Witch Special

C-rank hero Saitama's life of idleness continues, and there's no sign of a turnaround. Although he's encountered quite a few things during this period, such as an inexplicable feud with a speedy seaweed head, overall, Saitama's life is as peaceful as a stagnant pool of water, with no signs of a ripple.

Meanwhile, things were surging on Hayashi Maki's side. While Saitama spent his days watching over the intercom he'd been given by the Hero Association, Hayashi Maki had already completed the development of a memory crystal, successfully extracting and storing memories in pure glass. She had also created a reproducible imprint of the associated magical spell. Simply press the base glass onto the imprint, and the entire product's magical imprint would automatically replicate. It was a completely automated process, incredibly simple.

Lin Zhenxi felt as if he had created something remarkable. This magic engraving printer had so many applications. If he continued to expand the types of engravings it could produce, perhaps it could directly promote the industrialization of magic.

Actually, this thing wasn't very difficult, but she hadn't needed this kind of mindless copying of magic sigils before. Furthermore, these printed magic sigils were like water without a source, requiring additional mana to activate. They also had a host of drawbacks, including being less precise than hand-painted ones, being immutable once completed, and the mystery of the rubbing itself limited to the carrier it was made from. Therefore, this new technology held little significance for a seasoned witch like Lin Zhenxi. But for ordinary people without magical talent, it was truly a world-changing technology, transforming the entire world's art style into something strange.

Isn't it amazing that a magic tool can be used just by plugging it in?

After completing all preparations for the memory crystal, Lin Zhenxi instructed her publicity department to begin promoting the memory crystal's launch. The sleep-aid pillow was just an appetizer; the memory crystal was the key prop she would use to gain influence in the world. Now that Baizhi had established a firm foothold in City Z, she no longer feared being targeted by jealous individuals after releasing her product.

The dormant period is over, and now it will be time for Angelica dahurica to take off.

When Lin Zhenxi held a meeting with his company's executives, even those who had been brainwashed into being his most loyal subordinates remained deeply skeptical of his description. Memories can be materialized, extracted from the mind, and preserved separately. What Lin Zhenxi had pulled out this time challenged their decades of accumulated common sense, causing their subconscious minds to reject such a result.

Coming from the heart and starting from the soul, this subconscious resistance conflicts with Lin Zhenxi's brainwashing magic.

However, Lin Zhenxi's next move shattered their common sense. In the process of trying to accept this reality, their brainwashing effect became more solid without them realizing it.

After all, the facts were right in front of them. When they saw that the memories really turned into silver threads, floated out from the temples, flew into the crystal and curled up into a ball, they could no longer hold on to their original views.

A simple memory crystal only has the function of extracting and storing memories, and it needs to be paired with a base to achieve the classification and integration of memories. In Hayashi Maki's setting, the memory crystal is equivalent to a storage device, that is, a USB flash drive, while the base is responsible for analyzing memories, allowing them to read or store. At the same time, it must be universal, rather than one-to-one and limited to a single memory crystal.

Of course, you can also customize it, which is more flexible. — This is the suggestion made by the executive in charge of product sales. Rich people like to make themselves stand out, preferably unique, and this can satisfy them.

There were no upgrades for memory crystals. At most, the difference in storage capacity was between 100 and 10,000 entries, with no noticeable difference in appearance or performance. Therefore, if they wanted to sell this thing for a hefty price, they had to work on the underlying base. This wasn't Lin Zhenxi's area of ​​expertise, so she needed to listen to the advice of her professionals to figure out how to get money out of the pockets of those wealthy individuals.

The discussion lasted a long time. Lin Zhenxi wrote down the useful ideas and, upon returning to the magic field, began upgrading the product. Meanwhile, Baizhi began running television ads related to memory storage, paving the way for the product's release.

As expected, the new Baizhi advertisement has been released, instantly causing a sensation online, socially, and even globally. Memory has always been everyone's most precious treasure, a manifestation of their independent will. And now, some claim they can materialize memories and preserve them in crystal. This is sheer absurdity, a complete joke. This is just some kind of quack, a hoax. Only a fool would believe this.

