This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 252 - 233: Making Alchemy Great Again

Chapter 252: Chapter 233: Making Alchemy Great Again

In the pitch-dark Underground City, Amberser was casting the World Weaving Spell.

But this time, without a hapless soul to provide him with a tremendous amount of magic, Amberser could only consume the gold from the Golden Throne.

It was a true sparing of no expense, but in order to transform the Underground City as soon as possible, Amberser had no other choice.

The world turned into a canvas, on which Amberser could freely paint, transforming the world into whatever he desired.

"First, let’s unearth this entire city," Amberser said.

His fingers slid through the air, the sands and stones, which had existed for who knows how many years, began to loosen. What used to take dozens of strikes with a shovel to chip away a little bit now fell like water, and then was channeled into those empty houses.

Amberser’s senses spread out, and the buried city began to reveal its true form.

Just as he had assessed before, this was a gigantic city shaped like a pentagram, estimated to be similar in size to Alchemy City’s main city, large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people... However, considering that the original residents were of the Giant Race, the city might only have been sufficient to house fewer than ten thousand.

What pleased Amberser was that the areas that were revealed by the sunlight were hardly lacking in gold.

The Giant Race really did love gold; in the very center of the city, there was a statue made entirely of gold.

A pity, though, the statue had been squeezed by the sands and stones for many years and its original shape was no longer clear, with only its humanoid form roughly discernible.

Amberser made a rough estimate; the gold put together definitely amounted to over a hundred million Gold Coins.

"No wonder dwarves rely on tomb raiding to get rich; with so much gold in just any old underground city, after so many years of digging, just how much have they accumulated?" Amberser suddenly thought of visiting the dwarven treasury. Perhaps it could bring immense satisfaction to his life.

Unearthing the soil was just the first step; next, was to restore life to this city.

"First, this place needs a good ventilation system," he stated.

With Amberser’s manipulation, two eternal currents of air appeared above the city, making the polluted air much fresher.

"Then, I need a clean water source."

Water began to bubble up in the central square of the city and turned into a giant fountain. The clear water flowed, washing away dust and filth, giving the city the appearance of rebirth.

Standing beside Amberser, Harvey looked at everything before him and exclaimed in awe, "This is like creating the world, Teacher, this must be the power of a Deity, right?"

He had never even heard of the World Weaving Spell, and seeing such a scene with his own eyes, what was the difference between this and a Deity?

Is it that just a Legendary figure could wield such power?

But Amberser replied, "Compared to a Deity, it’s far behind. Do you think this water is created from nothing? This spell simply redirects an underground water source to this city according to my demands. The same goes for these winds, haven’t you noticed a change in the city’s temperature? The underground magma flows past the surroundings of the city in a clever way, causing a temperature difference at the southwestern corner, and that’s how these winds are created.

"World Weaving Spell cannot create from nothing; it can only change the environment. But a true Deity can completely alter the World Laws."

It was the same with the Golden Desert, where it only caused minor changes in the air, altering the refraction of sunlight; the same with the Orc Mountains, where perpetual thunderclouds were simply a change from potential thunderstorms to continuous ones.

At this mention, Amberser remembered the blessing Katherine had received, invulnerability under moonlight, that conceptual invincibility was truly a change in the World Laws.

Harvey could understand what Amberser meant, but he still said, "But to me, it seems almost like the powers of a Deity."

No matter how talented Harvey was, during the years he had been wandering, he had always dealt with the lowest of the low, he couldn’t even handle a punch from Hasting.

Amberser spoke to his world-unseasoned pupil, "As my student, you ought to look further ahead. With your talent, reaching the Legendary realm is not difficult; evaluate what a Deity is after that."

Harvey was indeed looking forward to this future, but as someone who had "died" once, he didn’t jump for joy like a child.

"Teacher, why are you transforming this underground city like this? The Undead don’t need air, nor do they need water," Harvey inquired.

Harvey did not ask if Amberser was remodeling for his sake because he well knew that if it was only him who needed water, Amberser would have told him to dig a well himself rather than spending so much gold to create a fountain.

Amberser explained, "Because I intend to turn this place into an Alchemy Factory, and a good ventilation system and clean water source are essential."

"An Alchemy Factory?"

"Yes, I need to make money, but I’m not talking about winning a few tens of thousands of Gold Coins at a casino, I mean earning billions of Gold Coins. With Alchemy City destroyed, the entire continent’s alchemy products have been affected. Although everyone now believes that alchemy brings destruction, they can’t live without alchemical potions, and soon these will be in short supply, which is a great opportunity to earn a fortune."

It’s easy to shift from frugality to extravagance but difficult to return to frugality from extravagance; alchemy has already become inseparable from this world. With the destruction of Alchemy City, the majority of the high-level alchemists have been wiped out, and the rest have become vermin of the streets—it’s unlikely that anyone else apart from Amberser has an entire Underground City to transform into an alchemy factory.

So making money was certain, but there was another thing Amberser did not say.

He wanted to revive alchemy, so his teacher could regain some strength.

