After returning to the Main Institute, Andre immediately rented a shop in the marketplace to serve as his base of operations.
’Next, I’ll use this shop to collect as many supplies as possible for the expedition over these next two years.’
’The worlds we’re expeditioning to will definitely have Extraordinary Power.’
’But the races, creatures, and Magic Plants there will need to be carefully identified before they can be used.’
’Rather than waste time on that, it’s better to gather everything directly from the Main Institute. Compared to an Otherworld, the Main Institute has a much greater variety of goods.’
Having made up his mind, Andre opened a potion shop in the marketplace the very next day.
Andre was the only one in the shop. Shelves lined both walls, filled with a wide variety of potions.
At first, Andre’s shop didn’t attract much attention after it opened.
However, once customers started coming in to buy potions and discovered the large quantities of Standardized Potions on the shelves, the shop began to see a lot of traffic.
The vast majority of these patrons shared Andre’s identity as members of the First Expeditionary Corps.
They were buying these potions in bulk to supply their Battle Pets and slave tribes.
Andre welcomed all these fellow Wizards from the First Expeditionary Corps, putting a large number of potions up for sale every day.
He did this partly to earn Magic Stones and partly to gather information about the expedition from his customers.
He didn’t know much about the expedition.
Even when he was guarding the Wizard Inheritance Hall in the Senbai World, he hadn’t seen many records about it.
Andre was initially confused by this, but he understood the reason after arriving at the Main Institute.
The expeditions launch from the Main Institute, so naturally, all information about them is kept here.
There was no need for the branch institutes’ records to be very detailed.
Everyone would find out the details once they reached the Main Institute.
As he continued to sell potions, Andre gradually learned all the details of the upcoming expedition, including its destination and the other Wizard Influences that would be participating.
He also learned that the expedition would be led by Moonlight Great Mages from the three great Wizard Academies. Each academy would send three Moonlight Great Mages and twenty-four Morning Star Great Wizards.
Below them were hundreds of Level 3 Wizards and nearly a thousand Level 1 and Level 2 Wizards.
In addition to the three great Wizard Academies, members from other wizard academies and Wizard Clans would also be joining.
All in all, more than five thousand Wizards would be participating in this expedition.
And this was only the first wave; more Wizards would follow later.
This was a number Andre had pieced together from the gossip he overheard while selling potions.
’Over five thousand Wizards... that means more than a thousand Star Realm Battleships. For a force like this to expedition to two World Groups... even if it’s just the first wave, the numbers still seem a bit low.’
After this silent reflection, Andre went back to his business and continued gathering information.
Because he sold large quantities of Standardized Potions every day, many people came to buy from him. Gradually, Andre established a foothold in the Main Institute and even made a few friends.
"You’re a monster. A real monster."
Six months later, inside Andre’s potion lab, a young man watched Andre’s flying fingers with a look of utter astonishment.
He had known Andre for several months and had seen him brew potions before, but he had never witnessed this kind of speed.
A common Healing Potion could be brewed in under five seconds in Andre’s hands.
And this was with Andre intentionally limiting his sales volume to be considerate of the other shops.
If Andre went all out, he could even use a cloning-type Witchcraft to help him.
If he did that, at least a third of the potion shops in the marketplace would go out of business.
Specifically, the shops that sold common Standardized Potions.
"By the way, Qiu Ze’Er, what are you doing here again? Shouldn’t you be in your own shop preparing your wares?"
Andre’s fingers flew as he brewed potion after potion.
Even while brewing, Andre turned his head to look at Qiu Ze’Er.
"I don’t get nearly as many customers as you do. The people who want to buy my stuff have already made their purchases."
"At most, I just sell a few of my creations to some newcomers."
Qiu Ze’Er watched Andre and shrugged.
He ran a shop in the marketplace that specialized in custom Witchcraft Artifacts.
Unlike Andre’s potion shop, his business model was more like "go three years without a sale, then live off one for the next three."
"It’s a shame the expedition isn’t in another few decades, or even a hundred years," Qiu Ze’Er said to Andre, his tone full of regret.
"A Moonlight Great Mage is publicly advancing to become a Red Sun Great Wizard."
"A sight like that is rare even in the history of the Wizard World."
"What are you hoping to see?" Andre laughed after hearing Qiu Ze’Er’s words.
"The aura they’ll release during their breakthrough will be strong enough to crush you to the ground. Forget about actually watching anything."
Andre mocked Qiu Ze’Er, but Qiu Ze’Er completely ignored his taunt.
"So what? Even if I get flattened by that Moonlight Great Mage’s aura, I can still say I’ve clashed with them once."
"It would be an excellent experience for my Soul’s growth."
Qiu Ze’Er shamelessly tried to glorify himself.
Hearing Qiu Ze’Er’s words, Andre sighed helplessly.
’Getting hit by the aura released when a Moonlight Great Mage breaks through counts as clashing with them?’
’In both his past life and this one, he had never met such a shameless person.’
But it was precisely because of this that he had become superficial friends with Qiu Ze’Er.
Here at the Main Institute, he was all alone. Now, with the talkative Qiu Ze’Er around, life wasn’t so boring anymore.
"You know, sometimes I’m really jealous of you Alchemists."
Qiu Ze’Er spoke up when he saw Andre fall silent, focusing on brewing his potions.
Andre turned to him, puzzled. ’This guy is jealous of me? He has no idea how many people are jealous of him.’
"Even though potions don’t sell for as much as Witchcraft Artifacts, they’re consumables. As long as potions are being used up, you Alchemists can keep making money."
"It’s not like us Artifact Forgers. As long as a Witchcraft Artifact isn’t completely shattered, someone will be using it."
Faced with Qiu Ze’Er’s complaint, Andre just smiled without saying a word.