Miraculous Forger

"You have to understand, it was already shocking enough for a newcomer who had just joined Moth Chasing Flame to go and subjugate the Herrscher of the Void. Then, after defeating the Herrscher of the Void, he brought back a traveler claiming to be from another world. That really shook Moth Chasing Flame's upper ranks. Oh, right, let me introduce myself. My name is Henk," Henk said.

As the head of a combat division, Henk clearly did not know much about interrogation work. But when Elysia had brought Chen Li to Moth Chasing Flame, Henk had been the first person they met.

Henk glanced to his left, trying to get his teammate to take over the interrogation, but Elysia, seated to his left, thoroughly ignored his plea for help.

"Captain, I'm a rookie," Elysia reminded him.

"What kind of rookie are you? Forget it. Chen Li, tell us—what did you come to this world for?" Henk asked with a sigh.

"To gather forging materials. It may sound a little rude, but the Honkai beasts in your world are a local specialty. Naturally, the materials they drop are specialty materials too," Chen Li said.

"A local specialty? So you come from a world without Honkai beasts? I'm so jealous. I wonder how wonderful a world like that must be," Henk sighed.

"If you think a world that gets invaded by other worlds every year or every few years, has all sorts of evil gods and demons running rampant everywhere, and has to guard against powerful professionals nearby suffering mental breakdowns from using relics and causing huge disasters is wonderful, then I have nothing to say." Chen Li spread his hands and leaned back tactically.

"Uh... that does sound pretty difficult." For a moment, Henk was unable to compare the merits of the Honkai world and the world Chen Li described.

But in any case, both sounded miserable.

"It's not too bad. Every world that dares to come looking for trouble in our world gets counter-killed, then our world hands them out to us natives as benefits. Life is chaotic, but orderly enough," Chen Li said indifferently.

"Ahem, we've gone off topic. May I ask what method you used to come to this world? Can that method be replicated? Can we establish contact with your world?" Henk asked several questions in succession after glancing at several notes on his communicator.

Those were questions urgently supplied by professionals, who were still on their way over.

"It can't be replicated. Communication between worlds is even more impossible." Chen Li shook his head.

"I see... Then let me ask another question. What can you provide Moth Chasing Flame? Don't look at me like that—I'm not the one who wanted to ask."

"You can trade me enough materials for some things," Chen Li said.

"For example, the Herrscher of the Void's corpse?" Henk had not forgotten that Elysia had said the Herrscher of the Void's body was still inside Chen Li's spatial backpack.

"Since I killed that thing in your world, and it holds important significance for your world, I'll sell it to you at half price. Just give me some Soul Steel," Chen Li said.

"Soul Steel?! How do you know about that?" Henk abruptly stood up and stared intently at Chen Li.

"As a blacksmith, when I come to a world filled with forging materials, I can tell which forging materials in that world are worth acquiring. What, is Soul Steel valuable?" Chen Li asked casually.

Chen Li was not worried in the slightest now.

Because of the miracle of killing the Herrscher of the Void, Chen Li had gained the qualification to establish a Miracle Beacon in this Serendipitous Encounter World.

A Miracle Beacon was an important token that allowed Chen Li to return to a Serendipitous Encounter World. Without a Miracle Beacon, returning to this Serendipitous Encounter World would depend entirely on luck.

In other words, Chen Li could leave at any time now, then return another time.

He had deliberately brought up Soul Steel as well.

If Moth Chasing Flame had Soul Steel now, Chen Li would get some. If they did not, he would provide them with some design concepts for Soul Steel so that Moth Chasing Flame could hurry up and make it, then give him some.

"That stuff... is very valuable. Its production is extremely limited," Henk said hesitantly.

Soul Steel was actually a metal that Moth Chasing Flame had developed specifically to counter Honkai energy, based on preliminary research into ruins excavated from the moon.

Since research into Soul Steel had only just begun, current production was extremely low.

