Raghu woke up.

No one had called him, nor did he wake up needing the restroom. He simply couldn’t sleep because the pain around his eyes was too intense.

Healing Potions could treat injuries, but they only restored the function of the damaged area. The pain and bruising would linger for a long time. Once the adrenaline wore off, all he had was his willpower.

KNOCK KNOCK! A knock sounded at the door.

"Get lost!" Raghu shouted, his voice hoarse. He grabbed a cup from his bedside and hurled it at the door.

Not since he’d made a name for himself in the gangs at twenty-two had he been humiliated like this.

"Boss, I think you should see this. Our Healing Potions are being returned."

Hearing this, Raghu ignored the pain in his eyes and scrambled out of bed. Returns were a serious matter. Healing Potions had an expiration date; if he couldn’t resell them quickly, they’d be a total loss.

He opened the door to see his assistant’s worried face.

"Who? Who returned them?"

The assistant stammered, not daring to look at Raghu.

"Speak up! What, did a few more clients return their orders?"

"Uh, no."

"Then what are you afraid to say?"

The assistant seemed to spend a long moment steeling himself, then finally summoned his courage. "They... they all got returned."

"?"

Raghu thought he must have misheard.

"Say that again!"

"They were all returned. All of last month’s orders have been returned."

"Am I going crazy?" Raghu’s heart suddenly hammered, and his ears began to ring. "Or have they gone crazy? It’s just one Shadow of Evil movie! So it’s popular, but is all this really necessary?"

"It’s not just the Shadow of Evil. There’s also this." The assistant handed over a large stack of newspapers.

Raghu took them and started reading, growing more agitated with each headline.

"Healing Potions Contain Animal Feed."

"Vile Potions from Hell."

"Experts Say Potions May Have Unknown Side Effects."

...

His rage finally boiled over. He tore all the newspapers to shreds, threw them on the floor, and stomped on them viciously, as if he could crush the articles themselves into nonexistence.

"Lunatics! They’re all fucking lunatics! Shameless bastards, all for a bit of money! Newspapers... ’experts’... All I did was cut a few corners and use cheaper materials! Do I deserve all these accusations? How much did that damn toy seller pay them? Is it wrong to cut corners in business? What merchant isn’t a little crooked? Aren’t you crooked?"

The assistant watched his boss’s meltdown from the side. Years of workplace experience screamed at him: ’Even though he’s asking questions, do not answer! Do not answer! Do not answer!’

"Boss," a bodyguard said, also arriving at the office.

"What now?"

"Our potion shop was smashed up."

"By who?"

"Passersby. A lot of them."

"What about the Guard Corps? What the hell are we paying them for? Aren’t they supposed to maintain order in Twin Tower City?"

"The Guard Corps joined in."

"Haha." Raghu laughed, but it was a humorless sound. The smile on his face was savage and twisted. ’Just who are the thugs now?’

"Boss." The manager came to the office now.

"What is it now? Did someone tear down the Factory too? I’m not mad. Not mad at all, haha."

"No. The Inspectorate is here." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What?" Raghu snapped back to his senses almost instantly. "Get my formal suit. And find that painting I bought last week. The Inspector likes paintings. Don’t just bring the painting! Can’t you stuff some Gold Coins into that big frame?"

Ten minutes later, Raghu was impeccably dressed. He had applied a thick layer of foundation to his face to cover the bruises and was now heading to the reception room.

"Inspector Jack, my apologies for the wait. I was tied up with something urgent, please forgive the offense. Your presence at my humble Factory is truly an honor that brightens this place."

"Let’s skip the pleasantries," Inspector Jack said, his expression stern as he ignored Raghu’s outstretched hand.

"Oh, how could you call them pleasantries? Every word I say comes from the heart."

"I hear there are some rather significant quality issues with the potions your factory produces."

"A misunderstanding, all of it! This is a small business, and we pride ourselves on operating with integrity. If there are such rumors, we will certainly conduct a thorough internal investigation and show no mercy to the culprits."

As he spoke, Raghu shot his assistant a look, signaling him to bring out the painting.

"You see, I recently acquired a painting. I don’t know the first thing about art, but I’ve heard you’re an expert appraiser, Inspector. I’m begging you to do me a favor. Take it with you to appraise it. There’s no rush, just bring it back whenever it’s convenient for you."

Inspector Jack waved a dismissive hand. "Don’t bother. I’m just a common man, I don’t have such refined hobbies."

"Please," Raghu said, a hint of desperation in his voice. "If you don’t have hobbies, how will the Director have hobbies? And if the Director doesn’t have any hobbies, how can he better serve the Kingdom?"

Inspector Jack remained unmoved. "Stop trying to change the subject. Shut down the Factory’s production for now. You can restart when the investigation is complete."

With that, he turned and left without a backward glance.

Raghu bowed and scraped as he watched the inspector’s retreating back. "Take care, Inspector! We will definitely investigate thoroughly."

The moment the group was out of sight, Raghu kicked the painting. The frame shattered into several pieces, and the Gold Coins hidden inside scattered across the floor.

"A damn errand boy, acting like a big shot in front of me. What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

He could only take his anger out on his underlings.

He grabbed a random bottle from the liquor cabinet, took a large swig, and staggered dazedly toward his office.

But as soon as he entered, he found a goblin in a formal suit sitting in his chair.

"Who are you?"

The alcohol had dulled his thoughts.

"Who I am isn’t important. One Thousand Gold Coins to acquire your potion Factory."

"Hahaha!" Raghu laughed wildly. "One Thousand Gold Coins? Who do you think you are? Do you have any idea how much this factory is worth?"

"Nine hundred."

"Hahaha! You’re a goblin, wearing a suit and trying to play human with me? What gives you the right to talk to me like that? Bodyguards! Drag this little green-skin out, beat him up, and throw him onto the street."

Raghu took another huge swig, nearly finishing the bottle of hard liquor.

Xin 104’s expression remained neutral, as if watching a boring clown show.

"Bodyguards! Where is everyone? Am I paying you to just stand around? Useless! All of you are useless!"

He staggered as he turned, wanting to see where the two bodyguards who should have been at the door had gone.

But what greeted him were two Zor.

A cold sweat broke out instantly, sobering him up almost completely.

He spun back to face the strange goblin, his attitude shifting immediately. "I-I didn’t realize you were serious about buying. That was reckless of me, I’ve offended you. The Factory is for sale, but... can we negotiate the price? After all, this is my life’s work."

"Eight hundred."

"No, please, can’t you be a little more flexible?" Raghu’s posture was practically begging.

"Where were you when the workers in your factory wanted you to be flexible with their medical expenses for workplace injuries?"

"That’s not..."

"Seven hundred."

"Done! Deal!" Raghu didn’t dare say another word. This was already no different from being robbed, but he feared if he said more, it would become an actual robbery.

"Very good. You are selling the Factory of your own free will, correct?"

"Yes." Raghu practically spat the word through clenched teeth.

"No one is coercing you, correct?"

"No."

"A pleasure doing business with you."

Xin 104 left with the deed and the Zor, leaving one last sentence hanging in the air: "You have one day to move out."

Raghu collapsed onto the floor, numb. His gaze drifted to the mechanism for the hidden room behind the bookshelf, his eyes filled with a crazed light.