Chapter 96

"Nothing important, Apprentice Norris." Andre adjusted his breathing, suppressing the fluctuations in his heart: "Just ran into a few... old acquaintances."

Norris's gaze swept over the three people kneeling on the ground, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face:

"I think they are hoping to be accepted as servants by Potion Master Luo En through you, right?"

Andre didn't answer, but the subtle expression on his face had already leaked the answer.

"As far as I know, Potion Master Luo En has just obtained a workshop and is preparing to expand his business."

Norris's tone seemed casual, but it actually carried obvious probing: "At a time like this, he does indeed need some helpers..."

Andre's thoughts raced; what Norris mentioned was a fact, and Luo En did indeed intend to recruit assistants.

But they had already discussed that the first choice would be those alien races with special talents, such as tree spirits or clam-people; these types of creatures often could provide additional bonuses by relying on their racial talents when handling potion materials.

"Potion Master Luo En he..." The blond youth weighed his words while pondering how to reply.

"Please, for the sake of my father..." Helena's pleading voice sounded again, but was interrupted by Andre raising his hand.

He struggled in his heart for a moment, and finally made a decision—a bitter and cold-blooded decision.

"Sorry." Andre heard his own voice, cold to the point of being almost like a stranger's: "Potion Master Luo En currently has no plans to take in ordinary servants."

Byron's body trembled uncontrollably, Helena's eyes turned from despair to a sourness that was almost hatred, and Tonis had already completely collapsed on the ground, his eyes hollow like dead objects.

"Especially..." He continued with a hardened heart under Norris's gaze: "Ordinary people like this who have no special skills and only consume resources."

The words were like a knife, cutting off the three people's last thread of hope.

"I understand." A trace of satisfaction appeared on Norris's face, and he casually waved an invisible ripple.

Concentrating the outbreak of mental interference without affecting unrelated people—this was a technique that could only be learned in advanced courses, and it was also one of the entry thresholds for the Enforcement Team.

The three probationary apprentices collapsed to the ground almost at the same moment the mental ripple hit, falling into a coma.

They had no resistance to the mental interference at the middle-level apprentice rank, just as ordinary people were powerless when facing an overwhelming natural disaster, but Andre, who was standing beside them, was completely unaffected.

"Trouble you all to drag these defective products away." Norris ordered the two team members behind him without looking back, and then turned to Andre and said casually:

"Your Highness, don't worry about such things; the fate of these guys has already been destined."

Andre nodded silently, watching his former acquaintances being dragged away like trash, his palm inside his sleeve clenching quietly.

He knew that his decision just now might lead to the death of these three, but in this Black Mist Jungle where the strong prey on the weak, any choice was no longer determined by his own subjective will.

"Your Highness is still too kind; this is already the best arrangement for them. At least throwing them out can give them a glimmer of survival. If they were chosen by those few..."

Norris's voice carried a hint of subtle mockery, directly pointing out:

"And, you should also know who gave you your current position. Doing less unnecessary things is the first rule for your long-term survival."

Andre didn't respond, but his gaze was attracted by a commotion that suddenly rose on the other side of the courtyard.

A female apprentice in a purple dress was walking through the crowded crowd; that was Cynthia.

Others consciously made way for them; as a member of the probationary wizard sequence, the other party had the right of priority selection.

Her gaze wandered among the male probationary apprentices, like a professional hunter looking for the most desirable prey in a hunting ground.

"This one looks pretty good..." The woman gently stroked a blond youth's face with her hand, her voice carrying a chilling stickiness:

"The skin is also very tender; it should be able to hold up for a few more times..."

As she spoke, she took a delicate silver chain from the silk bag at her waist and tied it around the boy's neck with her own hands, as if putting a collar on a pet.

"Don't worry, big sister won't make you too painful..." Cynthia leaned over and whispered in the boy's ear, like a poisonous snake licking an apple: "At least not at first..."

Andre watched this scene, and a feeling of churning in his stomach came.

Although Cynthia's "hobby" was not a secret in the school, witnessing the process of her picking "playthings" with his own eyes was still chilling.

