[Chapter 494: Official Launch, Spies]
On the third day, Linton had the housekeeper Erica accompany Xu Qing to pick out offices and villas, discussing their interior design. Of course, Xu Qing felt she still needed a few days of observation before final decisions. Linton couldn't keep shadowing her constantly anyway. After all, May 6th was fast approaching -- the official launch date for both the Beauty Pills and the Vitality Pills. It was time to focus on the real work.
Linton went alone to the adjacent office building and entered the large room on the far left of the first floor. This was where the Beauty Pills manufacturing equipment was housed.
Unlike the initial batch of Beauty Pills, this setup included a new cleaning and sterilizing device alongside a packaging machine. Another significant addition was a large foot basin carved from quartz, placed beside the Beauty Pills equipment. Linton had crafted this quartz basin specifically for imbuing the pills with spiritual energy.
He took out a small teal quartz vial and placed it into the sterilization machine. Within half an hour, the cleaning, drying, and disinfecting processes were complete without any hiccups.
Next, he tested with batches of 10, 50, and 100 vials, all smoothly processed. A quick mind check confirmed every vial was spotless, with not a trace of residue.
The final step was testing the packaging. The key here was to adjust the machine according to the size of the quartz vials.
With the adjustments complete, Linton inserted printed instruction manuals, small gift boxes, 18 Beauty Pills, quartz vials, and bottle caps into their respective slots in the machine.
The equipment powered on, and within moments, it automatically filled each vial with 18 pills, added the instruction sheet, sealed the cap tightly, and placed everything into the gift box, which it then sealed perfectly in one fluid motion.
During a second run, Linton deliberately added 19 pills. Luckily, the machine's automatic counting flagged the extra pill after sealing, ensuring perfect accuracy.
On a third test, he inserted only 17 pills. The intelligent packaging equipment immediately flashed a red warning light, indicating insufficient pills, and refused to proceed. Only after adding the missing pill did the machine continue working and complete the packaging.
For the fourth test, Linton loaded 200 Beauty Pills, along with enough quartz vials, manuals, and gift boxes. Less than two minutes later, 11 fully packaged Beauty Pill boxes streamed out smoothly. The 12th vial held two pills and glowed red, waiting for the correct pill count to resume.
At this point, every step of the Beauty Pills production process was flawless.
...
That afternoon, Linton turned his attention back to preparing the Vitality Pills.
Unlike the Beauty Pills, he had no intention of outsourcing the Vitality Pills to a factory. Instead, all production would remain in this office building under his direct supervision. Given the rare and limited ingredients, he planned to produce only 4,000 vials annually.
Each bottle contained 12 pills, totaling 48,000 pills. Producing 3,000 pills a day meant a roughly 16-day process, which could be shortened with overtime. Linton was confident he could handle it all personally.
After all, each bottle was priced at eight million dollars, translating to over 600,000 dollars per pill -- a crazy lure for anyone. Keeping production in-house also protected his secret formula and prevented unnecessary human interference.
The tests proceeded smoothly. From the 1,500 Vitality Pills produced earlier, and after using 30 pills, Linton packaged 122 exquisite black quartz vials containing 12 pills each. Another 6 extra pills were kept in a separate empty black bottle.
---
Satisfied with these steps, Linton left the office building in good spirits and returned to the main estate. There, he found his agent Mira and lawyer Goodman waiting, having just flown in from Los Angeles. Mira was deep in conversation with Xu Qing, laughing and chatting comfortably.
"Mira, you got the details on Xu Qing's situation?" Linton asked.
"Just met her -- very promising. She has strong star potential," Mira reported.
"How do you and WMA feel about working with her?"
"Great fit. The company's powerful, and Mira is very professional."
"Good. Since both sides are happy, finalize the contract quickly. Commission stays at 7%."
Seven percent was the standard cut Linton set for all his girlfriends -- a rate typically reserved for top-tier stars. But since they were Linton's girlfriends, their success practically spoke for itself, and Mira didn't have to worry about securing resources.
Over time, these women's star power grew rapidly. Even the least popular were already considered rising stars on the Hollywood B-list, thanks to the constant stream of opportunities Linton provided.
The few lagging behind -- Vivian Chow, Michelle Reis, Izumi Sakai, Noriko Sakai, and Akina Nakamori -- remained at the cusp of the B-list primarily due to their more exotic skin tones, which limited their peak appeal in Hollywood.
Thanks to Goodman's thorough review, Xu Qing and Mira signed the management contract swiftly. When Linton then pulled out a $10 million annual endorsement deal, both Mira and Goodman were stunned.
