CHAPTER 723: Taking Godswamp

At dawn, Andre and Erebus joined forces and, in a burst of energy, shattered seven layers of barriers, allowing them to locate the path to the underground storehouse. The divine guards they had brought with them then rushed underground like hungry wolves, returning to the surface with fifteen apothecaries specialising in the production of poisons. And, of course, the filthy and illegal materials were found and confiscated.

Caught red-handed, there was no longer any room for Steiss to protest his innocence. He bowed his head in silence, realising that his fate was sealed.

"So it was you and your pharmacy that did it! You have damaged the friendship between Mr Bryan and me. You deserve to die a thousand times over for your heinous crime!" Rugersey shouted at Steiss. He was seething with rage.

It was thanks to the trap set by the Godswamp Pharmacy that Han Shuo had a bad impression of the House of Kisa. At this point, Han Shuo had proven that he was better than any other pharmacist. As a result, no one would dare question the efficacy of the medicines he produced. Everyone was fighting to get their hands on Han Shuo's medicine, but Rugersey's family clans had been denied access. For this, Rugersey could not have been more furious with Steiss, and would have finished him off had Andre and Erebus not been there.

Those members of the large family clans who had come to watch the event felt that their journey had been worthwhile. They all wore grim, dark faces as they watched icy glass jars filled with human organs being removed from the underground. Godswamp Pharmacy had committed such an atrocious act right in front of the five major family clans. Seeing the frozen organs being unearthed was like slapping them in the face.

"What excuse are you going to give now, Steiss?" Andre groaned coldly as he glared at Steiss.

"As things stand, I have nothing to say!" Steiss knew that he was doomed. He drew a dagger from his trembling hand, glistening with icy light, ready to slit his own throat and end it right then and there.

Ting! Andre flicked his forefinger. A ghostly beam shot through the air, sending the dagger far from Steiss' hand.

"Don't think about dying before we finish our investigation!" Andre groaned. Then he instructed, "Arrest him and throw him in the dungeon!"

Erebus waved his hand and the divine guards of his Third Corps swung into action. All the poison-producing apothecaries and employees of the Godswamp Pharmacy were restrained and captured.

"Bryan, I owe you another favour!" Andre said to Han Shuo with a smile after all the Godswamp Pharmacy employees were detained. He was visibly relaxed.

"I only did what I was supposed to do!" Han Shuo was elated. Not only was the Godswamp Pharmacy finished, but he had also managed to boost his reputation once again. It was clear which pharmacy the great family clans would patronise from this day on.

"Folks, that will be all for now. Please disperse," Andre informed the civilians before saying to Han Shuo in a low voice, "Don't go yet, there's something I need to discuss with you.

Han Shuo nodded in confusion. He had no idea what Andre wanted to talk about.

After hearing Andre's instructions, the members of the great family clans bid him farewell. These people became even more respectful of Han Shuo's skills in refining medicine. Before they left, they approached Han Shuo with smiles from ear to ear, trying to get closer to Han Shuo. They only left satisfied after Han Shuo promised to make more medicine for them.

"This... um... Bryan, it was indeed my fault for not investigating the matter properly. I'm very sorry. Please don't hold a grudge for my past transgression..." Rugersey walked over to Han Shuo in an embarrassed manner and apologised with a nervous smile while kneading his own hands.

"I'm not one to hold grudges, but considering how unpleasant this experience was, I'm still not in a good mood. I'm sorry, but I have no interest in doing business with your family right now!" Han Shuo shrugged and replied in an arrogant and rude manner.

Rugersey understood that such things would take time. It was only yesterday that he had offended Han Shuo, and it was only natural that Han Shuo would still be offended. Knowing that he could not rush things, he tried to persuade him gently before leaving with his men.

Donna and Diwen were the last of the crowd to leave. She looked at Han Shuo for a while as if she wanted to talk to him but hesitated. After thinking about something for a few minutes, she did not speak to him, but simply let out a soft sigh before leaving with Diwei.

Han Shuo understood that Donna suspected that he was the person who had killed Cage and Eve. He also sighed in his heart but said nothing. But strangely, Diwei, who had been so cold and cold towards him before, nodded warmly when their eyes met. It was as if Diwei was trying to be friendly. This was quite astonishing to Han Shuo.

"Erebus, take these people back to the Third Corps and lock them up. I will be there after a few words with Bryan," Andre said to Erebus.

Erebus nodded, walked over to Han Shuo, patted him on the shoulder and said in a soft voice, "Young man, well done!" Erebus then left with his divine guards and those he had imprisoned.

Although Erebus could be considered a member of the House of Sainte, he was not of the Sainte family and was not related to Wallace or Andre by blood. He was an expert, recruited by Wallace through his own strength and methods. And while Erebus could be considered one of the top experts in the City of Shadows, he was ultimately just a high-ranking Divine Guardian under the House of Sainte. Wallace might be the only person he had to report to, but he would still have to take orders from Andre.

Soon Erebus and his grand party were gone. Some of the House of Sainte Divine Guards who had come with Andre also left. Only about thirty divine guards remained to protect Andre.

