The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

Chapter 148 Good morning, Hart City

"The Endless Abyss—did he leave so early?" Eunice Vaughan laid out the glasses Old Mike had handed him one by one, pressing for an answer.

"Yes, they said it's a family business that needs to be inherited, so they used the Starmoke teleportation array," Nehta said, shaking a nut upside down in his wine glass on the table. "Tsk tsk, I've never seen anything like this in my life."

The Ratman Ranger glanced at Dark beside him and teased, "You can't expect me to finish telling all this by myself, can you? Dark, why don't you tell Yunevo about your arduous journey to clear your name?"

"Go to hell—" Dark chuckled dryly. "Yonev knows I wasn't expelled from Tus. After the gargoyle incident, I was rehired and returned to the school."

He turned to look at Speer, who seemed a little shy at the moment. "This kid has also become my teaching assistant. As for his reputation—just like yours back then, it's very polarized."

As soon as he finished speaking, the aroma of roasted meat wafted out through the cracks in the drafty wooden walls of the tavern. The footsteps outside the door were sometimes light and sometimes heavy, making it easy to spot who was coming.

"Ugh! Our new vest is completely soaked in this smell!" Old Liu poked his head out from the pile of roasted meat with difficulty. "Stop chatting, hurry up and help us carry it inside!"

In the end, it was Speer who helped.

Old Liu plopped down in a chair, panting heavily, and began to recount what he'd been busy with these past few days: "Those land deeds in the commercial district—I've helped those 'old scholars' sort them out too!"

Then, the short, fat ratman suddenly stood up, scattering a pile of heavy ledgers on the ground. He plunged in and found a large ledger as long as his legs, which he then smashed onto the ground with a "whoosh" and spread out.

"That dilapidated 'breathing tax' center—we're planning to tear it down and build the largest precision gear machining center in the entire industry! Those rats are busy throwing out all the good stuff from underground!"

Old Six, his beard shortened on one side, trembled, grinning foolishly at the half-missing front tooth, reaching out his paw to grab the still steaming roasted meat—

"Ouch! It's so hot!" It jumped around a couple of times, not forgetting to stuff the skewer of meat into its mouth, repeating this cycle over and over again.

Nehta and Junev exchanged a glance, and the former opened the bottle of rum, distributing the amber liquid evenly into each glass.

"Come on—Sixth Brother, have some of this, drink some to cool down—" The Ratman Ranger suppressed a grin that almost reached his ears as he watched Sixth Brother raise his glass without hesitation—

"Ouch! Why is it so hot and painful! My throat is burning!"

Seeing this, both Dark and Speer couldn't help but laugh.

Nehta laughed so hard his tail spun like a fan, and he pulled a faded handkerchief from the inside pocket of his trench coat and tossed it to the sixth brother.

"Come on, wipe your mouth—we'll drink beer later."

Yonivore held the wine glass, staring at the amber liquid inside for a long time before bringing it to his lips and taking a small sip.

The liquor has a slightly spicy taste when it flows into your mouth, but it is also uniquely smooth.

He placed the wine glass on the table and smiled helplessly.

"Fine, I'll have beer too, it's low in alcohol—we can't let everyone in charge get drunk here."

"Tch, coward," Nehta twitched his beard and poured himself another glass of rum.

It slowly exhaled, brought the glass to its face, and then tilted its head back, swallowing the wine in one gulp. "Ha—that's the feeling!" The Ratman Ranger smacked its lips and casually tossed a nut into its mouth.

"By the way, where's Wave? I just saw him at the wellhead—" Yunevo interrupted.

"He's leading the team to unclog the water pipes," Darke chimed in, pointing outside the tavern. "The mud after this rainstorm is really badly clogging the pipes. I wonder if it's because the church never takes care of it."

"The commoners were handing it towels to wipe its sweat, and guess what those nobles who had previously sided with the church were doing?"

Before Yunevo could speak, Dark continued, "Those nobles are in a panic, wanting to help but also afraid of being purged."

"There's really no way around it—if they have something to hide, they'll never get over that hurdle," Yunevo shrugged.

Iseria, who was beside him, didn't say much, but quietly enjoyed this unique "reality," her sky-colored eyes sparkling.

She picked up a skewer of grilled meat, looked it over from left to right, blew on the very tip, and then took a bite.

Then, her eyes narrowed to slits, and even the surrounding ether seemed to be bubbling with pink bubbles.

"Come on, this bucket's still on Old Mike's! Old Mike's happy today, even happier than when Gavin got kicked out!"

Old Mike walked out from backstage carrying a large bucket of beer, his burly face now showing a completely relaxed and gentle expression.

Then, he jogged back and brought a large glass of chilled juice, placing it in front of Iseria.

"And this young lady mage—the sword you used to cut off Uriel's head was incredibly cool!"

Iseria touched her head somewhat embarrassedly and gently tugged at the hem of Yunevo's clothes.

The latter was somewhat puzzled, and just then he saw Nehta move the glass storage tank to an empty seat, so he filled his beer and held it up high.

"A tribute to those who can never return—"

The noise at the table subsided. Lao Liu dusted off the dust on his vest, reached forward with difficulty, and picked up a skewer of roasted meat, placing it in front of the glass jar.

Nehta touched the charred holy emblem necklace hanging around his neck and raised his glass like the others.

The wine glasses clinked together, producing a crisp sound. The ratman ranger exhaled and asked the black-robed alchemist before him, "What do you plan to do next?"

"Hart City needs a heart," Yunevo's gaze swept over everyone present, "and the Root" was clearly no longer something to be ashamed of.

"So, you want to move 'Root' completely to the ground?" Dark swallowed a large gulp of beer filled with air, nearly choking.

"To be precise, it's about allowing Hart City to grow new roots," so that there will no longer be a distinction between upper and lower city districts, only learning, teaching, and progress.

Yunefu stood up, the dark gold patterns on his black robe flowing slowly.

"Good idea, but it will be tiring," Speer pushed up his glasses, with countless skewers of grilled meat piled up in front of him.

"Those meat grinders and chainsaw swords, with a few modifications, can be put into practical applications," he continued.

"Ah, let's do it! What we sixth brother have in abundance is piles and piles of gold coins!"

The short, fat ratman's paws reached for the roast meat with incredible speed, but its tail nearly knocked over the glass storage jar—startling it so much that its fur stood on end and its tail didn't stand up for a long time.

With Lao Liu's witty remark, the atmosphere in the tavern became light and cheerful once again.

More and more people rushed to the tavern after hearing the news, and the "big shot meet-and-greet party" continued until the early hours of the next day.

Eunerv and Iseria, exhausted, bid farewell to everyone.

The former yawned and said leisurely.

Good morning, Hart City.