Outside the Patent Office of the Taiji Commercial Alliance, a long line had formed. People in the queue clutched abacuses that spat fire or held giant sesame flatbreads big enough to use as boats, looking for all the world like a bizarre invention convention. Huwa wore a tall hat folded out of patent certificates and shouted through a smoking garlic-shaped megaphone, "Unlimited technology sharing! But anyone who dares to palm off a rotten idea will face my garlic-scented eviction decree!"
**First Wave of Impact: The Talking Oddities**
Ali, a spice merchant, pushed a cart right into the hall, piled high with jars and bottles that supposedly "talked." "Look! A saffron jar that sings Persian ballads, and a rosewater bottle that recites the *Twenty Rules of the Commercial Alliance*!" Ali proudly slapped a jar, and Huwa's milky-voiced recording immediately spilled out: "Transparent pricing, violators will be fined!" It turned out he had secretly recorded Huwa's market broadcasts.
Huwa angrily pulled out a copyright-infringement garlic, but before he could speak, Ali raised both hands in surrender. "I'm sharing my technology! Just add this sound to your Green Ox medicine jars so patients can listen to stories while taking their medicine!" Protagonist stroked his chin and nodded. "That's actually a pretty good cross-industry idea, but... you'll have to pay Huwa a copyright fee—ten catties of saffron."
Chapter 562