Chapter 154: Odin's Right Eye

The spar between Chen M=["o"]tong and Caesar was essentially a one-sided thrashing of Caesar by Chen M=["o"]tong, so their battle ended quickly because Chen M=["o"]tong grew bored.

Meanwhile, Caesar's mindset underwent a billion-odd minor changes.

He left the platform below with a dark expression, his clothes covered in scorched marks. Of course, this was the result of Chen M=["o"]tong deliberately holding back; if the Eye of God had been fired at full power, Caesar's clothes would not have been the only things scorched.

"I must get the Eye of God!"

Without even changing his clothes, Caesar rushed straight to the viewing gallery at top speed. Staring intently at Lu Mingfei, he said, "I want your Eye of God. Name your price—name any price, I'm not short of money."

"Sorry, I'm not short of money either."

Lu Mingfei smiled and said.

His previous sales of Gungnir and the fragments of the Spear of Flame had already netted him 1.1 billion. The current Lu Mingfei was extremely wealthy; even if he did nothing for the rest of his life, he could live it in grand style. Any additional money was just a number to him.

Buy it with money? How much could he possibly give me? What good would that paltry sum of money do me?

Might as well tell me a joke to cheer me up instead~

"..."

Caesar's expression was not very pleasant.

Although slightly annoyed, after careful consideration, he realized his own mistake. How could a top-tier alchemist like Lu Mingfei possibly lack money? Trying to purchase the Eye of God with money was unrealistic from the start.

*I must have lost my mind because of Nono.*

He took a deep breath, calmed his emotions slightly, and continued, "Well, you're right. Such a epoch-making, magnificent alchemical creation indeed shouldn't be measured by money."

*Damn, this guy actually knows how to flatter people?*

Lu Mingfei's eyes lit up, and he thought to himself: Caesar's flattery skills were mediocre and didn't really move him, but the corners of his mouth were already gradually curving upward.

He simply found it interesting and was in a good mood, which had nothing to do with Caesar's flattery.

That was what he believed anyway.

"Well said, you're quite an interesting person." Lu Mingfei replied with a smile, and then continued, "So, noble young master of the Gattuso family, what kind of price can you offer me? If I deem the value sufficient, I might agree."

"A milligram of the Philosopher's Stone."

Caesar said with resonant certainty.

"Pfft!"

Norton suddenly chuckled, but quickly reined it in, acting as if nothing had happened.

The so-called Philosopher's Stone was actually solidified spiritual matter. This substance was extremely precious to humans, but far less valuable to Dragon Kings.

Bullets made from the Philosopher's Stone could inflict massive damage on a Dragon King, but there were several preconditions.

First, the Dragon King had to be an infant; higher-tier ones couldn't be fought this way at all.

Second, the infant Dragon King had to be weakened—for instance, Constantine when he lost control and went berserk, or Norton when he was so weak he was forced to merge with Cœus. A normal infant Dragon King couldn't actually be fought this way.

Third, the weakened infant Dragon King had to be completely unprepared for the attack. Because the Philosopher's Stone was spiritual matter, its physical damage output was extremely low; it had to score a direct hit to inflict massive damage. Pure physical output couldn't even breach an infant Dragon King's scales, and one had to strike vital points like the eyes to cause heavy damage.

The Philosopher's Stone itself was solidified spirit, but once spirit had a vessel, it could be blocked.

Therefore, you had to strip away a Dragon King's defenses before you could deal damage, but the problem was—if you were already capable of stripping away a Dragon King's defenses, did using the Philosopher's Stone even matter anymore?

Thus, the Philosopher's Stone could only work against a weakened, undefended infant Dragon King.

The lore sounded overpowered, but the reality was utter trash.

So the question arose: if the Philosopher's Stone required such harsh conditions to deal fatal damage to a Dragon King, did a Dragon King really need to fear bullets made of it?

Moreover, the Philosopher's Stone wasn't even precious to Dragon Kings. Norton and Constantine, who were proficient in alchemy, could even manufacture it independently; they simply felt it was unnecessary and useless to them, which was why they hadn't made many.

*With that time, wouldn't it be better for me to make some powerful alchemical creations? What kind of trash is the Philosopher's Stone?*

Therefore, Norton found Caesar hilarious.

He said he would give the Philosopher's Stone in all seriousness, and only a single milligram at that. To Norton, this sounded like saying, "I'll give you a single penny, now give me the Eye of God."

This was simply too funny!

"Cough, cough."

