Water 7's shipbuilding industry is the best in the world.
The people living here have all had some exposure to carpentry work.
The construction of the town progressed quickly.
When Reddy announced the plan to build a school, everyone became even more motivated and hardworking.
Since life now held hope, of course they had to think about their future children.
In just a few days, the town had taken shape.
After stockpiling enough lumber, Terry and the other lumberjacks divided their workforce to start building wooden houses.
Most of the houses were already mostly completed, with only minor adjustments remaining.
The houses were simple and crude, but since they were built by everyone's own hands, no one complained.
The town was divided into four districts, separated by a cross-shaped road.
In the center of the town, a large open square was intentionally left.
At the center of the square, a large wooden building was under construction.
This would serve as the school, a decision made collectively by Terry and everyone else.
A few more days passed, and the building was completed.
To celebrate the founding of the school, everyone held a bonfire party.
Though simple, it represented everyone's hope for the future.
Reddy kept his promise and brought a teacher.
"Reddy-sama, my research has reached a critical stage."
Beal spoke with difficulty, not because he disliked teaching, but because the reverse-engineering process of the Zombie Formula had reached its final step, just one push away from completion.
"How long have you been stuck?"
Reddy had read the records of Hogback's Zombie Formula development provided by Moria.
Logically, the reverse-engineering process shouldn't have been too difficult.
But Beal had been stuck at the final step, unable to achieve the desired experimental results.
"Uh..."
Beal hesitated, too embarrassed to say.
In truth, it hadn't been long since he obtained Hogback's research notes.
Scientific research could often be stalled for months, years, or even longer.
But he had carefully studied Hogback's notes and replicated the process exactly as recorded, yet the results were still imperfect.
It was like failing to get full marks on an open-book test, an unbearable humiliation for him.
"Don't underestimate these children."
Reddy patiently persuaded him. "They have far richer imaginations than adults, limited only by their lack of experience. If they can see more, perhaps they can help with your research."
Beal wanted to say more but ultimately nodded silently.
By then, the two had arrived in front of the school.
"Doctor Reddy!"
The school entrance was crowded with people—almost all the town's residents had come.
Haya had been standing at the edge, looking around eagerly for Reddy. The moment he saw Reddy approaching with someone, he excitedly waved and called out.
"Doctor Reddy!"
The other residents also looked over with gratitude.
For all of them, education was something they had never dared to dream of before.
Now, the town had its own school.
Though the school was very simple, just a single wooden building, they were confident it would grow into a proper school in the future.
Reddy pushed Beal forward. "This is Dr. Beal, your future teacher."
"The teacher looks so cool!"
Haya stared at Beal's white lab coat with envy.
To him, this coat was sacred, representing the field Reddy belonged to.
The others also greeted respectfully.
Their respect was for the profession of teaching.
Beal was unused to such enthusiasm, especially from Haya. Stumbling over his words, he gave a brief introduction. "Uh... hello, I'm Beal, your future teacher."
"That coat is so cool! When can I wear one?"
Haya, a social butterfly, immediately ran up to Beal and stroked the white coat admiringly.
Beal was uncomfortable, but remembering Reddy was right beside him, he forced an awkward smile. "You'd need to have deep research in a certain field first."
"Reddy-sama has his own research institute."
"Anyone who meets his requirements can join and participate in research."
"Of course, my expertise is in the field of Bloodline Factors."
Once Beal started talking about his specialty, he became much more fluent. He rambled on excitedly, not caring whether anyone understood, even mentioning the difficulties he was currently facing.
When he realized he was getting carried away, he quickly stopped.
Haya frowned. "I don't know what a Zombie Formula is, but if you need to maintain a corpse's vitality, wouldn't feeding it work?"
Beal froze, then fell into deep thought.
Haya's words were illogical, but they might contain a kernel of truth.
The key feature of the Zombie Formula was maintaining a corpse's vitality, something he had never been able to achieve.
But Haya's wild idea opened a new path for him.
Feeding the corpse... more precisely, allowing the corpse's cells to absorb energy to sustain their vitality.
"Vitality... food..."
Beal felt he was standing right before the finish line, but a final layer of mist still blocked his way. Frustrated, he grabbed Haya's shoulders. "Give me another hint, please!"
Haya was startled by Beal's reaction, his mind going blank.
Oh no, the teacher's gone crazy because of me!
Reddy stepped forward and placed his right hand on Haya's head, smiling. "What do you think food is?"
Haya, seeing Reddy, snapped back to reality and said blankly, "Food is just... stuff you eat."
Reddy shrugged and said nothing more.
He didn't know how Hogback's Zombie Formula absorbed energy to maintain cellular vitality.
But Haya wasn't wrong.
In research, the process didn't matter as long as the results met expectations.
Like how one plus one equals two, but two plus zero also equals two.
Make it more complex, use bigger numbers, and there would be even more ways to reach the same result.
Beal's biggest flaw was being too rigid, clinging too closely to Hogback's notes.
As long as the cells could absorb energy on their own, the Zombie Formula would be successfully replicated.
Of course, he wouldn't interfere with Beal's research.
"Eat... I've got it!"
After a moment of thought, Beal suddenly beamed and kissed Haya on the forehead. "Thank you, I've found the answer."
Then he turned to Reddy, his face full of hope.
Reddy shrugged and waved. "Go ahead. I'll teach the children for the first lesson."
In the research institute,
Most of the researchers had stepped out of their labs.
Reddy's conditions were too generous, imposing no restrictions on their freedom.
This wasn't ideal for scientific research.
Without setting boundaries for scientists, who knew what kind of trouble they might cause?
Fortunately, the researchers in the institute were all experts in Bloodline Factors, and each of them looked up to Reddy as a role model. For now, they were still conducting their research within reasonable limits.
"Beal, weren't you supposed to teach those kids?"
As Beal hurried into the institute, a fellow researcher greeted him with a laugh, drawing knowing smiles from the others.
Teaching kids was a waste of time, taking away precious hours that could be spent on research.
Beal ignored them and rushed into Reddy's lab.
One researcher sighed. "Reddy-sama shouldn't bother with those kids. Let them fend for themselves. The time wasted could have been used to develop new breakthroughs."
The others nodded in agreement.
Apart from eating, sleeping, and research, everything else was a waste of life.
They lamented Reddy's "self-sabotage" with great regret.
Just then, Beal rushed back in ecstatically, holding up a test tube and laughing wildly. "I succeeded! I succeeded! Long live Reddy-sama!"