Chapter 141: Sun Licheng Brews Wine

Sun Licheng’s confidence stemmed from a specific type of berry he had discovered. These berries were a beautiful, deep red that bled through a black exterior.

However, once these berries reached maturity, they became essentially pure alcohol. Most living creatures that consumed them would suffer severe trauma, resulting in death or permanent disability. Sun Licheng himself had once eaten an underripe one and promptly fell into a three-day slumber. It was important to note that his current body had been crafted by the Master of Stars himself using divine power.

When Chapman the rabbit-man mentioned the issue of liquor, Sun Licheng immediately thought of these berries. China’s liquor culture was vast and deep-rooted; with economic development, the demand for white spirits had reached terrifying proportions. China simply did not have enough grain to brew alcohol for everyone, and a significant portion of low-end and even mid-range spirits were produced by blending pure alcohol.

Simple blended liquor requires alcohol, glycerin, and flavorings.

The berries, which Sun Licheng dubbed "alcohol fruit," grew in abundance around the Red Flame Tribe. Because everyone viewed them as poisonous, they were completely ignored.

Glycerin can be obtained through the reaction of fats with sodium hydroxide—commonly known as caustic soda. The key is the sodium hydroxide. To produce it, one needs quicklime and baking soda. The former was available in the surrounding area, and the latter was found in abundance among the Red Flame Tribe’s spoils of war, with more obtainable through trade in the future. In truth, Jules Verne’s *The Mysterious Island* also contained a method for producing sulfuric acid, but Sun Licheng found that too troublesome and kept it only as a backup option.

As for using spices to enhance the aroma, for someone with his body, it was far too easy. Moreover, Sun Licheng figured that in a kingdom as backward as the Goblin Kingdom, simply producing alcohol for these dim-witted giants would be a monumental triumph. As for the taste, as long as it didn’t make them go blind, these rubes wouldn’t care.

No sooner said than done, Sun Licheng had a labor team build a new furnace in his small courtyard. Incidentally, in an effort to win him over, Barit had granted him a large tent; he was now a man of property within the Red Flame Tribe.

To maintain secrecy and ensure his own security, Sun Licheng had a tall wall built around the tent. High-end, sophisticated endeavors like brewing could not be known to everyone, so he had to experiment and produce in his newly enclosed courtyard.

Once the furnace was built, Sun Licheng summoned Caroline. When he told her his plan, the female ogre was astonished, and she immediately mobilized troops to seal off the courtyard. A short while later, Barit arrived in a hurry, accompanied by the tribe’s Great Shaman.

"You say you can brew liquor?"

Pushing Sun Licheng into the tent, Barit suppressed his excitement and growled in a low voice.

"It should be possible. But I need to experiment." Sun Licheng replied with the habitual tone of an engineer.

With a sharp *clap*, Barit slapped his hands together. "A God-Chosen is a God-Chosen indeed; you can certainly do it. Liquor—ah, what a glorious thing!"

"Indeed, Barit. Do you remember when we were young and went to the capital of the kingdom, spending all our savings on those two cups of liquor?" The Great Shaman added, his face filled with nostalgic longing.

"Yes. The taste still intoxicates me whenever I think of it," Barit said with a sigh. He then added, "Sun Licheng, I beg you, you must brew this liquor. Sigh, why did you have to be a goblin? If only you were an ogre. My little Caroline is the most beautiful woman in these parts. Look at that waist, that backside, those breasts..."

Seeing Barit lapse into his rambling, dream-like state, Sun Licheng turned his head to look at the brawny female ogre and hurriedly lowered his gaze.

After Barit and the Great Shaman left, Caroline stayed behind, both to assist in the brewing and to oversee security. To maintain secrecy, all laborers were forbidden from walking near Sun Licheng’s courtyard; those who violated the order would be eaten.

The key to Sun Licheng’s ability to brew good liquor was glycerin, and the secret to making glycerin was sodium hydroxide—caustic soda.

Producing this stuff was prone to industrial accidents, as both quicklime water and caustic soda were highly corrosive. However, Sun Licheng possessed a formidable regenerative ability, meaning there was no possibility of workplace injury.

He first gathered limestone and used his flame powers to calcine it directly. Once the limestone had released its carbon dioxide, it became quicklime. Because it had been calcined with the power of fire, the quality of the quicklime he obtained was excellent. Even more pleasing was that he could feel his flame powers improving with each use.

"It seems that to level up, I need to use it more often," Sun Licheng mused.

Watching the thick, yellow liquid in the pottery jar, Caroline asked curiously, "Sun Licheng, aren't you making liquor? Why have you made such a strange substance?"

Sun Licheng laughed heartily. "This is a good thing. It’s exactly what you women love most."

In the jar was the result of a saponification reaction between snow-rat fat and caustic soda. The steps were simple, but the process was not easy. To create glycerin suitable for blending, the temperature, humidity, and manipulation of the saponification reaction required precision. Only because of Sun Licheng’s superior physical constitution and his flame powers was he able to execute the reaction so well.

Finally, seeing that the saponification was complete, Sun Licheng took the jar down. Once it cooled, he carefully scraped off the layer of soap on top. The liquid remaining below was the glycerin. As for purifying it, Sun Licheng would be able to handle that in no time.

"Here, take this to bathe. It will make you very clean."

Sun Licheng handed a bar of soap to Caroline.

As a woman—even a female ogre—she loved cleanliness. Though slightly suspicious, she took the soap and left.

An hour later, a refreshed and glowing Caroline ran back, eager to share the joy of her newfound cleanliness, only to find Sun Licheng carefully blending something in a pottery jar.

"Shh!" Sun Licheng hurriedly motioned for the excited Caroline to be quiet.

He was testing the effect of diluting the alcohol fruit juice with water. Eaten raw, the fruit was very sweet, but once diluted, it became bitter.

To avoid getting drunk himself, Sun Licheng added the berry juice drop by drop. Finally, when he added one last drop, his brow smoothed out; the concentration was perfect.

Glycerin was added to blended spirits because it could neutralize the bitterness of the alcohol and enhance the sweet, mellow mouthfeel. Otherwise, untreated liquor would be unpalatable.

As the glycerin dripped in, Sun Licheng observed the changes in the liquid carefully. Once satisfied, he added a few drops of prepared plant extract—a spice to enhance the flavor.

Sun Licheng had originally intended to keep things simple, but his software engineer’s perfectionism kicked in, and he couldn't help but make the process more complex.

"Sun Licheng, I heard you’ve finished the liquor?"

Having received the report, Barit rushed into the courtyard with the Great Shaman. Once inside, he asked in a low voice.

"Yes," Sun Licheng nodded. "Just wait a few more days to let the substances in the liquor fuse, and then it will be ready to drink."