Chapter 25: Diviner's Potion
Perhaps the improvisation was not recognized by the crowd, and the passion for creation was extinguished by the cold audience. Old Neil's subsequent movements were extremely standard, and his language was accurate but lacked humor, as if it was a silent accusation against Angel and others.
"Miss Granger, please turn on all the gas lamps and turn them up to maximum brightness. Mr. Moretti, please use the brush next to the iron pot to scrub it, and by the way, help me get the third glass bottle from the left on the table. Dunn..."
Old Neil quickly assigned tasks. When it was Dunn Smith's turn, he shrugged, took two steps back, and stood in front of the door of the alchemy room, indicating that he would not interfere with the preparation of the potion.
"...Okay, I'll handle the rest myself."
Putting the small silver box next to the iron pot, Old Neil took out a piece of yellowish-brown parchment from it. Angel found that there were several lines of Hermetic text written in blood-like ink on it, which looked dangerous and mysterious under the flickering light of the gas lamp.
"First, 100 milliliters of pure water. Thank you, Mr. Moretti." Old Neil took the glass bottle from Klein and casually poured some into the iron pot he had just cleaned.
Angel frowned as she watched. She wanted to remind Old Neil that there was a measuring cup with a scale right next to him, but she didn't dare to disturb him.
Klein across from him seemed to have the same idea. Their eyes met, then shifted to the busy Old Neil.
"Then there are 13 drops of nightshade juice. Just add one drop of this stuff to the perfume, and..." Old Neil took out a small brown bottle from the box, sucked out the liquid with a dropper, and added it to the iron pot. A faint fragrance spread in the alchemy room.
Halfway through his introduction, he remembered that he was still in a "cold war" with everyone and stopped talking.
"Seven golden mint leaves, three drops of hemlock juice, and finally nine grams of dragon's blood powder." He glanced at the recipe on the parchment while taking out various ingredients from the box and gradually adding them to the iron pot.
"These are all auxiliary materials for the potion. Deviations in the order of addition and dosage will not affect the final effect. Of course, generally speaking, we won't let it deviate too much." After weighing the dragon's blood grass powder as black as carbon powder on a scale, pouring it into the iron pot and stirring it a few times with a wooden spoon, Old Neil explained again.
"The main ingredients are the key. They are all extraordinary materials. The amount cannot be too much, but it can be a little less, but not too much less. Both will lead to failure in promotion, or even direct death."
Finally came the key point...
Angel perked up and carefully observed Old Neil's next move. He took out an opaque glass bottle with a blackened surface from the box, took out a brand new test tube, and used a dropper to remove a tube of azure liquid from the glass bottle.
"10 milliliters of Rava octopus blood will quickly decompose and lose its effect in sunlight, so it needs to be stored in a light-proof container."
After carefully checking the scale on the test tube to ensure the accuracy of the dosage, Old Neil poured the bubbling Rava octopus blood into the iron pot. As a "clattering" sound was heard, the dim light shrouding the alchemy room was stained with a hint of blue.
"Finally, there's Star Crystal, 50 grams. Haha, we only have 100 grams in stock, and you two little guys chopped it all up today. There's not a single drop left."
Old Neil took out the second extraordinary material. It was a piece of extremely pure crystal. Under the light, it reflected starlight, as if reflecting the entire starry sky.
After reconfirming the weight of the star crystal using a scale, Old Neil used a knife to cut off a fingernail-sized portion to avoid excess material, and then put the entire star crystal into the pot.
Like cold water dripping into an oil pan, mist emerged from the pan with a "sizzle" sound, filling the entire alchemy room. Angel, who walked closer to observe it carefully, was unable to dodge and was enveloped by the mist. She widened her eyes, as if she saw the starry sky in the star crystal through the mist.
She almost thought the potion had failed, but Old Neil calmly used a wooden spoon to scoop the viscous dark blue liquid from the pot into a cup and handed it to Klein, who was also stunned.
"Drink it, your fortune teller's potion is ready."
Klein took the cup, glanced hesitantly at its rim, then looked at Old Neil.
"Just drink it like this?"
"You could add some Olmire wine, it would taste better."
Seeing that Klein was still stunned, Old Neil smiled and added, "If you don't care about the taste, just drink it. This is just a lowest-order potion and doesn't require any additional rituals."
