Translator: SumTLMan
After seeing off Bass, Angel returned to the living room to find Nausica, Shalem, and David engaged in a lively conversation, laughter pouring out from their mouths. Upon entering, Shalem even gave Angel a suspicious snicker, and even the usually serious Nausica showed a faint dimpled smile.
As Angel drew closer, he realized that David was recounting the “glorious deeds” of the “Milk Baron” to them.
“Angel, why did you choose such a nickname?”
— None of your business!
“Angel, what’s your relationship with Saka?”
— Enemies!
“Angel, why did you kill the Parasite Mother?”
— Because she deserved it!
David was quite amiable, and despite meeting for the first time, their conversation flowed smoothly. However, by selling out Angel’s embarrassing stories, he had earned the respect of Shalem and Nausica. Such behavior was truly despicable!
As Shalem left, he whispered, “Angel, how come you have such interesting friends? You should have introduced us earlier!”
Just as Shalem exited, Nausica followed suit. Before leaving, she patted Angel’s shoulder and sighed, “You really know how to make a scene. I hope we can grow up to be strong enough to have your back sooner rather than later.”
Watching his two close friends depart, Angel remembered that Shalem’s words and expression didn’t quite match. He seemed relaxed when speaking but had a look of loss on his face.
Angel understood their feelings, but he couldn’t stop and wait for them. The path of a wizard was long, and the only time to stop was at the moment of death.
Back in the living room, David continued to wink and snicker at him. Promi approached and asked, “Did you come to an agreement with Bass?”
Angel nodded, “We did. Bass truly lives up to his reputation as a genius of his time. I don’t know his true strength, but his unyielding spirit and flexibility are indeed beyond my reach. In terms of insight into people’s hearts, he is a born wizard.”
Promi also nodded, “I knew he would see through it.”
“Then why did you have me play along with your charade?”
“There’s no contradiction in that. I was merely informing him of a fact – that creating the weapon he wants is indeed difficult. He only needed to accept this information. Our performance was to ensure he would offer his utmost sincerity.” Promi grinned, “Transparent-minded people like him enjoy the thrill of having full control over the situation. Our performance was actually a form of respect for his intelligence.”
Promi spoke earnestly, “Don’t overthink it. Just enjoy the benefits you’ve gained.”
Angel cast a sidelong glance at Promi and couldn’t help but sigh inwardly: Indeed, one should never underestimate anyone. Promi had truly grown wise with age, and perhaps Bays had waited until they were alone to point it out because he saw through Promi’s thoughts. They were all sly foxes, and he was just an innocent rabbit caught in the middle.
Promi didn’t inquire about the materials Angel had obtained, merely stopping after mentioning it. His intentions were as transparent as Bays’.
Angel sat back down on the sand and took out a silver revolver from his pocket, placing it on the table.
Upon seeing the silver revolver, Promi’s eyes instantly lit up with surprise and delight, even stammering as he spoke, “This is…”
“A revolver engraved with the Prelude of Death.”
…
After Promi left, Angel let out a long yawn. He had been working for nearly thirty hours straight and was utterly exhausted. When he returned to his bedroom to rest, he discovered that Toby had woken up and was sitting on his little bed, pecking at a small capsule.
Although its injuries had healed significantly, it had been very sleepy these days due to blood loss. This was the first time it had played so cheerfully.
Angel leaned in to pet Toby, only to find that the capsule it was playing with was actually… a spatial capsule.
Upon asking with a puzzled expression, Toby lazily gestured that it had been left by Promi earlier.
Angel probed with his mental tentacle and discovered that the spatial capsule contained dozens of books.
Upon closer inspection, most of these books were related to alchemy and concoction. Although Angel had these books as well, the classic examples and Promi’s personal annotations within them were far more precious than the books themselves.
One of the books at the bottom was a particularly unique leatherless volume. As Angel opened the first page, he was stunned.
—Promi’s Alchemy Notebook—.
This was an alchemist’s most treasured personal record. Angel also had his own alchemy notebook, documenting his personal insights and experiences since he crafted his first piece.
Had Promi actually gifted him something so precious?
Angel quickly flipped through several pages, and as he followed the progression from the naive writing and thinking at the beginning to the increasingly skilled operations, it was as if he were accompanying Promi on a journey through the depths of alchemy.
On the last page, Angel read the message Promi had left for him:
“Angel, thank you for your help. I know you wouldn’t want magic crystals, so take these things that are useless to me as a token of gratitude. —Best wishes, from someone who gazes up at you at the foot of Alchemy Mountain.”
“Useless things?” Angel shook his head and chuckled softly. Indeed, they were useless to Promi, but for Angel, they were priceless treasures.
