Chapter 23 Someone Had Made Potions in the Restroom

The maximum limit of the inferior Power Potion was a 20% increase in strength. 

At this point, the golden Slime developed resistance to the potion and was unable to increase its power further. 

It could only switch to other potions or a medium-quality Power Potions.

'Next, I should prepare a mid-grade Power Potion,' John thought to himself.

If he hadn't unlocked the alchemy skill, increasing the Slime's strength by 20% would require purchasing forty bottles of low-grade Power Potion, costing a total of 200,000 Stellar Coins.

Ordinary families naturally couldn't afford it, let alone this was just for the Power Potion. 

Other options, such as speed and defense potions, would require another terrifying amount of expenditure. 

The contract spirits of the wealthy were inevitably stronger than those of the poor, and this was unchangeable.

The stark gap also made the Alternate Dimension extremely popular. Only by relying on the Alternate Dimension could ordinary Beast Tamers obtain a large amount of wealth to purchase potions to enhance the strength of their contract spirits.

In three days, John did nothing else but commute between his neighborhood and the company.

On the second day, he successfully prepared three batches, yielding twenty-four bottles of Power Potion.

On the third day, John prepared two more batches of low-grade potions and unlocked the recipe for mid-grade Power Potion.

He originally wanted to prepare a batch of mid-grade potion, but it required two Power Flowers.

Helpless, John had to prepare another batch of low-grade Power Potion.

The three-day exam break was about to end, John's system space now contained forty-eight bottles of Power Potion, and the strength of his contract spirit had improved somewhat.

John said, "What a fulfilling break."

In the afternoon, John left the company.

He only needed to concoct potions three times a day, a feat other pharmacists might not even manage in an entire day. 

Moreover, he accomplished this in less than an hour, leaving him free to use the rest of his time as he wished.

John said, "Let's check out the Black Market."

John casually hailed a cab and saw a man sitting in the front seat.

"Sir, can you take me to the Black Market?" John asked.

"Bathroom? There's a public restroom just ahead. No need to go all the way to the Black Market," the driver said, puzzled.

John felt helpless.

John explained, "I meant, can you drop me off at the Black Market on the way?"

"Sure, this passenger is getting off just ahead," the driver realized.

In just an hour, John arrived near Oakwood Terrace.

Even during the day, the Black Market was bustling with people, comparable to the city center.

He arrived at the entrance of the Black Market, seemingly waiting for something.

Without Ava's guidance, he couldn't get into the Black Market on his own.

At that moment, a man was walking towards the entrance.

John greeted, "Gabriel, long time no see!"

John grinned and put his arm around the man's shoulder, acting like they were old friends.

"Who are you?" Gabriel looked confused.

Gabriel thought, 'Who is this guy? I have no memory of him.'

John replied, "I'm John, don't you remember? We were drinking together just the other day."

John was extremely enthusiastic, naturally walking into the Black Market with Gabriel.

"John, that's why you looked familiar! How have you been doing recently?" Gabriel asked, his confusion evident but his tone still warm.

John's mouth twitched, but he was impressed.

John answered, "Of course, same as always. Let's catch up another time. See you!"

John turned and left, leaving a bewildered Gabriel behind.

He passed by the roadside stalls and headed towards the shops in the street.

John said, "Power Potions can only sell for 3,000 Stellar Coins."

Sure enough, these black market dealers were ruthless. The selling price was 5,000 Stellar Coins, but they only bought it with 3,000 Stellar Coins.

"I have a trademark on this, SourceLife Pharmaceuticals. It's a genuine product," John had to explain, using the company's packaging for easier sales.

"I know, if it were black market goods, it would be 1,500 Stellar Coins," the clerk said calmly.

"You're too much," John said. "Do you have any Power Flowers?"

The clerk replied, "Yes, 20,000 Stellar Coins each, and we have four in stock."

"Then give me the ingredients for four batches of Power Potion," John said.

"That's 100,000 Stellar Coins. Do you have that much?" The clerk looked skeptical.

A Power Flower costed 20,000 Stellar Coins, and the other ingredients were around 5,000 Stellar Coins.

John took out the Power Potions from his backpack, a total of forty-eight bottles neatly arranged in front of him.

The clerk asked, "Did you rob SourceLife Pharmaceuticals?"

John replied, "I'm a good and righteous person, not a criminal. Give me the ingredients for four batches, and exchange the rest for Stellar Coins."

"Got it, got it. The Black Market doesn't care about the source." The clerk collected all the Power Potions.

"It's bought so much cheaper here though." John had thought it was 5,000 Stellar Coins per bottle, but that was the shop's selling price.

If he sold them himself, the price would naturally be much higher.

Unfortunately, John didn't have an alchemist's license. Otherwise, he could sell them at a much higher price in a legitimate shop in the city center.

"Sir, here are the ingredients for four batches and 44,000 Stellar Coins. Please count them." The clerk quickly returned.

John briefly inspected the Power Flowers to ensure they weren't just dyed.

The clerk immediately placed the purchased Power Potions on the shelf, labeled at 5,000 Stellar Coins each.

John said, "Couldn't you have waited until I left to put them up?"

John's mouth twitched. He couldn't help lamenting inwardly, 'I sold them for 3,000 Stellar Coins each and he immediately put them up for sale.'

He shook his head and left the greedy shop.

It seemed he needed to get a vendor's permit for the Black Market next time. If he sold them himself, he could at least get 4,000 Stellar Coins per bottle.

These shops were just too greedy.

John said, "With four batches of ingredients, I can make twenty-six bottles of mid-grade Power Potion, almost doubling the value instantly."

Although this shop could make a lot of money, John would never lose money.

John muttered under his breath, "Time to make the potions."

John wanted to find a quiet place, but the Black Market was crowded and noisy.

Without hesitation, John walked straight into the public restroom.

He waited for what seemed like forever until, finally, a stall became available.

He neatly arranged the various ingredients for the Power Potion on the ground.

In the system's alchemy, a new recipe had branched out from the low-grade Power Potion to the mid-grade Power Potion.

[Prepare mid-grade Power Potion, Yes/No?]

John chose to prepare it, and the next second, the system took over his body and it was as if he had become the world's best alchemist.

He placed the ingredients into the large container one by one without a single mistake, like a highly precise machine.

The difficulty of preparing mid-grade Power Potion was evidently much higher.

It took him a full twenty minutes to successfully prepare the mid-grade Power Potion, yielding exactly thirteen bottles.

"Mid-grade Power Potion successfully prepared. Unlock high-grade Power Potion after ten preparations! 1/10"

The system's prompt sounded again, and John began the second preparation.

The stall door remained tightly closed.

A young man clutching his stomach walked in, facing an unfortunate situation.

All the stalls were occupied.

He clenched his legs, his gluteal muscles tightening, his body trembling slightly, with one thought echoing in his min, 'Don't let it out yet!'

There were only three stalls in the public restroom.

The other two stalls had people waiting, so the young man had to wait for the innermost stall.

Time ticked by.

His body trembled, and even his forehead was sweating.

"Hey, can you hurry up? I need to use the bathroom," he finally couldn't hold it in and knocked on the stall door.

The other two stalls had just been occupied, so it would take a long time for them to be free.

But there was no response from the stall.

'Is there no one in there?' he wondered, but the stall door was tightly closed.

After some hesitation, he finally mustered the courage to climb over.

The stall door wasn't too high, and with a light climb, he saw the scene inside.

In the next moment, his eyes widened as if he had seen the most horrifying sight.

The young man said, "Someone's making potions in the bathroom!"