Almighty Alchemist

Royo City is a relatively special city among the mountainous cities in the southern part of the Lance Empire.

Its commerce is not very developed, but its geographical location is extremely important. Both the Shayan Avenue and the Tisgang Avenue, the main roads in the south of the empire, pass here, and a major river, the Millennium River, also flows through here. It is located on the edge of the Bilias Mountains.

It looks like a giant sitting down with its back empty.

Due to its geographical location, there are about 500 regular warriors (below the third level) and 3,000 ordinary soldiers stationed in Royue City. In addition, the city wall here is much higher than that of Xiangye City, and pedestrians who come and go are subject to interrogation.

When Huey's convoy arrived in Royo City, Huo Ding went up to negotiate with them, and it didn't take long for the convoy to pass the checkpoint.

This time, besides Brian Buckler, Huo Ding, Ashlin and Lilith who came with Xiu Yi, Leile Yesa and other sixty-six gangsters were also brought out by Xiu Yi.

Half of them formed a small-scale convoy and entered Royo City in the form of a caravan, while the other half entered the city alone with their own identities, adopting a semi-dark entry posture.

The convoy moved forward along the spacious road paved with bluestone slabs in the city. Huo Ding had already arranged their accommodation in advance.

Silent Isle Hotel is the most luxurious top hotel in Royal City.

It is located in the busiest commercial area in the center of Royue City. The whole building is about 30 meters high and consists of five floors. The center is a spire-like structure. There are twelve luxury suites on the top floor, and wing buildings on both sides. In addition to some accommodation, there are also large and luxurious restaurants for guests to eat.

At the rear of the hotel is a large parking area for carriages.

When Xiu Yi and his convoy arrived at the Silent Island Hotel, several young servants in red clothes greeted them immediately, guiding the driver to stop according to the planned route, and at the same time, another servant was going forward to pick up the package for the guests.

Xiuyi was wearing a small black vest, jumped out of the carriage, and then turned around to help Lilith, Lilith slapped his hand angrily: "I don't need your help,"

Xiu Yi was very helpless: "Being weak is the quality that every noble lady must have, and supporting a lady is the etiquette that a man should have,"

There was a moment of silence in the carriage, and then, a beautiful jade hand slowly stretched out from the carriage and gently placed it on Xiuyi's hand, the movements looked elegant and gentle.

In front of the convoy, Huoding, who was wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looked like a gentleman, was already negotiating with the foreman of the hotel. Huoding had booked four luxury suites on the top floor, except for Huoding and Eagle sharing one, and Brian Buckler, Huey and Lilith each.

Before coming to Royo City, Huey had already completely changed everyone's appearance. This time, he was not only changing the hair color, he even helped Buckle repair the scars on his face, and made up for Iger's skinny face, making him look like a human being. At the same time, Huo Ding looked younger and more graceful. As for Lilith, he helped her hide her obvious sharp ear features.

On the other hand, Xiu Yi himself, in addition to changing the color of his hair, he also equipped himself with a pair of lenses, changed the background color of his eyes, widened his face, and finally put on glasses. In addition, he found that he had grown taller.

Sixteen years old is the age of development.

This made him look a lot taller and more refined. No one would regard this handsome and polite boy as the heinous criminal Hugh Igleser. Even if Chakle, Bailey and the others stood by his side, it would be difficult to confirm that he was the Hugh Iglesel they had been looking for.

He even dyed Xu's fur white, and then curled it into curly hair, turning the little black dog into a curly-haired poodle, and stuffed it into Lilith's arms, becoming a standard family pet.

"If you don't become an exiled criminal, but instead become a beauty expert for noble ladies, you will definitely make a lot of money," that was Lilith's evaluation of him at the time.

"Is that the Dardanelle family? Please come with me. All the rooms you reserved have been packed. Welcome to the Silent Island Hotel," the head waiter not far away greeted graciously. Huo Ding, who was dressed in a black tuxedo and dressed as a butler but with extraordinary temperament, returned to the chief carriage after the negotiations, and bowed to the carriage: "Dear master, everything has been arranged,"

Brian Buckler's dull answer came from the carriage: "Take the young master and young lady back to the room to rest first,"

"yes,"

Huo Ding and Xiu Yi looked at each other, and Xiu Yi had a satisfied smile on his face. Obviously, Brian Buckler had a good grasp of his position.