The enforcement team members turned a blind eye to all of this; their task was only to clear out those "defective products" that no one wanted.

These probationary apprentices who were not chosen by high-level apprentices would be directly driven into the wilderness outside the Black Mist Jungle.

Waiting for them was not only hunger and cold, but also hunting and enslavement by various alien races.

This time of year was the most active season for various alien slave-catching teams.

They also knew that the Black Mist Jungle would regularly clear out a batch of "fresh goods," and these probationary apprentices who had no combat ability were the most ideal source of slaves.

"Your Highness, we should continue working." Norris's voice pulled Andre back to reality: "Do you have any other matters?"

Andre shook his head; he understood that Norris was politely asking him to leave.

The clearing operation here did not need, nor did it welcome, bystanders.

"Then I won't disturb your work." Andre nodded, feeling his brain a bit dizzy.

Before leaving, he took one last look at those probationary apprentices who had already been divided into groups; those who were chosen were lucky yet unfortunate; those who were not chosen seemed even more desperate.

"Your Highness, you seem to have gone the wrong way." Norris suddenly called him:

"As far as I know, the dormitory area where Potion Master Luo En is temporarily staying should be along the main road to the east. You should be going to find him, right?"

"Thanks for the reminder." He smiled reluctantly and walked quickly away from this suffocating place.

A few desperate cries came from the courtyard behind him, but Andre chose not to look back.

………………

Cynthia's tower was located on an open space in the north corner of the Black Mist Jungle, surrounded by thorn vines, constructing a natural barrier.

The walls here were hung with various strange instruments, the shapes and uses of which made one's imagination run wild;

The floor was not covered with ordinary carpets, but with a type of living tissue that would emit slight moans when stepped on.

Today, there were a few unfamiliar faces in the tower, all fresh "toys" she had just picked from the probationary apprentices.

They were locked in cages by chains, their eyes full of fear and despair.

"Hmm, the quality of this batch is not bad." Cynthia stretched her body, looking at her spoils of war with satisfaction: "At least it can hold up for a while."

She casually picked out a blond youth from among them, her fingers gently stroking his trembling cheeks: "What is your name, little cutie?"

"To... Thomas, mistress." The boy's voice trembled, but he tried his best to maintain a posture of obedience.

"Thomas, what a sweet name." Cynthia's mouth hooked into a dangerous smile: "Let's let you go first today, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, she signaled two maids to drag the boy away and began her cruel and bizarre "game."

As the boy's painful moans gradually sounded, Cynthia's eyes began to bloom with an eerie purple light.

She pressed against the boy's chest, every movement causing the other party's body to tremble violently, while simultaneously producing a trace of energy fluctuation that was hard to distinguish with the naked eye, which was easily absorbed by her.

"It's a pity that this feeling fades too quickly."

Cynthia sighed softly, collecting the pure magic power converted from those emotional fluctuations while muttering with dissatisfaction:

"The first time is always the most delicious; after that, stronger stimulation is needed to induce the same effect."

"So you have to change a batch every few months." Oliver on the side didn't lift his head, evaluating faintly:

"Shouldn't you consider a more sustainable plan? This consumption speed is too fast."

"Easy for you to say." Cynthia's movements didn't stop, but her voice carried obvious dissatisfaction:

"My talent is just like this; it needs constant collection of fresh emotions. If there is no sufficient magic power supply, how do you think I could maintain my current position in the probationary wizard sequence?"

Oliver was sitting in an armchair by the window at this time, holding a list that had just been taken down from the school bulletin board—"Probationary Wizard Sequence Point Ranking."

That Luo En, who had just become a professional Potion Master, although he had not yet entered the sequence, was also marked as a "prospective object."

"The recent ranking situation is a bit troublesome." Oliver's words hid worry.

He placed the list flat on the table:

"Holt is still far ahead in first place, and Levin, Gardner, and Simons are all catching up. Especially Levin, with a fourth-star mental power aptitude, he is only twenty points away from me."

"You are always like this, Oliver." Cynthia said lazily, her fingers playing with the hair of the boy beside her.

