Chapter 469 - 459: Verasi Potion

After hearing what Moira Lynch said, the three men’s eyes widened in utter disbelief.

"Moira, is what you said true?" Shane Rhodes asked.

"Of course. When have I ever lied to you?" Moira Lynch said.

"Then where did you get this Verasi Potion?" Kai York asked.

Moira Lynch already had an excuse prepared. She replied smoothly, "It was one of the rewards from that mission we turned in, the one you came with me for."

At the time, Kai York’s attention had been completely captivated by the spaceship, so apart from the bounty money he knew about from the start, he was clueless about any other rewards.

This was the very detail Moira Lynch was exploiting, allowing her to be so bold with her story.

Otherwise, she would have had to find another excuse—or do what she did to Hugh Finch and secretly spike their food.

"I just looked up the Verasi Potion on the Astranet. This stuff is extremely valuable. Looks like those two fugitives you caught were really important to them, Moira. They were even willing to give you something as precious as a Verasi Potion."

There wasn’t much information about the Verasi Potion on the Astranet, so Shane Rhodes’s comment was just an offhand exclamation.

At his words, Moira Lynch gave a dry laugh and said, "They were A-rank fugitives, after all. Of course they were important."

"This Verasi Potion seems so incredible. There aren’t any side effects, are there?" Shane Rhodes asked, looking at the shimmering, pink Medicine in his hand.

Moira Lynch thought for a moment, then said, "The taste is probably a bit nasty. The granules inside are solid, so it’s supposed to be like drinking water mixed with sand. It’s best if you chug it all in one go. As for other side effects, there are none."

"Oh, right. You can only take the Verasi Potion once in your life," Moira Lynch added as a reminder.

"Does taking it a second time cause some kind of irreversible side effect?" Hugh Finch asked.

"Not exactly. It’s just that the Verasi Potion is extremely precious, and only the first dose has the best effect. Any subsequent doses have negligible results."

"To stop people from squandering it, taking the Verasi Potion a second time is considered a waste of precious resources. If you’re caught, you’ll face one to three years of correctional labor and a massive fine."

The three fell silent for a moment at Moira Lynch’s explanation. They hadn’t expected that to be the reason.

"Then how do they tell if someone has taken the Verasi Potion more than once?" Kai York asked curiously.

"Er... I don’t know about that. I’m not a walking encyclopedia who knows everything, but I can look it up for you." As Moira Lynch spoke, she had Patience search for the information.

Having completed the mission, she had received a lot of information about the Verasi Potion from Ellers.

Soon, Patience found the answer among the data.

"After taking the Verasi Potion for the first time, once its effects are activated, it leaves no trace in the body."

"However, upon taking it again, the medicinal effects don’t dissipate. Instead, they settle and accumulate within the body. As a result, anyone who has taken the Verasi Potion two or more times will turn a shimmery pink."

"Research shows that for a body to metabolize the excess Verasi Potion—taking The Titan Race, who has the fastest metabolism, as an example—it would take ten years. Members of an ordinary race would need at least a hundred years to metabolize it completely."

"So what would happen if I split a single Verasi Potion and drank it in two parts?" Kai York asked again.

"Some idiot actually tried that once. The result was that the effects were insufficient. Their Talent didn’t evolve, their level didn’t fully increase, and they were left completely stuck in limbo."

"What’s more, because they took the Verasi Potion multiple times, the Verasi itself built up in their body, making them all shimmery. They were caught and initially sentenced to two years, but their sentence was extended to five because they didn’t show proper remorse."

’That person’s name was only recently cleared, I think.’

’After all, everyone uses pretty much the same excuse.’

’Luckily, that person belonged to the fast-metabolizing Titan Race. The guard in charge noticed that the time it took for the effect to wear off didn’t add up, which is how the injustice was finally righted.’

The three of them had wanted to take the Verasi Potion immediately, but Moira Lynch stopped them.

She had learned from the data that people who broke through using the Verasi Potion tended to cause a huge disturbance, since their Talent would evolve at the same time.

Besides, all three of them were at level three in their Talents, and breaking through to level four would cause a disturbance on its own.

Hugh Finch was one thing, but Shane Rhodes and Kai York—one with lightning, the other with hurricanes—were another. If they took the potion now, she could kiss The Elven House goodbye; the entire island would be devastated.

At Moira Lynch’s suggestion, they decided to find a deserted island the next day to complete their breakthroughs.

Because of this, Shane Rhodes and the other two were already eagerly awaiting the next day, so much so that they were absent-minded during dinner, finding the food completely tasteless.

After dinner, Moira Lynch and Hugh Finch sat on the sofa, resting with their eyes closed. On the surface, neither of them said another word, but in reality...

"You got this Verasi Potion from a mission, too?" Hugh Finch asked.

"Yeah, I just got my hands on it a couple of days ago."

"Can it be mass-produced? I saw on the Astranet that the Verasi System, which produces the Verasi Star, has already been destroyed."

"Yes, but I’m not planning on listing it for public sale. I’ll offer it to the officials first. As for the price... why don’t you use an alternate persona to negotiate with them? I’ll even cover the fee for setting up the alias."

Hearing this, Hugh Finch was at a complete loss for words. He asked, "How did you handle negotiations before? Can’t you just follow the usual procedure this time? I remember you’ve always had a partnership with the officials, right?"

"Right. I provide them with three hundred to six hundred thousand Awakening Potions every month. Anyway, that’s not what we’re talking about now. Before, I’d just agree to whatever price they offered as long as it seemed reasonable. For me, it was all profit regardless. But this is different from the Awakening Potion."

"Rarity creates value."

’Moira didn’t plan to mass-produce the Verasi Potion like she did with the Awakening Potion. She would only produce a batch occasionally. Her main focus was still on producing Awakening Potions and the Divine Potion series.’

’It was far better to awaken a powerful Elemental Talent than to randomly get some useless one.’

’After all, as things stood, Elemental Talents were all incredibly powerful. Even the Water Talent was only considered weak in the early stages; later on, whether for offense or defense, it was second to none.’

’One of the most popular videos on the Astranet right now showed a Water Talent User instantly sucking a rampaging buffalo completely dry of all its bodily moisture.’

"Fine, I get it." Hugh Finch finally agreed to Moira Lynch’s request. "By the way, I accepted a mission yesterday. You should come with me."