Potion of Strength and Agility

At the entrance to the police station, Carmen hurried out with his men, leapt into a carriage, and rushed toward the eastern district.

According to the report from the people of Bianchi Mine, Aoduo and his son had died in their home more than thirteen hours ago—over half a day.

Because neither father nor son had shown up that morning, and work could not proceed without them, people had gone looking for them. Only then did they discover that the entire household was dead. Strangely, no one had reported the incident, while the two slaves who had originally been in the house had vanished without a trace.

Carmen had not seen the scene himself and could only make a hurried analysis based on what he currently knew.

Had the slaves taken revenge? Or was there some other cause?

But everything would have to wait until he had seen the scene.

He had brought officers as well as a forensic doctor specifically to examine the site.

A short while later, they arrived at Sam's home.

Carmen knew Sam's house. The man was a manager at Bianchi Mine and usually brought home quite a bit of money, so the residence he had bought was large and beautiful.

The house was deserted and carried no strange odor. That was Carmen's first impression.

"Where are the bodies?" Carmen asked.

The man said, "That's the strange part. They were all in their own rooms, sleeping soundly, but they suddenly died."

Carmen froze for a moment, then entered through the front courtyard. Before long, he had examined the scene and made his records.

It clearly was not a home invasion, nor was it a failed theft turned murder. The valuables in the house did show signs of being ransacked, but that was probably the slaves' doing. They had taken the money without causing much damage—exactly how insiders would operate.

There were no suspicious points. Carmen ordered the three bodies moved into the living room.

The forensic doctor quickly examined their bodies and reached two conclusions.

Two had died from overexcitement—their hearts had pounded violently enough to rupture their blood vessels. One had been frightened to death, his liver and gallbladder shattered, with no external force involved.

After only a preliminary examination, the forensic doctor swiftly came to a conclusion. "They took a large amount of hallucinogenic drugs, perhaps some powerful narcotic. This sort of drug is actually nothing new among the upper class. Many nobles like to use it as an after-dinner diversion."

Carmen considered it briefly. "No possibility of murder?"

The forensic doctor shook his head. "Detective Carmen, this stuff is extremely rare. Only a very small number of people possess any, and it's expensive too. This fellow must have gotten it from somewhere and taken a bit too much."

"I'll need to bring them back for a more detailed autopsy to determine what kind of narcotic it was."

Carmen relaxed. As long as it was not murder, it was fine. If it had been murder, he would have needed to guard against the possibility that someone he had offended while helping this man in the past had done it.

"Fine. Take them back, then."

The scene investigation and record-taking took several hours before the matter was finally wrapped up. Carmen then returned to the police station in a rather pleasant mood.

A man with whom he had some unsavory dealings had died, which made him feel somewhat relieved. The entire family of three was dead, saving him quite a bit of trouble. As for the missing valuables, so be it—they were hardly a major concern. And as for the escaped slaves, they would surely be caught before long.

Slaves all bore marks on their bodies. They could not run far.

That afternoon, Dole was hammering iron. Ha returned from outside and came to the forge where Dole was working. He stood beside him, gazing at Dole with a complicated, meaningful expression. He had just received the news and was badly startled, but he quickly realized that Dole had made his move. He had returned this time for revenge.

Dole was drenched in sweat. Seeing Ha enter, he continued forging while casually making conversation.

"Is Ha not busy today?"

Ha looked at Dole solemnly. He sighed. "Lin Rui, I know what you want to do, but remember to watch your safety."

Aoduo and his son had died for no reason, and Dole had happened to return at the same time. If those two things were unrelated, he would not believe it even if beaten to death. Dole had always been strange before, but now he was even more mysterious. Ha felt that this young fellow had become different from before.

Dole raised his hand, glanced at Ha, and smiled faintly with calm eyes. "You only get one life. Of course I need to watch my safety. I haven't lived enough yet."

Seeing the firmness amid Dole's calm gaze, Ha's heart sank. He vaguely guessed that Dole had likely suffered something bad at the police station. Otherwise, he would not have embarked on the road of murder and revenge. Thinking of the injuries on Dole's body, Ha felt somewhat conflicted. He did not know whether to pity Dole, this young child, or mourn the three people who had died.

After a long while, he sighed. "Fine, as long as you understand. From now on, work honestly. Once you reach intermediate level, start saving money and buy a battle aura cultivation method. You're still young and have no family burdens, so saving money will be easy. You'll be able to cultivate battle aura quickly if you want to."

Dole nodded solemnly. That was indeed his plan. Naluye's book only contained methods up to level one; there was no battle aura cultivation method beyond that. He would have to find one himself. The blacksmith shop was a very good option. Of course, he had an even better choice: Bal. As a level-seven powerhouse, Bal surely possessed quite a few fierce and domineering cultivation methods. But Bal wanted him to walk the path of a wizard. Even if Bal provided him with a battle aura cultivation method, he probably would not put much thought into it.

Ha came with the wind and left with the wind.

Anderson watched the direction in which Ha had departed, his eyes full of reverence.

"Lin Rui, you and Ha seem very close."

Dole did not have much of a temper. In only a day, the two had already become familiar with each other.

Dole smiled. "Ha is the one looking after me. Help me bring over the tongs." Dole wiped the sweat from his head and continued hammering iron.

"All right."

His strength was already immense. A ten-kilogram iron hammer felt like a toy in his hand. He estimated that his strength had reached around sixty kilograms. Once he drank the Strength Potion and Agility Potion, having his strength rise in tandem to one hundred kilograms should not be difficult. Generally speaking, eighty kilograms was the standard for an intermediate warrior. At that point, one could begin tempering the bones and refining the internal organs, but some potions were needed as support. Without potion assistance, this stage was extremely, extremely difficult.

The same was true for ordinary warriors advancing in rank. There was almost no difference from blacksmiths. That was why hardly any street thugs dared cause trouble at a blacksmith shop. Everyone here was a professional—who would dare make trouble?

That evening, as he had wished, he moved into the eastern district, into an ordinary three-room residence. It was Ha's property. There was no contract; a key was all he needed.

Living in this residential area was far safer than the slums, where city guards patrolled every day. Bal could also be a little more comfortable here. The only issue was that it was somewhat far from the city gate, making it inconvenient for Bal to move about.

But with its strength, Bal did not care about such a distance.

One man and one dog entered the courtyard. The first thing they did was clean the place thoroughly, tidying up the rooms. There was a kitchen and three ordinary rooms. He planned to use one as a laboratory, while he and Bal would each take one of the other two rooms.

The lavatory was in the courtyard.

By the time they finished all that, night had fully fallen.

It was still early, and Dole could not sleep at all. After thinking for a moment, he took out one bottle each of Strength Potion and Agility Potion, poured them into his mouth, and quietly waited for the potions to take effect.

A moment later, he felt a surge of power flood his entire body and limbs. His circulation sped up, and his muscles began to swell. It was especially noticeable in his lower body—his legs, feet, and hips—as though the Strength Potion and Agility Potion were working together.