Furthermore, many of their high-end instruments and reagents depended on foreign imports, an option they no longer had.
Just then, Lu Jiamei came over to call him for lunch. He slipped his phone into his pocket and headed for the shipping container.
Inside the shipping container, Hua Lingfang was arranging the herbs that had been salvaged from underwater.
His own room wasn’t large enough, but this shipping container had plenty of extra space, so he was using it to sort and organize the herbs.
"Elder Hua, lunch is ready!" Xin Wan had already brought the food over.
"Alright, I’ll be right there after I finish with this last bag!" Hua Lingfang answered, opening it.
As Ren Yuanyang entered the container and saw Hua Lingfang working with the herbs, a thought suddenly struck him. ’Could herbs be used to temper the volatile nature of the Evolution Potion?’
At this thought, Ren Yuanyang immediately asked, "Elder Hua, are there any herbs or formulas specifically for tempering the harsh properties of other medicines?"
Hua Lingfang paused, startled for a moment, then immediately replied, "Of course there are! Sir, why do you ask?"
"’Looks like it’s worth a try,’ Ren Yuanyang muttered. ’Let’s eat first! We can talk as we eat!’"
Hua Lingfang quickly spread out the herbs he was holding, then came and sat down at the table.
"Sir, has a problem come up? Why do you need to temper a medicine’s properties? Who’s taking it?" Hua Lingfang was extremely curious, firing off several questions in a row.
"The Aircraft Carrier Base has run into difficulties while researching the Evolution Potion," Ren Yuanyang explained briefly. "I looked over the data Captain Wang Jun sent. The problem they’re facing is that they can’t temper the potion’s volatility."
Everyone was stunned.
"Captain Wang actually sent you their research data on the Evolution Potion?" Qin Haonan said in disbelief.
’Something like that should be top secret. They shouldn’t be sharing it with outsiders so easily.’
Ren Yuanyang nodded. "They did send me the data, but it looks like they’ve made no progress at all! It’s almost identical to the information we obtained before!"
"Huh? Their development is that slow?" Qin Haonan exclaimed in surprise.
Ren Yuanyang shrugged. "When you get stuck on a problem in scientific research, you can be stuck for decades. It’s not surprising."
"They haven’t had any breakthroughs, and we gave them advance warning about the start of the Dark Tide," Lu Jiamei analyzed. "They probably think our technology is more advanced and are hoping we can find a solution. It’s understandable."
"So, you’re saying the Evolution Potion they’ve developed is too strong for the human body to withstand?" Xin Wan asked. "If someone forces themselves to use it, will they end up like that heroine who brought the data from the Feixiang—bleeding from every orifice and dying a violent death?"
"That’s probably what happens," Ren Yuanyang nodded. "That’s why I said they’ve made no progress."
"But can our traditional Chinese medicine really temper the volatility of the Evolution Potion?" Lu Jiamei asked, a little skeptical.
’She always felt that Chinese medicine and the Evolution Potion were two completely different things—one was far too ancient, the other far too futuristic.’
Hua Lingfang nodded with absolute certainty. "It can! Take licorice, for example. It can harmonize other medicines, pacify harsh herbs and minerals, and neutralize all kinds of toxins!"
"Then we definitely have to give it a try!" Ren Yuanyang said with a smile.
Qin Haonan was taken aback again. "Give it a try? We don’t have any Evolution Potion, much less anyone to experiment on."
"Boss, you’re not thinking of experimenting on Si Youqin and her people, are you?" Xin Wan asked uncertainly.
"Where is your head at?" Ren Yuanyang rolled his eyes in exasperation. "We have so few people at our base as it is; we’re already short-handed! How could I possibly use them for experiments?"
Ren Yuanyang paused before continuing, "Besides, if we experimented on our own people, wouldn’t that make us even more despicable than the people from Lvzhi Country?"
"Exactly! Don’t you know our boss by now? If he were going to experiment on anyone, it’d be on those animals from Lvzhi Country!" Qin Haonan chimed in. "But... we don’t actually have any test subjects, do we?"
"That’s not a problem. I’ll ask Captain Wang for some lab mice," Ren Yuanyang replied with a smile. "Alright, let’s eat first."
Although Elder Hua had said licorice could temper the Evolution Potion’s volatility, Ren Yuanyang had another idea.
