"Are there any other formulas?" Marvin continued asking through the voice emitter.

  "I do not have the Bloomcore I formula, but I do have a clue," replied Private Room 10. "Forty pounds."

  "Deal," Marvin said.

  The cash was swept away by a shadow tendril. Moments later, a note was delivered.

  "Please go to House 44, Dolock Road, in the slum district before midnight. The Bloomcore I formula you seek is there."

  "This is… an invitation?" Nova asked hesitantly.

  "Yes, I have a vague recollection," Marvin replied, recalling that it seemed to be part of a side quest.

  "Recollection?" Nova pressed.

  "It's nothing. I will accompany you there tonight. Don't worry," Marvin assured her.

  Nova immediately felt reassured and carefully tucked the note away.

  Marvin asked several more times, but no one responded. Just as both Yvonne and Aurora were beginning to feel disappointed, the host suddenly spoke up:

  "Hemoleech I and Lilith's Sigh I are the elixir sequences for the vampire and succubus bloodlines, respectively. I happen to have them. But what price can you offer?"

  "Cash?" Marvin inquired.

  "Yes, one thousand pounds for a formula," the host replied leisurely as he leaned back in his chair with one hand propping his head. "Compared to the common price of Level I formulas, this is indeed ten times higher. But this is a seller's market, and I am not short on cash."

  "Perhaps we can substitute something else for cash," Marvin mused inwardly. *If you intend to treat me like a fat sheep for slaughter, then don't complain if I gouge you out once. "Perhaps secret information?" He asked casually.

  "You may roughly write down any information you deem valuable," the host said. "If I find it acceptable and wish to purchase it, then you must provide more detailed information to complete the transaction."

  "Very well." Marvin scribbled a sentence on a piece of paper and handed it to the shadow tendril before him.

  The host examined the note. It read:

  The whereabouts of the Blade of Duskwalk.

  "To think you are also a historian," the host remarked, his unfiltered voice coming through the tendril; he sounded like a robust middle-aged man. "If you mean the blade used by Bruno to assassinate Caesar in the late Third Epoch, I believe I am interested."

  "The clue regarding the Blade of Duskwalk, whether genuine or not, should be worth two thousand pounds," Marvin answered.

  "Not bad, provided you cannot forge it so that I see through it at a glance," the host replied. "Write it down."

  All the girls listened, confused and too timid to lean in closer. After all, from the host's tone, everyone already knew this was an extremely valuable weapon. The clue alone was worth two thousand pounds; the actual weapon must be of enormous value, probably a precious item used only by those of high rank.

  "Here you go," Marvin said as he passed the paper along. A shadow tendril swiftly seized it, and after a moment, two sheets were returned.

  Did they approve? Could it be that the clue Marvin wrote is genuine? Everyone exchanged glances, unsure of what to say.

  "This is actually a loss," Yvonne blurted out. "Two Level I formulas exchanged for a precious clue worth two thousand pounds? I could offer five hundred pounds and, with five or six secret gatherings, surely buy one!"

  "Its only a clue," Marvin replied lightly. "Whether you can obtain it is another matter."

  From his tone, it appeared that acquiring that Blade of Duskwalk would not be easy. So everyone settled down and looked to the two sheets in Marvin's hand.

  The Hemoleech I formula is as follows:

  Main Ingredient:

  Mash of Golden Leech

  Subsidiary Ingredient:

  Fruit of Eden

  One spoonful of Olive Oil of Corven

  A pinch of Powder of Ferrous Oxide

  Processing:

  Take one Fruit of Eden and place it in a stone bowl. Crush it by hand with a pestle to extract the juice (note: do not use any metal juicing device). Filter out impurities, then add one spoonful of Olive Oil of Corven. Stir clockwise until evenly mixed. Add a pinch of Powder of Tin Oxide and stir counterclockwise. When the viscous liquid turns red, add the Mash of Golden Leech and continue stirring counterclockwise until it congeals into a solid mass. Then consume.

