Chapter 66: Pierre

Flower Flame Month, 15th.

A brilliant magical aura flashed through the potion liquid.

Gao De mechanically bottled the successfully prepared Low-Level Endurance Potion, showing not the slightest trace of joy.

After securing the potion, Gao De felt restless and could not calm his mind.

Since Oliver visited that day, Feiermoyaodian stopped purchasing the Low-Level Spider Venom Potion from their herb garden.

According to their explanation, sales of the Low-Level Spider Venom Potion had surged recently, and every alchemist in the city had begun focusing on preparing it.

Coupled with the pharmacy’s continuous bulk purchases, their inventory of Low-Level Spider Venom Potion was now saturated, so they temporarily halted acquisitions.

Although Gao De was half-skeptical, the explanation made sense, so he let it go.

Since he had already mastered the preparation of the Low-Level Endurance Potion, he decided to abandon the Spider Venom Potion entirely, bought twenty doses of Wild Wolf Gland Fluid, and switched to preparing the Low-Level Endurance Potion.

Yet when he brought the prepared Low-Level Endurance Potion to the pharmacy, they still refused to buy it.

This time, their reason was: “Starting today, our shop sells only potions made by our own alchemists; we no longer cooperate with external alchemists.”

At this point, Gao De understood clearly—everything about inventory saturation was nonsense.

The real intent was to force him to surrender the herb garden and compel him to join Feiermoyaodian to brew potions for them.

That wasn’t all.

After this unpleasant parting, Gao De noticed a number of loiterers wandering outside the herb garden.

The Seda Herb Garden was located on the outskirts of Hogen City, a standalone compound.

There were no living facilities or shops nearby.

Even the apprentices in the garden had to travel half an hour to the city center’s market and commercial district to buy food.

Under normal circumstances, how could loiterers appear in such a place?

Clearly, these “loiterers” were from Feiermoyaodian .

Their intent was obvious: to monitor and intimidate Gao De.

They were applying both coercion and temptation simultaneously.

The problem was, Oliver’s tactics were effective.

Although Gao De still had some savings, without potion income, continuing to drain his resources would inevitably lead to the herb garden’s bankruptcy.

At that point, what other option would he have but to join Feiermoyaodian ? As for resistance?

What could a First-Class Mage Apprentice possibly use to resist? Gao De even secretly felt relieved he had been cautious enough to demonstrate his value in time.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be facing coercion and temptation—he’d be facing something far worse.

But what should he do now?

The more Gao De thought, the more agitated he became.

Should he swallow his pride and surrender the herb garden to them?

That seemed the best decision right now.

After all, they had offered 200 gold for it, and they clearly valued his potential.

If he truly joined Feiermoyaodian , they would very likely invest heavily in his training.

Although they would certainly impose many restrictions, with the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow, he could endure silently for a few years and eventually break free.

From this perspective, it was indeed a good choice.

Yet Gao De had never once considered this option.

Simply because he refused to endure this humiliation!

When his heart cannot flow freely, no amount of logical reasoning matters.

As he pondered, Gao De pulled out his money pouch and counted his cash: 12 gold, 2 silver, 5 copper.

“I must decide soon.”

The next day.

Gao De left the herb garden carrying a bundle. “Should we follow him?”

“No, we were only ordered to watch the herb garden.”

Seeing Gao De head toward the city, the two men monitoring near the garden glanced at him, then turned away without further action.

Although their surveillance was nearly open, they had not gone so far as to tail him directly, preserving a shred of dignity.

Commercial District.

Pierre’s Grocery.

Gao De, carrying the accumulated potions, had not yet entered the shop when he noticed the simple wooden sign outside had changed.

“This shop will close soon; all items sold at deep discount.”

He hadn’t been here for just a week, yet Pierre was already preparing to shut down the grocery?!

Gao De froze, forgetting his original purpose of selling potions, and hurried inside.

Clearly, many shelves inside were already empty.

“You’re leaving?” Gao De asked bluntly, seeing Pierre leisurely sipping tea behind the counter. “To Bremen City?”

“Yes, I’ve already found a buyer for the shop. As soon as the deal is done, I’ll leave for Bremen City to enjoy my retirement,” Pierre replied, draining his tea cup.

“What’s going on?” Gao De frowned, a bad premonition rising in his chest.

“The disappearances in the city haven’t been resolved,” Pierre revealed first.

“Didn’t you say the killer was…” Gao De replied instinctively, then suddenly realized, “That was just a scapegoat?”

“Yes, just a scapegoat. The disappearances were suppressed, not solved,” Pierre nodded, confirming it.

“People are still vanishing in the city.”

He paused. “Three days ago, a family living on my street vanished without reason—exactly like before: they were asleep at home, and the next morning, they were gone.”

“Their neighbors discovered it first and gathered to gawk; before the city guards arrived, I took a look at the scene.”

“Apart from some strange slime, nothing remained in the room.”

“And the room’s belongings were perfectly orderly—definitely not a robbery or murder.”

“I suspect this isn’t human-made, but the work of a subterranean creature never before seen in the Bremen region—hence even a Second-Ring Mage couldn’t resolve it.”

“A subterranean creature lurking secretly in the city center, continuously committing murders—this is terrifying.”

After a moment of silence, Gao De spoke again.

“Is that the only reason?”

“Not entirely. The main reason…” Pierre sighed, then continued, “Last month, when I went to Bremen City to arrange my future, besides this matter, I asked a friend in the Emerald Alliance to look up some records.”

“Under normal conditions, each region has an upper limit to the number of subterranean creatures that can gather, based on its magical energy concentration.”

“But recently, the number of subterranean creatures appearing outside the city has exceeded the total that should exist in this region.”

“Do you know what this means?”

Before Gao De could answer, Pierre answered himself: “It means the frequent appearance of subterranean creatures outside the city isn’t merely due to clustering—it’s because new sources of subterranean creatures have emerged.”

“And subterranean creatures can only come from subterranean veins.”

Pierre ended with a seemingly nonsensical remark, but Gao De instantly understood—his face turned pale. “You mean the anomaly outside the city is caused by a new subterranean vein forming?!”

He clearly remembered a line from the book he had bought: *The Bremen Geography*.

“After the convergence of planes, subterranean veins have multiplied daily, spilling forth subterranean creatures. Yet Bremen has not produced a single new vein in two hundred years. Emperor Jielos XII once praised Bremen as a land blessed by fortune.”

A land blessed by fortune—no longer blessed? “I’m not certain, but I strongly suspect this is the case.”

“At the very least, a new species of subterranean creature has likely infiltrated Hogen City—doesn’t this align with my speculation?”

“A new subterranean vein forms, bringing new subterranean creatures…” Gao De murmured, understanding Pierre’s meaning.

(End of Chapter)