Against Heaven's Will

"I'm sorry, but even with all those Storage Rings, Miss won't be able to buy even one Upgrade Fragment, not to mention a hundred that you wanted." 

Everything went smoothly in the Central Bank with their Identification Cards, but once the girls reached a branch of the Trade Union, they met with the wall. 

"Huh? How come? Wasn't it filled with tens of Artefacts?" Lisa questioned with a frown. "You aren't trying to rip me off, right?" 

She seized the Trade Union Manager with her gaze, returning back to her old Lisa who no one dared to mess with, but he wasn't fazed much.

"Miss, Trade Union is an honest organization and we are the best trusted on the Market. Rest assured, no one will ever rip you off in here," the Manager explained calmly. "To be completely honest with you, scrap is a scrap. Those Artefacts are common and don't really cost much. Upgrade Fragments are too rare." 

"What's the current price of Upgrade Fragments then?" Lisa wondered, changing her approach to more polite. 

Even though she had various pills, she already exposed her lack of knowledge about Heaven Realm's market. She knew Trade Union's managers very well. They were taught to give the lowest price possible, so even if her Pills were worth a lot, there was a high chance she will be ripped off. 

"The price of Upgrade Fragments? If Miss asks for a pure value in credits then I will have to disappoint. We don't really exchange Upgrade Fragments with Credits. The demand is so much higher than the supply, so we treat them like treasures," the Manager informed as he glanced at Lisa's Storage Ring. "Does Miss have anything else to sell? How about high-ranked pills? High-quality pills can be exchanged for Upgrade Fragments directly."

"Hah, of course I have high-ranked Pills!" Lisa called out with a grin, finally spotting her chance. "Who do you take me for?" 

Lisa smiled proudly and whipped a shiny golden pill in the air, displaying it to everyone in the lobby. 

"Here!"

Although it was night, the Trade Union was only a little less busy than during the day. Both, the other Managers and their clients, looked up at Lisa's act. With how the pill shone with its own light, it could only mean the pill was high quality.

"I have lots of them too together with other types that have top-notch quality. I wouldn't be claimed the top alchemist of Trade Union if I couldn't even create a good pill," Lisa bragged with a smug, glancing at the Manager with a casual glance. "Interested?" 

Seeing the shock on the Manager's face, Lisa celebrated in her mind. 

'Establishing dominance, check.'

"Interested for sure!" the Manager nodded firmly as he even stood up from his chair. "Miss, why didn't you reveal you are one of Trade Union's Alchemist from the start? We would invite you to the Private Room." 

The way the Manager flipped his treatment amused her, but she didn't show it, only shrugging to his question. 

"I don't have time for that. I just came out from seclusion and I'm in hurry, so I didn't want to alarm my contact in the higher-ups. Usually, I sell directly to her, but as I said, I'm busy now," Lisa explained as she admired her pill. "There is no need for any special treatment. Just exchange my pills for the Upgrade Fragments like a normal customer and I will take my leave." 

The Manager's eyes brightened as he nodded hurriedly. "Of course! Can I take a look at the pill?"

Just as Lisa predicted, he didn't dare to ask her for any more details as that would be considered rude. Even if she lied, he was too low ranked to ask for either her name or title. 

"Sure," Lisa agreed casually, flipping the pill over the counter as if it was nothing for her. 

The Manager visually paled but he managed to catch the pill, breathing a sigh of relief. He immediately began inspecting the pill on the spot with other Managers peeking at him from time to time. Too bad, no matter what he did, his helplessness only deepened. 

"Do you need help?" Lisa asked happily, already expected he wouldn't recognize the Pill. 

Why? She created the recipe by herself!

"Hah, yes, please. I can't help but give up. Miss' Pill is too high-ranked for me," the Manager admitted defeat with an awkward giggle. 

"Don't worry. This pill definitely needs a high-ranked alchemist to appraise," Lisa assured as she glanced at the pill. "This is a Healing Pill that was born in Celestial Phoenix's flames. It will heal you from any physical wound as long as your head is not cut off and heart not ripped away."

The ecstatic feeling of watching everyone's eyes widen was something she really missed. She could only thank Bella for assisting her with Pills back in the Hidden Realm. 

"Celestial Phoenix's Flames!" the Manager exclaimed, his hands shaking as he swiftly put the pill away.

He didn't even need to do anything as one of the helpers at the back immediately rushed out. 

"I will call for the highest Alchemist!" he called out as he left. 

Lisa pretended to be dissatisfied. 

"Didn't I say I'm in hurry?" Lisa questioned while squinting her eyes. "Just exchange the pills one to one with the Upgrade Fragments. I will have a hundred." 

"A hundred…" the people repeated in shock but the Manager swiftly begged. 

"M-Miss! Those are Celestial Phoenix's Flames! Such a Pill is worth much more than just one Upgrade Fragment! Please wait for the highest Alchemist! We are not authorized for such trades…"

"Huh? Is it? And here I was eating them for my headache. It really worked like a charm," Lisa replied casually, making the Trade Union's Managers shake. 

"Such expensive pills… For headache…"

"Anyway, he better hurry! I give you five more minutes!" Lisa scolded without much care on her face. "Also, convert those Artefacts into Credits for me. I don't want this garbage. We killed some bandits on the way, so I want to get rid of it." 

"Y-Yes! One moment please!" the Manager agreed hurriedly, beginning the procedure right away. 

Although she looked calm on the outside, Lisa wanted to jump in happiness. It has been a while since she acted this bossy. She finally felt like a fish in the water, entering into her favorite element. 

She glanced at Yiren, who sat in the lobby with Mona on her lap, and saw her smiling. Yiren seemed to know how much she was enjoying it.

'Wait…' Lisa paused, suddenly noticing a mission board on the wall above Yiren. Seeing all the Rewards for the Alchemist's Missions, her eyes brightened. 

"I changed my mind. How about you exchange those credits for some Spirit Herbs? I want to clear some missions while I'm bored waiting." 

The Manager quickly attended to her. 

"Of course Miss! Which mission would you like to complete? I will prepare the Spirit Herbs for Miss." 

"All of them," Lisa replied casually. 

"All of them?" the Manager repeated confused. 

"Is that a problem? The longer you stall, the less time I have. Chop, chop," Lisa hurried. 

"Yes, yes! I will prepare the Alchemy Room right away!" the Manager called out with no question asked, but Lisa stopped him. 

"No need for the room. Just bring the Spirit Herbs here." 

Everyone seemed too stupid to understand what she wanted to do, but the Manager acted quickly, snapping at the attendants. 

"What are you standing here for? Quickly bring all the Spirit Herbs that Miss desires!" 

The sudden chaos her request made was like honey to her tongue. 

Sweet! 

'Hehe, this is fun.'