Constantine also turned his head away, casting his gaze toward the other side of the arena. Caesar's determined look with his darkened face was too amusing; he was afraid he would burst out laughing too, which would be extremely impolite. He had to exercise restraint.

"The Philosopher's Stone?"

Lu Mingfei raised an eyebrow playfully.

Although he didn't know what the Philosopher's Stone was, judging by the reactions of Norton and Constantine, it couldn't be anything special. Especially since Caesar was only offering a milligram, which made him feel quite bored.

After a brief moment of thought, instead of answering immediately, he walked right up to Constantine, threw an arm around his shoulder, turned his back to Caesar, and asked, "Quick question, what is the Philosopher's Stone?"

Caesar: *Do you have any manners?*

Norton: *Get away from my younger brother, you bastard!*

Looking at the puzzled Lu Mingfei, Constantine patiently explained, "The Philosopher's Stone is actually solidified spirit. It's a deadly poison to the draconic race. However, solidified spirit requires a carrier, and once it has a carrier, it can't pierce a Dragon King's physical defenses. So, this thing is actually pretty useless to a Dragon King."

"Then why did he offer to give me the Philosopher's Stone?"

Lu Mingfei asked in confusion.

"Even though the Philosopher's Stone is useless to Dragon Kings, humans rarely come into contact with them. It actually works quite well when dealing with Next-Generation or Third-Generation dragons. They view the Philosopher's Stone as a weapon of immense power and extreme rarity, because it is indeed extremely difficult for them to obtain," Constantine continued to explain.

"Oh~"

Lu Mingfei more or less understood.

Humans and Dragon Kings had different value systems. What humans considered precious might look as laughable as a useless toy to a Dragon King. The Philosopher's Stone might be extremely precious to Caesar, but that was only from a human perspective; to a Dragon King, it was somewhat laughable.

"Is a milligram a lot?"

Lu Mingfei asked again.

"Uh..."

Constantine didn't answer directly, merely offering an awkward yet polite smile. He hadn't said anything explicitly, yet it seemed as though he had said everything.

"Got it."

Lu Mingfei turned around, gave a couple of light coughs, and said, "The Philosopher's Stone is indeed valuable, but my current alchemical goals have nothing to do with it. So, you'd better exchange it for something else."

"Nothing to do with the Philosopher's Stone?"

Caesar raised an eyebrow. After a brief period of deep thought, he asked, "Pardon my asking, but what materials is your Eye of God actually constructed from?"

"Odin's eye."

Lu Mingfei bluffed with a straight face.

"Odin's eye?"

Caesar was instantly shocked.

He knew about Odin; the god's right eye was blind. In mythology, Odin gouged out his own eye and handed it to the wise giant Mímir in exchange for a drink from the Well of Wisdom.

He drank the water of the Well of Wisdom, gained wisdom, and foresaw the existence of Ragnarok.

And now...

Lu Mingfei was saying that Nono's Eye of God was crafted using Odin's eye as material. In all likelihood, the Eye of God was Odin's right eye! Why on earth was he able to obtain Odin's right eye? Could it be that he was Mímir from mythology? Or did he inherit Mímir's treasure hoard and secure Odin's right eye?

For a moment, Caesar's thoughts raced. But soon, he realized a new problem and asked, "If the material of the Eye of God is Odin's eye, and his other eye is still on Odin himself, how on earth do you plan to manufacture a new Eye of God next? Or does Odin's right eye yield enough material to make more than one Eye of God?"

"Huh? Do you even need to ask? Obviously, find a way to drag Odin out and slaughter him!" Lu Mingfei replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Caesar: Σ(°△°|||)︴

For a split second, he felt like Lu Mingfei had gone crazy, but at the same time, it somehow sounded completely reasonable. After all, no material could possibly be stronger than Odin's right eye. This perfectly explained why the Eye of God was so powerful, granting Chen M=["o"]tong such incredible strength.

As it turned out, what she had obtained was an alchemical creation based on Odin's right eye—a top-tier alchemical creation forged from a Dragon King's body. Its existence was at the very least on par with Gungnir.

Looking at it another way: Chen M=["o"]tong had been fighting him using a weapon on the level of Gungnir. It was only natural that he had lost, and lost miserably at that.

*Yet I still feel so miserable!*

"Wait, the Eye of God is an alchemical creation made from Odin's right eye, and you just handed it directly to Nono like that?" Caesar suddenly felt a mild panic in his chest, as if something on top of his head was beginning to take root and sprout.

"She helped me fight Odin; she deserved it. Besides, it was something I promised her. After all... she's my subordinate."

