<h4>Chapter 273: Energy Foodstuffs</h4>


    After Dwight was taken away, it was already past noon, and Ryan brought Adam and Shae some lunch.


    "We only have some basic food here that''s provided by the warden''s cafeteria. It''s nothing special, but it''s quite convenient. What vor would you like?"


    Ryan offered a few food cubes to Adam as he spoke, and Adam was rather taken aback by what he saw.


    "What''s wrong?"


    "Nothing. It just feels... like thesergepanies are omnipresent sometimes."


    The food cubes being offered to Adam bore the brand "Sweet Energy" on them, and this was apany that Adam had recently gotten involved with.


    It was through thispany that Adam had first learned about Shivani. She had investigated thispany extensively in the past, even forcing Samit to flee to Shadow City during the course of her investigation.


    "I''m surprised thispany still exists."


    It seemed that Shivani was unable to topple this powerhouse in the end.


    "Why''s that? Thispany has always been quite sessful. In terms of food options on the market, it''s the most convenient and delicious option. I''ve also heard that thepany is working with an artificial meatpany, and they im that they no longer use animal meat in their products. Overall, their products are very environmentally friendly and have been approved by the animal protectionmittee."


    "Is that right? Sounds like they''re doing quite well."


    Adam was no longer invested in the shady dealings behind thispany. This world was full of filth, and there was no way that he could clean up everything.


    "What vor would you like? We have nuts, beef, and strawberry."


    "I''ll take the beef."


    For someone like him, who was already living on borrowed time, the potentially carcinogenic additives in these products weren''t of any concern.


    After opening the packaging, a ckpressed block that resembled a piece of chocte was revealed. Adam took a bite to find that it tasted just like beef jerky, and both the texture and taste were more than passable.


    After taking a few bites and chasing them down with a gulp of water, he immediately felt a sense of satiation.


    "This really is a very convenient product. It canpress a half-hour mealtime into just a minute. No wonder thepany is so sessful."


    While Adam was making this remark, Shae also picked up the strawberry-vored cube before taking a bite.


    Adam''s first reaction was to stop her, but it then urred to him that given their dangerous lifestyles, carcinogens were really thest of their concern.


    He didn''t stop Shae, but he did feel the need to issue Ryan a gentle warning.


    "Try to eat as little of this stuff as possible. It''s not good to use it as a meal substitute all the time."


    "Why''s that? I''m already used to eating this all the time."


    "You''ve helped me out a lot today, so let me tell you something. Back when I was in Shadow City, I entered the psychic world of an official from the National Medical Products Administration, and I discovered that the products of thispany don''tply with food health and safety standards."


    Ryan had been very helpful, and this wasn''t much of a secret, so Adam felt no need to hide it.


    "Is that true? Then why haven''t they..." Ryan was just about to ask further questions, but quickly caught himself upon realizing that it was inappropriate to pry into such matters. "I see. I''ll make sure not to eat theirpany''s products from now on, but there''s no guarantee that other simr food products on the market don''t also have problems."


    "That''s true. I''ve been trying to investigate these matters, but I''m afraid there''s only one of me, and I can''t look into everything at once."


    Adam was trying to paint himself in the best possible image. Even though his heart was filled with sinister thoughts and emotions, he cared about his image more than he ever had.


    His image was what was going to keep him safe, and it was also the biggest asset that he had to rely on if he wanted to be an important figure in the world.


    "I have a lot on my te right now. Compared with cases like these, which should be under the National Medical Products Administration''s jurisdiction, it would be a far better use of my time to bring more heinous criminals like child killers to justice, wouldn''t you agree?"


    "I fully agree." Ryan held a great deal of reverence toward Adam, and he was willing to share some intimate details about his past with his idol. "Everything that you''re doing is correct. To be honest, I''ve been keeping such close tabs on you not just because of my upation.


    “Most importantly, I''ve been abused by sick individuals as a child, and the work that you''re doing really struck a chord with me. Thankfully, I was quite fortunate and managed to escape. Otherwise, I shudder to imagine what would''ve happened to me."


    "Don''t worry. Now that we have special psychic police officers, many criminals that have previously slipped through the cracks will be brought to justice," Adam dered as he patted Ryan on the shoulder. "Bring Sima Kai to me. There are certain elements of his case that can help me in my current investigation."


    "Sure thing. Please wait here for me."


    As Ryan left to fetch Sima Kai, Adam decided to take this opportunity to give Cowboy a call and ask him why there was such a huge gulf in power between the average elite adapter and those who stood at the very top of the adapter pyramid.


    However, before he had a chance to dial Cowboy''s number, he received a call from Cowboy.


    What a coincidence!


    Adam epted the call, and a 3D image of Cowboy was projected.


    Before he had a chance to say anything, Cowboy asked, "I heard you''re nning to make games, is that right?"


    "That''s right. Is that the reason why you called me?"


    "Is that not a sufficient reason?" Cowboy was clearly a little worked up. "Do you know how massive a market this is? It could potentially increase a billion-dorpany''s valuation by tenfold or even more than that! How could you leave me out of something so lucrative?"


    "Really? I didn''t know this industry was that lucrative!"


    Adam had no sense of business whatsoever. The most money that he had ever seen in one ce was the prize money that the three psychic mutants had earned from the Shadow City battle royale.


    He had virtually no experience in the field of business, and he had no idea what was required for billion-dorpanies to increase their valuation so significantly.


    "Let me put it this way for you: due to the emergence of the Metaverse, the scale of the game market has be significantly more massive than before. Even back a century ago, it''s not a rare sight for a major gamingpany to reach valuations in the tens of billions.


    “You are an extremely sought-after public figure right now, and everything that you do garners an enormous amount of public interest, so the things that you''re going to produce hold far more value than you can imagine."


    "So..."


    "So, I called you to discuss a coboration. You have the fame and the content, but that''s not enough to create top-tier games. The production of AAA games requires the support of a mature gamingpany and arge andpetent production team. I heard that your coborative partner in this endeavor is someone who doesn''t even work in the gaming industry.


    “The most hardcore gamers aren''t going to ept a product that''s rough around the edges. If you don''t do something about this, you''re going to be allowing a huge chunk of the money that you could potentially be making to go to waste. Here''s my proposal: let''s work together..."


    "Hold on," Adam interjected. "Aren''t you already extremely wealthy?"


    "It''s not enough. For me, money is not something to be spent. Instead, it''s a type of driving force."


    "Couldn''t you do this yourself?"


    "No. There are certain issues with my identity, and I''m nowhere near as famous as you right now."


    "What about other people?"


    "Setting aside the fact that there are very few people as renowned as you right now, even if there were, it would still be very difficult to find a suitable partner among them. This venture doesn''t appear to have a very high barrier to entry, but looks can be very deceiving.


    “You''re a special psychic police officer, so you''re very renowned and can legally obtain these true stories. In addition to that, you''re only able to venture into the psychic worlds of these disturbed individuals because you''re a powerful adapter.


    “All of the most heinous criminals harbor extremely fearsome anomalies, and there are very few adapters who can deal with anomalies of that level. Even if there were, none of them are willing to take the massive risks that you do."