"In fact, the most difficult thing for ordinary people to obtain is the potion formula and the extraordinary materials contained therein, also known as the main ingredients. As you just saw, the entire production process is not complicated and even allows for small mistakes. Once the potion is made and placed in front of you, all you need to do is..."
He held his right hand in an empty fist, as if holding a non-existent wine glass, and raised his hand to his mouth, making a drinking gesture.
"……cheers."
As if infected by Old Neil's renewed sense of humor, Klein's tense expression relaxed. He raised the cup to his lips, took a deep breath, raised his hand and tilted his head back, then drank the potion in the cup.
Observing the advancement of someone taking a potion from an outsider's perspective for the first time, Angel carefully watched Klein's next move.
Klein's hand gripping the cup suddenly tensed, his entire body tensing as if he were having an epileptic seizure. His eyes widened, and his limbs began to twitch. Just as his legs stiffened and he was about to stagger to the ground, the convulsions stopped, as if his soul had returned from outside his body.
He frowned, refocused his vision, shook his head a few times, and let out a low groan, like a drunk who had just woken up from a hangover.
That’s it?
Angel looked at old Neil beside him. The latter seemed to be accustomed to the reaction after taking the potion. He looked at Klein who was gradually coming back to his senses with an indifferent expression.
Dunn Smith at the door had no interest in this at all. Instead, he leaned against the door frame and stared at Angel with narrowed eyes.
Their eyes met and Angel quickly looked away.
Is he spying on me?
Having said that, his request to observe the preparation and consumption of potions was indeed a bit strange. This knowledge was nothing new to those who had become Extraordinary People, unless it was to collect the formula of the potion, or to wait for an opportunity to cause trouble and prevent the preparation of the potion.
Looking at it this way, my behavior is indeed very suspicious...
Angel's worries, which had been hidden deep in her heart after killing Mrs. Sharon, surfaced again. She looked at Dunn again, only to find that he had already turned his gaze away, looking at Klein and Old Neil beside him, as if the scrutinizing look just now was an illusion.
Was I overthinking it? Or was it because I had honestly observed the entire process and hadn't done anything wrong, that I had temporarily escaped suspicion?
Klein, with the help of Old Neil, was entering a meditative state by imagining non-existent objects in order to master the power of the new potion. This basic knowledge could be found in Cole Granger's memory. Coupled with the shock that Dunn Smith had given Angel just now, she felt that there was no need for her to stay here anymore.
Seeing that one of them was concentrating on teaching and the other was learning carefully, Angel came to the door carrying her own material box. Dunn's gaze returned to her and he raised his eyebrows as if to express doubt.
"Captain, if there's nothing else, I'll go back first. These materials need to be processed as soon as possible."
Angel shook the wooden box in his hand and found a reasonable excuse.
The expected questioning did not come, and Dunn just nodded slightly to show his agreement.
Angel secretly breathed a sigh of relief, swallowed back the words he would use to deal with subsequent questions, and turned around to leave.
"Wait a minute," the call from behind made her back stiffen, "I forgot something."
"What is it, Captain?"
Angel turned around and asked with a forced smile.
Dunn smiled and said, "I forgot to tell you, even if you work from home, you still have to report to the office once a day. Of course, you don't have to report on your day off."
So that was it… Angel felt relieved: “Okay, Captain.”
Seeing that Dunn didn't seem to have anything else to say, she stepped back onto the stone-paved underground passage and headed towards the intersection connecting various places.
After taking a few steps, Dunn's voice came from behind again.
"Wait a minute, there's one more thing."
Well, what's going on?
Angel turned back with a puzzled look on her face. This time she was sure that Dunn was not trying to make things difficult for her, but was really... a little forgetful.
"I forgot to mention this earlier. Go get one of our badges from Old Neil to prove your identity to the police, and a new gun." He turned back to the alchemy room, where he could faintly hear Old Neil and Klein talking. "Come back when you have time. It won't be over soon."
Thinking of his old revolver that had been neglected and had the rifling almost worn out, Angel nodded.
I think I'm done now... She turned and left again, while listening carefully to the voice behind her.
Fortunately, this time she was not stopped until she reached the intersection.
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