“Don’t you agree, Young Master Augustus?”
After refuting the words of the female students around him, the red-faced warrior turned around and looked at Augustus, who was hugging his shoulders, dressed in black clothes and black gloves. He had been acting arrogantly since the beginning.
“Shut up. Do you know how noisy you are?”
Augustus raised his head and looked around with his scarlet eyes. The killing intent in his eyes was so strong that both the youth and the girls who worshipped Watson kept their mouths shut and kept quiet.
They had watched Augustus’ match against Watson. Even though Augustus lost in the end, the strength he displayed on the battlefield was shocking; otherwise, the youth would not have said that Augustus was better than Watson. At least, with Augustus’ strength, crushing them was as easy as crushing a bug.
“Augustus, we are all classmates. Don’t be so rude.” Christina frowned and interrupted him.
“Lady Swordmistress, you don’t seem to have anything to do here. Just follow Watson obediently.” Augustus smiled arrogantly. Then, he looked at Watson, who was calm as if he was thinking about something. His attention was not on him. “And Watson, don’t think that you can laugh. In terms of strength, I might not be able to surpass you in this lifetime. However, the knowledge imparted in the Royal Academy is about strength and some other aspects, such as controlling the army and political skills. You can’t even catch up with me in those aspects.”
“Is that so?”
Watson seemed to have heard that sentence and raised his eyebrows.
“That’s right. If you don’t believe me, we can make a bet. Generally speaking, the first lesson taught by the various departments in the Royal Academy is not how to cultivate but to understand the current situation of the Holy Dragon Kingdom and the military strength of the other four kingdoms surrounding the kingdom! Only by understanding that will one have the motivation to cultivate. Only by understanding the situation of other kingdoms will one have the confidence to fight against those kingdoms in the future.”
Augustus spoke with assurance. As the Young Master of the Campbell family, he had learned those things since he was young. That knowledge increased the noblemen’s sense of honor toward the kingdom and prepared them for a rainy day. If a battle broke out one day and they did not understand how the other kingdoms worked, that would eventually lead to their downfall.
The Royal Academy’s purpose was to build talents for the kingdom. They had to make the students understand why knowledge was more important than cultivation itself.
“Young Master Augustus, what do you plan to bet on?”
“The army has something called war chess. The chess pieces can be used to replace soldiers, and the chessboard can be used to replace the terrain. Both sides control different colored chess pieces to fight on the chessboard. One side will win when their opponent’s chess pieces are all taken! Watson, let’s use war chess to bet on who will win. If I win, you have to give me those two weapons behind me.”
Augustus told him his plan. Initially, he had wanted Watson’s crown and the key to the extensive library. However, one was given by the King, and the other by the Principal. He did not want to make the King look bad in front of the Principal.
After thinking about it, Augustus could only focus on the two weapons on Watson’s back. Those two weapons were made from Watson’s 50 holy relics. They possessed a power that was more powerful than the combined power of 50 holy relics.
Augustus wanted to use that power to take revenge for Watson’s previous actions against him.
“Young Master Augustus, you want those weapons as your reward, but you haven’t told me what you will give me if I win.”
“Watson, do you think you can win? Do you know how to play chess?”
“No, this is the first time I’ve heard of such a game.”
“Then it’s easy.”
“What?”
“I mean, that’s such a pity.” Augustus looked at Watson’s expression when the other youth spoke. He did not think Watson was not lying. Since Watson had played chess before, it should be easy for Augustus to win that match. If Watson had played chess before, Augustus was worried that Watson would play the game too well.
“Well, I don’t want people to think that I’m bullying you. If I lose, I’ll give you something equivalent to two weapons, which is a hundred holy relics. That should be fine with you, right?”
“That’s fine.”
Watson nodded and smiled at the teacher named Blue. “Teacher Blue, in order to prevent someone from refusing to pay after they lose, I’ll have to trouble you to be a witness.”
“Okay, no problem.”
