Chapter 812: Witch Olivia, Let Me Give You a Problem to Solve!

Carter Dunn's eyes went wide for an instant, and then his pupils contracted sharply. Having long been ignored by Witch Olivia and pushed to the margins of the research group, he had developed something of an inferiority complex.

Carter did not have much confidence in himself.

But he had not expected that he, such a peripheral figure in Witch Olivia's research group, a temporary worker at the Rose Council, would receive the sponsorship of a senior researcher from Golden Crown Mountain, a Second Circle wizard.

Carter Dunn's eyes shifted slightly.

"Respected Great Wizard, it is of course very exciting to hear that you are willing to sponsor me. But are you sponsoring me personally, or sponsoring a project I have on hand?"

Locke said, "The Dream Blossom."

If it had been someone else, they might have needed to think carefully about which project that referred to. But this project was one of the few at the Rose Council in which Carter Dunn had achieved something resembling success, and one that Witch Olivia had actually praised.

So Carter Dunn recalled it immediately, though a flicker of puzzlement showed in his eyes.

"That project is worth sponsoring?"

Although Carter Dunn was very excited about Locke's sponsorship, he was also quite confused as to why Locke would want to sponsor a project like that.

After all, the concept of the Dream Blossom, though he had worked hard to come up with it, had been developed entirely at Witch Olivia's request for the purpose of applying for the internal Most Beautiful Project fund.

In other words, that project had never been intended to be concluded successfully from the start.

With a fund like that, even if the project failed to conclude, there would be no real accountability. That made it the perfect channel for padding Olivia's laboratory's total project count.

When Witch Olivia had them apply, she had already made her position clear.

'When applying you must be a mythwriter. When executing, you must be a shrewd accountant. And when concluding, you must be a magician.'

That kind of low-quality internal campus fund would not bring accountability even if the project failed to conclude. After all, they could hardly throw someone in prison just for failing to produce results.

So Carter Dunn found it strange that Locke wanted to sponsor that project.

"There is also another issue, Great Wizard. I am a wizard within Witch Olivia's research group."

"She is my team leader here at the Rose Council."

"Because of her management style, my entire twenty-four hours are planned out by her. So if you truly want to sponsor me, it would probably have to wait until half a year from now before I have time to complete that research. But, how much are you offering?"

Locke looked at him.

"One million magic stones."

Carter Dunn drew a sharp breath.

For him, this was an enormous sum. The total resources he had used to study magic from childhood to the present might only barely exceed this figure.

Carter Dunn's eyes lit up. "Then please rest assured. In order to repay your trust in me, I will throw myself into the research on the Dream Blossom immediately after half a year. May I ask your name?"

Locke said one thing to him.

"Come with me."

He did not have the time to wait for Carter Dunn to devote himself to the research half a year from now. To be precise, he would directly help Carter complete the Dream Blossom.

The reason he needed this person was simply that Carter was the one who had proposed this project, the originator of the idea. With his involvement, the speed and efficiency of completing the Dream Blossom, as well as the quality of the final product, would be somewhat higher.

But he was not strictly irreplaceable.

Within one month, the investment required to complete the Dream Blossom would come to exactly one million magic stones. This was something Locke had calculated in his head directly.

A significant portion of that money was additional expenditure incurred to accelerate the research.

When a patron calls, Carter Dunn naturally followed at once, staying close behind.

Only very shortly after, he sensed that something was off.

Because Locke was heading directly toward Witch Olivia Bell.

Carter Dunn was so frightened his whole body went weak. He had not expected Locke to take him to find Witch Olivia.

The three met at the center of the White Rose Garden. Witch Olivia was wearing a magnificent wizard robe composed of embroidered white peonies, making her look dignified and imposing.

She looked at Carter Dunn with puzzlement, then turned to Locke and said, "Friend from Golden Crown Mountain, is there something you need?"

Her tone was cold.

"Also, we are quite close to one of our Rose Council's advanced laboratories here, and it is inconvenient for outsiders to enter."

Locke came directly to the point.

"I have taken an interest in an unfinished project Carter Dunn has on hand, called the Dream Blossom. I would like to invest one million magic stones in him."

