Ring ring ring ring ring—
Amidst a cacophony of alarms and an itchy sensation on her face, Lan Qingyou wearily opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was her little darling, Steel Wool.
Its wise-looking eyes stared at Lan Qingyou before it continued nuzzling against her.
“It’s itchy...”
Lan Qingyou, who hadn't slept well to begin with, couldn't help but complain.
She sat up and turned off the alarm, then took a pot of mana potion and poured it directly onto the magic shield core in the corner. She followed it up with another pot.
Her movements were as practiced as a mechanic refueling a car.
Indeed, before going to sleep, Lan Qingyou had moved from the second floor to the third, making a makeshift bed out of the quilts she had collected. She had fallen asleep right there.
She had even set an alarm specifically to ensure she wouldn't oversleep.
After all, she had worked for an entire day and night without a break. It was entirely possible that once she lay down, she would sleep for ten hours straight and never wake up in time.
Fortunately, she had the alarm and Steel Wool to barely manage to wake her up.
After replenishing the shield's mana, Lan Qingyou lay back down on her makeshift bed.
She wanted to sleep, but the raging storm, thunder, and lightning outside made it impossible.
CRACK—
Another bolt of lightning struck, and Lan Qingyou sat bolt upright.
If she couldn't sleep, then she wouldn't.
As for brewing more potions?
Sorry, she wasn't doing any more.
She had finally come to her senses. While a smaller population meant a limited market, the problem was that she wasn't a businesswoman. It didn't really matter to her if her customers died out.
Shang Chuan: “Don't do that! Sales are so good right now, we’re practically rolling in it.”
As soon as he heard that Lan Qingyou didn't want to brew anymore, Shang Chuan grew anxious.
Are you kidding? Do you know how much a +30 mana potion is worth right now?
50 units! A full 50 base units per bottle!
Even though the ratio of base units to magic shield energy was one-to-one...
And a +30 mana potion only provided 30 points of energy...
The sheer volume made up for it!
After all, many solo players were very busy; they didn't care about the slight price markup.
One pot yielded 400 bottles, totaling twelve thousand energy points. All you had to do was pour it in. It took less than thirty seconds to complete, and you didn't have to stay by the core to feed it one by one.
Don't tell me you don't want that?
Lan Qingyou: “That’s just you making a profit. What does it have to do with me?”
Shang Chuan: “How does it not have anything to do with you? How can you say that?”
Shang Chuan: “【《The Half-Hearted Alchemist》】【《Mana Isn't Everything》】【《Basic Mechanical Construction》】【《Basic Materials Science》】”
Anxious, Shang Chuan immediately threw out his most effective counter-attack against Lan Qingyou.
Lan Qingyou: “You already owe me those.”
Shang Chuan: “No, these are a gift. They have nothing to do with the debt.”
Lan Qingyou blinked. “A gift?”
Shang Chuan: “A gift. Free. A bonus. A little treat.”
Shang Chuan was a disgusting fellow.
But he knew exactly how to tempt her.
After all, who didn't love a freebie?
Lan Qingyou: “Fine, I’ll brew one more batch. But this is the last one.”
After she spoke, the four books were delivered into her hands.
Shang Chuan: “Sure, no problem.”
One batch was fine. A full hundred pots, enough for 1.2 million mana points—who wouldn't be tempted by that?
That was enough to fully power four and a half level 3 shelters for three days.
If handled well, many high-quality clients would survive.
As he spoke, Shang Chuan sent over twenty-one more pots to replace the ones Lan Qingyou had kept yesterday.
Profiteer. One of these days, you're going to get struck by lightning.
Looking at the large pots, Lan Qingyou slapped the back of the hand she was holding the books with.
Why couldn't she control her own hands?
Time to get back to brewing.
The preparation stage alone—setting up the bases and drawing the alchemy circles for a hundred pots—would take over an hour.
After finishing this batch for Shang Chuan, Lan Qingyou swore she would never do this again.
At most, she would just have fewer tools to work with in the future.
...
After finishing the second batch and delivering it, Lan Qingyou was completely drained.
She sat at her magic desk like a lost soul, petting Steel Wool while staring blankly at the glowing magic runes across from her.
Then, her mind began to wander.
Uh... speaking of these magic runes, they should be considered an application of Symbology, right?
And since it's Symbology, it should fall under the umbrella of Alchemy, right?
And since it's Alchemy, shouldn't she, as an alchemist, be able to study it?
If she mastered it, wouldn't she be able to create these magic shields herself? Then she could travel freely across Planet Karim without being restricted by a shelter.
【Alchemy is omnipotent. —by Albert】
For some reason.
As Lan Qingyou's thoughts reached a certain peak, she seemed to hear Albert’s soul-stirring cry echoing in her ears.
Right! Alchemy is omnipotent.
Since this magic shield was originally co-developed by some alchemy fanatic and others, there was no reason she couldn't learn it.
The more Lan Qingyou thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The light returned to her dull eyes.
Action followed thought. She put on her Identification Glasses and began to observe the surrounding magic runes.
And then!
Then she gave up.
She hadn't looked closely before, so she hadn't realized.
Now that she was examining it, good heavens, this was simply not something someone at her current level could touch.
With just a cursory glance, Lan Qingyou discovered that this 'small' magic shield incorporated several disciplines she was familiar with.
For example: 《Symbology》, 《Magic Circuitry》, 《Materials Science》, 《Mensuration》, 《Architecture》, 《Drafting》...
Even putting everything else aside...
The magic circuits alone, which were thinner than a strand of hair, were not something she could draw right now.
As for the parts she couldn't see—the storage, triggering, and recovery of mana—the complexity was even greater.
Of course.
It wasn't impossible to make a budget version, but it would definitely be nowhere near as powerful as the shelter's magic shield.
Don't be fooled by its D-grade rating in the Identification Glasses.
That was only because her shelter was only level 3.
If she upgraded it ten or eight more levels, there was no telling what its grade would be.
Lan Qingyou conservatively estimated that this magic shield was at least A-grade.
So, Lan Qingyou tried to develop a budget magic shield.
The result was obvious.
She didn't even have a clue where to start.
“Argh!”
Lan Qingyou ruffled her hair in frustration, much to the bewilderment of Steel Wool.
“Forget it. Every field has its specialists. Even that hard-to-read alchemy fanatic needed to collaborate with others to develop this thing. It’s naturally going to be difficult for me to handle it alone.”
“In that case, let’s try my area of expertise.”
“Come to think of it, I’ve never systematically tried to develop a potion that doesn't already exist in Potions.”
At this point, Lan Qingyou looked down at her legs.
She was bored anyway.
Should I... try developing it for fun?
Rate on N.U.
