Chapter 524 - Invitation
Lin Li grabbed the wooden box, but didn’t open it immediately. Instead, he placed it on the table, and said, “Mr. William, although I said that the formula may or may not be genuine, and I don’t know if the potion can be prepared according to the instructions of the formula, there is always a possibility. Since I don’t have anything on now, let’s assume that the formula is genuine, and talk about the cooperation that you mentioned. Do you have some ideas already?”
Lin Li was a very straightforward person. If William had been his enemy, he would have immediately killed him and snatched the formulae away without feeling a sense of guilt. However, he decided to act appropriately since William was rather polite. In order to earn the respect of others, one would first have to respect others too. Lin Li would respect whoever respected him.
Staring at the wooden box that he had just given Lin Li, William suddenly felt as if he had fallen into a trap. It seemed like President Felic was very confident about these formulae. Otherwise, no one would be willing to take the time out of their busy schedule to discuss cooperation that was based on an assumption.
Honestly, when William had first arrived, he had considered what kind of partnership he should have with the Tower of Dusk, as well as the ideal conditions he aimed for and the bottom line that he would maintain. However, it seemed that he could only push his bottom line further down.
He had already handed over the formulae and the initiative for the business cooperation. It would be impossible for him to have a true share in the profits, and he could only hope to be offered a tiny amount of benefits. William sighed deep down, though he politely continued, “I wouldn’t dare to call it a cooperation. The formulae would go to waste in my hands.”
“Hmph, so you do have some self-awareness, after all,” Wilkinson sneered coldly.
Although Wilkinson had ruthlessly rejected William’s claim regarding the authenticity of the formula, and even scolded him a lot, Wilkinson had a sudden change in attitude after Lin Li expressed a faint interest in the formula. After interacting with Lin Li for three months, Wilkinson and the other pharmacists learned that some rules were meant to be broken.
However, Wilkinson did not feel ashamed about scolding William just now, because he felt that his words aligned with pharmaceutical theories, and whether or not it was right would depend on the abilities of the omnipotent Master Felic. In the eyes of Wilkinson and the other pharmacists, Master Felic was indeed omnipotent, for he was the only one who could concoct a potion using such a formula.
“You don’t have to feel sorry or embarrassed, Mr. William. Feel free to speak your mind. We’re just making an assumption, aren’t we?” Lin Li said magnanimously with a smile.
Although most of the formulae in the wooden box did not appeal to Lin Li, he felt that it wouldn’t be too difficult to formulate the potions with his incredible skills. The only difficulty that he might face would be concocting the Divine Potion that would make one possess godly abilities. However, it was not necessary to tell that to William. After all, they had only met twice so far.
“Well… alright then, I will just say it.” William paused for a moment. After seeing that Lin Li was not just patronizing him, he continued, “If the Master you know can really formulate the potions, I hope to get the franchise for these potions.”
William’s request was indeed not overboard. After all, Lin Li wouldn’t be able to produce the potions without the formulae that William had provided. Likewise, his formulae would be useless if Lin Li refused to help him formulate the potions. Hence, they both needed each other to establish a fair partnership which offered mutual benefits.
However, William had already surrendered his dominant position, and it would be too unrealistic to think that he could share the profits with the pharmacists. Hence, he chose to forgo the rights to the formulae, and put himself in a position where he was purely a businessman.
In fact, William had put in some thought and effort into this. He owned the Time Consignment Store, and apart from the powerful Divine Potions, the rest of the potions that he sold weren’t advanced. In other words, those potions were eligible for auction. Given how popular and in-demand the long-lost potions from the Dark Age were, it should not be a problem to sell them at sky-high prices.
When faced with a huge temptation, not many people would be able to see the harsh reality and hold back. Even Wilkinson gave a nod of approval with a look of satisfaction on his face after hearing William’s request, though he could not hide his intentions from Lin Li.
