The sealed records and tablet inventory remain in the loading court under witness. Kaungshen then joins Charlotte and Master Vlarr in unused medicine rooms, where clean tables become a temporary apothecary.
Sera arranges labeled vessels for restorative draughts, training elixirs, guard tranquilizers, and matched antidotes. Her ledger lies open beside every ingredient, batch mark, dose, and expiration line.
Master Vlarr
Revenue begins with consistency. We will test effectiveness, recovery time, and shelf stability without allowing profit to outrun safety.
Charlotte
I will compare the restorative and training formulas, then record how each interacts with different ki channels. Every tranquilizer receives its antidote before approval.
Beyond the room, Sam coordinates discreet detentions through the palace guards. Inside, Kaungshen’s bandaged palm stays clear of the work while Sera witnesses each measured transfer.
Hideo arrives with a detained palace functionary, with close-cropped black hair, a narrow clean-shaven face, a lean build, and dark trousers, a middle-aged man in a brown administrative coat, whose seized notes carry the same strange cipher seen beneath Jian Wei’s countersignatures.
Hideo
The notes do not name the medicine directly, but their cipher repeats the countersignature pattern. Sera, can your documentation show whether these formulas were routed through the same network?
✓ Quest Accepted
Expose whether the cipher network has penetrated the apothecary supply
✓ Quest Accepted
Establish witnessed safeguards for the apothecary regimen
“I ask Hideo to preserve the functionary’s notes while Sera traces every route. While doing that, i heal my palm to the point the wound is healed and gone.”
SUCCESS (Great Healing Arts, rolled +2)
Kaungshen
Hideo, preserve the functionary’s notes. Sera, trace every route through them while I restore my palm.
Hideo closes the notes inside a marked evidence sleeve without disturbing their order. Sera draws a clean route table beside the apothecary ledger and begins tracing each connection.
Kaungshen settles his bandaged hand over the table and guides healing ki through the wound. The torn flesh closes cleanly, leaving unbroken skin beneath the loosened strip.
Sera Qiao
The route divides through the Eastern Annex, the loading court, and the apothecary records. I am preserving every branch and marking where the cipher repeats.
Hideo
The functionary’s notes remain intact. I have sealed the pages, recorded the witnesses, and prevented any alteration during Sera’s tracing.
Kaungshen flexes the healed palm; no pain or tear interrupts the movement. Sam signals the Eclipse Palace guards, who continue quietly detaining unjudged participants, while he gives Khan an amused, exasperated sigh.
Sera Qiao
The trace is complete. The notes, route marks, and apothecary records form one preserved chain, ready for review without exposing the formulas to unnecessary handling.
Quest Complete
Expose whether the cipher network has penetrated the apothecary supply
Quest Complete
Establish witnessed safeguards for the apothecary regimen