Chapter 768: Big Shot
Although they had the permit, the Tower of Dusk did not use it often, and would usually just bribe the guards with some gold coins. After all, they would still have to obey the unspoken rules. Anyway, they didn’t have to spend much this way, either.
However, Gavin could tell that the guards were obviously out to create trouble. It was something that could not be settled easily with money. Hence, he didn’t say much after seeing the situation, and simply handed over the permit that Duke Andre had signed personally.
“Oh?” The officer grabbed the document in Gavin’s hands, and seemed to have originally intended to read it under the light of the torch, but when he moved the torch closer, he burned it instead. The pass was made of paper, so it immediately turned into ashes because it wasn’t a magical item.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I was too careless,” he said, clearly not apologetic at all. Instead, he seemed rather smug and proud of himself. He glanced at Gavin, and said, “Are you the leader of this caravan? Someone reported that your goods contain prohibited item. Please get your people to put their weapons down for inspection.”
Even a fool could tell that it was definitely not a careless mistake. The fact that he even dared to burn Duke Andre’s permit showed that he was definitely a big shot. Gavin began to feel a little worried too. After all, he was not in his own territory. Although the development of the Tower of Dusk was already rapid and intrepid, they couldn’t compare to a strong nation.
“Huh, what? Magical Crystal Cannons? The Tower of Dusk is really wealthy, eh!” exclaimed General Clark, who was the commander of the Northwest Legion of the Ledin Kingdom. He couldn’t believe his ears when he’d heard the news from his subordinates. 15 magical crystals were worth a total of nearly 10,000,000 gold coins. Most importantly, if it were just ordinary goods, he wouldn’t be able to do anything to them other than create trouble for the group. However, it was different for magical Crystal Cannons because they were prohibited weapons.
“General, what should we do about these people?” said the officer, who was the same one who burned Gavin’s pass. Obviously, he was not a city guard of Tolon City.
“What else is there to do? Detain them. I shall see how capable they are. How dare they disregard me!” General Clark tried to stop himself from feeling smug as he spoke coldly to his subordinate.
Actually, while those Magical Crystal Cannons might be expensive, they would only be valuable if there was demand for them. If no one wanted them, they would be nothing but a pile of scrap iron. The 15 Magical Crystal Cannons were worth nearly 10,000,000 gold coins, but if Clark were to really confiscate them, he probably wouldn’t be able to sell a single one. The high price of the Magical Crystal Cannons was one aspect, but more importantly, the number of magical crystals required to use them was simply not affordable for ordinary people.
Pure mana was required for the magical Crystal Cannons, and that kind of mana could only be supplied by magical crystals. Besides, it couldn’t be an ordinary magical crystal. Even a level-15 magical crystal would only last for 10 shots. Even if one could afford it, they might not be able to use it. Apart from Lin Li who had excavated various treasure ruins and gained a massive amount of wealth, no one else could afford to supply the Magical Crystal Cannons with mana.
The Dwarf Kingdom could produce Magical Crystal Cannons for their own use, but so far, there were only 18 magical Crystal Cannons on their city walls. Besides, it was said that the kings of the Dwarf Kingdom were all been banned from using the cannons unless they were on the verge of death and faced with formidable enemies.
Of course, Clark was not a thief, and he didn’t want to confiscate those goods to sell them. Hence, it didn’t matter how valuable they were. The most important thing was how valuable they were to the Tower of Dusk.
Clark had just been transferred to the Northwest Legion as a general, being responsible for the defense of the northwest of the Ledin Kingdom. Hence, it was not an exaggeration to say that the entire northwestern region was his territory. Shortly after he rose to the position, his subordinates reported to him that the caravan of the Tower of Dusk was delivering a lot of important goods to the relevant nobles and officials. However, he was not included.
In fact, Clark did not really care about that small amount of money, and he merely thought of them as a caravan from a foreign force. However, it was a matter of pride to him because he was the only one who was excluded from the list of officials who were supposed to receive gifts. That would only reflect badly on him.
Of course, after discovering that the confiscated goods were actually 15 Magical Crystal Cannons, Clark also knew that the gifts that the other officials were receiving were also exorbitant. That made him find it difficult to suppress his anger. As a general, he had never heard of the Tower of Dusk before. Even the members of the Supreme Council, with the exception of the powerhouses of the Sanctuary-realm, would have to follow his rules.
