What Witch? This Alchemist is Breaking Bad!

Inside the labyrinth workshop, Leon poured a bucket of slime into a basin filled with concentrated brine, then covered it with a lid.

The slime immediately began to writhe violently inside the basin, trying to escape, but Leon firmly held the lid down.

The high concentration of salt quickly forced the water out of the slime’s body.

The slime began to shrink, and its wriggling grew slower and slower.

The slime had not died—it had merely lost its ability to move.

As long as water was added, it could revive at any time.

Leon opened the lid and began slicing into the shrunken, hardened slime with a sharp scalpel.

He reached his fingers inside, extracted the core, and carefully placed it into a glass jar.

The slime’s Mana was essentially concentrated within its core.

As for the remaining viscous liquid, after being cured in saltwater and treated with a few reagents, it could be turned into gel.

Whether slaughtering Head-Hunting Rabbits or slimes, Leon had already become extremely proficient at it.

“The Magical Beasts are reproducing even faster than expected, especially the slimes—they just keep splitting. If you’re planning to keep expanding the scale, we’ll need to enlarge the breeding pool,” Rena said while washing her hands.

She had just finished extracting some Mana preparations from a Head-Hunting Rabbit’s brain and heart.

“We can dig another one over there in the corner and connect it through,” Leon replied.

After finishing the slime processing, Leon also came over to the sink.

He rubbed his hands, which were covered in slime residue, then used his fingers to form a thin film and tried blowing a bubble.

The bubble burst before it could take shape, and Rena, standing nearby, vaguely felt a few droplets splash onto her.

“What are you doing? Stop fooling around and hurry up and wash properly!” Rena complained as she scooped up some water with a ladle.

Leon grinned and stretched out his hand.

Frowning, Rena helped rinse the slime off his hands.

“How many rabbits have we killed so far?” Leon asked while drying his hands.

“Five,” Rena answered.

“The Mana and gel can be stored, but Head-Hunting Rabbit corpses are hard to keep if we don’t process them,” Leon mused.

“How about we ship out a small batch early?”

“Up to you.”

As she spoke, Rena returned to the workbench, preparing to make another batch of Mana preparations using slime cores.

Leon wordlessly stepped forward to help organize the experimental equipment.

“You forgot to put on gloves again,” Rena reminded him with a sideways glance.

“Oh.” Leon picked up the protective gloves and put them on.

Raising Magical Beasts inside the labyrinth had significantly shortened their breeding cycles, causing their operation to expand far faster than anticipated.

Coupled with the increased output within the labyrinth, if things continued at this pace, they might still be able to ship another fairly large batch before winter arrived.

Five years… no, aim for four years to earn enough money.

Of course, if Rena could produce an antidote next year, maybe they could stop as early as then.

With the money, they could help Melissa and the others, and still leave themselves a decent sum.

Leon silently calculated in his heart.

At that very moment, unfamiliar footsteps appeared without any warning at the entrance of what had once been a Knight Order encampment.

A violent shudder exploded inside both of them at the same time.

They turned simultaneously, eyes wide, staring toward the entrance.

The newcomer had been deliberately lightening his steps after entering the labyrinth, and only now did the sound of footsteps finally emerge.

The faint glow of a lantern appeared first at the entrance, followed by a burly silhouette.

Rena sucked in a sharp breath in fear and instinctively hid behind Leon, while Leon immediately drew his gun and aimed it at the doorway.

When he clearly saw who it was, Leon’s heart plunged straight down, cold sweat instantly breaking out across his back.

The Director of the Inquisition, Caron Eso, strode into the space wearing a military cloak, a pipe clenched between his teeth, a lantern in hand.

The moment he saw Leon, a smile appeared on his face.

“Heh, so it really is you.”

Despite being aimed at by a gun, he showed not the slightest fear.

Instead, Leon’s gun hand trembled slightly.

Caron Eso had discovered their business—and had appeared without any warning inside this labyrinth workshop, catching both him and Rena red-handed!

Such a disastrous situation was completely beyond Leon’s expectations!

“Oh, don’t make that face. You never considered this possibility? I actually tracked you down two days ago. It was only today that I confirmed you were raising Magical Beasts here,” Caron said as he casually looked around.

“Heh, raising Magical Beasts inside a labyrinth? You’ve got some nerve.”

He walked over toward a corner, suddenly pointed in that direction, and asked Leon with interest, “The Magical Beasts are kept in there?”

“……” Leon neither answered nor lowered his gun.

He was hesitating over whether to fire immediately.

For some reason, only Director Caron himself had appeared—there were no other Inquisitors with him.