"Lord Andre, what's going on?" asked Han Shuo.

"You saved Carmelita's life twice, and just now you helped us find the evidence that would incriminate the Godswamp Pharmacy. I couldn't find the opportunity to thank you all this time, but now I will finally have the chance!" Andre smiled and said cordially.

Han Shuo stared blankly for a moment before shaking his head and saying, "Lord Andre, that is not true. I was only able to establish the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy in this city so quickly because of your lordship and Miss Carmelita. You don't have to thank me!"

"No, I do!" Andre insisted with a smile. He thought for a moment, then continued, "After this incident, the Godswamp Pharmacy is utterly doomed. According to the rules, all buildings and assets belonging to the Godswamp will be confiscated. Although the Godswamp Pharmacy's business in the City of Shadows is completely ruined, its buildings and equipment would still be very valuable. These buildings contained hundreds, if not thousands, of tools and equipment for refining medicines, not to mention libraries of books. These things would be a huge resource for any pharmacy!"

Han Shuo's eyes brightened. He could not contain his excitement and exclaimed, "Lord Andre, you mean... you mean..."

Andre nodded and said, "The House of Sainte does not know how to refine medicine, and we have no use for these resources after confiscating them. They will just be auctioned off sooner or later. But instead of helping others, we might as well help you. Besides, your Celestial Pearl Pharmacy has gained a good reputation in the city. I believe that if you take over the resources of the Godswamp Pharmacy, it will only be a matter of time before the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy becomes the largest pharmacy in the City of Shadows. What do you think?"

Han Shuo finally understood the benefits of being close to influential and powerful people. Although the Godswamp Pharmacy had gone to the dogs, they still had enormous resources in the City of Shadows. Apart from the city itself, they even had branches in the outlying fortresses and cities. If Han Shuo were to replace the signboards with his own, his Celestial Pearl would become the largest pharmacy in the City of Shadows overnight.

Taking over all of Godswamp Pharmacy's properties would be like giving his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy a shot of adrenaline!

Han Shuo would need tens, if not hundreds, of years to slowly build his Celestial Pearl Pharmacy up to the scale of the Godswamp Pharmacy in the City of Shadows. But with this favour from Andre, Han Shuo would be able to reduce the effort and time required by several hundred times. How could Han Shuo not be thrilled?

"This... this... too precious..." Han Shuo stammered as he kneaded his hands.

"You have proven yourself to be better than any other apothecary! These guys will surely spread the word about what happened last night all over town. It will be a great advertisement for your pharmacy. You are best suited to take over the resources of the Godswamp Pharmacy!"

"If Lord Andre says so, I will not refuse the offer. Thank you!" Han Shuo said as he bowed to Andre.

"I'll talk to my older brother and tell you when it's settled. So prepare some crystal coins. We still need to take some crystal coins in exchange, so that no one in my family complains. Andre thought for a moment and continued, "It doesn't have to be too much, a few tens of thousands will do. Alright, we will talk about it in detail soon!"

The Godswamp Pharmacy compound was worth at least a million black crystal coins. Adding in the medical ingredients, tools, and their branches all over the City of Shadows, the total value would be at least five million Black Crystal Coins! But from Andre's words, it seemed that Han Shuo wouldn't need to spend a lot of Crystal Coins at all. Money really did seem to fall from the sky!

"Understood!" Han Shuo nodded, beaming from ear to ear.

"All right, don't forget, you've probably insulted all the apothecaries in the City of Shadows, and those apothecaries from the God Swamp would hate you to the bone. I don't think the pharmacists originally employed by the Godswamp would work for you, even if they were found innocent and released. Godswamp's assets are huge - you cannot run the whole business alone, and you need to hire talent. You will have to solve this problem somehow!" Andre reminded.

After hearing this reminder, the smile on Han Shuo's face immediately faded. He even began to feel a headache.

What happened that night would surely spread throughout the City of Shadows. Most of the employees of the Godswamp Pharmacy were not involved in the production of poisons and would not be imprisoned by the House of Sainte. However, to most of them, Han Shuo was the Godswamp's enemy. It was unlikely that they would work for Han Shuo.

The assets of the Godswamp Pharmacy were enormous, and Han Shuo would need to hire a large number of pharmacists and all kinds of talents to run it. If Han Shuo couldn't solve this problem, even if he got all the resources for free, they wouldn't make crystal coins for him.

What a big headache! Han Shuo began to rack his brain for a solution.

Andre patted Han Shuo's shoulder and said with a smile, "You have to figure this out for yourself, I cannot help you. Haha, no one asked you to insult all the apothecaries for a moment of glory!"

"No one told me you were going to give me Godswamp's assets to manage. Had I known that earlier, I wouldn't have said anything about it," Han Shuo forced a smile and sighed.

"Alright, I better get going. As for hiring the apothecaries, I really can't help you with that. After all, we cannot force them to work. In the worst case, you could just take it slow and train your own pharmacists instead of recruiting. I'm sure many would like to learn from you! Andre laughed and left with his divine guards.

That would work if I were a real apothecary! Han Shuo replied mentally. He began to worry about the issue of recruitment.

