GDK 724: Becoming Famous
Time ticked on until yet another half a year had gone.
The Godswamp Pharmacy was rather influential in the Darkness Dominion. Even though its businesses in the City of Shadows was completely done for, the damage was limited and didn’t extend beyond the territories possessed by the House of Sainte.
In the Dominion of Darkness, there was a total of seven cities of the same magnitude as the City of Shadows. The headquarters of Godswamp was in Hushveil City. The power and influence possessed by the House of Sainte had yet to extend to any other cities.
Following the incident, the true master of the Godswamp Pharmacy pushed all the responsibilities on Steiss. He claimed that Steiss committed those crimes on his own without his approval or knowledge and that the crime was an isolated incident which had nothing to do with the rest of the Godswamp group. In addition to that, he strongly condemned the House of Sainte’s actions, saying that the House of Sainte had no right to confiscate their resources in the City of Shadows and demanded they be handed back.
But needless to say, Andre did not buy his excuse. He put up announcements all over the City of Shadows describing crimes committed by the Godswamp Pharmacy as well as Steiss’ testament admitting that he had been doing those crimes with the full awareness of the master of Godswamp Pharmacy.
Andre had not just confiscated the resources and properties Godswamp Pharmacy owned in the City of Shadows, he had also requested the City Lord of Hushveil City to apprehend the master of Godswamp Pharmacy.
All kinds of rumors rapidly spread throughout the Dominion of Darkness. The heated dispute between the House of Sainte and the Godswamp Pharmacy was widely discussed all over the Darkness Dominion. During those periods, the Godswamp Pharmacy suffered a tremendous drop in sales in their shops all across the Darkness Dominion.
However, the master of the Godswamp Pharmacy was hard to kill. Thanks to his prompt damage-control, he managed to distance himself from the incident in the City of Shadows and escaped from being persecuted by the rulers in other big cities. His pharmacy managed to remain in business despite their reputation having been harmed and their bottom line severely affected.
From this aspect, it was clear that the Godswamp Pharmacy held a considerable amount of influence in the Darkness Dominion. It was also plain to see that although the House of Sainte was powerful, their power was limited to within the City of Shadows and they couldn’t do much in the other cities.
As time passed, the shouting match between the House of Sainte and Godswamp gradually quieted down. The House of Sainte, naturally, refused to return those assets. They also stated that the key figures of the Godswamp Pharmacy were banned from entering the City of Shadows and they would be arrested if discovered within their territory.
Meanwhile, the master of Godswamp spread malicious rumors about the House of Sainte, claiming that they were bossy, imperious, and that their claim over the Godswamp’s assets in the City of Shadows was unjustified.
All kinds of rumors spread all around the Darkness Dominion. Of all the names involved in the rumors, there was one notable character that stayed in the minds of many – Bryan the genius pharmacist!
Among the shouting match between the House of Sainte and Godswamp Pharmacy, the biggest beneficiary was undoubtedly Han Shuo. As rumors about what happened that night spread, Han Shuo, a quack who knew nothing about pharmaceuticals, became known to many as a gifted, genius pharmacist.
The City of Shadows was never short of rumors about how miraculous Han Shuo’s pelleted medicines were. With this wave of rumors, the reputations of Han Shuo and his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy was pushed to a whole new level. Han Shuo was known to be the best pharmacist in the City of Shadows while many in the Darkness Dominion came to know Han Shuo. Many considered him a young and talented pharmacist.
With that, the issue that had been perplexing Han Shuo was solved by itself.
Due to the deliberate efforts of a certain party, the news that Han Shuo wanted to hire proficient pharmacists spread throughout the Darkness Dominion like wildfire. Although those pharmacists previously insulted by Han Shuo did their utmost to vilify Han Shuo, there remained many more pharmacists who were just as obsessed with the art of medicine refinement. They did not mind Han Shuo’s character and traveled thousands of miles to the City of Shadows for a chance to join the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.
These pharmacists who made nothing of hardships and were willing to endure and suffer Han Shuo’s irascible and outrageous temper were mostly very talented and good at what they did. With Gu Li, a skilled pharmacist experienced in the business of pharmacy performing the interviews and selecting the candidates, the number of pharmacists under the Godswamp Pharmacy grew.
Gradually, Han Shuo’s three-story shop was not big enough to hold the large number of pharmacists. Han Shuo had been waiting for Andre to contact him. He had made all the preparations necessary to take over the Godswamp Pharmacy.
