Chapter 243: Chapter 237: The Increasingly Black-Hearted Novice Arms Dealer
Allen took a sip of water from the glass on his desk, then raised a hand to accept the communication request.
Light and shadow wove together, and a holographic bust of Victor materialized in midair.
"What words of wisdom does the young master of the Tieyan Family have for me today?"
"What the hell did you just drop in Zone 18?"
Victor dispensed with the pleasantries, his voice urgent.
Allen set down his glass, his expression calm. "Just a small Alchemy Bomb for clearing out the trash in the warzone. Why? Did the noise disturb your beauty sleep?"
"An Alchemy Bomb for clearing out trash?"
Victor stared intently at Allen, the corner of his eye twitching. "You’re calling a rule-based weapon that instantly alters the fundamental structure of matter, assimilating everything within a one-kilometer radius into crystal, an Alchemy Bomb? Who do you think you’re fooling?"
His high-altitude reconnaissance Demon Eye had recorded the entire process from over a hundred kilometers away.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no terrifying fluctuation of Magic Power—just a wave of colorful light sweeping over the area. The Rock Armor Earth Dragon leader, a beast nearing the peak of a Second-level Wizard, was instantly turned into a pile of brittle glass shards, along with the very land it stood on.
This silent, clean annihilation was more chilling than a sea of flames.
The moment Victor saw the footage, he couldn’t sit still.
"No powerful Magic Power fluctuations, no psychic assault... This isn’t a conventional Witchcraft effect from any known school."
Allen raised an eyebrow.
’So his surveillance network has been upgraded again. Before, he could only see the area around the volcanic cluster, but now he has a clear view of the Black Stone Gobi. The scions of these great families certainly know their way around a war.’
"Trade secret," Allen said, lacing his fingers together on the desk.
"What’s the principle behind it? Is it the effect of a new Rune? Or some kind of unknown material?" Victor pressed, trying to probe for details.
"Victor," Allen cut him off. "You know the rules for Alchemy Wizards. We don’t ask about technical origins, and we don’t pry into core schematics."
Victor fell silent.
He stared at the image of Allen on the screen. This senior of his, a commoner by birth, was becoming more and more shrouded in mystery.
From their first competition at the academy, to Allen graduating in just three years, and now to this terrifying, defense-ignoring weapon—he was forced to re-evaluate Allen time and time again.
And now, Allen held a secret weapon capable of changing the course of the war.
"Are you selling?" Victor asked bluntly.
The corners of Allen’s mouth lifted slightly.
’Ah, here he is. My favorite whale is back for more.’
But he didn’t answer right away. Instead, he pulled up an assessment report on Zone 19—one he had pieced together from fragmented information his Demon Eye had "inadvertently" gathered.
"Your situation seems quite secure at the moment," Allen said, looking at the report. "Zone 19 is flourishing."
"It’s developing well, sure, but I don’t have a true trump card," Victor said, his voice low. "During the last Black Wizard attack, I used up the offensive artifact my family gave me, as well as my Realm-Splitting Defense. That was my last resort."
Victor glanced down at his left leg.
"The Black Wizard is still lurking somewhere on this plane, and I can’t even enter a deep state of Meditation anymore." Victor looked up. "I need that thing. I need a trump card that can settle things with one blow."
Allen could see it clearly. Victor was feeling extremely insecure and desperately needed a game-changing weapon he could rely on in a crisis.
Allen tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of his chair.
"I’ve named it ’Big Boy,’" Allen said, his tone serious. "It’s an extremely volatile, strategic-grade weapon. It’s lethal not only to the enemy, but to the user as well. If the casing is breached or you detonate it too close, nothing will survive within a one-kilometer radius. Not a single blade of grass. You included. Everything turns to glass shards."
"It’s the deterrent I’m buying." Victor’s gaze didn’t waver. "Name your price."
Allen stopped tapping. He looked at Victor and held up five fingers.
"Five hundred thousand Magic Stones."
The command room fell deathly silent.
Victor sucked in a sharp breath, a flush creeping up his face.
"Five hundred thousand?" Victor’s voice rose. "Are you robbing me? A single-use offensive Witchcraft Scroll with the power of a Second-level Wizard’s attack only costs a hundred thousand Magic Stones on the open market!"
