Chapter 715: Everybody, Out! (1/2)
GDK 715: Everybody, Out!
“Master Gu Li, please stop!” the servant hastily halted the furious Gu Li from entering the room Han Shuo and Steiss had entered. Right after, the door was shut.
“Get that kid outta here. I must straighten things out with him today! He does not know how to respect his elders. I must teach him a lesson!” Gu Li was infamous in Mirage City for her bad temper. However, everyone, including powerful members of the society, had always tolerated her for her excellent skills in refining medicine. This was the very first time that she had been so brutally insulted by a person.
“My apologies, Mister Bryan is currently having a discussion with our owner. If you wish to speak to him, please wait until he comes out of the room,” explained the servant smilingly.
“Alright, I will wait for him right here until he steps out of that door!” Gu Li said stubbornly. She stood as still as a mountain in front of that door with an angry face, silently waiting. She completely ignored whatever was happening in the banquet hall.
The servant, seeing that she was no longer causing trouble, did not do anything to her. He stood face to face with Gu Li, wearing a smile.
Some of the pharmacists in the hall were secretly delighted to see Gu Li humiliated. There were also some who disapproved of Han Shuo’s attitude, thinking that Han Shuo did not know how to respect elders at all. All those pharmacists stopped exchanging their knowledge about medicines and instead, started discussing Han Shuo softly.
The room that Steiss and Han Shuo had entered was a drawing room of about thirty square meters in size, much smaller compared to the banquet hall outside the door. However, the decorations in the room were much more magnificent and gorgeous. Glasswares containing rare medicines highlighted the owner’s identity as a pharmacist.
Steiss the dwarf personally served Han Shuo a cup of fine wine after they entered the room. The conversation started with talks about the weather and some recent happenings in the City of Shadows. Then, when Steiss noticed that Han Shuo appeared somewhat impatient, he finally started talking about the main point. He said with a faint smile, “The Celestial Pearl Pharmacy, under your leadership, has really been in the limelight these days. Basically every rich and powerful in the City of Shadows has been talking about your pharmacy. They are proud to be in possession of the medicines you produced. Haha, it is really impressive that you could bring about such accomplishment at such a young age…”
“Haha… You flatter me…” Han Shuo replied with a slight smile.
“But…” After a round of praise, Steiss suddenly turned the topic of discussion. “The Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has started out a little too late. If you want the entire Darkness Dominion or even the Death and Destruction Dominions to know about your medicines, it will take tens, if not hundreds of years. However, if you are willing to partner up with us, we can guarantee that people will learn about your medicines at the fastest rate possible. Subsequently, your profits will be even ampler,” Steiss said earnestly.
“Is that so?” Han Shuo put on a bright smile. He took a sip of the fine wine and asked, “How exactly will this partnership work?”
“You will share the formula of your medicines with our Godswamp. Then, we will sell the medicines produced using your formula in every branch we have throughout the entire Darkness Dominion. We will divide the profits in the ratio of twenty-eighty. What do you think?” Steiss proposed with a warm smile on his face.
“Twenty-eighty? You take twenty and I get eighty?” Han Shuo thought to himself that this allotment method was rather generous. However, Han Shuo still wouldn’t be willing to share his formulas. The most he would do was to provide the medicines to Godswamp for them to resell.
“No no no, you have misunderstood!” the expression on Steiss’ face changed slightly. He hastily said, “You get twenty and we take eighty!”
The smile on Han Shuo’s face immediately turned stiff. Right away, he stood up from his seat, nodded at Steiss and said, “Sorry, there is something that I need to attend to. I’ll be on my way!”
The profit allocation proposed was unacceptable, if not sufficiently ludicrous to Han Shuo. He was disinclined to talk to someone who was not even sincere in forming a partnership.
“Hold on! It’s negotiable…” Steiss forced a smile and shouted when Han Shuo immediately got up and headed for the exit.
“There is nothing to negotiate. I have no interest whatsoever in cooperating with your Godswamp Pharmacy. Goodbye!” Han Shuo replied without even turning around, and left the room.
