The Low-key Evil Wizard BOSS-Chapter 76 - 14: The Potion’s 36,000 Gold Pounds
The hour of Vespers.
As the bells of the Holy Fierce Sun Church tolled, Zorn walked out of the police station right on time, a wave of blistering heat rolling over him.
The July weather was now showing its characteristic sweltering heat.
Zorn’s gaze casually swept across the street, pausing for a moment on a horse-drawn carriage on the opposite side.
He then headed toward a small alley not far away.
At the same time, the burly man in the carriage across the street adjusted his bowler hat.
Then, he slipped into a mirror hanging inside the carriage window.
"Mr. Demon, always so petty."
Zorn, having entered the alley, couldn’t help but rub the bridge of his nose.
Soon, a figure leaped down from a window at the far end of the alley.
It was none other than the burly "Mr. Demon."
Without another word, he balled his fists and charged.
It was clear Mr. Demon wanted to save face; he was looking for a proper fight with a Fighting Master.
Soon, the dull thuds of flesh-on-flesh combat echoed through the alley.
「A dozen or so minutes later.」
Mr. Borne, the Demon Apostle, stood with black Demon Scale Armor covering his face, neck, arms, and the backs of his hands. Blood dripped incessantly from his nose, and the armor was cracked and shattered in numerous places.
Right now, he wasn’t submitting to anyone—only the wall he was leaning on for support.
It was the only way he could remain standing.
Not far in front of him,
Zorn, the Fighting Master, watched him with a calm expression.
This Demon Apostle had only used his fists, resorting to no other abilities.
So, Zorn hadn’t seen the need to be lethal.
Besides... Zorn hadn’t sensed much malice from him.
’This... is quite interesting.’
The man had clearly come here with a specific purpose.
Just as Zorn was wondering how to wrap things up,
the Demon Apostle slowly retracted his Demon Scale Armor.
He rolled up his sleeve, and on his inner arm, the orange silhouette of a lantern-flame Mark slowly appeared.
Zorn’s pupils constricted slightly.
It was the Lantern Ember left by the Lantern-carrying Elder.
"The Lantern-carrying Elder!"
"Yes."
Mr. Borne, the Demon Apostle, nodded slightly.
"He is also ’Viscount Ferdinand Hegg.’"
’A Viscount?’
’It seems the Lantern-carrying Elder has found himself quite a fine identity.’
When the Lantern-carrying Elder broke free from the Calamity Origin Land and descended upon Ogrande City,
he had the opportunity to choose a body.
A beggar on the street, a terminally ill old man, a patient suffering from a terrible disease, and so on.
The power of the Lantern would help him merge perfectly with the chosen body, healing any illnesses or injuries.
For the Lantern-carrying Elder to acquire the body of a Viscount was a rather rare feat.
The Lantern-carrying Elder had descended some time ago.
Although they hadn’t been in contact,
Zorn could sense that the Lantern-carrying Elder was in Ogrande City, frequently moving about.
That wise man who carried the Lantern forward, a master of planning and scheming.
At this moment, he had silently made contact with Zorn.
After Zorn had a moment to digest this information,
Mr. Borne, the Demon Apostle, finally spoke in a measured tone.
"Originally, I wanted to give you, a young and presumptuous fellow, a sound thrashing."
"But for some reason, my master sent me a message telling me to fully cooperate with you."
"Hiss... I have to say, you... you can really fight! Also, you hit way too hard. Young people really don’t know how to hold back."
’And I was even holding back,’ Zorn thought to himself.
’When the Lantern Ember got close to me, the Lantern-carrying Elder must have sensed it.’
’That’s why he sent the warning.’
’Otherwise, if this Mr. Demon had gone all out, the Lantern-carrying Elder would have lost a pawn.’
Still, this unexpected rendezvous with the Lantern-carrying Elder was a huge boon.
It would allow Zorn to better execute his plans while making it easier to conceal himself.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Zorn slowly asked,
"Earlier, when Director Caroline asked you for information about the Evil Spirit Calamity, what did you tell her?"
"I didn’t have any major discoveries to report."
Mr. Demon shook his head.
"It’s a dog-eat-dog situation, a conflict between two Evil God Organizations."
"That Caster from the Evil Spirit Sequence is strong and terrifying."
"I’ve spoken with many other Transcendents in the area, and none of them have any detailed intelligence."
"That Evil Spirit is too cunning; it didn’t leave any traces."
"As far as I know, not even the Church, with its powerful Extraordinary forces, has any useful intelligence or information."
After hearing Mr. Demon Borne’s reply, Zorn pondered for a moment before speaking.
"The Sun Secret Cult, the Evil Spirit Divine Mage."
"The Sun Secret Cult did this?"
Mr. Demon Borne was slightly taken aback.
"It was most likely them. You can find plenty of traces if you look."
Being an intelligent man, Mr. Demon quickly understood what Zorn was implying.
"I understand. I’ll start digging from that angle, uncover some information to point the finger at the Sun Secret Cult, and spread the word."
"This Evil Spirit Calamity is a brutal struggle between the Sun Secret Cult and the Forbidden Bloodline."
"At the same time, it’s a method for the Sun Secret Cult to strike at the Holy Fierce Sun Church."
Zorn was very satisfied with Mr. Demon’s interpretation.
After a deep discussion, the two went their separate ways, disappearing from the alley.
In the depths of the gloomy alley, Zorn’s figure was swallowed by the shadows.
’The Lantern-carrying Elder has already begun to expand his influence.’
’He’s captured some good Lantern Embers and hasn’t revealed my identity to anyone.’
