For the next few days, Charles stayed holed up in his warehouse, constantly refining the mass production equipment for his [Hemostatic Powder concentrate].
He installed a sensor inside the alchemy furnace. If anyone tried to dismantle the furnace without his permission, it would trigger a self-destruct mechanism, melting all the pipes into a heap of scrap metal. It was all done to prevent anyone from stealing the machine and replicating his alchemy equipment.
After setting everything up, Charles carefully drew up blueprints for the alchemy apparatus. Thanks to the specialized knowledge he had gained from the [alchemy]system, this was not a difficult task for him.
During the time he was absorbed in improving the alchemy equipment, the situation in Lsengard had grown increasingly tense. The rise of [the Fenton family pharmaceuticals] had gradually taken over the market share of all miracle drug merchants in Lsengard.
Not only was the Blackwood family pharmaceuticals affected, but even the Dubois family, which typically dealt in general goods, was hit by this wave of market disruption.
The Fenton family’s monopolistic actions were essentially cutting into the lifeblood of many noble families in Lsengard. In response to this market shock, Raj, the president of Blackwood Pharmaceuticals, convened a secret meeting within the company.
…
“All the company’s finances are already in the red. Even with Mr. Charlie’s 7,000 silver coin loan, at this rate, it won’t be enough to cover the losses!” said the financial director of Blackwood Pharmaceuticals, sitting at the head of the meeting table, frowning deeply as he stared at the deteriorating financial reports on his computer.
The attendees of this meeting were all high-level executives from companies related to the miracle drug industry in Lsengard. Once prominent and powerful, now they sat with their heads bowed, utterly clueless about how to counter the market disruption caused by the Fenton family pharmaceuticals.
“Damn it! Axel, Sly, those bastards—how could they add 120 times the recommended dose of painkillers in their products? Are they selling medicine or dealing drugs?” Raj barked as he glared at the drug composition analysis on the projection screen.
All painkillers have some level of addictive potential.
The line between medicine and poison is in the dosage.
Now Sly and his crew had mixed morphine and cocaine into their healing drugs at 120 times the normal dosage, making everyone who used them addicted. As a result, people kept coming back to their shops to buy more.
“Maybe…we should increase the dosage of sedatives in our healing medicines too?” one executive from Elysium Pharmaceuticals suddenly suggested.
Raj immediately rejected the idea, snapping, “Are you insane? If everyone starts doing this, are you trying to turn Lsengard into a place where even one-year-old babies are hooked on drugs?”
“But if we keep letting Sly and his gang do this, we’ll all go bankrupt. What’s the point of holding onto ethics if we can’t even survive?” someone else chimed in, agreeing with Elysium’s suggestion.
“…”
The meeting dragged on for almost an hour without reaching any conclusion. Voices were raised, arguments broke out, and the scene quickly descended into chaos.
In one corner of the conference room sat the younger generation, including Aurora and Celestine. They watched their elders with tense, grim expressions, too afraid to speak up amidst the suffocating and heavy atmosphere.
“Sis, is the Fenton family really that powerful? Plus, we don’t only deal in miracle drugs—this shouldn’t affect us that much, right?” Aurora, sitting near the back by the window, lightly tugged on Celestine’s sleeve, her voice low with uncertainty.
Celestine turned her head and looked at Aurora, who had an innocent expression on her face. With a sigh, she said softly, “My foolish sister, you have no idea. A large portion of our family’s revenue comes from the miracle drug business. Once those ferocious beast hunters become dependent on Fenton Pharmaceuticals’ drugs, they might end up obeying their orders.
They could choose to sell ferocious beast materials and beast cores only to Sly, or sell them to us at outrageous prices. Even though our Taylor family group has deep roots and vast wealth, we won’t be able to withstand that kind of drain.”
“Is there really no way out? What about the City Lord’s Mansion…?” Aurora asked quietly.
Celestine sighed again and shook her head with a touch of defeat. “Don’t count on it. Many of Lsengard’s top-tier Beast Masters have already been deployed to the frontlines. Out of the five remaining fourth-level Beast Masters in the city, three are already aligned with Fenton Pharmaceuticals. Without backing, any legal documents are no more than worthless scraps of paper…”
“…And Sly and Kevin belong to the three great families of Lsengard. Their network of connections runs deep throughout the entire city. Who would dare openly oppose them?”
This was a world where power ruled. Fists were the law, the truth. With Sly and Kevin standing at the pinnacle of Lsengard’s elite families, there was little anyone could do to stop their misdeeds. The youths sitting there, with so little experience of the world, wore expressions of worry far beyond their years.
“Ahem, Mr. Charlie from the imperial capital has sent a representative to attend the meeting,” Raj suddenly announced from the front of the room, his face lighting up with joy.
“Charlie?”
“Mr. Charlie’s representative is here?!”
