had been dazed for three seconds, suddenly stiffened and fell over, its four legs becoming rigid instantly, devoid of life.
Charlotte: ??
Grabbing Jerry Number Six, Charlotte ran into the adjoining alchemy room.
"Vivian, see if your healing magic can save Jerry Number Six?"
Vivian quickly took out her magic wand and silently chanted an incantation, pointing it at the small white mouse in Charlotte's palm. A green light entered its body, but there was no response.
"It's already dead," Vivian put away her magic wand and looked puzzled at Charlotte. "Boss, did you poison Jerry Number Six? Why did it die so quickly?"
"Um..." Charlotte felt a little embarrassed and instructed, "Clean up my alchemy room properly later."
Afterward, he threw Jerry Number Six into the residual waste bin nearby.
The toxicity of this potion exceeded his expectations. It seemed that different materials couldn't be randomly combined. One small mistake could lead to brewing a batch of poison.
Fortunately, he had prepared a laboratory and kept a few white mice, eliminating the risk of testing on himself.
"Anna, Room Six is vacant. Go catch another white mouse and I'll cook something delicious for you tomorrow," Charlotte said to Anna, who was lazily dozing off on the counter.
"Meow~" Anna responded indifferently, not knowing whether she had heard or not.