Chapter 605

Brielle, who had been analyzing the drug’s components for a while using her skill, frowned.

“This isn’t based on the brain of a Rainbow Beetle?”

Most drugs are made by processing the brain of a Rainbow Beetle.

Depending on the added ingredients, the composition varies slightly, but the core material almost never changes.

Generally, from the brain of a single Rainbow Beetle, enough drugs can be made to dose a thousand people.

In other words, making drugs from just one Rainbow Beetle could bring in enormous money.

No byproduct from other monsters could match this level of efficiency.

That was the biggest reason the Rainbow Beetle was used as the main ingredient in drugs.

But the main component of the drug extracted from Veron’s body was not the brain of a Rainbow Beetle.

No matter how closely she examined it, there wasn’t a trace of Rainbow Beetle in it.

None of the materials Brielle knew were included either.

Every single component was something she didn’t recognize.

“Someone developed a new one.”

Making drugs requires extremely delicate craftsmanship and concentration.

No matter how skilled an alchemist Brielle was, she couldn’t just whip it up in one go with a single skill.

It required mixing countless materials and conducting research to create a proper drug.

It was a labor-intensive process that demanded a great deal of time.

A new type of drug could never be created by the effort of just one person.

Brielle focused her mind and analyzed the components of the drug one by one.

Drip!

Thick beads of sweat continuously ran down her forehead.

There wasn’t much of the drug extracted from Veron.

If she failed, there would be no second chance to analyze it.

She had to identify the components in one go.

With intense concentration, Brielle activated her skill.

In that instant, her temples throbbed as a flood of information poured into her mind.

Most of it consisted of materials Brielle already knew. But the most crucial ingredient was different.

‘The scent gland of a Spike Mole?’

Brielle frowned.

The Spike Mole was a monster that lived deep beneath the sand, like a Sandworm.

It was only about the size of a human, but since it lived hundreds of meters underground, most people didn’t even know such a creature existed.

Even Brielle had only heard its name and had never actually seen one.

Because of that, she knew nothing about its physiology or byproducts.

A scent gland, as the name suggests, was an organ that stored fragrance.

It seemed that the Spike Mole had an organ in its body that stored scent.

“So someone harvested the scent gland of a Spike Mole and made a drug out of it.”

Having organized her thoughts, Brielle immediately headed to Levin’s Solver Office.

The Solver Office was as noisy as a marketplace.

“Still no word from the kids handling the demon beast hunting teams?”

“Deploy more kids. They say they’re guarding other districts? Are you going to keep spouting that nonsense? Ignore it. No, request cooperation from those bastards too. If they don’t help or get in the way, tell them we’ll wipe out their entire organization.”

“Put your lives on the line and cling to this. Our kids have gone missing.”

The shouts of the kids were loud enough to be heard outside the building.

When Brielle entered, she saw Levin staring at a map of the slums with a hardened expression.

“Did you find any clues?”

Levin shook his head.

“Not yet… It’s not easy tracking down those who hunted Rainbow Beetles.”

“It’s not a Rainbow Beetle.”

“Then?”

“It’s made with the scent gland of a monster called a Spike Mole as the main ingredient.”

“A Spike Mole? There’s a monster like that?”

Levin looked puzzled.

It was the first time he had heard the name as well.

“I analyzed it with my skill. I’m sure.”

“So it’s a monster we’ve never encountered. That means it’s rare.”

“Yeah!”

“A byproduct from such a beast wouldn’t circulate in the general market. We’ll have to go to the Goblin Market.”

Levin immediately went to the Goblin Market and met Yoo Sehee.

“A Spike Mole? There’s a monster like that?”

Yoo Sehee tilted her head.

It was the first time she had heard of it as well.

She immediately summoned the Black Lion to check whether a Spike Mole carcass had entered the Goblin Market recently.

The Black Lion quickly confirmed the matter with the merchants and returned.

“They say no mole-like monster has come in.”

“Are you sure?”

“I checked with all the merchants.”

The merchants of the Goblin Market would never lie to Yoo Sehee.

If they hid anything, they could be expelled from the market.

“Then the source isn’t the Goblin Market.”

“It could have been processed outside and brought in.”

“Outside…”

Levin fell into thought for a moment.

There were numerous demon beast hunting teams in Neo Seoul.

They were scattered across the desert, hunting monsters.

The main routes for bringing hunted beasts into Neo Seoul were the Magic Stone Mine and the Steel Fortress.

In the past, they loaded hunted beasts onto vehicles and transported them, but after the portal was installed, they brought them to the Steel Fortress or the Magic Stone Mine and used the portal.

It significantly reduced transportation costs.

Levin spoke to Brielle.

“Let’s stop by the Steel Fortress first, then head to the Mana Stone Mine.”

“Okay!”

Brielle answered without a moment’s hesitation.

The two immediately used the portal to enter the Steel Fortress.

It wasn’t difficult to check the monsters that had entered the Steel Fortress.

Urtian cooperated.

No matter how powerful an Awakened or faction was in Neo Seoul, they had no choice but to follow Urtian’s orders within the Steel Fortress.

With a single word from Urtian, they could lose their base there, so they complied willingly.

They submitted lists of the monsters they had hunted so far. But nowhere on those lists was a Spike Mole.

Now only the Mana Stone Mine remained.

The two immediately took the portal to the Magic Stone Mine.

The portal was installed at a recently developed open-pit Magic Stone Mine.

What used to be a barren wasteland had now transformed into a proper fortress.