Blue’s expression was a little strange. He did not expect that Augustus and Watson, the two geniuses, would continue to fight on the first day of school. However, it was only war chess. It was a game developed by the ancestors of the Holy Dragon Kingdom’s monarch. That game could increase one’s intelligence and improve one’s skills in the arrangement of troops. It was a famous game around the world upon its release.
For the Holy Dragon Kingdom generals or those who had the ambition to become generals, war chess was something that they had to master.
Just as Blue was thinking, the youth who had just mocked Watson in front of everyone suddenly said, “Hmph, Watson, you’re going to lose for sure! I heard that Young Master Augustus’ accomplishments in war chess are quite good. Even the kingdom’s famous generals can’t beat him. If you know what’s good for you, you’d better change to another game. Otherwise, Young Master Augustus’s win will be an unfair one.”
Augustus glanced at the youth beside him. He noticed that the youth had gray hair and a face full of righteous indignation. He seemed to have seen his face somewhere before, but he could not quite remember.
He had spent a lot of effort to lure Watson into taking the bait, allowing Watson to have the idea of competing with him in chess. That youth actually wanted Watson to change to another game? Whose side was he on? That youth had clearly mocked Watson and looked like he did not like Watson very much, but he had done that instead. It was likely that his brain was not working properly.
Then, Augustus heard Watson mumble, “I didn’t expect Augustus to be so amazing. It looks like I made a mistake. Should I change to another game?” That made him panic.
“I do have some accomplishments in war chess, and you don’t know war chess. In that case, it would be unfair for you to win even if I won. I’ll increase the reward. If you can beat me, I’ll give you 300 holy relics. If I beat you, you only need to give me two weapons. What do you think?”
He wanted Watson to continue with the gamble, so Augustus increased the reward by three times.
“Alright, Young Master Augustus, don’t go back on your words.”
Watson nodded, turned around, and followed Teacher Blue to the classroom. It was a vast and spacious colosseum with all kinds of training equipment placed in it. Among the training equipment, there was a huge chessboard, ten meters square, with hundreds of chess pieces arranged on it.
“Watson, Augustus, if you’re ready, let’s begin the match.”
Blue stood around the huge chessboard and announced it to Augustus and Watson.
Initially, the first lesson was for him to tell the noblemen about the Holy Dragon Kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms’ combat strength and the soldiers in the other kingdoms. However, that information was widespread knowledge. As a nobleman, he might have known about it since he was young and unwilling to listen to it anymore. As a teacher in the academy, he was reluctant to talk about similar things too many times.
It just so happened that Watson had a conflict with Augustus, so he was happy to let the two of them have a war chess match.
“Watson, I’ll go easy on you. I’ll let you go first.” Augustus crossed his arms and nodded at Watson. The rules of war chess were very simple. A chess piece would immediately be removed once different colored chess pieces surrounded it.
They would have a winner once one side lost all their chess pieces.
The rules were straightforward, but it was tough to operate because one’s opponent was not a fool. In order to have four chess pieces surround a chess piece, they would need at least four steps in the early stage. If they left even a single opening, they would not be able to remove the enemy’s chess piece successfully.
They created such a winning method because when the founder king opened the Holy Dragon Kingdom territory, he used a four-person encirclement battle formation to do it. It was always successful—four against one. He guaranteed that each of the enemies would face four enemies from different directions simultaneously. It made it seem like he had four times the strength and was able to kill them quickly.
“Since Young Master Augustus has said so, then I won’t stand on ceremony.”
Watson laughed and looked at the chessboard in front of him. Then, the knowledge about war chess automatically appeared in his mind. There were many in the memories of the Einherjar body that he had fused with. In addition, in his eyes, that so-called chess was very similar to the Go game that he had known in his previous life. As a result, he did not have confidence in the outcome of that match, as he had just said to Augustus.