Entering the hotel, Xiu Yi found that the reception hall here is extremely spacious.

Surrounding the hall are sofa-like seats made of precious animal skins and wool. Some people sit in twos and threes on the seats, whispering gossip to each other, and occasionally looking at the guests who come in. A crystal chandelier powered by magic energy is hung on the ceiling, emitting soft light. The walls are covered with precious oil paintings.

Huo Ding went to get the house number and keys, returned to Xiu Yi and the others, and someone led the distinguished guests to their room.

What surprised Xiuyi was that they didn't need to take the stairs to go to the top floor. The Silent Island Hotel even installed a kind of magically propelled suspended ladder here, which can automatically go up and down.

"I really didn't expect that the Silent Island had a floating ladder. I thought that there were not many hotels in the empire with this kind of setting," Huey said.

The receptionist who led the way was a ten-year-old boy. He replied respectfully at this moment: "Silent Island belongs to the property of the Nanfang family. In the entire southern part of the empire, it can be said that there is no other business family that is as powerful as the Nanfang family. This floating ladder was personally designed and made by the acting head of the family. Every guest who comes to Silent Island will be amazed by the master's work."

It turned out that this place was owned by the Nanfang family, and the suspended ladder she was stepping on was actually built by Lancelot's father, Bertlott, Xiuyi couldn't help being startled.

He thought of Lancelot and wondered how he was doing now.

The suspended ladder quickly ascended to the top floor, and the young receptionist took them to their room.

Pushing open the door, Lilith was the first to let out a cry of wonder.

God knows that before this, she had never lived in a luxury suite. The decoration of the suite was luxurious and exquisite. The furniture was all made of dark lacquered fragrant wood, giving off a faint fragrance. The bed was covered with gorgeous brocade, the windows were made of crystal instead of glass, the kettle and lamp stand were made of silver, and the tea table was placed on exquisite porcelain, with exquisite craftsmanship and ancient myths and legends.

There is also a bathroom at the back of the suite. A large jade-carved bathtub can lie down two people side by side. There is an exquisite water pillow next to the bathtub for people to soak in the water and have a good sleep. A small constant temperature enchantment is engraved around the bathtub, which can keep the water from cooling down for four hours.

Of course, activation of the enchantment requires an additional fee.

"Sure enough, it's very luxurious," Xiu Yi smiled and glanced at Huo Ding.

Since you want to use money to move people's hearts, naturally you can't be stingy with the small investment at the moment. If you want to live in an upstart, you naturally have to live in the best place.

"It's expensive to live in such a place for one night," Lilith asked softly while the receptionist was not paying attention.

Houlding replied: "A hundred Kingwitts a night,"

"Oh, my God," Lilith covered her mouth and tried her best to suppress her voice, "We booked four rooms, that's four hundred Kingwitts a day,"

Huo Ding replied leisurely: "In fact, there are more than this number, don't forget that there are rooms for the servants, a total of 500 Kingwitts a day,"

"It's too expensive," Lilith began to grit her teeth, Xiuyi thought of Clarice, every woman seems to have a natural sensitivity to money.

"How many days are we staying," Lilith asked.

"Seven days," Huey replied.

"Three thousand and five hundred Gold Witts, Hugh Iglell, this money will be deducted from your account," Lilith said angrily.

"My dear sister, please call me Siser Dardanelle." Xiuyi's face became a little ugly, and the receptionist hadn't left yet.

Lilith glared at him unconvinced, and said nothing.

After the receptionist guided them to visit their respective rooms: "Dear Sir, Miss, Master, if you want to have dinner, you can go to the luxurious restaurant in the wing building. Of course, if you don't want to go out to eat, just ring the bell at the door, and a dedicated waiter will come to serve you,"

"I hear there's going to be a cocktail party here tonight," Huey asked.

"Yes, it was a reception hosted by Earl Brooks. At this time of year in Royo City, there will be a special busy period, mainly for the upcoming trade meeting of alchemy materials. Earl Brooks is currently the largest buyer of alchemy materials in the country,"

"I hear he's a royal buyer,"

"Yes, Earl Brooks comes to Royo City every year to purchase a large amount of materials, but I heard that his orders have dropped sharply this year, but I don't know why,"

A mysterious smile appeared on Xiu Yi's face: "Maybe the empire no longer needs so many materials, oh, so anyone who is a supplier of alchemy materials or a demander is eligible to enter this cocktail party,"

"Yes," the receptionist replied, "A large number of businessmen will come to Silent Island at this time of year. Of course, the main buyer will always be Earl Brooks, and the seller will always be those material suppliers who have a good relationship with the elves."