"Can a Second-level Witchcraft Scroll instantly vaporize that Rock Armor Earth Dragon leader? You saw how tough that thing was for yourself, didn’t you?"
Allen shot back, his tone heating up. "Can a Witchcraft Scroll ignore Magic resistance? Can it cause absolute physical annihilation across a one-kilometer radius?"
Allen pulled up the image of the shattered dragon leader, zoomed in, and jabbed his finger at the screen repeatedly.
"You’re buying your life, Victor. That’s not how you do the math. This five hundred thousand is an investment in your future. Do you really think the life of the great heir to the Tieyan Clan isn’t worth five hundred thousand Magic Stones?"
Victor was struck speechless.
"Three hundred thousand," Victor said through gritted teeth. "That’s the most liquid capital I can access right now. The next transfer of funds from the clan hasn’t arrived yet."
"Four hundred and fifty thousand," Allen countered, lying through his teeth. "The core material is exceedingly rare, the extraction process is complex, and the inscription failure rate for the Rune Array is a staggering ninety percent. I blew up three underground labs just to make this one."
"Two hundred thousand." Victor’s counter-offer went the other way, his gaze turning sharp. "Allen, don’t think I don’t know how you operate. If you’re willing to bring something to the table and haggle over it, it means you’ve already figured out mass production. Otherwise, you’d be hoarding it for dear life, not trying to sell it."
Allen arched an eyebrow in surprise.
’Damn, the kid actually got smarter.’
’A near-death experience really sharpened his wits. He’s not so easy to fool anymore.’
"Three hundred thousand." Allen’s expression turned cold and impassive. "That’s my bottom line. One Magic Stone less, and you can go back to throwing your Molten Champion at the Son of the Abyss."
Victor stared intently into Allen’s eyes.
He tried to find a flicker of guilt or a hint of compromise in those calm eyes.
But he failed. Allen’s gaze was as cold and emotionless as a Steel Golem’s. That’s right—he had activated his Mechanical Mind.
’This bastard... looks like there’s no more room to negotiate,’ Victor thought, then took a deep breath.
"Deal."
"A wise choice." Allen’s expression softened. "Payment first, then delivery. The usual arrangement."
"Pay me a deposit of one hundred and fifty thousand first."
Victor quickly operated his personal terminal. "The deposit is fine, but I want it within three days."
"No problem."
Allen looked at the extra one hundred and fifty thousand Magic Stones that appeared in his account, feeling quite pleased.
So, what was the actual cost of a "Big Boy"?
Five tons of Crystallized Seed raw ore—and with the successful development of the Neutralizing Force Field, mining costs had dropped significantly. The casing was made of ordinary Black Patterned Magic Steel. The only truly technical part was him personally inscribing the Rune Array. If he weren’t afraid of the thing blowing up his own workshop, he would have just left the job to his Alchemy Servants.
All told, the total cost was no more than one hundred thousand Magic Stones.
A net profit of at least two hundred thousand.
’Man, rich people’s money is easy to make,’ Allen mused. ’I’ve got to take good care of a high-quality client like him.’
"And to thank you for your patronage..."
Allen seized the opportunity to pitch some new products. "I also have tactical variants of the ’Big Boy’ available. There’s the ’Crystal Armor-Piercing Bullet,’ which specializes in single-target armor penetration, and the ’Micro-Dust Bomb,’ designed to counter Wizard shields. Interested in hearing more? I’ll give you a five percent discount if you buy them as a package deal."
The corner of Victor’s eye twitched.
"No, thank you," Victor refused flatly. "My zone is right next to yours. I don’t have much use for that many personal-scale weapons. I’ll buy from you in the future if the need arises."
The call ended.
Allen leaned back in his chair and checked his munitions inventory. ’Hm, five left. Might as well give him one.’
"Jarvis, retrieve one ’Big Boy’ from the independently sealed storage at Mining Site 13. Place it in a special isolation container, give the casing a more impressive-looking coat of paint, and add the Tieyan Clan’s emblem. Make him feel like his three hundred thousand was money well spent."
"Understood," Jarvis replied.
