On the other side, Richard didn't know what happened to the mine and Mullen after leaving, so he just led Gro and his team to the next target location.
To make cobalt blue, you need three raw materials: cobalt ore, alumina and phosphoric acid.
The cobalt ore has been obtained, and the phosphoric acid is already there, so what needs to be solved now is the alumina problem.
Generally speaking, in the current medieval world, anything related to aluminum metal is not easy to obtain. The main reason is that the current world's technological limitations make it difficult to extract aluminum. It is for this reason that the Blue Lion Kingdom chose to use experimental methods to prepare ether instead of the industrial method catalyzed by metal aluminum.
However, alumina, as a compound related to metallic aluminum, is a relatively different kind of existence. The scientific name of alumina is aluminum oxide (Al2O3). In the current world, it is undeniable that it is rare and very precious. But it can be obtained directly by purchasing it in the simplest way. Because aluminum oxide has another name, it is called corundum, which is also the so-called ruby.
Yes, ruby.
…
Cuijin City, in the VIP room of a jewelry store.
Richard and Grot were sitting at the table, while the nearly sixty-year-old jewelry store owner stood respectfully next to him, glancing toward the door from time to time, looking slightly anxious.
"Da da da", during the long wait, soft footsteps sounded. A loyal steward of a jewelry store walked in carefully carrying a black walnut box and nodded to the owner of the jewelry store.
The owner of the jewelry store breathed a sigh of relief, stepped forward and quickly took the box, turned around and placed it gently on the table. After opening it, he revealed a huge ruby inside.
Looking at Gro, the owner of the jewelry store asked tentatively: "His Royal Highness Prince Gro, look, this is the largest ruby in our store. Does it meet your needs?"
Gro said nothing, just turned to look at Richard.
Richard glanced at Ruby and nodded lightly.
Gro looked at the jewelry store owner and said immediately without any hesitation: "Tell me, how much, I want it."
"Um, um..." The jewelry store owner hesitated a little, feeling troubled by the price. If the price is said to be too high, the prince will be offended. If the price is said to be too low, the store will suffer losses.
In this case…
The owner of the jewelry store didn't come up with an idea for a long time.
Gro was a little impatient and urged: "How much is it?"
The jewelry store owner had no choice but to bite the bullet and quote a price.
"One hundred..." the owner of the jewelry store said tentatively, staring at Gro's expression. He originally wanted to say the price of more than one hundred gold coins, but when he saw Gro's eyebrows frowning slightly, he immediately swallowed the number after one hundred. Going inside, he said somewhat stiffly, "One hundred... uh, gold coins."
One hundred gold coins, this is the price of the huge ruby in the box. It is not expensive, but it is still a huge sum of money.
Richard looked at Gro.
Gro really didn't say anything. With a wave of his hand, his guard opened the money bag, counted the gold coins and threw them to the jewelry store owner. Then he picked up the box containing rubies and walked out.
After bowing and sending Richard, Gro and his entourage away, the jewelry store owner walked back into the store and couldn't help but wipe off a cold sweat. The price at which the ruby was sold for one hundred gold coins could only be said to be the cost price. Taking into account the storage costs in the store, it was actually a bit of a loss. But facing the prince of the kingdom, he can only admit that he is unlucky and hope to make money back from other places.
The owner of the jewelry store was thinking about it as he walked into the VIP room. Suddenly his body stiffened and he saw a man wearing a black robe with his whole face hidden in the hood sitting in the VIP room, as if he appeared out of thin air.
"Who are you… "
"I'm just a customer shopping, don't be nervous." The man in black robe said calmly, "The reason why I came to your shop is very simple. I need to buy some low-level spell-casting materials. Well, of course, in your shop Just some gems in the eyes.”
"Forehead… "
"Bring all the gems in your shop, I want to select them."
"This..." The owner of the jewelry store looked at the man in black robe and felt inexplicable pressure, which was greater than what he felt from Gro. He couldn't help but want to call someone, but there was another voice in his heart telling him that in the end, It's better not to do this.
The man in black robe looked at him without moving for a long time and reminded him: "My time is precious, you'd better hurry up."
"Uh, yes, yes." The jewelry store owner responded, pursed his lips, and finally walked out of the door with a somewhat complicated heart.
…
moment.
The table in the VIP room was filled with wooden boxes of different sizes, which had all been opened, revealing gems of various colors inside.
The man in black robe looked at all the gems on the table, and finally selected a few of them with slight disgust, and said to himself: "It is indeed a barren land, basically there is nothing that can be used, and the ones that can be used are of high quality. It’s extremely bad, but that’s all it can do.”
"Guest, how are you going to pay..." the owner of the jewelry store said, but stopped abruptly the next moment, and saw the man in black robe turning around, revealing a face under the robe, with a pair of eyes glowing green, It was like two will-o'-the-wisps burning, looking straight at him, making his hair stand on end.
"You know, originally I wanted to kill you directly. It's the easiest way." The man in black robe said, his tone was a little sinister, but then he changed his tone, "But... since you are so obedient, I think it's better to give it to you." A reward.”
Raising his hand, a purple ball of light the size of a date appeared on the fingertips of the black-robed man and headed towards the forehead of the jewelry store owner.
The jewelry store owner was extremely frightened and wanted to run away. He was extremely frightened and wanted to shout. But he found that his body was locked and he couldn't run away at all. His throat was so dry that he couldn't make any sound. He could only watch the purple ball of light getting closer and closer to his forehead, then sinking under his skin and entering. in the body.
The moment the ball of light entered his body, the jewelry store owner's body shook violently, and he felt a sudden heat all over his body. His mind went blank, and his eyes showed confusion and dullness.
"What I give you is special energy that can extend your life for two years. It should be used as the price to purchase spell-casting materials. This should be fair." The man in black robe said, "Of course, there is a condition that you must forget me. Forget everything you’ve ever had to do with me. That’s it.”
After speaking, the man in black robe suddenly distorted his figure and disappeared into the VIP room like smoke.
After a long time, the owner of the jewelry store seemed to be awakened from his sleep. He blinked and looked around. When he saw various jewelry boxes opened on the table, his eyes widened and he couldn't help shouting: "Come here, come here!" Someone come quickly!”
Soon, the loyal steward ran in, looked at the jewelry store owner, and asked: "Boss, what's wrong?"
"This..." the jewelry store owner pointed to the numerous boxes on the table with trembling fingers, and asked aloud, "this... what is going on? Aren't these boxes supposed to be locked in the warehouse and counter? Why did you get it all here?”
"Boss, didn't you ask me to bring these in? Just now I asked you why and you still haven't told me the reason. Why..."
"This..." The jewelry store owner was stunned, frowning deeply, and couldn't help but rub his gray hair. After rubbing it for a moment, he put down his hand and suddenly found a tugged auburn hair between his fingers. This was his hair color when he was younger, but now...
The jewelry store owner was completely stunned.