"Thinking too much will hinder action. Since you have already embarked on this path, why hesitate?"

"Observe, analyze, execute... this is my code of conduct."

The black-haired young man's voice was like cold metal: "Our way of improvement requires every step to be precisely calculated. I don't want to completely deform to the point of losing myself so quickly."

Thomas had already begun to struggle weakly, seemingly unable to bear the ability that was almost sucking his life away.

Cynthia frowned impatiently, stopped her movements, draped half of her dress over her, and turned to Oliver.

"Listen, we all know our situation." Her voice became calm and sharp:

"Although we possess special talents, the foundation of the power we've gained through side-door methods is unstable, and the orthodox mental power cultivation route has closed its doors to us. The only way out now is..."

Oliver whispered, a trace of worry flashing in his eyes: "The path of the Black Wizard."

He took a black crystal emitting an eerie light from the inside of his robe and carefully placed it on the table.

The black crystal emitted an ominous light under the candlelight, and there seemed to be countless tiny insects crawling on the surface, which was chilling.

Cynthia's voice became soft, almost carrying a trace of piety: "You got it from those people again?"

Oliver nodded: "The price was not small, but it was worth it. After all, this is the key material for completing the ritual."

His slender fingers gently stroked the surface of the black crystal, and the stone seemed to react to his touch, emitting a faint pulse.

"Interestingly, I noticed that Potion Master Luo En, who rose suddenly, seems to have a mental power aptitude similar to ours."

A light flashed in Oliver's eyes: "Sixth star, or perhaps even lower, but the speed of progress is surprisingly amazing."

Cynthia's interest was piqued: "What are you implying?"

"Those with low aptitude like us, without special methods, cannot achieve such success in a short time."

Oliver's voice carried precise reasoning: "He must have found some method similar to ours to make up for his innate deficiency... Perhaps we can consider absorbing him."

He walked back to the window gracefully, looking at the outline of the Black Mist Jungle in the distance:

"Knowledge sharing is power multiplication. You were once my competitor, but now you have become my firmest ally, haven't you?"

Cynthia smiled slightly, remembering the intoxicating sense of power when she first tasted the Sin Domain Black Crystal:

"The taste of black crystal is indeed hard to resist. That feeling of converting mental pollution into pure power is simply soul-eroding."

"Exactly." Oliver nodded, the expression on his face still perfect, as if a mask had been solidified on his face:

"He certainly won't refuse this kind of crazy improvement... Just a few months or even weeks, and he could gain power equivalent to decades of accumulation."

He opened an ancient classic and reached out to point to a piece of explanatory text in the book:

"According to records, those with strong physiques occupy a significant advantage in the process of pollution conversion. A strong body can withstand more deformation, not only with higher conversion efficiency but also with the ability to maintain sanity for a longer time."

A trace of regret flashed in his eyes:

"It's a pity that we have no talent for knight cultivation. It is said that the original knights and demon hunters were invented by black wizards who specialized in bloodline research in order to create better 'containers'."

"Luo En might have it." Cynthia said suddenly, a sharp light flashing in her eyes:

"Remember how he executed that Dawo'de who turned into a deformed body? His swordsmanship was quite good."

Oliver pondered slightly, then shook his head:

"Even if he has knight talent, it can only be a secondary cultivation. With the attainments he has shown in potionology, it is impossible for him to devote his full effort to another cultivation path at the same time. Anyone's time and energy are limited."

"Then what do you intend to do?" Cynthia asked, her fingers gently stroking the blond youth's trembling neck.

"Approach, probe, evaluate." Oliver smiled perfectly: "If he is suitable for our path, we will gain a powerful ally; if not..."

He didn't finish, but those cold eyes had already conveyed enough information.

"Then let's proceed as planned. I am responsible for research and production, and you are responsible for material collection and testing."

Oliver looked out the window, as if he could see Luo En in the distance through the Black Mist Jungle:

"As for that young Potion Master, I will find an opportunity to evaluate him."

There is another update today, still typing, should be released during the day

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(End of chapter)