From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

When Matthew and his companion returned to the ground, Grace and Holly had already disappeared.

"These two people didn't even say thank you after we saved them," Luca said, dissatisfied.

"That's enough, you're being hypocritical after getting a good deal."

Matthew immediately saw through Luca's deliberate attempt to conceal his actions. Just as the steam burst out of the stone wall, he saw Luca collect everything from the black-robed man into his magic ring.

Luca chuckled: "Let's split it in half. I'll keep it for you first. You get some rest, and we'll divide it when no one's around."

When they returned to the caravan's camp, they found everyone packing up and preparing to leave.

Holly was already waiting again, and upon seeing them, she tossed a bag of magic crystals to Matthew.

"Consider this your payment. Let's part ways here."

Matthew took the magic crystals, weighed them in his hands, and estimated there were about a hundred of them. His expression was slightly surprised, but he roughly guessed what it meant.

"What do you mean? You're kicking them away after they've served their purpose!" Luca protested, clearly feeling they were being ousted.

"It doesn't mean anything, we just don't want you to follow us anymore, understand?"

After Holly threw their luggage off the carriage, she warned them again not to try any other tricks. She was only letting them off this time because Grace was alright; otherwise, she would definitely not have played along with them.

If Matthew and his group hadn't insisted on going to the tribe to check on the situation, Grace wouldn't have met with this accident.

Holly naturally didn't give them a friendly look.

After the caravan had driven away, Matthew put away the magic crystal, shook his head, and smiled broadly.

He was still thinking about how to deal with the trouble down there, and he didn't know how to continue staying with Grace.

He didn't understand much about matters between men and women, whether in his past life or this one, and he never expected them to leave on their own.

But it's obvious without even thinking that Holly made the decision on her own.

"Brother, we're almost at Moore City, and you're still laughing?"

Luca retrieved the abandoned luggage into the Ring, looked at Matthew and shook his head, thinking that he was upset. After all, it was really hard to be misunderstood when doing good deeds.

"Let's just leave. It's better than being disliked."

Matthew patted Luca on the shoulder, gesturing for him to pack his own luggage, and then walked forward.

He prefers acting alone to living in a group.

"Huh? Isn't this yours?!"

The two walked one after the other towards the direction of Moore City on the map.

However, Matthew was studying the new demonic worm inside his body.

[Ice Worm Lv.2: One of the Ice and Fire Fusion Demon Worms. The user can condense magic power into ice and unleash a powerful attack.]

[It will only revert to Tier 3 when the Ice and Fire Insects unite.]

[Note: When ice and fire merge again, the demonic insects will become one, slowly devouring all of each other's magic power.]

Upon seeing the final annotations from the demonic insect, Matthew's initial excitement immediately subsided.

"As expected of an evil insect, even its methods of use are so wicked."

The so-called union is actually a means to devour the magic of the weaker party and use it for one's own purposes.

No wonder I feel so much more magical now, even stronger than before... It must be because of the magical insects.

Before leaving the stone chamber, he had asked Grace about the origin of the demonic insect, but she didn't know either. It seemed that it was released by the black-robed man who had tied her up in the stone chamber.

"Luckily, the fireflies are on Grace, so I still have some advantage. If they were on someone else..."

Matthew shuddered at the thought, realizing the unimaginable consequences.

......

The moon was high in the sky, and the caravan had been traveling for most of the day; no one else could be seen behind them.

They set up camp in a secluded location late at night.

Inside the carriage at the front, Grace had been fast asleep since returning, and only just now slowly woke up.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Holly standing guard beside him.

"Grace, you're awake! How are you feeling?"

Upon realizing that the person beside her wasn't Matthew, a flicker of disappointment crossed Grace's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and shook her head.

"It's okay, I'm fine." She glanced out the window and noticed they had changed seats, then asked, "How long did I sleep?"

Holly placed the prepared food in front of her: "It's been most of the day, the caravan has already moved far away from that place, don't worry."

Upon hearing this, Grace felt relieved and ate her dinner in small bites. It wasn't until halfway through her meal that she remembered to ask.

"Where are Matthew and the others? I hope they're alright."

Holly hesitated to speak when Holly asked the question, but eventually found an excuse.

"They voluntarily broke away from the caravan, saying they wanted to observe the situation in the tribe before going to Moor City."

Upon hearing that Matthew had parted ways with the caravan, Grace's expression froze instantly. She even forgot to chew the bread she had put in her mouth for a moment, but she quickly recovered and let out a somewhat disappointed "oh."

"Holly, you go ahead and do your work, don't worry about me."

After forcing the man off the carriage, Grace could no longer hide the disappointment on her face.

He tossed the firefly he was holding into the Ring, then hugged his knees and buried his head in it.

Holly, standing outside the car, shook her head, sighed softly, and thought to herself.

"Oh, miss, this is all for your own good. A marriage between people of unequal social standing will never work out."

After closing the car door, Holly walked to the carriage in the middle of the caravan.

"Sister Huo!"

"Hello, Sister Huo!"

Wes and Weber were sitting in the front of the car when they saw Holly approaching, and they immediately stood up to greet her.

"Is he still alive?"

"Inside there, they have only one loaf of bread and one bottle of water a day, and they're doing just fine."

Upon learning that Holly was going to interrogate them, the two brothers tactfully stepped aside and stood guard outside the carriage.

Inside the car, Miles was bound hand and foot to the ground, his hands and feet cuffed with anti-magic stones, unable to move, with bread crumbs and water stains around his mouth.

When he saw Holly approaching, Miles didn't show the fear he expected; instead, he looked like he was giving up.

"Hehe, what's up? You've thought it through, and you're going to let me cooperate?"

Holly had interrogated him once before, when he had just woken up.

Miles had suggested that she join them to sell the caravan together, saying that Grace could definitely fetch a good price, more than she could earn working as a coachman her whole life.

However, Holly's longsword responded to him, piercing straight into his shoulder.

"ah...."

The pain made Miles grimace, but a ferocious smile remained on his face.

Holly didn't get off the carriage until she had vented her anger.

She knew she wouldn't get any information out of him; her initial approach was simply torment, an attempt to break down his psychological defenses.

As for why he wasn't killed, it's because someone has to bear the loss this time.

When Miles returned to Moore City, he was met with something even more cruel than what he had done.

Inside the car, watching Holly's departing figure, Miles's expression grew increasingly sinister.

"You bitch, Matthew's been kicked out. Let's see how long you can keep up your arrogance!"

As he finished speaking, Miles' stomach began to churn.

A demonic insect crawled out of his throat, which he then bit into, and an invisible, odorless scent immediately drifted away on the wind.