Chapter 8 Wisdom Brain <TOC> Chapter 10 The Talking Bat
Translator: SumTLMan
Pythius returned to the medical room with the usual expression and was relieved to see Rayne still waiting obediently.
When Rayne saw the door open to the room, he took the initiative to step forward with a look of anticipation on his face and offered a greeting.
“Mr Pythius, you’re back…”
“Mhmm.”
The old man nodded and said straight away: “I’ve already told Quinn that you’ll be working in the lab with me from now on… If you really have the talent to become a doctor, I’ll teach you all about magic potions…”
“Really?!”
Rayne said, pretending to be overjoyed: “Thank you, Mr Pythius.”
Each man had their own agenda, and the two began competing to see who was the better actor.
……
“Since you’ve now become my disciple, let me also send you a gift.”
And that’s when, to Rayne’s surprise, old man Pythius didn’t immediately ask about what had happened in the sewers, but instead took the initiative to show his goodwill by handing him a black iron magic potion!
Rayne said: “A gift? This is…”
“I see you’ve reached the critical threshold for your awakening, and I have in my hands a freshly refined genetic magic potion…”
Pythius proudly introduced his creation by saying: “This magic potion is called [Trickster], it’s a genetic magic potion for the assassin sequence. It has a high bonus to agility attributes, and I bet you won’t find a better first-order genetic magic potion in the entire ‘Demon Weasel Bandits’…”
Rayne followed his lead and said in mocked amazement: “Ah? This magic potion… Is it better than [Divine Thief]?”
“[Divine Thief]? Ha ha…”
Pythius looked at him disdainfully and pointed to the test tube: “This [Trickster] isn’t a standard black iron grade, but a ‘superior black iron grade’ magic potion! This potion is a rare commodity, worth no less than 300,000 lire. It’s still rare that someone would be willing to offer something like this up for auction.”
Rayne was also genuinely surprised by the price and exclaimed: “Three… Three hundred thousand lire? So expensive!”
(Price Unit: 10,000 Copper Lire = 100 Silver Naira = 1 Gold Kroner)
One has to know that even if someone was a bandit, they would only be rewarded 10-20,000 lire for a standard robbery mission… In this world, 50,000 lire is enough to cover the cost of living for a year for this world’s commoners.
And if this superior black iron magic potion was worth that much, what about the superior yellow gold grade [Corpse Stitcher] he was holding?
Rayne vaguely felt that he had discovered a way to get rich in this new world.
So, is this how one makes money as a magic potion master?
Of course, it is! The better the grade of the genetic magic potion, the more it’ll be worth.
Pythius was satisfied with seeing Rayne’s shock expression at this moment as he proudly said: “[Trickster]’s agility attribute increase is even stronger than the average white silver magic potion, and the subsequent progression options are also extensive… It’s one of the most ideal choices for awakening the agile assassin transcendence sequence!”
“Oh my god, is this a superior black iron grade magic potion?! Mr Pythius, are you… Really giving this to me?”
Rayne had a flattered and excited expression on his face.
Suppose he hadn’t received Baron Maureen’s treasures. In that case, he might’ve coveted this superior black iron magic potion, which, as the old man had said, would’ve allowed him to overwhelmingly outclass the other recruits in his group.
But in reality, nine words flashed through his mind like a barrage: If you don’t have desires, you aren’t a thief.
This old man was so willing to throw down some bait, could it be that he knew something he didn’t?
However, this magic potion had come at the right time. After all, advancing to transcendence is a considerable change, and this cover was just enough to hide the fact that he was going to take [Corpse Stitcher] to awaken.
“Hmm.”
Pythius spared Rayne a thoughtful glance: “Since I promised to accept you as my disciple, this magic potion is of course for you…”
This old bastard naturally understood the principle of not raising a pup into a wolf.
Since he guessed that Rayne had a big secret under his lips, he wanted to give him a taste of sweetness and take the initiative to loosen them up.
Rayne was very receptive of the old man’s offer and hadn’t waited for the old man to continue speaking.
With an excited expression of gratitude, he asked straightforwardly: “Hey teacher, I want to report what had happened in the small waterway!”
…….
Now we’re getting somewhere.
Pythius had been waiting for this moment, and there was a subtle glint in his eyes.
But on his face, he still acted indifferently: “Oh? Tell me about it…”
“Well… I was in the sewers, me and Captain Tyger and the others were on guard…”
Rayne then told the fabricated story.
He explained that after the explosion went off, he was inexplicably poisoned, and in a daze, it seemed that someone had given him an antidote… Then, in his mind, he didn’t know if it was a hallucination or if it had actually happened, his mind was filled with fragmented memories.
He acted very similarly to what he had seen in a drama in his previous life where the actor had amnesia and was trying to recall what had happened.
In a nutshell: He had a vague impression, but he couldn’t recall the details.
As to why Baron Maureen did what he did, who knows?
It takes ten lies to make up for one flaw, and the more lies you tell someone, the more flaws are revealed.
On the contrary, a single “I can’t remember clearly” sentence can be an easy way to get by.
This is a world of transcendence, and it’s only natural to have some strange abilities.
Perhaps Maureen was confused before he died and mistook him for someone else? Or maybe it was something else entirely…
But it didn’t matter.
Dead men tell no tales anyway.
……
From what this boy had said, it should be a form of “mental transmission”. Maureen is a magic potion master, so it’s normal to have learned this technique… But why would he do what he did…
After listening to Rayne’s fragmentary account, Pythius had filled in many details on his own.
Although he wondered about Maureen’s motives in the story, he was more concerned about the treasure and asked again: “Are you saying that… Baron Maureen still owns a secret property at 88 Maple Street in ‘Blazing Steel Fortress’, where he had hidden what he left behind?”
“Yes!”
Rayne nodded with a sincere expression.
It was the half-truths and lies that were most convincing.
For it wasn’t all nonsense, Baron Maureen’s diary did record such a property.
Of course, there were some less important articles stored in that location.
No one but himself saw the diary anyway. It wasn’t clear what amazing treasures Maureen had left behind, so it was an excellent idea to muddle through with this story.
Sure enough, when Pythius heard the words, he muttered the address over and over again: “88 Maple Street…”
He hadn’t expected to find out what the “big secret” was straight away but instead got this story as a result.
If he wanted to verify the truth of Rayne’s story, he would’ve had to go to Blazing Steel Fortress to confirm it.
But that would take at least a few days.
Pythius’s intuition made him think that the boy wasn’t telling the whole truth, or at least he had something to hide.
But he couldn’t force the issue.
Rayne didn’t give the old man the chance to ask any more questions and continued: “Teacher, my memory is a bit fuzzy after the poisoning, as if Baron Maureen had told me some other information, but I can’t clearly recall it. Perhaps if I rest for a few more days, I’ll be able to remember some more…”
Naturally, this was said for fear that the old man would cross the river and burn the bridge.
It also gave Pythius a hint that he was being “clever”.
After all, Rayne was a reborn person, and he knew very well that only when there was an exchange of interests could there be value in his life.
“Oh?”
Pythius listened, a glint of amusement passing through his cloudy eyes, and said calmly: “Then remember to let me know if you remember anything else later.”
After all, he also holds a card up his sleeve.
The cure to [Zombie Potion] was his greatest bargaining chip.
Leaving the initiative always in his hands!