A few days later, the battle of words between the House of Sainte and Godswamp completely died down. It was at this time that Andre finally dispatched men to invite Han Shuo over to the Sainte Residence. Han Shuo was overjoyed. He immediately headed to the Sainte Residence with Andrina.
When Han Shuo arrived and saw that Andre was wearing a worried look, his heart sank. He forced a smile and said, “Lord Andre, why do you look so troubled? Please don’t tell me that the arrangement has busted. I have already recruited a lot of pharmacists. I really don’t know what to do with them if I cannot take over Godswamp Pharmacy.”
Andre’s look loosened up slightly after he saw that Han Shuo had arrived. He forced a smile, shook his head, and replied, “It’s not as bad as you imagine, but there is indeed some trouble. You should know that the Sainte Family is big and has lots of noisy, talking mouths. Sometimes, even my brother and I must bow to their will.
“The assets previously owned by the Godswamp Pharmacy are worth around five million black crystal coins. My original plan was for you to pay some crystal coins and slowly reimburse the rest after your pharmacy starts turning a profit. However, during the recent period of time, there have been some in my family that are very noisy. They feel that the terms are too charitable to you and proposed all sorts of conditions. Sigh, even I can’t do much about it!”
“What conditions exactly?” Han Shuo creased his brows and asked. He could understand the tough spot Andre was in.
“Accounting for the fact that you have saved Carmelita’s life twice, they want you to either come up with three million black crystal coins or, to jointly operate the Godswamp Pharmacy with the House of Sainte – which, in reality, will be you running the business while the House of Sainte sits there and takes a portion of the profits!” Andre had an embarrassed smile on his face as he said, “Bryan, I have a few paternal cousins in the family. Although their strengths are nothing remarkable, they still have some status and say in the family. I can’t do much without unanimous approval of the family clan.”
It wasn’t the first day that Han Shuo had arrived in the City of Shadows and he knew a thing or two about how large family clans functioned. In the House of Sainte, although the brothers of Wallace and Andre held the highest status, they were not the definitive authority. Although the strengths of their paternal cousins were nothing impressive, given their seniority, sometimes even Wallace and Andre had to bow to their wills.
However, Han Shuo wouldn’t believe that Wallace and Andre had not the slightest selfish motives at all! The assets of the Godswamp Pharmacy in the City of Shadows were no small sum. Han Shuo knew that Wallace and Andre would want something in return for handing the assets to him.
Han Shuo knew that it was unrealistic to take over the assets of five million black crystal coins for basically nothing and he had the intention of slowly reimbursing the House of Sainte in the future. However, this unexpected hurdle showed up at the last minute.
“How exactly will the profit sharing they proposed work?” Han Shuo thought for a moment and asked.
“Thirty-Seventy. You take thirty percent and the House of Sainte takes seventy percent of future profits. You don’t have to reimburse any crystal coins if you agree to this,” Andre hesitated for a moment before saying in a rather embarrassed manner.
Han Shuo furrowed his brows. If Han Shuo agreed to this proposal, a great portion of future profits would go to the House of Sainte. This was obviously inconsistent with Han Shuo’s plan.
“Lord Andre, can you help me sell some divine essence?” Han Shuo asked after weighing over in his mind for a moment.
“Divine essence? You have divine essence?” Andre was stunned. He wasn’t sure he heard it right.
“I discovered a divine essence deposit and mined it soon after I arrived on Elysium. I know that divine essences are precious and valuable. I never had the courage to reveal them because I know I am weak. But now that I’m in urgent need of a large sum of crystal coins, I have to liquidate them. Would Lord Andre be so kind as to help?” If it wasn’t for the unique circumstances, Han Shuo wouldn’t be willing to let go of his divine essences. But as to prevent the House of Sainte from taking a huge cut of his profits, Han Shuo had no better option.
“No problem. No matter how or where you get those things from, as long as you can come up with three million black crystal coins to stuff those people’s mouths, the Godswamp Pharmacy will be yours. Actually, my original intention was for you to pay several ten thousand black crystal coins upfront and for you to slowly repay two million black crystal coins in the future. However, those old codgers just wouldn’t trust you. I feel very helpless about it as well. My apologies, Bryan!” said Andre.
“It’s alright!” Han Shuo replied smilingly. Right after, he took out the divine essences in his possession and laid them all out before Andre.
Of the divine essences he originally possessed, those of earth energy had been handed to earth elite zombie before he departed while those of death and destruction energies, Han Shuo had used up all of them on himself. Han Shuo also decided not to reveal the few pieces of divine essences of life energy as he was in the Darkness Dominion.
