Almighty Alchemist

If the castle is the capital of Lianhe Island, then the Alchemy Tower is equivalent to the royal palace in the capital.

On this highly hierarchical island, if Haines is the supreme king, Andrew and Pierre are his civil servants, Lancelot is his general, a large number of puppet warriors are his soldiers, and servants are his civilians, then apprentices are his knights.

This is a typical representative of the middle class.

At this point, it can be said that Gong Hao has crossed the most difficult stage for him. Because this is a class-like leap, from butler to apprentice is much more difficult than from servant to butler.

Early the next morning, Andrew announced the new appointment - Hugh Igles will enter the Alchemy Tower to take over the work of Neil's apprentice starting today, and the working hours will continue until the Liberty brings them new apprentices.

In addition, Hugh Igles will continue his original job, but he will step down as butler, and Andrew will choose another butler to work with Gong Hao.

From today onwards, Hugh Iglell will be able to enter and leave the Alchemy Tower freely.

This may be the best portrayal of a frog turning into a prince. Gong Hao's promotion made all the servants jump for joy. They seem to see a hope of promotion, so that they work extra hard.

"Congratulations, Greer, from today onwards, you are an apprentice, and you will learn the most mysterious and powerful alchemy in the mainland." Andrew patted Gong Hao on the shoulder and said.

Gong Hao replied respectfully: "I believe that you must have contributed to this matter. I still remember that it was your decision to promote me to the head of the servant, and now, it is thanks to you."

Andrew smiled and said: "I did say something for you, but in the end it was because of your own hard work. The mentor appreciates you very much, and I believe you will not let him down."

"I will do my best, my lord."

"En." Andrew looked around carefully, and said softly to Gong Hao: "But you have to be careful of Pierre. After you enter the alchemy tower, he will be your new supervisor. This guy is not a good guy. In addition to being able to please the mentor, he is also very thoughtful. He even suspected that what happened yesterday was caused by you. If Lancelot didn't prove it for you, or he would give you... In short, Xiuyi, don't let him catch you. It's not good for you, after all, you Used to be my people."

Gong Hao's heart skipped a beat, he looked at Andrew and said, "My lord, I thought I was always yours."

Andrew was stunned, and Gong Hao said: "Didn't I just temporarily replace Neil before Liberty sent a new apprentice? In this case, I am still just a servant, not an apprentice. Since I am a servant, I am still under your jurisdiction, why should I listen to Master Pierre? It is just that the place and content of the job has changed, but it does not mean that I belong to Master Pierre, right? Unless he makes it clear that I am an apprentice in the alchemy tower and does not plan to use new apprentices, otherwise I am still just you servant."

Andrew's eyes narrowed, he thought for a while, and nodded appreciatively: "You are right, Huey, you are still a servant, and you are still my man. I don't think Pierre will give you a clear apprenticeship. After all, once you have an apprenticeship, it cannot be revoked easily, especially if you have not made any mistakes."

"In this case, I still need to ask Mr. Andrew to take care of him in the future." Gong Hao bowed to Andrew and begged.

"Of course." Andrew replied proudly.

———————————

From Andrew's words, Gong Hao understood two things:

First, Pierre had doubts about himself.

Second, Andrew is dissatisfied with Pierre.

The former represents crisis and the latter represents opportunity.

Gong Hao couldn't help admiring his quick wit at the time, and immediately used the identity switch between servant and apprentice to trap Andrew. Without Andrew's support behind him, it would be difficult for him to cope with the following situation.

In dealing with people, sometimes it is not only necessary to do a good job, but also to know how to make good friends with superiors, and to borrow strength. To put it bluntly, you must know how to find a backer for yourself. Before his reincarnation, Gong Hao had a good understanding of office politics. If he wants to be able to do things, he must also be able to be a person. This is the only rule for survival in the workplace.

But in Lianhe Island, this situation is even more straightforward - if you don't do well, you will die, and Gong Hao has no room to back down.

So in this situation, Gong Hao immediately chose to continue to follow Andrew closely, and only in this way can he protect himself.

Of course, among the three giants in the Alchemy Tower, the one who really promises what he says is Patrick Hines. Andrew and Pierre are only equivalent to two department heads, one is in charge of technology and production, and the other is in charge of personnel and logistics. It seems that the status of the technical supervisor is higher than that of the logistics supervisor. This is also in line with the standard that the first-tier position in the enterprise is higher than the second-tier. Therefore, it is impossible for Andrew alone to fight against Pierre, so the one who has to pay close attention is Hines, the general manager.

Although Hines seemed to have a good impression of himself, this man was obviously an alchemy madman. Just think about how he could stay at home all day and lock himself in the tower without caring about anything but alchemy. There was only one way to completely please such a person—to make enough achievements in alchemy.

