The most shameless alchemist in history

The young researcher was puzzled. He looked around and saw that even though dozens of researchers had already arrived, people were still arriving in droves under the escort of guards. Each of these people was more important than the last, including some he admired greatly.

"Speaking of recent rising stars in the scientific community, we have to mention a guy named Fei Yue. She has recently solved several problems that have plagued the scientific community for many years. She is very impressive and has become the talk of the town. She is said to be a future member of the Magic Energy Association's board of directors."

The young researcher's companion was very interested in the researcher named "Scarlet Moon," and his face was full of admiration.

"Enter the council of the Magic Energy Association? That's a giant organization with nine seats. Only those who have reached the top in their respective fields can enter. In our scientific community, only chief scientists are qualified to join, right?" The young researcher sighed.

“That’s right, that’s exactly it…” The two young researchers were engrossed in discussing their idol and didn’t pay much attention to the girl who had spoken to them earlier, because she was so young, looking only fourteen or fifteen years old.

At her age, no matter how talented she was, the researchers considered her at best a scientist's assistant, so they didn't pay much attention to her. She didn't mind, though, and quietly slipped away as the researchers were having a lively discussion.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Feiyue?" At this moment, a man wearing sunglasses walked over from not far away and stopped in front of the girl.

"Yes, I am Feiyue." The girl nodded gently, and she quickly followed the man into the interior of the tower and disappeared.

Meanwhile, at Maple Leaf Academy, Charlotte, who had been beaming with pride, lost her joy upon learning the purpose of the staff from the Magic Energy Association. Instead, she broke out in a cold sweat and her hands trembled uncontrollably.

"That's the situation. Currently, a parasite-like entity has appeared in the simulation system. It will start by devouring one of the countless rooms created by the system, until it completely consumes the entire system," the expressionless staff member said.

"Then if it devours... I mean, if it devours, what will happen to the people inside?" Charlotte felt more like she had been stabbed in the back than someone had poured cold water on her. She was beginning to understand the seriousness of the situation.

"If a room is devoured by termites, the people inside will become food for the termites and disappear completely," the staff member confirmed.

"Completely disappeared? That's hundreds of people, and they're all outstanding students I personally selected. What am I supposed to do if they disappear? What will happen to my position as vice dean?" Charlotte broke out in a cold sweat. What he had hoped for had not come to pass.

He also received terrible news from above, and with this loss of one thing and gain of the other, he was on the verge of despair.

“I understand your feelings, but the situation is even worse for our Magic Energy Association. This system wasn't just sold to your Maple Leaf Academy; it was sold to dozens of countries, large and small, and tens of thousands of people are using it. That's why we contacted you first…”

The staff member paused here, looking intently into Charlotte's eyes, as if to give her a heads-up.

"Is there anything special about us here?" Charlotte asked hesitantly, sensing the warning in his words.

"Because the initial room where the termite is located is in the part that your Maple Leaf Academy purchased, once the termite in that room devours the room and breaks through the spatial barrier, it will appear, and your Maple Leaf Academy will be the first to be attacked," the staff member said seriously.

"Breaking through the spatial barrier to appear? Is that even possible? What will happen to Maple Leaf Academy?" Charlotte swallowed hard.

"It will be razed to the ground and disappear from this continent," the staff member answered truthfully.

.

304 Two unlucky guys

Dure never considered himself a lucky person. When he was only seven or eight years old, he still had good hopes for the future, such as having some kind of adventure, or being chosen and appreciated by someone and taken away from that poor village, just like the chivalrous biographies he found in the village.

A certain boy followed in the footsteps of a certain knight, left his village, ventured across the continent, and eventually became a certain lord, even marrying a certain princess. Whenever he read such passages as a child, he was very excited, and he always believed that the future was full of expectations and hopes.

In fact, he did encounter a man in the village, or more precisely, a man he dug out of the snow. But the man not only didn't take him away, but also sternly told him that he had to stay in the hot spring village for the rest of his life and never leave, and even made him swear an oath.

Dure didn't understand why the man would do that. For a long time, he did keep his promise to the man and didn't leave the village, until one day he accidentally discovered something, and it was this thing that prompted him to decide to leave the village.