"Now you will become really rich!" Andrina had been silent the whole time, but as soon as all the strangers had left, she chuckled and congratulated Han Shuo.

"Yes, I'm going to be rich. But there's still a lot of work to be done and problems to be solved before I'm really rich. The vast amount of resources would just sit idle if there was no one to operate them," Han Shuo said with a broad smile on his face. Even though he had a big challenge ahead of him, he was still very excited about taking over the huge assets.

"Now that you're going to make a huge fortune, does that mean I won't have to worry about not having enough crystal coins to eat in the future?" Andrina giggled and asked excitedly.

The smile immediately disappeared from Han Shuo's face. "You still have to control yourself. Otherwise, no amount of crystal coins would be enough! But I'm sure you'll have more crystal coins to eat in the future than you do now!"

"Hehehe, I believe in you. It seems that following you was indeed the right decision!" Andrina said happily.

The sky had completely lit up. Han Shuo and Andrina chatted as they travelled back to the Celestial Pearl Pharmacy. For some reason, upon returning to his pharmacy, Han Shuo suddenly felt how small it was in comparison. When he remembered that he would soon be in possession of vast resources, he felt both excited and annoyed.

For the next five days, the main topic of discussion among the people of the City of Shadows was what had happened that night. As expected, Han Shuo's reputation surpassed that of all the pharmacists, and he was known as the best pharmacist in the City of Shadows.

The God Swamp Pharmacy was closed for investigation. All pharmacists employed by Godswamp were examined and questioned. Some were released, some were not. Those pharmacists who had come to the City of Shadows to attend the Pharmaceutical Conference returned to their places of origin.

At this point, Han Shuo began to recruit pharmacists. With Anito's help, he placed recruitment scrolls in prominent places around the city.

However, since Han Shuo had impulsively insulted virtually every pharmacist in the City of Shadows that night, even though it had been many days since Han Shuo had posted the recruitment scrolls, not a single one had turned up. Naturally, the pharmacists who used to be employed by the Godswamp Pharmacy hated Han Shuo. They told everyone that Han Shuo was condescending and vain, which further hindered Han Shuo's recruitment efforts.

Interestingly enough, there were many non-pharmacists who were interested in learning the art of medicine refinement from Han Shuo and wanted to be his apprentice. However, Han Shuo knew nothing about non-demonic medicine refinement and had nothing to teach these people. So he turned them all down.

A few more days had passed, and still not a single skilled apothecary had come. Han Shuo was really getting a headache.

"Don't worry, just wait a little longer.

Someone will come in the end," Andrina comforted the worried Han Shuo. She had taken a great interest in the matter because it could mean more crystal coins to devour. She even helped Anito post the recruitment scrolls around the city.

"It was all my fault for having a loose tongue. Otherwise, there was no way I could have offended so many pharmacists at once." Han Shuo sighed as he expressed his regret. He felt like he had stumbled upon a mountain of treasure, but had no space rings to take it home.

Han Shuo was incredibly morose because he knew that Andre would soon complete his investigation into the Godswamp Pharmacy, and the vast resources would lie dormant in his hands.

Akley was also interested in the matter. Unfortunately, he couldn't be of any help other than suggesting nonsense like kidnapping apothecaries and forcing them to work. He stopped talking nonsense after being scolded by Han Shuo.

"I've got to think of something!" Han Shuo sighed again.

Han Shuo only knew how to refine pellet medicine. They were high-value items that not many could afford.

Producing the lower value, normal medicine was the key to making more money, and for that, he could not do without practising pharmacists.

"Ahem ahem..." a voice suddenly sounded from the entrance, and this Gu Li with her strange temperament slowly walked into his shop.

Han Shuo was pleased to hear a voice, but his face immediately fell when he saw that it was Gu Li. Coldly, he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Han Shuo had not been in a good mood for the past few days. He had no desire to argue with Gu Li and was ready to send her away.

Gu Li pointed at the recruitment scroll hanging on the front of the door and asked confusedly, "Aren't you recruiting pharmacists?"

"Yes, I am. But what has that got to do with you?" replied Han Shuo rudely.

"Am I up to the task?"

Gu Li asked curiously.

Han Shuo stared blankly for a moment before asking, "You mean you want to join my Celestial Pearl Pharmacy?"

"Yes. I heard about what happened that night.

You are indeed a great apothecary. I want to apologise for being rude to you and thank you for saving my life. I really want to learn the art of refining medicine from you. Please take me in!" Gu Li bowed and said solemnly.

"Erm, don't you have a shop in Mirage City? I heard that you have many apprentices there. Are you sure you want to stay in the City of Shadows?" Han Shuo's heart trembled as he asked.

"As long as I can learn more about refining medicine, I will, no matter what it takes! As for my apprentices, if you don't mind, can they join the celestial Pearl as well?" asked Gu Li.

"Sure, definitely, of course!" Han Shuo replied hastily. He had been worried about where to employ the apothecaries and was overjoyed to hear this. Although he didn't know how or what to teach Gu Li, at this point he couldn't be bothered to think about it carefully and immediately agreed.