Massive walls completely surrounded the open-pit mine, and inside, numerous workers were mining magic stones.

The Magic Stone Mine functioned as a kind of hub.

Not only magic stones, but also monsters hunted nearby passed through here into Neo Seoul.

Naturally, demon beast hunting teams were stationed there.

After the portal was installed, the number of hunting teams had increased even more.

The problem was that, unlike the Steel Fortress, the chain of command here wasn’t unified.

To find anything out, they would have to move directly themselves.

Levin and Brielle immediately got to work.

＊＊＊

Zeon sat in Klexi’s shop, drinking tea.

“You really are idle. The kids are struggling like that to find the culprit—don’t you feel sorry for them?”

“Not at all.”

“Tch! Cold-hearted bastard.”

Klexi clicked his tongue at Zeon’s firm reply.

Despite Klexi’s displeased expression, Zeon calmly continued drinking his tea.

After glaring at Zeon for a while, Klexi’s gaze shifted to the teacup in his hand.

The fragrant aroma drifting from it caught his interest.

The tea Zeon was drinking wasn’t something Klexi had served.

All he had given was a cup of hot water and a teacup—the contents were brought by Zeon.

“Where did you get that?”

“Why?”

“It smells too good.”

“Does it?”

“It doesn’t smell artificial… Doesn’t seem like something made in Neo Seoul…”

“Want a cup?”

“Why are you even asking? Just give it to me.”

“Alright.”

Zeon smiled and took out more of the contents, brewing a cup of tea for him.

The tea he carried was made from leaves given to him in the World Tree Village.

A special gift from the High Elves.

“Whoa! What is this?”

Klexi’s eyes widened after taking a sip.

With just one sip, his mouth felt refreshed, and even his mind became clear.

It felt as if his very soul was being purified.

He had drunk countless teas and coffees in his life, but this was the first time he had tasted something this good.

“Is it okay?”

“Okay? Are you kidding? Where did you get this? Introduce me.”

As if intoxicated, Klexi spoke with excitement.

Now that he was old, he had lost his appetite and desire for material things.

If he had one hobby left, it was drinking good tea.

To someone like him, the tea Zeon offered was a taste of heaven.

“I’m sorry. That place can’t be revealed yet.”

“Ugh! Then I can’t drink this again?”

Zeon pulled out a small pouch of tea leaves he had kept separately in his subspace.

“I figured you’d say that, so I brought some for you. It’s not much.”

“Heh! As expected, you’re the only one who thinks of me.”

“I’ll bring more next time.”

“Thank you.”

“Then I’ll get going.”

“Heading home?”

“No, I have somewhere to stop by.”

“Alright. Take care.”

“Yes, I’ll come again.”

Zeon’s steps were light as he left Klexi’s shop.

It felt like he had repaid, even if just a little, the kindness of Klexi who always packed him food whenever he set out on expeditions.

The next place he headed to was Neo Seoul.

“What brings you here, Mr. Zeon?”

The one who welcomed him was Mandy, a supervisor of Neo Seoul.

“Just passing by.”

“Really?”

“But you seem busy.”

Zeon glanced around.

Mandy’s room was filled with piles of documents.

“It’s audit season these days, so I’m swamped.”

“Supervisors do that kind of work too?”

“I’m a supervisor, after all. If there’s a manpower shortage, I step in often.”

“I see.”

Zeon nodded.

Mandy was an elf with a dual personality.

Her other personality, Eloi, was aggressive and reckless, but Mandy herself was calm and rational.

She was well-suited for handling audit work.

“Have you been to the Steel Fortress yet?”

“Not yet.”

Mandy answered with a dejected expression.

She had been too busy with city hall duties to go.

“Then I assume you don’t know about the Primordial Forest either?”

“There’s a place like that?”

Mandy’s eyes widened.

The Primordial Forest hadn’t been opened to the public yet.

Only a select few could enter it through the portal.

At most, Jin Geumho, Seo Taeran, and a few elves.

Naturally, Mandy wasn’t included.

“It’s a forest where Dark Elves and humans live together.” 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

“A real forest exists?”

“Yes. A child named Haru revived it. It’s grown quite large now. When there’s a chance, let’s go together.”

“Is that really okay? I mean, I’m not saying I don’t want to.”

As a half-elf, Mandy naturally wanted to enter a forest if she could.

Zeon smiled.

“Of course.”

Right now, they received a lot of help from city hall thanks to Jin Geumho and Seo Taeran, but before that, Mandy had helped them greatly.

Thanks to her, many things had been resolved.

“And this…”

Zeon handed Mandy a pouch of tea leaves.

“What is it?”

“Tea harvested by the elves of the Primordial Forest.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Just like the High Elves of the World Tree Village, the Dark Elves of the Primordial Forest also wanted to give something to Zeon.

The tea leaves he gave Mandy were from them.

“Thank you. For something this precious…”

Mandy’s eyes welled up.

These weren’t artificially made tea leaves—they were harvested directly by elves.

To elves, they were treasures beyond value.

“I’ll cherish it. I don’t know how to repay you.”

“I’m not giving it expecting anything in return. I’ll be going now.”

“Already?”

“Yes. Well then…”

Just as Zeon turned to leave Mandy’s office, his eyes fell on a document lying on the desk.

The words written on it caught his attention.

—Attempted smuggling of monster byproducts using the portal. Suspected involvement of high-ranking City Hall officials. Audit required.

“What is this?”