"I'm afraid there will be changes this year," Xiu Yi said lightly, "By the way, can you get me an invitation card?"

The receptionist was a little embarrassed: "This requires you to have a certificate from the material supply dealer first, I mean the certificate of a large transaction,"

"I don't have any documents, but I have something more convincing than that, Barnett," Huey said lightly.

Houding took out a lot of money and stuffed it into the hands of the receptionist: "Tell your manager, let him get us an invitation card, I know he can do it, after all, this is held in his hotel, isn't it, as a guest of the top suite, you are obliged to fulfill our needs,"

The receptionist immediately bowed down respectfully: "Yes sir, Silent Island wholeheartedly welcomes you, our service tenet is fast, accurate and in place,"

"Very well, then I don't need your services for the time being, you can go down first," Huey said.

Huo Ding casually took out two King Witts and threw them to the receptionist, who thanked him and left.

Looking back at Lilith's angry eyes, Huo Ding said: "A grand performance always needs to be invested in advance,"

"You can give him less money," Lilith said.

"That's why women aren't suited for big things," Huey laughs.

"I have the same feeling," Huo Ding also nodded with a smile.

The two chatted and laughed and walked towards their own room, leaving the angry Lilith to sulk in the room alone.

After thinking about it, she exclaimed, "Why don't we do it ourselves, it will save us at least a fortune,"

"Because we are a group of rude, arrogant, self-righteous nouveau riche," Huey's voice came from the room: "I must admit, Lilith, you are very suitable for this role,"

"Please call me sister, or Claudia Dardanelle," Lilith yelled angrily.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.

The receptionist quickly delivered what Huey needed.

A beautifully crafted bronzing invitation.

"Representatives of the Dardanelles are invited to the material dealer reception hosted by Earl Brooks,"

Before the dinner, Huo Ding prepared for Lilith a set of evening dresses that ladies often wear. The wide skirt dragged on the ground, and she needed to be carried by hand to walk. The golden ribbon wrapped around her abdomen was desperately tightened, which made Lilith gasp. Coupled with the vulgar boundless lace hat, Lilith felt like a poor flowered puppet.

"I don't see what's so good about this dress, I can't even dance in it," Lilith complained.

"Miss Noble doesn't need to jump," the madam reminded her.

Lilith pretended not to hear, and rummaged around in the room.

"What are you looking for," Huey asked.

"Where are my weapons?" Lilith asked.

"You don't have to wear them, you're just going to a dinner party,"

Lilith ignored him, she finally found the small daggers that were close to her body, picked up a treasure on her back, Lilith rearranged her clothes, and then said to Xiuyi: "Now I feel much more comfortable, so, my dear brother, let's go to the banquet together."

Huey and Huo Ding were relatively silent.

The cocktail party is held in the left wing of the Silent Island Hotel. There is an air bridge from the main building to the wing, and a gorgeous air duct is wrapped with glass and glazed tiles.

At this moment, Brian Buckler, who is the "patriarch" of the family, is already waiting at the door, but now he is called Brian Dardanelle, only Houding still maintains his original name, which is still called Clementine Barnett. This is because people only know Crazy Houdin, but not Clementine Houdin Barnett.

"Brooks hasn't come yet, the reception hasn't started yet, we can go in and meet some friends first, hey, Barnett, be careful, your face is quite famous, and you may run into acquaintances who yell at you, 'I'll know you even if you turn into ashes'," Brian Buckler reminded Houding.

"Don't worry, my master, I assure you that the reason why Crazy Houding is terrifying is not only because of deceit, but also because he has mastered the privacy that most nobles can't see." Returning to the occasion he was good at, Houding was full of confidence.

"Let's go in, Brian," Huey said coldly.

He was the first to step into the hotel restaurant known for its luxury.

Stepping on the cashmere printed carpet and strolling into the resplendent reception hall, Hugh Iglesel held the hand of his "sister" as if he was supporting a frail girl.