In the end, Gong Hao realized that he still had another backer, the little princess Avril, the daughter of the chairman Strick VI.

Oh, by the way, and the head of the procurement department, the polished commander Lancelot, will undoubtedly stand by his side.

It seems that on this purgatory island, it is Pierre who is really alone.

At least for a short time, I don't have to worry about Pierre. But sooner or later, this heinous problem must be resolved.

———————————————

The above ideas are just long-term plans. Gong Hao doesn't think he can kill Pierre right now, if accidents happen one after another on Purgatory Island, Hines will definitely doubt him, even if he does it skillfully.

There are two things that are urgent and must be resolved immediately. One is to be familiar with the working conditions of the alchemy tower immediately, so as to get started as soon as possible, instead of holding others back. Another thing is more important - in any case, new apprentices cannot be sent to Lianhe Island.

Gong Hao didn't want to be beaten back to his original form because of a new apprentice after he finally entered the alchemy tower.

I am afraid that this matter will eventually fall on the golden armored warrior Chakle who bought him back in the first place. Damn it, I didn't have much friendship with Chakle this year, I just made secret deals with Bailey.

Well, maybe Bailey has a way around that.

But to get these greedy guards to take action...it seems that they must know that having an apprentice who can make a deal with them is far more valuable than a servant who can make a deal with them.

Thinking of this, Gong Hao understood what he should do.

In fact, the work of an apprentice is not very complicated.

The apprenticeship on Purgatory Island is mainly a two-part job.

One is production, which is to produce the alchemy products that have been mastered, mainly according to the list sent by the empire every month. This part of the list includes the crafting of potions, scrolls, magic weapons, and golems. Since the technology has already been formed, the apprentices only need to follow the steps.

The other is to research new alchemy. This part is mainly conducted by Hines, Pierre and Andrew. Among them, Hines is responsible for the most difficult part, while Pierre is responsible for the middle part and Andrew is responsible for the low part. The task of the apprentices is to help these three people and complete the work according to their requirements.

After Gong Hao entered the alchemy tower, he said that he would replace Neil's job, but in fact he definitely couldn't do that. It is much faster to start with the known alchemy first than to delve into the unknown.

"Hugh Igles, from today onwards, you will be working here." The apprentice who was in charge of leading the way and introducing him was Ivo who had sent flowers to Lancelot back then.

"Yes, Master Iwo." Gong Hao replied respectfully.

Ivo smiled softly: "There is no need to call me a mage, you are now a half-apprentice, just call me by my name."

Gong Hao found that when they were not killing people, these apprentices were quite cute.

"I see, Ivo."

This is a room on the second floor of the Alchemy Tower.

The first floor of the alchemy tower is mainly to display some extracted raw materials and finished products, in addition to the library.

The second floor of the alchemy tower is mainly for the production of potions.

Different rooms are used to make different potions, from the second floor to the fourth floor, each floor has two apprentices and ten puppet assistants. On the fifth to seventh floors are the experimental floors of Hines, Pierre, and Andrew, of which Andrew is on the fifth floor. Except for Hines who is equipped with two assistants, Pierre and Andrew each have an apprentice assistant and ten puppet assistants.

Puppet assistants were invented by Hines specifically to assist in alchemy experiments. Their intelligence is higher than that of puppet warriors, but they basically have no combat power. They can only do some simple and heavy work according to orders, and they don’t need special talismans to command them. They just need to wear apprentice robes.

The second floor of the alchemy tower is potion production, and some blank magic scrolls are also produced by the way. The third floor is where magic is added to weapons. The fourth layer is used to make known puppets, such as the puppet warriors are made there.

According to Gong Hao's estimate, the study of magic lines is likely to be on the sixth or seventh floor, and the magic spirit is estimated to be on the sixth floor. Andrew is often not on the fifth floor because he still needs to focus on managing the servants. It is estimated that that floor is mostly vacant. From the analysis of the known materials coming in and going out, it can also be seen that Andrew's layer basically has no need, and it can also be deduced from this that he can't make any contribution.

For the alchemist Haines, this may be the important reason why Andrew's status is not as good as Pierre's. And the goal that I have the best chance of becoming the master in the future should be here.

At this moment, the room Ivo brought him to was full of bottles and jars, covered with notes, indicating the names of various medicines.

On the other side of the room, there are various materials provided by the servants, which are put together in a mess. There are multiple types of crucibles in the middle, and the magic flame can be ignited and heated at any time.

The place looks dirty and messy.

"Actually, the biggest mystery of alchemy lies in the unknown. For the alchemy that has been mastered, it is not that complicated." At this moment, Ivo explained to him the work he was about to do.

