Natalie blinked in surprise. The Griffith brothers never ceased to amaze her. They had access to herbs and now an endless water supply too. The herbs made sense, but where were they getting all this water? She studied the water tank truck with curiosity. "Can I take a look at your water?" Dennis nodded. "Of course." He motioned for his brother to fetch a bucket. Natalie peered down at the murky liquid. Unidentifiable particles floated on the surface, and a strange odor hit her nostrils. "Why is this water so cloudy?" Arnold replied, "Yeah, it's kind of cloudy. But water's scarce these days. With this heat wave, people are grateful for anything. Beggars can't be choosers." Natalie spotted several strands of hair floating in the water. "What's this?" Dennis stepped closer, lowering his voice. "Ms. Ashford, I'll be straight with you. This water comes from wealthy households' wastewater." "Wastewater?" Natalie's eyes widened. "How does wastewater fill an entire truck?" Even with her infinite water supply in her storage space, she hadn't produced this much wastewater. Arnold's lips curled in disgust. "You wouldn't believe it. Those rich folks have secret private water reserves. Downtown is facing shortages, but people in the villa districts are still throwing pool parties!" "Pool parties?" Even Natalie, who had seen it all, was shocked. Such waste during an extreme heat wave seemed criminal. The mention of rich folks made her think of Cassian. Could some of this wastewater be from his place too? Customers had gathered with buckets, forming a line to buy water. Natalie considered her options, then whispered to the Griffith brothers. "I can supply much cleaner water, but I'll charge double. Interested?" The brothers exchanged glances. Dennis signaled Arnold to handle the customers, while he pulled Natalie aside for a discussion. "Ms. Ashford, you have a water source too?" Could her backers be more powerful than the Mervyns? Natalie nodded. "I planned to sell water myself originally." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "But since you're already established, I'll save myself the hassle. I'll sell wholesale at a low price." This was the truth. Dennis leaned in and asked, "You're saying your water's cleaner than ours?" Natalie nodded, using her backpack as cover. She pulled out a pre-filled bottle from her storage space. Dennis examined the crystal-clear water, free of floating debris. His eyes lit up. "Ms. Ashford, may I taste it?" "Consider this bottle a gift," Natalie replied. She'd made good profits from the Griffith brothers before. One free bottle wouldn't hurt. Dennis unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and his face transformed. "No weird taste at all! This water's incredible!" Natalie smiled. "So, are you interested?" "Absolutely!" Dennis nodded. Water this pure could sell for triple their current prices. Wealthy customers would pay anything for it. Aside from a few top-tier families with private reserves, other rich folks were desperate for clean water. The Ashfords, Carters, and Crofts in Hillside Villa District were already paying premium prices for clean water. Everyone needed to find water. Those snobs refused to drink the Mervyns' wastewater out of disgust. But this kind of water would be highly sought after! He studied Natalie carefully. "About the price ... could you go a bit lower? We've done business before." Natalie glanced at her water tank truck, a 706-cubic-foot model. It held about 5,300 gallons, enough to fill roughly 1,000 buckets for sale. At one pound of grain per bucket, this truckload could bring 1,000 pounds of grain. After calculating, Natalie set her price. "One truck of water for 2,000 pounds of grain." Dennis's mouth twitched. "2,000 pounds? That's a whole ton! Ms. Ashford, you're ruthless as ever." Natalie raised an eyebrow. She caught his insult and hardened her expression. "I have sourcing costs too. This price is very reasonable." Dennis disagreed. "Your price doubles our current retail rate!""Retail?" Natalie said bluntly, "You weren't planning to sell this water to these people anyway, were you?" She glanced toward the long line of customers. No merchant stayed honest for long. Based on her understanding of the Griffith brothers, they had a plan. They'd keep selling murky water to regular folks. Meanwhile, they'd mark up the good stuff for wealthy customers. "Water this pure could easily sell for double that price in the wealthy districts. People would still buy it." Dennis looked at Natalie with newfound respect. She was smart and had figured out his entire sales strategy. Still, he tried bargaining. "Actually, we can't mark it up that much. The profit margins are pretty thin." Despite his protests, he had no intention of walking away from this deal.