  "Does this formula sound familiar, Marvin?" Aurora asked nervously.

  "It should be genuine," Marvin replied. "Leech represents theft, Eden Fruit represents life, Powder of Ferrous Oxide represents blood, and olive oil represents the body. In mystical terms, it all makes sense. Eden Fruit and Olive Oil of Corven both originate from the Xiris Province, and as for the Mash of Golden Leech... I have a clue. I can handle that later."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Aurora exhaled in relief, and then everyone looked to the other formula for Lilith's Sigh I:

  Main Ingredient:

  Panacea of Bathnia Gulf

  Subsidiary Ingredient:

  Two spoonfuls of Menstrual blood of a human virgin

  One Lithocarpus Parchment with Purgatory Smell

  Ten milliliters of 75 percent Medical Alcohol

  Processing:

  Crush the Lithocarpus Parchment with Purgatory Smell, then dissolve it in ten milliliters of 75 percent Medical Alcohol. Filter out impurities, then add two spoonfuls of menstrual blood of Human Virgin. Mix by swirling until uniform. Evenly drizzle the mixture over the surface of the Panacea of Bathnia Gulf. Chew and consume.

  "If this formula is genuine," Nova said lightly, "at least I can supply the Medical Alcohol."

  "Panacea of Bathnia Gulf?" Yvonne fretted. "What exactly is that?"

  "Bathnia Gulf is located within the northern region of the Karma Empire," Marvin explained. "This species of Panopea Abrupta is the most popular spiritual material in Zephandrel. When refined into an elixir and ingested, it has a potent aphrodisiac effect on men."

  "I see," Yvonne's pretty face flushed red as she understood what 'aphrodisiac' meant. "Then please, Captain Marvin, take care of it. I know about the thick-scaled Lithocarpus; once you are out, you can ask the merchants on the Ilania Plateau."

  "The virgin menstrual blood, you will have to manage," Marvin coughed, "of course, you cannot expect me to supply that."

  "Certainly, you cannot provide everything, can you?" Yvonne retorted coquettishly.

  "Even if I wished to, I have no power to do so," Marvin replied.

  The trading at the gathering continued. Soon, other items were sold—a classical treatise of Democritus on mysticism titled The Great Cosmic System, a jewelry gold necklace said to bring good luck, and a delicate crown once worn by the capital's queen that contained a clue for the 'ZeusVolt III' elixir formula.

  Notably, one private room produced a trade item that was a clear, frontal portrait of Imperial Princess Isolde. This completely non-spiritual, ordinary object surprisingly sold for 200 pounds. The wealthy bidder from Room 13 snapped it up without a blink; who knows if Room 13 belonged to royalty, hence their urgent acquisition of the princess's photo.

  "I have an interesting message to sell to you all," the voice from Private Room 4 said as the meeting neared its end. "It is five pounds each. Not expensive, but absolutely worth every penny. Let me warn you, it is closely linked to your fate in the coming months and even the fate of the entire empire. Host, if any room refuses to purchase, please use your shadow ability to block them."

  "Understood," the host nodded slightly. Since Marvin had already sold his news about the Blade of Duskwalk, this chief organizer seemed somewhat distracted, as if eager to end the gathering early.

  "Then, is anyone unwilling to purchase?" the voice from Room 4 asked with a laugh.

  No one answered. Although five pounds is not exactly cheap, given that previous trades had reached hundreds of pounds, everyone's psychological price threshold had been raised.

  The host impatiently waved his hand, and from the shadows beneath his feet, countless tendrils extended, gathering five-pound banknotes from each private room and roughly tossing them into Room 4. Then, Room 4 remained silent for a while until someone impatiently urged, and the voice resumed:

  "Apologies, everyone, it took some time to pick up the scattered cash. Ahem. The news I am selling is this: at two o'clock this afternoon, His Majesty Emperor Zephyr declared defeat in battle against the Fromentia Empire in Anatolia—during the Manzikert engagement, the Fromentians deployed a new crescent formation in ambush. The empire's armored Church Knights and guerrilla cavalry were decimated by the succubus troops' projection of fiery ability, which, in their rash advance, led to their ambush."

