Half an hour later.

Like escorting the plague, the two of them were "courteously" escorted out of the gate by the casino manager and a dozen burly security personnel.

Milan sneakily stuffed a perfume-scented, exquisite business card into his pocket, patted Aiven on the shoulder, and proudly declared like a victorious rooster:

"How about it, impressive, isn't it?

Aiven, don't say your brother doesn't take care of you. Perform well in front of me in the future, and as long as I have a Golden Lion, you'll have a meal! Hehehe..."

In just about two hours, they had played most of the casino's games: roulette, dice, bridge... They also defeated all the experts sponsored by Ophira!

Although there were wins and losses in individual games, overall, their luck had already exploded!

The chips Milan initially exchanged for 50 Golden Lions had approached nearly 7,000 by the time they left, almost a hundred and forty-fold increase.

This was still with Aiven holding back slightly, fearing they might get "beaten."

"Amazing, this kind of ability is really quite something!

I just wonder what the upper limit of this luck is—can it keep you from dying even if someone points a gun to your head?"

Disliking this guy's arrogance upon success, Aiven transferred his dangerous gaze to Milan's head while he spoke.

"No, no, no, that's not a joke you can make lightly!"

Seeing Aiven's expression, Milan shivered, genuinely afraid this guy might suddenly pull out the "Thorned Gold Rose" and fire a shot at his head.

Even the King of Luck can't withstand a violent maniac!

"By the way, does this new ability of yours come without a cost? If you could use it once every day, wouldn't you be invincible? Even if not for combat, you could easily become the Kingdom's richest man, right?"

As a semi-wizard of the Alchemy School, Aiven strongly believed in the principle of equivalent exchange, and he didn't think such a powerful auxiliary ability would come without limits.

"Well, let's talk about it later. Talented witchcraft like this almost never repeats, and Destiny's return gift didn't include a user manual.

Besides knowing it's called 'Deceitful Fate,' everything else requires personal exploration. If it comes to it, I can perform a Spirit Communication Ceremony to inquire with higher existence in the Spirit Realm; I don't think it's a big problem.

Let's go! Let's try the 'Rose Crown' Chardonnay Wine you mentioned. My treat, and we'll take two boxes back to enjoy slowly during our sea trip!"

Even though his family was wealthy, as a rich young master, he had never been this extravagant.

With a stack of gold tickets worth 7,000 Golden Lions in his possession, the financially empowered Milan strutted down the street arrogantly.

....

Leisurely time slowly passed by.

During this period, Aiven didn't idle at all; he visited all his acquaintances in "New Inn Port."

This included his former roommate Krell, wizards from the "Violet Eye" led by Anthony, Delis, and Alva, and a few instructors from the Navy Academy, such as his former direct trainer Paul.

In the meantime, he specifically sought out Elante, who was studying at the Navy Academy.

He assessed Elante's training progress, once again provided guidance in swordsmanship, and left him a comprehensive, tailored training plan along with various supportive potions (mainly medicine for dealing with physical injuries).

Seeing Elante's expression of disbelief, almost questioning reality.

Aiven patted his shoulder and expressed: It's gratifying to make your academy life so fulfilling and meaningful, as your brother, I... am very pleased!

In other times.

Other than being invited by Her Highness Crown Prince Liwina, who inquired about the well-being of her long-absent Guardian Knight and reinforced friendly relations.

Most of Aiven's time was spent on cultivation and potion crafting.

He obtained the "Essence Fruit" extracted from the large Demonized Creature "Sea Demon."

He also specifically went to the Shadow Library and scavenged raw materials from the Magic Potion Branch's warehouse for crafting various precursor potions, excluding the "Spirit Communication Potion."

The resources in Aiven's hands had never been this abundant.

After becoming a "Navy New Star" and inventing the "Siren's Song," along with his ever-increasing status and rewards, the only thing he was short of now was time.

The anticipated reward from the "Black Iron Cross Church," which might materialize soon, had yet to arrive, leaving him wondering if anything unforeseen had occurred.

Nonetheless, Aiven wasn't particularly concerned about this.

Despite making outstanding contributions to the maritime endeavors of humanity, in the end, he was still a wizard.

More so, he was a "true" wizard, one who had appeared before Diocesan Bishop Benedict of the Phaletis region and thus couldn't wash away this identity.

Moreover, he was the last inheritor of the "Life Tree School," one of the origins of the wizard profession.

The uncertain attitude from the Church was understandable, and Aiven himself wasn't too eager to deal with them. No matter how benevolent, the concept of True Gods—beings beyond the capabilities and imagination limits of humans—made Aiven feel somewhat insecure.

So, he decided not to overthink it.

