Chapter 267: Chapter 248: The Alchemy Factory Under Construction Chapter 267: Chapter 248: The Alchemy Factory Under Construction History is a very interesting thing, even in this world where immortality abounds, there are still many shadows in history that cannot be uncovered.

This may not be very related to longevity because even if you ask people today about major events from a few months ago, you often receive dozens of different answers, many of which are completely contradictory, and it’s even possible that they end up fighting while discussing it.

Ultimately, it’s because people have different standpoints, values, and knowledge.

Therefore, sometimes studying history is like studying the human heart.

Amberser didn’t understand this, thinking that the Heroic Spirit of Arthur Laine couldn’t bring much useful information to Hake Stone, since this spirit didn’t know what happened after the Magic Dragon Tyrant died.

But Hake Stone said, “Being able to converse with the Holy King himself, even if it’s just the young version of the king, is enough to unravel many mysteries.”

Amberser left the expertise to the experts, taking the Dwarf Vampire to his underground city and pulling out the Artifact Hourglass, placing it in front of Hake Stone.

The Heroic Spirit of Arthur Laine appeared at Amberser’s call, still in that frail, semitransparent form.

Heroic Spirits are rather special, once they expend their strength, replenishing it becomes very difficult.

Amberser indeed had means to help, but these methods often involved Necromancy Spells, which he certainly didn’t want to taint the Heroic Spirit of Arthur Laine with. What if the Laine People refused to recognize it and didn’t pay him?

As a result, although Arthur Laine still embodied the pure Holy Light Heroic Spirit, he remained as frail as ever.

Upon seeing Arthur Laine, Hake Stone was so excited he almost knelt down, saying, “Your Majesty Arthur Laine, it is a great honor for me to see you with my own eyes.”

Arthur Laine felt embarrassed by the Vampire’s fuss and quickly said, “Don’t say that, I am not exactly the same person as the emperor who established the Empire.”

After such a long time, Arthur Laine had also come to accept reality.

Despite retaining some memories, Heroic Spirits are still Heroic Spirits, completely independent souls that have nothing to do with their original beings.

And the Heroic Spirit of Arthur Laine, inheriting the characteristics of that Holy King, would not acknowledge honors that didn’t belong to him.

Hake Stone wanted to insist on paying his respects, to which Amberser reminded, “Hey, get your alliances straight, an Undead kneeling to a Holy Light Heroic Spirit? If the others from the Elegy Poetry Society knew, they’d kick you out.”

Hake Stone angrily retorted, “How can you say that to me? Who’s the one always bragging about Paladins bowing down to him en masse?!”

Amberser laughed, “That’s different. When I say it, it’s a glory. If you say this, you’ll get kicked out of the Elegy Poetry Society.”

Hake Stone gritted his teeth in frustration but couldn’t argue; Amberser was right, the nature of the two situations was indeed not the same.

Arthur Laine, somewhat surprised, asked, “You are a Vampire?”

Hake Stone quickly replied, “Yes, Your Majesty, I am indeed a Vampire, but also a historian.”

Arthur Laine remarked wistfully, “Indeed, times have changed, in my era, I never heard of a Dwarf Vampire.”

Hake Stone: …

Amberser almost laughed out loud, quickly adding, “No, Emperor Laine, Dwarven Vampires are still rare in this era.”

Hake Stone glared at Amberser and said, “If you interrupt again, I’ll turn on you! Get out, get out, you who don’t understand history shouldn’t disturb us.”

The remark sounded like something from a date, but Amberser had no intention of being a third wheel there.

In business, he was a man of integrity, having promised Hake Stone time to ask questions, Amberser wouldn’t intentionally cause trouble.

Leaving the lab to the two of them, Amberser went to the fountain in the center of the city.

The World Weaving Spell that created the breeze and the spring water retained their natural frequencies; the spell could permanently change the landscape and weather, as if making a request to the world, to which the world responses eternally.

The ceaseless Undead were busy all around, digging the ground, paving tunnels, channeling water where needed, and digging out sand and gold from buildings not yet fully excavated to be transported and stored in different locations.

These Skeletons didn’t work with perfect accuracy, occasionally spinning in place or colliding, scattering their cargo everywhere.

But it wasn’t a big problem, as these Undead didn’t know exhaustion, and even when they made mistakes, they corrected them on their own.

At first glance, they might not seem as efficient as humans, but given enough time, the Undead indeed became the most time and labor-saving “workers.”

Amberser spread his perception, enveloping most of the city, and found the construction was progressing well.

It seemed Harvey understood the blueprints quite well, with the organization of the premises being quite reasonable—from the raw material processing area to the manufacturing zone, to the area for mass bottling, all carefully planned out, just waiting for Amberser to oversee the construction.

Amberser arrived at the center of the Alchemy Factory, just in time to see Harvey holding a torch and directing the Skeletons at work.

