Chapter 265: Chapter 246: The Secret about Laine Chapter 265: Chapter 246: The Secret about Laine The battle in Gloomyland was something Amberser couldn’t know about.

He was busy now because the parts for the Mana Refining Furnace had arrived, and wooden boxes of all sizes filled up half the castle.

“Is this really the highest-level Mana Refining Furnace? Does Flint not take any cut for himself?”

After opening a few boxes to inspect the goods, Amberser found that all the parts were indeed of high quality with no substandard replacements.

Gustavo Flint’s already dark skin turned even darker when he saw Amberser opening the boxes for inspection, and he said angrily, “Do you think I’m the kind of swindler you are?”

“Heh, who was it that tricked me into leaving the castle, and then hired a Paladin to raid my old home?”

Gustavo Flint snorted coldly, accustomed to Amberser dredging up the past, and too lazy to retort. After all, this Lich was dead set on money, and even if he won the verbal battle, the price wouldn’t drop a single Gold Coin. It would be better to save his energy.

Amberser didn’t pursue the matter further and changed the topic decisively, “Flint, you finally managed to become the chairman. What are your plans now?”

“I’ll need to stabilize things with the Dwarf King first. Dor Beck got me good last time; now the relationship between the Council and the Kingdom isn’t that great.”

With Isabel’s support, Gustavo Flint really managed to secure most of the votes from the young alchemists and squeezed out a victory over his old rival by a very narrow margin.

When the votes were being counted, Gustavo Flint kept his composure, but his palms were soaked with sweat.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and in the end, he secured the chairman position.

He had wanted his old rival to be the vice-chairman, but the rival flatly refused and even withdrew from the Alchemist Council.

Gustavo thought the rival couldn’t stand losing, but later he figured out his intention.

Dor Beck was originally the Court Alchemist for the Dwarf King and represented the stance of the Kingdom to a certain extent.

Now that Dor Beck had lost and directly withdrew, it meant that the Kingdom’s influence over the Alchemist Council had greatly diminished.

Wasn’t this deliberately provoking conflict between the Council and the Kingdom?

As a result, not long after being appointed chairman, various department officials from the Kingdom started investigations, if not auditing taxes then checking for safety, leaving Gustavo Flint sweating profusely.

It was clearly intentional. The Council had just been established and hadn’t even started promoting alchemy yet. Where could taxes come from for auditing? What safety was there to check?

The Dwarf Kingdom was expressing its dissatisfaction with Gustavo Flint, and he had to figure out a way to solve this problem, or else the Council would be bogged down at every step.

“I can write you a letter of recommendation to the Dwarf King; it might be of some use,” Amberser offered.

“Based on what?” Gustavo Flint said disdainfully.

What business does this Lich have with the Dwarf King anyway? After the last peace talks between the two nations, the King’s Hand of the Dwarf Kingdom had died, and Amberser was the key person presiding over the talks. It was already generous that the Dwarf King hadn’t troubled him about it.

“Heh, I have many friends. Just wait and see, I’m sure there will be results soon.”

Amberser planned to have Hake Stone chat with the Dwarf King. The development of alchemy couldn’t be separated from the Kingdom’s support. If he could forge the Dwarf Kingdom into a new Alchemy City, maybe his master’s power could be restored.

Gustavo Flint pondered with skepticism for a moment, then suddenly asked, “You bastard, are you planning to wait until I’ve reopened relations with the Dwarf King, then jump out claiming you wrote a letter to help, when in fact you did nothing, just to swindle my money!”

“Paranoid much? What, do you have a persecution complex? Am I that sort of person? If you don’t believe me, just do nothing in the next few days. See if the Dwarf King’s attitude towards you changes. You can pay me only if it really works.”

“Bastard, I never said I’d give you money!” Gustavo Flint wouldn’t fall for that trap.

“Alright, alright, consider it a freebie. Seeing the quality of your Mana Refining Furnace, I’ll help you out this one time for free,” said Amberser.

“Heh.”

Gustavo Flint neither objected nor agreed, free, huh? He’d act as if he knew nothing; after all, he would just continue doing what he needed to do.

Although the two parted on bad terms, their collaboration would not be interrupted.

Amberser handed over the Youth Magic Potion to Gustavo Flint for production. He had given him the recipe and wasn’t afraid of being cheated, because the main ingredient was the special mucus continuously flowing out from the castle. This was a material monopoly, and no one else could replicate the potion even with the recipe.

Gustavo Flint could find an existing alchemy production line and immediately start mass production.

Isabel only needed to provide the raw materials regularly and in fixed amounts, and the potion could be mass-produced right away.

But Amberser had established a rule for agents: when advertising the potion, they had to deliberately mention the history of alchemy. They didn’t need to say much, just bring up the impact that alchemy had on the world over the years while praising the product.

