The Abyss.
Nightmare Street.
Inside the grand council hall, dozens of core members of the Jardson family were urgently summoned late at night.
Seated at the head was Elton, his face grim, and Carol and others wore equally unpleasant expressions.
News of the Calva Chamber of Commerce's introduction of the Magic Repulsion Potion had reached the Abyss, and the Jardson family was the first to receive the news.
Concerning the survival of the family, Elton urgently convened the core members to discuss a plan.
"Father, this matter needs further verification. We don't know if the potion's effects are long-lasting. Moreover, the price of one million copper coins per bottle is not affordable for everyone," Carol said.
"Fool! Our family relies on magic elixirs to establish ourselves in the Abyss. If this foundation is shaken, there will be no place for us in the Abyss anymore," Elton slammed the table in anger.
"The price of one million copper coins may be high now, but this is just the initial launch. Once a potion that cures the addiction to magic elixirs appears, the price won't stay at one million forever.
When it drops to a hundred thousand or ten thousand, the magic elixir will have no chance for a comeback."
"Father, then why don't we take decisive action and kill Harold? And also kill that popotionsalled 'Miracle,' so that we can eliminate the source of the problem," Elton's eldest son suggested with a ruthless look on his face.
"Kill Harold?" Elton looked at his foolish son and said coldly, "He's an eighth-level expert, and the Calva Chamber of Commerce has a powerful guard team, including tenth-level experts. What do you have to kill them with? Your head?
As for that potion, where would you find him? Do you think 'Miracle' is his real name? It's a code name, meant to conceal his identity!"
The council hall fell silent as the elders and strong members of the family lowered their heads.
Just yesterday, Elton held an ambitious expansion meeting, announcing the plan to unify the Abyss and advance into the Lance Empire.
Unexpectedly, in just one day, due to a potion, they had to start considering the survival of the family.
"It seems the plan to unify the Abyss needs to be accelerated," Elton said in a low voice.
"Before the Magic Repulsion Potion is introduced into the Abyss and its price drops, we need to eliminate the other three families and completely control the Abyss.
By then, all the wealth and business of the three families will be ours, and the whole Abyss will be under our control.
We can then refuse the Magic Repulsion Potion from entering the Abyss."
Everyone raised their heads, revealing a fierce glint in their eyes.
"Carol, keep a close eye on the Black Magic Guards, especially those recruits from outside. If there is any sign of betrayal, kill them directly," Elton continued, "These people are the cannon fodder to eliminate the other three families. If used well, it can minimize our losses."
"Father, I understand," Carol nodded solemnly.
"Block any news related to the Magic Repulsion Potion and spread some false information to confuse them," Elton looked at the crowd and said, "Before we take action, we must stabilize the morale of the Black Magic Guards."
"Yes!" everyone responded in unison.
"Go prepare. Three days from now, we'll take action against the Harriman family and the Duru family. From then on, the Abyss will be the Abyss of our Jardson family."
The crowd got up and left, leaving only Carol who didn't leave.
"Father, what about Charlotte?" Carol spoke after everyone had left.
"After we exterminate the Harriman family, what can a mere human like him do, even if he runs away?" Elton sneered.
...
As the sky was getting brighter, Charlotte returned to his room to rest, changing out of his clothes that were filled with the scent of potions and taking a shower before lying back on the soft and warm bed.
Taking out the black stone, he was surprised to find that there were over a hundred unread messages in the Red Moon Group, as well as several private messages.
Charlotte first checked the group messages. It turned out that the merchants had successfully promoted the Magic Repulsion Potion, and the news had caused quite a stir among the bigwigs in the group.
And the fact that he had the merchant named 'Miracle' still seemed a bit rash. It naturally led to suspicions that it was him.
Nevertheless, the private messages were what surprised Charlotte the most.
[Witch: Miracle, can I purchase two bottles of Magic Repulsion Potion from you? I have a friend who urgently needs it. Of course, I will pay the full price.]