Ivo took a bottle of potion from the table: "For example, this is a bottle of healing potion, the most commonly used potion. The required material formula, production sequence, and matters needing attention have all been well recorded. The next thing to do is to make according to the recorded content. You have done it in the library and seen many records of alchemy. Do you know how to make this thing?"

Gong Hao replied immediately: "Yes, I know, it needs seventeen kinds of magic plants, six kinds of monsters, and three kinds of materials provided by magic insects. It needs to go through at least 30 processes to complete. If you use a large crucible, you can make about ten bottles at a time."

"But you've never done it, have you? And there are a lot of things you can't learn by reading a book. I'll do it once and show you. I hope you won't need me to teach you more than twice."

"I will try my best to learn well."

"Very good." Ivo began to explain to Gong Hao the issues that need attention in various aspects while working.

He lit the magic flame and poured a strange colloidal liquid into a small cauldron.

"This is a stock solution made from the sap of the snake weed and manatee glue, diluted with twice the amount of water. After heating until pores appear on the surface of the liquid, start adding materials..."

"Do I still have to stir?" Gong Hao asked.

"Yes, but the record won't tell you that you can only stir in one direction. You must not stir left or right. And you must pay attention to the uniform force during the stirring process, otherwise there will be signs of condensation somewhere. Don't let the original solution condense, otherwise it will be a failure."

"Yes, I see."

"When adding materials, pay attention to the changes. The stock solution will become thicker due to the evaporation of water during the heating process. At this time, pay attention to adding a small amount of water, otherwise they will not be potions but medicine blocks. In the process of adding water, be sure to let the water melt into the stock solution, otherwise it is meaningless. But don't add too much at one time just to be lazy."

"Is it because of the temperature?"

"Yes, if the temperature is not enough, the reaction between the materials will not be sufficient, and the desired effect will not be achieved. But if the temperature is too high, the medicinal properties will also be destroyed."

"So how do we determine the temperature? Can it only be done by eye? I remember a lot of times when it was not accurate, and not every drug responds."

"Then you can only infer the heating time based on experience. So it is easy to learn how to make potions, but it is very difficult to do it well."

Gong Hao smiled and said nothing.

It seems that I still have a good chance here. It is not difficult to make a thermometer, and there is no need to worry about the glass problem, because the alchemists themselves know how to make glass, and there is no shortage of glass in the alchemy tower, but there is obviously a lack of mature use of glass, because their main purpose of making glass is to make some containers for holding liquids. For example, bottles of therapeutic potions are made of this glass. So now there is only a shortage of mercury.

Well, although there is no mercury here, there are items that can replace mercury. Gong Hao remembers that there is a kind of perennial grass that clearly responds to temperature changes. Maybe you can make your own thermometer by yourself, it doesn't have to be accurate, and it doesn't even need to be in degrees Celsius, as long as it meets the needs of the experiment. If that's the case, it shouldn't be too difficult.

"Hey, Greer, you've lost your mind." Ivo's cry called back Gong Hao who was in deep thought.

"I'm sorry, Ivo, I hope I haven't missed anything."

"It's okay, anyway, I have to watch you become proficient before I let you go." Ivo said.

"So the amount of materials used can only be based on experience?"

"Of course. This is the biggest difference between an alchemist and an apprentice. It seems that I am lucky, and this bottle of potion has a great chance of success."

The potion in Ivo's hand is almost finished.

After extinguishing the magic flame, Ivo gently took out the medicine bottle from the crucible and said at the same time:

"The production of potions seems simple, but before perfecting the formula, alchemists have gone through countless experiments. Among them, the most important things are: the control of temperature, the order of adding materials and the amount of materials. It must be precise, otherwise what you make may not be a bottle of healing potion, but a bottle of poison. Greer, if someone asks me what is the biggest difference between a servant and an apprentice, I will not say that an apprentice is more noble than a servant. I will say that if a servant makes a mistake, he will only die. If an apprentice makes a mistake, a large number of people may die. Therefore, according to the rules, every apprentice must make a final inspection of his work after he finishes it."

As he spoke, Ivo blinked at Gong Hao: "Do you know what to do?"

An unknown feeling rose in Gong Hao's heart.

Sure enough, Ivo raised his head and took a big gulp of the freshly made potion.

Then he looked back at Gong Hao: "The finished healing potion is transparent and colorless, but there will be a little sediment and a faint fragrance. If you find that the potion you made has a problem with its color, or its purity is not enough, you'd better throw it away and re-refine it immediately. But if you plan to list it as a finished potion like this, if you plan to list it as a finished product, you can only use a last method to prove that it's fine, which is to take a sip. Before you poison others, you must poison yourself first. This is the rule."

