The Last Chance

Liz glanced at Huai Shi and suddenly asked, "What, has the Sun Forger behind you accepted the restraints of destiny and decided to join the American Lineage?

"Or are you planning to switch sides? If that's the case, I wouldn't mind filing a report for you."

"So we're haggling already?"

Huai Shi spread his hands regretfully. "Sorry, but you can forget about the Sun Forger. I'm quite comfortable in the Ivory Tower... Sending an employee like me out on assignment is probably the limit of what my boss can tolerate.

"If someone knows too many company secrets and still wants to jump ship, they'll be hunted down by the internal affairs squad. Let's each take a step back. How about I give you the complete manuals and strategy guides? The kind where you can clear everything effortlessly just by following the instructions?"

"So you can't make all the decisions yourself either."

Liz mocked him, then abruptly said, "Sixty Forgers. We'll provide alchemy apprentices. You only need to train them into Forgers. You needn't concern yourself with anything else."

"Doesn't the Astronomical Society have records of the Forgers' techniques?" Huai Shi asked. "Why not just study those?"

"If reading books were enough, what would teachers be for?" Liz asked. "Besides, surely you don't think nobody can tell that you've hidden something?"

Huai Shi shook his head. "Listen to yourself. I gave away the fundamentals and materials exactly as they were, for free. There's no reason I should hand over my exclusive application techniques as well, right? Besides, sixty is too many. What do you need that many for? If you focus on training them, ten will be enough."

"This isn't a marketplace, Huai Shi."

Liz had no intention of backing down.

It wasn't as though the Ivy League had not tried