Chapter 164 Entrapment

The king arranged a room for Bill in the main castle, even specially building an apothecary table and having a whole set of pharmaceutical tools moved from the workshop to serve as Bill's exclusive workbench.

From now on, Bill didn't even need to clock in at the workshop. He could directly conduct research within the Golden Castle, and whatever materials he needed would be transported from the workshop.

Seeing the king's determination to keep him ensconced was so firm, Zhou Jing had no choice but to temporarily accept the arrangement and settle down.

Over the next two days, accompanied by the Had and Lake guard teams, he carefully toured the Golden Castle, quietly adding the details of the terrain to the panel's records.

In addition, learning that he, the "Chief Alchemist," had moved in, many royal family members and court officials had visited one after another these past few days, all with the idea of building connections and currying favor.

Zhou Jing didn't refuse anyone, happily getting to know many people. When the visitors left, he even gave everyone a bottle of stamina potion as a gift.

Most people pretended to politely decline for a moment, then happily accepted the gift, and some even secretly asked if they could get a few more for their friends.

On this day, Zhou Jing was, as usual, walking his dog and flying his hawk surrounded by guards, living the part of a typical pampered young master. As he walked down a corridor, he ran into Roman, who was also strolling, and the two met as if by chance.

"What a coincidence, Master Bill," Roman said with a smile. "Do you still remember me?"

"Haha, Minister Roman, of course I remember. We met a few months ago, we had a very pleasant chat, and I've been thinking about meeting you again for a long conversation ever since," Zhou Jing took the initiative to show goodwill.

Noticing Zhou Jing's enthusiasm, Roman was somewhat surprised.

The two had only met once, and it had been several months since then. He thought Bill had been too busy to remember him, but he didn't expect he had left such a deep impression on the other party.

Could it be that his personal charm was outstanding, and Bill found him very congenial?

Roman was delighted and felt he had made a good start, so his tone was amiable:

"Me too, I felt a connection with you as soon as I met you. I heard you moved into the Golden Castle a few days ago, and I wanted to visit, but I had some things to deal with, and I just finished them. I was just planning to look for you when I ran into you on the way..."

Zhou Jing understood Roman's intention to befriend him, secretly smiled to himself, and also responded warmly on the surface.

He knew some of Roman's secrets and was clear that Roman was contacting him mostly to try to probe and win him over. But he was on a higher level and could use the other party's actions to seduce Roman in return.

The two stopped in the corridor to chat, each with their own thoughts, and both with the intention of getting closer, a case of mutual attraction.

No Brainer and Not Happy did not avoid suspicion, standing around with their guards facing away from the two of them, seemingly guarding, but actually taking in the content of their conversation.

Roman did his best to show his knowledge, rambling about everything under the sun, and the conversation became heated.

Under Zhou Jing's deliberate enthusiasm, he felt that he had drawn closer to Zhou Jing and said with a smile:

"I thought you would achieve something sooner or later, but I didn't expect it to be so fast. The king appointed you as the Chief Alchemist, invited you to live in the Golden Castle, and even wants his daughter to marry you. Such appreciation is truly amazing. I haven't congratulated you yet. From now on, you will be a top figure in the empire."

Hearing this, Zhou Jing's heart stirred, but he did not show any joy. Instead, he looked slightly melancholy:

"Yes, I didn't expect the king to 'value' me so much. Alas, I only feel gratitude in my heart."

He deliberately emphasized the words.

Others who heard it did not think much of it, taking it only at face value, but Roman had been paying attention to the changes in Zhou Jing's expression and could not help but be slightly stunned.

This emotional reaction... Receiving treatment that ordinary people could only dream of, but Bill didn't seem too happy?

The royal family's offer did not move Bill? Could it be that although Bill was a profit-seeking person, he valued freedom more, and realized the royal family's real goal of confining him, so he didn't like the benefits the royal family gave him?

Could it be that he really had a chance?!

Roman's eyes lit up.

It was no wonder he was thinking so much. With the guards listening nearby, he felt that even if Bill was dissatisfied, he would not dare to express it clearly. He felt that he could only analyze the other party's true thoughts from Bill's subtle expressions.

Roman suppressed the agitation in his heart and continued with a smile:

"Yes, the king is really generous to you, taking care of all your future needs, not lacking wealth, not lacking power, allowing you to live a comfortable life, lacking nothing, unlike us who have to worry about all kinds of affairs every day."

Zhou Jing rolled his eyes, suddenly changed the subject, and asked, "Minister Roman, how do you view wealth and power?"

Roman was stunned by the question, not understanding Zhou Jing's meaning. He considered his words and said, "It's all about control of resources... The things a person can mobilize, the manpower a person can command, that is a person's wealth and power."