With that, twenty-two pieces of wind divine essences and eighteen pieces of lightning divine essences were laid out in front of Andre. Han Shuo asked, “That’s all that I have. Are they worth three million black crystal coins? If it’s not enough I can find ways to make it up.” Han Shuo was aware that Akley was still in possession of some divine essence. He intended to take down the Godswamp Pharmacy by hook or by crook.
There was always a risk in Han Shuo outing so many divine essences at once. However, Andre, as a high-ranking member in the House of Sainte, was definitely not an unsophisticated man. Han Shuo believed that he would certainly not do anything reckless even with so many divine essences laid before him. And above all, Han Shuo had confidence in Andre and believed that his presence in the City of Shadows would benefit the House of Sainte. It was for these reasons that Han Shuo dared to do so.
“In the City of Shadows, a piece of divine essence of wind is valued at around sixty thousand black crystal coins. Lightning divine essence is slightly more expensive at around seventy thousand black crystal coins. So, these divine essences here could sell for approximately two and half a million black crystal coins.” Andre thought for a moment with his brows bunched before he proposed, “How about this: I will make up for the half a million and Carmelita will have ten percent of the profits that Celestial Pearl makes in the future. Ten percent isn’t too big a sum. In addition, the existence of this relationship will grant your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy conveniences in performing most things in the City of Shadows. What’s your take?”
As ten percent was a negligible amount to Han Shuo, and on top of that, the beneficiary was Carmelita, Han Shuo did not hesitate at all and agreed to it.
“Wait here while I discuss this with them. I believe they will have no objection!” Andre let out a sigh of relief and rapidly headed to a dark and tall building near the back of the Sainte Residence.
An hour later, Andre returned with a smile on his face and a stack of documents in his hands. He handed them to Han Shuo and said, “These documents prove that you have complete ownership of all those properties and assets previously owned by the Godswamp Pharmacy. From today onwards, all the shops and resources of the Godswamp Pharmacy located in the City of Shadows and her satellite towns are all yours! Congratulations, Bryan!”
“Thank you, thank you. Hehe…” Han Shuo had a big smile on his face and passed those divine essences to Andre. He then asked, “How is Carmelita doing? Is she getting better?”
Andre put away the divine essences and replied with a smile, “Don’t worry, she’s doing fine.” After taking a short pause, he continued, “Speaking of Carmelita, I have to thank you yet again. With these divine essences, we can exchange for more destruction divine essences for her. My family clan has invested a lot of resources for this girl to recover sooner. Hopefully, she won’t suffer any more injuries.”
Han Shuo’s heart had long flown to the heavens after he received those documents. After hearing Andre’s reply, he got up and said smilingly, “Glad she’s fine. Erm, I need to hurry and settle the business with Godswamp Pharmacy. I shall stop bothering you.”
“You are going to be very busy for some time. Haha, go ahead.” Andre knew that Han Shuo was excited to start taking over the Godswamp Pharmacy. He let Han Shuo leave and did not exchange pleasantries.
During their journey back, Andrina asked Han Shuo, “Bryan, do you think that guy has any selfish motives?”
“Definitely!” Han Shuo let out a soft chuckle and explained, “Given how enormous the assets and resources of the Godswamp Pharmacy were, considering the outstanding reputation and strength of our Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, it is without a doubt that in the future, the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy will supersede and surpass the Godswamp Pharmacy before its collapse. I reckon that Andre wants to gain some benefits for his House of Sainte by getting a portion of the profits. Otherwise, given the power and statuses Wallace and Andre have in the Sainte Family, although difficult, they could keep their parental cousins silent, if they really wanted to. But Andre sure did not expect that I was in possession so many divine essences. Hehe.”
“Is he going to find ways to hinder you?” Andrina bunched her brows and asked.
Han Shuo shook his head and replied smilingly, “Don’t worry, he is a smart man. Besides, I have given him so much divine essence. For the House of Sainte, my presence is beneficial to the City of Shadows. Their House of Sainte is in possession of all resources of the city and definitely wouldn’t make life difficult for me over this bit of interest. There will be plenty of things they need to rely on me for!”
***After Han Shuo left, Andre fiddled with the divine essences in his hand while he remarked to himself smilingly, “I really can’t wrap my head around this youngster. Divine essence deposit? Just how recent has he been on Elysium? Sigh. Miscalculation, a miscalculation indeed. How would the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy in the future be valued at merely three million black crystal coins? This youngster is very cunning indeed!”