On the surface, it seemed they were boasting that this potion, too, could change the world, but in reality, they were continuously instilling in their customers the idea that alchemy could transform the world.

From the day the first bottle of Vitality Potion was invented, the limits of the human body had been broken; from the day Magic Construct Studies appeared, the structure of machinery across the continent had been altered; from the day the Mana Power Furnace was created, productivity underwent a qualitative change… Alchemy had long been inseparable from the world, and Amberser was merely reminding people, making them recall this fact.

Isabel’s potion was just one of them, Amberser still needed more products to break into the market, and perhaps he could even link his brand to the God of Alchemy. If everyone praised the “God of Alchemy” while using the potions, it might just boost his teacher to a new level of divine power.

Don’t underestimate the power of such a simple phrase. Even if it’s not heartfelt, just habitually muttering those words is enough to generate the Power of Faith.

Just think about how many people around the world need alchemical products. Little by little, the accumulated Power of Faith could make all deities envious.

However, relying solely on the Youth Magic Potion wouldn’t work; it might look cheap, but with a price tag of thousands of Gold Coins, it was targeted at nobles, it wasn’t meant to cheat the poor.

Therefore, Amberser also needed to capture the market of common people, needing an alchemical product that everyone could afford and that everyone needed.

Unable to come up with anything on the spot, Amberser could only find time to research slowly.

With the Mana Refining Furnace in hand, this achievement could be said to be perfectly complete. The next task was to return to the Underground City to start building his alchemy factory.

After bidding farewell to the somewhat reluctant Isabel, Amberser returned to the desert below, but he didn’t go home; instead, he once again visited Hake Stone’s Underground City.

The same Dwarf Vampire was guarding the gate, and upon seeing Amberser, he scrambled to report the news, no longer daring to utter any threats about tasting blood.

Soon after, Amberser was invited into Hake Stone’s Underground City. The city was not as large as Amberser’s, but it was just as spacious and filled with gold everywhere.

Hake Stone had no aesthetic sense; he liked to pile up gold all over his residence. When Amberser walked into that gleaming hall, he almost couldn’t resist summoning the Golden Throne to go on a frenzied looting spree.

Sensing something off about Amberser’s gaze, Hake Stone quickly said, “Old friend, if there’s anything, just find me on the Necromancy Codex. Why do you always like to come here?”

The Dwarf Vampire had decided that next time, he would entertain this Lich in a room without gold; otherwise, he was afraid he couldn’t resist going crazy and robbing him of all his treasure. Hake Stone guessed he wouldn’t be able to defeat the Lich.

Amberser straightforwardly said, “The temptation is too great here; let’s quickly get to the main point. I’ve come to ask for a favor. A friend of mine is under the Dwarf King’s suspicion…”

After Amberser detailed Gustavo Flint’s problem, Hake Stone expressed his difficulty, “It’s not that I’m deliberately shirking, but the relationship between the Dwarf King and me is not as close as you might think.”

“But he is your progeny!” Amberser said.

Anyone bitten by a Vampire would obey the Vampire. Even without the master-servant contract like branding, the Dwarf King and Hake Stone were true blood relatives who had exchanged blood, having an even closer relationship than biological father and son.

“Heh, there is indeed closeness in bloodlines, but how much genuine affection can be in a king’s heart? Even if I were his biological father, haven’t there been countless cases of patricide for the throne throughout history? When it comes to non-political matters, I can still influence this king, but once it involves politics, he is utterly ruthless,” Hake Stone explained.

While that was the logic Amberser didn’t insist, after all, he was just casually helping a friend. He believed Gustavo Flint would also find ways to clear the relationship. Working from both ends just increased the chances.

Hake Stone casually agreed, about to ask Amberser for some compensation when Amberser added, “By the way, about Arthur Laine’s matter, when do you plan to ask?”

At the mention of this, Hake Stone completely forgot about any compensation.

Archaeology was a part of Dwarves’ lives, probably because they were exposed to it from an early age. Hake Stone was very interested in history and had once aspired to be a historian, only to find that Dwarves cared more about the gold in the tombs rather than the tomb owners themselves.

Forced to face reality, Hake Stone dealt with grave digging all his life, without the time to study history in detail.

After becoming a Vampire, he finally had free time and picked up his childhood interest. Over time, he became a historian in name and in fact.

Arthur Laine was of extraordinary significance to him; money became irrelevant, and he only wanted to know the historical truth.

“I’ve almost finished sorting out the relevant information. Why not make it today? I’ll head over to your place later and get this done. Oh, and about the question you asked me before, concerning the development of racial discrimination related to Laine, I’ve also compiled a lot of information. According to my research, racial discrimination might not have anything to do with Arthur Laine after all,” Hake Stone said.

Hake Stone had someone bring an entire box of parchment papers and placed it in front of Amberser.

“If my research is correct, everything originated from Arthur Laine’s son,” Hake Stone stated.