Chapter 2378: The High Price
Perfect Potions and Instance Authorization Letters are different. For instances that are difficult to level up, the value of an Instance Authorization Letter is limited. But Perfect Potions are different—they are potions that can affect the entire game. Even knowing that this potion has little effect on players who have already taken ordinary Evolution Agents multiple times, both players and the Game Government will spare no effort, spending immense resources to search for and research it, because the Perfect Potion represents the future.
What a player without evolutionary side effects looks like—few people may know, but that doesn't stop players from speculating about the Perfect Potion. Especially after seeing powerful players who can support an entire district or even multiple districts develop evolutionary side effects, players' imaginations about the Perfect Potion only grow richer. From a longer-term perspective, if someone could decipher the Perfect Potion, it would mean they could infinitely cultivate perfect players—players with longer lifespans, healthier bodies... For example, Huahan Werner. If he were a Perfect Evolver, his strength probably wouldn't diminish even on his deathbed. Without any signs of degeneration, no one knows how long he could actually live.
What a temptation this is for players, for a district! For ordinary players, it might be a bit difficult, but the Game Government, district governments, player families, and various player organizations will rack their brains to find even the most basic Perfect Potion.
So no one still in the room would underestimate this Evolution Agent. Even if they and the forces they represent can't research it, they won't let the opportunity fall to others.
"Is it really a Perfect Evolution Potion?" the No. 6 young man immediately said. "Are you joking?"
"Guaranteed genuine... I can't do that." Xu Huo let out a low laugh. "But when I got this potion, the person who gave it to me said it was a Perfect Evolution Potion."
As for whether it really was, or even if it had other things mixed in—how could he possibly know?
Neither the Game Government nor the Stellar Group has managed to crack the formula for the Perfect Potion. To this day, no one dares to publicly claim they know how to make it. So why make things difficult for an ordinary player?
Xu Huo wasn't lying. This potion was the one Dr. Zhang had left behind in Snow White's villa. He had once taken a small amount of the liquid and given it to Dr. Deng for testing, but it ultimately came to nothing. However, he had long since passed the stage of taking P2S, so this potion had been stored away.
No. 1 didn't quite believe it. "If it really is a Perfect Potion, this one could sell for a sky-high price."
Even if they couldn't use it themselves, selling it to any auction house or going through a player family's connections would give this potion unlimited value. Why throw it onto this gambling table?
"For me, its value is right here." Xu Huo propped his hand on the armrest, the back of his hand lightly resting against his cheek, and said calmly.
The others couldn't see his expression, but the round-faced player could see it clearly. He couldn't help but say, "You'd better tone down the act, or you might end up flipping over."
Xu Huo ignored him and instead invited the others at the gambling table to join in.
No. 6 was very interested. No. 5 and No. 2 remained silent. No. 1 and No. 8 were interested but skeptical.
According to the rules of the gambling table, since Xu Huo had put up a Perfect Potion, they would have to offer something of equivalent value to be worthy of a round. If the Perfect Potion was real, fine—but if it was fake, their losses would be huge.
"The Perfect Potion—the Fair Dealer is also very interested." The puppet, which hadn't participated in the conversation, suddenly flew down to inspect the potion. But even scanning through the glass tube couldn't reveal what the liquid was made of. It paused in place for a moment before saying, "If you don't want to use it as a bet, the Fish Feast can privately negotiate a purchase with Honored Guest No. 3."
Before Xu Huo could respond, No. 6 let out a scornful laugh. "Is the Fish Feast Building going under? Are they really snatching chips from the players at the gambling table?"
The puppet didn't seem offended by the sarcasm. Instead, it smiled and said, "Before it's placed as a bet, Honored Guest No. 3 has full freedom of choice. Of course, if Honored Guest No. 3 is only willing to use it as a bet, the Fair Dealer can also place a wager on behalf of the Fish Feast."
"It would just require changing the method of gambling."
This was a request for Xu Huo's consent. Xu Huo said nothing, pretending to think it over seriously.
At this point, No. 5 spoke up to remind him, "The authenticity of your potion is unknown. As a bet, it has a fighting chance. But if you use it as a bargaining chip, it won't be worth as much."
This was a veiled hint to Xu Huo: if he agreed to the Fair Dealer's proposal and the potion turned out to be fake, the Fish Feast Building, having suffered a great loss, might come after him afterward. In the Fish Feast Building, there were plenty of ways to trap him.
Losing to others at the same table was different. Since they didn't know each other's identities and had agreed beforehand that authenticity wasn't guaranteed, anyone willing to gamble wouldn't have a "must-win" mentality. They knew when to cut their losses. But the Fish Feast Building, by interfering so shamelessly, clearly intended to get the potion no matter what—even if Xu Huo named a sky-high price.
It was hard to say whether they would turn hostile afterward.
Xu Huo seemed to have taken the advice seriously. After a moment, he said, "Chips placed on the gambling table can't be taken back... Unless no one follows the bet."
"Young man, reverse psychology won't work here." No. 1 sighed but chose to follow the bet. "An Instance Authorization Letter with little profit can't compare to a Perfect Evolution Potion. I'll use a rare mineral vein to follow the bet. This vein is located in a district under a C-level wormhole point, with an annual net profit of about 1.5 billion White Notes, sustainable for 7 years."
"I knew Perfect Potions were rare and valuable, but I didn't expect them to be this valuable!" The round-faced player nearly crushed his palm. "If that potion is real, it could definitely sell for even more!"
To be honest, Xu Huo was also surprised. He hadn't expected this potion to make No. 1 offer such a high price.
In his view, although Perfect Potions were rare, they weren't something that required immense hardship to find—of course, that was only from his perspective.
Moreover, this kind of potion didn't circulate much. Like Primordial Stones, whether usable or not, those who obtained them rarely revealed them to others, let alone traded them away. To avoid trouble, they had to be carefully hidden. Back then, Xu Huo had even traded a Perfect Potion with a player from the Old Holy Sword Society for a few bottles of Antidote. At the time, he hadn't realized Perfect Potions were really that valuable. Now, facing the price directly, it finally hit him with real impact.
"Don't get too excited too soon. The price is set, but it doesn't mean we'll get it," Xu Huo said.
In this game, aside from Dr. Wu—and possibly the game officials—who could be sure that the Perfect Potion they obtained was truly a Perfect Potion? Using it for research wasn't enough material, and using it directly on a player was too wasteful. So the corresponding price could be high or low.