More and more deities were being implicated, and the future was becoming more chaotic, Amberser’s only true trump card was this somewhat unreliable teacher.

However, the God of Alchemy was now relegated to weak divine power, and might not even be able to take a hit for him when the time came.

Amberser had no choice but to find a way to make alchemy indispensable and the absolute driving force of productivity once again.

This was not a straightforward matter, but Amberser already had some ideas.

However, to realize this plan, he first needed to build his own alchemy factory.

Amberser needed manpower, not the kind that constantly emitted a dark aura, corroding everything it touched, those lower-tier undead. These undead could only produce potions needed for necromancy spells, not potions fit for the living.

The undead could only grow a heap of rotting garbage even in farming.

For now, he only had three people he could use.

The brothers Hasting and Hales, and then there was Harvey.

That would suffice for the time being, as no skilled labor was needed for now.

Amberser handed a scroll to Harvey.

"This is the most advanced alchemy factory blueprint I found in the archives of Alchemy City. Study it thoroughly and then modify it according to our city. I don’t expect you to understand it completely, but at least re-plan each area properly for me,"

Harvey took it and saw dense characters and dazzling lines everywhere; he had never seen anything so complex in his life.

"Teacher, I have never dealt with alchemy," Harvey said a bit sheepishly.

Amberser said, "Use your brain. You’re a mage who relies on intellect, a mage from the School of Prophecy at that. Trust your intuition and give it some time; you will figure it out. When I first learned alchemy, I couldn’t even recognize the characters, but still, I managed to learn it."

Remembering his own circumstances when he first crossed over, Amberser had been in a much worse situation than Harvey, nowhere near such good conditions.

"So what will you be busy with, Teacher?" Harvey asked.

Amberser responded, "Of course, I’m going to make purchases. Do you think we can produce those alchemical equipment by hand? Even a mana refining furnace would take years to forge, so naturally, I’m going to buy them."

Harvey thought to himself that the so-called "buying" probably meant not paying.

When it came to money, his teacher could do anything.

"Keep an eye on the house. The brothers Hasting and Hales love to slack off, so make sure to watch them closely,"

After giving these instructions, Amberser transformed into a black-haired youth and flew out of his underground city.

Harvey could only look helplessly at the blueprint in his hand, trying to understand the contents.

Amberser left the underground city but did not head towards the surface. Instead, he made a turn, passed through the narrow underground passageways, and arrived at another underground city.

As he approached the towering gates, the red eyes of two gargoyles in the corner lit up. The massive stone figures spread their wings and bared their fangs and claws at Amberser.

Then, a pale-faced dwarf vampire emerged from the shadows.

"Young man, this isn’t where you should be. But you’ve lost your way at just the right time. I haven’t tasted the blood of the young in a long while; let me..."

The dwarf vampire’s words were cut off as a red light struck him, freezing him in place.

After a few minutes, Hake Stone appeared at the doorway.

His body was as square as ever, and still, he floated off the ground, half a head taller than Amberser as he made his entrance.

"Hehe, my old friend, what brings you here so suddenly without a word in advance?" Hake Stone waved his hand, releasing his subordinate from the immobilizing spell.

The inept vampire quickly slunk back into the shadows, not daring to glance at Amberser again.

"Your subordinate is quite impolite; he wounded my self-esteem, old friend," Amberser said quite seriously.

With no outsiders around, Hake Stone dropped his smile and spoke indifferently to Amberser, "Is your self-esteem made of tissue paper? It tears upon touch? Alright, there are no onlookers now, stop pretending. What do you want from me?!"

"Okay, since you don’t want to exchange pleasantries, I won’t beat around the bush. I want to order a batch of professional alchemical equipment; do you have any connections?" Amberser asked.

Hake Stone, puzzled, said, "Professional alchemical equipment? How professional?"

"Here’s the list," Amberser handed over a long scroll of parchment to Hake Stone.

After looking it over, Hake Stone shook his head, "Friend, this stuff is too rare. At most, I can find half of it for you, and it’s going to be very expensive."

Amberser scoffed, "I’m a Lich, not a vampire; who are you trying to fool? The Alchemy City is gone, loads of alchemy factories are bankrupt, and these pieces of alchemical equipment should be piling up waiting to be sold. You’re telling me they’re expensive?"

An unwilling expression crossed Hake Stone’s face; this Lich was sharper than a vampire, and tricking him wasn’t going to be easy.

Hake Stone had no choice but to say, "I’ll sell them to you at seventy percent of the market price, but I truly do not have a mana refining furnace. You should know that those things can’t be moved. To disassemble them requires specialists, and those bankrupt factories simply don’t have the funds to dismantle them. Most are left until the furnace body is damaged and then written off as scrap."

Amberser chuckled, "Seventy percent is too high. If it’s more than fifty percent, I don’t want it. As for the refining furnace, I’ll find a way myself."

Hake Stone’s expression soured further; the Lich was bargaining down to nearly his lowest price. If this continued, there’d be no profit.

About to refuse, Amberser added, "I’m planning to build a new Alchemy City. When the time comes, I’ll give you priority for the sales channels. How about that?"