15: Chapter 15 Potion Making

When Chen Mo returned to the Farmhouse, it was already dark.

He parked the pickup truck in the courtyard, turned off the engine, and sat in the driver's seat, dazed for a long time.

That drop of "tear of the ghost shadow" was in the glove box, golden, quiet, like solidified time.

He remembered the driver's final smile.

He remembered the expression on his face when he said "Thank you."

He remembered the ragdoll on that keychain.

Chen Mo shook his head, shaking off these thoughts.

He pushed open the car door, walked into the Basement, and placed that tear with the other Materials.

Then he returned to the surface, sat on the steps, and looked at the night sky.

The night sky of the Ghost Realm had nothing—no stars, no moon, only a deep darkness.

But today was a little different.

In the depths of the darkness, a faint light was flickering.

It wasn't golden, it was white, as if someone was lighting a lamp in a place very, very far away.

Chen Mo stared at that point of light for a long time.

Then he stood up, returned to the Basement, and began to prepare.

Tomorrow, he would go to Trading Post No. 1.

To find Old Zhou and synthesize the "Infiltrator" potion.

The next evening, Chen Mo arrived at the Trading Post.

Old Zhou was still behind the cash register, and when he saw him enter, his eyes widened.

"You... you're still alive?"

Chen Mo didn't speak; he took the "tear of the ghost shadow" out of his pocket and placed it on the counter.

Old Zhou stared at that golden tear, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time.

"You really... you really went?" He looked up.

"And came back alive?"

"I need you to help me synthesize a potion." Chen Mo said.

"Infiltrator."

Old Zhou was silent for a long time.

Then he nodded and put the tear away.

"Follow me."

He led Chen Mo through the supermarket to an inconspicuous room in the back.

The room wasn't large, containing a workbench covered with various bottles, jars, and strange instruments.

"This is where I synthesize potions," Old Zhou said.

"I don't bring just anyone in here."

Chen Mo looked around the room.

In the corner stood a bookshelf filled with notebooks.

On the shelves on the wall were various Materials: dried plants, animal bones, and several small bottles containing liquids of different colors.

"You can also synthesize potions?" Chen Mo asked.

"A little bit," Old Zhou said.

"I learned from an Apothecary in the past, but after he passed away, I figured it out on my own."

He walked to the workbench and took a metal box out of a cabinet.

Opening it, inside was a row of syringes filled with a pale golden liquid, exactly the same as what he had seen in the military base warehouse before.

"These are a few I synthesized earlier," Old Zhou said:

"But they were all missing the key ingredient; I never found the 'tear of the ghost shadow'."

He took out the tear and looked at it against the light.

"Good stuff," he said. "The purity is very high; it was produced by a Ghost Shadow of at least Peak E-rank."

Chen Mo didn't speak.

"You wait, I'll start now." Old Zhou said, taking several bottles from the shelf and beginning to mix them.

Chen Mo stood to the side and watched.

Old Zhou's movements were skilled—pouring liquids, mixing, heating, cooling; every step looked like he had done it countless times.

From time to time, he would pick up the tear, drip a drop or two into it, and then observe the changes in the liquid.

An hour later, the potion was almost finished.

Old Zhou picked up the final bottle of liquid and prepared to pour it in.

At this very moment, Chen Mo's Pupil of the Sequence suddenly stung violently.

In his golden vision, there was a small, dense mass of black matter in that bottle of liquid, like solidified ink.

That was not a normal material.

【Contamination source detected】

【Source: Substituted potion material】

【Contamination type: Mental contamination】

【Imminent occurrence: Potion backlash】

Chen Mo reached out abruptly and grabbed Old Zhou's wrist.

"Don't pour it."

Old Zhou was stunned.

"What?"

"There's something wrong with that bottle." Chen Mo pointed at the liquid. "There is contamination inside."

Old Zhou stared at him for two seconds, then looked down at the liquid.

He shook it slightly, looked at it against the light, and his expression changed.

"This is... this isn't my original material." His voice was low. "Someone switched it."

He put down the bottle, walked to the shelf, and carefully inspected the other Materials.

"These three bottles have all been switched." He turned around, his expression grim. "Only one person can enter this room—my former assistant."

"Where is he?"

