Breaking Diaries - (Apothecary Diaries, Walter White Isekai)

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Summary: What happens if Heisenberg winds up in the Country of Li after dying at the end of BB?

Four months. It's been Four months since he somehow managed to survive the end of his drug empire.

Walter White couldn't believe it. In fact, his current predicament, albeit very true to logic and reality, came to be through unknown and very illogical reasons. He should have died. Either by cancer or by lead. So... how come he didn't? How come he didn't feel the pains of his resurging tumor and... why was he bald again?

He didn't feel any younger despite looking like that. He did feel refreshed, but that definitely was the sudden lack of the FBI hunting him down.

Now, his story in this mysterious land started with him waking up in a forest. Which was the furthest place he expected to open his eyes to in the mortal world. Maybe if that had been Eden or a fake introduction to Hell but... this was real. He wasn't dead- His wounds had been patched up somehow and, as he stumbled his way to the nearest settlement... Walter realized he was very far from America. The culture, the outfits and the language- this felt like China, but Walter wasn't sure it was truly 'old China' as he originally thought it to be.

Having dealt with a few international discussions in the past back before he was a high school teacher, Walter knew Chinese to some extent. It wasn't the same language as the one spoken by the locals, but he could understand and the people could understand him in return. His appearance also levied some interest by a few people, and, not too long into this business, Walter had become something of a pharmacist. Those that knew him, those that knew Heisenberg, would easily think of it as his habits resurfacing. Back to cooking, back to science, back to... Heisenberg.

But no, that wasn't within Walter White's plans. He had tasted that glory, that power and... it had left him a broken man. Powerful, yes, but at what cost? His family had shunned him, he would never get the chance to hear his youngest child speak and he had to let go of Jessie too at the end. As far as Walter was concerned, Heisenberg was dead. And so was any ambition his mind could muster.

There were so many ideas that floated in his mind as he was taken in by a local lord as a physician, proving his worth by offering medical help to the local village without asking much in return. He needed the money to survive, but that was all - so it was quite troublesome when this noble man picked him up from the streets and gave him a job. He didn't need it, he had enough to survive and feel miserable about it. Without Heisenberg, there was only Walter White. The 'pathetic' man that, deep down, regretted every single decision he made. He couldn't apologize for any of those, and he knew it wasn't just a matter of 'location'. He did not deserve the pity or the mercy of anyone he wronged.

His plan was to remain as anonymous as possible, a choice that fully clashed with his greedier and more ruthless side. He could feel his old ways gnaw at him for these months and beyond, but Walter persisted and soon he was able to retrieve a form of stability in his current occupation. He was quite popular around, not just as a pharmacist and healer known as 'The Miraculous Foreigner', but also as 'Old Man Water'. No one could get the 'L' right in his name, but he was more than fine in letting this silly mistake go over his head. And things would have remained fairly tame... if not for an absurd request from his employer.

"I wish that you join the next trip to the Imperial Palace to acquire the materials you need for your medicines," Lord Liao, the old and yet patient noble man that took him in, told him in a private meeting. "I have read your complaints, and while I have entrusted the list of missing resources to my servants, they always fail to bring them all. So, you will be in charge of the next trip and you will oversee the correct handling of that business."

Walter wanted to complain. One thing was to work for a noble, another was to take part to the trip to the Imperial Capital and be potentially seen by those manipulators he heard lived in the Emperor's court. He wasn't that eager to wander into a nest of snakes, but he was assured beforehand that the Medical Dispensary was located in the outer court, away from any problematic figures that may take notice of him.

"I will do as you wish, Lord Liao," He muttered with a hint of 'English' Accent.

The man beamed and patted his arm, thanking him for his service. Walter offered a strained smile, and he was glad that the fellow man hadn't kept him around for more. One of the things that came up to him as soon as he fully shedded his Heisenberg mask was a sudden dislike for people in position of powers. He was so invested in living a humble life for what few years he had left in his body, that Walter couldn't bear the thought of being propelled to national attention.

Lord Liao was the least troublesome of autocrats, but he had his own vices that made him detestable at times. So, with this thought in mind, Walter got all he needed packed up in a bag, and he waited for a servant to give him the details for when he was supposed to leave. The answer came after lunch, with a young man giving him the basic points for the trip: when to leave, who was to accompany him, and how to behave in the Imperial Court.

This last piece of information was crucial considering the specific rules to follow in regard to his visit: the Inner Court was off-limits as the only men that could visit it were either members of the royal family or eunuchs with rare exceptions in regard to attendants for the royal family, the Dispensary may not have everything he needed and he couldn't complain about it out of 'reverence to the Emperor' (there was also an ongoing war, which is the reason why Walter would behave in case of scarcity over some material), and he was to follow any sudden instructions from the guards if these ordered such.

All in all, nothing truly worrisome in his mind. He had managed to keep out of trouble, he had fostered a humble but pleasant status quo between poverty and richness within his role and he should be able to follow orders without any issue.

He was not going to slip in that path. He just couldn't, not with things finally looking up at him.

It was a lovely morning when a certain lady-in-waiting was given permission to visit the Dispensary in the Outer Court.

Usually Maomao would have had to whine a lot to be allowed into the place, knowing how many felt with the main purpose behind those visits. She wasn't there to pick anything, rather she would find herself a nice place where to sit and... sniff the air. To new servants, the sight was puzzling while those that knew her could only roll their eyes at what would drive a young girl to just be there to smell the air. It was poison, it was the bitterness, it was the fleeting chance of putting her paws- hands into some of that good stuff.

Jinshi's comment about me being a cat are sure getting to me...

Shuddering about thinking of the young man, Maomao focused her mind back on her nose- and the scents entering her nostrils. So many bitter and mouth-watering scents!

The girl was soon sighing as she happily wasted a hour doing just that, almost ready to go back when her nose picked up the oddest scent yet. It wasn't bitter, but it made her nose tingle a bit in displeasure - it was a new scent. A new kind of poison? Her eyes opened and went wide open at the opportunity to find something new to entertain herself. Sneaking around, she ultimately found the source to be not a thing but a... man. A bald man. And one that looked quite weird. He was definitely a foreigner from the way his facial features stood out from the rest, his eyes specifically, and the odd glass device he wore to look at things felt a bit unusual among others.

Maomao's curiosity initially suffered a nosedive, but now it got piqued by such an individual and she got closer. Still sniffing, the girl tried and failed to identify the compound- it wasn't a singular product behind the smell. it was a blend of various plants and something else.

Ultimately, before she could reach out and ask the man what was going on with his smell, she found herself lifted up from the ground and carried away from. "Oh, hello Gaoshun. Don't tell me, it's-"

"Someone poisoned one of the attendants to Lady Gyokuyou."

Ah yes, life truly remains as troublesome as usual... yet she couldn't stop thinking about that odd 'bitter but pleasant' scent coming off from that man.

AN

Cracky idea, but it has potential.