Chapter 131 - 106: Highly Toxic Drug?

"What are you trying to do?"

"I mean, what do you need?"

Wang Donglai replied instantly.

"I’ve been getting into cold weapons recently, and I might mess around with stuff like crossbows and compound bows. I don’t have anywhere to practice. I need a relatively private place to train where I won’t be disturbed and won’t disturb anyone else. Just a decent space will do," Fang Zhen replied.

"Damn, bro, your hobbies are getting wilder and wilder," Wang Donglai replied. "But since you put it that way, I actually do have a place. It’s not far, and it’s cheap."

"It’s a bit late today, though. Just message me tomorrow, and I’ll take you to see the place."

"Okay," Fang Zhen replied.

He didn’t continue the conversation. He called a rideshare and went home.

「The next day.」

Fang Zhen got up quite early. By 8:30, he had already washed up and eaten.

He wasn’t in a hurry to enter the dungeon, instead waiting for the report from Siyu Medical.

Xia Siwei had sent him a message on WeChat last night, saying the test results would be ready relatively quickly—the experiments should be finished before noon—so Fang Zhen decided to wait a little longer.

He didn’t just sit around, though. Wang Donglai had said he’d be downstairs soon to go look at a factory building with him.

Before long, Wang Donglai arrived.

Fang Zhen went downstairs and saw Wang Donglai’s Cadillac.

It was a white Cadillac SRX. On the back, there was a line of metal lettering that read, "Let me go first, I’m running late, the technician is about to get off work."

Fang Zhen walked over, opened the passenger-side door, and got in.

"So where’s this factory building you mentioned?" Fang Zhen asked, buckling his seatbelt.

"It’s over in Beihu, in the industrial district. An acquaintance of mine used to run a factory there, but it went under and has been abandoned. Now, they’ll rent it to anyone who pays," Wang Donglai said.

"That’s not far. Let’s go."

Wang Donglai started the car.

Fang Zhen and Wang Donglai made small talk on the way. After driving for nearly half an hour, they arrived at the factory Wang Donglai had mentioned.

When they got there, Fang Zhen and Wang Donglai got out of the car to take a look. It was an old-fashioned factory, surrounded by other industrial buildings, many of which also seemed to be abandoned.

After walking for another seven or eight minutes, the two of them arrived at the entrance to a factory complex.

Fang Zhen surveyed the area. The factory looked quite old, with a high perimeter wall made of red brick. The top was lined with barbed wire, and the cement was studded with sharp, jagged pieces of glass.

The main factory gate was locked tight. Next to it was a smaller side gate, wrapped in a thick iron chain and secured with a large padlock.

Wang Donglai found a key on him, unlocked the slightly rusted padlock, pulled off the chain, and opened the small iron gate.

Fang Zhen and Wang Donglai walked through the gate.

Once inside, Fang Zhen’s eyes lit up.

The space inside was vast. There was a large open lot, big enough to park more than a dozen large trucks. Beyond it stood a three-story factory building—a typical, rough brick structure that looked like it had been deserted for some time. There were also two single-story buildings that looked like warehouses.

"This is it," Wang Donglai said, pointing to the factory building ahead. "This used to be a heavy metal recycling plant. The owner was doing well, pulling in a few million a year. But then he decided the money was too slow and tried to play the commodities market, hoarding all sorts of metals."

"Turns out, he lost money on everything he hoarded. After messing around for two or three years, not only did he not make any money, he ended up owing the bank tens of millions."

"He couldn’t keep the factory running, so he laid off the employees and sold all the equipment. All that’s left is the land the factory is on, but it’s not worth much. It’s been sitting empty like this for two or three years, completely deserted. Look how high the weeds in the yard have grown."

"I know the owner. He’s basically given up. The factory is just sitting here, so if you want to use it, I can talk to him. Since you’re not using it for commercial purposes, the rent can just be a token amount—more of a formality. As long as you can help him keep an eye on the place."

Fang Zhen nodded.

He thought the place was perfect.

Beihu District was less than eight kilometers from Fang Zhen’s home. They had hit morning rush hour on the way over; normally, the drive would only take fifteen to twenty minutes. It wasn’t far.

Plus, it was very private. There was no one around, and with the high walls and security wire, the average person couldn’t climb in. There was nothing valuable inside, either, so it wouldn’t attract thieves or local thugs.

The outside area was large enough, and the factory interior was empty. He could practice with his crossbow, cold weapons, and even test out his Magic here without worrying about being seen or filmed.

"Alright, I’m very satisfied. I’ll rent it."

"What’s a fair price for rent?"

Fang Zhen asked.

"This place is practically a ruin, and it’s surrounded by similar empty factories. The owner can’t rent it out anyway. If an acquaintance put in a good word, he might even agree to let you use it for free. But even so, you should still offer a token amount for rent, just to make him feel better about it," Wang Donglai said.

"How about fifty thousand a year?" Fang Zhen asked.

"Too high. Twenty thousand should be more than enough," Wang Donglai said.

"Alright, let’s sign the contract then."

Wang Donglai contacted the factory owner on WeChat. The guy was pretty laid-back; without even showing up, he kept up with the times and sent over a digital contract.

Fang Zhen glanced over the contract. It was simple and clear, with no major issues. He added a clause stating the site was for personal, not commercial, use. The rent was practically a giveaway at twenty-four thousand a year.

After signing the contract and transferring the money, Fang Zhen got the keys to the factory.

He felt it was a great deal. Twenty-four thousand for a base to practice his skills and run tests was a steal. Renting an entire apartment in the city would cost more than that.

