Chapter 3141 Two Options

“…That’s how it is.” Portia tapped her brow with her folding fan, revealing a helpless expression: “You also know that Granny Nail has left the South Region, and it is unlikely that she can help to refine the hat.”

“According to what Sister Dong Liz said, now I can only find you.”

At this point, Portia chuckled: “I was originally thinking about how to contact you, but I didn’t expect that when I was worried, Regina found me.”

“You should know what happened later.”

Portia wanted to find Angel, and Angel happened to want to find her, so they met today.

“It’s quite a coincidence.” Angel raised his eyebrows.

Portia smiled and shook her folding fan: “Since it’s so coincidental, do you want to agree to my request?”

Angel was silent for a moment and said: “Is this a condition of exchange?”

In exchange for him to refine the hat on the condition of liberating Qili?

Portia: "If you want to make it a trade, that's fine. It just so happens that I have two solutions to solve Qili's problem, and one of them can indeed be used as a trade."

Angel was stunned for a moment: "What do you mean?"

According to Portia, one of the solutions can be obtained without a trade condition?

If so, wouldn't it be okay to just choose this solution?

Portia seemed to see Angel's doubts and explained: "After you listen to my two solutions, you will understand..."

Next, Portia began to describe in detail her solution to Qili's matter.

The first solution does not require any trade conditions. Portia directly ordered the director of the Fragrance Department of Ashley College to cancel Qili's mission and revoke the ban on Qili.

This solution is actually the solution that Angel thought of to solve Qili at the beginning.

It's just that Angel thought at the time that Portia might use this solution to exchange conditions with him.

But now it seems that Portia does not intend to use this to "blackmail" Angel?

After hearing this plan, Angel had some doubts in his heart. Did he think too badly of Portia? Or did Portia have other intentions in doing this?

Portia did not explain the first plan in detail, but directly said the second plan, which can be used as a "condition of exchange".

"The second plan is that I will not come forward to solve this matter, but I can teach Qili a special extraction method in private. The extraction speed of this extraction method is similar to that of the general extraction method, but the amount it extracts each time is much more than the previous extraction method."

"In other words, if Qili learns this extraction method, she can clean up the No. 1 raw material warehouse at a faster speed."

"And this special extraction method is my original creation and has not been passed on. How about I use this original extraction method in exchange for you to help Dong Liz refine a hat?"

After listening to Portia's second plan, Angel's expression was a little subtle.

Portia's solution actually also has the option of "accelerated extraction".

Sure enough, the alchemist's ideas are actually the same, and Portia actually thought of the same thing as Medora.

However, this plan sounds different from him going to Sterling to borrow equipment.

Borrowing equipment from Sterling may cost points; asking Portia to exchange extraction methods costs an alchemy opportunity. In short, it costs money, and it seems that there is no difference?

Thinking about it this way, it seems that the first plan is better?

But why did Portia choose the first plan, unconditional help, but would make an exchange with the second plan?

This bias is that Portia feels that she has paid more for the second plan?

Indeed, giving a special extraction method must be a big price. But for the first plan, she obviously doesn't need to pay anything, just give an order.

... No.

Angel thought about it carefully. If Portia uses the first plan, she actually has to pay. What she pays is her face, or her reputation.

She used her reputation as a guarantee to save Qili. People in the fragrance circle are willing to agree because of Portia's face.

This kind of invisible contribution may be more than the tangible contribution.

After all, it is difficult to accumulate credibility, but it is easy to collapse credibility.

Moreover, Qili destroyed the "spiritual belief" of the fragrance wizard. Even if Portia can use her own credibility to protect her, this method will also make some fragrance wizards feel resentful.

Many times, the decisive factor that affects whether the building will collapse or not may not be the cracked earth or the violent disaster, but a wisp of inconspicuous breeze.

The resentment in the hearts of some fragrance wizards is this seamless. There will be nothing at the beginning, but as it accumulates more and more, once something happens to Portia, they will gather together and become the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

Therefore, the situation of using credibility as a guarantee may actually be more than tangible contributions. But why did Portia not use this plan to exchange conditions with Angel?

——Because if she does not exchange, she may get more.

The invisible contribution, how much this contribution is, is an unknown.

Then the price she wants to recover is naturally an unknown.

There was only one "unknown factor" that Ingres could think of, and that was... human feelings.

The first plan does not seem to require any exchange conditions, but the invisible price Portia paid is enough to exchange Angel's favor.

The debt of gratitude is the most difficult to repay.

Now, Portia has not asked Angel to exchange the special magic pattern for life alchemy; but what if she talks about things in favor of favors in the future?

Thinking about it this way, the first plan seems ordinary, but it is actually a big pitfall.

On the other hand, the second option is to clearly mark the price, and everyone does their own thing and owes nothing to each other... Maybe the second option is more suitable?

Angel's choice at this time has begun to change. From the beginning, he was leaning towards the first option, and now he is seriously thinking about the second option.

The second option seems slower, but learning the special extraction method will benefit you throughout your life. Moreover, it is actually possible to solve the problem of "too slow" of the second solution.

That is, both a special extraction method and a Stirling machine are required. These two methods happen to be non-conflicting and can be performed simultaneously.

Once both sides start working at the same time, Qili may even be able to completely clean out the No. 1 raw material warehouse in less than half a month, or even less than a week.

This speed is definitely not slow.

However, to achieve such speed, Angel would have to pay a lot of effort.

While Angel was weighing his thoughts, Portia suddenly said: "You seem a little confused?"