The coldness in Witch Olivia Bell's eyes thawed somewhat. The moment she heard Locke mention money, a degree of warmth appeared on her face out of nowhere.

"That is quite all right. Wizard Carter Dunn is one of the excellent wizards in my research group. I have always thought highly of him. He is something of a capable assistant to me. Wizard Augustine, investing in him is certainly the right choice."

Locke looked at Witch Olivia in surprise. He had not expected her to recognize him at a glance.

Though he had recently participated in the Silent Chalice and was a fairly well-known wizard, being recognized was not unusual.

Witch Olivia Bell said, "Wizard Augustine, you can transfer that lateral funding to him directly. He can remain in my research group and complete the Dream Blossom project for you."

Locke said, "That is exactly why I came to find you. I want him to come with me to complete the Dream Blossom. The reason is simple. I want results as quickly as possible."

Witch Olivia Bell frowned.

"That makes no sense. He is a member of my research group and is naturally subject to my allocation. Even if you invest money in him, you are investing in my research group."

Locke smiled and said, "No, I want to invest in Wizard Carter Dunn personally, not in your research group."

If the money went into Witch Olivia's research group, who knew how much of it would actually be used for research, and if Witch Olivia randomly found some vapor-phase wizard or even a few first-class wizard apprentices to complete his research, he would have been cheated with no one to complain to.

Witch Olivia had clearly not expected Locke to be so insistent on this point. The trace of warmth that had just appeared on her face vanished at once, replaced by irritation.

If Locke was not putting the money into her research group, what did it have to do with her?

Since there was no monetary connection, she naturally had no reason to give Locke a pleasant expression.

Witch Olivia glanced at Carter Dunn, whose mind had gone completely blank, then looked seriously at Locke and said, "What real-world significance could a novelty toy like the Dream Blossom have? Wizard Augustine, you..."

Locke said, "How about this. We are all breeders. Let us not argue. I will pose a difficult problem right now, and if anyone in your laboratory can solve it, I will invest the money in your research group."

"If not, you agree to give Carter Dunn leave and let him come with me to complete the project."

Witch Olivia had been about to lose her temper, but for the sake of the money, she forced herself to hold back.

Even though it was only one million magic stones, as a Second Circle wizard managing a large research group, she had to economize in every direction and spent every day racking her brains for more funding.

So Locke's one million in funding was something she wanted.

She had already figured it out. There was a piece of equipment in her laboratory that had been worn out for some time, and if this one million in funding came in, she would immediately replace it with a new one.

As for the Dream Blossom? She would find a few wizard apprentices to go through the motions.

Witch Olivia thought it over seriously. She was eighty years old, while Locke was a young man barely in his twenties. She was a star ring witch, a Second Circle breeder with the experience accumulated over many decades.

For Locke to pose her a difficult problem in breeding studies was frankly laughable.

Witch Olivia smiled and said, "Very well. Only no problems in evolutionary studies." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit.

Even as an eighty-year-old woman, a star ring wizard and Second Circle breeder, she did not want Locke to pose a problem in evolutionary studies, the field he was best at.

After all, they were both Second Circle wizards. At the end of the day they were on the same level.

And if Locke truly came up with a cleverly angled problem in plant evolutionary studies, that could be troublesome for her.

Locke said, "Very well."

Carter Dunn had not expected Locke, the patron who was supposed to be sponsoring him, to go directly to Team Leader Olivia and start a contest with her.

He had kept silent throughout.

This was a confrontation between two Second Circle wizards, and had relatively little to do with him personally.

He was like a small boat caught between two waves. The best response was to stay quiet.

Locke turned his palm over and a common climbing fern appeared in his hand.

"I would like to ask Witch Olivia to use this climbing fern as a rootstock and find a magical plant that can be grafted onto it. The only requirement is that it be completed within three hours."

Witch Olivia frowned.

"Grafting? This is nothing more than an ordinary First Circle magical plant."

"I could reach out and pick any magical plant from this garden right now, even an apprentice-level one, and complete the graft."

Locke smiled.

