"Oh, by the way, Clement…" Alan didn't pay attention to the other person's expression, but quickly changed the subject. "Do you know Minister Peter of the German Ministry of Magic?"
Hearing Alan mention Peter, Clement's heart skipped a beat. "Ah, how could I not know our German Minister of Magic? But why did you suddenly bring him up?"
After seeing Clement's reaction, Alan knew the other party seemed to know that Minister Peter's identity was not simple, but this made him even more curious. Did this Peter—or rather, the person suspected to be Golden Knight—not care about his identity at all? The feeling this Peter gave him was very strange, very different from the other Silver Spears members who liked to hide in dark corners. The man was simply too bold.
However, on the surface, Alan still replied calmly. "It's like this. After I arrived in Germany, I sent him an invitation, but this Minister seems to be very busy, and I haven't received a reply yet."
"Oh? You want to see our Minister of Magic?" Clement's tone immediately relaxed. "Is there something important? Perhaps I can assist you. Although I'm not very familiar with Minister Peter, we can talk."
"It's nothing particularly important. I had the idea of opening a branch in Germany—of course, that was before I met you—so I wanted to meet Minister Peter to discuss it. Moreover, the German Ministry of Magic has also purchased a lot of alchemy equipment from us. It's only polite to thank him in person." Alan casually made up an excuse.
"So that's how it is." Clement breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, Peter couldn't meet Alan in time, otherwise his agency business would probably fall through.
Clement returned to his original gentle expression. "Minister Peter has a good relationship with us private merchants and organizations. If I have a chance to meet him recently, I can mention it to him."
"That would be even better. Those of us who do international business always have to maintain good relations with the Ministries of Magic of various countries." Alan slowly stood up. "Thank you, Clement, for your hospitality. I will take my leave now, and I hope to hear your good news soon."
"Hehe, certainly…" Clement's smile stiffened again when he heard Alan bring that up.
After watching Alan leave, Clement finally breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did he realize that his back was soaked with sweat. *I didn't expect this Alan to look so young, but he's full of cunning, and the pressure he exerts is so great that I almost couldn't breathe.*
Clement sighed to himself, then finally relaxed and slumped onto the sofa. After a while, as if remembering something, he took off the griffin-shaped badge from his chest again and played with it repeatedly in his palm. If there was anything worth making him happy about today's meeting, it was the badge he now held. These items were not only powerful but also visibly exquisite and luxurious, seemingly crafted entirely from goblin mithril.
*No wonder this Alan can make his business so prosperous. The quality of the alchemy items produced by Silver Lightning Trading Company is truly impeccable. I heard that many people want to decipher and imitate his products, but they can't achieve the same consistent craftsmanship, and his alchemy products use optimized new spells, so how could they be so easy to copy successfully? It seems that this business isn't a loss after all. For these five years, there shouldn't be an impact from other homogenized products. It looks like the losses might be recouped in just one to two years.*
Clement seemed to be comforting himself, inexplicably gaining a lot of confidence in Alan and his company.
On the other side, after finishing the negotiation, Alan immediately returned to his residence in the East Duden Building and found Hog at the first opportunity.
"How is it? Is the signal reception still normal?" Alan asked quickly as soon as he entered the monitoring room.
"Completely normal, except that old man is practically staring holes through the badge you gave him. Look at his face, it's really nauseating after a while." Hog mumbled, pointing to a screen with some exasperation. The screen was almost completely filled by Clement's face, as if the man was leaning right into the surveillance camera.
"That's good. Did he reveal any useful information after I left?" Although Alan was also a bit tired of looking at that face, he still asked calmly.
"He was initially badmouthing you non-stop, but then he started praising you. I think that man's mind is probably messed up." Hog chuckled.
"Very good. Be sure to record his whereabouts, all his words and actions, and what he sees. I think he seems to really like that badge; he'll probably carry it with him. If anything happens, call me immediately. I'll be in the laboratory."
The guardian badge Alan gave Clement was actually something he spent a day crafting from a monitoring spider, reinforced with many precious materials. The purpose was to use this badge to make Clement his eyes. It was precisely because of this that the badge's functions were so thoughtful, as if tailor-made for the man.
After explaining all this to Hog, Alan moved to the adjacent laboratory. To ensure the success of the raid on the breeding base, he still had many things to prepare. Brewing enough potion to knock out those magical creatures would take significant time. Of course, he also needed to prepare small items that would allow him to deal with so many wizards.
After Clement obtained the guardian badge, he spent half a day playing with it enthusiastically, which almost made Hog, who had been watching him, sick to his stomach, as no one wants to constantly stare at an old man. However, after nightfall, Clement put the badge back on and Apparated out of the Duden Building.
After leaving, Clement did not go straight home, nor did he return to the breeding base, but instead arrived at a remote suburb of Berlin. This place was not empty; there was a building that looked like an abandoned manor. Only when he quickly approached could he discover that the area had been enveloped by a large-scale shielding magic. Inside the manor was actually an open-air black market similar to the one in Egypt.
Clement seemed very familiar with the place. After entering the black market area, he greeted a few guards, quickly passed through the market, and entered a building at the back, going directly up to the second floor. Here, there was also an office with a layout similar to the one in the breeding base.
"It's best to report the cooperation with Silver Lightning Trading Company to my lord as soon as possible, lest we delay and cause trouble if that money-grubbing Alan suddenly changes his mind."
After Clement entered this office, he very familiarly poured himself a glass of wine. After taking a light sip, he muttered to himself. He went to a row of bookshelves behind the desk. On the second bookshelf, third row from the bottom, he found a very inconspicuous book titled *History of Magic*. After gently pulling it, the entire bookshelf slowly moved aside, revealing the wall behind it. Immediately after, Clement pulled out his wand and tapped the wall a dozen times in a certain pattern, after which the wall suddenly split open, revealing an opening just wide enough for one person to pass through.
Behind the opening was a small, dark room, appearing to be about seven or eight square meters. There was nothing in the middle, only high full-length mirrors installed on the left, middle, and right walls, each covered with a magnificent velvet cloth, a stone platform with a stone basin on it, and a very ordinary-looking fireplace.
After Clement entered the dark room, he walked directly to the stone basin. This stone basin was very clean, containing only a small amount of clear water. Clement simply reached into a box on the nearby stone platform, grabbed a small handful of white powder, and sprinkled it into the basin. Immediately, the clear water churned, appearing to boil. Seeing this, Clement showed no unusual reaction, but just stood quietly, waiting.
After waiting for five or six minutes, the liquid in the stone basin finally changed. The liquid, which had originally been clear, suddenly became cloudy, and then gradually turned red. Upon seeing this scene, Clement let out a long breath, as if much relieved.
Then he turned and went to the full-length mirror, pulling off the velvet cloth covering it. At this moment, the exposed surface of this mirror was very unusual; it was not the kind that could clearly reflect a person's image. Instead, it was pitch black, like a deep hole turned ninety degrees. Standing in front of this mirror, Clement couldn't even see a speck of light, let alone himself.
Clement now assumed a respectful posture, standing in front of the full-length mirror as if silently waiting for something. He didn't have to wait long. Soon, a crisp sound of pacing came from the deep, dark mirror. Shortly after, a figure slowly emerged from the lightless darkness, moving from far to near, as if what was in front of him was not a mirror, but a deep cave. Soon, a Silver Spear member wearing a faceless mask and the standard robe of the Silver Spear Club walked closer and looked at Clement through the mirror.