An absolute newcomer, and she just landed the top endorsement contract in all of America. It was practically unheard of.
"This isn't chasing stars -- it's burning cash," Goodman muttered. "Big boss has money to burn, that's all."
Linton smiled wryly and added, "Also, soon we'll shoot the music video for my new album. I want to leave a song open so Xu Qing can be the lead actress. Go talk to Daniel."
"What? The same album every Hollywood actress tried to get on but couldn't?"
That was right -- buzz about Linton releasing a new album had spread far and wide. Already a pop icon, combined with the recent hype around the Beauty and Vitality Pills, the role of lead actress in his music video was highly coveted.
Agencies scrambled eagerly, but Universal Records quickly set the record straight, insisting only established Hollywood actresses would star in the videos.
This sparked outrage. Industry insiders complained bitterly that the big stars were hogging chances at the expense of newcomers.
Then rumors exploded that Linton was using the music videos to pick a new official girlfriend.
Once word spread, the entire Hollywood female star roster went wild, scrambling to claim this once-in-a-lifetime shot. The production team's exclusivity broke down, and Daniel's phone blew up with calls.
Unable to handle the commotion and after consulting Linton, Daniel released an official statement naming each music video's lead actress, finally quelling the intense competition.
"I'm only planning to release one album," Linton clarified.
"But wasn't every video's lead role already locked in?"
"No worries. I'll just add one more song later."
Mira threw up her hands in disbelief. For a total unknown, Linton was giving away massive endorsement deals and music video roles -- this was shooting for the moon.
No matter -- the faster Xu Qing rose, the more profits Mira made.
Later that night, naturally, Linton and Xu Qing sank into their intimate, passionate world -- the sweet, lively melody of Xu Qing's singing carrying long into the night.
---
The next day, April 10th, the factory was finally completed and officially delivered.
All office furniture and equipment had been ordered in advance and were slated for same-day delivery and installation.
On this day, Linton arranged for security personnel to move the Beauty Pills machines into the factory. After thorough setup and debugging, everything was operational.
He placed the large quartz basin over the new spiritual gathering array's core and activated the protective formation.
Now, everything was genuinely ready -- all that was left was to await the raw materials.
...
Accompanied by his assistant Carter, Linton conducted a full inspection of the factory. Apart from restrooms, every corner was covered by surveillance.
While this might feel intrusive to the workers, potentially infringing on their privacy, everyone had been informed beforehand. The terms were included in their contracts, and with generous salaries plus offers of residency, the staff generally accepted these measures.
Still, Linton detected anomalies.
In his mind's eye, several unfamiliar faces appeared around town. The small grocery store, once operated solely by its owner, now had two additional clerks. Who needed two clerks at such a tiny shop? Were they planning to lose money?
The town had residents who sold produce at a small open-air market, which normally closed before 11 a.m.
But today, several stalls lingered through the afternoon without any customers, their workers reluctant to leave.
Linton's suspicions were confirmed: as the White House had predicted, other factions had turned their eyes toward his operation. Spies had infiltrated. But these amateurs were too clumsy -- who did they think they were fooling?
It wasn't entirely their fault. The small farm's isolation made infiltration difficult, so finding these channels surely took major effort.
Now that they'd been discovered and with production about to start, it was time to tighten security.
Linton notified Carter and David to begin issuing official passes for all farm and garden personnel starting tomorrow. Anyone without a pass could only enter if personally escorted and registered by an authorized staff member. No exceptions.
Employees were explicitly warned: whoever brought in guests would be held accountable if those guests caused trouble on the farm.
...
On the morning of April 12th, Linton received word the long-awaited medicinal herbs had finally reached Los Angeles. He assigned estate guards to accompany Goodman to the port to collect the shipment.
At the same time, Danny boarded a private plane to fly the herbs directly back to the farm.
...
April 13th was an ordinary day, but marked the official start of production at Linton's health factory.
As the pills' creator and technical director, Linton spent three consecutive days onsite, guiding the workers.
Fortunately, after breaking down the procedures, each job was simple enough. The young women's nimble skills quickly mastered their tasks, and the Beauty Pills began flowing off the production line steadily.
Linton noted that the machines operated seven hours a day, churning out 3,300 pills.
With two workers per shift per station, the factory ran six days a week, giving a relaxed workload.
The factory manager, Meena, suggested extending daily hours to boost output, but Linton stopped her.
Speed wasn't the priority.
The Beauty Pills thrived on exclusivity -- flooding the market would cheapen their appeal and undercut the premium pricing.
*****
https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.
https://discord.gg/HjHHhUXPn7.