"As expected of Witch Olivia. Grafting an apprentice magical plant onto a First Circle magical plant, if successfully accomplished, would demonstrate your mastery of grafting. Then please, go ahead."

Witch Olivia looked at Locke, let out a cold snort, and while extremely displeased, fell into deep thought.

'Locke Augustine is a genius in breeding studies. Why would he have me graft such an ordinary magical plant?'

'His talent in breeding studies should be no lesser than mine.'

Witch Olivia casually broke off an apprentice-level magical plant from the garden, then worked on both plants with a grafting knife, and proceeded to graft the apprentice-level White Beauty Rose onto the climbing fern tree fern Locke had given her.

The next moment, the White Beauty Rose was destroyed, and the entire rose wilted on the spot.

Witch Olivia gripped the climbing fern and immediately frowned.

"How is this possible?"

She had absolute confidence in her own technique.

Never mind grafting an apprentice magical plant onto a First Circle magical plant. With her abilities as a Second Circle breeder, she could even try grafting an ordinary plant onto a First Circle magical plant, and while difficult, it was not out of the question.

But her graft had just failed.

Was there something mysterious inside it?

Witch Olivia's expression became one of contemplation as she studied the climbing fern.

"By any measure this is just an ordinary climbing fern. Using tree fern to optimize this climbing fern is not a bad idea. But it is only the level of a First Circle breeder."

"It is just an ordinary climbing fern. Why would the graft fail?"

Witch Olivia walked through the garden and casually broke off a White Angel Rose. This was a First Circle magical plant with powerful natural magical structural components similar to enchantment spells, capable of producing an inexplicable sense of happiness in anyone who came close.

Witch Olivia grafted it onto the climbing fern in just five minutes. But the next moment, the graft between the two suddenly broke apart, and the graft failed again.

Witch Olivia looked at Locke with surprise.

She stared intently at the climbing fern before her.

At this moment, what had appeared to be an ordinary climbing fern had become in her eyes a kind of riddle, and all riddles should have answers. She just did not yet know what that answer was.

Locke had only been testing his luck. He had not expected the strange energy from deep within the Forbidden Forest to actually stump a Second Circle breeder standing before him.

On that day, he had witnessed the Talking Tree fighting Wizard Gakula and had copied the negative energy particle field from the encounter. At this moment he was simply using the archaeological spell Historical Reenactment to borrow that strange energy from the past, and had the tree fern climbing fern absorb it.

At the time, he had sensed that the energy seemed capable of disrupting spell models.

So naturally, Witch Olivia's Second Circle botanical spell of enhanced graft healing would lose its effect.

After twenty minutes of thought, Witch Olivia grafted the White Angel Rose onto the climbing fern a second time. This time she had clearly fine-tuned the enhanced graft healing spell model.

A green light appeared between the two magical plants.

In Witch Olivia's expectant gaze, the graft between the two held for one minute, but at the one-minute mark it suddenly broke apart.

A flash of astonishment appeared in Witch Olivia's eyes.

She looked at Locke in disbelief.

Locke spread his hands to indicate she should continue.

"As long as someone in your laboratory manages to complete the graft within the remaining time of the three hours, I will count that as your win."

Witch Olivia frowned.

"Insolent."

She had never in her life encountered such an insolent wizard. He was not even a Second Circle breeder himself, and yet he dared to pose a problem to everyone in their entire laboratory.

What she did not know was that Locke had changed his mind on the spot. He had seen that even Witch Olivia herself could not handle the strange energy from deep within the Forbidden Forest, and on top of that, when he had earlier reviewed the documents, he had not found any useful related materials. Perhaps because he had not grasped the relevant keywords, or perhaps because his access level was still insufficient.

Therefore, Locke now had the idea of using Olivia's laboratory to test this strange energy.

After all, this strange energy was not really his. He had only borrowed it from the past and had the climbing fern temporarily absorb it.

If he could use these external forces in turn to crack the mystery of this strange energy, even solving just one or two aspects of it would be worthwhile.

Either way, he had nothing to lose.

And clearly, Witch Olivia had interpreted this as a technique Locke had already mastered. She could not afford to lose face.

'There is no reason for this. Why is the graft failing?'