Chapter 980: Winning Peoples Hearts (1/2)

When he was young, he was a scion from a notable family in the Water Dominion. However, he had never tried hard cultivating water energy. Instead, he had been too deeply engrossed in the art of brewing. When the power balance in his large family shifted, his parents took the fall and he was also hunted down. He only managed to escape after much difficulty.

Carrying all that hate in his heart, he survived and plotted to use the acidic toxic fumes he synthesized to eliminate all six hundred plus members of his family. Within a single night, he reduced all of them into bloody fluid, leaving not a single one of them alive.

Before he did so, he was completely unheard of, but right after, his name sent shockwaves across the Water Dominion. From then on, the dominion's authorities spared no effort to hunt him down, dead or alive. Being quite weak himself, he had no choice but to lay low and disguise himself as he left the dominion for the Fringe.

On the way, he continued improving his toxin-brewing skills, killing many of the enforcers that came his way and becoming public enemy number one. However, his carelessness caused him to douse his left hand with poison accidentally. Had he not reacted quickly enough to amputate himself in the nick of time, he would've been reduced to a pile of ones.

Being a top fugitive, he would definitely be wiped out if he dared to leave the Fringe. But in the Fringe, he could brew as much poison as he wanted. He had made quite a lot of progress in the past few years but it was not enough for self-preservation as he wasn't competent in combat at all. If his enemy managed to get close to him, he would be killed before he even had a chance to use the toxin.

By now, many refugees had already left the Fringe, though Jack knew that doing so would be suicide for him. All he could do was stay and hope he would survive the troubling times ahead. Dying was the last thing he wanted, and when he noticed Celestial Pearl Pharmacy was the only establishment that remained in Omphalos, it became his new safe haven. He didn't care whether they had anything to do with his poisons or not. All he did was visit them for some news about the situation at the Fringe.

Apart from Jack, there were many other toxin brewers who couldn't hold their own in a fight but were still experts in their own field. Some of them weren't just weak; they were disabled in one way or another and the Sovereigns didn't care much for them, leaving them to their own fates instead.

”What are we going to do, Master Jack?” asked Kohler, a fellow toxin brewer adept at infusing weapons with poison in the courtyard of Celestial Pearl Pharmacy.

”How would I know?” Jack shot him a glance and turned back to the dozen others who were dressed more or less like him. ”The Sovereigns can't even protect themselves, so they wouldn't bother with us. This is the only place that hasn't closed up yet, so I hope they'll be able to keep us safe one way or another. Sigh... The Godhunter Alliance is really far cruel. They kill people like it's merely a daily passtime for them. I heard they'll feel unnerved if they don't kill a few people each day. If they run Omphalos, I doubt any of us will be able to survive.

”What are we to do...” said another with a long sigh.

”Let's just wait it out. Hopefully, Celestial Pearl will be able to find somewhere safe for us to stay. I doubt we'll be able to stay in Omphalos any longer,” Jack said as he leaned lazily against a pillar. He was just as worried as the others, but his past experience allowed him to cope slightly better.

As they spoke, Akley stretched lazily as he approached them. When he arrived, all those in the courtyard anxiously got closer and asked about the goings on in the Fringe. Akley loved the feeling of people anxiously flocking to him. Smiling, he waited for them to calm down before he turned to Jack. ”Oh, Master Jack, you're here too? Haha, I thought you were making a lot of noise about our establishment being a scam and not providing quality products.”

Jack seemed a little awkward. He kept quiet and didn't say anything. When Omphalos was still at peace, he complained that the concoctions Celestial Pearl Pharmacy produced were too average to justify the high asking price. It was nothing but an outright scam to him.