The mages, no matter how much they lamented, had to obey. The Alchemy Council made it very clear when they sent the people over: The project assigned to them was a key project of the council, and the person leading the project was an important partner of the council. If they did well, everyone would benefit. Those who didn’t cooperate would be immediately kicked out of the Alchemy Council! Therefore, the mages could only obediently perform the experiments repeatedly. They worked on wheat, then oats, and after oats, soybeans. They moved from one field to another, and then to manure, compost, biogas residue, and river mud. What, dirty? Smelly? Impossible, they had cleansing spells and bubble spells! Of course, there were still frowns and complaints... Mage Norwood was fine, without any complaints. Not only was he content, but he also admonished his apprentices: "I am a person from the Mage Tower! You are too! I advanced to a Level 5 Mage within a year with the project direction and funding provided by Nordmark. You all saw it! Work hard, Mage Nordmark will not mistreat you!" The two apprentices were almost in tears from the stench. When they entered the Mage Tower, they were only apprentice mages, and now they were still at Level 1, with a limited number of spells. Magic like the bubble spell, the teacher could casually cast one on his head to avoid the stench, but they couldn’t afford to waste it. They could only tighten their masks, but how much smell could that block? "I am an old man without much talent or aptitude. If you were outstanding, you wouldn’t have become my disciples." Mage Norwood scolded them with a stern face: "Following a good boss and working hard is only right! Besides, you have made progress with the boss’s funding for research!" The two apprentices, with tear-filled eyes, lowered their heads to work diligently, not daring to say, "Teacher, can I take a breath outside?" Next to them, the leader of the alchemists, Level 4 Mage Lyman, also tried to teach his subordinates in the same way, but was directly retorted by his subordinate: "Master~~~" It was the team leader, Level 3 Mage Hayden, who retorted. With a sideways glance and a peculiar tone, he said: "We are not Mage Nordmark’s people. What good is it for us to work ourselves to death? Besides, we’re not being lazy, just taking a short break, shaking bottles makes our hands sore!" Garrett quietly walked over. After standing by and listening for a moment, he raised his voice: "Mage Lyman, note down the names of those who perform well in this project. When we publish the paper, I will take their contributions into account for second and third authorships." The mages’ ears all perked up. Having authorship in a paper meant research points according to the council’s rules; even second and third authors would get some share. And the council said this project was a key project, so the research points from the paper would be considerable... Even if they got a small fraction, it might just be enough to advance their arcane levels! The boss is generous! The boss is magnanimous! The boss is a good person, may he have peace all his life! Then, Garrett saw those guys all start moving: Those complaining about sore hands began shaking the bottles, those avoiding the stench sprinted back. If the project team was like a lathe, the speed at which the gears turned now was at least 50% faster. РΆ₦Ő₿Ês̈ With such cooperation, Garrett had to fulfill his responsibilities as a project leader. As the project leader, academic leader, and boss, his first task was to set the research direction, and the second was to raise funds. Raising research funds, giving rewards, and benefits to the subordinates... Garrett first found Elder Wood. When asked about the reward for the project, Elder Wood was straightforward: "Two thousand five hundred contribution points. Half paid in the form of an account transfer, deposited into the council’s account at the council, and the other half paid in kind. Mainly precious herbs, plant seeds, and rare materials for casting spells." Garrett did some quick calculations. The half in kind was not worth thinking about, it would be too troublesome to exchange it to pay the mages; The remaining 1000 contribution points, even if he took half, divided among the dozen or so people he brought along, wouldn’t be much per head. And, rewards should be taken from the council. As a qualified project leader, cooperating with other teams on research, you can only make the pie bigger, never take others’ funds! Garrett quickly changed his mind and asked with a smile: "How long did the council give you? Did they specify a time frame to complete it, did they say anything about not paying if it’s overdue, or any rewards for completing early?" "……A final report is due in a month." Elder Wood sighed: "We’ve been at it for a week, going back and forth without finding a direction. Fortunately, you came to help. If we don’t produce results, it’s one thing to only get half the reward, but falling behind on progress is too embarrassing!" "Yes, you don’t think our region’s council is the only one researching this, do you?" Garrett’s eyes lit up. He grabbed Elder Wood, speaking a bit faster: "Which other regions are researching this? Are they also prepaying half? Who gave the task, the review committee or somewhere else?" "It’s from the review committee... I don’t know about distant places, but nearby councils, at least four or five, are busy with it..." Dıscover more novels at 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑~𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖾~𝖓𝖊𝖙 Garrett had the key information. Satisfied, he turned and walked back, his steps becoming lighter, starting with a quick walk, then gradually turning into a jog: "Mr. Norwood!" He raised his voice, calling out to the head alchemist of his Mage Tower: "Mr. Norwood! Help me draft the paper, hmm, you handle the framework and experimental ideas, let them fill in specific elements and test methods in groups! Be quick!" The framework writers wrote the framework, the detailed writers wrote the details, and the data fillers filled the data. By noon the next day, Garrett had a freshly drafted paper, and he headed straight to the review committee, slapping it in front of Old Sam. "For this council research project, if I can finish it in a week, what reward does the council give?" No one asked you to come! The Lord of Thunder specifically sent a message saying you just advanced and need to focus on learning new magic, so the council shouldn’t assign you tasks! Anyway, you completed the council task when you went to the capital last time, fulfilling a year’s quota, they shouldn’t find you again! Ah, luckily I’ll be stepping down this year, just hold on until the end of the year, and this kid will be someone else’s problem... Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.