Chapter 137: Two Hours

Leaving the sanatorium, Evren had his armored town car drive down to the lower tier of District 2, where the Old Spire Herbal Exchange was located.

Unlike commercial pharmacies selling mass-produced tonics, this exclusive exchange catered solely to master apothecaries and noble botanists.

Inside the mineral showroom, the chief apothecary retrieved the rare items on Calista’s list from a reinforced vault.

"Three ounces of Grade-A Astral Bentonite Clay, harvested from a celestial impact basin," the clerk said with reverence, setting a sealed porcelain jar on the counter. "And four ounces of vacuum-sealed Moon-Sulfur powder, mined from subterranean lunar veins."

The clerk packaged the rare minerals alongside a bundle of fresh Winter-Fern fronds and two flasks of cold-distilled glacial spring water.

"That will be four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, Chairman," the clerk said respectfully.

Evren tapped his black card without hesitation.

The terminal chimed with a ping as the four hundred and fifty thousand dollars cleared instantly.

A split second later, a brilliant golden light washed across Evren’s vision as the familiar system bell rang in his mind.

DING!

[QUALIFYING HEROINE INVESTMENT DETECTED!]

[TARGET: HEROINE #3 PATHWAY — CALISTA VESPER (STAGE 1 REAGENT ACQUISITION)]

[AMOUNT SPENT: $450,000.00 USD]

[ACTIVE MULTIPLIER: 1,000x GLOBAL MULTIPLIER!]

[REBATE RETURN: +$450,000,000.00 USD (450 MILLION USD)!]

[FUNDS CREDITED TO: APEX NATIONAL BANK VIP SOVEREIGN ACCOUNT]

[SYSTEM SOVEREIGN VAULT: $213,000,000,000.00 USD]

An alert buzzed on his phone screen immediately after:

[APEX NATIONAL BANK — VIP SOVEREIGN BLACK CARD]

[AMOUNT DEBITED: 450,000.00 USD]

[AMOUNT CREDITED: +$450,000,000.00 USD]

[CURRENT LIQUID BALANCE: $15,781,747,542.50 USD]

Evren smiled faintly, putting his phone away. Spending four hundred and fifty thousand dollars to secure Calista’s prescription had just netted him nearly half a billion in profit.

Inside the privacy of the town car, Evren summoned the Ancient Alchemy Crucible, resting the matte-black vessel onto the desk.

He measured out the clay, sulfur powder, and glacial dew into the center chamber, lowering the heavy lid.

As the lid sealed shut with a soft click, the ancient silver scripts pulsed with gentle warmth.

Inside the closed vessel, the crucible’s internal arrays automatically harmonized the minerals, binding them at one-hundred percent molecular purity.

Thirty seconds later, the chime sounded, and the lid opened.

Inside lay a smooth, odorless silver-gray adsorption mud giving off a tranquil mist.

Evren scooped the mud into a glass jar, then used the crucible to cold-press the Winter-Fern fronds into an emerald root rinse.

Less than two hours after leaving Lord Albright’s estate, Evren’s town car pulled back through the iron gates.

Inside the crystal dome, Lord Albright was still standing near the bonsai with his pruning shears, his dire hounds at his feet. He stared in disbelief as Evren walked in carrying a jar and a flask.

"Two hours?" Albright barked, stepping forward. "Five research institutes took two weeks to run mineral assays! What the hell is that?"

"Your tree’s remedy," Evren replied smoothly, setting the containers onto the workbench.

He picked up the silver spade Albright had lent him. "We don’t have time to waste. The fissures are less than two inches from the heartwood."

Following Calista’s instructions, Evren carefully excavated a four-inch trench around the root flare, exposing the primary taproot without damaging the delicate root hairs.

Then, he packed the adsorption mud directly against the taproot, completely encasing the zone where the microscopic lavender filaments lived.

"No glowing solar mana?" Albright grumbled, leaning over Evren’s shoulder. "No imperial vitalizer? It looks like ordinary mud."

"Your tree was suffocating on vitalizers," Evren replied calmly, smoothing the mud over the root collar. "The mud binds directly to the Nether-Mold spores and cuts off their mana absorption. Within six hours, the parasite will starve."

Evren unstoppered the emerald flask, pouring the cold Winter-Fern rinse directly over the trunk fissures and packed mud.

The moment the clear liquid touched the bark, a mint-like fragrance filled the pavilion. The foul black sap weeping from the fissures congealed into pale resin.

"The fern rinse seals the bark wounds and kickstarts the tree’s natural immune sap," Evren said, wiping his hands on a clean towel. He looked Albright in the eye. "Give it twenty-four hours. Don’t touch it, don’t water it, and don’t let anyone spray it."

Albright stared down at the gray mud packed around the willow’s roots.

"If this tree is dead by tomorrow morning, Chairman," Albright growled, "my hounds will chase you off this mountain."