Just as he finished up, his phone pinged.

Fang Zhen picked up his phone and saw a notification from Siyu Medical. It said the sample analysis was complete, and he could come pick up the results at any time.

"Well, buddy, looks like you have to give me another ride," Fang Zhen said, putting his phone away and looking up at Wang Donglai.

Twenty-something minutes later, Fang Zhen arrived at Siyu Medical in Wang Donglai’s car.

After promising to treat Wang Donglai to a meal as thanks, Fang Zhen got out of the car, entered Siyu Medical, and went straight to find Zheng Yachen.

He took the elevator to Zheng Yachen’s office on the third floor. After knocking and entering, he saw the doctor talking with someone who looked like a researcher.

"Fang Zhen, you’re just in time. The report is ready. This is the lab technician who ran the tests on your sample. He’s quite curious about it," Zheng Yachen said, standing up.

"Oh?" Fang Zhen glanced at the middle-aged technician.

The researcher was balding, with not much hair left on top. What remained was desperately combed over in a last-ditch effort to save some face.

"You’re the one who brought in the sample? It’s certainly a bit strange," the researcher said. He had the direct personality of a typical STEM guy.

"How so?" Fang Zhen asked.

"Very strange. I ran a few biochemical tests as requested and discovered that the sample has an extremely violent reaction to potassium permanganate. The scene was quite spectacular—the fluid sample looked like it was burning up and about to explode," the researcher said. "I’ve run so many experiments in my time, and I’ve never seen a bodily fluid react like that to potassium permanganate."

"Hmm?" Fang Zhen raised an eyebrow.

’Potassium permanganate,’ he thought. ’I learned about that in middle and high school chemistry. It’s a strong oxidizing agent, also used as a medication for treating wounds. You can usually buy potassium permanganate tablets at a pharmacy and dissolve them in water to make a solution.’

’Generally speaking, potassium permanganate doesn’t react too violently with biological fluids, does it?’

’The researcher said the Abnormal Ghost’s cerebrospinal fluid explodes when it comes into contact with potassium permanganate?’

’So the reaction is extremely violent, then?’

"Can you elaborate?" Fang Zhen asked.

"There’s not much to elaborate on. The fluid behaved normally in all other tests. It only reacted violently with potassium permanganate. The reaction was extremely fast and released a massive amount of thermal energy."

"I don’t know what’s causing it. The specific parameters are all in the report."

"So you’re saying potassium permanganate is like a potent poison to this fluid?" Fang Zhen asked.

"That’s not an incorrect way to put it. Of course, the report has to be more precise. We wouldn’t use the word ’poison’," the researcher replied.

"In that case, if potassium permanganate were injected into the creature the fluid was extracted from, would it cause a reaction similar to severe poisoning?" Fang Zhen pressed.

"Most likely, yes. But while we can say that informally, reaching the level of a rigorous medical report would require specific experimental data," the researcher answered.

’It’s a sure thing.’

A sense of certainty settled over Fang Zhen.

’The money wasn’t wasted.’

’For some reason, the Abnormal Ghost is weak to potassium permanganate.’

’It was worth every penny to discover a weakness like this.’

"Where’s the report?" Fang Zhen asked.

"I just finished printing it. Dean Zheng has it," the researcher said.

Zheng Yachen gave a faint smile, picked up a report from her desk, and walked over to hand it to Fang Zhen.

"Since you’re a friend of Weiwei’s, I paid special attention. I’ve already printed the report for you. The bill is inside as well," Zheng Yachen said.

"Thank you." Fang Zhen was in a good mood and accepted the report with a smile.

Fang Zhen pulled it out and glanced through it. There was a lot of technical jargon. He skipped over the parts he didn’t understand, like cell names and hormone levels, and went straight to the conclusion, which specifically mentioned the sample’s abnormal reaction to potassium permanganate.

He didn’t care about the other parts anyway.

’It’s not like I brought the Abnormal Ghost here for a check-up.’

He had gotten the result he wanted, and he was very satisfied.

’If I hadn’t spent the money on this high-tech analysis, with so many chemicals and drugs out there, who knows how I would’ve found out what the Abnormal Ghost reacts to?’

The testing fee was less than he had expected. The total for all tests came to 4,658 yuan.

Fang Zhen went through the payment process. After deducting the fee, he got a refund of over ten thousand yuan from his deposit.

Once the paperwork was done, he was eager to go test the effects, so he bid farewell to Zheng Yachen.

"Dr. Zheng, thank you. We may work together again in the future. I’ll bring any related testing needs to Siyu," Fang Zhen said.

"Then thank you for your trust in us," Zheng Yachen replied with a smile.

Fang Zhen could no longer contain his urge to test this out in the dungeon. He said goodbye to Zheng Yachen and returned home.

「One hour and twenty-five minutes later.」

Back home, Fang Zhen was fully geared up.

The external Light Gate of the "Dungeon Life Game" was already open.

He was carrying the same set of equipment he had taken to the Curse Seal World last time, though he had added some antibiotics.

He also had five boxes of potassium permanganate tablets.

He had bought them at the pharmacy downstairs. A box of potassium permanganate tablets cost fifteen yuan, and Fang Zhen had bought five boxes in one go.

He had also eaten lunch and was in good physical condition.

’Once I get to the Ancient Castle Caverns, I need to test how lethal potassium permanganate is against the Abnormal Ghost and other monsters.’

Fang Zhen was eager to get started.

He pushed his Jue Ying motorcycle, carrying all his gear, and stepped into the Light Gate.