Zhou Jing nodded, then shook his head:

"You're right, but not entirely. In my opinion, power is the greatest wealth and power. Or rather, only with power can you maintain your own wealth and power."

Roman raised an eyebrow, and the two guard captains, Had and Lake, also turned their heads, looking at Zhou Jing strangely.

At this moment, before anyone could speak, Zhou Jing continued, with a tone of emotion:

"Don't think that I like money very much and pursue wealth, but in my heart, I have always had a dream, which is to obtain extraordinary power like the Hetero-Blood Warriors, to have a strong body like them, to be able to do all kinds of magical things... This is also my original intention in studying Hetero-Blood Potions.

"Unfortunately, I don't have the courage to drink the Hetero-Blood Potions I make, I don't dare to gamble even if there is only a slight chance of failure... Maybe extraordinary power is forever out of reach for a coward like me. Alas, maybe I'm too greedy. How could there be a way in this world to gain power without risking your life?"

No… there really is.

Roman's eyes flashed with a glint as he stared intently at Zhou Jing.

When he said that just now, Zhou Jing's face was full of longing, and his eyes were full of the light of dreams. But after he finished speaking, he seemed to think that he was being whimsical and was afraid of being laughed at, so his face became awkward… his acting was quite on point.

Seeing this, Roman's mind became active.

So Bill's pursuit is not only secular benefits, but actually a person who desires power… Roman was not surprised, there are too many people in the world who want power but dare not take risks.

For most people, this is wishful thinking, no different from fantasizing about a windfall and getting rich overnight.

But what's different about Bill is that even if he doesn't dare to risk getting power, he can let more people get power and make a contribution value that far exceeds his own desires.

Extraordinary power that can be obtained without gambling one's life like a Hetero-Blood Warrior, Roman really knows about it - he himself is such an example, possessing a power called "witchcraft," which is his secret for many years.

'This bargaining chip, maybe it can move Bill?'

Roman's heart was surging, and he felt that he had obtained key information.

He didn't suspect that this was Bill's deliberate attempt to test him. Bill couldn't know that he possessed the power of witchcraft, so it was impossible for him to use words to test him.

His mind was spinning rapidly. After thinking it over, Roman calmed down and did not intend to use this bargaining chip to win over Bill for the time being.

The power of witchcraft was his personal secret and could not be easily revealed. He was not sure whether Bill was worthy of revealing his secret to him yet.

In addition, who knows if Bill was just talking and wouldn't be moved by this bargaining chip. And even if he was moved, he might be content with the status quo out of suspicion, fear, or other mentalities, and not dare to offend the royal family, wouldn't that be a waste?

Most importantly, Roman was not sure whether Bill was bait used by the king to fish out those court members who privately won over Bill, so as to determine which people could not be trusted and had ulterior motives.

However, vigilance was just out of habit, and Roman tended to believe Bill, and he was quite satisfied with the gains from this probing contact.

In this wave, he at least discovered two entry points to win over Bill:

First, Bill advocated freedom and rejected being confined, and might be dissatisfied with the king's arrangements. Second, Bill longed for power, but did not want to take risks to obtain it…

Grasp these two needs, solve Bill's problems, and maybe you can take advantage of the situation and snatch away the leeks circled in the ground by the royal family!

Roman's thoughts were spinning, but he did not show it on his face. He suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued to chat with Zhou Jing.

After chatting for another ten dollars, Roman made an excuse that he had something to do and left in a hurry.

Now that he had a direction, he hurried back to figure out new methods of winning over.

On the other side, Zhou Jing smiled and said goodbye to him, watching Roman's back as he walked away quickly, and couldn't help but curl his lips.

He could see that Roman had received the information he deliberately released, and the big fish had been hooked.

He knew Roman's secrets of secretly opposing the royal family, and knew that Roman was an external force, but Roman didn't know this.

So in Roman's opinion, it was impossible for Bill to seek his help, and all the credit for learning this information was due to his inquiries, and he wouldn't suspect that Zhou Jing deliberately revealed it.

The speaker had intentions, and the listener had intentions. Due to the different information each of them possessed, Roman could accurately receive the information he wanted to release, so he was not afraid that the listening guards would understand the subtext - these monitoring guards did not know that the two of them had completed a key information transfer under their noses.

Zhou Jing did this to give Roman a hope of winning him over, so that Roman felt that there was still a chance to "conquer" him.

With such an external force to help, he would have a better chance to get rid of the royal family's confinement.

In addition, with Lynn as an example, Zhou Jing suspected that Roman was also a wizard, and several levels stronger than Lynn.