Seeing Amberser return, Harvey hurried over to report, “Teacher, as per your instructions, I’ve roughly planned out the site and have already completed almost half of the clearing. I estimate the rest will be done in about half a month.”

Amberser nodded and said, “Well done, I knew you could understand the blueprints after all. I’ve brought back the Mana Refining Furnace. When it’s time to install it, you’ll oversee the work.”

But Harvey said awkwardly, “Teacher, please don’t entrust such an important task to me. I really can’t understand alchemy blueprints.”

Amberser, puzzled, said, “But the zone adjustments you made are quite good.”

Harvey replied with a bitter smile, “I guessed using prophetic powers.”

After Amberser left, Harvey realized he couldn’t comprehend the details of the blueprints, let alone adjust them, but at least he understood that the alchemy factory was divided into several areas.

Amberser had asked him to adjust the zone distribution according to the architecture of the underground city. That was simple; Harvey chose to roll the dice.

In front of each building, he’d roll a dice, and whichever zone it landed on, he would assign that building and its surrounding area to the same zone.

It took him several days and he was half-dead with exhaustion before he finally managed to divide all the zones.

Dividing zones was one thing, but to oversee the installation, without even understanding what a Mana Refining Furnace was, was like trying to roll dice without direction.

After hearing his explanation, Amberser couldn’t help but say, “I don’t know if you’re a genius or an idiot. Is this how you’re supposed to use prophetic powers? Aren’t you afraid the Goddess of Fate will slap you to death?!”

What surprised Amberser was that Harvey had progressed so quickly. His Dice of Destiny were now numerous enough to be rolled in every corner of the city?

Harvey said helplessly, “Teacher, don’t push me. I quickly learn other spells, but alchemy… I really don’t understand it.”

Harvey was also at a loss. He had once thought himself smart; after all, he had effortlessly entered the high-threshold career of a Diviner Mage and mastered various spells very quickly.

But alchemy was different. It wasn’t about spell casting ability but about memory.

Harvey had looked through Amberser’s books. Alchemy required no spell casting ability. Any ordinary person could operate it, but they must remember every characteristic, use, handling method, and various data and operational details of each material.

Harvey found this rote memorization dizzying. He persisted for two days before deciding to give up. He really had no talent for learning alchemy.

Amberser said disappointedly, “And here I thought you were a Mage who enhanced intelligence.”

Harvey could only respond helplessly, “Teacher, there aren’t many people in the world who are proficient in everything like you.”

At least half of this flattery was heartfelt. After seeing Amberser’s collection of books, Harvey understood that his teacher was of the super-learned kind. He might not be the undisputed number one in any particular skill, but the knowledge he possessed was surely beyond most people.

The gap between Harvey and Amberser in this regard was too great, and he didn’t know how many years it would take to catch up.

But Amberser coldly said, “Flattery won’t work on me.”

“Teacher, I’m sincere.”

“Sincere flattery won’t work either.”

…

Amberser having lived for so long, spent most of his life adventuring, had met all sorts of people and became immune to verbal flattery. Harvey would do better offering him several thousand Gold Coins as a token of respect; that approach might be more effective.

However, seeing Harvey’s troubled expression, Amberser didn’t force him anymore. Some people really lacked alchemy talent, and that couldn’t be coerced.

“Then I’ll give you a different task. Go up to the surface, and help me investigate the most commonly used alchemical potions by the Desert People. Find out what kinds they are, their sales volume, price, and the user demographics. Bring me back a detailed report.”

Amberser pulled out a stack of parchment from his pocket, densely packed with many questions he had come up with for his market research. To reopen the market for alchemy, one needed to adapt to the different lifestyles of each region.

Amberser certainly didn’t have time to deal with these tedious tasks himself. Students were there to be exploited.

Harvey quickly grabbed the papers. Just doing the investigation wasn’t a difficult task, and being able to return to the surface was a good thing for him. After all, Harvey was human, and staying underground all the time, mixing with Undead, was having a severe effect on his health.

“Understood, Teacher. I’ll make sure to get it done for you,” he said.

“Alright, off you go,” Amberser waved Harvey away and then entered a huge building.

It looked like some sort of religious site of a lost civilization, with a much higher ceiling than the houses and a hall spacious enough to fit the entire Mana Refining Furnace. The absence of what seemed like a Divine Idol left Amberser, who was not well-versed in archaeology, unable to deduce much more.

Originally, this church-like building was filled with gold benches and other gold decorations, but these had all been removed.

Amberser began to draw the Teleportation Magic Array in the hall. The Mana Refining Furnace was so large that the parts piled up like a small mountain, making construction a hassle. It was necessary to use a Teleportation Circle to transport the workers and parts together.

Before he was finished, Hake Stone suddenly appeared before Amberser, excitedly exclaiming, “I’ve made a great discovery! I might have guessed the reason for Arthur Laine’s disappearance all those years ago!”