Castle of Black Iron

The moment Zhang Tie left the tent, the other 3 guys had thrown weird glances towards Zerom.

”Zerom, I never would have imagined that you could have such a student! You didn’t mention it before!” That tough man said.

”But I didn’t even know that he was here Jordan.” Zerom shrugged his shoulder. ”You heard that just now. When I left Blackhot City, he was in kalur. Several minutes ago, I still thought that he was in the Iron-Horn Army of the Norman Empire. I would never have guessed that I could meet him here.”

”This teenager is not weak!” Narrowing his eyes, professor Simon added, ”I smelt something related to death from him!”

”This set of heavy chain-type plate armor is nice. Zezeze, this is the best heavy chain-type plate armor produced by Huaiyuan Palace in Jinyun Country. Except for its heavyweight, this is definitely a non-rune equipment that combines defensive capability and flexibility in the perfect way. Battleax Mercenary Army tried to counterfeit such a batch of heavy chain-type plate armor for its middle- and senior-level officers. However, their fake goods could never match this original although at almost the same cost. They finally stopped that plan...”

As the man in short brown hair said that, he touched the chain-type movable metal protective covering over Zhang Tie’s armor which was tightly connected; meanwhile his eyes gleamed, ”Zerom, your student might have a high position in Huaiyuan palace now. Otherwise, he couldn’t get such expensive equipment. It is worth at least 100 gold coins. With him, we could easily finish our task in Heavens Cold City! Oh, what about his current fighting strength? I’ve been observing him but I failed to figure it out!”

”I don’t know either. When I left Blackhot City last year, he was LV 4. I think he might be LV 5 now!” After thinking for awhile, Zerom added, ”This youngster is cultivating Iron-Blood Fist and had formed Iron-Blood Hidden Strength[1] easily. He’s the most excellent student that I’ve taught!”

”LV 5? He might have formed Iron-Blood Converted Strength[2] but he’s 18 years old at most! Jordan said.

”Perhaps!” Zerom nodded with feelings, ”I didn’t know that he was a descendant of Count Long Wind. His parents were all commoners in Blackhot City and didn’t look special at all!”

”Many clan’s ancestral bloodlines and special genes could be expressed through atavistic heredity. His ancestor is Count Long Wind, who should be at least LV 15. Only very powerful knights would be conferred with titles of nobility. In such clans, some descendants might probably have talents in cultivation.” Professor Simon concluded in an authoritative way.

”We can also ask him about all-purpose medicament. I was told that all-purpose medicament had appeared in Huaiyuan Prefecture. He must know more than us about that. Our boss paid high attention to this matter. Before we set out, he even especially ordered us to contact the alchemist who could produce all-purpose medicament in Huaiyuan Prefecture even though we failed the task in Heavens Cold City!”

Zerom nodded as he started to frown. After the event in Heavens Cold City broke out, prices of medicament started to surge across Blackson Human Race Corridor. Many people started to stockpile all kinds of medicament. As a result, the source and supply of medicament became tense at once.

Now, not only Thor Mercenary Army, even super-powerful mercenary armies such as Battleax, Hugesnake, Green Highland and the Steel & Iron Alliance in Armes had started to be short of various medicament. They were all thinking about a solution. If all-purpose medicament that appeared in Huaiyuan Prefecture was really more effective than preliminary antidote potion as was said, it would help Armes a lot.

Within the territory of Armes, poisonous substances exist almost everywhere. Therefore, people there need a lot of preliminary antidote potion each year. But due to the shortage of supply of various medicament, preliminary antidote potion was in short supply. For the lack of the other medicament, they might find other solutions. For Armes which was located in the long Snake God Mountain and was surrounded by endless smog and marshes. As long as preliminary antidote potion was in short supply, it meant many people would die every day due to various reasons.

All-purpose medicament was like a bright light in the darkness. For all the mercenary armies in Armes, a medicament that was more effective than preliminary antidote potion and could substitute the other medicament was definitely like a heavy rain after a long drought.

For those mercenaries who lived in Armes and lived using their sabers and swords, all-purpose medicament was definitely the best choice! More than 98% of functions that common mercenaries needed in preliminary antidote potion or low-rank medicament were contained in such a vial of medicament such as detoxification, curing wounds, intensifying spiritual energy, accelerating the recovery of wounds, improving various physical functions and curing various diseases, including chronic diseases without any side effect.