Angel did not deny it and nodded: "I am indeed a little confused."

Portia did not ask what Angel's "confusion" was, but asked: "Do you think it is better for me to eliminate Qili's punishment with just one sentence, or for Qili to gain a different view in the fragrance circle by completing her original goal?" Stay better?”

Angel: "...the latter."

Portia smiled and said nothing.

But Angel understood what Portia meant.

She was reminding Angel of something: Qili wanted to eliminate not only punishment, but also the prejudice against her by the entire fragrance industry.

Portia can remove Qili's punishment in one word, but this only removes the punishment, but does not eliminate the prejudice. It even aggravates this prejudice.

And if Qili relies on "her own efforts" to clear the No. 1 raw material library - at least in the eyes of others, it is her own efforts - this is the way to truly eliminate punishment and remove prejudice at the same time.

This is why Portia used this plan to exchange conditions with Angel.

Not only because of this method, Portia needs to pay for a special extraction method; also, this method is the real solution to Qili's dilemma.

Having said this, Angel's choice is actually very clear.

The second option is definitely more appropriate.

Moreover, in addition to the reasons mentioned before, he actually also took Qi Li's own thoughts into consideration.

At the beginning, the reason why Qili decided to clean up the No. 1 raw material warehouse was because she felt that she had implicated the allies of Lilith House. Also, the reason why Qili doesn't want Kanter to help is because she has a mental problem.

If you want to solve this matter, punishment alone will definitely not work. Qili's psychological factors should also be taken into consideration.

Qi Li may not care about the prejudices of the fragrance industry, but she cares about the attitudes of the families affiliated with Lilith House, and these affiliated families care about the prejudices of the fragrance industry. Going around and around, prejudice can definitely be regarded as one of the factors affecting Qili's psychology.

The only way to solve prejudice is the second option.

Angel: "If I had to choose, I would choose the exchange special extraction method."

Angel did not directly give a conclusion, but added "if" in front of his words because he actually had more than one option at this time.

He can also solve Qili's problem through Stirling machinery.

Of course, a two-pronged approach would definitely be better, but the second option involves an unpredictable variable - Winter Liz.

Angel must understand the complete picture of Dong Lizi's refining before he can decide whether to take over the refining.

In particular, Dong Liz kept saying that the hat refining was her sister's request, which made the hat refining drama even more bizarre.

Even though Angel was leaning toward the second option, it would be difficult for him to make further decisions before he knew the full story of Dong Liz's alchemy.

Angel expressed his thoughts: "...If you really want to refine a hat, at least let me know what is going on with her sister?"

"Ms. Portia, do you know anything about Lizzie Winter and her sister?"

Portia pondered for a while before speaking: "I don't know more about Dong Liz than you do. However, her sister is indeed a problem."

"Dong Lizi has said many times that her sister is behind her. But I can't see her sister."

"Based on the results of the power word spell, Dong Liz did not lie. However, at that time, I still didn't believe that she was accompanied by a sister."

"Because Power Word can only detect normal people. If a mentally ill person with hallucinations imagines a sister by her side, and she is convinced that her sister is real, then Power Word cannot detect the truth."

In other words, when Portia and Winter Liz met for the first time, she treated Winter Liz as a mental patient.

It was not until later that Portia contacted Witch Xialu that her idea changed a little.

"Although Witch Xia Lu appears to be very crazy, it's just that her brain circuit is different from other people's. As long as you understand her brain circuit, you can understand her thoughts."

"I have known Witch Xia Lu for many years, and we have been doing close business recently, so I can probably understand some of her behavioral patterns."

Portia: "From some of the details shown by Witch Xialu, I can be sure of one thing. She is very supportive of Winter Liz's decision to refine the hat."

"This kind of support is not like supporting Dong Liz herself, but supporting an unknown existence."

Angel: "... Dong Liz's sister?"

Portia nodded: "Yes, that's my guess. Witch Xialu gave strong support to Sister Dong Liz's decision."

"It is precisely because of this that I began to doubt my previous judgment."

"Perhaps Dong Liz really has a sister, but we can't see it."

Portia sighed softly and glanced at Angel: "I know, this conclusion is a bit absurd. But then I asked Witch Xialu about it, and the answer she gave was yes."

"Witch Xia Lu also admitted that Dong Liz's sister exists."

"I don't believe in Winter Lizzie, but I believe in Summer Dew Witch."

Although Portia has still not found any clues about Sister Winter Liz, she is already leaning towards the fact that such a person does exist.

Angel thought for a moment and asked, "Can others see Dong Liz's sister?"

"As far as I know, no one can see it, even..." When Portia said this, she hesitated for a moment, as if she didn't know whether to continue speaking, and finally she said what she had not finished: "Even I think , Witch Xialu can’t see Lizzie’s sister either.”

"Witch Xialu can't see Sister Dong Lizi either?" Angel said in surprise.

Portia nodded: "Yes, I have observed Witch Xia Lu. When she faced Dong Liz, her eyes wandered every time, and in the end her eyes did not freeze in one place, as if she was looking for Nothing was found."

"So I think Witch Xialu may have used other methods to confirm the existence of Dong Lizi's sister, but like everyone else, she couldn't see Dong Lizi's sister."

Angel: "If that's the case, why is Witch Xialu so supportive of Sister Dong Liz's decision?"

Portia took out the folding fan and waved it: "I don't know about this. Maybe there is something special about Winter Liz's sister that we don't know about? And her specialness happened to be discovered by Witch Xialu."

"How about you talk to Sister Dong Liz in person?"