"As long as you have some, that's enough. So, can I get some?" Chen Li rubbed his hands together.

"Well..."

"Yes." The door to the interrogation room, which had been temporarily converted from a conference room, was pushed open, and a green-haired woman in a white lab coat walked in.

As soon as she entered, Chen Li clearly saw Elysia, sitting beside Henk, light up.

"Dr. Mobius, why are you here? Where are the professionals?" Henk froze when he saw her.

"Oh, I'm the professional."

"..." Henk clearly did not believe a word of it.

"After dealing with the professionals, I became the professional," Mobius said with certainty.

"Huh?"

"Hurry up and send that professional to the infirmary. It wouldn't be good if he caught a chill lying on the floor. And don't come back—you're relieved here. Your daughter is making a fuss in the lab, saying she wants to find you. Something about riding a big horse, I think." Mobius waved her hand, clearly intending to chase Henk out.

"Fine." Henk's scalp tingled, but this was very Mobius.

"Oh, right, who is she?" Mobius asked, referring to Elysia seated to Henk's left.

"A recruit. She was the one who brought this outsider back to Moth Chasing Flame," Henk said.

"Is she going to the moon, or staying on the ground?"

"She's staying on the ground. Do you want me to take her with me?" Henk asked.

"No need. She happens to be involved too." Mobius shook her head.

"Um, how about I stay a little longer? Once the interrogation is over, I can show Elysia around Moth Chasing Flame?" Henk tried to remain.

"No need. I'll show her around," Mobius said impatiently.

"It's a deal." Henk immediately slipped away.

"...That guy did it on purpose, didn't he?" Mobius said irritably.

He always dumped troublesome matters onto others, ran faster than anyone else when it was time to leave, and even stole away her most prized assistant!

Tch, forget it. Better focus on the outsider in front of them first.

"So, if Moth Chasing Flame wants the Second Herrscher's corpse and Herrscher Core, it has to provide you with three pieces of Soul Steel?" Dr. Mobius propped her chin on her hand.

"Mm."

"Fine." Dr. Mobius nodded.

"Huh, you agreed that easily?" Elysia, standing beside them, was rather surprised.

On the way back, Chen Li had told Elysia that he actually only needed enough Soul Steel to forge a single weapon, but that he would start by asking for an exorbitant price.

Aim high, and you get the middle. Aim for the middle, and you get the bottom.

That was the wisdom of the ancestors.

"It's not like I'm the one paying the Soul Steel." Dr. Mobius waved a hand.

Besides, the Second Herrscher's corpse was indeed for her research.

What did other departments' headaches have to do with her?

"Can you really make that decision?" Chen Li was somewhat worried.

"If Moth Chasing Flame doesn't honor the deal, just go chop up all of Moth Chasing Flame's higher-ups. I won't stop you," Dr. Mobius said casually.

"..."

Chen Li finally understood why Dr. Mobius of the Previous Civilization was disliked by the higher-ups, and even by the entirety of Moth Chasing Flame.

She had knocked out a colleague who was a professional negotiator, then immediately sold out Moth Chasing Flame's entire upper echelon with her words.

It would be a miracle if anyone liked her!

Still, after considering it for a while, Chen Li took the Herrscher of the Void's corpse from his backpack and placed it on the floor beside him.

Chen Li had other trump cards, so he was not worried that they would go back on their word.

"Other than this, do you have anything else you can trade?" After glancing at the meeting records Henk had written, Dr. Mobius asked with a frown.

What atrocious handwriting.

"Yes. An immortality elixir. It can extend one's lifespan by over a century." This was Chen Li's trump card.

"Can it surpass the limits of human physiology? Interesting!" Dr. Mobius's eyes immediately lit up.

"No. It only grants longevity. The principle is different." Chen Li shook his head.

"Not interested." Dr. Mobius instantly lost interest.

"I'm interested! Mobius, don't talk nonsense! Someone! Get in here and drag her out of the reception room! Replace her with someone who actually knows how to negotiate!" A shrill voice rang out from the reception room's speakers.

