Chapter 88 The whole town starts playing in the mud (rubber version) Hearing three...
Hearing that the Clover Caravan was looking for him, Lin Yue roughly guessed what it was about. So he told Lao Mo and the others to take good care of the clover chickens and then hurried to Store No. 1.
In a newly partitioned office at Yihaodian specifically for receiving guests, Lin Yue met Barry, a middle-aged businessman who looked travel-worn.
"Mayor Lin, my dear Mayor Lin," Barry exclaimed as soon as he saw Lin Yue, almost giving him a bear hug on the spot. "I've finally found you."
As he spoke, wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, he complained breathlessly, "You have no idea! I almost ran my legs off looking for you. Last time you asked me to go south to find that... treasure the locals call the Ula tree, right? I went through so much trouble to finally bring it back for you. But when I excitedly brought it to Hope Town, your people said you'd opened a branch in Blackstone City. I had to leave the tree at our caravan's temporary camp and then run to Blackstone City to find you. Good heavens, it was noon, and your branch was packed with people! It almost crushed my old bones."
"I finally managed to squeeze in, but then the people at your shop said you'd gone back to Hope Town and weren't going back to Blackrock City for the time being. So I rushed back and brought the tree over for you. I almost got myself killed on this road going back and forth like this," Barry said with a long face.
Lin Yue quickly stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder: "You've worked hard, you've worked hard, Mr. Barry." He personally poured Barry a steaming cup of Starlight Barley Tea, "Come in and have some tea, rest your feet. Did you really find that Ula tree you mentioned?"
“How could it be fake?” Barry puffed out his chest, a smug look on his face. “You can rest assured when I handle things. The goods are currently stored at our caravan’s temporary camp outside Hope Town, just waiting for your word.”
As he sipped his tea, he vividly described the bustling scene at the Hope Trading Company branch: "Mayor Lin, you haven't seen it! Your store is now the bellwether of the entire Blackstone City. I've never seen a store where the poorest of the poor and the most arrogant nobles are queuing up to buy things in the same place. Hope Soup and fast food meals are practically lifesavers for all the poor. And ceramics and ironware have become luxury items that wealthy merchants are scrambling to buy. You've played this game brilliantly, truly brilliantly."
Listening to his flattery, Lin Yue thought to himself, "What's so great about that? This is just the most basic differentiated market positioning in later generations."
"You flatter me, you flatter me. Let's not talk about business for now." Lin Yue waved his hand and got straight to the point, "Take me to see the trees first."
When Lin Yue followed Barry to the outskirts of Hope Town, to the temporary camp of the Clover Caravan, he was astonished by the sight before him.
Twelve carts were neatly parked there. Each pair of carts was linked end to end, with a huge tree, roots and all, secured to the ground by thick ropes. These trees were wrapped in large wicker baskets, with the trunks spanning between the two carts, and the roots and crowns hanging over the front and rear carts respectively. Although the leaves were somewhat wilted from the long journey, their tenacious vitality was still evident.
"Mr. Barry, this...this is the small to medium-sized tree you were talking about?" Lin Yue pointed to one of the thickest trees, a huge one that would take at least two people to hug, his lips twitching.
“Yes,” Barry nodded matter-of-factly. “You haven’t seen the biggest one, it’s like a small mountain. These are saplings that the local indigenous tribes were very reluctant to sell to me.”
Besides these six giant trees, there are also ten heavy barrels sealed in wooden tubs neatly arranged next to them.
Barry pointed to the barrels and said, “I figured you wanted this tree mainly for its white sap. Waiting for the tree to grow bigger before cutting it is too slow. So I took the liberty of buying ten barrels of the freshest ‘tree blood’ from those natives at a high price. But the journey was too long, and most of it has probably already congealed.”
As he spoke, he pried open the lid of a wooden barrel. A pungent odor, a mixture of fresh plant scents and a certain rubbery smell, wafted out. Inside, the barrel was filled with a solidified, milky-white substance, resembling a giant jelly with a slight elasticity.
