Chapter 64: Mastermind

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

When he returned to the basement, he overheard Gerian threatening the unlucky Magic Shooter.

“Don’t blame me for not reminding you. You don’t have much time left. When that kid comes out of the potion lab, I’m really afraid that it’ll be too late for you to cry…”

“Cry what?” Lin Li heard Gerian slandering him upon entering the door.

“Heh… Nothing, nothing. How did the concoction go? If it’s not done yet, you can go and study it over again. Such a thing like extorting a confession, I can do it as well…”

“You’re still going to do it?” Lin Li was startled. “Another move by you and this guy will be scared to death…”

“I’m doing this for his own good!” The old fellow just had to boast shamelessly. Lin Li came to the Magic Shooter with the glass bottle in his hand.

“Do you drink it yourself, or do I feed you?”

“…” The shameless intimidation by Gerian had cast a shadow of potions in the middle-aged man’s heart. When he saw Lin Li coming over with the glass bottle in his hand, he was scared out of his wits at once, shaking his head desperately while subconsciously retreating backward. But he had only retreated a few steps when his body pressed against the cold wall.

The middle-aged man’s heart was cold, just like the wall behind him. His Magic Shooter strength was useless, having his mana sealed by Gerian. Now, he was no better than an ordinary man. He could only watch Lin Li open the bottle cap and let the intoxicating fragrance pervade the basement…

“You actually want me to feed you?” Lin Li frowned, his hand gripping the middle-aged man’s chin. “The don’t blame me for being too rough…”

“I… I…” The middle-aged man really wanted to cry. He was a Magic Shooter, highly respected everywhere he went. However, at present, he was held by the chin by a young mage who wasn’t over 20 years of age who even threatened to douse him with the potion violently…

“You’ll really drink it on your own?” Lin Li glanced at him skeptically, yet warned him kindly, “You’d better not have any tricks up your sleeves. I’ve concocted a few dozen bottles of this potion altogether. If you break this bottle, don’t blame me for dousing you with bottle after bottle. I won’t care if anything bad happens then.”

“…” The unlucky Magic Shooter was about to break the bottle upon receiving it, but his hand froze in mid-air when he heard Lin Li’s words. After weighing the gains and losses, the middle-aged man, trembling, eventually brought the glass bottle to his lips. At last, he accepted his fate, and with his eyes closed, he gulped the bottle of potion down…

“Drink slowly, won’t be good to choke on it…” Lin Li reminded him kindly again, then turned to Gerian and said, “You do your interrogation slowly. I’m going out to take a breather first, let me know when there’s news.”

After sitting in the hall for less than half an hour, Lin Li saw the basement door open. Gerian emerged with a look of fear on his face, and the mages who followed behind revealed an expression of awe when they looked at Lin Li.

Gerian found a chair to sit in and asked Lin Li with lingering fear, “What potion did you give him, why is it so brutal? I’ve only asked him casually and that fellow spilled everything out while begging for forgiveness, asking me to have mercy on him. Damn it, I’ve never even done much to him…”

“The Fear Potion is like that, indefinitely magnifying all kinds of negative emotions. Anything would fill him with fear. Maybe you were tormenting him with various kinds of savage tortures in his fantasy…” Lin Li casually mentioned the effects of the Fear Potion and then asked curiously, “So, what exactly did he say?”

“Simply put, these three bastards were unhappy with me kicking them out of the guild. Then, someone offered a high price as a lure, so they coolly sold the defense arrangement of the Demon Fall Valley.” At this point, Gerian sighed guiltily. “If we were to pursue this matter, it’s actually my fault. After I had driven them out of the guild, I should have adjusted the defense arrangement of the Demon Fall Valley. The three of them had actually replenished the mana of 125 Warlock’s Eyes back then, and those 20 sentry posts were actually arranged by the three of them as well… But I got so busy with the auction that I totally forgot about it. Plus, I actually thought that the Shadow’s Nest wouldn’t dare to mess with the Guild of Magic… Then it turned out to be such a big matter…”

“It is indeed your negligence…” Lin Li nodded.

“Apart from him, the other two fellows were the accomplices. But consider them lucky today that I didn’t manage to pull them out when I went out this morning. According to this guy, they’ve sought refuge with one of the forces of Jarrosus City, but I’ve yet to confirm whether that is true. Looks like we have to hold another auction another day—I’ve got to dig those fellows out no matter how…”

“Quit counting on me!” Lin Li knew what the old fellow was thinking upon hearing his words. He did not want to spend his days in the potion lab. It was not easy for him to come to a totally unfamiliar world; there were still many places he had not ventured to, many things that he had not tried. How would he be content with staying in the potion lab all day?