’The decline of Dragon Country’s traditional medicine wasn’t just due to Western propaganda calling it unscientific or charlatans disrupting the market. There was another reason: the quality of the medicinal herbs was no longer what it used to be.’
’Lvzhi Country had once bought up vast quantities of herbs from within Dragon Country’s borders and shipped them back home.’
’At the same time, they had also plagiarized many of Dragon Country’s traditional formulas. Pharmacies in Lvzhi Country were full of so-called ’Kampo’ medicine!’
’It was ironic. The whole world was studying traditional Chinese medicine, yet most Dragon Country People didn’t believe in it. The encroachment of Western culture had been too severe!’
Ren Yuanyang’s mind had wandered. Snapping back to the present, he asked, "Elder Hua, was there any licorice among the herbs we salvaged this time?"
Hua Lingfang nodded. "Yes, but the quality is only average."
"That’s fine," Ren Yuanyang replied. "For now, we just need to confirm if the licorice is effective at all. I’ll figure something out for the quality issue."
’The main thing to consider now was getting his hands on actual licorice plants. He decided he would mobilize the masses by offering a high-priced bounty for them.’
’As long as he could get the plants, would he need to worry about the quality of the licorice?’
’His Enhancement System wasn’t just for show!’
’Right after he first arrived in this world, he had cured his own nasty cold with a single piece of enhanced ginger!’
’Otherwise, he probably would have died from the illness long ago!’
Everyone quickly finished their lunch. Hua Lingfang asked, "Sir, how should we proceed with this verification experiment?"
"No rush," Ren Yuanyang said, shaking his head. "You continue with what you were doing. I’m going to contact Captain Wang first."
"Understood, Sir!" Hua Lingfang went back to arranging his herbs.
After a moment’s thought, Ren Yuanyang sent a message to Wang Jun.
"Captain Wang, regarding the problem with the Evolution Potion, we have an idea, but we’ll need some support from you."
Wang Jun stared at the message for a second, then immediately replied, "Alright. What kind of support do you need?"
"You don’t beat around the bush, Captain Wang!" Ren Yuanyang praised, then got straight to his request. "We need a batch of lab mice, some of the Evolution Potion you’ve developed, and other basic lab consumables—syringes, things like that. We’ll need you to provide them."
Seeing Ren Yuanyang’s request, Wang Jun was taken aback again. ’So Peach Blossom Base has absolutely nothing!’
’He’d always thought Peach Blossom Base wouldn’t be too far behind technologically, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.’
’Or maybe they just don’t want to consume their own resources?’ Wang Jun rationalized to himself.
Regardless, since they might have a solution to the problem, he would definitely meet their demands.
"Alright, I’ll get it ready for you. When will you come pick it up? Or should we deliver it?" Wang Jun agreed, then asked.
"One moment. We’ll let you know when we’re ready," Ren Yuanyang replied.
"Alright, I’ll wait for your message."
After ending his chat with Ren Yuanyang, Wang Jun immediately forwarded the conversation log to the captains’ group chat.
"What? They really have a way to solve the puzzle of the Evolution Potion?" Ji Yizhi was incredibly surprised. But when he saw the list of requested items, he frowned. "Do they have nothing at all?"
Wang Jun shrugged helplessly. "I don’t know. Maybe they really have nothing, or maybe they just don’t want to waste their own resources."
"There’s no need to get hung up on whether they have the supplies or not," Long Zhan said, unconcerned. "As long as they can solve this problem, giving them some consumables is nothing."
"That’s what I was thinking," Wang Jun agreed. "Our research has hit a bottleneck. If Peach Blossom Base can really help us break through it, we might be able to finalize the Evolution Potion much sooner."
Ji Yizhi nodded. "True, but they didn’t exactly say they could solve the problem for sure."
"Who can say for sure when it comes to scientific experiments? You have to at least try. What if they succeed?" Wang Jun was pragmatic. "Even if they fail, the worst-case scenario is that we’re right back where we started."
"Alright, I have no objections," Ji Yizhi said, convinced.
"The lab has about a thousand doses of the semi-finished Evolution Potion right now," Wang Jun continued. "Let’s give them three hundred to start, plus three hundred lab mice, a thousand syringes, and some other assorted consumables."
"Agreed!" The other two voiced their approval.
After confirming the supplies for Peach Blossom Base, Wang Jun turned to Ji Yizhi with a smile. "So, should we try tracking them again this time to find their location?"

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