The last mission made them near the Forbidden Zone.

  There, they indeed ran into a bandit gang. The bandits had planned to sneak up quietly but stopped as soon as they saw the Silver Fox Hunter Group’s logo.

  For some reason, they backed down.

  Maybe they weren't strong enough to pick a fight.

  Heading into that area might actually be a viable option.

  Judging by how scared they looked, if talks fail, they could still handle them in a fight.

  “Going into the Forbidden Zone is fine, but you need to give us a solid reason!” Theodore says, clearly puzzled.

  “I want to invest more in Aaron! Fifty batches of herbs just won’t cut it! We have to occupy

  more territory, grab more resources to supply him. And I have a gut feeling that Aaron will surprise us even more soon.”

  Landon looks like a gambler, wild-eyed and determined.

  Everyone falls silent.

  But their eyes can’t help but drift toward the safe in the corner.

  Inside are ten potions—the “miraculous” potions.

  “Let’s do it! Let’s back Aaron!”

  “Yeah! No holding back. When Young Master becomes a pharmacist, I’m shamelessly asking him for a few force potions!”

  “Expanding our territory means taking on bandits!”

  The title “Young Master” is once again pinned on Aaron by the hunter group.

  “Alright! It’s settled then. Everyone, get ready!” Landon approves with a satisfied nod.

  One by one, the members leave.

  Suddenly, Landon feels a sharp pain in his cheek. Rubbing it, as if something just occurred to him, he calls out, “Hey Theodore, wait up. I need to talk to you about something.”

  Hearing this, Theodore quickens his pace even more.

  ……

  Aaron leaves the Silver Fox Hunter Group’s base as night falls.

  The streets are nearly empty.

  The Silver Fox Hunter Group’s headquarters sits on the outskirts of the City-in-City district. In fact, most hunter groups set up their bases along the city’s edges.

  The reason is simple: it’s cheaper.

  Lately, Aaron spends his days brewing Calm Potions and his nights using their power to cram the basic formulas of potion-making.

  He figures that in about half a month, he’ll have the foundational formulas completely mastered.

  Thinking this, Aaron feels pretty good and his steps grow lighter.

  Not far ahead, four or five burly force adepts carrying firearms approach him. Their eyes meet briefly.

  The leader sports a crew cut.

  Aaron glances casually and finds that guy’s face oddly familiar.

  Or rather, the shape of his face seems like he’s seen it somewhere before.

  This thought flashes through Aaron’s mind for just two seconds.

  Then a name suddenly clicks: Sam.

  This guy looks a lot like Sam.

  Aaron stops in his tracks, a cold shiver running straight up his spine.

  This man might be connected to Sam somehow.

  Their eyes lock for a moment, and Aaron quickly looks away.

  A flicker of regret crosses his face.

  “How did I forget my phone?”

  He slaps his forehead and mutters to himself.

  Then he spins around and speeds off, as if in a hurry to go back and get something.

  This little disguise trick doesn’t escape the sharp eyes of Vorry, a veteran hunter, in another fortress city.

  “Aaron, don’t move. If you make a sound or try to run, I’ll kill you right here,” Vorry says with a half-smile, watching Aaron’s back. “I’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re smart and skilled with poisons. But I advise you—don’t play dumb or try any tricks. Just come with me quietly.”

  Aaron feels like a thousand needles prick his back.

  “Coming with you is just a death sentence, isn’t it?”

  He stands still, his tone cold.

  They’re only a few meters apart. Even if Aaron runs tens of meters away, he can be easily taken down.

  Besides, there’s no one around. No one would come to his rescue no matter how loud he screams.

  “Not necessarily. An S-grade pharmacist is quite valuable. I might just spare your life.”

  Vorry slings an arm over Aaron’s shoulder.

  Aaron stiffens.

  Leaning close to his ear, Vorry grins cruelly, “Don’t be afraid. Though I’d love to kill you right now to avenge my brother, you should be thankful your reputation as a pharmacist genius saves you for now. From here on, you follow me without making a sound. Don’t let anyone notice anything unusual, or I might not be able to hold back from killing you immediately.”

  Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

  “Fine.”

  Aaron spits one word out coldly.

  Surrounded by a few men, Aaron follows Vorry along a shaded path to the Black Mamba bar.

