It's a success!

"Alright Champ. Let's hear it. What do you wanna sell me?" Belsach asked as they all took a seat in his personal chambers, the massive statue of the goblin sitting atop his throne of nude women somehow leering at the women despite its inanimate nature. Looking at the art decorating the lavish room, the decadent displays of carnal lust each piece emanated, Verdi made his best salesman smile as he prepared to pitch his idea to Belsach. Before he could even utter a word, Citrinas chimed in, her face still concealed by the bandana she had on.

"Why do you even need to show this to Belsach? I told you I'd pay for everything." She said as Verdi's smile cracked, the mood he was going for thoroughly ruined by her. Though her offer to fund his random alchemical ideas and business proposals was appealing, there was a fundamental flaw in having her fund his inventions.

Citrinas was filthy rich and did alchemy for fun, so she probably had some of the deepest pockets in the continent. The issue was that she had all the business savvy and connections of a dead cat. Even if they created the perfect camera, they'd still need to find a guy with connections like Belsach to sell their idea to break even. At best, they'd have a mansion full of random gadgets that just collected dust. Unlike Citrinas who enjoyed the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge's sake, Verdi had different interests.

"I wanna be rich, famous, and spend my life balls deep in a beauty everyday. Right now, I'm only doing one of those things with you. If I partner with Belsach, I have a chance of becoming rich and famous." Verdi said as Citrinas bopped him on the head, blushing profusely as he continued talking. "Belsach, I'm gonna pitch you my invention, give me your honest opinion even if you hate it."

"Will do Champ." Belsach vowed, his words somehow sincere despite how reprehensible he looked. Somehow, Verdi knew he was telling the truth, his scratchy voice and wart encrusted face akin to a saint's.

"Alright. Fenri, give me the camera. Belsach, I need you to sit still for 15 minutes." Verdi requested as Fenri reached into her inventory and handed him his camera, the crude box still as ugly as the day he made it. He could improve the design and he had no doubt Citrinas had a few ideas on incorporating magical theory into it, but he was strapped on time and resources. As he prepared his camera, Belsach lounged back in his throne, imitating the sculpture of himself next to him down to a T. It wasn't regal, and his face was devoid of emotion, but it seemed to be the easiest pose he could make. After 30 minutes of exposure, Verdi closed the camera's lens, halting the reaction as he looked to Citrinas.

"Done. Citrinas, can you help me develop it?" He asked as she perked up, excited to develop the photo with him. Since she wasn't around to develop the first photo and only watched him develop the second, she seemed eager to develop the latest photo herself.

"Of course!" She said with an excited voice, more than eager to help him. Opening her domain, they invited Belsach to the lakeside manor and closed the portal behind them. Leading him into the manor, Verdi brought Belsach into their dark room to develop the photo, letting Citrinas develop the photo while the hobgoblin watched her work with interest. Rather than explain every step like he did with Citrinas, Verdi stayed silent in the hopes of raising the hobgoblin's interest. After they generated the negative for the photo, Belsach's eyes went wide as he realized just what they made. Crafting a positive from their newly created negative, Verdi held up the newly created photo in the air for Belsach to enjoy.

"And done." Verdi said, holding up the freshly made photo to Belsach as he grabbed it and looked down in disbelief. Reflected within the paper was a perfect image of himself sitting before his sculpture maintaining the very pose he used. Every detail down to the individual warts could be seen in the photo as he gawked at the quality of the picture in his hands. Nothing but the finest artists could hope to reach this level of perfection, yet before his eyes Verdi had crafted the photo using nothing but mundane reagents.

"So, what do you think?" Verdi asked, already knowing the answer from the look on Belsach's face.

"This is incredible! Revolutionary even! I'll fund your little venture, just name a price and it's done." The hobgoblin said, overjoyed at the sight of his own visage as he imagined what photos he would take next. It was for that reason Verdi's excitement grew, knowing that he had far more to offer.

"It gets better Belsach." Verdi said, his words akin to foreplay as the hobgoblin let out a low, almost aroused growl.

"How does it get better?" He asked, eager to sink his teeth into whatever Verdi had to offer.

"I can mass produce pictures as long as we have the negative." Verdi said, waving around the photo in his hand. "Imagine advertising your bar across the entire continent. Your face could be seen by EVERYONE in the continent at a premium price." He continued, laying the killing blow as Belsach flashed a grotesque, almost bestial grin. His jagged, uneven teeth were exposed as he sucked in fresh air and exhaled a vile miasma, completely sold on Verdi's business venture.

"Champ, you've convi-" He said as Verdi shook his head.

"But wait, there's more!" He interrupted, amplifying Belsach's interest as Fenri sighed.

