Chapter 184 The Three Essential Potions

Kei knitted his brows slightly.

‘If only I could brew magical potions the way I used to back in my old world…’

The moment that thought surfaced, he froze in place.

Magical potions.

Kei blinked, and his dark eyes abruptly flashed with sudden inspiration.

He had always trapped himself by blindly following established paths. Ever since he began brewing Potions in this world, he had mechanically memorized their formulas and executed them step by step, as though that represented the sole method to produce a Potion.

Yet what if the current formula consumed excessive resources?

No one guaranteed that the prevailing Potion recipe constituted the optimal formula. Even in the domain of magical potions back in his old world, mages continually refined recipes day in and day out to maximize efficacy.

He had once been a master mage. In his old world, potions crafted by mages didn’t rely strictly on raw herbs; integrating mana, magic arrays, and advanced ingredient processing could fundamentally alter the chemical and magical properties of the final product. He was entirely capable of re-engineering the formula from the ground up, discovering methods to substitute or streamline scarce ingredients.

He didn’t have to remain bound by conventional knowledge.

He could innovate and improve it himself.

“Kei?” Linda noticed him staring in silence at the table of raw materials. “Did you come up with an idea?”

Kei kept his eyes fixed on the remaining Potion vials. Inside his head, old and new formulas began intertwining, gradually crystallizing into concrete concepts, specifically, whether the techniques of utilizing mana or magic arrays to refine magical potions could likewise be applied to standard Potions?

“I want to review the manufacturing formulas for the specific Potions everyone urgently needs,” Kei stated, his voice suddenly surging with eager excitement. “Both the ingredient lists and the processing methods for each component.”

Clark and Helen exchanged a glance.

A single look was all it took for them to read each other’s minds. The situation in the supply reserves was so critical they lacked the luxury to hesitate. Clark gave a subtle nod.

Helen immediately pivoted, striding into the supply room. Her footsteps rapidly faded behind the door, leaving behind only the ambient sounds of labor and the faint fragrance of dried herbs lingering across the chamber.

Clark pulled out a cigarette, struck a flame, and drew in a slow breath. He gazed at Kei through the wispy veil of smoke.

“What are you planning to do?”

“I have an idea,” Kei replied. “Though until I verify it, I can’t give you any absolute guarantees.”

“An idea, huh…” Clark exhaled a plume of smoke to the side, showing zero trace of skepticism. “Very well. Go ahead and try. In any case, our current material stocks will only sustain the Guild for three days. And this Dungeon Break is guaranteed to drag on for at least a week.”

Only three days?

Kei tightened his fists. The mere thought of hunters stepping out onto the battlefield starved of adequate Potions made his chest feel heavy.

The casualty rate of fighting a Dungeon Break while crippled by a Potion shortage was simply unthinkable.

“Then dedicate your time today to researching Potions,” Clark continued. “Leave armor and weapon repairs to the others for now.”

Before long, Helen returned holding a tablet computer. She pulled up the statistical breakdown and pivoted the screen toward Kei.

“First, take a look at these three categories,” she said, pointing down successive lines. “Healing Potions, Mana Recovery Potions, and Stat-Enhancing Potions. These represent our highest-consumption items during defensive engagements, and our stockpiles are on the verge of bottoming out.”

Kei swept his eyes across the aggregate data compiled by Helen.

“With the materials remaining in storage, we can only manufacture roughly three hundred vials per category,” Helen stated. “If we need to scale up output, we don’t have much buffer stock left to let you run trial experiments.”

Kei calculated the figures mentally.

Three hundred vials per category. At a glance, that figure didn’t sound negligible, yet the sheer volume of hunters rotating through active combat alongside the daily casualty count meant those reserves wouldn’t stretch far. If distributed evenly and rationed with extreme thrift, three hundred vials would barely buy them three days of breathing room.

Clark’s math hadn’t been off in the least.

Kei handed the tablet back to Helen and nodded to both of them.

“Understood. I’ll start with the Healing Potion.”

He pivoted toward the alchemy laboratory. The scent of herbs grew heavier the moment he crossed the threshold, blending seamlessly with the sharp tang of glassware and heated metal. The workstations still bore mortar and pestle sets, distillation flasks, and scaffolding utilized since early morning.

Clark trailed behind him and chimed in:

“The Craftsmen currently assigned to brewing will pause their duties. I’ll pull them out to assist with weapon and armor repairs. For the time being, this laboratory is entirely yours.”

Kei surveyed his surroundings. Written formulas remained propped on paper scraps beside each set of equipment. A handful of completed Potion vials sat nearby, but the vast majority of the benches stood empty, as though waiting to be replenished with whatever dwindling raw materials remained.

He rubbed his hands together.

If he simply followed conventional formulas, he could only squeeze a strictly finite batch of Potions out of this meager stock of raw ingredients. But if he figured out a way to restructure the workflow, minimize material waste while preserving efficacy, and churn out a higher volume of Potions… the hunters could significantly extend their holding capacity.

Kei dragged the recipe scroll for the Healing Potion closer toward himself.

“Then let’s begin.”

His gaze locked onto every single line of annotated notes.

The formula for crafting Healing Potions according to the Zootopia Guild’s standards differed from the Healing Potion Kei had brewed using the recipe provided to him by the Crying Ghost Guild. As expected, the Craftsmen in this world were also constantly brainstorming ways to refine and upgrade their Potion recipes.

Hence, from the very beginning, Kei shouldn’t have locked himself into such rigid, stereotyped thinking; he fell into a deep introspection regarding his own mindset.

Magic was truly extraordinary, but this world also possessed countless other wondrous types of abilities, Kei shouldn’t have fallen into the trap of assuming magic was somehow inherently superior or completely detached.

Magic should be harnessed to make the world a better place, regardless of which world one happened to be in.

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