Bargaining

Anbaixiu was hardly an old friend of this man; rather, they had engaged in a fierce debate over alchemy more than a decade ago. It was then that Anbaixiu discovered a human could actually look far more terrifying than his own skeletal face. Not that the man was ugly. On the contrary, Gustavo Fring possessed well-proportioned features and was a rather dignified, handsome older gentleman. However, he had dark skin and naturally exuded an imposing, intimidating aura whenever his face was devoid of expression. A terrifying rumor once circulated that without uttering a single word, he had triggered a heart attack in an alchemist simply by glaring at him. Add to that Gustavo Fring's near-draconian standards for alchemy, and many alchemists who had worked under him would tremble at the mere sound of his approaching footsteps. More than a few people whispered in private that Gustavo Fring was actually a lich draped in human skin, which was why he possessed an inherent aura of fear. Upon hearing Anbaixiu's asking price of twenty million, Gustavo Fring promptly countered, "Five hundred thousand." "Eighteen million." "Eight hundred thousand." "Seventeen million nine hundred and ninety thousand." "Now you're just being ridiculous." "You chopped off two digits right out of the gate! Who's being ridiculous here?" ... The squabble outside the castle dragged on. The City of Alchemy was currently flat broke, and twenty million gold coins was indeed an extortionate opening bid from Anbaixiu. Even so, he would never let the price drop below a million. At that point, he might as well just turn Alan Watson into an undead. A paladin devoted to the Lord of the Dawn had a soul worth a substantial sum. Anbaixiu had previously seen people in the Necrotic Codex chat group offering exorbitant bounties for paladin souls. If one were tortured until it turned into a wraith, it would fetch an even higher price—easily seven to eight hundred thousand gold coins. "You should know full well that we cannot possibly produce tens of millions of gold coins right now to purchase a single paladin." Gustavo Fring's expression remained completely unchanged, but an edge of impatience had crept into his tone. Anbaixiu countered tit for tat, "Then you should also know full well that an offer of a few hundred thousand is an equal waste of my time." Gustavo Fring replied nonchalantly, "A mere paladin, if you ask me, isn't even worth a hundred thousand gold coins. I only came today to go through the motions so we can claim at future diplomatic conferences that we made an effort. It makes no difference to me if negotiations fall through." Anbaixiu burst into laughter and said mercilessly, "My old friend, drop the act. A mere paladin might mean nothing to you, but the goodwill of the Ryan Empire means everything. You can barely keep a lid on what's down in the sewers anymore, can you?" At these words, Gustavo Fring's expression shifted. He asked in a low voice, "How much do you know?" "Not much, but I am certain matters have slipped beyond your control. That is why you couldn't even spare the time to negotiate with those high elves when the Silvermoon High Court astronomically jacked up magic material prices. You have even resolved to seek outside aid, and the Ryan Empire is your partner of choice. Alan Watson, this paladin, happens to be the best prerequisite for that partnership. "My dear Master Fring, stop trying to swindle me. When it comes to money, I wouldn't budge even if the God of Alchemy came down in person. Show some real sincerity." Gustavo Fring fell silent for a long moment before sighing in resignation. "You truly live up to the genius whom the president personally invited to join the Alchemists' Council. If you had agreed to join back then, perhaps..." Anbaixiu hastily shook his head. "No need to reminisce. Never mind that the old president merely wrote me a letter—even if he had come knocking on my door in person, I would never have joined the Alchemists' Council. I haven't lost my mind, and I have zero interest in blaspheming the gods. Make a proper offer quickly, or I'll turn that paladin into a zombie. He's practically eating me into bankruptcy these days." Gustavo Fring's cheek twitched. This lich truly had no shame. "You know very well I am not exaggerating the City of Alchemy's financial crisis. We cannot give you twenty million gold coins." Sensing the give in the man's tone, Anbaixiu swiftly said, "I understand, and I won't make things impossible for you. Ten thousand firepower-enhanced golem puppets, valued at ten million gold coins. How about that?" Gustavo Fring flared with anger. "And let you pocket a ninety-million profit for nothing? You certainly dare to dream!" Even the lowest tier of