As Promi said, if he had given him magic crystals, Angel would have returned them. However, Promi gave him these items instead, which he originally intended to use to repay his life-saving debt with the Silver Revolver.
But now, perhaps the debt had been repaid, and their relationship had grown deeper.
In all likelihood, this was what Promi had wanted.
“Truly a cunning old fox,” Angel sighed once more before throwing himself onto the bed, “I can’t bear to refuse!”
Upon waking, it was already the following morning.
Today was the 6th day of the latter half of the Month of Repose, with 11 days left before the Month of Harvest (August). His current balance was less than 2,000 magic crystals. Even after delivering Bass’s custom weapon in two days, he would still have less than 20,000 magic crystals. Reaching 100,000 magic crystals would be difficult.
However, Angel didn’t worry too much. He had many items he could exchange for magic crystals, and if worse came to worst, he could sell the Fragment Ephemera for a stable 100,000 magic crystals.
But Angel didn’t plan to sell the Fragment Ephemera until the very last step.
Angel headed to the basement to work harder on Bass’s custom weapon and had another plan. If that plan succeeded, he could earn 100,000 magic crystals without relying on the Fragment Ephemera!
Before going to the basement, Angel opened the curtain and glanced outside. The number of people guarding outside had decreased significantly, but there were still a few, occasionally looking towards his villa.
These were ordinary people. Angel guessed they must be the eyes and ears of some wizard apprentices.
Such a blatant display of surveillance right in front of his house was audacious. Annoyed, Angel closed the curtain. He had even deliberately stood by the door for a while when he sent Promi away the day before, but those people never came to him.
He wished he could paste on his forehead: Accepting orders! Alchemy orders! Master here, don’t miss your chance!
He had planned to swindle a few more wealthy and gullible targets like Bass. However, no one came to negotiate with him.
If they weren’t here for alchemy, then what were they doing outside his door? Acting as doormen?
Angel returned to the underground laboratory with a disgruntled mood.
For Bass’s custom weapon this time, he still planned to use the revolver as the main body. However, he changed a few materials to increase heat resistance and stability. As Bass primarily wanted group attacks, the power usage would undoubtedly be at its maximum, so heat resistance was a top priority.
With the change in materials, the final forging results also differed.
A day later, when the sky was once again covered with layers of dark clouds, the 8th Apprentice Town became the center of attention once more. Even some senior apprentices residing in Tree Spirit Courtyard made a special trip to visit.
At this time, however, Angel was admiring his new creation.
Different from “Reincarnation”—the name given to the silver revolver by Promi—this was an ancient bronze revolver. It was crafted the same way as “Reincarnation,” but the engraved runes were not as intricate. It was merely polished casually, with a deepened grid pattern at the grip.
Had it not been for providing a non-slip grip for the user, Angel wouldn’t have even bothered with the grid pattern.
As long as the performance wasn’t compromised, Angel didn’t care about aesthetics in order to save time.
Despite lacking engravings, the ancient bronze revolver still looked beautiful – at least to Angel, it was a low-key luxury.
After completing the crafting process, Angel hadn’t even warmed up his hands when he heard a knock on the door.
Angel returned from the basement, yawning as he glanced outside. As he expected, due to the reappearance of the strange omen, there were more people lingering outside.
“This omen is so annoying. Will I really have to do alchemy in remote mountains and wilderness in the future?” Angel muttered as he opened the door and stepped into the courtyard.
His appearance attracted many people’s gazes. This time, they were no longer cold onlookers but actively approached him.
Seeing this, Angel snorted. They hadn’t approached him when he stood at the door trying to accept orders the day before; now it was too late! Yesterday’s Angel was not today’s Angel!
Only then did Angel focus on the entrance to the courtyard, wondering who had knocked on the door. If it was someone seeking his alchemy services, unless it was an order worth over 50,000, they need not speak. As Angel contemplated how to coldly refuse, he realized the person standing at the entrance was none other than Bass.
Today’s Bass was no longer wearing the plain gray robe from the day before. Instead, he donned a flamboyant red, finely tailored coat and white pants with gold trim. Even his hair was styled extravagantly, complementing his aggressive appearance.
Angel opened the door, and Bass greeted him with a faint smile, “I followed the omen here. Has Mr. Pat successfully completed the alchemy?”
This question made him quite embarrassed… He had just said it was difficult to craft, yet it was done the next day. Wasn’t this slapping his own face?
“Uh, more or less,” Angel responded vaguely as he welcomed Bass inside.
“The omen is exactly the same. It seems Mr. Pat is quite skilled in his alchemy,” Bass said with a seemingly amused expression.