"Oh? That fast?"
Professor West was a little surprised. He opened the potion box, took a sagacity potion from the potion rack, shook it to check the liquid's sedimentation, then opened the cap and sniffed the scent.
"The quality is very good, it doesn't seem like something a novice would make. Strowell, has your Alchemy level reached advanced?" Professor West asked.
Zhou Ning thought about it and felt there was no need to hide it. In fact, if he wasn't afraid of continuously advancing within a few days being too outrageous and startling Professor West, Zhou Ning would have even told him that his Alchemy had already reached expert level.
He nodded readily: "Yes, I reached advanced two days ago."
"Very good, it seems I underestimated your talent." A rare smile appeared on Professor West's usually stern face. After counting the number of potions, he painstakingly took out a roll of banknotes from his overcoat pocket, placed them on the table, and pushed them towards Zhou Ning. "I didn't bring enough money, only 222 vikta and 3 currency. Is that okay?"
Zhou Ning:????
Are you a devil? At 15 currency per bottle, 150 bottles should be 225 vikta, but it's short by 27 currency!
However, Zhou Ning decided not to argue with him, because Professor West was just that stingy, always careful with money. He twitched his lips and said, "It's fine."
Professor West chuckled, "I didn't misjudge you, you are indeed a gentleman. By the way, I'd like to know what your faith is?"
Zhou Ning's mind raced. According to his memories, the original body believed in the Sun Goddess. In the game world, faith was a very serious matter, and there was no need to be inconsistent.
"I believe in the Sun Goddess," Zhou Ning said.
Professor West nodded slightly and said, "Then I suggest you go to the Alchemist Association as soon as possible to certify your Alchemist qualifications and take on as many commissions as possible. You must prepare early for being a Master Alchemist."
"Okay." Zhou Ning nodded. He understood Professor West's meaning very well. In fact, he also had plans to do so. The Alchemist Association in "Apocalypse World" was an ancient organization founded by Louisa, one of the Four Heroes, the High Priest. Its influence spread throughout the entire Apocalypse World. The guild headquarters was located in St. Ronald, the capital of Ruins, and it also had a branch in Daklan. It could provide various services to Alchemists, including purchasing herbs, finished products, and various rare formulas.
Of course, the prerequisite for obtaining these services was sufficient reputation. This would not be too difficult for Zhou Ning, as he had a good relationship with the Vester Family, who controlled the Daklan Alchemist Association.
After bidding farewell to Professor West, Zhou Ning returned to his apartment, changed into a white shirt with a black vest, and put on a light trench coat before leaving Vik University.
He arrived at a nearby car rental shop—just like car rental companies in his previous life, this place not only offered carriage rental services but also sedan chair rentals, charged daily, which was very expensive.
Speaking of carriage rental, Zhou Ning had heard a story in the game in his previous life, but he didn't know if it was true. Twenty years ago, an Alchemist named Charles Hobson invented a taxi meter for carriages. It operated with an Alchemy array and could precisely calculate fares based on the passenger's travel time, which was very convenient. However, the rental shop owners didn't like their commissions being determined by a machine, so they conspired to murder Charles Hobson. After getting him drunk, they threw him into the Seton River and drowned him alive.
He didn't know if the story was true, but the price of renting a carriage was indeed expensive. A light two-wheeled carriage cost 20 currency for a day's rental, which was equivalent to about 400 yuan.
After spending 20 currency to rent a carriage, Zhou Ning rode towards the Canal District. It must be said that Daklan was truly vast. He hadn't realized it in the game, but based on his experience over nearly half a month since transmigrating, although some areas were subject to changeable Weather and sparsely populated, the traversable areas alone were roughly equivalent to twice the size of Chengdu.
Zhou Ning sat in the carriage, looking out the window, examining the houses along the roadside one after another.
The buildings around the canal were mostly shops. After spending about two hours circling the area, the carriage turned and headed towards the Seton River area.
Compared to the Canal District, which was closer to the commoner areas, the Seton River area could be considered the center of Daklan. The famous Four Heroes statues stood there, and Witsel Church Square, where the king's assassination occurred, was also nearby.
It wasn't until close to evening that Zhou Ning's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a somewhat dilapidated two-story building. The roof of the small building was blue, a very typical Blystone middle-class style, and it had a small garden downstairs.
"This should be it!" Zhou Ning's spirits lifted.
After quickly logging into the forum and comparing it with the pinned video post, Zhou Ning was even more certain. The location, layout, and house style were completely identical.
However, Zhou Ning didn't stop the carriage immediately. Instead, he let the coachman continue driving until they reached the end of the road and the building was no longer visible. Only then did Zhou Ning call out to the coachman and ask him to stop the carriage.
"Thank you, today's hire ends here," Zhou Ning said with a smile.
It was raining. After watching the carriage leave, Zhou Ning rented an umbrella from a nearby shop, opened it, and unhurriedly walked towards the target building.
Up close, the house was far more dilapidated than he had imagined. The garden had not been tended to for a long time, and the house was extremely quiet, with no sound coming from within.
Rope Avenue, Number 135. Zhou Ning memorized the house number.
There was a hotel not far away. After checking into a room under a false name, Zhou Ning observed the situation across the street from the window.
It wasn't until night fell that Zhou Ning slowly walked out of the hotel, circled to the side shadow of the small building, and looked up at the second floor.
The front door was tightly shut, the second floor was pitch black, and the windows were also closed, as if no one was inside. But he didn't linger, choosing to leave the small building without hesitation.
His first thought was to report it to the Sun Keepers. Why keep it a secret? But then he reconsidered and decided to go in and check the situation first. With Phoenix One and the [damian's ordinary mirror], he should be able to come and go freely.
He locked the door, selected Phoenix One in his inventory, and chose to equip it.
In an instant, a golden-red battle suit was already on him. After checking his equipment, he took out the unknown wondrous item [damian's ordinary mirror] from his inventory and chose to enter the Mirror World.
After entering the Mirror World again, Zhou Ning walked along the long corridor towards the distance. Rope Avenue, Number 135, was not far from here. The Mirror World and the real world had opposite orientations, so it wasn't difficult to find if he just found the right direction.
Zhou Ning walked straight along the corridor. Perhaps because of its location in the city center, countless mirrors appeared suspended in mid-air over a short distance. Through the mirrors, he could see various different scenes from reality, like fleeting glimpses, giving Zhou Ning a feeling of peeking into reality through the cracks of time and space.
After walking for a full five minutes, Zhou Ning finally reached his destination. A mirror hung silently there.