This Lich Requests More Remuneration

Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Bargaining Chapter 51: Chapter 51 Bargaining Amberser wasn’t exactly what you’d call an old friend with this person; rather, they had an argument about alchemy over a decade ago. Amberser then discovered that amongst humans, there were those more terrifying than his skeletal face.

It wasn’t that he was ugly—on the contrary, Gustavo Flint had handsome features and was a very charismatic older man.

But his dark skin and the imposing aura he carried when expressionless were enough to terrify people. There were rumors about a certain alchemist that got a heart attack simply from being stared at by him without a word.

Moreover, Gustavo Flint’s strict, almost severe, demands in alchemy made many alchemists who had worked under him tremble at the sound of his footsteps.

Many said behind his back that Gustavo Flint was a Lich in human skin, which was why he had an Aura of Fear.

When Amberser quoted twenty million, Gustavo Flint decisively responded, “Five hundred thousand.”

“Eighteen million.”

“Eight hundred thousand.”

“Seventeen million, nine hundred and ninety thousand.”

“You’re becoming unreasonable now.”

“Who’s being unreasonable cutting off two whole digits directly?”

…

The haggling in front of the castle continued, as Alchemy City was currently so poor it was practically ringing with emptiness. Twenty million Gold Coins was indeed Amberser biting off more than he could chew, but there was no way he’d drop the price below a million—that would be worse than turning Allen Watson into an Undead.

To the faithful Paladins of the Lord of the Dawn, a Soul was quite valuable. Amberser once saw in the Necromancy Codex chat group that people were buying Paladin Souls at a high price; if the soul became a tormented wraith, it was even more valuable and could be sold for seven or eight hundred thousand Gold Coins.

“You should be well aware, right now, we cannot possibly spend tens of millions of Gold Coins for a Paladin.”

Gustavo Flint’s expression remained unchanged, but his tone was getting impatient.

Amberser replied tit for tat, “Then you should also be clear that a quote of several hundred thousand Gold Coins is equally a waste of my time.”

Gustavo Flint said in an indifferent tone, “A mere Paladin, in my opinion, isn’t even worth a hundred thousand Gold Coins. I came here today just for show so that during future diplomatic meetings we can say we tried. Whether we agree or not doesn’t matter to me.”

Amberser laughed heartily without any mercy, “My old friend, stop pretending. A mere Paladin may be meaningless to you, but good relations with the Laine Empire are important to you. The things in the sewers, you’re struggling to contain them, aren’t you?”

This remark caused a change in Gustavo Flint’s demeanor, and he asked in a deep voice, “What do you know?”

“Not much, but I’m certain that the situation is beyond your control. So when the Silvermoon Tribunal hiked the prices of magical materials to an insane degree, you couldn’t even spare the time to negotiate with those High Elves. You’ve even decided to seek external assistance, and the Laine Empire is your prospective ally, with Allen Watson, this Paladin, as the perfect premise for a deal.”

“My dear Master Flint,” Amberser continued unyielding, “stop thinking about duping me. When it comes to money, I won’t budge, not even if the God of Alchemy himself came. Show some real sincerity, or else I’m turning that Paladin into a Zombie—he’s nearly bankrupting me these days.”

Gustavo Flint’s face twitched; this Lich truly had no shame.

“You’re well aware that I’m not exaggerating Alchemy City’s economic hardship, we can’t possibly provide you with twenty million Gold Coins.”

Seeing the other party soften, Amberser quickly said, “I know, and I won’t make it hard for you. How about ten thousand Firepower-Enhanced Magic Puppet Automatons, priced at ten million Gold Coins for you?”

After hearing that, Gustavo Flint said angrily, “And let you make a clean profit of ninety million Gold Coins? You really dare to ask.”

A single basic version of a magipuppet automaton costs three thousand gold coins, and the firepower-enhanced type is a high-end product, each costing at least ten thousand gold coins. This lich straight up asked for a hundred million and only credited ten million of it; this isn’t robbery, it’s plunder, aiming to uproot the very foundations of Alchemy City.

