"Asie, is this the new invention you came up with?"
Shaina reached out to take some of the colorless, transparent powder from the bottle. She looked at the mysterious material without understanding what breakthrough Asie had achieved.
"Miss Shaina, don't underestimate this. Due to the extinction of pure gold, I wanted to replace it with other materials and create a new radar.
This plan failed, but the product of this failed plan is still meaningful. Lord Arceus, please release one of your plates, then you'll understand what this is for."
The purpose of the experiment is to create an object that reacts to the plates; it can only be detected with the plates.
Arceus doesn't mind lending his plates, especially for something that serves him.
However, a loan must be repaid, and failing to do so can lead to bad luck.
To enable Asie's experiments, Arceus would temporarily lend him a plate whenever he had a new result to observe reactions.
However, that plate was still in Asie's lab, and Asie felt carrying a plate to report wasn't sensible.
As Arceus released a plate from his body, the powder Asie brought also reacted, emitting a faint golden glow.
"This glow, is it the reaction you mentioned?"
"Yes, Lord Arceus.
But it's not as precise as the plate radar; it only shines gold when your plate is nearby."
"How close is 'nearby'?"
Asie's words made Arceus feel something was off. This reaction was quite a hint, but Asie's reply lacked confidence, indicating potential issues.
"Uh... about tens of meters..."
"So you want us to scatter this powder at night to make searching easier?"
"Not feasible, Miss Shaina. While its production isn't as difficult as pure gold, mass production isn't realistic; it can't withstand such consumption.
Also, this powder can't be recycled. Once near a plate, its color changes permanently."
"So, the help this provides to the holy beast seems limited."
It reacts but the range isn't large enough, can be mass-produced but the production capacity is low. Crew members could wear some as a scent pouch or accessory, as a reminder when sailing, but it doesn't really change their search method.
"No, Shaina, it's still useful. Asie, will this thing fail inexplicably?"
"Current experiments indicate it won't."
"Good, then if this powder is mixed into other things, it won't fail either, right?"
"No, it won't, Lord Arceus. Do you have any plans?"
"Make it into prize tickets, the ones that glow gold are first prize. You can arrange other prizes as you wish.
Tell Tesoro to start operating a ticket plan and sell these powder-based tickets worldwide. Once someone comes to claim a prize, we'll naturally receive the information.
Shrink the prize areas a bit, to save materials."
Listening to Asie's description, Arceus thought this was an excellent material for tickets. It could leverage various forces and even create revenue.
Using Asie's powder as a base, adding other colored coatings to it—without a plate, it's a normal prize. With gold, it's the jackpot.
"Understood, I'll inform Tesoro right away."
Shaina said nothing further, just followed Arceus's instructions to complete the task while Asie received orders to continue producing powder and preparing tickets, though Asie still had something to say.
"Um, Lord Arceus, if this thing has value..."
"What, is there something you want?"
Arceus doesn't fear subordinates having desires as long as they bring him what he needs. Rewards in benefits are natural.
"Personally, I don't, but Olga spoke to me about Nightin yesterday. Lord Arceus, if she formally joins, could she be granted an ability?"
"Understood, go about your tasks. If appropriate, I will grant her what she deserves."
...
As tasks were distributed, even Queen, who was "hibernating" in the lab to avoid disasters, received new tasks related to ticket designs and security issues.
Tesoro received a new sales task, along with advertising from artists under his management. As for how to arrange other prizes, Tesoro decided to use money directly.
Ready cash is what ordinary people prefer most, and to satisfy fans of his artists, Tesoro included some merchandise in the prize range.
Once the tickets are ready, he can start selling them worldwide after making a name with a couple of shills.
...
"Father, will these tickets really not result in losses? Selling them for only five hundred Belly while consolation prizes are ten thousand Belly—if too many lucky people win, won't we lose money?"
Looking at Tesoro's detailed plan, Yamato started pondering business issues.
"Why would you think that?"
"Because the promotion has to be on every island, right? We can't staff each island with our own people, that would mean giving away a lot of things for free."
"That's true, but you overlooked several points. Selling tickets cheaply takes advantage of people's desire for a small risk with a chance for big rewards, attracting them to buy.
Buyers might scratch them immediately or take them around island locations, expanding the search area for Asie's powder, gaining these 'voluntary' laborers.
Even if they discard non-winning tickets, if wind blows them to the right area, they can become a jackpot ticket. If someone wants to redeem it, we can get the information."
"But if someone wins, we still have to give them a prize."
"That's right. But, we're the sellers—the odds of winning remain firmly in our hands. For instance... Yamato, let's play a game. If you win, I'll give you a 100% surefire way to defeat your father."
Hearing Arceus's promise, Yamato's eyes almost sparkled with stars. It was her lifelong wish, and resolving it would solve many issues.
But per tradition, such things are never simple.
"Father, tell me first what game it is."
"It's a simple game, just rock-paper-scissors."
"No problem!"
"But, you go first."