"Big business?" Tyrion rubbed his short arms as if frozen, speaking while quickly climbing the stairs: "You mean the Wildfire inside? Sorry, I'm afraid that won't work. The reason King Robert kept this building for the Alchemists' Guild instead of reclaiming it for other uses is because the Wildfire stored below is too dangerous, and the experts who were skilled at handling them either disappeared or died in the war. So the remaining ones can only be kept cold here... Strictly speaking, our transaction just now was already illegal, it's just that Robert doesn't care about this mess. But for you to want to move all the Wildfire inside and transport it to The Wall for military use, that's absolutely impossible."
Indeed, impossible.
Aegon guessed that Wildfire might be a volatile oil mixed with white phosphorus or other phosphorus compounds, with an extremely low flash point, making it highly flammable and explosive. The longer it is stored, the more volatile components evaporate, leaving a liquid with a higher concentration of white phosphorus and phosphides, which makes it even more flammable—this kind of substance cannot be transported over long distances without complete safety measures.
"Is that so?" The Chief Logistics Officer turned his head to ask the Sage.
"That's right, it is..." Having received ten silver stags, the Pyromancer's attitude seemed much friendlier: "The wise King Robert ordered us to guard the Wildfire underground forever, and not allow any jar to leave the cellar..."
"Not allow any jar, so it's okay for it to leave bottle by bottle, right?" Tyrion said sarcastically.
"No, this..."
"It's okay, what I want isn't the Wildfire underground, but your method for making Wildfire." Aegon didn't join his friend in troubling the old man: "Can you show me the production process, or do you only sell existing stock now and not make new ones?"
"That's impossible!" Dark suddenly looked serious, his eyes wide: "The method for making Wildfire is the deepest secret of the Alchemists' Guild, no matter the cost, it cannot be revealed!"
No matter the cost? Aegon scoffed but didn't say much, just shook his head: "When I say I want your method for making Wildfire, I don't mean for you to tell me the formula and process, but for you to serve me, understand?"
"Serve you?"
"Now answer me, I want to visit the production process, or just the production site, can I?"
"This... yes." The old man hesitated for a moment and made a concession, leading Aegon to the ground floor. The warm air made everyone feel a great sense of relief. So far, Aegon hadn't seen any other Pyromancers. It seemed the Alchemists' Guild had declined significantly, and the few remaining people could probably only manage to work in shifts.
When they entered earlier to "buy Wildfire", Dark had led them directly to the basement from the nearest staircase. Now, returning to the ground floor and being led to the Wildfire production area, Aegon finally had time to examine the structure of the Alchemists' Guild Hall. This was a large maze built entirely of black stone, with a structure much more complex than it appeared from the outside. Turning left and right, passing through a dim corridor lined with black iron beams, they stopped at the entrance to another room. The Sage opened the door—this was a room with a small window, so they finally didn't have to rely on oil lamps to see.
Walking into the room, with just one glance, Aegon knew he hadn't come to the wrong place.
This room contained a row of long tables, covered with various tools and equipment, bottles and jars of all sizes and heights—two of which, Aegon was even certain, were used for extraction and distillation respectively.
This was a chemistry laboratory, or at least the rudimentary form of one.
The Alchemists' Guild was actually a chemistry research institute!
Why did this group, representing advanced productivity, become obscure and replaced by Maesters trained by the Citadel? With so much equipment, they could and should have made more useful chemical discoveries for society. How did they end up only focusing on making Wildfire? Was this a distortion of human nature, or the loss of intellectual curiosity?
"See anything?" Tyrion asked when he saw his friend staring blankly.
"I see the future," Aegon murmured, turning his intense gaze towards Dark: "Do you know how to use the things in this room?"
"Basically, I do... after all, I received training... it's just that I haven't touched them for so many years. If I were to use them again, I'd probably need to recall things carefully." Dark said with some lack of confidence: "Uh... let's go out, this room isn't safe either."
Aegon almost spat blood: "This place isn't safe either? Is there Wildfire that wasn't moved to the basement? Does this Alchemists' Guild of yours have any safe place at all!?"
"No..." Dark pointed to the ceiling: "There are mechanisms and magic above this. If an accident happens and a fire breaks out in the room, the ceiling will collapse, and a large amount of sand piled in the compartment above will fall down to bury the room and extinguish the fire. Usually, there won't be a problem, but—it hasn't been repaired for over ten years now, so I don't know if it still works."
Aegon looked up and indeed, the middle of the ceiling was heavily sagging as if it could collapse at any moment. He gave up the idea of going in to carefully examine the chemical instruments and equipment and quickly exited the room.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to remind the other party one last time: "Sage Dark, please remember what I said, come find me when you have time."
***
"What exactly do you want that man to come find you for?" Outside the main door, Tyrion couldn't help but ask curiously: "That guy isn't a genuinely experienced Pyromancer at all, he's probably just a skilled assistant. The quality of the Wildfire he makes is quite questionable."
"I don't want Wildfire, I want his knowledge and skills in using the equipment in that room." Aegon climbed onto his horse and looked back at the dilapidated but still standing Alchemists' Guild Hall. "You know, in my homeland, there is a solid substance very similar to Wildfire, but more stable and with greater explosive power, called gunpowder."
"More stable, greater power, and solid?" Tyrion narrowed his eyes. He knew no martial arts, and his understanding of war came entirely from books, but this didn't prevent him from quickly forming an impression of what Aegon described: "This will completely change the mode of warfare and the face of the world!"
"Exactly." Aegon showed a meaningful smile.
"You know how to make 'gunpowder'?" Tyrion's pupils widened.
"I sort of know, and sort of don't, so I need to find someone to help me make it." Aegon put away his smile and kicked his horse with his heel. "As for you, why are you so familiar with the transaction of buying Wildfire?"
"Oh, that. There's a warrior from Myr in our good King's court who does juggling, named Thoros. He likes to use a burning flame sword to scare his opponents' men or horses, thereby winning duels... One time I invited him for a drink and asked him how he did it, and he told me he bought Wildfire here and coated his sword with it to create that flame sword thing."
"So that's how it is." Aegon had previously thought that the burning flame swords in the TV series were truly the red god R'hllor manifesting his power, but it turned out to be this. "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's go back. We'll be busy for a while now, so we need to cherish every moment of rest."
"Alright, let's go."
***
[A/N]: Marx said in his *Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts*: "gunpowder, the compass, and printing—these were three great inventions that heralded the advent of bourgeois society. gunpowder blew the knight to pieces, the compass opened up the world market and established colonies, and printing became an instrument of Protestantism, a means of scientific revival, and the most powerful lever for creating the necessary premise for spiritual development."
Now, things are getting more and more interesting.
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