"Yes, I see, Ivo, but isn't there a better test?"

"Gler, you can take advantage of many things, but you can't do many things. Even if you have a hundred ways to prove the safety of the medicine, you still have to escape from this level."

"I see. This is the easiest and most reassuring way, right?"

"That's right." With that said, Ivo put his name on the medicine bottle. If there is a problem with the potion he made, the empire will be the first to arrest the producer by name.

"Then Ivo, what will the apprentice do if the potion is broken?"

"This is not a servant area. It's common for alchemy experiments to go wrong. That's why we use different crucibles. If you're not sure, use a small crucible. If you fail, you won't lose too much. If you're sure, use a large crucible. If you succeed, you'll get ten bottles. If you fail, you'll lose a lot. Unfortunately, I could have used a medium-sized crucible, but I thought I would have a high chance of failing while teaching you to refine medicine, but I didn't expect to succeed. If I knew it, I would use a medium-sized one. Five bottles. Oh, by the way, don’t use a large crucible until you’re sure enough. If you fail once, the material loss will be astonishing, and the difficulty will increase accordingly. Generally, only apprentices or even masters with more than three years of experience will use it.”

Speaking of this, Ivo took a breath. He put away the bottle of healing potion in his hand and said:

"You must know that in alchemy, the consumption of materials is often ten times that of the finished products they can produce. If 80% of the consumption is used to research new alchemy products, once it becomes a finished product, then another part is the consumption caused by making mistakes. Therefore, alchemy allows mistakes, but it is not encouraged. Hugh Igles, you can make mistakes ten times in a row. After all, dozens of processes are not so easy to master, but if you still can't make progress, you won't be able to become a qualified apprentice, let alone become an alchemist."

"Yes, I will work hard."

"So, for an apprentice, there are two criteria for excellence. One: make a better product. Two: make more with less. Both are important."

"Understood."

"Currently, there are 113 kinds of potions that alchemy has mastered, 32 of which are used for recovery, including mana recovery potions, magic stimulation potions, various healing potions, etc. There are also twenty kinds of poison potions, and nineteen kinds of antidotes that are paired with it."

"Nineteen kinds of antidote?"

"Yes, there are nineteen kinds. There is a kind of poison. So far, no antidote has been invented. Therefore, it is a forbidden drug, but here, we also need to make it. But don't worry, you won't be able to touch it in a short time."

"I thought that as long as the healing potion was refined, it would become poison."

"That's not a good idea, Greer. First, the cost is too high. Second, the toxicity is not enough, and it may not even be poisonous. It may just make you have diarrhea for a few days. The real poison can kill you immediately."

"Just kidding." Gong Hao smiled.

Ivo also laughed, and he continued:

"There are also eleven kinds of buff potions and eleven kinds of curse potions, their effects are also corresponding, and finally there are twenty other potions. And your job is to make all these potions within a month according to the list sent by the empire. Oh, yes, and, I will do it with you. Of course, I also need to make some blank magic scrolls by the way."

As he said that, Ivo threw a book to Gong Hao: "Take it, and from today onwards, meditate for an hour every day according to the record in the book."

What Ivo gave him was actually a magic book that recorded how to cultivate the ability to sense elements.

Gong Hao wondered, "Do alchemists also meditate?"

"Of course, alchemists are also a type of magician, but those who become alchemists are mostly smart people who lack the talent for elemental sensing. Without the talent for elemental sensing, it doesn't mean that you can't learn magic, but the effect will be much worse. It is doomed to have no future. But we still need to learn to meditate. Because there are many alchemy products that not only require materials, but also the support of spells. For example, those scrolls. Do you know why alchemy can only produce blank scrolls?"

"Because we can't use powerful spells."

"That's the problem. So the magic scroll was obviously invented by the alchemist, but in the end due to the physical limitations of the alchemist, he could only produce some low-level scrolls. In the end, it evolved into blank scrolls made by the alchemist, and some magicians who knew a little about alchemy made magic scrolls by themselves. This can be said to be the biggest helplessness of the alchemist. But there is no way to do it. If you can become a magician, who would be willing to guard the laboratory every day?"

What Ivo said fully explained his helplessness towards the profession of alchemist.

No matter how powerful an alchemist is, in the end all the results can only be making wedding dresses for others. Of course, maybe Patrick Hines doesn't think so. Maybe he really loves this knowledge madly, so he can have such achievements.

But now, Gong Hao actually likes alchemy very much, maybe that's why he gave up running away and chose to stay here resolutely.

For Gong Hao, revenge may not be the best reason to take risks, but strengthening himself is.

From this day on, even if Gong Hao has completely worked in the Alchemy Pagoda, he soon discovered that even in this new and unfamiliar field, he still has room to show his talents.