Chapter 63: The Genius Pharmacist

Mr. Heisenberg's enterprise had just begun when it encountered an unprecedented crisis.

If her police rank were to be translated, Beyond, serving as an Imperial Knight-Commander, would roughly correspond to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She and Ivy made the most professional response at the very first moment. For a brief while, they forgot all about the stew, placed the remaining bottles of Awakening Potion on the table, and rested their chins on their intertwined hands.

As for the young knight Lance, due to excessive agitation, he had temporarily decided to add five extra sets of training to his routine and was now running outside the apartment to practice sword-swinging.

Although there were only two people sitting across the table, Ethan knew there were three evaluators in total.

Beyond, Ivy, and the golden fur atop Ivy's head.

The first to take action was Beyond. She grasped the neck of the bottle, flicked the cap open with her index finger, and sniffed the aroma within the bottle with meticulous care.

Ethan's mind was in a turmoil; this was a desperate predicament that Heisenberg himself had never encountered.

Wait a minute, what was clearly contained in this bottle was just an Awakening Potion. As a law-abiding citizen, why should he be scared?

Besides, he couldn't understand why these people were all getting as high as a kite.

Beyond closed her eyes tightly, lingering for a long time in the lingering aftertaste of the Awakening Potion. After about half a minute, she completed a ritual that was nearly akin to a connoisseur's tasting, picked up the glass bottle, and drained the Awakening Potion inside in a single gulp.

"Extremely high purity."

Immediately afterward, she wiped the residual liquid from the corner of her mouth, turned to Ivy—the other evaluator—and gave her assessment, "I have never tasted stuff of such high purity."

"What you two are discussing is the Awakening Potion, right?"

Ethan had to ask. Heisenberg was merely a tribute, and he had no real intention of embarking on the path of a drug lord.

"What else?"

Beyond looked slightly puzzled, "What else did you expect to brew?"

"According to imperial law, brewing the Awakening Potion shouldn't be illegal, right?"

"Of course."

While letting out a sigh of relief, Ethan couldn't help but ask, "Why did you all act as if you were putting a criminal on trial?"

"That's because..."

The honest Ivy maintained her pose with her hands intertwined, "I genuinely thought you guys had secretly synthesized a forbidden drug behind my back."

After spending some time with Ethan, she felt it entirely possible for this man to tinker with something abnormal, even if they had inadvertently produced illicit substances in the process of crafting potions.

Because, strictly speaking, those addictive illicit substances also belonged to a branch of potions, and alchemists were not all good people. In the long era before the concept of "forbidden drugs" was coined, quite a few evil alchemists controlled the local populace through highly addictive potions, and even nobles and high-ranking government officials were not spared.

When Beyond uttered the words "Awakening Potion," Ivy let out a genuine sigh of relief.

Then, the problem clearly lay with Beyond and Lance. She challenged Beyond, "Why did you two act as if you had just consumed a forbidden drug?"

"Just try it yourself and you'll know."

Beyond did not answer directly; only facts could answer Ivy's question.

Driven by intense curiosity, Ivy unscrewed the bottle cap and drained the Awakening Potion in one gulp. Then, she gasped sharply. Although her expression remained composed, the golden fur on top of her head began to spin like a propeller, moving so fast that it left afterimages.

"You feel it now, don't you? The state of being overflowing with mana."

Beyond explained, "Generally speaking, Awakening Potions cannot replenish energy unless they are of exceptionally top-tier quality. The alchemists I know who can brew Awakening Potions of this quality number fewer than five... Ethan, are you certain this was independently accomplished by Miss Chloe?"

"Certain."

Ethan answered immediately.

He guessed that this was most likely Fortune's special ability; the cat not only dug up magic books but also possessed remarkably high alchemical prowess. However, upon second thought, given her deep connection with the Winter Witch, everything could be easily explained.

Yet this matter could not be blurted out casually, or he would be seized, branded as a typical cultist of an evil god, and burned at the stake.

Over the years, the *Griffin Daily* frequently published the names of evil god cultists and broadcasted live streams of them being burned at the stake using black-and-white dynamic illustrations. Most of them held prominent statuses, and had they not been dragged out by the Inquisition, no one would have ever suspected that these people worshipped evil gods.

Beyond stared at Miss Chloe for a long while before suddenly hitting upon a possibility, "Could it be... a racial trait?"

The scientific name of this bizarre creature was the wolf-chicken. There was likely only one such specimen in the entire Empire, and according to Ivy, Miss Chloe had taken the initiative to develop an interest in alchemy.

"Splendid, simply splendid! Keep it up, and Miss Chloe might well become one of the premier alchemists in the Empire in the future!"

"I think so too."

Ethan chimed in, "I have always felt that Miss Chloe is both clever and hardworking."

Ivy watched the bizarre scene unfolding before her in absolute silence. She felt that the world must have truly gone mad. She raised a hand and forcibly pressed down the golden fur that was still spinning. She could only attribute this phenomenon, which defied common sense, to some unknown curse; perhaps the werewolf collar still harbored secrets they had yet to discover.

After all, that was a cursed artifact carried by a witch who had single-handedly destroyed a small town.

"Mr. Ethan, you bear a heavy responsibility."

Beyond spoke with profound earnestness. This title of "chicken keeper" was probably far more profound than she had imagined. Although Ivy had described Ethan as an ordinary person who possessed a bit of cleverness but weak innate strength, having read numerous occult books without managing to step onto any transcendent path, it now seemed that fate had silently bestowed a mission upon him.

"Perhaps Miss Chloe will become the greatest alchemist in the Empire in the future, and when that day comes, you will be the chief alchemist's assistant."

This single identity alone would be enough for Ethan to be treated as an honored guest in any city. "You must usually feed Miss Chloe until she is plump and well-fed, and never let the future chief alchemist go hungry."

"Understood."

Listening to the conversation between the two, Ivy felt her heart grow numb.

She had not misheard; these two individuals were seriously discussing the topic of Miss Chloe eventually becoming the Empire's chief alchemist, perfectly embodying the audacity to speak and the gullibility to believe.

And the golden fur atop her head had finally quieted down, whereupon it did not forget to bow deeply toward Miss Chloe in salute, clearly concurring with Beyond's grand declaration.

"We need to talk about work."

Ivy wanted to pull the runaway conversation back on track. She had originally planned to bring up these matters while enjoying the stew, never expecting that Ethan and Miss Chloe would spring such a surprise on her.

"However, Lady Beyond is still hungry."

"You can brew the stew while I explain it to you. After all, this matter concerns you to some extent as well."

She had no choice but to temporarily accept the reality that Miss Chloe was actually a genius alchemist, for there were more thorny issues waiting to be resolved right now. "Before coming here, we went to the guild. This morning, the guild received a bizarre piece of intelligence—a caravan passing through Riverside Town detected traces of biological activity there."