Chapter 47 Teaching, A True Genius

Soon, Mary’s family found a house with a yard near Louis’s home. Frank, formerly a teaching assistant at a renowned university, also secured a teaching position at a local school, and they officially settled down.

However, Mary did not attend the same school as Louis. To her, doing so would be a sheer waste of time, so she skipped grades and enrolled directly in a prestigious private high school, planning to audit classes at MIT in just a few years.

Fortunately, they were neighbors. Even though they did not study at the same institution, they still had plenty of time to spend together.

Before long, however, Louis introduced Mary to a special "game."

In the hills behind Louis's house, Mary looked with curiosity at a steaming cauldron, surrounded by various herbs, dried lizards, withered leaves, and other strange objects.

"Mary, do you remember Emilia?"

A flash of terror crossed Mary's eyes, and her body trembled slightly.

How could she ever forget? That old hag Emilia was quite literally the nightmare of their lives.

Blood, severed limbs, stinging slaps, and that greedy, covetous gaze...

"Don't be afraid. She is already dead."

Louis patted her shoulder. As Emilia's executioner, he successfully calmed her down.

"Mary, have you ever heard of alchemy? Look at these."

Louis gestured toward the various materials scattered around.

"These are actually used to brew witchcraft potions."

"Witchcraft... potions?"

"Yes, witchcraft potions. They are herbal concoctions evolved from alchemy, researched and developed by witches, and they possess countless mysterious effects."

Mary understood immediately. Louis must have obtained something from Emilia and wanted to brew these potions.

But why have her do it?

Let me brew them?

Seeing the puzzled look in Mary's eyes, Louis decided to be entirely frank with her, wanting her to learn how to brew the potions.

Louis had no intention of keeping secrets from his future right-hand woman. After all, doing so had far more advantages than disadvantages, and he was confident in his judgment.

"Wow, this is so interesting."

Mary’s eyes sparkled as she looked in wonder at the formulas Louis produced. After running through the calculations in her mind, she looked at Louis eagerly.

"Can I try it right now?"

"Of course."

Ever since his return to the family, his grandfather’s support for him had grown significantly; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to casually pull out over a million dollars.

Consequently, these materials had been prepared by the dozen with effortless ease, with no fear of waste at all.

Mary immediately set to work, while Louis stood by without saying a word.

He needed to see what kind of talent Mary truly possessed in this area. Mathematics was indeed a tool for deciphering all things and a major pillar of the alchemical system, but ultimately, everything depended on practical application.

Unsurprisingly, Mary failed on her first attempt at brewing.

Yet Louis’s eyes were filled with astonishment, because she had only failed at the very last step simply because she hesitated to prick her finger in time, out of a fear of blood.

Every single step she had taken prior to that was precise and flawless, without a single error!

"I'm sorry, Louis. I messed it up," Mary apologized, lowering her head.

"No, you did very well. Absolutely fantastic," Louis praised, giving her a thumbs-up. "This time, use my blood."

Soon, Mary began the brewing process once more. This time, her technique remained flawless; her timing and proportions were handled exceptionally well, and she succeeded in one fell stroke.

Watching the potion quickly transform into a pale red liquid, Louis smiled.

At that moment, however, Mary was touching her chin, seeming deep in thought or perhaps performing mental arithmetic.

A minute later, she picked up the various ingredients again and asked Louis for a small digital scale.

Ten minutes later, another batch of the potion was born, but this version required nearly one-fifth fewer materials!

Louis stood beside her speechless, looking at Mary with a complex expression. "Why is this?"

Mary laughed triumphantly. "Heh, I felt something was off when I made it the first time. Some parts were extremely precise, while the required quantities for other parts seemed a bit vague."

"So I calculated the rate at which their quantities dissolved at that exact moment..."

"It's a pity I don't know much about chemistry right now, otherwise I might have been able to optimize the effects. Well, that's assuming I run some experiments to figure out which parts can be omitted and which are strictly necessary..."

Subsequently, Mary rattled off several equations Louis couldn't understand, mentioning variable control and mathematical calculations in a steady stream of eloquence that only made Louis fall further into silence.

Was this what a true genius looked like?

Compared to a genuine scientific prodigy like Mary, he, with his adult soul, was really nothing special—merely lucky enough to possess an extra dozen or so years of mediocre knowledge. (In truth, the protagonist's ability to succeed on his first try also showed considerable innate talent in this area; he was simply blinded by having no basis for comparison, failing to see his own aptitude.)

Perhaps he could only ever flex his muscles in the realm of metaphysics?

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed that fleeting sense of imbalance.

It didn't matter. The more formidable Mary became, the better. Didn't this just prove how right he was to help her? After all, she was going to be his future master potion-maker, grand alchemical master, and chief of logistics!

"Alright, Mary. How about we slowly study these things together from now on?"

"Really, Louis?" Mary looked at him with pleasant surprise. "This is so much more interesting than studying at school."

Watching Mary, who was overjoyed and seemed to regard the whole endeavor as an amusing game, Louis turned around and made a phone call.

It was to his grandfather.

He instructed his grandfather to send over the blood of a select group of men who were fiercely loyal to the family and capable of strict confidentiality, and additionally, to source a batch of puppies.

As for the purpose behind this, it was naturally to strengthen the family's power. He was well aware of the family's current predicament; the emergence of that new legislation was essentially the American government cracking down on organized crime.

One of the primary methods utilized by criminal syndicates was to control officials through bribery and threats in order to form alliances, but this bill undoubtedly shattered such tactics.

As the most powerful syndicate beneath the mega-cartels, the Cano family was naturally quite conspicuous, and the crackdown on them was severe. Before leaving the family estate, he had already heard his grandfather mention that he was making arrangements to launder their legitimate and illegitimate assets.

Along the way, he muttered a few curses at the bastards in the Internal Revenue Service.

Damn it, the IRS somehow managed to pop out of nowhere and stick their fingers into mafia money laundering! It was simply unbelievable!

Furthermore, recently, factions from Mexico and Latin America had been trying to flood Florida with addictive contraband to expand their territory, plunging the region into instability. As the local indigenous power, the Cano family was naturally on the front lines of these conflicts—as evidenced by Louis being kidnapped earlier.

This, therefore, was the reason behind Louis's current actions.

His grandfather on the other end of the line did not ask what Louis intended to do; he simply agreed without hesitation.

Hanging up the phone, Louis's eyes turned icy.

Just wait. When he grew up, he would personally travel to Mexico, the heartland of those cartels, and paint the streets red to repay the favor of that kidnapping!