The wine venue of Silent Island is quite famous even in the entire empire. Compared with the large open-air platform of Lanya Theater, the open-air platform has a comfortable, casual, and relaxed mood. The invited guests do not have any special purpose, so they do not pursue luxury. On the contrary, there is more free space there, but in Silent Island, everything can only be described as luxury.

Hanging from the ceiling is a large chandelier strung together with precious undersea clam beads. It does not require the slightest magical power. Its own brilliance is enough to illuminate the entire hall. There is also a long dining table in the hall, but it is all made of precious monolithic obsidian. The tableware used at the dinner party is almost all gold and silver utensils. It was put on the table for the guests to enjoy.

Walking in such a place was like walking in a diamond palace piled up with money, even Lilith's mood suddenly became tense.

"Calm down, my dear sister, and remember we're rich now, and we've seen it all," Huey reminded her.

"The question is where does our money come from," Lilith replied in a low voice. So far, all the expenditures have been provided by the wild wolf group, and the money that Xiuyi sold those magic weapons was all used to buy materials.

"Of course it's from the pockets of those nobles. Don't worry, money is not a problem. It has never been a problem," Xiuyi smiled confidently. He let go of Lilith's hand and started to walk freely.

Walking among a large group of nobles and businessmen, Xiu Yi was quite leisurely. Compared with the last time, he didn't need to set up a magic circle in advance this time, and he didn't need to prepare to fight against a strong man. He just needed to walk around here and meet some worthy people. Of course, it would be most appropriate to hand over this work to Huo Ding.

Not far away, Huo Ding has begun to distribute business cards to the surrounding nobles and businessmen, and uses his charismatic voice to introduce the situation of the Dardanelles. This is a very effective strategy. The influence of the noble society is unparalleled. Instead of struggling hard and gaining fame in the lower class, it is far less important than a successful social interaction in the upper-class social circle.

It can be seen that Huo Ding is able to deal with this kind of thing with ease. After a while, a large number of nobles have surrounded him.

In contrast, Brian, who plays the role of the family patriarch next to him, is a bit pale, but this is also in line with the positioning everyone gave him: taciturn, courage is greater than wisdom.

Although Xiu Yi had removed the scars on his face, he couldn't change his strong physique and fierce temperament.

This satisfied Huey, so he walked around with confidence.

The atmosphere of the cocktail party was solemn but slightly relaxed. Unless someone who is good at communication like Huo Ding can use a slight collision or an unintentional coincidence to create a topic with the other party, otherwise, the people participating in the cocktail party will not easily talk to strangers. Therefore, during the stroll, no one came to disturb Xiu Yi.

Occasionally, some people would comment on Xiu Yi's existence, just like the Lanya Grand Theater, seeing him as a little lover brought by a noble lady.

He could even hear some of the ladies whispering.

"Please allow me to introduce my little master to everyone. He is currently in the Dardanelle family. In addition to being the heir of the family, he also has another identity, that is, an alchemist," Huo Ding's voice sounded not far away.

Xiu Yi knew that it was time for him to play.

Sure enough, Houding shouted to himself:

"Master Sisser, please come here for a moment,"

Xiu Yi walked towards the circle surrounded by the nobles.

"Where's my uncle," Huey asked.

"The master said that he was not feeling well, so he went back to his room to rest first, and left the matter here to you to handle. The master said that he trusted your ability,"

"Thank you uncle for your kindness,"

This was a plan they made in advance. Although Brian was responsible for playing the role of the patriarch, most of the time, communication and transactions were left to Houding and Xiuyi. After all, upstarts can be used as a reason for not knowing the rules, but they cannot be used as bargaining chips in negotiations.

"Then let me introduce you. This is Viscount Radur. He came to Royo City to purchase materials on behalf of the Bavarian family. It is one of the oldest families in the empire," Huo Ding said, pointing to a slightly fat middle-aged man beside him.

"Viscount Ladour, hello," Xiu Yi saluted, and the other party gave him a slight nod.

"This is Mr. O'Connor Dodge. The Dodge firm is one of the three largest alchemy material firms in the empire. Mr. Dodge is the vice chairman of the firm committee,"

"Mr. Dodge, hello," Huey said to the thin man in a black dress.

