Solar Café.
Link sat at a table, sipping a cup of coffee, his gaze resting on the girl seated across from him — Lacey.
She looked about the same age as he was, with golden curls framing her youthful, lively face.
And Lacey, upon seeing Link for the first time, was equally surprised.
She hadn't expected the formula's owner to be this young!
"Are you the owner of the elixir formula, Mr. Link?" she asked carefully.
"That's me — no mistake about it," Link replied with a gentle smile.
Unable to resist, he added teasingly,
"Surprised?"
Lacey nodded vigorously without the slightest hesitation.
"I honestly didn't expect someone of your age to have developed a psionic potion formula."
Link shrugged casually.
"I just got lucky. I've always enjoyed tinkering with psionic potions during my free time."
After brushing it off lightly, he smoothly steered the conversation to the main point.
"Now, let's discuss the details of our cooperation," he said, his tone turning serious.
"Actually, I'm more inclined toward a long-term partnership where I can receive a portion of the sales revenue."
"To show my sincerity, I even have another formula — one that enhances physical fitness. You can have the right to name it under your Elixir Workshop."
Hearing this, Lacey was visibly taken aback.
She had not anticipated any changes during this negotiation.
However, as a professional negotiator, Lacey quickly regained her composure.
She looked deeply into Link's eyes, then said,
"Mr. Link, would you be willing to provide the elixir formulas so our Elixir Workshop can conduct a verification test?"
"Don't worry — we're an enterprise under the City Lord's authority. We would never do anything to harm your interests."
"Of course," Link nodded.
He handed over the formula without hesitation.
It didn't even take ten minutes before Lacey received a response from her side.
And to her amazement, the one who replied was none other than the Chief Elixirist under the City Lord himself.
Taking a moment to steady her emotions, Lacey looked up at Link and said,
"Mr. Link, your elixir formula has already been verified and approved by our Chief Elixirist at Elixir Workshop."
"To be frank, your formula is extraordinarily valuable."
"But I must apologize — per the City Lord's regulations, the highest we can offer is 20% of the sales revenue."
"However, we have another way to ensure you won't lose out. We're prepared to offer you a price far beyond your expectations."
She paused deliberately before continuing with a serious expression,
"We can offer you an additional cash payment of fifty million dollars.
Of course, if you have any other requests, please feel free to raise them."
Hearing the figure of fifty million, Link's heart couldn't help but tremble slightly.
He had to admit — the price was far higher than he had expected.
Still, he managed to keep a calm expression and said,
"To be honest, your offer isn't quite satisfactory to me."
"I have three additional requests."
Lacey frowned slightly but didn't interrupt, only nodding for him to continue.
"First," Link began, "I want at least 40% of the sales revenue."
"Second, I want to establish a long-term partnership with Elixir Workshop.
As part of this, I'll provide one valuable elixir formula each year, not inferior to the one you've just seen.
Of course, the percentage split will remain the same, but you'll also need to pay an additional acquisition fee for each new formula."
"Third, I want to be able to purchase various elixirs from your workshop at cost price.
Don't worry, the quantities I require won't be high — they won't affect your market sales."
Hearing these demands, Lacey's face showed a hint of hesitation.
"The highest I can offer for the revenue share is 30%," she said after a moment.
"This is a hard limit set by the City Lord.
As for your other two requests, I can agree to them right now."
Link thought for a moment before nodding in agreement.
In truth, he didn't really understand the intricacies of negotiations — these terms had all been suggested by Lib beforehand.
And honestly, he had been prepared to accept just 20% revenue sharing.
Getting 30% was already a major win!
"Alright, let's sign the contract," Link said decisively.
Without further delay, they finalized the agreement.
After securing the signed contract carefully, Lacey let out a long breath of relief.
However, something else seemed to occur to her, and she quickly asked,
"Mr. Link, earlier you mentioned you'd allow us to name the elixirs. But what about the signature rights?"
"You can treat it as if your Elixir Workshop developed the formulas yourselves.
I don't mind," Link replied casually.
Lacey's eyes lit up with visible relief.
"In that case," she said, "would you mind signing a confidentiality agreement as well?"
Link naturally had no objections.
In fact, he preferred it that way — the less attention drawn to himself, the better.
Signing the confidentiality agreement would mean that the psionic potions created from his formulas would be officially attributed to the Elixir Workshop.
If any trouble arose, it wouldn't trace back to him — it was a clever way to minimize risk.
"Sure, I have no problem with that," Link said with a nod.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Lacey excused herself and left.
She still had a mountain of tasks to handle.
Yet in her heart, one thought pressed urgently —
I really need to give my little sister a good scolding.
She thought of her sister, who was the same age as Link but spent her days lounging around at home, doing nothing productive.
Same age, but how could the gap between two people be so vast?
—
When Link returned home, he received a bank notification on his phone.
After deducting all sorts of miscellaneous taxes and fees, he now had 45 million dollars sitting comfortably in his account.
Forty-five million!
It was more money than he had ever seen in his life.
Probably more than his parents had seen, too.
And that wasn't even counting the future revenue shares.
According to Lacey's earlier estimates, he could expect to earn another 10 to 20 million per year just from the potion sales.
At least for the foreseeable future, Link wouldn't have to worry about money anymore.
He had already made up his mind:
First thing he would do was buy a house — a real home where his parents could live comfortably and peacefully.
Without hesitation, he made his way to a sales office.
And there, he spent 20 million dollars to buy a villa in the center of Velmoria.
The security was excellent, and the environment was beautiful — a perfect place for his family to enjoy life.
Returning home, Link gathered his parents and his younger brother together.
Standing before them with a serious expression, he said,
"I have something very important to announce."
"What's wrong?" his mother asked worriedly.
"Are you short of money?
Psionic potions are expensive — wait, we still have some savings you can use—"
Her voice was full of concern, and Link's heart warmed.
But he quickly waved his hand to stop her.
"No, that's not it," he said with a smile.
"It's something else entirely."
"I bought us a villa!"