From Wilkinson’s point of view, the potions had to be sold even though they could also use the potions themselves. They would be up for sale regardless of whom they hand the potions to. After all, the formulae were William’s, and although Wilkinson was unreasonable, he was well aware of that. Therefore, after hearing William’s request, he felt that the old man was quite sensible to give up on the ownership of the formulae.
Lin Li obviously wouldn’t be duped so easily. What William wanted was sole franchise and distributor rights to the potions, which was enough to maximize the profits from the potions. Although the other benefits seemed insignificant compared to obtaining the Divine Potion, profits were still profits. Besides, Lin Li didn’t want others to think that he was a pushover who could be duped easily.
Lin Li smiled faintly and looked at William with a playful look. “Mr. William, in that case, what is the price that you’re willing to pay when you take the potions from us? Is it going to be proportional to your sales revenue or our cost price?”
Monopoly meant that they would reap huge profits, not to mention the auction sales method. Although there was a possibility of the potions not getting auctioned off, it would not be considered a loss. Besides, there’d always be a demand for magical potions in this world.
“That… would have to be tabulated according to our sales revenue,” William said upon realizing that the young mage was indeed not easy to fool.
“Haha, just kidding. Everything is simply an assumption for now. As for the details of the future cooperation, we’ll let Archmage Gavin of the Guild of Magic discuss them with you carefully.” Lin Li was pleased with William’s willingness to compromise, and he believed that Gavin would definitely be able to come up with a profit ratio that would be beneficial to the Tower of Dusk.
No one would say no to more money, not even Lin Li, who had a stable means of earning plenty of money that was continuously invested in the Tower of Dusk. However, the Tower of Dusk was not using up more money than Lin Li could make. The more investors there were, the quicker their abilities would increase.
As the master of the Tower of Dusk, he would obviously place the interests of the Tower of Dusk first, especially since he was not close to William at all. They had only met each other twice.
Although William was forced to make a compromise in the end, and did not manage to confirm the details of the cooperation, it was at least not a wasted trip for him. William could tell what Lin Li implied, and he knew that he was about to end the conversation. Hence, he said, “President Felic, there will be an auction at the Time Consignment Store next month. I would like to take the liberty of extending an invitation to you. Would you allow me the honor of having you participate in this auction?”
“Auction…”
Auctions were not something new to Lin Li. The Jarrosus Guild of Magic suddenly popped up in his mind. When he’d auctioned his potions, the forces and leaders from Jarrosus all rushed to call their bids like madmen because the prices of the potions were not too high. Auctions were events where something could be sold at 10 times their original value. One would be allowed to rip someone off openly during auctions.
“This auction is held once a month. I’m not boasting, but we do have some influence in the Breezy Plains. Therefore, it often attracts sellers who have rare items that they want to sell for a good price. All those castellans, captains, and leaders love attending my auctions to purchase some items of their desires.” Although William had just been criticized for his pharmacological knowledge, he still sounded prideful.
In order for auctions to become influential, they would have to sell top-grade items, which naturally had to be discovered and authenticated by the appraisers. Although William had been criticized by Wilkinson for his lack of knowledge, he was confident that it was not superficial.
Just like pharmacists would be delighted to get a potion formula and magicians would be excited to get a new magic spell, an appraiser would be glad to find new knowledge. Hence, William decided to befriend Lin Li after hearing his description of the Adamantine of Bad Luck during their meeting at the banquet in the main city of Roland.
At that time, William had also believed that Lin Li would be pleased to befriend him once he found out about his identity and reputation in the Breezy Plains. However, he’d never expected that he would go back and end up receiving no news despite having waited for a long time.
He’d only found out during his visit to the Tower of Dusk that the young chap was actually the reputable and renowned genius young mage and President of the Guild of Magic in the Breezy Plains. William sighed and thought to himself, No wonder he didn’t take me seriously. He has the support of an esteemed Pharmacist Guild, while I’m just an inferior appraiser. What am I to him?