  The front door of Black Mamba is inside the City-in-City district, while the back door connects to Bert City.

  Vorry leads Aaron out the back door.

  Outside, two black business cars are waiting.

  Vorry roughly yanks open a car door and shoves Aaron inside.

  Aaron quietly thinks in his mind.

  This kidnapping is clearly premeditated.

  They make the moves in a place with few people around.

  The route they take is all through secluded paths, deliberately avoiding surveillance cameras.

  Passing by the Black Mamba bar, he even faintly hears the bar’s power cut.

  Everything is planned down to the last detail. Even the blackout at the bar is probably their doing.

  But the key question is, how do they know his whereabouts?

  He usually stays holed up in the brewing room, almost never going anywhere else.

  How did they time it so perfectly, waiting on this very road just as he leaves the Silver Fox Hunter Group?

  Aaron’s eyes narrow into slits.

  Alex.

  It has to be him.

  When Aaron left the brewing room, Alex peeked out his head.

  His gaze lingered on Aaron’s backpack.

  Only Alex knows Aaron comes to the Silver Fox Hunter Group to deliver potions.

  A flicker of regret flashes through Aaron’s mind.

  He became soft-hearted

  He should have eliminated the threat the moment Alex showed hostility.

  The recent comfortable life has made him let his guard down.

  As Aaron is lost in thought, a hand suddenly hits the back of his neck.

  His vision blacks out, and he falls unconscious.

  Inside the business van, after Aaron loses consciousness, Vorry’s men tape his mouth shut, put a hood over his head, and tie him up tightly.

  “Boss, this guy’s master is the Hall Master of the Potion Hall. Bringing him along like this is risky.”

  “Yeah, we might as well just kill him and get out of town. Our base isn’t in Bert City, so we don’t have to worry about his master.”

  “I agree. Killing him and running is safer.”

  A greedy gleam flashes in Vorry’s eyes. “Killing him now only satisfies our anger. We won’t gain anything. Better to sell him for a good price.”

  “Boss, what’s the plan?”

  “Don’t rush. Lock him up for a while. I’m contacting buyers.”

  “Alright. Are we hiding out in the wilderness or within the city?”

  “Within the city is fine. I won’t drag this out long. If we can’t reach buyers in two days, we kill him and leave.” Vorry thinks for a moment.

  “That works.”

  Bert City is huge. Avoiding detection for two days won’t be hard.

  ......

  The next morning.

  Landon stands before Master Scott, sweat pouring down his face, lips pale.

  At this moment, the man in front of him is no longer the learned, revered potion master.

  He’s a volcano ready to erupt at any second.

  Master Scott’s dark eyes are filled with cold fury.

  In the morning, Aaron hadn’t shown up at the Potion Hall. Bruce tried calling him but couldn’t get through.

  When Bruce went to Aaron’s home and found it empty, panic set in completely.

  Because of their frail constitution, pharmacists usually keep their activity range small.

  Even when they go elsewhere, they bring along a few force adepts as bodyguards.

  Like the Silver Fox Hunter Group, when they take missions out in the wilderness, they still leave some strong force adepts in the Hunter Union.

  This is to ensure that if Aaron leaves the City-in-City, someone can protect him.

  Now that Aaron’s nowhere to be found in the entire City-in-City, there’s an eighty percent chance he’s been kidnapped.

  Bruce, anxious, says, “Landon, Aaron disappeared after leaving your hunter group. Do you have any leads?”

  “Master Scott, Bruce, as soon as I heard, I checked all the surveillance along the route. Aaron vanished in a spot without cameras. I’ve already sent everyone in the hunter group out to search.”

  Master Scott interrupts, “Bruce, issue a mission through the Hunter Union to find Aaron. Thirty thousand gold coins for finding him, five thousand gold coins for useful information.”

  “Yes, Master!”

  Bruce rushes out to make the calls.

  Soon, the flustered Kaviz bursts in and shouts, “What happened to Aaron?”

  Last night, news that the Silver Fox Hunter Group sold semi-finished Calm Potion stirred up a huge storm in the Hunter Union.

  Aaron managed to brew a Level 1 semi-finished potion in less than a month.

  It’s yet another proof of his talent.

  This makes Kaviz even more regretful.

  Such a gem, slipping through their fingers.