"Three days ago, he said he was going out to find Materials, and then he never came back." Old Zhou said. "I thought something had happened to him, I didn't expect..."

He didn't finish, but Chen Mo understood.

That assistant hadn't had an accident.

He had betrayed him.

"What now?" Chen Mo asked.

Old Zhou looked at the potion on the workbench that was about to be completed.

"The Materials have already been mixed; if we don't finish, this batch will be completely ruined." He said. "But if we continue, there might be trouble."

Chen Mo was silent for a second.

"I'll do it."

Old Zhou was stunned. "You? You know how to synthesize potions?"

"No." Chen Mo said. "But my eyes can see the problem."

He walked to the workbench and looked at the potion.

Pupil of the Sequence operated at full power.

In his golden vision, the internal structure of the potion was clearly visible—in the pale golden liquid, a mass of black matter was slowly diffusing, like a drop of ink falling into clear water.

That was the contamination source.

If they continued to synthesize it according to the original steps, that black mass would spread throughout the entire potion, turning it into poison.

But if...

Chen Mo looked at those black lines.

Their direction of diffusion was fixed, and the speed was uniform. If he could find a way to guide them out before they fully diffused—

"Is there a way?" Old Zhou asked.

Chen Mo didn't answer.

He reached out and picked up the potion, shaking it gently.

The black lines changed direction with the shaking.

He put down the potion and picked up another bottle of material—a bottle of liquid that looked clean.

Pupil of the Sequence scanned it.

There was black matter in this bottle too, but very little, very faint, almost invisible.

Chen Mo poured that liquid into the potion.

The black lines were immediately diluted, and the speed of diffusion slowed down.

He picked up another bottle.

Poured again.

Poured again.

After pouring five bottles, that black mass was finally diluted until it was almost invisible.

But the potion had also changed color—from pale golden to grayish-white.

【Potion status: Unstable】

【Contamination residue: Trace amount】

【Suggestion: Continue purification】

Chen Mo stared at the potion.

The trace contamination was still there. If it wasn't thoroughly removed, there would still be problems after taking it.

He looked at those residual black lines, watching them move slowly within the liquid.

Then he made a decision.

He picked up the potion, held it up before his eyes, and then—

He let the golden light of the Pupil of the Sequence shoot out from his eyes, shining directly into the potion.

It wasn't physical light; it was a type of... energy light.

The golden light diffused inside the potion, chasing those black lines, wrapping, squeezing, and dissolving them one by one.

A few seconds later, all the black disappeared.

The potion turned a pure golden color.

Chen Mo put down the potion and closed his eyes.

His right eye stung violently, and tears streamed down uncontrollably.

"You... what did you do?" Old Zhou's voice was trembling.

Chen Mo opened his eyes.

The potion was right in front of him, clear, transparent, perfect.

【D-rank potion "Infiltrator" successfully synthesized】

【Purity: 98%】

【Side effects: Minor and controllable】

【Obtained sub-profession: Elementary Apothecary】

【Current progress: Can synthesize F-rank and below potions, D-rank success rate 30%】

Chen Mo handed the potion to Old Zhou.

"It's done."

Old Zhou took it and looked at it for a long time.

Then he looked up at Chen Mo.

"You are a fucking monster."

Chen Mo didn't speak.

He put the potion away and turned to leave.

Behind him, Old Zhou's voice chased after him:

"Chen Mo—that assistant, once I find him, I will give you an explanation."

Chen Mo didn't look back.

He walked out of the Trading Post, sat in the pickup truck, and placed the potion on the passenger seat.

He started the engine and stepped on the gas.

The pickup truck drove into the night.

He looked at the potion, watching the golden liquid flowing inside.

Infiltrator.

After consuming it, one could gain temporary invisibility.

But the side effect was that one's shadow would attack oneself.

He needed to find a safe place to consume it and then resolve that side effect.

Or, turn the side effect into a weapon.

Chen Mo gripped the steering wheel and accelerated forward.

The Farmhouse was waiting for him in the distance.

The night wind poured in through the car window, blowing on his face.

He suddenly remembered what Old Zhou had said—

"You are a fucking monster."

A monster?

Perhaps.

But this monster had survived.

And would continue to survive.