In the end, Heji Stone was persuaded by Anbaixiu. Even though Anbaixiu had not even built his alchemy factory yet, and talk of reviving the City of Alchemy was utter nonsense, Heji Stone was willing to take a gamble.
Mainly, he had turned a tidy profit from excavating the underground city earlier, so he treated this as an investment; he could afford the loss.
Secondly, Anbaixiu had left Heji Stone with the distinct impression that there was no outrageous thing he was incapable of pulling off.
If a paladin kowtowing to a lich could become reality, then reviving the City of Alchemy might not be entirely impossible after all.
Heji Stone was an old fellow who had lived for many years and witnessed the rises and falls of nations across the continent. He knew that alchemy's decline was only temporary, and sooner or later, a new alchemical era would dawn.
Investing in Anbaixiu ahead of time might very well turn out to be a hugely profitable venture.
However, once the terms were settled, Anbaixiu added, "Remember, shipping and installation must be included! No extra charges!"
Heji Stone fumed, "Get lost! Wouldn't I be running at a loss then?!"
Anbaixiu chuckled. "Naturally, as compensation, I can give you ten minutes to speak with the heroic spirit of Arthur Ryan."
Earlier in the group chat, Anbaixiu had mentioned finding Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit. To someone like Heji Stone, who loved studying history, the spirit of Ryan's founding emperor was a priceless treasure that gold could never buy.
Yet only ten minutes?
"No way, two hours at least!" Heji Stone bargained.
Without hesitation, Anbaixiu said, "Never mind, then. I'm sure the Underdark has alchemical equipment too. I'll just ask Lady Rose."
With that, Anbaixiu turned to leave.
Heji Stone quickly grabbed Anbaixiu's hand. "Wait, we can talk this out! Ten minutes is far too short!"
"Twenty minutes, for friendship's sake," Anbaixiu said.
Heji Stone countered, "One hour!"
"Half an hour at most. Not only do you have to cover shipping and installation, but you also have to provide a one-hundred-year warranty."
"Get the hell out! Who gives a hundred-year warranty? You think these machines are undead?! Have you ever seen alchemical equipment run for more than twenty years?!"
...
The two wrangled back and forth until they finally settled on a new contract.
Anbaixiu would grant Heji Stone half an hour to question Arthur Ryan's heroic spirit. In exchange, Heji Stone would sell Anbaixiu a complete set of alchemical equipment at fifty percent of market price, complete with shipping, installation, and a ten-year no-questions-asked return and exchange after-sales policy.
Anbaixiu was well pleased with the price; only Heji Stone wore a sour scowl.
Setting aside those thirty minutes of questioning, all the profit from this deal had been wiped out, leaving him with a slight loss.
Yet he had no choice. Anbaixiu held a monopoly, whereas what Heji Stone offered could be supplied by others—perhaps just not at such a steep discount.
Heji Stone had no idea that Anbaixiu planned to use this heroic spirit to fleece Ryan out of a massive fortune, or he would have gnashed his fangs to pieces in pure envy.
With Heji Stone's assistance, most of the basic equipment on the list was taken care of.
The rest could be sorted out with a little effort; the real headache was the mana refining furnace.
This was effectively the heart of any alchemy factory. Without it, building an industrial plant was out of the question—one could only tinker in a small home workshop.
Alchemical products generally fell into two major categories: consumables and utilities.
Consumables meant potions, while utilities encompassed large-scale alchemical fabrications like golem puppets and magitech cannons.
The mana refining furnace was primarily used to brew potions.
Brewing potions in small quantities was something Anbaixiu could handle in his laboratory, but mass production required a mana refining furnace.
With Anbaixiu's skill, given sufficient materials, he could brew two hundred bottles of ordinary vigor potion a day, but he would not be able to do anything else, stuck slaving away in the lab from morning till night.
A mana refining furnace, on the other hand, could produce tens of thousands of bottles in a single run. A high-grade furnace could be fired up over ten times a day, yielding upwards of a hundred thousand bottles. Moreover, it could brew multiple types of potions simultaneously, boasting the efficiency of a thousand alchemy apprentices.
This had been the brainchild of the President of the Alchemists' Council. It was he who had ushered alchemy into the industrial age, laying the industrial groundwork for alchemy across the entire continent.
Yet precisely because this contraption was so crucial, its design was remarkably complex, making manufacture an extraordinary hassle. Anbaixiu could not make one himself; he could only buy it.