  Before he can try to “poach” Aaron again in secret, he hears the news this morning that Aaron is missing and the Silver Fox Hunter Group is desperately searching.

  “Come on, say something! I’m dying of anxiety here!” Kaviz glares at Master Scott, who remains silent with a dark expression, then turns his gaze to Landon. “Tell me, what exactly happened to Aaron?”

  “Hall Master Kaviz, Aaron is most likely missing. Based on the information we have, this looks like a planned kidnapping. He vanished in a blind spot without surveillance, so there’s a very high chance it was the work of the outcasts.”

  The Empire has been at war with the Church for thousands of years.

  Within the Empire, the political system is highly centralized.

  The royal family and the consortium control nearly all resources, and the path to advancement is extremely narrow.

  Ordinary force adepts must pledge loyalty to them to gain access to resources.

  Because of this, some force adepts with questionable motives or who are impatient to rise quickly defect to the Church and become their “soldiers”.

  Within the Empire, they wreak havoc and are known as outcasts.

  One of their main missions is kidnapping the Empire’s geniuses.

  They then trade these captives for substantial resources from the Church.

  “Those damned outcasts! When I catch them, I’ll tear them to pieces!” Kaviz fumes upon hearing Aaron was taken by outcasts, his eyes blazing with anger. “Alert the garrison troops, lock down the city gates, and thoroughly check all exit records from the past two days!”

  “Master Scott has already sent these orders,” Landon wipes the sweat off his brow and replies quickly.

  Both Hall Masters wear grim expressions as they look at him.

  Though Landon feels frustrated, when a pharmacist signs a cooperation agreement with a hunter group, that group implicitly takes on the responsibility of protection.

  From this perspective, he is indeed at fault.

  Kaviz doesn’t linger and rushes off to mobilize groups to find Aaron.

  Truth be told, he really likes Aaron. Or rather, he truly admires Aaron’s talent.

  For a pharmacist of his age, nothing is more appealing than personally nurturing a top-tier potion master.

  With the two Potion Hall Masters stepping up, the entire Hunter Union springs into action.

  Spurred by the generous rewards, numerous hunter groups head into the wilderness to track down the outcasts.

  This search reaches its peak when the “Divine Judgment Hall,” a specialized faction within the Hunter Union made up of seasoned, powerful hunters dedicated to combating outcasts, joins the effort.

  The whole of Bert City stands on the brink of a storm.

  ……

  Afternoon.

  In a dim yet lavish room, thick curtains block out the sunlight.

  Scattered across an expensive white bear fur carpet lie a pile of women’s clothes.

  On a massive feather bed, a young man, embraced by several “pearl-like” arms, is jolted awake by the sharp ringing of a phone.

  Heavy dark circles shadow his eyes, which haven’t fully opened yet. Acting on instinct, his hand reaches toward the source of the ringing.

  The ringing comes from beside a woman with skin as smooth as porcelain. His hand gropes over her body, searching for the phone.

  The woman lets out a soft, weak moan.

  Growing impatient at not finding the phone quickly, the young man sits up abruptly and roughly pushes several scantily clad, shapely young women with delicate features off the bed.

  The women wake up, exchange nervous glances at his irritation, quietly gather their clothes from the carpet, dress them, and slip out of the room without a sound.

  The young man answers the call. After listening, a playful smile spreads across his face. “Kaviz wants me to help find someone? Why? The Hunter Union has always looked down on our Rhine Consortium, haven’t they? And now they come crawling to me?”

  “Are you sure we won’t help? As far as I know, it’s not just Kaviz. The missing potion apprentice is also Master Scott’s disciple. Together, those two hold significant influence in Bert City.”

  The man on the other end speaks cautiously.

  “Bert City? Just a Level 4 city fortress. Kaviz and that so-called Master Scott are nothing outside Bert City. Why should I care?” The young man sneers.

  “Alright, I’ll give them our reply then.”

  “And don’t disturb my sleep with these trivial matters again. You'll lose your salary for this month! That’s all.” He hangs up, pulls the blanket over himself, and tries to sleep.

  No sooner does he drift off than the phone rings again.

  Having stayed up all night yesterday, the young man snaps, grabbing the phone and yelling, “Didn’t I tell you not to disturb my sleep? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

  On the other end, there’s a long silence.

  After a moment, a cold voice says, “Say that again.”