Watson quietly activated the fusion system in his mind, explicitly fusing all the knowledge about chess in the Einherjar body. In just a moment, his skill level was raised to the peak. Then, he used his combat aura to activate a warrior-like chess piece made of black rocks in the center of the chessboard.
That warrior-like chess piece was as tall as an ordinary person. In addition, its body was covered with armor made of rocks, and its weight was dozens of times that of an average person. Therefore, it was a game for people who played war chess to improve their ability to arrange troops and formations and a training device to enhance their combat aura.
Seeing Watson place his chess piece in the center, Augustus could not help but smile, and then he burst into laughter. “Watson, it seems like you really don’t know how to play war chess! The so-called war chess starts with four corners, so the odds of winning are greater. If you place your chess piece in the center, you are waiting to be surrounded by others.”
Placed in the corner of the chessboard, it would naturally reduce the risk of being surrounded from the outside because the chessboard had a limit. And if one placed one’s chess piece in the center, one would face the situation of being besieged on all sides. As he laughed at Watson, Augustus placed his own chess piece in the corner of the chessboard step by step.
Then, Watson’s second chess piece was placed in the center, and it looked like it was next to the first chess piece.
Augustus was not the only one who saw that scene. Even Blue and the other students shook their heads. Even if Watson did not understand the game’s rules, after he placed the first chess piece and heard Augustus’ hint, he should have understood how ridiculous his action was.
“It seems that the match will end very soon.” Blue shook his head in disappointment. He had hoped that that lesson would become a chess match between Watson and Augustus, and then he would explain the chess match between the two of them. It would be a different teaching, but the explanation would be meaningless if Watson lost too quickly.
He thought Watson’s loss was just a matter of minutes.
The other students, like Blue, were a little disappointed, especially the girls. Women were creatures of fantasy. They had seen Watson’s amazing performance at the competition venue, and they had long regarded Watson as an unparalleled genius. In their hearts, Watson could do anything, but they found that Watson was not good at playing chess. That had lowered their expectations, which caused Watson’s image in their hearts to drop as well.
At that moment, the male student who had taken the lead in ridiculing Watson started to stir the atmosphere again. “Everyone, it looks like Young Master Augustus and Watson’s match will end very soon. Watson will definitely lose! I’ve said that Watson is useless apart from his strength. In a battle with other kingdoms, personal valor is not very useful. What we really need is an understanding of the troops’ arrangement. On that point, Young Master Augustus is much stronger than Watson. The bet was meaningless. Now, I want to open a new bet. Let’s bet on how many chess pieces Young Master Augustus can use to win against Watson. I bet that Young Master Augustus can win with another ten moves. I bet a thousand gold coins.”
“I’ll bet as well. I’ll bet that Augustus will win in 50 steps, 100 gold coins.”
“I’ll bet that Augustus will win in 100 steps, 500 gold coins.”
As the male student’s voice fell, some people around them could not help but take out 100 gold coins or more and began to bet. Blue turned a blind eye to all of that. Betting was a very normal thing for the students. As long as it did not cause a destructive impact on their studies, no teacher would care about that matter.
“Watson, don’t continue to struggle.”
Augustus chuckled. He and Watson had already played dozens of chess pieces. Watson’s chess pieces were scattered in the outermost corner of the chessboard, forming a huge encirclement net. Watson’s chess pieces were only arranged densely in the center of the chessboard. Each chess piece was separated by a grid, looking like a huge piece of beehive coal.
No matter who it was, Watson’s defeat was already set. Augustus only needed to surround the outside, and then all of Watson’s chess pieces on the chessboard would be in danger. No matter how many chess pieces Watson placed, he would only give the other side more spoils of war.
However, Watson did not seem to think so. He continued to move the chess pieces in the center of the chessboard and signaled Augustus to continue playing.
“Watson, since you’re courting death, then I won’t hold back.” Augustus sneered.
He had the new bets on their match. He wanted to use the fastest speed to destroy Watson.