Two bottles of Magic Repulsion Potion meant two million copper coins! How could he not be tempted?
But after some consideration, Charlotte still replied with regret: [Miracle: I'm sorry, but I have entrusted the sale of the Magic Repulsion Potion to the merchant. You can directly contact him for purchase.]
Charlotte opened the next private message.
[Technician: Sir Miracle, do you have any potions that can prolong the effect of a potion? A friend of mine asked me to inquire.]
Whenever a man asked this kind of question, he would always shift the blame to some non-existent friend.
[Miracle: Sorry, but there's currently no potion of that kind.]
As for whether there would be such a potion in the future, Charlotte wasn't sure either.
The market for blue pills was not insignificant. Many knights were stuck at a certain peak for years, just missing that last push to break through. A potion like this might help them.
But Charlotte wasn't certain if the cunning system would leave such an obvious bug.
After putting down the black stone, Charlotte closed his eyes.
Until today, he finally felt that the other members of the Red Moon Group had accepted him as a new member.
However, until now, he had no idea about the true identity of any of them.
And the network of contacts shown by the merchant had surprised him greatly.
He was very grateful to the Judge for giving him such a valuable circle of friends, despite leaving him with a debt of 3,000 gold coins.
After resting for a while, when it was already bright outside, Charlotte got up.
Although he had been busy in the lab all night, the three bottles of Elixir of Might gave him an abundance of energy, and he didn't feel tired at all.
Suddenly, Charlotte thought of a brilliant way to make money.
What if he sold the Elixir of Might?
Even if he sold one bottle for two gold coins, the increased wealth could be used to buy two more bottles. Moreover, the exchange for the Elixir of Might was his wealth value, and the money earned could be continuously accumulated.
Selling one bottle would allow him to buy one more for himself.
Wouldn't that create a perpetual motion machine?
But Charlotte wasn't sure if the cunning system would leave such an obvious bug.
After he breaks through to the junior knight, he plans to take a bottle of Elixir of Might to Vivian to try.
Although she is a highly talented magician, having a healthy physique doesn't affect her use of magic.
If it weren't for limited energy, practicing both magic and martial skills would undoubtedly be the best choice.
With a long sword in one hand and fireballs in the other, capable of both long-range attacks and close defense, he would be invincible!
Since Charlotte's magical source has been blocked, he can only indulge in fantasies.
His plan now is to persevere, work hard to earn money, and then buy Elixir of Might from the system.
1 gold coin for 100 kg of strength.
This stable happiness is what many people dream of but cannot achieve.
When he becomes as wealthy as the merchant one day, won't he also be invincible?
Charlotte had already decided that if he ever got an opportunity like the merchant's, he must seize it firmly, even if he could only pull a tuft of leg hair from them.
Charlotte arrived at the restaurant, and Agatha served him a sumptuous breakfast.
While eating steak, Charlotte curiously asked, "Agatha, where is your Miss?"
"She went out, sir," Agatha stood by the side, explaining with a smile.
"Went out?" Charlotte took a bite of the juicy medium-rare steak, feeling the savory juice splashing in his mouth, causing a storm of flavors that belonged to beef. He casually asked, "Did she go to Calva?"
"How did you know?" Agatha looked surprised.
"I guessed," Charlotte smiled faintly.
Yesterday's trip to Calva, he might have caught up with the merchant's promotional event for the Elixir Aversion Potion. He wondered how Diana would react. Just thinking about it, Charlotte found it quite amusing.
On the carriage to the temporary clinic, Vivian looked at Charlotte excitedly and said, "Boss, can I perform surgery on the patients today?"
Charlotte glanced at her and chuckled, "Did you stay awake all night in excitement?"
"How did you know?" Vivian was shocked. "Could it be... did you watch me sleep last night?"
"With those dark circles under your eyes, you don't seem to have had a good night's sleep. You look like a panda," Charlotte pointed to her eyes.