At the mention of this news, the once chaotic meeting room immediately fell silent.
Just half a month ago, with Charlie’s help, David had organized a grand sales exhibition, raking in massive profits and expanding their business beyond gemstones. The name “Charlie” had since spread throughout Lsengard.
Celestine, hearing the name, also lifted her head with a glimmer of hope. But when she saw that the representative was Charles, she couldn’t help but let out a faint scoff, her expression turning to one of disdain.
“That’s Charlie’s representative? Him?”
As the memory of that night by the river flooded back—Charles and his so-called ‘punishment’—a faint blush crept onto Celestine’s face. When their eyes met, she clenched her fist and gave him a defiant shake, her eyes filled with resentment.
However, Charles’ gaze merely flickered over Celestine and did not linger. Moments later, a clear and calm voice sounded from the front of the meeting room:
“Mr. Raj, let’s get straight to the point. I’m here to discuss the cooperation regarding [Hemostatic Powder concentrate].”
Charles wasted no time. He went to the front of the room and projected a slide:
“The image you see here is a new generation of alchemy product from my uncle’s lab. It can neutralize the addictive effects caused by traditional painkillers like morphine, and its healing effect is 100 times more potent than other healing medicines in the same price range.”
“Not only can it be used by humans, but it can also be administered to mystical beasts, temporarily boosting their resistance to toxic attributes. Moreover, it enhances the strength of lower-tier mystical beasts.”
“And its benefits don’t end there…”
Everyone present was a key figure in Lsengard’s pharmaceutical industry, including several alchemists. Yet, the room was dead silent, with all eyes focused on Charles and the slide he was presenting.
After a brief pause, an elderly alchemist with silver hair and a gray robe stood up, carefully choosing his words as he said, “Mr. Charles, I’ve been practicing alchemy for decades, though the potions I’ve crafted are all low-tier and without ranking. Still, I’ve never heard of such a miraculous potion as the one you’re describing.”
This wasn’t a healing potion—it sounded more like a cure-all, an omnipotent miracle drug!
As the gray-robed elder finished speaking, several other alchemists around the room nodded in agreement, believing that Charles might be exaggerating.
Faced with their skepticism, Charles didn’t rush to explain. Instead, he opened a suitcase he had brought with him and took out several vials of bright green liquid, distributing them to everyone present.
The gray-robed elder carefully took one of the test tubes and tilted it slightly. A single drop of the liquid slid down the tube, hanging in the air above his hand.
He first sniffed it gently, then pulled out a silver needle and stirred the liquid delicately. As he did so, a soft wood-element energy flowed around his fingers, as though he were probing the ingredients of the potion.
In just a few minutes, the elder’s expression became increasingly serious. When he looked back at Charles, there was a newfound respect in his eyes. Turning to the others, he confidently declared, “The healing properties of this potion, as well as its enhancing effects on mystical beasts, are exactly as Mr. Charles described!
And for a potion to reach such purity, it must be the work of at least a third-tier alchemist!”
As the chief alchemist of the Blackwood family, the moment the gray-robed elder spoke, the other alchemists immediately fell silent.
Raj was stunned at first, then his face lit up with joy. He had been powerless against Sly and his relentless pressure, watching as the thousands of silver coins he borrowed were on the verge of being lost again. But now, with the Bryant family stepping in once more, he eagerly nodded in excitement:
“To be able to cooperate with Mr. Charles is an honor for the Blackwood family. However, I do have a few concerns. With such high-quality miracle drugs, I imagine the price would be at least 10 silver coins… I’m afraid a small place like Lsengard might not be able to afford it…”
Raj was speaking delicately. After all, only a handful of people could become high-level Beast Masters. Most of those purchasing miracle drugs in Lsengard—whether it be city guards, ferocious beast hunters, or ordinary citizens—were not Beast Masters.
If the price was too high, they wouldn’t be able to compete with Sly’s products.
Nearby, Henry, the chairman of the Dubois family group, seemed to share the same concern. But before he could voice his doubts, Charles spoke up first: -exclusive-content
“My healing potion will be sold at a unified price, whether it’s in Lsengard city, the outskirts, or even when it’s distributed across Genosha in the future.”
“The price? It will only be 100 copper coins.”
“100 silver coins is way too expens—wait, what? You said 100 copper coins?” Raj exclaimed in shock before Charles could finish.
A healing potion of this quality, for only 100 copper coins? The people around couldn’t believe their ears.
Even the lowest-grade healing potions typically cost over 500 copper coins. It was a price that an ordinary ferocious beast hunter could afford if they gritted their teeth, but it would take them more than a month of hard labor in the wilderness. Definitely not cheap!
And Charles’ healing potion didn’t just surpass every other potion on the market in terms of effectiveness; it also had the added bonus of enhancing mystical beasts’ abilities. Yet, he was pricing it at only 20% of what others charged?
—