Three minutes later, Augustus used the chess pieces to surround the outermost layer of the entire chessboard. He began to place his stones on the penultimate layer of the chessboard.
“Watson, you’ve lost.”
Ten minutes later, the outermost layer of the chessboard was entirely covered by Augustus’ chess pieces, while Watson’s chess pieces occupied the middle area. The chess pieces from both sides began to collide.
“Watson, you should admit defeat.”
Fifteen minutes later.
Augustus looked at everything in front of him in a daze. Cold sweat rolled down his forehead. ‘What happened?’
The white warrior piece he controlled had more than half of the white warrior pieces on the chessboard shattered. However, none of the black pieces had died. They were spreading in all directions like a virus.
He was the one with an advantage. How did his pieces shatter in front of Watson’s pieces? At first, he thought that it was because Watson did not know how to play chess and did not know how to connect the pieces to prevent him from surrounding them.
However, it seemed like Watson had deliberately left a gap between the pieces. If he dared to place a piece into the gap, Watson could put a piece outside to seal the gap. The passage initially left for Augustus to invade had become a trap.
Due to the loss of many white pieces, Watson’s black pieces expanded. Then, Watson used the black pieces to gradually fill in the gaps in the pieces on the central chessboard. Finally, only a layer of beehive-like pieces was left.
“Watson had turned it into an advantage. How did he play that game? Why is it so strange? ”
“I can’t believe Augustus is going to lose. Does that mean that those who bet on Augustus will lose money?”
The students looked at the situation on the chessboard, and their expressions became nervous.
“D*mn it, how did it turn out like that? Watson was clearly a newbie. How did he do it? Why can’t I see it?”
The most nervous person was Augustus. He muttered softly as he watched the situation on the chessboard while his brain worked rapidly. Unfortunately, he could not think of any good ideas. Faced with the attack, Augustus could only wait in a honeycomb formation. If he did not attack, Watson would fill in the chess pieces in the central area. That caused Augustus to be in a dilemma.
Finally, half an hour into the match, Augustus watched as the white warrior piece closest to him was surrounded by four black pieces. The sharp blade fell and shattered, and he sighed dejectedly.
“I lost.”
At first, he chose to occupy the four borders of the chessboard. That was not a problem because it could surround Watson’s pieces. However, when he was at a disadvantage, the chess pieces at the borders became shackles that bound him. It left him with no way out.
“Watson, you’re lucky this time. You won by luck. Let’s play another round.” Augustus gritted his teeth. His expression was filled with anger. When he thought of the agreement he had made with Watson just now, his heart was bleeding—300 holy relics! Where would he get them? If he told the Campbell family about that, they would probably tear him apart.
“Well, what do you have to pay for it?”
“If I lose again, I’ll give you 500 holy relics.”
“Come on, then.”
Another 20 later, the match ended even faster. Augustus’ mouth twitched, and he looked a little lost. “I lost. I lost again. How could it be?”
“Young Master Augustus, you owe me 800 holy relics. Do you still want to gamble?” Pointing at the black chess pieces on the chessboard in front of him, the corners of Watson’s mouth rose, and he looked relaxed.
“Watson, in each of the two games you played, you placed the chess pieces in the middle and then used the space between them to extend outwards, but each time, you were able to defeat your opponent. That is the first time I’ve seen such a way of playing chess. Who did you learn it from? ”
Blue reacted. It was not that Watson did not know how to play chess, but he played it very cleverly. He was just being modest.
“I did not learn from anyone. If I had to say it, I learned from the ancestors.”
“The ancestors? Watson, don’t mess around. They have been dead for hundreds of years.”
Hearing Watson’s words, the students of the royal academy around them laughed. Watson, on the other hand, looked around with a severe expression. “I’m not joking. When the founder king conquered the territory, why did he choose the Holy Dragon Kingdom instead of the other four kingdoms? Everyone knows that there are five kingdoms globally, and the Holy Dragon Kingdom is in the center. The other four kingdoms are eyeing the Holy Dragon Kingdom covetously. Is that a coincidence?