This is the same person who seems to have been accompanied by an aura of bad luck since birth. Now that he has finally arrived at Maple Leaf Academy and is participating in the level assessment, he has encountered an unexpected situation. Moreover, this situation is no ordinary one. The magic energy simulation system they are using has encountered a major problem.

After understanding the whole story from Grenier, Dure's forehead was covered in cold sweat. Not far from him, there was a throbbing sound. He couldn't hear it very clearly when he was on the ground, but now he could hear it clearly. It was the sound of a heartbeat.

"You mean you can kill the termites hiding in this room?" Dure looked at the guy in front of him, who had a thick beard and looked like a middle-aged man, but claimed to be only a teenager, with suspicion. He didn't quite believe what he was saying.

“Don’t look at me with that suspicious look. I could have done this just a day ago.” Grenier also noticed the doubt in Dure’s eyes, because according to his description, the parasite was a very powerful being that could even kill everyone in the simulation system.

Yet, this powerful being dared to boast that it would be destroyed. If Grenier heard someone else say this, he would question it.

"A day ago? What do you mean?" Dure pondered Grenier's words, not quite understanding the implication.

“Just as the words say, a day ago I could handle the termites, but now I can’t.” Grenier elaborated, sighing with a deep sense of helplessness.

"Why can't you do it in just one day?" Dure knew there must be some reason for this.

"I don't know what's going on. The woodworm was originally in a dormant state, which would have made it easy for me to kill it while it was asleep. But now something has changed. It has awakened and is expanding rapidly at a visible speed..."

Grenier tried to express his meaning more accurately, after all, Durree was the only person he had encountered here.

"Expanded? How did it expand?" Dure pressed on.

“Let me put it this way, when I first came here, the termite was only about a six-star high-level strength, which I could easily handle. But now it has expanded rapidly and has already broken through the high-level threshold, and it is still growing,” Grenier explained.

"Breaking through the threshold of the high-level... Is it the Steel Rank?" Du Lei knew the division of ranks: low, medium, high, and then the Steel Rank and the Battle Rank.

“Well… about four hours ago,” Grenier replied hesitantly.

"Four hours ago? Stop beating around the bush and just say it all at once. I'm not asking about four hours ago, I'm asking about now!" Dure was very dissatisfied with Grenier's way of speaking, which made him uneasy.

“Right now… to be honest, I don’t know either. The only thing I’m sure of is that I definitely can’t handle it.” Grenier shrugged, looking utterly helpless.

"Then what do we do? Didn't you say you were sent by the Magic Energy Association to deal with the parasites? Why did they choose such an incompetent person?" All of Dure's information about the parasites came from Grenier in front of him. If even Grenier couldn't do anything about it, he was even more helpless.

“Hey, it’s not that I’m incapable, it’s just that those guys in the association underestimated the seriousness of the problem. You can’t blame me for that, okay?” Grenier defended himself.

"Since you can't do it, then hurry up and find some capable people. What are you dawdling about here for?" Dure was getting angry. Grenier couldn't solve the problem, yet he was still acting slowly and deliberately, which made him especially angry.

“I have no way to leave here now. How am I supposed to find it? And this place has already started to get out of control. There’s no way for outsiders to intervene. By the time they can, the termites will have already devoured all the rooms and swelled to an alarming extent. There’s nothing they can do about it.”

Grenier was disheartened. He was a pragmatic man, and his experience told him that he had reached a dead end.

"Then what do we do? Just stand by and watch, and become its prey?" Dure had originally thought he could get a solution from Grenier, believing that the Magic Energy Association at least had some sense of responsibility, but now it seemed that he had completely overestimated himself.

"No, we can still fight it!" Grenier patted his chest and said with great pride.

"Fight? Do you have a way to defeat it?" Dure's eyes lit up, thinking that Grenier still had a trump card.

"There's no solution, but at least fighting it will allow us to die with some dignity," Grenier said matter-of-factly.

"Get out!" Du Lei almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Oh, don't say that. We're brothers in misfortune, after all. I thought I was going to die here all alone, but I never expected to meet someone just as unlucky as me. That way, I won't feel lonely even if I die." Grenier seemed to sympathize with him.

"Can you stop talking such discouraging things? Have you already given up?" Du Lei snapped at him.

