Chapter 58

"Sit down, Jonathan, I have other matters to attend to this time." After Morin entered the Double Moon's Radiance, he ignored Jonathan's enthusiastic greeting and adopted a business-like attitude.

"Haha, Alchemist Morin, you still like to joke around..." As soon as Morin put on a business-like attitude, Jonathan's face stiffened. Although he quickly forced a smile, it looked as stiff as could be.

Jonathan was no fool...

The moment Morin spoke, he knew something was wrong. After all, he was the steward of the Munky family. Others might not give him face, but they couldn't ignore Lord Munky. Not to mention Morin, even the great alchemist Baroso would likely call him "Steward Jonathan" out of respect for Lord Munky, rather than just "Jonathan" as Morin did now.

Jonathan knew that when others didn't call him "Steward Jonathan," it usually meant that even Lord Munky's face didn't matter.

For example, during the Black Horn Auction...

That Farrow only called him "Jonathan."

Then, he received a harsh slap.

"I'm not joking, Jonathan. I'm here because someone reported that the alchemical items at the Double Moon's Radiance have quality issues. I've been sent to conduct a routine inspection."

"How... how is that possible!" As soon as Morin said this, Jonathan's heart sank. It was going to be bad!

Jonathan was so panicked not because there were real quality issues...

To be honest, while alchemical shops often produce shoddy goods, the Double Moon's Radiance had only been open for a few days. It was a critical time to build a reputation. Even Lord Munky had personally instructed that, at this time, they should be willing to take a loss to ensure the quality of the alchemical items. If there were still quality issues, Jonathan would be the first to disbelieve it.

The problem was that Jonathan's word didn't count.

Jonathan was all too aware of the intricacies involved.

The quality of alchemical items was hard to define. Alchemists, after all, were not machines. Even the best alchemists couldn't guarantee that their creations were flawless. If Morin was willing to spend the time, he would eventually find quality issues. This wasn't something that could be resolved by a few words from Lord Munky or by the Double Moon's Radiance spending more money.

"Alchemist Morin, Alchemist Morin, please listen to me..." As soon as Jonathan thought of the possible outcomes, he became anxious. He didn't care about being impolite and reached out to grab Morin, who was about to start the inspection. "Please listen, the alchemical items at the Double Moon's Radiance are absolutely fine..."

"Let go!" Morin gave Jonathan a cold look.

What a joke, just because you say there are no quality issues, it doesn't mean there are none. Even if I, Morin, said it, it wouldn't matter. This is a direct order from the great alchemist Baroso, one of the top figures in the Alchemists' Guild, second only to President Les!

Do you know what Baroso said...

Now, immediately, go and cause trouble for the Double Moon's Radiance, and make as much of a fuss as possible!

In this situation, it doesn't matter that I know you, Jonathan. Even if you were my father, there would be no face to save.

"Alright, Jonathan, I'm just doing my job. You'd better cooperate."

After saying this, Morin ignored Jonathan and directed his black-robed alchemists to start inspecting the alchemical items one by one.

"It's going to be bad..." Seeing Morin's serious attitude, Jonathan knew it was really going to be bad.

Looking at the black-robed alchemists under Morin's command, all of them were fully focused, almost sticking their noses to the alchemical items. And it wasn't just one person checking; each item was handed to Morin for a second inspection after the initial check.

A routine inspection couldn't be this thorough!

As Jonathan watched, his heart sank...

It's over, it's over...

If Morin kept this up, he would eventually find issues. Once someone pointed them out, it would definitely lead to another hearing. The Double Moon's Radiance, which had just opened, couldn't withstand such a ordeal. If Lord Munky got angry, the first to suffer would be him.

Jonathan looked at Morin with a complex expression, completely baffled. What was going on? While he and Morin weren't close, he had always been helpful. Morin had even promised to help if there were any problems with the Double Moon's Radiance.

To be honest, Jonathan didn't expect much help, but the sudden change was hard to accept.