If he could learn more about the secrets of witchcraft from Roman, it would naturally be more reliable than Lynn's amateur.

'If he is cautious enough, he won't make a move until after several months of investigation, probing and confirmation… it seems I can only wait and see when Roman takes further action…'

Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes.

…

After the conversation with Roman, everything was calm and did not attract attention. The personal guards regarded it as a normal social interaction.

Two days later, the king summoned Bill, saying that he had adopted his suggestion to select three new-formula potion-enhanced warriors from the empire's hunters. In the end, three people were willing to give it a try, so he called him to check them out.

When Zhou Jing arrived at the reception hall, he saw three hunters standing in the center of the room, one of whom was the temporarily placed Apostle No. 2, Jason.

"Master Bill, you're here."

King Becky was also in the room. As soon as he saw Bill's arrival, he put away his majestic face and greeted him with a smile.

"Your Majesty, Chief Guard Aileen," Zhou Jing greeted the two politely.

Becky waved his hand and said:

"No need to be so polite, let's get down to business. They are willing to use the new-formula potion, but since it's the first time, they're worried that something unexpected might happen, so they want to ask you for any suggestions. By the way, let me introduce you, this is…"

Becky began to introduce the hunters. Besides Jess, the other two hunters were both second-enhancers and not too familiar.

When it came to Jess, Becky stopped and smiled: "I won't introduce this one, you should be familiar with him."

"Yes, Jess and I are old acquaintances."

Zhou Jing was not surprised, many people knew about this, and the king must have investigated.

He smiled at Jason, pretending to be polite:

"It's been a long time since we last met. How have you been recently?"

"Not bad." Jason's words were brief. In placement mode, emotional reactions were generally rare.

Zhou Jing glanced at the other two and said loudly: "Are you clear about the effects of this new-formula potion? It can give you the special abilities of alien beasts, but the failure rate is higher than the original version, are you sure you're okay with that?"

Jason was the first to answer, expressionless: "No problem."

The other two also immediately stated their positions.

Zhou Jing nodded and said seriously:

"Okay, because this potion is quite special, I need to know what Hetero-Blood Potions you have taken before, and based on your previous enhancements, I will select the special abilities that are suitable for you and customize them."

After saying that, Zhou Jing asked people to bring paper and pens and asked the three of them to write down their past Hetero-Blood Potions.

Although he knew Jason's enhancement route, he was not just going through the motions, he still had a bit of integrity and did not intend to fool the other two hunters.

Soon Zhou Jing got three pieces of paper, took a look, and put them away.

At this time, Zhou Jing remembered something and turned to look at King Becky: "Your Majesty, I would like to ask, are you planning to have them undergo the enhancement under the surveillance of others?"

Becky hmm'd, without denying it.

On the one hand, he wanted the alchemist to observe the enhancement process of the new-formula potion, and on the other hand, he was afraid that the hunters would run away after getting the new-formula potion… the original version of the potion was fine, but he was worried about the new-formula potion being leaked.

Zhou Jing shook his head: "I suggest not doing that. It's best to let them undergo the enhancement according to their own habits, as this is helpful. If a person who is used to enhancing alone is surrounded by onlookers, it may affect the success rate."

"Is there such a thing? I've never heard of it," Becky frowned, skeptical.

"I developed all the potions, trust me, no one understands the new-formula potion better than me."

Zhou Jing confidently spread his hands.

Becky hesitated for a while before agreeing: "Okay, then I'll listen to you."

Hearing this, Zhou Jing's face remained unchanged, but he breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

He almost forgot about this. If Jason failed and died violently at that time, and was seen by others, then he would no longer be able to continue as an imperial hunter under the identity of "Jess", and he still had to implement the private enhancement plan.

Of course, there was still some risk. Even if Jason died quietly, it would take a certain amount of time to redeploy him, which would make the king suspect that he had taken the new-formula potion and run away.

If that really happened, it would probably be difficult to explain. Maybe he could use a move like Qiankun Da Nuoyi, let Jason recognize Roman as his big brother, and Bill hug the royal family's thighs, switching the objects of stepping on two boats… Zhou Jing had been traveling through these days, and he became more and more handy, and understood even more what it meant to act flexibly.

After giving the three hunters some instructions in a proper manner, Zhou Jing ended the meeting.

Now the three were only interested, not enhancing immediately, and they needed to give the three time to adjust their state… When someone felt ready, they could apply to take the potion at any time.

The guards sent the three of them out of the Golden Castle. Zhou Jing looked at this scene, his eyes rolled, and he thought to himself:

"I can't let Jason enhance in placement mode, he might just die. I'll wait for the next cycle to switch Star Realm Apostles, and when I'm in Jason's body, I'll apply for the enhancement."

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