"Panda? What's a panda?" Vivian took out a small mirror she carried with her and looked at her dark eye circles. She was taken aback for a moment and looked up at Charlotte. "Boss, what should I do now?"
"Use the Moisturizing Essence to repair your imperfections, such as dark circles, eye bags, the bane of acne. You deserve to have it," Charlotte held a bottle of pink lotion in his hand.
Vivian gladly took it, opened the cap, poured some into her palm, and gently applied it around her eyes and eye bags.
She closed her eyes, feeling the cool sensation that soothed her tired eyes and brought relaxation.
Three minutes later, Vivian opened her eyes and couldn't wait to grab the small mirror. The originally deep dark circles and exaggerated eye bags had completely disappeared!
"This is too effective! If I had sisters, I'd recommend they buy it! Buy! Buy!" Vivian couldn't help but exclaim.
"600 copper coins, deducted from your salary?" Charlotte suddenly said.
"What?" Vivian's smiling face froze.
"Retail price is 800 copper coins, but as an employee, I'll give it to you for 600 copper coins. Of course, if you learn the method of making it yourself, I'll only charge you the cost of the materials, which would be about 20 copper coins," Charlotte said with a smile.
"We're so close, and you still want to make a 30-fold profit from me?" Vivian looked bitter.
Charlotte nonchalantly said, "No, you overlooked the added value of knowledge. If you learn it, you will have this additional value too."
"But, if I learn it, won't I be working for you and earning money?" Vivian seemed to realize something.
"You work to create value, and I'll pay you a salary for the value you create. Paying for knowledge is about learning new skills; these are two separate things. Don't confuse them," Charlotte explained seriously.
Vivian nodded thoughtfully, "It sounds like it makes sense."
"However, if I learn this, wouldn't I be providing labor for you?" Vivian seemed to realize something else.
"This is a world based on equal exchange. If you want to gain knowledge from me, you need to pay a certain amount of money for it. It's quite reasonable, isn't it?" Charlotte said seriously.
Vivian nodded, seemingly understanding. "But, I'll be working for you if I learn it, won't I?"
Charlotte turned his head away, fearing he would burst out laughing if he continued to look at Vivian's innocent face.
Vivian, who would always be bad at accounting, was indeed entertaining to tease.
As Charlotte and Vivian arrived at the entrance of the temporary clinic, there were already seven or eight patients waiting in a long queue.
As they opened the clinic, Vivian was busy preparing for surgery.
Perhaps because the news of healing the half-orc Jonah had spread, today was even busier than yesterday.
Fortunately, Vivian had already mastered the basic technique of skin suturing. Charlotte deliberately selected several sturdy men who took pride in their scars to let her practice.
Those men, however, looked a bit speechless when they saw the extra caterpillar-like suture wounds on their bodies.
After the last patient left, Charlotte slumped into a chair. He finally felt tired after a long day.
Vivian also lay on the counter, breathing a sigh of relief. She couldn't help but complain, "Today, I treated ten patients independently. If I get 10% commission, it should be 230 copper coins, right, Boss?"
"That's right. I'll keep it on your account," Charlotte readily agreed.
After all, this foolish girl had earned him another 20 silver coins.
They heard two knocks on the door outside, and then the door was pushed open.
"Business has already closed for the day," Vivian began to say, but she stopped halfway, surprised, "Landlady Sister!"
Charlotte also raised his head and looked at Diana, who was wearing a tight blue dress that accentuated her enchanting figure, with red high heels. He was equally surprised, "Madam Landlady, why are you here?"
"How come? Aren't you happy to see me?" Diana walked gracefully and sat down opposite Charlotte. "I've come here for treatment."
"Treatment?" Charlotte examined Diana from head to toe. Her complexion was rosy, and she exuded vitality; she didn't look like she was ill at all.
Diana covered her chest and frowned, "Yes, my heart hurts. Doctor, can you tell me what's wrong?"