A Black Market LitRPG

Chapter 6: Bring to Market

Five days later...

Six associates were now lined up in a spare empty room, with only two basic long wooden tables in the middle and at the side along with chairs. They stared in awe at the equipment on the tables and the crates stacked at the back of the room, filled with flasks and portable arctech stoves.

Kyle had gotten Keith to use the remaining extra cash to buy them, with the one hurting the most being the arctech stoves.

"You, you're number one. You weigh each of the ingredients before putting them into separate bowls."

Two weighing scales were on the table, the counterweight already perfectly calculated. Kyle had gotten Keith to write labels on parchment onto the weighing scales, indicating which ingredient they were for.

"Next, number two." Kyle motioned to another one. "You take each of the ingredients and put them into the same flask, and fill it up to the brim with water."

"Finally, number three. You boil the flasks, each for exactly three minutes. No more, no less."

Kyle then moved over to the other table, where there were only Euria Seeds and a few mortar and pestles.

"You, number four. You grind as many Euria Seeds as you can. Pour the oil out into a flask."

"Number five. You boil the flask as long as possible until you see a dark yellow residue like this." Kyle showed an example. "Then, for every other flask the group makes, you drip just a pinch in."

"Number six. You then pack the normal flasks separately from the ones that have received the Euria Seeds residue. Everybody clear?"

They all nodded except for one who raised his hand. "Sir, sorry to ask, but what exactly are we making?"

"Stamina Recovery potions. A stark reminder – anyone, associate or even vipers, caught drinking the Euria-infused potions will immediately be punished heavily and imprisoned for a while. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Start now."

The operation began, with the associates slightly fumbling about as they got used to handling the equipment. However, they went slow and steady, afraid of being chided by Kyle, who watched over them like a hawk.

Soon, after ten minutes of repetitive action, the muscle memory began to be engraved into them, making the job faster and similar to a factory line. Kyle nodded in approval before leaving the room.

The associates felt a sense of belonging and felt part of a greater whole. They might have had more passion for the job if they didn't realize that they were basically performing menial labour, just like a factory worker.

Kyle's idea of the production line wasn't exactly unique to them – there were already plenty of factories in the vicinity doing the exact same thing, though they have yet to see one making potions en masse due to tight controls by the Alchemist Guild. "Didn't I join the gangs so I didn't have to do this kind of thing...?"

Kyle was not too worried about the recipe leaking – he himself did not expect to retain monopoly over such a simple modification to an already existing potion. He assumed that there were already thousands of alchemists who could do exactly what he was doing right now: the issue was the Alchemist Guild and its apparent laws against mass production.

He had yet to learn about the exact restrictions, but it was enough for him to try to lower the production cost while evading detection. This alone would be more than enough to cut into the market and begin making some much-needed profits to fuel his other plans.