I stood up walking towards the many plants and harvested matured herbs for my experiments. I have perfected three recipes for pills four potions.
Pills include the body strengthening pill, it allows weak people to be strong enough to hold more mana in their imperfect bodies. Mana heart development pill, this is perhaps the most valuable pill in all these recipes I'm the book and by sheer luck I have all the ingredients in the fields of my space.
According to legends, wolf clan used to have the ability to retain mana and cast spells just like the blood clan but they couldn't develop this skill on their own like the blood clan kin.
They needed to develop a mana heart which is something that allows both humans and blood kin to perform spells effortlessly even before the actual heart is developed.
When I broke through the second level all the color in my mana essence drained away moving towards my heart. This is to slowly develop the mana heart depending on talent.
Wolf kin are un able to shed the color of their mana essence and steadily develop a mana herat. This pill was their treasure but it was lost over the centuries because of the never ending wars between the two clans.
I am now sitting on their fuck'n handle right now. But most importantly I can use this pill to develop powerhouses in my base. Because this will allow the soldiers to condense mana essence easily and use their supernatural abilities with ease.
A person may take 30 to 40 years to have a fully developed mana heart but with the help of the pill they will only take about 2 to 5 years depending on their talent and other resources they use.
Most importantly they will be able to perform five times the mouth of power they were capable of in the past.
I leave the pot boiling with more ingredients and pop one mana heart pill into my mouth. Sitting down, I can feel mana rushing into my body from all directions.
The feeling is surprisingly mana times like the time I had a breakthrough. I used the scroll incantation to guide it gently through my channels.
With a thought, my golems took care of the boiling ingredients and I imensed myself into sweet feeling of consecutive breakthroughs.
Time passed just like this and when I opened my eyes I saw a different world in front of me. I have built up to level four and my power is more than 7 times what it was before.
I have condensed more than 150 essence drops and they all shed color sending it all to my heart. Although I can not build a mana heart in a week, it will reduce the duration by decades.
As I stood up I felt my body creak and muscles strain. It seems I have been in the same position for a very long time.
I took a step and the earth formed cracks under my foot. Thus, I am forced to deal with the consequences of breaking through non stop. The body is not used to the sudden increase in Stat therefore a slight touch feom me may in fact harm someone.
The scroll said it is one of the very few methods of drawing mana that targets the body as well as the mana palace. It truly didn't deceive me. The more I grow the more powerful I become.
This is why I was eager to make a body strengthening pill to see how much stronger I will get and also give it to the human army because not everyone has am ancient secret scroll which enhances their body as well as their mana essence.
The next pill I created is a strong pain killer. No more eating leaves like a mountain man.
The next one is the pill to allow a couple to ve able to conceive upon engaging in the intimate act.
The last pill is the one people use to encourage a breakthrough to the next level. If you eat it while in peak or closer to the peak, it will be easier to gather mana and have a successful breakthrough.
Then there are potions. One for scar removal, a solution to a mass base attack. When it is put in a water balloon and thrown on to the enemy it will explode and then the one splashed with it contents will also explode and the ones slashed with that blood will also explode.
It is a way to deal with a large scale attack. There is a way to be immune to the fast action virus and I made the antidote as soon as I successfully made the solution.
The next one is a powder that can dissolve corpse and blood into dust. This will undoubtedly make others nervous.
Then I also made a solution to dissolve waste and filth. This will come in handy at the city's conservative tanks.
Walking out of my suite, I made my way to the large dumpster and sprinkled the powder to remove filth. When I turned my back to leave, the place is clean and empty.
"April." I call out and my phone vibrates.
"You're back." The round ball said floating in the screen.
"Anything interesting happened while I was gone?"
"A Huo Jun got shot and was treated in outer hospital. It has been a month since his full recovery and subsequent discharge." April dutifully reported.
"Who shot him?" I asked feeling the chest almost leaping out of my chest. Did I care this much for him? My blood just turned cold after hearing that he was shot. Ho I have deep feelings for Jun Jun?
"In their discussions I heard him say he was the spart the lit the fires of war." That surprised me. Humans and the blood kin are hiding to war so early this time?
"Sigh, what else?"
"The base population is now 48 thousand. 21 are soldiers, 5 thousand a mixture of the public facilities employees. Others are businessmen who have rented space to do business inside the base."
Others are normal civilians distributed across the base facilities. How long was I away?"
"Four months."
"I see. No wonder so many people found their way here after all this time it makes sense. Did many of these people come from the central base?" I asked.
"I no way of knowing that but manyhad rushed over from all the nearby cities according to their scattered discussions. The central base was not in a good condition when the terrible storm finally stopped and had to rebuild."
"Meanwhile we were busy constructing the factories for food processing hiring workers everyday. With a stable place to stay and a way to earn a living, news quickly spread and many super powers from there migrated."
We have instructors now and a written training plan I copied from the best military team in the world.
"Many quit half way and moved out of the luxurious flats but the gems with stable temperament stayed and have been receiving their payment and a the perks of being an enlisted soldier as per your instructions."
"How is your pharmacy doing?" I had opened a pharmacy for the medication to be sold there. Soon I will find a way to replace these medications so it is better if I sell them while people still rely on them.
"It is doing as well as expected. After all your stock is plentiful so you have to be patient."
"How are the three research teams?" After coming back from central base I opened a medical lab for research with my good buddy Sam in charge.
Then I opened another one which will focus on technology development. In the novel, there are a few noticeable people who will revolutionize the technology.
Influx of mana in the air will disrupt the distribution of natural gasses in the air making even electricity hard to conduct but if there is mana somewhere in the development the process will be smooth.
This is why the electricity station in Toy city work well because initially it was transformed from a toy.