Furthermore, he could not simply purchase a ready-made unit off the floor, as mana refining furnaces were fixed, immovable installations. Moving one required disassembling it, and once taken apart, these things generally could not be reassembled.
Thus, getting his hands on a mana refining furnace was no easy feat for Anbaixiu.
He certainly would not find one here in the Dwarf Kingdom; his only option was to return to the former City of Alchemy and try his luck.
He recalled seeing a nobleman's estate that possessed a complete suite of alchemical equipment. Perhaps he could obtain replacement parts for a mana refining furnace from them, since they would naturally keep spare components on hand for repairs.
Once a mana refining furnace was fired up, it could not simply be halted; if a malfunction occurred, it had to be dismantled and repaired on the spot. For that reason, when installing such massive equipment, owners would typically set up one operational unit and keep a full set of brand-new spares ready for replacement at a moment's notice. If a part were missing at a critical juncture, an explosion could level several city blocks.
"Was it... Viscount Leitman?"
The name surfaced in Anbaixiu's mind. He was a noble who worshiped the Lord of Storms, and his estate had a thoroughly developed alchemical assembly line.
Now that the City of Alchemy had collapsed and alchemical goods were sitting unsold, Viscount Leitman was probably fretting over cash flow. It would be the perfect opportunity to negotiate and buy them off him at a bargain.
Having settled on a plan, Anbaixiu used a teleportation array to return to the City of Alchemy, back to the castle that belonged to him.
The last time he had returned was right after the people of Ryan ransacked the place, leaving dig marks everywhere and giving the castle a dilapidated, ruined look.
Returning this time, however, the castle looked brand-new.
It had clearly been meticulously restored, with plenty of new decorations added.
Compared to when Anbaixiu lived here, the castle carried a touch of warmth and human presence rather than its former eerie, desolate air.
Stepping out of the teleportation array, Anbaixiu was just about to look for Isabel to inquire about recent developments in the City of Alchemy.
Just as he reached the corridor, an elderly woman wearing spectacles appeared before him, looking at him with suspicion. "Sir, as I have said, visitors are not permitted to wander about the castle. You must wait in the reception parlor. Miss Isabel will meet with you when she has time."
Miss Isabel?
Anbaixiu found this rather amusing. During the time he was away, had Isabel become a person of importance?
Smiling at the old woman, Anbaixiu said, "All right, then. Which way is the reception parlor? I really couldn't find it. Oh, pardon me for asking, good lady, but how should I address you?"
The elderly woman replied, "I've heard that excuse plenty of times. Next time, try to come up with a better one. I am Miss Isabel's maid. You may call me Cardina."
Perhaps because Anbaixiu was so polite, Cardina's tone softened considerably. "Follow me," she told him. "You're fortunate you ran into me. If you had encountered the castle guards, they wouldn't have treated you so gently."
Though the old woman sounded strict, she still escorted Anbaixiu to the reception parlor.
Anbaixiu never used to have visitors, so there had naturally been no reception room before. This space had originally been a vacant storeroom, now refurbished into an elegant little parlor.
When Anbaixiu arrived, he found over a dozen young people already waiting inside.
Seeing Anbaixiu enter, they all glared at him with hostile eyes, as if he were their rival in competition.
Anbaixiu was intrigued. What had Isabel been up to during this time? Could these young men be suitors asking for her hand?
Only such a possibility seemed to account for their rampant hostility.
Under everyone's scrutiny, Anbaixiu took a seat and naturally asked the person beside him, "Friend, I am Davian from the Golden Kingdom. What may I call you?"
Anbaixiu's casual, easy greeting caught the man off guard. He could only answer coldly, "Endel Mark. A local."
"Ah, Mr. Mark! I remember that surname. Your family is in the silk business, right? I've bought your silk before; it's the most popular luxury good over in the desert," Anbaixiu said with apparent astonishment.
However, Endel Mark's face darkened. "The Mark family is in transport."
"Oh, my mistake then. My apologies, I was thinking of another Mark family," Anbaixiu replied offhandedly. In truth, he had fabricated the whole thing on the spot; he did not know the name at all.
"By the way, did all of you come here to meet Miss Isabel to talk business?" Anbaixiu asked.
Endel Mark sneered, "Drop the act. Aren't we all here for the same thing? We're after the distribution rights to the Potion of Youth."
Chapter 234