“Some of you may say that the reason was that the climate here is pleasant and suitable for growing crops. At the same time, natural moats are protecting it in all directions. People from other kingdoms don’t dare to invade it easily. It’s still different from the chess pieces on the chessboard! What I want to say is that it has nothing to do with the location. Because even if we don’t have the founder king, we would still choose this location. That is the so-called survival of the fittest.”
The combat aura on Watson’s body spread out, turning all the chess pieces on the four corners of the chessboard into white.
“The current situation of the Holy Dragon Kingdom is similar to that. The Winter Nation in the north, the Elven Kingdom in the south, the Thorn Empire in the east, and the Dwarf Kingdom in the west. Those four kingdoms are just like the rules of war set by the founder king. Once the Holy Dragon Kingdom is surrounded, we will not be able to take care of ourselves and be beheaded by the soldiers. But is that really the case? At least I managed to defeat Augustus when I set the chess piece in the center.”
Watson’s voice was not loud, but the power contained within it was harsh and clear, resounding in everyone’s hearts. “I believe that the founder king created the chess piece and allowed us to bring it into the Holy Dragon Kingdom. He was thinking about how to break out from the center to defeat the other four kingdoms! Instead of going to the other four kingdoms and surrounding them from the outside, he wanted us to think of a way to defeat them from the Holy Dragon Kingdom.”
“Well said. So there is such logic behind war chess? I did not know about that before.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard of such a theory. According to the rules set by the founder king, what Watson said is very likely to be true! Indeed, we should do it from the Holy Dragon Kingdom and not other kingdoms. Although it’s difficult to win by doing so, it’s the charm of war chess.”
The students’ discussions could be heard from all around. Everyone admired Watson’s logic. They did not have the gloomy look of someone who was about to lose money. They felt like the money spent was worth it. It was equivalent to paying tuition fees.
“Watson, you—” Augustus really wanted to refute Watson’s theory. Unfortunately, he could not say anything. He did not expect that he would lose to Watson in war chess. Was Watson really omnipotent?
He also owed Watson 800 holy relics. He could not realize that amount. He had to think of a way to offset that debt. However, he could not think of anything else to win against Watson.
“Watson, you detestable fellow, you actually won? Although I don’t want to admit it, what you said was very reasonable. Because of that, I’ve lost a thousand gold coins. However, I believe that Young Master Augustus will not give up. Although he is inferior to you in war chess, he may not be inferior to you in other aspects. I heard that Young Master Augustus is also very proficient in arithmetic. Do you dare to compete with Young Master Augustus in arithmetic?”
The youth who had taken the lead in slandering Watson began to attack Watson again, and at the same time, he praised Augustus.
“That’s right, Watson. I’m also very good at arithmetic. Let’s have a competition! If I win, you can cancel the holy relics that you just won. If I lose, you can have another 100 holy relics.”
“Fine, let’s compete. What kind of competition do you have in mind?”
“It’s straightforward. Let’s each give a question. If anyone can’t answer it, that person will lose.”
“Okay, Young Master Augustus, let’s begin.” Watson nodded. Augustus rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “The problem I want you to solve is very simple. I want you to place that chessboard according to the pattern of placing one gold coin on the first grid and two gold coins on the second grid. Fill each grid in turn. Can you do it?”
It was a problem that he had accidentally heard in the Campbell family. They said that Lily had encountered that problem from a bank’s president. Since she could not answer it in time, Lily had lost the grand prize of ten million gold coins. When Lily mentioned that matter, the vexed look on her face was still imprinted in Augustus’ mind. In his opinion, that question was perfect for making things difficult for Watson.
He also heard that Watson was the winner of the ten million gold coins, and Watson’s answer at that time was that he could not do it. Therefore, when Watson answered that he could not do it, he would lose. Augustus felt proud when he thought of how he had set a trap for Watson.
“Of course, I can do that.”