With that, Lu Mingfei puffed out his chest and continued with utmost solemnity, "Caesar, I know what you're thinking, but I hope you won't let your imagination run wild with nonexistent things. I have my own girlfriend, and I don't want people to misunderstand."

"I know."

Caesar breathed a sigh of relief, feeling so relaxed it was as if someone had sprayed weedkiller on his head.

"Good that you know."

Lu Mingfei nodded slightly.

When it came to matters of the heart, he had always been devoted. He didn't want anyone misunderstanding his romantic life; it was a form of spiritual cleanliness.

Not far away, Chen M=["o"]tong, who had been playing with the Eye of God a bit longer on the field, walked up. Looking at Caesar standing before Lu Mingfei, she asked with a smile, "You surely aren't trying to buy the Eye of God, are you? I'd imagine that's probably a bit difficult."

"Difficult doesn't even begin to cover it. That's simply not something you can buy." Caesar sighed helplessly.

"Is that so?"

Chen M=["o"]tong was slightly surprised.

"To put it simply, we're out of materials."

Norton chimed in from the side.

"Materials? What kind of materials do you need?"

Chen M=["o"]tong asked in confusion.

"Odin's eye."

Norton enunciated every syllable with absolute clarity, without the slightest error. His gaze was also profoundly earnest, as if the truth of the matter really was just like that.

In reality, however, the truth was nothing of the sort. He just had a grudge against Odin and wanted to frame him. Since he could frame Odin fair and square, why wouldn't he?

"Huh?"

Chen M=["o"]tong was instantly startled. Although she had figured the Eye of God wasn't simple, she never dreamed that this item was actually crafted from Odin's eye.

However, she quickly thought of the evil eye on Constantine and asked, "Then what about that evil eye he has? Was that also made from Odin's eye?"

"No."

"Then why do I feel like his evil eye is even stronger than my Eye of God?"

Lu Mingfei shot her a sideways glance and said, "You started from scratch, gaining power with zero baseline. He had an existing baseline that got amplified. Being able to wield power close to his with the Eye of God is already pretty good."

"Oh."

Chen M=["o"]tong nodded. Her situation was starting from zero and gaining a new skill, while Constantine's situation was upgrading an existing skill. It was completely normal for the effects to differ.

"Then can you help me forge an evil eye?"

Caesar asked with burning intensity.

"...No."

Lu Mingfei refused flatly.

*Fat chance.* The functions of the evil eye were completely different from what he had claimed. If he gave one to Caesar, wouldn't his bluff be exposed?

Therefore, it was impossible for him to give Caesar an evil eye.

"Why? Is there a problem?"

Caesar pressed on.

Lu Mingfei sighed and said, "I just finished making the Eye of God for Chen M=["o"]tong. Do you think I'm in top condition right now? Alchemists are people, not machines. Besides, even machines can overheat—how could I possibly churn out items of this caliber back-to-back?"

"Sorry, I got a bit carried away just now."

Caesar apologized.

"Mm."

Lu Mingfei felt a slight pang of guilt, so he turned his head to look at Constantine and said, "Although my condition isn't great, his current condition is quite good. You can submit an alchemical request to him."

"Master Yanqing can do it too?"

Caesar said in surprise.

"We are friends, sharing what we have. Knowledge must flow to be beneficial for development; otherwise, if everyone hoards their own knowledge, it becomes very difficult to make progress," Lu Mingfei said.

"As expected of a master!"

Caesar couldn't help clapping in admiration.

"..."

Constantine cast a helpless look at Lu Mingfei, feeling utterly speechless. Caesar didn't know the truth, but how could he not? This guy simply couldn't forge a true amplification alchemical creation himself, so he was shoving the blame onto him, the one who actually had the ability.

In other words, if he agreed, he would have to design an alchemical creation that looked identical to the evil eye but possessed the effect of amplifying Spiritual Resonances (*Yaling*).

That was a huge pain!

Then, Constantine took out the evil eye. As his gaze met Lu Mingfei's, he also glanced at his older brother beside him. The meaning was already crystal clear.

*I can make it, but you have to forge an evil eye for my brother too.*

He had long since seen that his brother wanted one, but had held back out of pride and hadn't voiced it.

Constantine's hint wasn't subtle, but it was more than enough for Lu Mingfei to understand. He smiled, nodded, and flashed an OK sign.

"Master Yanqing..."

Caesar looked at Constantine with eager anticipation.

"I think we should discuss the matter of compensation first. After all, this is also very difficult for me. I'm sure you can understand." Constantine said with a smile.

One job, two paychecks. Perfect!