Evren placed a sleek black-and-gold calling card on the cedar workbench beside Albright’s shears. "My direct private number is on that card," he smiled faintly. "When the fresh silver shoots sprout tomorrow morning, call me. Then we’ll talk about the conservatory."

Albright grunted, slipping the card into his apron pocket. "Don’t hold your breath, kid."

—

That evening, Evren returned to Room 104 at the Imperial Sanatorium.

Amber and Zephyra sat by Calista’s bedside, sharing stories of their travels. Propped against her pillows, Calista turned her head toward Evren with nervous anticipation.

"Chairman Evren..." Calista asked softly. "Were you able to apply it?"

Evren smiled warmly, taking a seat beside the bed. "Every single drop, exactly as you ordered. Three ounces of mud packed four inches down around the taproot, followed by the Winter-Fern rinse."

Calista let out a long breath, her shoulders sinking into the pillows. "The bark sap... did it start to congeal?"

"Turned clear within thirty seconds," Evren confirmed.

Amber smiled, resting her hand over Calista’s blanket. "I told you he’d handle it. The Chairman never misses a detail."

Calista’s cheeks flushed pink. A soft, relaxed smile touched her lips. For the first time in two years, she didn’t feel like a broken victim in a cage. She felt like someone whose knowledge truly mattered.

"Now get some rest," Evren said gently, tucking the edge of her blanket. "Tomorrow morning, we get our answer."

—

The next day, around twenty-four hours after the remedy had been applied, Evren was having a meal with Amber and Zephyra in their hotel suite.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated against the marble table, flashing the private District 2 line from Albright’s estate.

He answered, and Albright’s breathless voice came through the speaker:

"Chairman... drop whatever you’re doing. Get up to District Two right now. I... I don’t believe my own damned eyes!"

The line went dead.

Evren looked at Amber and Zephyra with a grin. "Grab your coats, girls. The patient survived."

Thirty minutes later, they stepped into Albright’s central atrium.

Lord Albright was pacing around the basalt planter in utter shock, his silver pruning shears dangling forgotten from his fingers.

The Ancient Moon-Weaver Willow had undergone a complete transformation.

The greasy black rot was dead, dried into brittle flakes of ash that flaked away in the morning breeze. The split bark fissures were fully sealed with fragrant silver sap.

Even more miraculous were the branches.

Dozens of fresh, vibrant silver shoots were unfurling into the sunlight, their translucent leaves shimmering with pale lunar light.

"Five research institutes dumped millions into this soil and nearly killed it," Albright muttered, touching a fresh silver shoot with trembling fingers. "And your gray mud purged the entire rot in a single night!"

He spun around, his gray eyes burning into Evren.

"Who formulated this?" Albright demanded. "None of those greedy cartel bastards know how to balance cold-leach adsorption with root immunology. Tell me who made this mud!"

Evren met the old collector’s gaze with pride. "The surviving daughter of House Vesper," Evren said clearly. "Calista Vesper."

Albright froze. His jaw slacked, and the silver shears slipped from his hand, clattering against the stone floor.

"Calista Vesper...?" Albright whispered. "The grandmaster’s granddaughter? The cartel announced she perished in a laboratory fire!"

"House Vance forged that report," Evren said, his eyes turning cold. "Calista survived and is very much alive."

Evren took a step forward. "She formulated the remedy from her hospital bed just by smelling the soil sample and looking at photos of the bark," he added. "And she’s the reason I’m trying to get the conservatory back."

Albright stared at Evren for a long, silent moment.

Tears welled in the old nobleman’s eyes. Without a word, he walked over to his cedar workbench, opened a locked steel drawer, and retrieved a four-inch key of celestial brass alongside a thick, gold-embossed property deed.

He walked back and pressed both firmly into Evren’s hands.

"When House Vesper fell, I bought that twelve-acre garden so Vance’s bulldozers wouldn’t tear it apart," Albright said, his voice choked with emotion. "I swore I’d only surrender it to someone worthy."

He looked at Evren with respect.

"The vultures took her family, but they couldn’t extinguish House Vesper’s fire. Take it, Chairman. The conservatory belongs to Calista Vesper!"

At that moment, a crisp golden chime echoed in Evren’s mind.

DING!

[CRITICAL QUEST OBJECTIVE COMPLETE: VESPER ANCESTRAL CONSERVATORY SECURED!]

[TARGET ASSET: 12-ACRE CELESTIAL HERBARIUM DEED & CELESTIAL BRASS MASTER KEY ACQUIRED!]

[BENEFICIARY: CALISTA VESPER]

[PRIMARY STAGE 1 CATALYST UNLOCKED: ASTRAL STAR-JADE ROOT]

[STATUS: READY FOR HARVEST & SYNTHESIS!]

Evren closed his fingers around the heavy brass key, a confident smile spreading across his face.