If it were an ordinary person at this distance, Leon was confident he could hit them with a single shot, and once hit, they would lose the ability to act.

But the information the shop owner had given him, combined with Caron’s unnaturally calm demeanor, was warning him that even if he fired now, he probably wouldn’t be able to kill Caron.

Caron Eso was a Transcendent granted rank by the Church, and very likely had received the God of War’s blessing that enhanced combat ability.

If Leon fired and failed to kill him on the spot, the one who would die next would be Leon himself.

This was basically a BOSS that far exceeded their level spawning out of nowhere right in their own base!

Seeing no response, Caron didn’t seem to care and simply strolled over to inspect the breeding pool.

After some thought, Leon shifted his position slightly and quietly reached toward the test tube rack on the experimental bench.

Caron finished looking over the breeding pool and turned his face back toward them.

“You’re still holding onto that thing?”

He suddenly laughed, his gaze like that of an adult looking at a child pointing a wooden sword at him.

But in the next moment, his smile faded slightly.

He lifted his cloak and placed his hand on the gun at his waist.

“Put the gun down, Inquisitor Set.”

Besides the gun, there was also a knight’s sword at his waist, decorated with a four-pointed star, issued by the Church to Fully Appointed Knights.

Leon hesitated.

Caron repeated, “Put. The gun. Down.”

This time, his tone was noticeably heavier.

In the end, Leon slowly lowered the gun.

This was not the best moment for him.

“Very good.” Caron smiled in satisfaction.

His gaze passed over Leon and landed on Rena, who was desperately trying to hide behind him.

“So that’s the Witch making medicine for you? Producing eighty-purity Mana at such a young age? How did you find her?”

Rena hugged her arms tightly, trembling.

The moment Leon lowered the gun, she felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss.

When Caron lifted his cloak and placed his hand on his gun, Rena clearly saw his uniform and the emblem on his chest.

Even without a deep understanding of the Church’s internal hierarchy, she could tell he was an Inquisitor—and… not a low-ranking one.

And Leon looked as if he had already given up resisting.

Leon didn’t immediately answer Caron’s question.

Instead, he asked in return, “Director Caron, you came alone to find us. What exactly do you want?”

After the initial panic, he gradually calmed down.

Caron Eso claimed he had tracked Leon down two days ago, yet he hadn’t arrested him at the Inquisition immediately.

Instead, only after confirming that Leon was raising Magical Beasts in the labyrinth did he secretly come here to catch them in the act.

Yet Caron hadn’t brought even a single subordinate with him—he had swaggered in alone.

Even if he had absolute confidence in his own strength, there was no need not to bring anyone.

This wasn’t a man who cared about his subordinates’ safety.

All signs suggested that Caron was not here to arrest them.

“Quick thinker. I didn’t expect someone like you among my subordinates. Seems I misjudged you,” Caron said with a smile and a nod.

“Then I won’t beat around the bush. From now on, you’ll work for me, kid.”

Leon didn’t look particularly surprised.

This answer was within his expectations.

“You should understand that I’m not talking about work within the Inquisition. You’re bold, and you’ve got ideas. Being able to carve out a business like this—I admire that! But using my channels to ship goods without informing me first is a bit improper,” Caron said with a chuckle, shaking his head.

“So you want to take a cut from our business?” Leon asked, confirming.

“Hm?” Caron suddenly frowned, as if he had heard something he cared about.

“Another cut? ‘Your’ business? From the sound of it, you’re cooperating with that heretical Witch? She gets a share too?”

Leon didn’t answer.

He had given Rena an even split, something that, in Caron’s eyes, was probably incomprehensible.

“Really? You finally get your hands on a useful tool, and you end up being captivated by the tool?” Caron laughed and shook his head.

“That lowers my evaluation of you. Looks like there’s still a lot I need to teach you.”

“Director, just tell me directly—how much do you want?” Leon stared at Caron as he asked.

Setting aside whether he would even consider letting the other man interfere in his business, right now all he could do was go along and wait.

“The rules naturally have to be reset. I haven’t decided yet. But before that, you’d better understand your position. I don’t want to hear that kind of questioning again!” Caron’s voice suddenly turned cold.

He was reminding Leon that this was not a negotiation.

From this point on, the rules here were his to set.

Whatever he said went.

Leon had no right to scrutinize his terms.

Leon silently looked at Caron.

“All right, don’t be so tense,” Caron suddenly softened his tone again.

He took a puff from his pipe, then smiled at Leon.

“Your benefits won’t be lacking—we can discuss that slowly later. But before that… you go out first.”