Watson chuckled and twisted the Wish for the World ring on his finger.
“Watson, it seems that you can’t do it… Wait, what did you say?” Augustus widened his eyes in disbelief at Watson’s answer. How could Watson do it? While he was in shock, starlight burst from Watson’s fingers. A gold coin appeared, followed by a second, and then a fourth.
Countless gold coins fell from the sky. The first coin was placed on the first grid, and the second and third coins were placed on the second grid. The entire grid of the chessboard was numbered in the hundreds. The number of gold coins piled up to fill more than half of the circular arena, causing the board to be submerged. Even some students did not have a place to put their feet.
“He had created so many gold coins in an instant. Am I hallucinating?” A student stepped on the gold coins and rubbed his eyes as if he was dreaming.
“It’s not an illusion. Those gold coins are real! ”
Another warrior student picked up the gold coins on the ground, put one in his mouth, and gently bit it. He knew that it was real.
All the students looked at Watson in disbelief. They even began to think of Watson as a god—he had magic that could create gold coins! Did that mean that Watson could be rich even if he did nothing but cast magic every day?
“Watson, where did you get so many gold coins? Did you make those with magic?”
Augustus was also a little confused. Why did Watson not play by the rules?
Then, he reacted and gritted his teeth. “Watson, even though you have a lot of gold coins, who knows if you have filled the entire chessboard according to my requirements? Even though you have produced a lot of gold coins, if you don’t do it according to my requirements, you will still lose.”
“Young Master Augustus, you can rest assured. The gold coins that I have summoned are completely enough to fill the chessboard. If you don’t believe me, you can count them yourself! If I win, then you will owe me 900 holy relics.”
Watson smiled, but his words made Augustus’ expression change. His meaning was obvious. If Augustus did not believe his answer, he could count it himself. If Augustus could not count it, he had to believe Watson’s answer.
‘There are so many gold coins here, at least a trillion. With so many gold coins, how long do I need to count them?’ Augustus thought angrily in his heart.
Perhaps he would not even finish counting when Watson and the other students graduated. Since Watson made that request, the exact number of gold coins was no longer important.
“Watson, you win. I admit defeat.”
“Watson, don’t think that you’ve won just like that. Young Master Augustus is inferior to you in terms of strength, chess, and arithmetic. However, Young Master Augustus has another advantage, and that is that he knows everything from the past to the present! As long as it was a book that Young Master Augustus had read, he would remember every word, even where the word appeared. Do you dare to bet? ”
The other young man began to clamor again. He seemed even prouder than Augustus.
“Young Master Augustus also has other ultimate moves such as sleeping with his eyes open, continuously eating a ton of raw meat that doesn’t need to be cooked, persisting for a month without eating or drinking water, and—.”
“Get lost! Who said that I know those things? Get far away from me.”
Augustus finally could not stand it anymore and roared. It was one thing to sleep with his eyes open, but the young man actually said he could eat a ton of meat. Did he think that he was an elephant?
Plus, he said raw meat. Even if he were given a ton of cooked meat, he would not be able to eat it, not to mention not eating or drinking water for a month. Then he would definitely die. In order to complete the bet with Watson, he would end up risking his life. It was not worth it.
“Young Master Augustus, since you don’t want to bet, then please send the 900 saint relics to the Sword Saint’s courtyard. I hope you won’t go back on your words.” Watson’s expression was relaxed. He turned around and looked at the gold coins that filled the entire arena. “As for those gold coins, I’ll have to trouble Teacher Blue to find someone to clean them up! It seems the class can’t continue with all these gold coins around. I feel bad that this has affected your class.”
“It’s okay, Watson, you don’t have to feel bad. Leave those gold coins to me! I just don’t know if those gold coins can—” The gold coins lit Blue’s gaze. “So, what do I do with them?” he asked hesitantly.
“You can give them to the Royal Academy. The competition has caused quite a bit of damage to this place. Take a portion of gold coins as my compensation to the Royal Academy. As for the extra money, use it to expand the Royal Academy.”
