Rein thought for a moment, then merged into the crowd and began to slowly browse on his own.
Even though the Bat Bazaar had many vendors, Rein hesitated to casually make purchases.
Perhaps the items on the stalls were more beautiful and cheaper, but they required a pair of eyes experienced and insightful enough to discern their authenticity.
As of now, Rein still lacked this ability.
Luckily, there were also many formal shops along the street and, judging by the various signs hung at the tops of the shops, Rein could easily distinguish the main business of each.
Relatively speaking, these formal shops with fixed locations should have better credit.
Rein observed several shops in succession and eventually chose one with a relatively large flow of customers, a potion shop marked by herbs, beakers, and test tubes on its sign, and entered.
Inside, the clerks were three bright-eyed boys in their teens, two of whom were serving customers.
Seeing Rein come in, the free boy proactively approached with a warm greeting, "Sir, welcome to Patricia's Potion Shop, how may I assist you?"
"Do you have hallucinogenic gas?" Although the other party was just a young boy, Rein did not underestimate him and directly mentioned the poison gas Endri had used in battle.
Previously Rein might not have noticed, but now, with the enhancement of his spiritual power, Rein could basically judge the boy's spiritual power through his mental state and appearance, and it seemed to exceed that of an average adult man.
It was unclear whether this was innate or the result of practicing basic meditation techniques.
But clearly, the boy should not be treated as an ordinary child.
"Uh... that... yes, sir, we have that," the boy replied, looking at Rein with a slightly surprised expression.
"The price?" Rein asked tersely.
"1 fluid ounce of hallucinogenic potion costs 25 Imperial Gold Coins."
The boy then took out a bottle of dark liquid from behind the counter, along with a small packet wrapped in paper, apparently filled with a powdery substance.
Rein did not ask but waited for the boy to introduce the items, as speaking out would instantly give him away. In unfamiliar places, it was best to be cautious.
"Sir, this bottle contains the hallucinogenic potion, and this packet is the corresponding amount of catalyst, which, when injected, will quickly vaporize the hallucinogenic potion to form hallucinogenic gas," the boy explained.
Rein was thinking that if the hallucinogenic potion were like gas that would evaporate as soon as it was opened, it would be quite cumbersome to store in the Emerald Ring.
It turned out there was something like a catalyst.
"I'd like a smaller amount," Rein said, glancing at the phial in the boy's hand, which was clearly much larger than the one he had found on Endri.
"Then we only have this, 0.2 fluid ounces, for the price of 5 Gold and 6 Silver," the boy produced a thumb-sized bottle from the cabinet behind him.
Looking at the bottle the boy brought out this time, Rein nodded.
It was similar in size to the one he had found on Endri's body, and it should also fit just right in the Emerald Ring in one go.
"I'll take five bottles."
The boy clearly hesitated, not understanding why the customer wanted to buy five small bottles; obviously, purchasing a larger bottle was more economical.
After all, the same volume, but a little cheaper in price.
However, looking at Rein, the boy clearly didn't dare to question further.
"Do you have sunflowers?"
"How about the wings of nocturnal vampire bats?"
"That... we also have," the boy was noticeably becoming nervous. He guessed that the gentleman before him was likely a pharmacist specializing in negative energy. As is known, many of those in this particular field tend not to be in good spirits.
As the boy was preparing the materials Rein required, Rein also looked around the room.
Rein was surprised to discover that many of the potions, he seemed to have seen in the Merit Exchange Catalog as well.
It made Rein recall the potion masters in the so-called Royal Alchemist Association, whose identity was probably not that simple and were likely not ordinary people.
After all, superior spiritual power presents a clear advantage in concocting potions, whether in controlling the quality of ingredients or in the finesse of various operational techniques.
Besides, some potion creations were clearly beyond the reach of ordinary people, like advanced magic potions.
Enjoy new adventures from mvl
With more careful thought, the power of the Empire seemed unfathomable, and what he had seen was just the tip of the iceberg!
"All right, sir, all the materials you require are prepared," the boy respectfully placed a black linen bag on the counter and said to Rein.
When Rein left the potion shop, he was already carrying that large bag.
Glancing down, the thought of feeding a dog with such expensive materials made the corners of his mouth twitch slightly.
Just now, Rein had purchased all the raw materials needed for the Mutative Growth Potion in one go, such as sunflowers, wings of nocturnal vampire bats, claws of carrion wolves, and more.
Of course, even if the potion was successfully made, it was not intended for Rein's own use, but for 'Cookie'.
Just now, Rein calculated the cost, and factoring everything together, even with a successful single production, the cost per fluid ounce of the Mutative Growth Potion approached nearly 12 Imperial Gold Coins.
Considering the probability of failure and the need for continued medication over three months, Rein purchased ingredients for ten batches in one go.