"Gulp..."
Lorne stared at the bottle glowing with a strange green light and unconsciously swallowed.
His spiritual intuition told him with certainty that this was the Sequence 7 potion he needed.
He looked back up at King Roy, studying the smile still lingering on his face.
"How much?"
"1,800 pounds," King Roy quoted a figure.
1,800 pounds... Lorne began doing the math.
One Sequence 7 main ingredient cost around 700 pounds. Two main ingredients, plus some supplementary ingredients... it was a very reasonable price, with practically no markup.
"That's a fair price. I think we have a deal."
An opportunity like this was rare, and Lorne had no intention of passing it up.
"I can pay right away." As he spoke, he reached into his inner pocket.
But King Roy suddenly placed a hand on the potion bottle, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his glasses. "I have one additional condition."
"You've finished digesting your Robot potion, haven't you?"
"Yes." Lorne made no attempt to hide it.
Once Lorne nodded, he said softly, "The additional condition is... you must drink it in front of me."
"To prevent me from divining its formula?" Lorne guessed after a brief silence.
During his studies aboard the Golden Dream, Lorne had learned that some organizations only provided finished potions when training Beyonders, precisely to prevent potion formulas from leaking.
"Yes." King Roy did not deny it. "That is indeed one consideration."
"After all, potion formulas are the foundation of our livelihood. Naturally, we need to keep them confidential."
"Shit, you don't trust us?" Danitz, who was sitting beside them, grew somewhat angry at that.
"You are a pirate, Flame!" King Roy stated Danitz's identity casually.
His meaning was clear: did pirates even have such a thing as credibility?
"I..." Having been recognized, Danitz was