"They found a way to use mana stone, ghoul stones and blood crystals to generate electricity. The central base even invented a card system to recharge electricity during these few days. So I took liberty to copy it and it is already operational here in Toy city."
"You did a good job April." I smiled. We agreed if something good happened in the other bases we would be the first to copy it. So I injected her into there system like a virus that is always on sleeper mode.
It all started when they invented a way to check the people coming in ofbthe virus and I realized they are a behemoth in the novel and many new things will pop up one after another.
Soon they will create a wrist band with sophisticated technology and reestablish communication again but this only happens after the great war. I recalled a few features of the wrist watch and let April develop it.
But she only managed to keep the signal going inside Toy city. But this is only temporary.
"I should visit Huo Jun and see if he is really recovered." I took a car and drove to the central base.
The walls look ghastly with dried blood and scars from the storm but there are signs of recovery here and there. When I found Huo Jun I am surprised to find him embracing the Rina woman from before. I turned around about to leave when Huo Chen spotted me and called out.
"Mikel?" He stood up and walked towards me. I stiffened and turned around with an ugly expression.
"Huo Chen. I was in the neighborhood and thought 'hey didn't they say that guy got shot?' So I came to take a look but who would have thought I would be fed dog food as soon as I come up?"
"Come in I really like the green hat on your head." The younger Huo brother seem to be enjoying himself.
"Chen!" Huo Jun is uncomfortable and when he turned to me his expression is flat without and emotion. "As you can see, I am with her now so there can never be anything between us."
"You won't believe what happened between these two. One drunken night and she couldn't walk for two weeks, even fell pregnant." Huo Chen said laughing at me.
I couldn't hold back anymore and started laughing. The genuine amusement in my laugh took all of them by surprise. "Hahahaha.. I can't be mad anymore even if I want to." I turned and walked out the door with my shoulders still shaking with laughter.
"I was hoping for tears or even an outburst, how disappointing." I heard Huo Chen's voice behind me. I didn't turn around but walked around the bustling market. Many have laid down cloths to put their mechanize on. There is all sort of things. From furniture to sneakers. People are selling everything.
"What, you broke up with my brother and suddenly I'm dead to you?" Chen pulled my arm but as if having eyes at the back of my head, I dodged his stretched out hand nimbly.
"Mikel." He said in a low voice sounding hurt. I turn to look at him and smiled.
"You didn't scheme against your brother did you little Chen?" I asked him with a smirk. My height is now several inches taller than him. from where I'm standing he looks petite. I can't believe I used to be that short.
I have really changed since then.
"I..." He didn't seem to be able to deny it. I laughed and shook my head.
"What exactly is it you hope to achieve?" I ask. This boy is crazy if he thinks just this will make me sleep with him.
"Why did you get together with him in the first place?" The expression has turned completely ugly at this point.
"It just happened."
"I was still sorting out my feelings for you when you suddenly fell under my brother. I couldn't even show any discomfort at the time. He has a fiancée yet he still flirts around." He sneered but I caught a glimpse of something in those large black eyes, something painfully familiar.
I took a step back internally horrified as my heart turned cold. Did I accidentally transfer my fate to someone else? Was this young man supposed to die and my interference turned him like this or was he always such an intense person?
"Sigh, it's all in the past now. Can you have drinks with me?" He asked with sparkling eyes.
"No. Even if I want to move on from your brother it can never be you I move on to." I shattered his fantasy in one statement. But Huo Chen just smiled and his face seemed to go back to the time he pulled the corner of my top looking wronged.
"I met you first. Even if what you had with my brother was nice but I have liked you longer." He is looking at me with that unrestrained wild look from when I first met him.
"In any case you are a boss of a base now, I bet you don't have many people to grab a drink with. Me and Bai Ming have always wanted to meet and have casual drinks as friends. Look she's here." He pointed at the girl walking our direction next to her twin sister April.
Bai Ming opened her arms and gave me a tight hug. "You are very scarce man." Jules said coming this way walking with Seth and Rylie.
Seth is the boy I smacked on the soup bowl with making him almost lose his eye. Rylie is the girl with a shaved head and black lipstick who had asked how did I manage to sleep with Huo Jun.
"You're all still alive." I said smiling.
"How can we die? You gave us fancy weapons and bulletproof suits." Rylie said with her eyes shining when looking at me.
"Yeah, we also heard about the medicine sold in your base. The one about regrowing flesh and healing pills that can heal serious injuries. We even went to the pharmacy and we're shocked silly by the prices there." Seth said looking at me up and down.
I look at him then my eyes sparkled "I remember you, how is your face? All recovered? It must be otherwise what would give you the confidence to look at me like this?" I took a step towards him but Rylie and the other's stopped me.
"Not here to fight but we are here to celebrate your break up with free drinks at my bar tonight." April said to deescalate he situation.
"Yeah. April and Mikel go way back." Bai Ming smiled looking at me. Whe still remembers that I had saidbI know April. This girl probably has some crazy thoughts about bringing lovers together.
"Former boss." I say calmly to April who seemed to have not met me before. Of course she doesn't remember me, I worked in her night club but that is not enough to get attention from her.
In the last life she approached me as if she had never met me before. Of course I didn't hold it against her. How can she know all the employees in her company by head?
"I'm April. I hope I was a good boss. Which night club did you work in?"
"Draws drop." I say without flinching. April is momentarily stunned. She didn't say much and just nodded shyly. That place is equivalent to a strip club. It was very shady and she ran it with an iron fist. Why else would she think to continue with running such a place?
There is an awkward silence in the air as everyone wishes for it to pass.
"I have a better Idea, Why don't we all to to one of my cassinos in Toy city?" I asked them and their eyes widened in delight.
"Come on, let's go help me get over a break up!"
"Haha.."
"Yeah!"
"Sure thing."
...