"Hi, that's interesting. Although I've never heard of the Dardanelles before, I have to say that it looks like this family has at least one very good steward and an equally good heir. You look good, young man," Mr. Dodge flattered directly and tenderly.

"Thank you for your compliment,"

"This is Mr. Bradstreet, the deputy secretary of Royo City, the most trusted person of the Lord of the City," Huo Ding continued to introduce Xiu Yi, a man in his thirties with a mustache gave Xiu Yi a polite smile.

Xiuyi began to admire Huo Ding's ability. After a short time, Huo Ding had already met many noble people, and it seemed that they all wanted something from him.

But Huey quickly understood why Huo Ding could do this.

Mr. O'Connor Dodge, the vice chairman of the Dodge firm, asked Xiu: "I heard that the Dardanelles recently tried to acquire a large amount of materials from the market,"

Xiu Yi thought for a while, nodded and said, "Yes, my family plans to formally enter the alchemy material trading market. In fact, we do not lack alchemists. Of course, to produce valuable finished products, we need good materials."

"In Royo City, you never have to worry about finding good materials, as long as you have enough money," said Mr. Bradstreet, the Royo City clerk's adjutant.

Huey smiled.

As the biggest economic pillar of Royo City, the annual Alchemy Materials Trading Conference has always been highly valued by the city lord.

However, the unfortunate news is that Earl Brooks, the purchasing official of the Imperial Royal Family, the largest buyer of Royo City, suddenly announced that he would significantly reduce the purchase of materials after he came to Royo City at the beginning of the month.

This has spooked a host of material suppliers.

Changes in the relationship between supply and demand have always been the main balance point in the market price of materials. Over the years, the empire has been continuously collecting materials from all over the world, which has become the main factor for the increase in material prices.

This year, the empire suddenly reduced its purchases drastically. Although no one knows the reason, it is certain that due to the sharp drop in the purchases of the empire, it will inevitably lead to a backlog of a large number of goods. Many merchants have shipped goods over thousands of miles just to sell them at a good price. Now, they are facing the dilemma of material sales.

Some traders who sell ore-like materials are fortunate to say that as long as the capital chain can support, the ore can be stored indefinitely, and can be sold slowly in the future. Some special materials that are not durable to storage are facing great embarrassment. Even if they can be preserved using magic enchantment, a large amount of magic spar is consumed every day, which undoubtedly makes the cost rise sharply.

In this case, price reduction sales have become an inevitable trend.

Among them, a considerable part of the material transaction resellers are purchased from the elves of the ancient frame. They have a long-term cooperation with the elves. The purchase price is relatively fixed and much higher. Once the price is reduced, it means a huge loss.

As far as the overall demand is concerned, the market for alchemy materials is undoubtedly a seller's market, and the supply will always be insufficient. However, at this time of year, material suppliers from all over the country converge here, and a large number of materials from the empire will be concentrated in this area, resulting in a region-wide oversupply.

The reason why the cunning Earl Brooks didn't disclose this situation before, and didn't release the news of reducing the purchase until everyone arrived in Royo City, is obviously to force everyone to lower the price. Of course, he himself can also get a lot of benefits from it.

After all, even if the Empire lowers its demand, its position as the largest material purchaser remains unshakable, but this time, a large number of material suppliers will be squeezed out, and for Royo City, the sharp drop in material transaction volume will undoubtedly cause a huge hit to Royo City’s tax revenue this year. According to the estimate of the clerk’s adjutant, if this year’s transaction really cuts 80% of the purchases as Earl Brooks said, it means that Royo City’s tax revenue will directly decrease by 16%.

This is a rather terrifying figure. The tax revenue brought by the annual material fair has always accounted for 20% of the tax revenue of Royo City.

Therefore, even the city lord was in a hurry this time, and sent his secretary and adjutant to look for businessmen who could buy materials.

When Huo Ding let out the wind that the Dardanelles planned to acquire a large amount of materials... no wonder he was so popular.

As Houding said before: "As long as you look at the needs of the other party, the simplest deception will immediately become the most perfect deception,"

Thinking of this, Xiu Yi smiled sweeter.

He said: "Please rest assured that the Dardanelle family has enough financial resources to complete this acquisition. Of course, as a purchaser of materials, we are also a supplier of some alchemy finished products. I think everyone will also be interested in excellent finished products."