"Use this to dispose of the bodies," Michael retrieved the highly flammable liquid he had bought from the system and handed it over to Gaya.
"And don't forget to check their space rings. Don't call Jack this time," he added, then turned his gaze toward the terrified elders and Claire.
"Sect Leader Claire, Elders, who needs those heart-healing pills?"
A sudden sadness welled up in Claire's eyes when he asked. She then sighed.
"Follow us."
With Claire leading the way, they arrived at a house adjacent to the building where they had met Hart. A group of girls and boys in orange uniforms bowed to them as they entered. Inside the house, Michael was led to a room that appeared clean and well-organized. He immediately noticed a strong medicinal smell.
Surprisingly, in the middle of the room, Elder Sandra lay in bed, unconscious and very pale. Michael could immediately sense that this was not an injury but a terminal illness, something like cancer. However, unlike on Earth, he had the ability to concoct pills to cure Elder Sandra.
"How long has she been like this? The last time I saw her, she was fine."
He sat beside Elder Sandra on the bed and examined her condition.
"She has been like this for the last three years. She only gets better when she takes a healing pill, but lately, the healing pills have stopped working. That's why we wanted to give her the heart healing pills." Claire's explanation made sense, as the heart healing pills were much more effective in treating terminal illnesses like this than regular healing pills.
"Although you were right to give her healing pills, they only kept the illness from spreading throughout her body. They didn't cure her. Sect Leader Claire, you should have used the heart healing pills from the beginning. Then the illness would have been gone by now.
"We can still cure her, right?" Claire didn't act like a sect leader at that moment; she seemed like a helpless, weak girl who was concerned about a mother figure like Sandra.
"We can't cure her with Heart Healing Pills; it's too late. But we can slow down the illness."
"No, it can't be." Tears welled up in Claire's eyes as the elders looked worried and shocked.
"Sect Leader Claire, don't cry. I said we can't cure her using the Heart Healing Pills, but we can use a potion to completely cure Elder Sandra."
"Really?!" She quickly dried her eyes and asked with delight.
"Yes, I can brew the potion, no problem at all. But it's hard to get the required herbs and ingredients. Let's wait for my friend; she will know where we can buy them and what the prices are."
"Are you talking about me?" Gaya made a timely entrance to the scene and halted her steps when she saw Elder Sandra's pale body.
"She doesn't look good. What happened to her?"
"Black Bite." This was the terminology they used in this world for cancer, and when she heard the name, her brows went up.
"Now, before you say something, tell me where we can buy these and how much it would cost us." Michael quickly wrote down everything he needed to brew the potion that could cure Elder Sandra.
"I've never heard of a pill or a potion that could cure Black Bite." Gaya shrugged as the elders and Claire looked at Michael.
"That's because no one knows about this potion except me."
"And what potion is that?" asked Gaya.
"Dew of Angel Lotus, DAL for short." None of them had heard of such a potion before, including Gaya. So they could neither deny nor confirm the existence of such a potion.
"Petals of a green rose, the tooth of a wyvern, Siren's blood, virgin dew..." The more she read the items on the list, the more shocked she became. Even though the Elders and Claire hadn't heard of some of the items on the list, they could tell from Gaya's reaction how difficult it would be to obtain them.
"I know places where we can buy these items, but it won't be cheap. You'll need a small fortune to buy all these."
Claire's eyes immediately lit up when she heard that Gaya knew where to find the items, but they darkened shortly afterward when she heard the last part.
"How... how much?" Elder Mark slowly asked, sounding almost afraid to pose the question.
"Somewhere between four hundred to five hundred thousand gold coins." Gaya's statement left everyone stunned. Claire's facial expression turned pale, and her entire body trembled.
"Oh my god, I'm going to faint." Elder Reiner staggered aside and clung to the wall to keep from falling.
"How are we going to get that much?"
"Ghost, please save her." After a few moments of gawking at each other, Claire swallowed her hesitation and begged Michael. She clutched his hands as tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Sect Leader Claire!" This sudden action stunned him.
"I will brew the potion for Elder Sandra, but I don't have half a million gold coins." He immediately stood up, no longer sitting beside Elder Sandra.
Claire still didn't release his hands, and the Elders gathered closer to him, surrounding him.
"Sect Leader Claire, we can't expect him to have five hundred thousand gold coins on him. Even if he did, we can't ask him to give it to us."
"We can plead for a loan from King Bredia."
"Also, if we sell the rest of our lands, we may be able to get another sixty thousand gold coins."
Each Elder voiced their thoughts, all of them expressing their strong desire to save Elder Sandra, no matter the cost. This demonstrated to Michael the strong bond they shared. However, he didn't possess half a million gold coins to purchase the required items, and even if he did, Michael wasn't inclined to empty his purse for them. Saving the survivors of the Rosewood village had been a different matter, as he had only needed to buy some upgrades that would benefit him in the long run.
He may have helped if he had hundreds of millions of gold coins, but at the moment, he only had seventy-five thousand gold coins. Furthermore, five hundred thousand gold coins were equivalent to 2500 badass points, which he considered more valuable than the survival of Elder Sandra.
[Ding! BASE OF OPERATIONS FEATURE UNLOCKED!!]
"What's this?" Michael heard a bell-like ding sound in his mind and was instantly taken to the System's interface. A new window, one he had never seen before, appeared before him.
[The host can now designate the Sunrise sect as his Base of Operation!!]
[Does the host want the Sunrise sect to become his Base of Operation?]
"Wait, what is this Base of Operations feature? Explain yourself, System, before you ask me to do anything."
[The Base of Operations is a feature similar to the Subordinate feature. The Host can acquire an entire organization as his Base of Operation.]
"What's in it for me? Even though Gaya wasn't a jackpot, she has proven her worth by providing valuable intel, and she's also keeping me entertained. What can a struggling place like the Sunrise sect offer me? I've already done them a huge favor by joining them."
[When the Status and Legend of the base of operation increase, the host will receive badass points.]
His initial objection to making the Sunrise sect his base of operation slightly wavered after hearing the system's explanation.
"Hmm, like I received experience points for Gaya's killings?"
[Any actions, such as killings, performed by Subordinates can only give the host experience points, not badass points. The Base of Operation can provide the host with both Experience and Badass points, though.]
[The higher the level of the Base of Operation, the more points will be awarded to the host!]
"How many points are we talking about?"
[That depends on the level of the Base of Operations!]
He felt a tinge of irritation in the system's robotic voice, but he pressed on.
[The lowest level of the Base of Operations can provide the host with 50 Badass points and 500 Experience points every week.]
"What about the highest level?"
[...]
There was no response from the system to his last question as he began to contemplate making the Sunrise sect his Base of Operations.
"Tell me, can I have more than one base of operations?"
[Yes.]
"System, why now? I mean, I've been here for three days, and you've never mentioned making the Sunrise sect my Base of Operations before."
[Three main requirements need to be met for an organization to become the host's Base of Operations.]
[1. The Organization's survival must depend on the host.]
[2. Every member of the Organization must be weaker than the host.]
[3. The Leader of the Organization must have at least 60% loyalty to the host.]
"It seems my killing of Hart left a mark in the young maiden's heart. Hehe, so easy."