’As expected, that old man is as trustworthy as ever.’
’Once Mr. Demon reports my line of thinking to the Lantern-carrying Elder, and this information spreads along with some "evidence," all signs will point to the Sun Secret Cult.’
’For the next while, I need to convert the resources gained from the Rat Plague and the Evil Spirit Calamity into strength.’
’At the same time, I’ll secretly investigate the Sun Secret Cult’s strongholds and find the Evil Spirit Divine Mage’s anchor point.’
’According to the intelligence provided by the police department, the Evil Spirit Divine Mage and the Sun Secret Cult stronghold he relies on are in the Bay Area.’
’The official confidential intelligence is quite useful after all.’
Zorn gained a great deal of information from this cooperation with the authorities.
’Additionally, the Divine Mage has numerous powerful escape methods.’
’He can even cast a Divine Art for long-distance teleportation, and he has a rather troublesome Resurrection ability.’
’I need to improve my Skills in every area so I can take care of that Evil Spirit Divine Mage for good.’
Lost in thought, Zorn had already left the gloomy alley.
As he emerged onto a wide street,
a colossal Calamity cloud of Black Mist, majestic and vast and pregnant with Death, blossomed before his eyes upon the Celestial Dome Curtain.
Feeling the Catastrophe Power resonating within him, he stopped to observe it quietly.
Before long, something stirred in his mind.
He suddenly thought of a secret and powerful Forbidden Witchcraft that would be perfect for his next move.
Moreover, it was a potent Forbidden Witchcraft that could be leveraged by his Forbidden Blood.
......
「The hot summer month of July quickly passed into its latter half.」
Deep in the sewers, amid the silence and darkness, Zorn moved without a sound.
Three bowl-sized Destruction Magic Balls, blooming with crimson flames, slowly orbited around him.
Whenever a gray rat appeared,
he would send a Destruction Magic Ball over—not to burn it with flames, nor to detonate it.
A single heavy impact was all it took to kill an ordinary gray rat instantly.
However, Zorn had encountered very few gray rats along the way.
’The gray rats are getting scarcer. At this rate, not only will the Rat Catchers be out of a job, but I’ll have nowhere to grind my Skills.’
Ever since the news spread at the beginning of the month that a single Fighting Master had soloed the Rat King and completely quashed the Rat Plague,
the residents of Ogrande City had been cheering with joy.
Subsequent events had indeed proven that the Rat Plague was successfully eliminated.
Nightmare Ratmen, Calamity Rats, Elite Mutated Gray Rats, Ordinary Mutated Gray Rats, and the like were no longer being spawned.
Their numbers dwindled as official Transcendents, Church Extraordinary Squads, and Rat Catchers hunted them relentlessly.
With the passage of time, the rat infestation in the sewers was gradually being resolved.
Of course,
the most crucial factor was that Zorn had eliminated the madmen who were continuously drawing on the Forbidden Bloodline of the Upper Ranker, the Double-Ringed Snake. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
Cutting off the source of the contamination was the true reason the Rat Plague had ended.
Although the "Rat Plague" was over,
the troubles it left behind were not.
The sewer area where Zorn currently was still had a rather thick layer of miasma, filled with contaminants and toxins.
The Plague-Clearing Potion remained the best-selling product in Ogrande City during this time.
It was foreseeable that the Plague-Clearing Potion would continue to sell in large quantities for some time to come.
However, several other merchants had already started jumping into this market.
Zorn learned that they were currently purchasing the necessary materials, preparing for some intense competition.
By ending the rat infestation at the right time and place, Zorn had managed to make a fortune.
As for other Steam Potion Factories wanting to compete in this arena, that was their own business.
In any case, Zorn had already reaped handsome profits and quietly exited the stage.
The Plague-Clearing Potion was just a temporary solution.
The Holy Healing - Micro-Light Fluorescent Agent and other powerful potions were Zorn’s main battleground.
But even this temporary potion plan
had brought Zorn enormous returns.
He had made a profit of about 36,000 gold pounds—his earnings from the past month and a half.
Meanwhile, as July progressed,
the Witches finally arrived.
More than twenty Witches from the High Mountain had come to Zorn’s Steam Potion Factory.
Even though he had been prepared, the arrival of so many Witches well-versed in Pharmacy still left Vladimir Kojin, the Alchemist, feeling a bit overwhelmed.
But soon, he fell back on his old profession.
After all, he himself was a Pharmacy instructor at the Ogrande City Public College.
He set up a small school for the Witches at the Steam Potion Factory, teaching them the formal systems of Pharmacy every day.
These young Witches, only in their teens, were enthusiastic and eager to learn, and their progress was astonishing.
Vladimir was absolutely delighted.
He spared no effort in answering any questions the Witches asked, and in turn, the Alchemist benefited greatly from the vast knowledge of High Mountain Pharmacy that the Witches brought with them.
This clash of two knowledge systems would benefit both the Alchemist and the Witches.
CLANG... THUD... THUD...
When Zorn pushed open a sewer manhole cover and climbed out,
his old butler, Glangk, was waiting outside, looking at his young master with a displeased expression.
Young Master Zorn commanded extraordinary power and possessed astonishing wealth, but Glangk could never quite understand his "hobby" of crawling through sewers.
He handed Zorn a damp towel and said,
"Young Master Zorn, you have a visitor!"
For the past month or so, Zorn had been quietly training to increase his strength, and he rarely had visitors.
At most, Isaac would come by with his usual delivery of gray rats.
But Zorn knew that Ogrande City was far from peaceful right now.
This visitor would bring new developments.