Therefore, before they set out for Jinyun Country, the boss of Thor Mercenary Army emphasized that they had to contact the alchemist who produced this all-purpose medicament. It would be better if the alchemist could provide a batch of the all-purpose medicament for Thor Mercenary Army every year.

The news that all-purpose medicament appeared in Huaiyuan Prefecture was passed from Jinyun Country to Armes by pioneers. When it reached Armes, the message had become obscure. Therefore, hearing this news, everybody there thought it must be an alchemist who could produce all-purpose medicament and probably be a well-known senior alchemist. Because only a well-known senior alchemist might solve the problem that had puzzled the world of alchemist for hundreds of years.

The news of all-purpose medicament influenced Armes more than any other places. In a few days after Armes received the news of all-purpose medicament, the event in Heavens Cold City broke out. Therefore, the boss of Thor Mercenary Army assigned some reliable fighters to Jinyun Country.

At that moment, Zerom only joined Thor Mercenary Army for a short period. But his shrewd brain and fighting strength had won the favor of the management of Thor Mercenary Army. Therefore, he also came here as a director of the mission while the other director of this mission was in the airship.

It was really a surprise for Zerom to meet Zhang Tie here. If he could complete the mission in Heavens Cold City in such a dangerous situation, his position in Thor Mercenary Army would be greatly improved and consolidated. However, thinking of that mission on all-purpose medicament, Zerom became a bit worried.

As long as they came to Huaiyuan Prefecture, Zerom was confident to contact with the alchemist who could produce all-purpose medicament. Although Thor Mercenary Army was trivial in Jinyun Country, after all, it had more than 60,000 mercenaries which meant it was an influential power in Armes and the northern region of Blackson Human Race Corridor. Therefore, that alchemist could not refuse to meet them.

However, to tell the truth, Zerom lacked confidence in establishing a trading relationship with that alchemist and persuading him to provide a lot of vials of the all-purpose medicament for Thor Mercenary Army each year. Even though Thor Mercenary Army had been prepared for a very high purchasing price, Zerom was still not sure whether he could make that. After all, it was all-purpose medicament, not stones in mining pits. If medicament could be easily produced on a mass scale, Armes and the whole Blackson Human Race Corridor would not lack medicament at all.

Additionally, it was said that the other mercenary armies in Armes also assigned people in Jinyun Country with the same goal as Thor. This increased the difficulty of that task for Zerom.

”Could he really realize mass-production of all-purpose medicament?” Thinking of that tough mission, Zerom asked professor Simon.

”It’s possible. But I don’t know the exact possibility!” Simon shook his head. ”Theoretically, an all-purpose medicament is a super enzyme. According to the forming principle of an enzyme, its fermenting process could realize mass-production. However, as I have no relevant intelligence, I’m confused about the producing process of all-purpose medicament in Huaiyuan Prefecture. It might require something special and precious. Therefore, it depends.”

”Hopefully, the God of mercenaries could bring some good luck to Thor!” Zerom revealed a bitter smile. ”We will finish the task in Heavens Cold City first, then, we will think about the all-purpose medicament!”

”As you say! Now, various medicament started to be in short supply. Only in a couple of days, the prices of various medicament in the market in Armes had risen by at least 20%. Some medicament were even in even shorter supply. We’re not the only party that’s focused on procuring the all-purpose medicament. Even if that alchemist could realize mass-production of the all-purpose medicament, it’s still difficult for us to gain more shares than our opponents.”

For the second mission, old Simon became a bit pessimistic. The influence of Thor Mercenary Army was well reflected here near Heavens Cold City. A mercenary army of fewer than 100,000 people was only a trivial group for many big powers and figures; even though they were here, they were not even qualified to enter Heavens Cold City to have a look, not to mention others...

...

[1]Iron-Blood Hidden Strength. With no movement physically, the fighter could hold back the opponent’s attack through inner strength; however, if the opponent covered the point where the fighter released his hidden strength, the latter would not able to release his hidden strength.

[2]Iron-Blood Converted Strength. Like Iron-Blood Hidden Strength, with no movement physically, the fighter could hold back the opponent’s attack through inner strength; however, being different from Iron-Blood Hidden Strength, even if the opponent covered the point where the fighter released his hidden strength, the latter could still release his hidden strength facing the opponent’s attack; however, through displacement of skeletons, the fighter could take preemptive while changing the direction of his strength.