[System scan: High-purity natural latex (solidified) detected. Main component: polyisoprene. It possesses excellent elasticity, insulation, water resistance, and airtightness. It is a top-grade raw material for manufacturing various elastic products and sealing materials!]
Natural rubber, it really is natural rubber!
“Mr. Barry,” Lin Yue took a deep breath, suppressing his elation, “you’ve done me a tremendous favor this time. Tell me, how much did all this cost in total? I promise you won’t lose out.”
Barry immediately began to pour out his grievances, recounting the hardships he had endured along the way. From the long distance to the dangers of the swamps, to the difficulty of bargaining with those stubborn native tribes, he portrayed himself as a chivalrous businessman who spared no expense to keep his promises.
Lin Yue listened quietly to his performance without interrupting. Only when he was hoarse did he slowly ask, "So, do you want to settle directly with gold coins, or would you like to exchange them for some goods from Hope Town?"
Barry's eyes lit up, and he immediately said, "Mayor Lin, as you know, gold coins are valuable, but in the current situation, sometimes a bag of life-saving salt is more practical. What I mean is... could we... pay half with gold coins and half with snow salt?"
After a lot of back and forth, Lin Yue finally settled the deal at a price that both parties could accept.
Barry, carrying heavy gold coins and several large bags of snow salt, prepared to leave contentedly. Before leaving, he couldn't help but rub his hands together and tentatively ask, "Mayor Lin, that... exclusive product you mentioned before, the one that can preserve meat for months... is it... still available...?"
"Don't worry, Mr. Barry." Lin Yue patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "Once I've figured this thing out and created portable food that can be preserved over long distances, you'll be the first person I contact. You'd better have a large enough warehouse and plenty of gold coins ready."
Barry nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
After seeing Barry off, Lin Yue immediately arranged for the six precious Ula trees to be transported back to the town.
After surveying the agricultural area, he considered that Barry had mentioned these trees would grow enormous, eventually becoming lush and deeply rooted. He worried that planting them in the agricultural zone would encroach on farmland. Therefore, after discussion, Old Bud decided on a clearing on the outskirts of Hope Town. The terrain was flat and close to a water source. The soil might not be fertile enough, requiring artificial fertilization later. Once the decision was made, everyone worked together to dig holes, fill in the soil, and water the trees, planting the six Ula trees.
Lin Yue clapped his hands and explained in detail to the agricultural team: "This thing will become our strategic resource in the future, it's very precious. When it gets hot, we must water it frequently and not let it dry out. Once they have adapted to the environment here and taken root firmly, we need to start studying propagation by cuttings. This requires everyone to work together to study it. Anyone with experience or ideas, please feel free to share them."
"Planting?" Old Bud asked curiously. "Mayor, is it... cutting tree branches... and sticking them in the ground?"
“That’s right.” Lin Yue nodded approvingly. “But there’s a lot to learn here. What kind of branches to cut, when to cut, how to treat the cut, how deep to insert, what kind of soil to use… you have to figure these things out and record them yourself. Different plants require different methods. We not only need to learn how to grow crops, but also how to turn a plant into a forest in our hands.”
Old Bard and the others were thrilled.
After settling the saplings and returning to his office, Lin Yue felt a pang of regret as he realized it had indeed been a long time since he'd chatted with his old friend, the system. With a thought, he summoned the familiar semi-transparent interface.
Before he could even speak, the system spoke first.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for successfully expanding Hope Town's commercial influence to Blackrock City. Through opening branches and spreading culinary culture, you have significantly enhanced the reach and influence of your civilization. Hidden quest [Business Budding] has been exceeded.]
[Rewards settlement in progress... Reward system points +2000.]
[Ding! Detected that the host has initially mastered and promoted multiple core civilization modules, including agriculture, construction, industry, commerce, sanitation, and management, and the community's scale and influence have reached a new threshold. The [Civilization on the Tip of the Tongue] system is about to undergo a major version upgrade!]
[Upgrade Content: More advanced technology blueprints will be unlocked, the task assignment and reward mechanism will be optimized, and new system modules may be available.]