golem puppet cost three thousand gold coins. The firepower-enhanced models were high-end goods, each running at least ten thousand. This lich was demanding one hundred million while crediting only ten million toward the ransom. This wasn't highway robbery—it was outright plunder, an attempt to tear the City of Alchemy up by its very roots! "You're the one who said you have no cash, so I can only take goods. Isn't the City of Alchemy's best-selling commodity golem puppets?" Gustavo Fring said resolutely, "No matter how broke we are, we would never sell golem puppets off as scrap metal. Don't even think about it. Besides, you don't even have workers to maintain them; buying so many would just leave you with oversized decorations." "Fine. For the sake of our friendship, I have a win-win proposal. You won't have to spend a single gold coin, nor will you have to part with any physical goods, and I will hand Alan Watson over to you." Gustavo Fring frowned. "You... want alchemical potion recipes?" Anbaixiu gave him a thumbs-up. "Smart! Isn't that a true win-win? You don't have to spend a copper, just copy over some documentation, and in return, you secure this vital political bargaining chip. Though it won't just be potions." Anbaixiu produced a sheet of parchment, traced a circle across it with his fingertip, and watched as it automatically folded itself into a small bird that fluttered over to Gustavo Fring. Gustavo Fring caught it and unfolded the paper, his scowl deepening. "Osteo-viral Progenitor, magical airship schematics, Living Mercury Solution formula, Explosive Potion recipe... Do you have any idea what you've written down? Taken together, these recipes and blueprints are worth more than ten thousand golem puppets!" Anbaixiu's list was packed edge to edge, enumerating over a hundred items. Anbaixiu merely remarked, "Yet you don't need to pay in physical goods for any of this; you're simply sharing knowledge with me." "Knowledge is inherently the most valuable thing of all!" "Rest assured, I won't resell these formulas and blueprints to anyone else. We can sign a contract—I promise they will be strictly for my own research," Anbaixiu assured him. Gustavo Fring sneered. "Of course you won't sell the recipes, but you'll sell the finished goods! Do you take me for a fool?" Anbaixiu did not deny it. Instead, he answered frankly, "Naturally, I will manufacture products to sell. But with so many laboratories in the City of Alchemy, could you really lose to a small workshop like mine in terms of cost advantage? We'll both be selling finished goods; you ought to have absolute confidence in a price war." Gustavo Fring did not reply to that. For identical goods, the City of Alchemy could indeed drive down production costs, but they had no desire to do so. When an exclusive monopoly yielded tenfold profits, why introduce a competitor that forced them into price cuts? Even if Anbaixiu's output couldn't meet overall market demand, surrendering the formulas was tantamount to giving away the goose that laid golden eggs. Yet Gustavo Fring could find no better alternative. The only asset the City of Alchemy could put forward right now was the vast repository of knowledge accumulated over countless years. This lich was as troublesome as ever. When the president had personally written to invite Anbaixiu into the Alchemists' Council, Gustavo Fring had thought the president was overestimating him. Thinking back now, if they had pulled him in back then at all costs, perhaps the City of Alchemy would not have fallen into its current state of internal and external turmoil. "A trade in formulas is acceptable, but there are far too many here. From this list, you may pick at most three." Though Gustavo Fring relented, he slashed the terms brutally—slashing over a hundred formulas and blueprints down to three with a single sentence. "Can't you show a little sincerity? Out of these one hundred and thirty-two recipes, I can round down for you and settle for one hundred and thirty." ... The two plunged back into a fierce back-and-forth of bargaining. In the end, Anbaixiu sold Alan Watson to the City of Alchemy for thirty recipes and blueprints, and by forcibly dumping the Slag Ember tavern onto Gustavo Fring, he managed to squeeze out two more recipes. Having managed to whittle the price down from one hundred and thirty-two to thirty-two, Gustavo Fring reluctantly agreed, even though he had zero desire for that Slag Ember tavern, seeing how unyielding Anbaixiu remained. "Once you deliver everything I asked for, I'll release him immediately," Anbaixiu said. At that moment, however, Gustavo Fring shook his head. "No, there's no rush. Regarding Alan Watson, I need you to play a part in a little performance first."