“Just saying. Never mind, let’s not talk about this. Let’s talk about business…” Gerian pursed his lips and then lowered his voice. “You’ll never imagine who bought the defense arrangement of the Demon Fall Valley from him…”

“Who?”

“Evan—Matthew’s hussy brother!”

“Damn, he’s got guts!” Lin Li was astounded, but quickly calmed down. “Evan Merlin’s that stupid? This is such a shady business, he could have sent someone to do it for him. How could he be so stupid to do it personally and even be identified?”

“Evan didn’t go personally, but sent a low-level mage to contact him. But this fellow was not assured after the contact, so he secretly tailed the person Evan sent. Just think, he has the strength of a Magic Shooter—it’s nothing for him to tail a low-level mage. So after tailing him, he found out who was the mastermind behind it…”

“This fellow has saved us some trouble indeed…” Lin Li mulled over it carefully. The Merlin Family was really weird. Ever since the battle with Gerian, Matthew had disappeared from the scene, and even Cromwell had not shown his face in front of anyone. The only thing that was related to them was the 800,000 gold coins deal at the auction.

“Saved trouble?” Gerian swore as he grumbled, “The Merlin Family is sure to have something to do with the Shadow’s Nest. Darn, I’ve got a headache just thinking about it. One Shadow’s Nest is trouble enough, now there’s the Merlin Family…”

“An enemy in the dark is a terrifying thing. Since we know who is looking for trouble now, this matter is much simpler. Why, could it be that… you’re afraid of Old Merlin?”

“I’m afraid of him?” Gerian glared and was about to utter something crude when he thought of the battle outside Emerald Tower and smiled embarrassedly. “But he’s surely not afraid of me too. If it wasn’t for your Awakening Potion last time, I’d probably be dead in his hands…”

“What can one bottle do? I’m planning to give you a bag of it this time. Even if you drink one and toss the other one away, you can still tire him out to death!” Lin Li said with clenched teeth, and then asked Gerian again, “Oh, right, how long is it until my duel with Cromwell?”

“Not many days left. But that kid is a useless bum, no need to worry.”

“Hard to say… Old Merlin is not an idiot. Since he dared to put in such a request, he must have his own plan. I need to seize the time and enhance my magic level. It’d be best if I can reach the Magic Shooter level before the duel, then I’ll have more confidence to deal with Cromwell. Do you have any ways to enhance the magic level in the shortest time?”

“Dream on!” Gerian gave Lin Li an angry glare. “If there was a way to enhance the magic level in the shortest time, would dozens of bottles of Arcane Magic Potion be selling for millions of gold coins…?

“No, now I remember, there is indeed such a way!” Gerian hadn’t finished his sentence when he suddenly recalled something. “I’ve read about it in a magic book some time ago. The High Elves have a way to enhance the magic level by force. It is said that the highest level it can go is by five levels. But after the enhancement by force, the person’s potential for life will be completely exhausted, and there will never be any progress…”

“You can keep it to yourself. I’ll just drink a few more bottles of potion when the time comes to keep it safe…”

“Why are you suddenly placing such great importance on this duel?”

“Because I don’t want to worry about the Merlin Family doing something behind our backs when we’re dealing with the Shadow’s Nest…”

Gerian couldn’t help the surprise showing on his face when he heard it. “You want to deal with the Merlin Family?”

“Not me…” Lin Li shook his head and smiled innocently. “The person who is going to deal with the Merlin Family is the Archmage, President Gerian. Starting tomorrow, President Gerian will be launching a comprehensive crackdown on the Merlin Family. By the time it comes to the duel, Old Merlin will probably be mad as hell and would vent it all on me. I think I’d better bring a few more bottles of potions to protect myself…”

“…”

The two bastards were discussing how to deal a blow to the Merlin Family when they heard a guild’s mage come forward to inform them that Mage Grimm Burnside came.

“Grimm Burnside!” Gerian seemed to have been struck by lightning as he sat dazed on the chair for a long while before stammering out his instructions, “Hur… Hurry… Hurry and invite Mage Grimm Burnside in!”