“But, General, Duke Andre seems to be very close to this Tower of Dusk. After all, he is the cousin of His Majesty…” Although the young officer was very courageous and brave, he could not help but be worried that Clark wouldn’t defend him. After all, without Clark, he was just a small officer who would be insignificant to Clark.
“Andre? He’s a royal and a believer of the Holy Light, and yet he colluded with heretics to smuggle prohibited weapons? Would he dare to come forth!?” Although Clark was only a viscount, he was also an army commander and general, and was really not afraid of Andre, who was only respected because of his title.
On the Holy Mountain of the Brilliance Shrine, Lin Li did not read the Light Bible. Instead, he was explaining some pharmaceutical problems to the higher-ups of the Brilliance Shrine in a pharmaceutical lab.
“Master Felic, regarding the technique you mentioned yesterday, I practiced it continuously when I went back, but I still can’t meet the minimum requirements in terms of speed. Do you have any special tricks or technique for that?” asked Fergor, who now seemed just like an elementary school student as he stared at Lin Li sincerely.
Lin Li seemed to have also gotten into the zone as he said sternly like a strict teacher, “Speed? You’re trying to formulate potions, not perform acrobatics. Rhythm is what you need, do you understand? The heating duration for various herbs and the timing for specific actions are all a kind of rhythm. What is speed? If you’re looking to be fast, you might as well cook all the herbs in one pot!”
However, after being harshly reprimanded by Lin Li, Fergor was not at all infuriated. Instead, he was overjoyed. The people beside Fergor, such as Archbishop Domingo and Head Holliard, surprisingly did not make fun of Fergor. Instead, they focused on noting down everything that Lin Li said in their own journals.
It couldn’t be helped. Lin Li was a pharmaceutics Guru, and anyone could tell that Lin Li was already prepared to leave. Hence, it might just be their last lesson. If they wanted to ask him any more questions in the future, they would have to look for him at the Tower of Dusk. For ordinary people, that wouldn’t be an issue. However, they were big shots of the Brilliance Shrine, and any slight movement of theirs would involve various other issues. Hence, they couldn’t just go anywhere they wanted.
However, just as everyone was lamenting about time passing too quickly, a pastor arrived and fearfully said, “Master Felic, there’s someone outside asking to see you. He claims to be Gavin from the Tower of Dusk, and says that there’s something important that he’d like to see you for.”
Hearing this, the senior executives’ faces grew sullen. Since someone from the Tower of Dusk had arrived, it was clear that it was time for their pharmaceutics lesson to end.
Lin Li found it bizarre as well. After all, Gavin had been responsible for most of the affairs of the Tower of Dusk, and he also had the power to make most decisions. Even if something major had happened, Gavin probably would have just sent someone over to relay the message while he tended to the Tower of Dusk.
“Yeah, I know, you don’t need to bring him here. I’ll just go look for him,” said Lin Li, who then headed to the foot of the Holy Mountain by himself without waiting for Gavin to be brought there in order to save time.
“Wait a minute, Master Felic, I’ll go with you. I have a question, and I’d like to ask you for guidance,” Holliard interjected as he frantically scurried over to chase after Lin Li. Clearly, no matter what the issue was, Lin Li was going to leave anyway. Otherwise, he could have just made Gavin to come upstairs and report the situation to him.
Lin Li did not refuse. Anyway, he could not fly on the Holy Mountain, and walking wouldn’t take up much of his time anyway. Even if the higher-ups of the Brilliance Shrine had no issues, they had all improved greatly in the past few days under his guidance. At this moment, it was necessary for one of them to see him off. Since everyone knew that he was cooperating with the Brilliance Shrine, they wouldn’t arouse any suspicion.
Yet, after they made it to the foot of the mountain, everyone got a great shock. Although they had long heard about the pharmaceutical business cooperation between the Brilliance Shrine and the Tower of Dusk, the scene was a bit too flabbergasting. Lin Li was walking in front, while Holliard, the head of the Holy Paladins, was following him and asking him some questions eagerly. Fergor was walking behind them together with the other big shots of the Brilliance Shrine, such as Archbishop Englos, Archbishop Domingo, and Cardinal Jefferson.
At the foot of the Holy Mountain, Gavin was pacing back and forth anxiously, and when he suddenly heard a greeting coming from afar, he quickly turned his head to look at the staircase of the Holy Mountain. Gavin thought that he understood Lin Li very well. After all, Archbishop Martin was the one who personally invited Lin Li to the Brilliance Shrine when he visited the Tower of Dusk.