Aiven maintained the pace of consuming one Essence "Fruit Piece" every three days, steadily enhancing his physical constitution, then dedicated most of his time to potion crafting.

Cooper Manor, Aiven's exclusive laboratory.

Puff—

From the boiling cauldron, a ring of red smoke erupted, immediately filling the room with a spicy scent.

Aiven, who was already wearing a mask for protection, was unsurprised and calmly wrote in the experiment log:

"Third experiment, 'Frenzy Potion' formulation failed.

The only variable exceeding in the control group is white quartz, the standard dosage in the potion should range from 1.2 grams to 1.3 grams.

Now proceed with correction!"

The apprentice stage of the "Vitalist School" requires completing three prerequisites: Spirit Communication Potion, Wild Talisman, and Activated Plants.

Using seeds of various kinds of [Witchcraft: Activated Plants], Aiven had already started cultivating, mainly focusing on the three kinds of seeds for which he had samples at hand: Giant Transformation Vine, Black Thorn, and Laughing Spores.

For other remarkable plants recorded on the research list of different schools, he also entrusted the procurement personnel of the "Magic Potion Branch" to help collect them.

[Wild Talisman] requires a living demonized creature, which is impossible to find in the city, leaving it aside for now.

Therefore, relatively the most complex "Pharmacy" became Aiven's main occupation during this period.

By experimenting with dozens of different potions to gain an in-depth understanding of the human body, such as: Stamina Potion, Swift Potion, Frenzy Potion, Sleep Potion, Recovery Potion, etc.

Then the difficulty gradually increased, transitioning from the physical body to the soul, with the ultimate achievement being the apprentice-stage needed "Spirit Communication Potion," capable of allowing one to explore the Spirit Realm in the form of a spirit.

However, the knowledge Aiven inherited is already a relic from three or four hundred years ago, at least he found too many so-called measuring units like "a pinch," "one silver spoon," "a trace," etc., in various potion formulas.

For the future development of the "Vitalist School," Aiven needs to amend and revise them bit by bit through experiments.

Fortunately, he has the aid of "Data Visualization," making it much easier to obtain precise data than for others after several experiments.

"Angie, remember to summarize the experiment records later and organize a complete report for me."

"Okay, teacher!"

After successfully converting to the Meditation Method, Angie followed Aiven to gradually fill her weak pharmacy foundation from herb identification, also acting as Aiven's experiment assistant part-time.

Fortunately, the girl, worthy of being an exceptional White Witch, excels in both aptness and learning ability. She learns everything in one go, saving Aiven a lot of time and effort.

Especially after the cultivation of the Venus flytrap began, Aiven outlined a clear cultivation plan; however, most of the work was entrusted to Angie to complete.

From variety selection, to directed mutation induction, to sample screening... each step only requires methodical progress to gradually complete, if failed, just overthrow the previous processes and start over.

What's most consumed during this process is energy and time.

Yet, Angie, who has been assisting Aiven all along, shows no signs of dissatisfaction, energetically accepting her first independent research project.

In such a busy and fulfilling life, a month's time passed quickly.

And the "Storm Horn" also awaited its first mission as a registered battleship after staying in port for an entire month!

Before departure, the ship's personnel also received certain supplements.

Although the standard staffing of 350 could not be fully met for the time being, it finally reached 284, with the newly boarded personnel accounting for about one-third.

Moreover, thanks to "New Inn Port" being the main base of the "Royal Navy Academy" and "Violet Eye," Aiven need not conduct loyalty screenings anymore.

The boarded personnel were all elite who knew and acknowledged the existence of wizards, some of whom even had previously executed missions together with wizards from secret associations.

What's more worth mentioning is, during this period, Aiven also experienced the feeling of becoming highly sought after.

From the Kingdom Navy's youngest captain evolving to the youngest battleship captain, the Navy's New Star first place, Aiven's prestige and status in the navy are now incomparable.

Among soldiers, there is only one word to describe him: unlimited potential!

Many seasoned sailors wish to catch the "Storm Horn" ride with Aiven, dreaming of another big leap in their naval careers like the former "Conch" crew.

Aiven naturally welcomed these high-quality navy soldiers.

Though the original "Conch" crew on his ship worked very hard, they were ultimately too young.

Even the officers lacked experience in serving on battleships, so transitioning suddenly from a Level 6 Battleship to a Level 4 Battleship brought various issues.

Although finally resolved, the arrival of new crew members helped greatly, boosting the collective combat effectiveness of the "Storm Horn" by a notch.

Thus, integrating into the "Storm Horn" as a new collective posed no difficulty for them.

However.

Now a new challenge on board requires Aiven's solution....