“Watson, I have to say that you are truly the most outstanding student in the history of the Royal Academy. Principal Brand will definitely praise you! As expected, the Principal’s decision to hand the library to you was the right arrangement. Only a person like you has the qualifications to control the library.”
Blue resisted the impulse to jump. Just one lesson, and he had received so much money for nothing. They should praise and reward Watson! A handful of gold coins was more than his annual salary.
“Teacher, if there is nothing else, please tidy up here. I’ll be leaving now.”
Watson bowed to Blue and turned around to leave. Blue said, “Don’t forget about the potion class in the afternoon.” He did not care about Watson’s departure at all.
After Watson left, many students came to Blue’s side with burning eyes. “Teacher Blue, do you need help? Let us help you collect those gold coins. ”
Although they were from noble families, they had never seen so many gold coins. Those gold coins were more than all the money they had seen in their lives combined. At that moment, they all looked like country bumpkins.
“Get out of the way. Watson donated these gold coins to the Royal Academy. Therefore, I will collect them. If you have nothing else to do, go and rest. There are other classes in the afternoon!” Blue rejected the students’ help. He thought that if he collected the gold coins by himself, no one would notice if he stole some. If there were many people there, how could he steal them?
Not everyone in the crowd was interested in those gold coins. Augustus was not interested at all. Instead, he was looking around for the person who had taken the lead to mock Watson. “Where’s that idiot just now? I must teach him a good lesson. If it weren’t for him making a fuss, I would not have lost so miserably.”
Outside the circular arena, Watson was strolling toward the direction of the Great Library.
Other than scamming Augustus, the lesson was not of much help to him. On the contrary, he was very interested in the potion class in the afternoon. Since he had absorbed the God of Poison’s power, the blood in his body could be made into various types of potions, and potions had a massive market in the capital.
If a soldier were injured and did not receive timely treatment from a healer, he would need potions to recover. Before a battle, a soldier would also need to drink potions to increase his strength temporarily. There were even some potions that had special effects. For example, they could make a person invisible or resist the attacks of natural disasters such as water, fire, lightning, and lightning for a short period. Their use was extensive.
At that moment, The Severed Fingers Gang monopolized the alcohol and weapons trades. Only the potions trade had not been touched yet. Watson decided to use his blood to create powerful potions. After systematically learning about potions, he would seize the kingdom’s market and make a huge profit.
If he wanted to obtain knowledge related to the potions trade, instead of attending classes, he might as well go directly to the Great Library and fuse all the knowledge there.
Just as Watson thought about that, he heard footsteps from behind him, followed by a certain someone’s respectful voice. “It looks like Young Master Augustus, who spoke rudely to you just now, is now heavily in debt. I reckon that in the future, he will be circling you for a very long time! Also, this is the money that everyone lost in the bet just now. It’s a total of 50,000 gold coins.”
“Amon, you did well. Well, are there any students that hate me so much that we need to investigate them?”
Watson turned his head and looked at the gray-haired youth in front of him, who looked to be about 15 or 16 years old, and smiled.
The boy in front of him was Amon, one of the Severed Fingers Gang members. It was only an act when he mocked Watson. His goal was to find out if anyone in the warrior department was dissatisfied with him. If anyone were, then Watson would find those people and punish them to avoid affecting his subsequent talent recruitment plan.
“Other than Augustus, the rest of the students seem to respect you very much. Of course, we can’t rule out the possibility that someone is hiding something profound. We still need to investigate further.”
“Then investigate that. There’s no rush. The 50,000 gold coins will be your reward for the success of this operation, Amon.” The smile on Watson’s face grew wider. “I’m going to the library next, but it’s really dull for me to go alone. Do you want to come with me?”
“Of course, Young Master Watson. It’s my honor.” Amon was excited and happy when Watson rewarded him with gold coins and even asked for his company.