  "Immediately afterwards, to rescue that cavalry unit, the emperor ordered a large force to advance to the central position, only to be surrounded by the Fromentians. The defection of the Kuman mercenaries was the final straw that broke the imperial line. As of four o'clock this afternoon, the imperial army at Manzikert had completely collapsed, and a full-scale invasion of Anatolia by the Fromentians is now inevitable."

  Many extraordinary ones did not understand the significance of this news, but those who did immediately asked through their voice emitters, "How many have escaped?"

  "And what of the emperor? Did he escape or was he captured?"

  Room 4 replied with a bitter smile, "I do not have the detailed news. After all, when I received the news, the vanguard of the collapsing imperial army had just withdrawn from Manzikert. But you should all understand the implications of this news. The Anatolian Peninsula comprises the vast majority of territory east of Zephandrel, serving as a crucial pillar for the empire in terms of resources, population, and military recruitment. The emperor's defeat at Manzikert means that Anatolia is now virtually undefended. And if Anatolia is lost, what will become of the prices of goods in the imperial capital? Moreover, if even one-tenth of Anatolia's imperial residents flee west to Zephandrel, what kind of social turmoil will ensue?"

  His questions left the assembly in stunned silence. Particularly, those who were aware of the main plot during the public beta knew that his predictions were overly optimistic. In fact, two months later, the Fromentian army reached Nisiyah, and all of Anatolia was occupied. Another half month later, the Fromentian navy began transporting troops recklessly across the Aegean Sea, and the forces appeared on the Thracian Plain west of Zephandrel, severing the empire's links with the West.

  Two months later, Zephandrel fell, and the surviving nobles fled to the Xiris Province. From the imperial defeat at Manzikert to the fall of the capital, the entire process lasted only five months.

  This is why he sold the two shops left by his family, converting them entirely into war equipment supplies. The defeat at Manzikert alone disrupted East-West cross-border trade in Zephandrel, with seven or eight out of ten shops starting to lose money. Two months later, as the Fromentian army reached Nisiyah, housing prices in the city plummeted into negative figures, and property deeds were practically given away for free. When war arrives, what is the point of clinging to houses in the imperial capital?

  The gathering ended. According to the host's arrangement, each private room was opened individually, and sharply dressed servants escorted everyone out one by one. This was also to prevent anyone from waiting outside to ambush other extraordinary ones attending the gathering.

  The attendant who received Marvin's group, apparently instructed by the host, directly escorted them to the Golden Gate metro station at the foot of the mountain before departing. On the metro, everyone's thoughts turned to the formulas, and they became distracted.

  Back near the ancestral residence, Marvin once again took his people to the blacksmith shop. There, he asked fo4 Alice's original armor to be removed and ordered a new cotton armor robe to cover the ink-green luster of the meteoric armor underneath.

  "Next, we split up," Marvin told everyone. "Yvonne and Aurora, you head out to the city to find Eastern merchants. Try to procure a pair of Eyes of Shadow Insects and one piece of Lithocarpus Parchment with a purgatory scent. I am allocating five hundred pounds for this. Alice and Nova, go to Gold Horn Bay to purchase synthetic diamond powder and ferrous oxide powder. Industrial goods are relatively cheap; I will provide you with fifty pounds. I will handle the remaining materials."

  "Remember, spiritual materials are closely monitored by the church. Do not let merchants controlled by church informants discover you. Yvonne, you have the Marionette's Kiss I ability, so test the merchants before any transaction."

  "Understood." Everyone replied in unison, knowing that this matter affected their own elixir formulas.