Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 354 Advanced Experts of the Hand of the Jungle

The Green Witch Christine said to Locke, "Do you want as many as you have? The market price of a bottle of Swarm Consciousness Potion is originally 10,000 magic stones. I have five bottles in total, which is 50,000 magic stones."

"But Locke, the price of the Swarm Consciousness Potion has now doubled to an outrageous level. The current price is three times what it used to be, which is 150,000 magic stones. And I estimate it will double again."

Christine said, "Nobody sells Swarm Consciousness Potions these days. But if you do me a small favor, Locke, I'll sell you this set of Swarm Consciousness Potions at the original price."

"And I will also sell you the Cloud Sea Mist Pine at the original price, at 30,000 magic stones per tree."

Locke looked at Christine with a puzzled expression. "What kind of help is it?"

Christine said, "Since you're going to the Land of Six Towers anyway, I've been meaning to ask you for this favor. I just haven't been able to figure out how to get you to agree."

Christine smiled and said, "Who knew, I got lucky, I just happen to have what you need."

Christine said, "Do you know the Hand of the Jungle?"

At the gathering of fellow wizards, most of the first-ring wizards looked puzzled, but they all pricked up their ears, ready to hear the news.

Wizard Anthony suddenly realized. "Oh, it's that organization. Christine, you've joined too?"

"I never expected that someone as serious as you would join that kind of organization."

Christine smiled somewhat helplessly. "No, how could I possibly join such an organization? But the problem is, our headmaster of the Four Seasons Garden actually... actually got persuaded by the Hand of the Jungle, established a partnership with the Hand of the Jungle, and even opened a cooperative apprenticeship training center with them."

Wizard Anthony looked at Christine sympathetically. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. After all, a large number of us botanical wizards have the potential to become members of the Hand of the Jungle."

"But I know that if your boss has a jungle hand, it's a nightmare."

Locke asked curiously, "What are you two talking about? I have no idea what kind of organization the Hand of the Jungle is."

Christine the Witch turned to Locke and nodded, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, junior. The Hand of the Jungle is an organization that spans across wizarding lands. It has powerful figures behind it, and it's said that some second- or even third-ring figures support it, so it has considerable influence."

"But because they are a large organization that spans multiple wizarding lands, none of their actions are aimed at profit, domination, or the collection of magical resources."

Locke looked puzzled. "What's the purpose? Is it a purely academic organization? That's quite interesting?"

Many of the first-ring wizards at the gathering also looked at Christine with puzzled expressions.

To everyone's surprise, Christine looked completely helpless.

The phantom of Wizard Anthony was practically dying of laughter. "Hmm...hmm, it's pretty much a purely academic organization. But this kind of organization is prone to going mad, basically on par with the Holy Wizards."

"The Hand of the Jungle is a group of wizards who are breeders, botanists, zoologists, etc., who band together to restore the ecology of wizarding lands and study the natural ecology of wizarding lands. Although it sounds very serious, in fact... in their minds, maintaining the local ecology is the primary goal, and nothing else matters, so it is easy to arouse the resentment of many people."

"Moreover, they do things in a rather extreme way."

Locke understood; this was an extreme environmental organization!

"I see. No wonder an organization that spans multiple wizarding territories has a name that's almost identical to a knightly order. This is practically a wizarding version of an extreme environmentalist knightly order." Wizard Anthony said, "I think I understand why Junior Sister Christine is looking for Junior Brother Locke."

"Recently, the Adam Smith family, whose core research focuses on the bloodline of griffins, discovered that due to the destruction of the griffin forest ecosystem, griffins have lost their ability to reproduce naturally. The Adam Smith family invited many local botanical and zoological wizards from the Six Towers to try to solve this problem, but after two years, they still haven't been able to solve it."

"Even their family's griffin flock has shrunk to less than ten individuals, and they are on the verge of extinction. It seems that the Adam Smith family was forced to choose to trust the Jungle Hand organization, which is most motivated to restore the griffin ecosystem."

"You're supposed to be escorting the scholars from the Hand of the Jungle, right? But this should be a normal mission. Why do you need to use connections like this, junior?"

"Finding a first-ring wizard to escort that expert shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Christine looked troubled. "Senior, you don't know the whole story, and you have no idea how crazy those wizards of the Hand of the Jungle are. I'm tormented by them every day, and sometimes I really can't take it anymore."

Christine looked at Locke and explained, "The Hand of the Jungle has already sent people to investigate and confirmed that the upper reaches of the Olmega River, where the griffins live, have been severely polluted. This has caused a certain type of magical fish, a specific food source for the griffins in the Olmega River, to become contaminated, making it impossible for the griffins to eat that fish."

“Griffins cannot reproduce and lose their ability to mate if they don’t eat that kind of fish. Without griffins, the Adam Smith family cannot conduct related bloodline research.”

"The Hand of the Jungle has confirmed that the pollution of the Olmega River was caused by waste discharged from the bloodline modulation engineering factory operated by the Ptolemy family, another prestigious family in the Land of the Six Towers. Therefore, the Hand of the Jungle and the Adam Smith family must immediately demand that the Ptolemy family shut down all its upstream industries."

“The Ptolemy family certainly wouldn’t agree to that. So, I’ve heard that they might hire dark wizards to attack the Jungle Hand’s ecological modification experts in order to prevent the Jungle Hand from entering the Land of the Six Towers.”

Christine looked at Locke, "Junior brother, you have no idea how difficult it is to meet the demands of the Forest."

"They asked me to find them a first-ring wizard who could protect them, but with the condition that he must be a botanist wizard and a breeder. Because the Hand of the Jungle doesn't trust wizards of other magical categories."

"After much deliberation, I really have no other choice. As you know, the combat strength of someone who is both a breeder and a botanical wizard is not very high."

“But it has no fighting ability and can't protect that expert from the Hand of the Jungle.” Christine's expression was not good. “Fine, if you agree, I'll sell my Swarm Consciousness Potion at half price.”

"Because that expert has such a terrible temper, I'm apologizing to you, my junior, on his behalf in advance."

"In addition, the Hand of the Jungle will give you 30,000 magic stones to hire you to protect this expert for a period of time until you deliver him to the Hand of the Jungle's stronghold in the Land of Six Towers."

Christine said, "There's no need to worry about getting involved in any conflicts, because although the Hand of the Jungle are troublesome, they are really powerful. They have influence in all the wizarding lands, and for some reason, their extreme ecological protection ideas still have a lot of support, and there are even many powerful wizards above them."

Christine said, "I suspect the Jungle Hand's environmental business isn't as simple as it seems, although I don't understand how they make a profit. But the fact that so many high-ranking wizards support the Jungle Hand is likely because they have a unique way of making money."

"Junior Locke, are you going to answer it?"

Locke thought for a moment, then looked at the Gray Mist Slab and realized that the several official wizards he had contacted all told him that there was no way to obtain the Swarm Consciousness Potion at the moment.

So, for the foreseeable future, perhaps even for the next ten years, the only possible way to obtain the Swarm Consciousness Potion may be right before my eyes.

Locke pondered for a moment, then asked, "What level of wizards did the Ptolemaic family hire to attack the experts of the Hand of the Jungle?"

(End of this chapter)