"Tch, those higher-ups only ever think about immortality." Dr. Mobius looked displeased.

"Forget it. Before those people get here, let's make some other deals. For example... could I study you?" Dr. Mobius asked with great interest.

Dr. Mobius was very interested in why he could travel between worlds.

"Not really." Chen Li shook his head, politely declining.

"Then do you have anything like monster flesh and blood that's unique to your world?"

"I do, but I didn't bring any this time."

"Then I'll place an order in advance. One piece of Soul Steel."

"Dr. Mobius, can you make that decision?"

"Don't worry about whether I can make the decision. Just agree first. At worst, if Moth Chasing Flame refuses to acknowledge this deal, you can simply refuse to sell those higher-ups the immortality elixir. They'll agree to it," Dr. Mobius said.

Since ancient times, no higher-up had ever failed to desire immortality.

"Then I can also forge scalpels for you—scalpels with magical powers. The effects can be customized." Chen Li instantly understood Dr. Mobius's plan and immediately said.

"Fine, deal. One piece of Soul Steel."

"Sure, but you'll have to provide the materials yourself."

"No problem." Dr. Mobius nodded.

And so, before Moth Chasing Flame's higher-ups hurriedly arrived at the reception room with their people, Chen Li and Dr. Mobius, two birds of a feather, had arranged several advance deals.

Of course, none of those deals were excessive. On the contrary, they were quite reasonable.

After all, they could not treat Moth Chasing Flame's higher-ups as idiots.

Moth Chasing Flame had so many departments, and each department had reasonable requests for Chen Li. But which department would get its reasonable request first—that would have to be fought over.

"Ah, wait, Dr. Mobius, you promised to show me around Moth Chasing Flame." Seeing Dr. Mobius being ushered out of the reception room, Elysia rose and chased after her.

She could not let a beautiful girl like Dr. Mobius slip away.

"Please wait a moment. As a party involved, we ask that you cooperate," a Moth Chasing Flame higher-up said politely.

After all, he was a warrior whom Chen Li claimed could utterly crush the Herrscher of the Void.

Moth Chasing Flame needed such high-level talent, so courtesy was only natural.

This was also why Chen Li had given half the credit for defeating the Second Herrscher to Elysia and vigorously praised her combat prowess.

After all, praising someone cost nothing.

Besides, Chen Li and Elysia could be considered to have fought side by side. At the very least, their shoulders had genuinely been side by side.

"Let her go. You don't care where I came from anyway. All you care about is whether I really have an immortality pill." Chen Li took out a fragrant medicinal pill.

"Or are you planning to give Elysia a share?" Chen Li asked in return.

"Alright, you should leave first. Mister Chen Li and I have important matters to discuss." The Moth Chasing Flame higher-ups politely saw Elysia out.

"Then let's discuss the business of immortality." Chen Li tossed the pill in his hand.

Back when Chen Li had been preparing to survive after "traveling between worlds," he had naturally used every possible method, making quite a few Longevity Pills with Undying Remains.

Gold, silver, pepper, and fine salt were for bribing ordinary people, while Longevity Pills were for bribing the wealthy.

As for why he had not used Longevity Pills in his original world to exchange for more things that "belonged" to him?

Because in his original world, lifespan was also locked by the panel.

Why didn't Chen Li take them himself after arriving in another world?

Because only Chen Li knew what exactly he had put into those Longevity Pills.

Besides, this type of Undying Remains seemed to be related to time, so it truly was useless to Chen Li.

Miraculous Forging Commission from Another World—Akame ga Kill!

"You mean that after using three Longevity Pills to obtain what you wanted, you then asked for the position of Engineering Department Head at Moth Chasing Flame?" Mobius looked at the boy who had suddenly become her equal and found it hard to believe.

"No, don't misunderstand. I don't want to be the Engineering Department Head. They forced the position on me." Chen Li shook his head.