Chapter 45: Sky-high Price
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Not long after the richest man in Jarrosus left, Gerian came over with a creepy look on his face.
“That kid wants to discuss a business deal with you, are you interested?”
Lin Li knew the old fellow had to have gotten something good judging by the look on his face. “What business deal? Tell me…”
“Three bottles of Magicka Potion. As for the rewards…” Gerian raised up three fingers and his expression was slightly exaggerated. “You get to choose any three items from the Mannes Family’s equipment bank!”
“Not interested!” Lin Li replied without even thinking about it.
“F*ck!” Gerian felt his legs turn weak, and his old illness almost relapsed from the scare. The old man barely managed to steady himself by holding onto the chair and didn’t even have the time to straighten his tilted hat; utterly discomfited, he roared, “You’re not interested?!”
Faced with the President’s sudden rage, the group of mages were scared silly at once. They looked at Gerian with trepidation and desperately shrank back for fear that the old fellow might spill blood on them. For the moment, there was a big space around Lin Li, and he sat there by himself as if nothing had happened and still had the time to stretch out his hand and point to Gerian’s head, kindly reminding him of his image.
“Your hat is tilted…”
“Oh…” Gerian was taken by surprise at his words and quickly straightened his mage hat. But halfway through, he remembered the reason for his anger. “Damn it, don’t change the topic. I’m asking you a question, are you sick? The Mannes Family’s hoard is something that many people could not dream about. You get to choose any three items from them and you’re still not interested? Are you trying to piss me off, you little bastard?”
“Sit down first, I’ll explain to you slowly…” Lin Li pulled Gerian back to his seat and continued, “Say, you’re an old man, how could you still have such a big temper? It’ll hurt your health if you get too agitated easily… To tell you the truth, it doesn’t pay for this business.”
“How does it not pay?” As soon as Gerian heard the word ‘business’, all his anger was gone. In particular, he was dumbfounded when he heard that it would not pay, and looked at Lin Li with confusion on his face.
“The Magicka Potion is not that easy to concoct as you think it may be.”
Gerian got anxious at his words. “Even you’re unable to concoct it?”
“Not that it can’t be concocted, it’s just that the ingredients are not easy to get.” Lin Li shook his head and held out his hand, counting each and every one out for Gerian. “The essence of two elements, fire and water, the blood of a high-level demon, magical crystal above level-fifteen. Can you get all these items?”
“I have a level-fifteen magical crystal, as for the others…”
“So, don’t think about it.”
Lin Li concluded with the sentence.
Actually, there was another reason that he did not reveal—mainly because he was worried it might frighten Gerian. The old man was 60-something this year, and if anything happened to him, it would lay heavy on Lin Li’s conscience.
The Mannes Family was indeed the richest in Jarrosus. Lin Li had no doubt they had an abundant collection in the family. But choosing three pieces of equipment had no meaning for Lin Li. He was a guru well-versed in five series; as long as the ingredients on hand were enough, was there any equipment he couldn’t get?
Gerian pondered over it and was unwilling to give up. “If not, I’ll go ask Ysera again to see if he has enough ingredients?”
“Then you go and find out first…” Lin Li was not really interested in this deal, but Gerian was so enthusiastic it didn’t seem nice to cast a damp over it.
At this time, he was actually more concerned about the auction going on in the hall.
There were only ten Arcane Magic Potion bottles left now, but out of the three families, two still had their eyes on them.
Particularly the Saruman Family, which hadn’t gotten a single bottle yet. Now, the three bottles had completely driven them to the edge of the cliff. It was just as what Old Merlin had said before: 30 level-five mages coming into their own hands would be an icing on the cake, but if it fell into the hands of a rival, it would definitely be a deadly threat.
“500,000!” So, Kevin’s gavel had just come down when Reuben Saruman announced a startling figure.
Lin Li and Gerian looked at each other. The auction had far exceeded their estimates—hundreds of thousands of gold coins and 100 sets of excellent magic equipment; if the last ten bottles were sold for a sky-high price, the two men would probably be reduced to the point of smashing people with money.
Both their eyes were glowing, but Little Merlin Evan was utterly regretful.
If he’d known that things were going to get this far, he would have made his move sooner. Nine bottles were sold off consecutively earlier on, and if he had gotten them, he wouldn’t have been forced to fight at such a close range with the Saruman Family. Reuben Saruman was a lunatic, and a lunatic would not reason with you. Just look, this bastard had offered the princely sum of 500,000 at the beginning. Was he going to leave a damn way for others?
Little Merlin felt his scalp bursting at that price, but he had no choice except to shore up his offer. Before he left the house, Matthew had instructed him to at least get ten bottles of Arcane Magic Potion back. There was only a pitiful three bottles with him now, not even half of ten bottles…
“550,000!” Little Merlin said with utmost resolution, going completely head on with Reuben Saruman.
But what kind of a character was Reuben Saruman? He was someone who said he’d kill his father and brother and really did it without even batting his eyelids. He raised the price by another 100,000 once more. “650,000!”
Little Merlin felt his heart bleeding. He only had 800,000 gold coins with him. If he went with that lunatic Reuben’s increment speed, it would only take two rounds for him to be kicked out of the contest for the Arcane Magic Potion.
“700,000!” Little Merlin felt his liver churn when he shouted the price out…
“800,000!”
As soon as Reuben Saruman uttered the price, everyone present fully believed the fellow to be a lunatic. 800,000 gold coins were thrown out without even a wrinkling of his brows. This was an absolute sky-high price! So what if this was the Arcane Magic Potion? With this 800,000 gold coins, you could get ten level-five mages with a just a throw of the money…
“…” Little Merlin could see nothing but blackness, and blood was almost spat out from his mouth. This fellow was really a lunatic. He didn’t even have the strength to speak; he barely managed to lift his arm, and with the idea of leaving things to luck at last, he quoted a price with much difficulty, “8… 820,000…”
“You win.”