Listening to the cheers of the crowd around him, Todd looked at the flowerpot in front of him, wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Fortunately, things went relatively smoothly.

The flowerpot in front of me is a specially crafted vessel, consisting of three layers: outer, middle, and inner. The inner layer is a vertical copper tube with a small hole at the bottom. The middle layer, where it connects to the outer layer, is sealed and fused together with iron sheets to hold the soil. The iron sheets are about one centimeter away from the outer shell of the flowerpot, forming a concealed outer layer that is hollow inside and leads directly to the small hole at the bottom of the inner layer.

Before making any formal preparations, Todd went to the beach and found a natural sponge called 'Zoofiton,' a simple multicellular marine animal with a honeycomb-like structure, tough and compact spines, large and densely distributed pores, and extremely strong water absorption. In ancient Rome, it was widely used as a bath sponge.

Dry the natural sponge in the shade and squeeze it out. Place it in layers at the bottom of the inner copper tube, then place the flower buds and tender leaves on top of the sponge. Finally, carefully spread soil inside the middle layer and on top of the inner layer.

During the performance, water is simply poured in along the outer layer, flowing to the bottom of the flowerpot and being absorbed by the sponge through the small holes in the copper pipe. After the sponge expands, it pushes the flower buds and tender leaves upwards, penetrating the thin layer of soil, making it appear as if the plant is 'growing rapidly'.

As for the flower buds opening into small blue flowers when they come into contact with water, that requires a bit more preparation.

1. Sphalerite is calcined into zinc oxide in air, and then reduced with carbon to obtain zinc powder.

2. Use iodized salt as the refining raw material and add water to make a saturated solution. Then, pass a large amount of sulfur dioxide into the salt solution to reduce the high-valent iodine in the iodate. Next, add chloroform to the solution to extract elemental iodine from the mixture. Finally, distill the discolored upper layer in a distillation flask to obtain elemental iodine.

3. Using tweezers or a small stick, dip it in moist flour and spread it evenly inside the flower bud.

4. Mix equal amounts of zinc powder and iodine tablets (this step is crucial and requires repeated experiments to determine the correct amount), stir them evenly into a powder, seal it in wax paper with the opening facing upwards, and place it in the flower bud.

With the above preparations complete, when water is poured into the flower buds, the iodine and zinc react with the water to form zinc iodide, releasing a large amount of heat that breaks apart the petals held together by the flour. The high temperature also causes some of the iodine and water to evaporate into gas, creating an effect resembling "holy mist." The iodine vapor adhering to the white flour will turn it blue.

The trick of "plants growing rapidly" is not difficult; the difficulty lies in the subsequent effects of "holy mist and flowering".

Fortunately, everything went smoothly.

Todd covered the flowerpot with a white cloth and raised his hands to the crowd. The voices of the people lowered, but the excitement on their faces did not diminish.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have an idea." The priest held the cross to his chest with one hand and pointed to the sky with the other: "Since God has blessed 'Twilight Town,' why don't we use this grace to improve our lives a little?"

People's eyes lit up; they understood what the priest meant.

But some timid believers asked anxiously, "Won't we be punished by heaven for using God's love to seek personal gain?"

Todd nodded, feigning deep thought: "You're right, but if we use this gift to gain a little benefit by helping our most suffering brothers and sisters, I don't think God will blame us."

As the priest turned his face toward the old farmer Sassoon, some of the more astute people in the audience probably guessed what was going on.

"I plan to establish a 'Muxi Mutual Aid Fund'."

"Muxi Mutual Aid Fund"?

Upon hearing this new term, everyone looked puzzled.

Todd clapped his hands towards the audience, and two catechumens carried a large basket up to the platform. He took something out of the basket and displayed it to the crowd.

That seems to be...

bone?

To be precise, it looks like a pigeon's leg bone.

"There are a total of one hundred sacred bones here, one for each silver moon. Anyone can buy them, and there is no limit to the number."

A bone costs a silver moon? You can buy a whole bunch of those for a copper star. The crowd, full of questions, awaited the priest's next words.

"Anyone who purchases the sacred relics, along with their name and the quantity purchased, will be registered in the church and become a member of the 'Muxi Mutual Aid Fund.' The 100 silver moons earned from selling the relics will serve as the principal for the farmers of Muxi Town. The rewards they receive from using the Father's grace will be distributed proportionally based on the number of relics each person possesses."

Seeing the many people below the stage still looking confused, Todd sighed: "Let me give you an example. Today I spent one silver moon to buy a holy bone. In the future, if the farmers in Muxi Town use the 100 silver moons they raised as capital to earn 200 silver moons, then I can get two silver moons."

Most people understood, but more questions were raised.

"What if I buy the sacred relics and then want to sell them?"

Todd: "The relics can be traded freely, but the trader must be a resident of Mussey; and after the transaction is completed, they must be re-registered at the church."

"How long will it take to see a return after I buy it?"

Todd: "It's hard to say the exact time, but the first return should be within three months."

"I want to buy it, but I don't have enough spare money at home for a month..."

Todd: "You can find your friends to jointly fund the purchase of a relic. Oh, and remember to have someone notarize how much each of you contributed."

At this moment, a merchant in the crowd stood up, scratched his head, and asked, "What if we lose money after buying the sacred bone and lending it to these farmers?"

After he asked the question, people immediately looked at him with anger and disdain, which made the merchant realize that he had said the wrong thing: "Look at my mouth! How could a business blessed by the Father lose money?" After saying that, he sat back down in embarrassment.

Seeing that the crowd had no further questions, Todd raised the bone in his hand and announced loudly, "Alright, then I hereby declare that the subscription of the sacred bone for the 'Twilight Mutual Aid Fund' is now officially open."

The square fell silent; no one spoke.

The people of Muxi Town had been chatting enthusiastically, but when it came to actually contributing money, they looked at each other, none of them daring to be the first to step forward.

Todd sighed softly; he understood the predicament of the crowd. A single silver moon might not seem like much, but everyone was in need of money right now, and where would they find such a small sum? Besides, even with the preceding "miracle" as a prelude and his own inflammatory words, the effectiveness of this novel "mutual aid fund" fundraising method would naturally wane once people calmed down.

It seems that I can only be the first to step forward.

Todd put down the bone, about to speak.

Two voices rang out simultaneously from the audience.

"I want to buy ten!"

"I'll buy fifty."

Todd looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who wanted to buy ten sticks was Karin, and the person who wanted to buy fifty sticks was actually... Rachel.