Chapter 54：Advanced Culture of Another World
Pete had no idea what had transpired between Allen and the pharmacy owner.
When he saw that his boss had obtained a large jar of Bear Bee honey and a well-wrapped rosewood box without spending a single coin, Pete's astonishment was hard to suppress.
A boss is indeed a boss; not only did he succeed, but he also gained a lot.
With the Bear Bee honey and the Beaked Fairy Dragon's body parts, Allen had made quite a haul.
More importantly, he had gained direct access to the "upper-class" nobility.
Controlling Wilbur meant having a hold on a count's family's operations in the Bacha black market.
Allen was like a rat in a granary, gnawing away at the mountain of grain under the cover of night.
By the time the owner noticed, the rat would be fat and strong enough to become a man-eating monster.
Allen sat alone in his alchemy room, contemplating his gains from this trip and the adjustments needed in his plans.
Undoubtedly, an old servant who had long served a count's family and was just shy of being an extraordinary occultist was immensely valuable to Allen.
The help Wilbur could provide far exceeded any previous gains in the black market, second only to the sheepskin scroll "Dark Ritual" Allen had found in the giant banyan tree.
It wasn't just the honey and dragon materials Wilbur had offered; it was the knowledge!
An eighty-year-old, well-informed merchant and strongman, entrenched in the black market for decades, had accumulated vast knowledge.
If not for Wilbur's life-threatening situation prompting him to offer the Beaked Fairy Dragon's body parts, Allen wouldn't have noticed him.
He wouldn't have known that such a well-connected and powerful individual was lurking in the black market.
Although Allen couldn't be sure Wilbur had handed over all his knowledge, even gaining half or sixty percent was enough to keep Allen busy for a while, significantly broadening and deepening his knowledge.
"Tsk tsk tsk! Truly the accumulation of an old noble family, to have such things!"
Allen's eyes sparkled as he stared at the book in his hands.
The pages were filled with content that made one's face flush and heart race with desire.
Even with Allen's rich experience and noble, lustful character, he couldn't help but be impressed by the content.
Recently, he had been pondering whether extraordinary occultists, who were almost a new species, still adhered to human morals and social norms.
This book provided a clear answer: they did, but not entirely; they discarded some, but not all.
Cases of cannibalism and child-eating had occurred but were quickly banned.
However, the pursuit of new species by occultists was relentless.
Allen had been ignorant; the extraordinary occultists went to extreme lengths to create new species.
The crossbreeding of donkeys and horses to produce mules was commonplace in the Pegasus Empire centuries ago.
Even species with vastly different appearances, those that wouldn't naturally desire each other, were forcibly crossbred by extraordinary occultists.
Though the success rate was astonishingly low, breakthroughs were inevitable in the world of the occult.
Through generations of selection and evolution, the occultists ended up shooting themselves in the foot.
These old monsters, disregarding morals and potential dangers, created a new species threatening human survival: the Beastmen.
The name alone hinted at unspeakable past events.
The Beastmen, bred with the wisdom of human occultists and the powerful physiques of extraordinary guardian beasts, carried the hope of breaking through the limits of the extraordinary.
As they grew stronger and more numerous, they became an unstoppable force.
No one would willingly be a puppet or experimental subject. As the Beastmen rose, their undeniable power forced humans to acknowledge them.
However, the wild world of Gondwana differed from Earth. Here, the pursuit wasn't national power; political goals were secondary, with the occult being paramount.
The powerful Beastmen were soon integrated into human society, and the extraordinary occultists naturally accepted these potent beings.
This gave rise to one of the three main occult professions: the Beast Warriors.
Today, the concept of Beast Warriors is broader, encompassing Beastmen.
Even so, Allen couldn't help but admire the daring and innovative predecessors.
Indeed, in a world where the occult reigns supreme, the rules are different.
Through conversations and corroborating books, Allen learned about the state of the old nobility and ancient occult traditions from Wilbur.
Wilbur assured Allen that there was no such thing as an immortal occultist.
Even the gods worshipped by some occult professions couldn't be verified. Whether humans borrowed divine power or it was just the omnipresent extraordinary energy in the universe remained uncertain.
Hence, the world's beliefs were a tangled mess.
Moreover, those with great power didn't want a god as their father.
"This is interesting... Tsk tsk... Can it really be done this way?"
"Hiss... Incredible, this operation is simply inhumane!"
"Damn, I guessed right; there really are bunny girls!"
...
The entire night.
Allen, initially planning to familiarize himself with the properties of Bear Bee honey and brew the Plant Mage's Song, was instead captivated by the wealth of knowledge.
A night of reading, and Allen, who once prided himself on his "rich experience," felt as if he had opened the door to a new world.
Reviewing the past to understand the present, Allen was absorbing advanced culture from another world. Combining it with Earth's excellent traditions, he believed he could create even more vibrant "yellow" flowers.
In short, Allen, rarely seen with dark circles under his eyes, was still unsatisfied.
"Reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles; traveling thousands of miles is not as good as learning from a great teacher... With such advanced knowledge, how can I keep it to myself?" The first teacher Allen thought of practicing with was the beautiful Cecilia.