The volunteer leader's message echoed in Rafael's mind all night.
"If you can make more of those straws, we'll buy them."
Those words carried the weight of opportunity.
By morning, Rafael was already back in Divisoria, bartering fiercely with shopkeepers. Activated carbon, filter mesh, cheap tubing, sealant glue—he bought in bulk, stretching every peso. The vendors gave him strange looks.
"You starting a water store, boss?" one joked.
"Something like that," Rafael muttered.
Back in his cramped room, Rafael laid everything out. The Codex immediately went to work:
[Analyzing materials...]Recommendation: Optimize sealing process. Current efficiency = 67%. Potential = 93%.Suggestion: Heat compression with modified soldering tip.
Rafael adjusted an old soldering iron, following Codex's projections. The results were cleaner, tighter, more professional.
One by one, the straws took shape. Not crude prototypes anymore, but products—uniform, reliable, durable.
By the end of the day, Rafael had fifty units.
His hands ached, his eyes burned, but when he saw the neat rows of straws on his desk, pride swelled in his chest.
"This… this looks like a business."
Two days later, Rafael met with the relief group leader in a modest office. The man inspected the straws skeptically.
"They look… simple," he said.
"Test them," Rafael replied calmly.
They filled a bucket with muddy water. The leader tried one straw, then another. His expression shifted from doubt to shock.
"Clean," he whispered. He tried again, more urgently. "This is… better than bottled water. How much?"
Rafael hesitated. The Codex whispered:
"Optimal entry price: 50 pesos per unit. Production cost: 12 pesos. Profit margin: 316%."
"Fifty pesos," Rafael said firmly.
The leader frowned. "Too high for poor communities."
Rafael leaned forward. "But cheaper than bottled water. And reusable. One straw lasts months."
Silence. Then, slowly, the man nodded. "We'll take twenty for now. If it holds up, we'll order more."
Cash changed hands. Crumpled bills, but to Rafael, it felt like treasure.
That night, Rafael sat on his bed counting money—his first real earnings from the Codex. His phone buzzed with new messages:– The relief group wanted more.– A small NGO had heard rumors.– Even a local sari-sari store owner was asking about stocking them.
Rafael's pulse quickened. The Codex chimed in, cold and steady:
"Foundation established. Continue scaling. New function unlocked: Supply Chain Optimization (Basic)."
Blueprints of workshops, flowcharts of material sourcing, and labor models filled his vision.
He wasn't just making straws anymore. He was laying the groundwork of an empire.
And somewhere deep inside, Rafael realized: this was addicting.