Chapter 10: Prices Soar

The original Alchemy City was the richest city on the continent. People who lived here had a sense of pride. Even if they were just workers screwing in the alchemy factory, they would walk on the street with their heads held high.

When meeting an "outsider" like Amber Xiu, his eyes would unconsciously become a little arrogant, as if he saw a country bumpkin who came to the Alchemy City to take advantage.

But today seems to be different. The pedestrians on the road lower their heads slightly, and no one is standing on the roadside chatting. Moreover, everyone is in a hurry, as if they have no leisure time at all.

The shops on both sides, which should have been bustling with activity, now have most of their doors closed, and quite a few have notices for rent posted.

"Is this Alchemy City really going to go bankrupt?"

Amber Xiu thought carefully and realized that in recent years, the prices of various magic materials have begun to rise sharply, and the export volume has dropped sharply.

But it seemed to be able to maintain itself before. How come the economic environment of Alchemy City has deteriorated to this extent after just two years of not visiting here? No wonder they want to increase taxes heavily. I'm afraid it has really reached the red line of collapse.

Amber was not in the mood to wander around, so he headed straight for the ugly tower that looked like a pile of green poop. Because its shape resembled the product of a failed healing potion, the locals called it the "Green Healing Tower."

The tower may look ugly on the outside, but it is very stylish on the inside.

The alchemists of Alchemia were unable to change the appearance of the towers, so they tried their best to make the interior decoration look low-key and luxurious, full of elegance and artistic atmosphere, making these seven ugly towers become the characteristics of the city of alchemy.

But if you look closely, most of the waiters inside are listless, some shops have their doors closed, and there is garbage left in the corners of the floor. In the past, people wanted to make the floor look like a mirror.

Feeling more and more that something was seriously wrong in the Alchemy City, Amberxiu didn't bother to observe and went straight to the place where magic seeds were sold.

Amber Xiu came to buy seeds today. He wanted to prepare crops for the people who were coming. But since he was planting on the lich's territory, he needed some special seeds. The only place in the whole continent where he could find what he wanted was in this Baba Tower.

Humans need a lot of food to survive, and farming has always been the most important production behavior, so the Alchemy City has also developed many enchanted seeds with different effects, such as oats that can be quickly harvested after planting, beets that are sweeter than sugarcane, potatoes that are extremely drought-resistant and can be grown even in deserts, etc.

Although most of them can only be planted once, the subsequent products will quickly lose the enchantment effect. But this is just right for Amber Xiu, a poor lord. He wants to calm people's hearts and let them adapt to the new land as soon as possible. Food that can be planted easily and mature quickly is the most suitable.

It's a pity that Amber Xiu really doesn't know anything about farming, otherwise he would have directly summoned the magic crow to place an order. It was precisely because he didn't understand that he needed to come to the scene and ask the staff here.

Amberxiu walked around for several times and found that no matter which type of enchanted seeds it was, they would be praised as unparalleled in the world, as if they could produce a good harvest even if they were planted in the air.

This is the trouble of not knowing the trade. Amber Xiu didn't know any friends who knew farming, so he could only choose a few of them with a try-and-see attitude. But when Amber Xiu asked about the price, the waiter with a decent smile actually reported a number that shocked him.

"What? One hundred gold coins is so expensive, is this robbery?"

Two bags of fast-growing enchanted seeds actually cost one hundred gold coins. This amount of money is enough to buy the cheapest inferior food to feed hundreds of people for a year. The price has almost increased five times compared to before.

The waiter immediately put away his smile and said coldly, "How is it expensive? It was this price last year and it hasn't increased this year. Please stop talking nonsense, okay?

"Besides, our enchanted seeds are not made of cheap materials. They are all genuine good stuff. The price is already very cheap. If you can't afford it, think about whether it is your own problem."

Amberxiu stretched out his finger expressionlessly and flicked the magic bell in front of the counter.

A stream of smoke came out of the bell and transformed into a tiny human figure, saying in a formulaic language: "Bell Spirit No. 996 is at your service. May I ask..."

Before the elf could finish, Amber Xiu said, "Complaint, bad attitude."

When the waiter heard this, he became excited and wanted to explain.

But Amber did not give her a chance and turned away. Then the elf said, "The customer complained and failed to gain forgiveness. Thirty percent of this month's salary will be deducted."

Hiss, 30% off! It seems that the Alchemy City has really gone crazy due to poverty.

Amber left the tower with a heavy heart, and he began to worry. Prices in the Alchemy City had soared to a terrifying level, and he was afraid that the living mercury solution he had ordered before would cost 20,000 gold coins.

Do I need to refund the deposit?

No, absolutely not.

Amber Xiu felt uncomfortable when he thought about returning the money. He absolutely could not return the deposit, and he absolutely could not lose money.

Amber decided not to wait for the delivery and go directly to pick it up.

After leaving the green healing tower, Amber Xiu came to another black tower that looked like a broken corpse. This shape was the most common failure result of biological alchemy. The organisms used for experiments would be blown into a charred, indescribable mass.

But precisely because it is so classic, others can tell at a glance that this is a game about biological alchemy.

After entering the door, I went straight into the most luxurious hall and found the waiter dozing off.

Amber Xiu said directly: "I placed an order yesterday, a bottle of living mercury solution, and I'm here to pick it up now."

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

The waiter checked the records and said, "Oh, I found it. A bottle of living mercury solution. The price is 30,000 gold coins. Is it cash or bills?"

"How much?!" Amber asked in disbelief.

The waiter repeated, "Thirty thousand gold coins."

"Wasn't it only 18,000 gold coins before?"

"That was the price a year ago." The waitress said expressionlessly. She began to think that the customer in front of her could not afford it, and her friendly attitude suddenly disappeared.

Amber Xiu was thinking about making a small profit, but he didn't expect that he would end up losing 10,000 gold coins. How could he tolerate this?

"Can't we give you a discount?" Amber asked.

"Discounts are out of the question. I think the price will go up again soon."

An Boxiu said strangely: "If you only raise the price, won't it be a bigger loss if you can't sell it?"

After hearing this, the waiter said mysteriously: "It's not that there is no discount, it's just..."

An Boxiu became interested when he heard this and quickly asked, "How much after the discount?"

"Only five hundred gold coins."

Amber was shocked. How could this be a discount? Was this a fake product? (End of this chapter)