Chapter 16: Knowledge is Power
Su Xiao examined the numerous materials on the workbench. Most of these materials were fire-attributed or metal-attributed. From these materials, he could deduce that Nicholas Kaiser's alchemy leaned toward bomb-making.
Alchemy had hundreds of branches: bomb-making, pharmacology, biology, familiar creation, life-form graphic analysis, mechanical-biological integration, and so on.
Su Xiao specialized in bomb-making and pharmacology, which happened to align with Nicholas Kaiser's area of expertise.
"Your material processing is decent. You're flawless in that regard. As for mixing and proportioning, forgive my bluntness, your technique isn't great."
"Nonsense!"
Nicholas Kaiser snatched the test tube from Su Xiao's hand, treating it as if it were his precious treasure.
"I've spent a full 15 years studying alchemy, starting from when I was 16..."
Nicholas Kaiser began recounting his glorious achievements.
"Being an alchemy apprentice must have been tough."
Su Xiao's simple remark made Nicholas Kaiser stop his incessant chatter.
"Very... tough."
Nicholas Kaiser sighed, recalling his life under his 'mentor.' To some extent, that person wasn't really his mentor; he was just cheap labor, specifically tasked with processing materials. As for alchemical bomb-making, he had learned it by stealing.
"Self-study is a good path, but don't overlook one thing: before self-study, you must first master the basics. Those are the experiences countless alchemists have spent endless days and nights summarizing. The value of knowledge is sometimes no less than that of power. Don't you agree, Kasa?"
Su Xiao's words left Nicholas Kaiser in silence.
"You're right, but my name is Kaiser, not Kasa. 'Kasa' in Goblin translates to monkey feces."
Setting aside why Goblin was so peculiar, Kaiser's gaze toward Su Xiao was now exceptionally fervent, as if he wanted to 'devour' Su Xiao alive.
"You know... alchemical bomb-making knowledge?"
Kaiser swallowed hard, his round, large eyes fixed on Su Xiao.
"I know..."
"Really?!"
Kaiser excitedly stood up, reaching for Su Xiao's hand. Su Xiao stepped back, and Kaiser grabbed nothing.
"I know... some."
Su Xiao's drawn-out tone left Kaiser stunned. At that moment, Kaiser's mood was like winning a five-million grand prize only to find out that claiming it required a 5.01 million handling fee—utterly miserable.
"To what extent?"
Kaiser took a deep breath to stay calm. Su Xiao didn't speak; instead, he picked up a crumpled formula from the workbench. After examining it for a while, he began mixing a liquid bomb according to the formula.
Ten minutes later, a semi-finished liquid bomb was prepared. Su Xiao could have perfected it, but if he did, he would attract the attention of the Imperial military. In that case, he would likely be removed from the battlefield, and battle merits would be out of the question.
Kaiser held the test tube as if it were a priceless treasure, moving with extreme care.
"Although your level can't compare to my mentor's... it's about the same as mine."
Nicholas Kaiser forced a smile. In truth, he knew Su Xiao's alchemy skills were slightly higher than his own, but he was unwilling to admit it. More importantly, Kaiser felt threatened.
"Compared to killing enemies on the battlefield, I don't enjoy making these things. Too tedious."
Hearing this, Kaiser's eyes lit up.
"Then... can you tell me the proper formula for the liquid bomb? This one, even though it's not finished, I can perfect it after some research."
"Sure."
Su Xiao's answer was exceptionally straightforward, so much so that Kaiser found it hard to believe.
"Really?"
"Of course. But I have a condition."
"What?"
Kaiser instinctively pulled the test tube rack closer to him. His property was sacred and inviolable.
"Don't spread the fact that I know alchemy. It would cause me unnecessary trouble. You should know how crazy alchemy can be."
"No problem."
Nicholas Kaiser was overjoyed. This aligned perfectly with his own thoughts. It wouldn't threaten his position in the Blood Legion, and it would allow him to master higher-level alchemical bomb-making.
Kaiser extended his withered, branch-like hand. Su Xiao also reached out, and they shook hands.
[Tip: The Hunter has activated the personal favorability of Iron Blood Legion important figure, Quartermaster Nicholas Kaiser. Current favorability: 31.]
[Tip: Favorability 1-10 indicates first meeting, 10-60 indicates friendship, 60-80 indicates close friendship, 80-100 allows recruitment as a servant or follower under specific circumstances.]
Seeing this prompt, Su Xiao was quite surprised. If he reached over 80 favorability with a female plot character, could he... you know?
Su Xiao glanced at Kaiser, who was grinning slyly with yellow teeth, and nearly threw a punch. His sexual orientation was perfectly normal, and favorability with same-sex beings led to friendship or servant relationships.
Before this, Su Xiao had never encountered favorability information. This was actually something common among Charm-attributed contractors. The higher a plot character's favorability, the more benefits one could reap. Charm, as an attribute with no independent combat power and requiring skill coordination to enhance combat effectiveness, naturally had its unique advantages.
Not to mention Su Xiao's murderous aura, his pitiful 6-point Charm attribute was enough to deter most plot characters. And a few derivative worlds ago, his Charm attribute had been below 5 points.
Su Xiao sighed. Gaining something meant losing something else. His simultaneous development of four attributes already made him an anomaly among contractors.
Picking up the alchemy materials beside him, Su Xiao began explaining alchemical bomb-making knowledge to Kaiser. Although Su Xiao had never seen these specific materials, most bomb-making material properties were common: stabilizing the explosive while increasing its power and range.
Nicholas Kaiser sat up straight like an elementary school student, listening intently. At this point, he couldn't care less about the dignity of a quartermaster. Knowledge was priceless. Dignity and integrity could be picked up again when needed.
As Su Xiao explained, prompts from Reincarnation Paradise kept appearing.
[Quartermaster Nicholas Kaiser's favorability +5.]
[Quartermaster Nicholas Kaiser's favorability +8.]
[Quartermaster Nicholas Kaiser's favorability +6.]
...
After Su Xiao had explained for a full half hour, Kaiser's favorability had reached an astonishing 95 points. This left Su Xiao somewhat incredulous. Could he actually recruit Kaiser as a servant or follower? That would be a huge gain. Kaiser's personal abilities weren't great, but his position was high.
Reincarnation Paradise didn't issue a prompt, which made Su Xiao vaguely sense something was wrong. Perhaps Nicholas Kaiser was harder to deal with than imagined.
Su Xiao stopped explaining alchemical bomb-making knowledge. Nicholas Kaiser looked somewhat unsatisfied.
"Kaiser."
"Hmm?"
"About that Sacred Oak branch in the supplies, how about a discount?"
"This... that's not good."
Kaiser gave a sleazy smile.
"Oh? Does that mean the knowledge I just shared isn't worth anything?"
Although Su Xiao had only revealed a small amount of alchemical bomb-making knowledge, it wasn't something Kaiser could have figured out on his own.