But what if it's true?

For a while, Baizhi was subjected to widespread online criticism, and her previously accumulated popularity was practically wiped out. Everyone thought the founder of Baizhi had gone mad, but Lin Zhenxi didn't care. Her goal was to generate buzz, and haters were still fans. Whether they criticized or praised her, as long as the buzz built up, and more people knew about memory crystals, she could then sell more products and increase her wealth to the point where the whole world would listen to her.

The government departments of City Z also came to the door. After all, the importance of [Angelica Dahurica] to City Z is self-evident. It is a new emerging industry that has stirred up the originally stagnant business environment of City Z. City Z cherishes it very much and of course does not want to see the founder of [Angelica Dahurica] become mentally ill.

After signing the confidentiality agreement, Baizhi's officials allowed them to experience the actual effects of the memory crystal. Upon their return, they became the most enthusiastic touts of Baizhi's upcoming new product. While they couldn't reveal the details, the assurances from those officials rekindled City Z's confidence in Baizhi and led to its political support. While City Z's influence within the World Government was minimal, it was still a numbered city and thus had a voice in meetings. By using its city credit to guarantee Baizhi, other cities would at least stop openly discussing Baizhi's false advertising.

Everything will have to wait until [Baizhi] actually releases the product before we can make a conclusion.

Amidst this atmosphere of widespread public discussion and widespread attention, Baizhi completed its product distribution in major cities. Lin Zhenxi's sales director, choosing a recent auspicious date, held a press conference at a hotel near the Z City Hall building, officially launching the memory crystals.

Memory crystals aren't a necessity for insomniacs like sleep-aid pillows, but precisely because of this, they have a much wider potential customer base. After all, not many people would spend thousands of dollars on a pillow just to get a better night's sleep. But almost everyone experiences misplacing things, and memory crystals were designed to solve this problem. Therefore, it's safe to say that everyone has a need for memory crystals.

What a vast market this is, and it’s all blue. There’s no need to worry about competition.

The launch of the Memory Crystal created a sensation similar to the successive arrivals of Fat Man and Little Boy in Japan, sending shockwaves through the world. The pursuit of novelty exists in every world, just like when the first smartphone was released, even with only a few apps available, it still sparked a massive rush to buy it. Everyone, driven by the desire for something new, rushed to buy their very own Memory Crystal.

After all, memory crystals are useful to everyone, from forgetful elementary school students, middle school students who need to memorize a large amount of knowledge, college students entering the workforce, working professionals, researchers, and even the elderly who have difficulty remembering things. Memory crystals are also beautifully designed ornaments. Once the base is plugged in, the memory crystal itself quietly floats above the base, illuminated by the base's own weak light, reflecting a rainbow of colors.

All in all, it's worth buying.

Moreover, after it became a hit and led the fashion, buying memory crystals became a very fashionable thing. A large number of potential customers who had no idea in this regard or whose ideas were not strong were persuaded by their colleagues, classmates, and friends to buy it. They were fooled into walking into the store, opening their wallets, taking out money, and taking home a memory crystal of their own.

Once a trend has established itself, it can still be recognized even without advertising. Cigarette manufacturers never advertise their cigarettes, yet the annual profits from tobacco could buy a hundred aircraft carriers. Lin Zhenxi wanted to transform memory crystals into essential household items like tables, chairs, benches, light bulbs, and faucets. Baizhi, the only company in the world capable of producing such household essentials, would soar to prominence, quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with on equal terms with the world's other giants.

A ferocious crocodile plunged into the previously tranquil capital markets of this world. While Baizhi had carved out a niche market, without significant competition, and hadn't disrupted existing industries, at most inadvertently disrupting niche markets like sleep aids and brain tonics, capital itself possessed a powerful force. As Baizhi's sales grew, the brand's value soared. As Baizhi's actual controller, Lin Zhenxi made the astonishing leap from newly minted billionaire to head of a multi-billionaire family. This youngest-ever multi-billionaire, a "brain science expert," earned the world's gossipmongers a new, rather eccentric, nickname: "Memory Queen."