"What else can we do? Are we supposed to fight it? Don't be naive, we can't possibly beat it." Grenier waved his hand; he knew the situation all too well.

"Who said we should fight it? Can't we use our brains and find another way to deal with it?" Dure scoffed at Grenier's attitude. Clearly, he was not a lucky person, but he was not one to give up easily either. Even in the most unfavorable situation, he would not give up easily.

.

305 brought him here.

The annual freshman ranking assessment is one of the annual entertainment activities of Maple Leaf Academy. Senior students who have already gone through the ranking assessment watch the freshmen's assessment process through a water screen. The image is presented through magical energy manifestation and is very clear.

Even at night, students gathered to watch the new students fighting against the puppet creatures. Due to the emergence of a large number of outstanding new students this year, the level assessment was particularly exciting, with four new students reaching the high-level standard so far.

"They've only been enrolled for a month and they've already reached the advanced level, while I've been enrolled for two years and I've only reached the mid-level of five stars. That's the difference. Sigh, compared to them, I really feel like I've wasted the last two years of my life." One student felt ashamed upon seeing the newcomers' performance.

“People are different from each other. It’s determined from birth. Others are just exceptionally talented and far superior, so don’t compare yourself to them, and don’t be discouraged. Reaching the mid-stage of the fifth star level already surpasses many people.” A companion comforted him.

"That's right. As long as we work hard, even if we can't be as good as those exceptionally talented geniuses, we can still make something of ourselves... Huh? What's going on? Look, we can't see anything on the magic energy water screen anymore, and even the magic energy link's reaction has disappeared."

Just as these senior students were gradually reaching a consensus on the topic of "talent," someone suddenly noticed that the magical water curtain that was originally displayed normally had suddenly disappeared. He initially thought it was an isolated phenomenon, but when he looked at his companion next to him, the screen had also disappeared.

This surprised the students, who then went to check on other people's magical water curtains nearby, but the results were the same. This puzzled the students even more. What puzzled them even more was that the lights in the academy's office building, which had been turned off, were turned on again, and many outsiders appeared at the academy.

“Look over there, those people entering the academy…aren’t they guards from the Red Maple Legion stationed nearby? Why would the Red Maple Legion come to our academy? This is really strange.” A sharp-eyed student recognized the strangers entering the academy and exclaimed in surprise.

"And over there, aren't those the insignia on their chests from the Magic Energy Association? Have people from the Magic Energy Association come to the academy too?" Someone else pointed out the Magic Energy Association members who were hurrying towards the office building with the guards in red military uniforms. The latter were wearing blue uniforms and were coming and going in a hurry.

"I have a feeling something terrible has happened. Could it be related to the ongoing level assessment?" a student speculated. The originally peaceful night gradually became uneasy. The pale moonlight poured down silently, and no one knew when the deep darkness would end.

In the conference room on the top floor of the college's office building, the teachers who form the leadership of Maple Leaf College are holding an emergency meeting.

"Professor Charlotte, you must provide an explanation. How could such an incident occur during the freshman level assessment that you were in charge of? The teleportation barrier is completely out of control, and the hundreds of students who entered the simulation system have no way to return. This is an extremely serious situation!"

At the meeting, someone was vehemently criticizing Charlotte. This person was a portly man with a large belly, Charlotte's arch-nemesis, Fant.

"This is a mistake by the Magic Energy Research Institute under the Magic Energy Association, how can you blame me? Right now, the people from the Magic Energy Association are having a meeting with the military in the next room. If you want to question it so much, go ask them over there." Charlotte was seething with anger, and when Fant confronted him directly, he didn't back down.

"Ms. Charlotte, are you trying to shirk responsibility? This is not the kind of accountability a teacher should have," Fant said, still pressing the issue.

"Teachers, please stop arguing. Our top priority right now isn't assigning blame, but finding a way to rescue all the children. If only the headmaster were here, he might be able to help..." the young deer teacher advised the two.

She knew that Charlotte and Fant were just making things difficult for each other in order to compete for the position of vice dean. With the dean often away from the academy, the vice dean was the de facto head of Maple Leaf Academy, and that position was currently vacant.

"The dean is away cultivating all year round, and it's impossible to find him in such a hurry. So it's unrealistic to rely on the dean for this incident. Moreover, this situation is no small matter. Our Maple Leaf Academy is only a small part of what has been affected. We just happened to run into some parasites."