"Why the fuck do you need to space everything out?" She asked, far more interested in enjoying the bar or going shopping for knives than Verdi's show and tell. Verdi grabbed his right wrist and made a fist, imitating Fenri's rude gesture with no real context as to why it was rude.

"It's called showmanship!" Verdi snapped back angrily, annoyed to have the mood ruined by Fenri's complaints as Citrinas stared at him with a puzzled expression.

"Wasn't the camera your only thing you were trying to sell?" She asked, equal parts confused and excited by what Verdi had planned. Though he could have told Citrinas what he was planning beforehand, new inventions were like anal: it best given as a surprise.

"Short term, yes. Long term, I have more ideas. Follow me to the lab." Verdi said, leading them to Citrinas' lab where he had set up sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and cotton grown from his monster form. Mixing the three together, he muttered an ice spell before forcing one of his monster cores to maintain the spell, keeping the reaction chilled to avoid any unwanted explosions. "This is sulfuric acid and this is nitric acid. We mix this stuff with some cellulose like cotton under ice. If it isn't cold, it'll explode, covering us in acid and glass." Verdi said, mixing some of the cotton he'd produced from his monster form. Though his body did have its flaws, the ability to generate basic components like camphor or cotton was useful. He didn't know the explicit term for camphor in any of the world's native languages, so handing a sample of what he wanted and letting Belsach search for a stable supply was far easier for him.

"Okay, so now what?" Citrinas asked as the party sat about for a few minutes as Verdi let the reaction complete, removing the acid and rinsing the nitrocellulose out with water.

"So, now, we take our new nitrocellulose and dissolve it in ether which we make from mixing sulfuric acid and ethanol. We now have this nice syrupy liquid." Verdi said, the fluffy explosive material dissolving into the liquid like sugar into tea. Once it was done, he poured the syrup on a piece of paper, coating it in the viscous fluid and letting the volatile ether evaporate. Soon, only a thin, smooth film was left coating the paper.

"So, you can see when you dry this off it becomes a thin film." He said, holding the paper to Belsach to study. He noted the smooth feeling on his fingers as he returned it to Verdi, slightly less interested in such a mundane item.

"That could be useful for waterproofing things like letters. I know a girl who will pay quite well for this recipe." He said as Verdi shook his head at the prospect of waterproofing paper.

"This stuff is quite literally a stronger version of gunpowder that doesn't make as much smoke. Do NOT use it with paper or you will kill someone." Verdi warned, startling everyone at just how serious he was. Sensing the shift in tone, he cleared his throat and continued talking. "I'm working on making a different, less flammable film. This is just temporary. I'm just proving I can make a thin, translucent film." He said, returning to his usual salesman tone

"So what's the film for?" Citrinas asked, not detecting the awkward silence and more interested in where he was going.

"There's chemicals out there that can increase the rigidity of the film so it doesn't need a support like paper. Imagine the silver chloride for cameras mixed with this clear, self supporting film." Verdi said, the trio still unable to keep up with him. They were all incredibly smart people, but Verdi could tell that it was a cultural difference that was stopping them from grasping what he was planning.

"We could make a more resilient camera with better quality?" Citrinas offered, her answer technically correct.

"Cast a light spell. I wanna show you a proof of concept for what I have planned." Verdi said, walking to a jug of water and freezing it while Citrinas did as told, crafting an orb of pure light in front of them. Quickly, Verdi shifted the ice into a translucent ribbon and stuck his finger into a nearby bottle of ink, freezing it and reshaping the dye to his will. Carefully, he began reshaping the ink into a series of stick figures separated by black lines on top of the ribbon of ice he had made, taking care to make small lines between each stick figure. When he was done, he closed all the curtains in the room and placed the ribbon of ice in front of the orb of light Citrinas produced.

"Look on the wall." Verdi requested as everyone looked to see his stick figure projected on the wall. Quickly, he shifted the ice ribbon to flow from left to right, rapidly shifting the many images he had drawn. Instantly, the stick figure projected on the wall began moving before their very eyes, walking forward without a care in the world.

"The pictures are moving!" Citrinas said, transfixed by the simple animation as the light orb faded, her awe shattering the focus required to maintain the spell.

"I have faith given enough time, skilled craftsmen, and assets, we will be able to record things in full color with moving pictures. We can shoot entire plays and let people watch them at a cheap price." He said, giving Belsach an idea of his current get rich scheme.

The world of Ruyanei was a strange mix of primitive and advanced. They knew of the ideal gas equation, of the speed of light, of the most advanced sciences, yet they never dreamed of crafting planes, cars, or even cameras. They could grasp the equations required to accelerate chemical reactions, yet they never discovered the catalysts that could do the same process. As intelligent as the people of this world were, they lacked the creativity to commercialize this knowledge or the urge to innovate outside of magical technology. This meant Verdi had a lot of potential to make a fortune with the knowledge of his past life and home world.

