I have an Apocalypse City

Chapter 538: Queen Bee Wine

Song Jian stood at the window of the second-floor inn, looking at the traces left by the battle in the town. The fight between the two sides had been brief, but the damage caused was extensive.

The entire street was in complete disarray, a seven- or eight-meter-wide crack dividing the street in two. Molten magma surged within the crack, sporadically spewing outwards and igniting various flammable materials around it. Many townsfolk had begun to fight the fires, but even more, were frantically fleeing towards the town’s outskirts.

“Death’s Fang, such a name sounds vaguely familiar.” Song Jian watched as the group disappeared into the distance, pondering to himself. “Death’s Scythe, Death’s Fang, what’s next, Death’s Skull, Death’s Hand? Why not just be direct and call themselves the Death God…”

Knock Knock Knock~

A knock echoed as Pike’s voice carried in from beyond the door.

“Dear guests, are you still there? I hope the commotion earlier didn’t bother you. You know, I’ve been in the Garrison Town for over three years, and this is the first time I’ve encountered such a situation. I swear, things like this don’t happen often here. I believe it won’t be long before someone steps forward to take care of this mess. Of course, the boss has said that perhaps we might have to adjust your accommodation costs due to this incident…”

“Alright, Pike, don’t worry about it. In fact, you can come in and talk to me.” Song Jian drew the curtains and walked towards the dining table. Cold venison shanks were no treat.

Pike carefully stepped in, let out a sigh of relief when he spotted Song Jian enjoying his venison, and apologized: “I hope I didn’t disturb your dinner, esteemed guest…”

Song Jian waved his hand at Pike to cut him off and asked directly: “Do you know who was involved in the fight just now?”

Pike hesitated for a brief moment before whispering, “I apologize, esteemed guest. Neither of those two parties are locals. They are outsiders, and it seems their destination is the Dark Castle about 300 miles from here. They had both inquired about the Dark Castle with me…”

“Indeed, it fits my premonitions.” Song Jian quietly sighed with relief.

“Pike, I’m fine, you should go and assuage the other guests. The hotel is quite packed today…” Song Jian said with a laugh;

“Please accept my sincere apologies once more. The boss will be personally paying you a visit shortly to apologize. If there’s anything you require at this moment, feel free to let me know. As long as it isn’t too demanding, I believe the boss will try his best to accommodate.” Pike said.

“Oh, is that so? Could the boss bring me a bottle of honey wine then? I really adore its flavor.” Song Jian replied with a chuckle.

“I believe the boss should be able to fulfill this small request. Please wait a moment.” Pike said with a smile as he carefully backed out of the room.

Before long, the tavern owner, an old man with only one remaining eye, came into Song Jian’s room bearing a bottle of honey wine.

“Honored guest, I have come here to express my apologies for the fight earlier…” The tavern owner said as he bowed.

“Please sit, may I ask your name…” Song Jian rose from his chair, pulled out another one for the old man, smiling as he asked.

“Poke Basto, but you can call me Old Boke. Everyone in town calls me that.” The innkeeper sat down, placed the honey wine on the table, and said, “This is a bottle of my treasured Queen Bee Wine, made from the honey of the twenty-fifth-level Wild Queen Bee. It’s much more mellow and rich than ordinary honey wine. I would like to offer it to you as an apology, and I hope you can accept it.”

“Queen Bee Wine?” Song Jian’s eyes lit up, and he picked up the bottle, which appeared to have been aged for quite some time.

“Queen Bee Wine: Beverage, usage effect: restores 1000 Spirit Points in 30 seconds. Must be out of combat when consumed. If you spend over 15 seconds consuming it, you will achieve a well-fed status, increasing the speed of Spirit Point recovery by 50% for one hour.”

“As I thought, the effects have improved substantially. Even for someone skilled in magic, this one bottle alone would allow them to fully recover their combat capabilities in just thirty seconds!” Song Jian exclaimed with delighted surprise.

“I greatly appreciate this, Old Boke. Actually, there’s a matter I wanted to discuss with you.” Song Jian replied with a broad smile as he stored away the Queen Bee Wine. His current Spirit Point cap was barely over two hundred, so regular honey wine would be sufficient for his needs. Using the Queen Bee Wine would be somewhat of a luxury.

“Oh, what seems to be the matter?” Old Boke asked with a hint of confusion in his only eye.

“I am interested in purchasing a large quantity of your honey wine. If you have more of this Queen Bee Wine, that would be even better!” Song Jian stated directly.

“A large purchase?” Old Boke’s face showed clear relief. “May I ask how many bottles you were thinking of buying?”

“I would like to buy two thousand bottles for the first purchase!” Song Jian replied.

“What? Two thousand bottles? That’s the entire town’s consumption for a year!” Old Boke cried in surprise.

“If possible, I would like to establish a long-term trade relationship with you. I have a store at the City of Hymns and I would like to sell the honey wine there.” Song Jian stated.

It was impossible to establish trade relations with Garrison Town due to the Protection Black Mist around Doomsday City. Even though the City of Hymns had a greater distance from Garrison Town than Doomsday City, establishing a regular trade route shouldn’t be a problem.

“The City of Hymns?” Poke responded in shock. “It’s over a month’s journey from here. That’s quite far…”

“If it’s not convenient for you, I can send a caravan specifically to buy from here. However, in that case, I expect some concessions on the price…” Song Jian suggested.

Hiring a caravan in the City of Hymns would not be expensive. Song Jian could even hire a Silver Moon Commerce caravan to help him purchase honey wine.

“Esteemed guest, the amount you require is simply too much. Our small inn alone wouldn’t be able to meet your request. With our production capabilities, we can only produce at most two hundred bottles of honey wine per month.” Old Boke regretfully admitted.

“Only two hundred bottles? That’s a shame…” Song Jian expressed his disappointment.

Two hundred bottles really were too few. The profits might hardly cover the hiring costs for a caravan.

After hesitating for a while, Old Boke tentatively asked, “Honored guest, since we are unable to produce a large volume of honey wine, maybe you would be interested in purchasing the recipe to produce it?”

Song Jian’s eyes sparkled, and he immediately asked, “The recipe for honey wine, are you willing to sell it?”

Old Boke laughed, “Of course, provided you have an appropriate offer. I would be more than happy to sell you the recipe for honey wine.”

…

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