Among the many teachers present, a middle-aged man whose seat was even closer to Charlotte and Fant shook his head. He had a small, curved mustache that was clearly well-groomed. His clothes were impeccable, and his eyes were wise, making him seem reliable and reassuring.

"The termite... is that the bug in the magic simulation system, the monster that devours everything in the system? Although I don't quite understand the principles of the magic simulation system, I've heard from the people at the Magic Association that it's a terrifying thing," the elk said worriedly.

"I don't know much about termites either. If Mr. Winster were here, he would definitely know something about them. Unfortunately, Mr. Winster isn't here either." The mustachioed teacher stroked his beard, shook his head, and looked somewhat disappointed.

“By the way, Professor Norton, there’s someone who definitely knows about parasites. If we could find him, he might be able to help us.” Fant thought for a moment, and suddenly a name popped into his mind: Norton was the name of the man with the mustache.

"Professor Fant, who are you talking about...?" the mustachioed Norton asked疑惑地.

"He must be talking about that guy who manages the lab, right? I heard he used to be a member of the Magic Energy Research Institute." In the conference room, someone pointed out the person Fant was thinking of; she was the shortest of all the teachers present.

“Researcher Aaron who manages the lab? Professor Owl, are you sure he used to work at the Magic Energy Association’s research institute? How come I didn’t know about that?” Norton looked surprised; this was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing.

"I heard it from someone when I went to the Magic Energy Association last time. If you don't believe me, go ask the people at the Magic Energy Association next door." The owl pointed to the next room. She had no interest in joining the meeting discussion, but she mentioned it casually because the matter was serious.

"If that's the case, that's wonderful! Go and invite Researcher Aaron right away!" Charlotte's eyes lit up. Now that the simulation system had malfunctioned, although the problem did lie with the Magic Energy Association and had nothing to do with him, he was fine with it.

But at least as the person in charge, he will definitely lose a lot of goodwill. Moreover, he will probably have to give back all the benefits he gained before. If the problem can be solved properly, that would be the best outcome.

.

306 Run for your life!

Through Grenier's explanation, Dure understood their current situation and the circumstances they were about to face. As for Grenier's attitude, he had completely resigned himself to his fate, because in Grenier's view, he could not defeat the parasites no matter what, so he simply chose to give up.

But Dure was different. He was originally an outsider who accidentally got involved in this parasite incident. He didn't want to die here without knowing why. Even if Grenier, who was supposed to come and eliminate the parasites, gave up, he chose to stick to his guns.

“Hey kid, it’s good to have passion, but I’ve noticed you don’t really understand the situation. Do you think parasites are so easy to deal with? If they were that easy to eliminate, the big shots at the Magic Energy Association wouldn’t be so uneasy, would they?” Grenier shrugged.

In his view, Du Lei's so-called "thinking" was nothing more than empty talk. As an outsider, the kid in front of him could say a few meaningless words without much effort. However, he knew that the problem was far more difficult than he had expected.

"Whether it can be resolved or not, we'll only know after we try... Damn it!" Dure was never one to believe in bad luck. He was determined to escape from here. Just as he was about to discuss further details with Grenier, a loud rumbling sound suddenly came from behind him.

The once sturdy cave walls suddenly became covered with cracks and burst open completely. Du Lei reacted quickly, dodging the falling rocks. The once dark underground space turned into a large area of ​​crimson red as the walls shattered, finally bringing light.

But Dure didn't even have time to be thankful for the timely arrival of the light. His previously calm expression turned deathly pale when he saw what was breaking through the crack in the wall behind him. More than a dozen huge crimson tentacles smashed the wall into countless holes.

The entire underground mine was teetering on the brink of collapse, with cracks spreading rapidly overhead, making a "crackling" sound. The ground was shaking violently, and neither Dure nor Grenier could maintain their footing. Coupled with the attacking giant tentacles, it felt as if the entire world was about to collapse!

"That thing is fully awake now, and it's starting to wreak havoc on this magical energy simulation space. Dude, if you don't want to die too soon, run for your life!" After realizing what had happened, Grenier took off running, with a large number of rocks falling down and making loud noises.