[Upgrade countdown: 24 hours. During the upgrade, the system will enter maintenance mode and may be temporarily unable to respond to host requests. Please make arrangements in advance.]
Lin Yue was initially delighted by the series of notifications, but then he was stunned. The system was about to upgrade? This was a first for him.
"Alright, then level up slowly." Lin Yue muttered, then quickly made his request before the system shut down, "Don't rush to level up. I want to exchange for that comprehensive rubber production plan, one that's suitable for Hope Town!"
[Ding! Points -1500. Successfully redeemed [Natural Rubber Complete Processing Technology (Hope Town Special Edition)]. Includes: complete process flow of latex collection, coagulation, sheeting, smoking, vulcanization, etc.]
[Based on the host's current needs, three additional basic product mold drawings are provided. Please choose from the following options: sealing gasket, solid tire, waterproof sole, elastic rope, simple rubber shoes...]
"I'll take the first three." Lin Yue decisively chose the one he needed most.
He had exchanged the manufacturing process and blueprints, but he was still completely confused about these complex chemical and physical processes, mainly because the textbook knowledge he had learned before was difficult to connect with the actual process.
Therefore, all the technical contributors from various workshops, including Stonefist, Ella, Norm, and Kaelan, were gathered in an empty red brick building, which would serve as their temporary laboratory.
"Everyone, this is an ancient drawing I copied from a... um... a very ancient civilization, about how to process the sap of the Ula tree." Lin Yue placed the technical data, which he had spent an entire night redrawing on the stone slab based on system information, and which contained drawings and symbols that could be understood in this world, on the table. "To be honest, I don't quite understand what's on this either. But I believe that with your wisdom and experience, you will definitely be able to study it thoroughly."
“My requirements are very simple,” he said, pointing to several finished products on the blueprints. “I hope to make these three things as quickly as possible: a flexible sealing gasket that can be used on pottery jars; a wear-resistant tire that can be fitted onto the wheels of our Hope No. 1 heavy truck; and this, which is the simplest, is the sole of our current shoes. We can sew animal hides and cloth onto the sole to make a waterproof, comfortable, breathable shoe that won’t hurt your feet.”
"As for the specifics of how to do it, you can research and experiment on your own. Just tell me what materials and manpower you need. Be bold and try, don't be afraid of failure. It doesn't matter if it burns out or is ruined. Nothing can be succeeded on the first try."
Shi Quan stared at the process called vulcanization on the blueprint, which required heating rubber and sulfur powder together. His eyes gleamed with the burning passion of a forging master for a new material.
Norm was curious about the solidification process of latex from liquid to solid and prepared to try using different acidic liquids to accelerate the process.
Ella and Kaylan, on the other hand, used their expertise in fine craftsmanship to begin researching how to create the most precise molds.
A few days later, when Lin Yue returned to the temporary laboratory, he was astonished by what he saw.
The laboratory successfully produced sealing gaskets, tire prototypes, and shoe soles that perfectly met his requirements.
There were even some incredibly creative inventions that surprised him.
For example, a young Silent One, using the super elasticity of rubber, worked with Kailan to create a powerful slingshot with a range and power far exceeding that of ordinary animal sinew bows and arrows. They even used polished stone beads as projectiles, making it quite powerful.
They also tried applying melted latex to a safety helmet woven from rattan, creating the first waterproof and impact-resistant safety helmet in Hope Town, which is highly practical.
Of course, there are also some inventions with rather unique styles.
A young, half-grown boy actually... he actually made himself a... tight-fitting, black... sexy underwear with strange protrusions out of rubber?
"What...what's this thing for?" Lin Yue pointed at the oddly shaped pair of underwear, his lips twitching.
The young man blushed, scratched his head, and chuckled憨厚ly, "Mayor, I was thinking... this thing is so elastic and fits so snugly, wearing it underneath in winter must... it must be really warm..."
Lin Yue: "..."
"You've thought it through well. Don't think about it again next time. Or at least try thinking about it from a different angle."
"Mayor, actually I was also thinking of making a vest covered in small bumps, so I could massage myself while working, and also..."
"...I have something to do, so I'll head back now."
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