"What do you need?" Belsach asked, now thoroughly invested in Verdi's creations.

"I have the blueprints for my ideas in my head, but I can't forge this stuff since I don't have a forge or the experience to use one. Do you know any skilled blacksmiths?" Verdi asked, tossing out his first request.

"Plenty. Hand over the blueprints and I'll have it done. What else?" Belsach asked.

"Main ingredients for the camera film is silver, sea salt, saltpeter, and sulfur. That said, if you can get me gelatin I can improve the design further." He said as Citrinas stared deeply at him, as though she were a puppy dog staring at a juicy steak. It seemed she was quite invested in photography as she committed the ingredients to memory.

"Improve how?" She asked with an eager voice, her eyes shining as Verdi felt slightly insulted at how much more passionate, focused, and aroused she was at this moment compared to their nightly trysts. Her pupils even looked like they had hearts in them, as though she were on the verge of climax from his little show.

"We can make the camera handheld since we'll be able to enlarge photos. I can also make it so the pictures are instant. No more sitting around for a few minutes." Verdi said, drawing upon his past life's scientific knowledge. If he suspended the silver nitrate on a gelatin base rather than placing it on paper or glass, the quality of the photos would improve as would the exposure time.

"How does it work?" Citrinas asked, eager to learn the mechanism for the modified design as Verdi shooed her away, far more interested in ironing out the details of his process with Belsach.

"We can talk later. For now, Belsach, we'll need to process this shit. Preferably away from civilization. This shit is dangerous, and last thing I need is negative publicity when we accidentally blow up the city or cause an acid rain." Verdi said, fully cognizant of what his design will do to the area if proper safety precautions weren't taken. At best, they'd blow up the entire area before drenching it in acid. At worst, it was an ecological disaster that would end in acid rains.

"I know an orc who has a dungeon near our potential suppliers who has a dungeon. If you can show me how you do everything, I can train her. If there's an accident, only things that'll die are her minions, and the dungeon's indestructible." Belsach said, knocking out another issue as Verdi hit another matter of business.

"We also need to set up shops to develop the film or find a way to transport the film our customers make to a central lab. Do you know any merchants who might be interested in working with us?" He asked, thinking out the logistics of transport. They needed to sell the cameras to interested customers. They also needed to sell the film, but make sure each roll was completely isolated from the light. Then there was the issue of developing the photos. Either they needed a robust system of transport, or they had to establish a network of labs meant for developing film.

"... Out east, I have a few people who can do that even with the war going on. Out west, I'll have to get back to you." Belsach said, less confident in his connections to territories owned by the forces of light. Just as Verdi was about to give up on selling cameras to humanity, Citrinas chimed in.

"We can ask the alchemy guild if they want to expand their business to include film development." She said, happy to add something to the conversation as they looked at her.

"Do you know anyone influential that might hear us out?" Verdi asked, mulling over her suggestion. It made sense from a logistical standpoint. The alchemist guild was already used to transporting reagents and they were a trusted name to the public. It was appealing, but the question was whether or not they'd hear out an unknown alchemist on an experimental process.

"My mom's the guild master of the region. I think she'd say yes if we asked nicely." Citrinas said as Verdi thought over his next move. He didn't know much about Citrinas' family outside of the fact that her sister was now a reanimated monster. Then again, all he needed to do was convince one guild branch to take up his idea. After that, he had no doubt the idea would spread like wildfire.

"When all this is over, let's go meet your mom." He said as Fenri whistled in appreciation.

"Good plan. Be a good idea to meet your in laws before you put a few kids in her." She said mockingly as Verdi made a rude gesture to her.

"Keep talking and I'll put a few kids in you." He snapped back at her.

"Don't threaten me with a good time." Fenri countered as Belsach coughed into his hand.

"I can tell you're busy, so if you'll hand me the blueprints I'll let you do what needs to be done while I get to work on my end." Belsach said as Verdi walked to a nearby desk and opened it, handing over a set of documents he'd made with concise measurements on each one. Once Belsach received the documents, Citrinas banished him from her domain, eager to see Verdi's designs come to life.

"Okay, let's go make the film you were talking about, then talk about how the gelatin works!" Citrinas said, eager to hear from Verdi the mechanics of his upgraded camera and create the translucent film for his moving camera.

"We'll do it tomorrow. Send me out of your domain." Verdi requested, relieved as he finished his business.

"Why tomorrow?" Fenri asked, also puzzled by his answer.