Could someone be behind this?

Yes, it must be someone's doing!

Jonathan suddenly realized that while Morin had considerable power in the Alchemists' Guild, he couldn't make such a big decision alone. The Double Moon's Radiance was a Munky family business, and Morin's actions would put the Alchemists' Guild at odds with the Munky family, potentially causing a major conflict.

Morin didn't have that much nerve.

But if not Morin, who?

Who had the power to influence the Alchemists' Guild's decision and even directly order Morin to cause trouble for the Double Moon's Radiance?

The more Jonathan thought about it, the more he felt a chill run down his spine...

"These, these, and these, take them all back!" Just as Jonathan was feeling anxious, Morin's inspection came to an end. He named over a dozen alchemical items, almost making Jonathan cry on the spot.

And it wasn't over yet...

"Jonathan, I regret to inform you that the alchemical items at the Double Moon's Radiance do have serious quality issues. We need to conduct further investigations. Until then, the Double Moon's Radiance must temporarily close. We will notify you when it can reopen."

"What, close!" Jonathan jumped up.

For an alchemical shop, what's the difference between closing and going out of business?

Especially for the Double Moon's Radiance, which had just opened and was trying to build a reputation. A sudden closure would mean all previous efforts were wasted. That was over a million gold coins. Morin's order to close was like throwing that million gold coins into the water!

This was too much!

At this moment, Jonathan really wanted to know who was targeting the Double Moon's Radiance!

Unfortunately, Morin didn't give him the chance to ask. After announcing the closure, he immediately had his black-robed alchemists take the dozen named items and leave the Double Moon's Radiance.

Jonathan stood there for a long time before gritting his teeth and asking, "Who the hell is targeting the Double Moon's Radiance!"

...

Jonathan, of course, didn't know that the "bastard" he was talking about didn't even care about this matter.

Baroso wasn't wrong; Lin Yun's parting words were indeed a hint...

Lin Yun was that kind of person...

Since someone wanted to mess with the Gilded Rose, Lin Yun didn't mind using the Alchemists' Guild to mess back.

But that was all...

Who was behind it and why, Lin Yun didn't care. A mage's time was too precious to waste on such trivial matters.

Lin Yun only needed to know that the Alchemists' Guild was eager to obtain that alchemical formula.

To get the formula, they had to satisfy him first.

His parting words were already a clear hint.

Someone is messing with me, and I'm very dissatisfied!

Next, the Alchemists' Guild would naturally try to satisfy him.

For Lin Yun, it was that simple.

As for what the Alchemists' Guild would do next, Lin Yun didn't care. He knew someone would eventually tell him the result.

Time was so precious now. Just the mana array alone took him an entire afternoon. How could he have time to worry about such trivial matters?

These past few days, Lin Yun had stayed in the Sage Tower to complete the mana array. The entire process took him three days, and by the time he returned, Morin had already sealed the Gilded Rose.

In these three days, Lin Yun had almost completed the mana array, but it was still far from perfect.

There was no way around it; the mana array was too special. It could be said that among all the magical runes, the mana array was the most special. It was a magical rune that had evolved to the extreme of complexity and intricacy. Perhaps because of this, the "Examples of Magical Rune Construction" referred to it as a discarded or useless rune.

Because the great mages of this era lacked the ability to perfect the mana array. Even if someone possessed a mana array, they would only use it as a regular magical rune, which would result in the mana array's power being less than one-tenth of its potential. Being called a discarded or useless rune was not an exaggeration.

To truly unleash the power of the mana array, it required constant refinement and improvement. The mana array had an almost infinite capacity to integrate any magical ability or spell incantation perfectly.

When only one or two abilities or incantations were integrated, it might not be noticeable...

But when enough magical abilities or incantations were integrated, the mana array would undergo a true qualitative change, elevating the magical abilities and incantations to a new level.

It was this characteristic that made the mana array one of the strongest magical runes in the peak era of magical civilization.