“You were the one who said you’re out of money, so I can only ask for goods. Aren’t magipuppet automatons the best-selling products of Alchemy City?”

Gustavo Flint said decisively, “No matter how broke we are, we can’t just sell magipuppet automatons like scrap metal. Don’t even think about it. Besides, you don’t have the workmen to maintain them; buying so many would just be a large display piece.”

“Alright, in light of our friendship, I have a win-win suggestion. You won’t have to spend a single gold coin, nor will you have to give me any physical goods, and I will still hand over Allen Watson to you.”

Gustavo Flint furrowed his brow and said, “You… want the formulas for alchemical potions?”

Amberser raised his thumb and said, “Smart. That’s a win-win situation. You don’t have to spend a penny; just copy some information for me, and then you’ll get this important political leverage. However, it’s not just the potions.”

Amberser took out a piece of parchment paper, drew a circle on it with his fingertips, and the parchment automatically folded into a small bird, flapping its wings to fly in front of Gustavo Flint.

Gustavo Flint took it and unfolded it, his frown deepening.

“Bone Proliferation Virus Prototype, Magic Airship Blueprints, Living Mercury Solution Formula, Explosive Potion Formula… Do you even know what you’ve written? Added together, these formulas and blueprints are worth more than ten thousand magipuppet automatons!”

Amberser’s list was dense, listing over a hundred items.

Yet Amberser said, “But for these, you won’t need to pay with physical items, just sharing this knowledge with me.”

“Knowledge is the most valuable thing there is!”

“Rest assured, I won’t resell these formulas and blueprints to others. We can sign a contract, and I guarantee they will only be used for my own research,” Amberser assured.

Gustavo Flint scoffed and said, “Of course, you won’t sell the formulas, but you will sell the finished products! You think I don’t know what you’re up to?”

Amberser didn’t hide it; instead, he frankly said, “Of course, I will manufacture products to sell. But with so many laboratories in Alchemy City, in terms of cost advantage, do you think you’ll lose to a small workshop like mine? Since it’s about selling finished products, you should be quite confident in a price war.”

Gustavo Flint didn’t answer the question. With identical products, Alchemy City could indeed lower costs, but they didn’t want to. Why invite another competitor, forcing themselves to lower prices when they could be making ten times the profit off exclusive deals? Even if Amberser couldn’t satisfy market demand, giving up the formulas was like giving up the goose that laid golden eggs.

Yet Gustavo Flint couldn’t find a better option. The only thing Alchemy City could really offer now was the knowledge accumulated over countless years.

This lich was as difficult as ever to deal with. When the chairman had originally written a personal letter inviting Amberser to join the Alchemist Council, Gustavo Flint thought the chairman was giving him too much credit. Now it seemed that if they had pulled out all the stops to bring him in back then, perhaps Alchemy City wouldn’t be in such a difficult predicament both internally and externally.

“I can trade formulas, but your list is too extensive. From this list, you can only choose three.”

Although Gustavo Flint made a concession, he drastically cut it down from a hundred or so formulas and blueprints to just three.

“Can’t you show a little sincerity? Out of these one hundred and thirty-two formulas, I could knock off a zero for you and only ask for one hundred and thirty.”

…
The two of them entered a back and forth haggling.

In the end, Amberser sold Allen Watson to Alchemy City at the cost of thirty formulas and blueprints, force-fed the Iron Slag Remnants bar onto Gustavo Flint, and managed to get two more formulas.

Somehow, he had managed to reduce the price from one hundred and thirty-two to thirty-two. Even though Gustavo Flint was reluctant to take the so-called Iron Slag bar, seeing Amberser’s firm stance left him no choice but to reluctantly agree.

“Once you deliver what I want, I’ll release him immediately,” Amberser said.

However, at that moment, Gustavo Flint shook his head and said, “No, there’s no need to hurry. About Allen Watson, I need you to cooperate in staging a little show.”