"Because I'm horny, and Eris looks like she was ready to dislocate my hips. If I'm lucky she's still in the bar and still horny." Verdi said, thinking back to the hellhound and her twin sister. He knew firsthand how insane Eris was in the bedroom. If her twin sister was just as energetic, then he was in for one hell of a night.

"You wanna go for the magic dildo story? Because, I'm down if you are." Fenri offered, her nipples stiffening at the mere thought of using Verdi's dildo form on the twin hellhounds. Verdi prepared to answer her, only to have Citrinas tug on his sleeve like a child.

"But you told me you'd explain how gelatin would improve the camera." She said, giving him puppy dog eyes and pouting slightly. To Verdi's disbelief, he found himself staring into her eyes, the arch-imago's habit of avoiding eye contact absent at this moment.

"Come on, I spent 2 nights with you talking about the mechanics behind catalysts and the difference between nucleophilic and electrophilic substitutions. I earned a night to relieve myself." Verdi argued, hoping to get Citrinas to let him go wild. He could abstain from sex when traveling, but holding back when he spent most of his day surrounded by naked women was nothing but cruel. Thinking for a minute, Citrinas began unbuttoning her shirt.

"Let's meet in the middle." She said as her shirt fell away, displaying a pair of D cup breasts capped with pink nipples. Thanks to Verdi's constant sucking, teasing, and licking, they'd grown ever so slightly as milk began spilling from them, the slightest trace of arousal causing her body to lactate. "You give the lecture, I'll keep you relieved." She said while sticking her tongue out, attempting to look seductive but only causing Verdi and Fenri's cheeks to burst out, as though they were ready to vomit. Soon, both of their mouths opened as a wave of laughter filled the room, the two unable to handle it any longer.

Normally, a shirtless lactating beauty licking her lips would be getting the two fired up, but watching Citrinas of all people do it only made them smile. Her awkward, almost alien movements only made their smiles into all out laughter as they watched her movements. She looked like she was trying to lick her nose with her tongue while her attempts at rubbing her chest to seem seductive seemed like she was trying to keep the beat with a song. Rather than exhibiting the allure of a beautiful woman, she looked like she somebody punched her breasts and she was trying to catch her breath while rubbing the bruises.

"Citrinas, Citrinas, stop, I can't breath! I can't breathe!" Verdi said as her glare intensified.

"What!?" She asked as Fenri grabbed Verdi by the shoulder and shook him to get his attention, unable to halt her laughter long enough to call for him.

"Hey, hey Verdi, I think you stole princess' heart just now, cause I think she's trying to resuscitate herself!" Fenri said before imitating Citrinas' movements to her breasts, the movements identical to a medical professional jump starting a patient's heart with a cardiac massage.

"I'm-I'm giving an arousing dance, not a medical procedure!" Citrinas said indignantly as Verdi grabbed Fenri's shoulder, also unable to halt his laughter long enough to say anything.

"Hey, how wet are you from that tongue action she was giving? Cause I'm harder than a fucking diamond right now!" Verdi said before sticking his tongue out and imitating Citrinas' licks at the air, his tongue going up and down in an almost comical way. The two of them started laughing harder as Verdi tasted blood, accidentally biting his own tongue from the uncontrollable laughter.

"I'm so wet you could drown a goblin in my panties right now!" Fenri said as the two fell to a knee, unable to muster the strength to stay upright from their laughter.

"I'm-I'm pretending to lick your penis! It's sexy!" Citrinas said indignantly, blushing harder than ever as she suffered her worst humiliation yet. Being stripped naked, filled with cum in front of her friends, and all the other depravities Verdi subjected her to paled in comparison to her current humiliation.

"You lick your lips or go side to side! Licking at the air just looks like you're pretending to be a dog" Fenri exclaimed, still gasping for air as Verdi clutched his sides to stifle the pain.

"That-that makes no sense! You don't lick your lips when we suck him off, you trace the shaft with your tongue!" Citrinas exclaimed, her attempt at seduction based off of logic and deductive reasoning with no regard for aesthetic. Taking pity on her Verdi patted her on the shoulder.

"Okay Citrinas, you win. I'll give the lesson." He said while wiping a tear away as he took a deep breath and looked at her shirtless figure. Despite her beauty and nudity, his crotch was unreactive as he thought back to her seductive attempt and tried to stifle another bout of laughter. "I don't think I can maintain an erection with you after seeing that." He said, Citrinas' face now redder than a beet as she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the lab. Fenri followed, clutching her side as though Citrinas sucker punched her as she tried to catch her breath.

"Change of plans! You're getting a sexy strip show from me, getting turned on, and having sex!" She said, now fixated on washing away her embarrassment than enriching herself intellectually.