“Unruly fella, I must debate you right here right now! I want to see what is so outstanding about your knowledge in medicine-refinement!” Gu Li who had been guarding at the door immediately and belligerently stepped into Han Shuo’s path after seeing that he had exited the room.
“I have no time for your nonsense!” Han Shuo wasn’t in no mood for further discussion, feeling as though he had been fooled by the Godswamp Pharmacy. He coldly shouted at her and pushed her aside. Then, ignoring the stumbling Gu Li, Han Shuo walked through the hall in large strides and headed straight for the exit.
Gu Li had never been treated so coarsely. With great difficulty, after she managed to save herself from falling, she discovered that Han Shuo was gone and people around her were looking at her as though deriving pleasure from her pitiful state. She could not be more infuriated and shrieked loudly, “It’s not over, you damned brat!”
After Han Shuo left the room, the door was yet again shut. Right after that, a side door in the room suddenly opened. An elderly man with white hair and translucent skin walked inside with a calm face. He looked at Steiss the dwarf and said indifferently, “This young one is extremely ambitious. He will not share his formula for a small speck of gain. It seems that this method isn’t going to work.”
“Master, how about if we eliminate him directly and capture the memory in his soul?” Steiss proposed with a dark face. He was furious that Han Shuo had walked out on him.
The elderly man shook his head and replied calmly, “Although I don’t know how he managed to escape from Avery, this youngster is obviously nothing simple. We should not use brute strength against him except as a last resort. The Godswamp Pharmacy has been operating in the City of Shadows for so many years. Surely we can take care of this small character who’s popped out of nowhere. Since he failed to appreciate our kindness, we shall show him who’s boss.”
“Master, you mean…”
“Just like how we took care of Hannah Pharmacy. First, we tarnish the reputation of his medicines. When people lose confidence in his drugs, he won’t be able to continue doing business in the City of Shadows. Hmph, those large family clans have been so supportive of him only for the medicines he produced. But if they were to learn that there are issues with those medicines, he will surely be driven away from the city,” the elderly man explained.
“Right, you are…” Steiss laughed sinisterly.
***
“What did you guys talk about? What did he say to make you so angry?!” Andrina immediately inquired Han Shuo after he came out from the Godswamp Pharmacy.
Andrina had tactfully withdrawn somewhere secluded before Han Shuo entered the room for discussion. As Andrina was just a little girl, basically no one paid attention to her. Then, after Han Shuo got out from the room, she emerged out of nowhere and went back to following Han Shuo.
“This Godswamp Pharmacy wants to rob my pharmacy. Twenty-eighty? And I even have to share my medicine formula? Ha. They are either daydreaming or they think they can take advantage of me!” Han Shuo said furiously. After storming out from the compound, Han Shuo turned around to gaze at the tall buildings and inwardly thought, One day, your Godswamp Pharmacy is going to be driven out from the City of Shadows! Fuck you!
“Bryan!” Anito hurried over anxiously.
“What’s the matter?” Han Shuo asked hastily. Seeing how hurried Anito was, he knew that something bad must have happened.
Anito gasped for breath and replied, “Carmelita has returned to the city but is severely injured! She is unconscious even until now and she might not make it. Lord Andre knows that your medicines are miraculous and wants your help!”
Han Shuo’s face froze when he heard that Carmelita was injured. He knew that Carmelita had been traveling through various forts around the City of Shadows to look for him. He immediately held himself accountable for Carmelita getting injured.
“Let’s go!” Han Shuo immediately rushed in the direction of the House of Sainte with Anito. He had a gloomy expression.
Although Han Shuo did not have romantic feelings for Carmelita, the two had gone through enough trials and tribulations together. He also knew that Carmelita had truly taken him as his friend. Now that Carmelita was critically injured, Han Shuo immediately took the attacker, whoever it was, as his own enemy.
Carmelita is immensely powerful. The House of Sainte has an overwhelming hold on the City of Shadows. Who would attack her? Godhunters? Han Shuo pondered while traveling to the Sainte Residence.