Chapter 493: Two Businesses (1/10, Autumn Subscription)

When brought up, this kind of thing always excites Chen Qing, but Fang Yue had no patience to listen to his rambling and cut him off: "Lead the way, lead the way—I don't care what evolution or not, you made the 【Experimental Subject】 sound so terrifying, yet I still cut them down one by one with a single slash."

Chen Qing wanted to argue, but seeing the pile of corpses on the ground, he silently shut his mouth—he had a point, and I had no reply.

Still, while leading the way, Chen Qing persistently chatted with Fang Yue about the Experimental Subjects.

Fang Yue wondered: if An Shenyi were still alive, seeing such a vagrant, he'd probably go mad with joy and take the man in as a disciple like a family heirloom.

Through Chen Qing's explanation, Fang Yue roughly understood how this Phoenix Organization outpost operated.

In simple terms, the Phoenix Organization's business in the Heiqing Shanmai consisted of two parts.

The first was 【Medicine Human】.

They spread their spies and planted agents throughout every corner of the Heiqing Shanmai.

Then, through these official or unofficial members, they secretly lured or captured those suitable as "raw materials" for 【Medicine Human】.

Xin Jue, the former Deputy Captain of the Guard Team who nearly turned Niu Niu into a 【Medicine Human】 in Gu Yue Cun, was likely an unofficial affiliate developed by the Phoenix Organization.

To capture Medicine Humans, they spared no means, operated with extreme secrecy, and combined with the slow pace of information exchange between villages—sometimes not meeting once in half a year or a year.

Thus, the Phoenix Organization's capture of Medicine Humans proceeded with great ease.

And this was also a business: turning the captured "raw materials."

Using various high-quality materials and special techniques, they refined them into 【Medicine Human】, then sold them at high prices, forming a virtuous cycle.

Some buyers also demanded the Phoenix Organization directly produce the 【Medicine Human】 into finished products—what's called 【Human Medicine】—something you could take and use immediately, a forbidden great tonic that greatly enhanced the consumer's cultivation.

This was a very stable gray industry chain.

According to Chen Qing, as far as he knew, the Phoenix Organization had been running this business in the Heiqing Shanmai for many years.

This was evident from the fully constructed massive underground stronghold—the scale of such a space could not have been built in a short time; it must have been painstakingly expanded over years.

Yet the Phoenix Organization rarely operated its 【Medicine Human】 business within the Heiqing Shanmai itself; most often, the Heiqing Shanmai served merely as a raw material collection point, with the outpost acting as a 【processing plant】, producing finished goods that were then shipped out in bulk.

"Where are they shipped to?" Fang Yue couldn't help asking after absorbing the information about 【Medicine Human】.

"To 【Chunuan City】, the Phoenix Organization's nearest outpost outside the Heiqing Shanmai, and a transportation hub connecting everywhere. All 【Medicine Human】 produced in the 【Heiqing Shanmai】 are first transported to 【Chunuan City】, then delivered to buyers in various cities—they've been doing this for many years."

"But isn't this banned by Qing Guo and surrounding nations? Doesn't anyone care?!"

"I don't know. All I know is what they casually mentioned during idle chatter."

The industry chain had matured to this extent, leaving Fang Yue stunned.

It seemed that Qing Guo, on the surface prosperous and glorious, was in fact riddled with holes.

Beneath the glittering facade lay a darkness far exceeding ordinary imagination.

This weighed heavily on Fang Yue—he realized the Heiqing Shanmai was the Phoenix Organization's pig farm: pigs fattened, then slaughtered in batches for profit.

The entire Heiqing Shanmai was under the Phoenix Organization's control!

This was something Fang Yue never imagined.

He originally thought the Phoenix Organization was at most involved in 【Experimental Subject】 experiments—similar to An Shenyi's path—but An Shenyi upheld martial ethics, belonging to a chaotic neutral faction, researching 【Experimental Subjects】 openly and honestly.

The Phoenix Organization, by contrast, was a chaotic evil faction, willing to do anything to achieve its goals—just a simple distinction.

But the first explosive revelation Chen Qing dropped was the 【Medicine Human】 business!

【Medicine Human】 meant using humans as medicine.

Could ordinary people even produce this?

Yet for profit, the Phoenix Organization not only did it—they turned it into an industry chain!

They even traveled thousands of miles to the remote Heiqing Shanmai, acting like local emperors, doing as they pleased!

According to the Phoenix Organization's intentions, they likely wanted to turn the Heiqing Shanmai into their private garden, raising villagers suitable as 【Medicine Human】 like livestock.

When the timing was right, they'd harvest the ripe fruit.

Even from Chen Qing's description of future plans, the Phoenix Organization intended to artificially alter the Heiqing Shanmai's environment to create conditions more favorable for 【Medicine Human】 raw materials, cultivating higher-quality 【Medicine Human】 into a dedicated breeding base.

The so-called environmental modification meant secretly controlling eerie attacks on villages or increasing eerie numbers, periodically provoking village defenses—because internal Phoenix Organization research found that 【Medicine Human】 raw materials exposed to eerie stimuli saw an increase in 【Ghost Element】, stimulating potential and enhancing 【Medicine Human】 quality.

Listen! They're not satisfied with output—they want to pay for extra boosts! Even capitalists would call this expert-level! Hang the Phoenix Organization's leader on a streetlamp, and every other organization boss hanging there would kneel and bow, calling him Grand Master!

The 【Medicine Human】 business in the 【Heiqing Shanmai】 was thriving under the Phoenix Organization's management.

And because it was far from Qing Guo's Capital, far from major cities, with no oversight and extreme secrecy—

Until now, no one in the Heiqing Shanmai knew about this…

No! Someone must have known—but with the Phoenix Organization's power and methods, those who knew were silenced before they could speak.

Only special villages protected by Lord Han, Lady Lan, or ancient arrays of Mo Cun were left untouched by the Phoenix Organization.

At least according to Fang Yue's knowledge, apart from the incident with Xin Jue, Gu Yue Cun had never experienced a 【Medicine Human】 case before.

Clearly, the Phoenix Organization knew how to pick the soft and avoid the hard.

Unfortunately, Lord Han had lost all his strength and was now captured by the Phoenix Organization.

Thinking of this, Fang Yue felt waves of agitation.

Imagining what Lord Han might be suffering, his rage was nearly uncontrollable.

And when it came to Lord Han and Lin Ling's abduction, one couldn't avoid mentioning the Phoenix Organization's other business.

No!

In Chen Qing's words, the Phoenix Organization's other primary project in the Heiqing Shanmai wasn't called a business—it was called research!

Didn't get enough rest, finished late—today's usual ten chapters.

(End of chapter)