The most shameless alchemist in history

“I don’t think Du Lei is a murderer, I just think he was a bit… a bit too cold-hearted back then.” Messiah carefully chose her words, her voice growing softer and softer. She always seemed to lack confidence in front of Du Lei.

"Cold-blooded? Everyone has their own way of surviving in this world. You have your way, and I have mine." Dure shook his head, not directly answering Messiah's question, but talking to himself.

“I…have heard some things about Dure from the past.” Messiah recalled her conversation with Kelly. Naturally, most of her knowledge about Dure came from Kelly. After all, in such a large academy, it wasn’t easy for someone to be on good terms with Dure. Lance was one, and Kelly was another.

“The past is the past. It’s normal for you to question me, and I completely understand. You don’t need to blame yourself. There’s no right or wrong, just different choices.” Du Lei didn’t intend to discuss this matter any further. He shook his head and said softly.

"Although Dure always tries to appear cold, that's not really the case, is it? Otherwise, he wouldn't have saved Mr. Sam at the last moment." Messiah disagreed with Dure's assessment of her; her expression was serious and focused.

"What really is...who can say for sure?" Du Lei replied, seemingly ignoring the question. Just then, footsteps could be heard from nearby.

"Hey, Dure, and Messiah, have you all arrived? What were you talking about just now? Why do you look... look..." The one appearing in this secluded alley was none other than Lance.

I don't know what good thing he encountered, he seemed very excited. After he stopped, he looked at Dure and Messiah with a puzzled expression, unable to understand why the two of them had such strange expressions.

“They didn’t say anything, just talked about some serious business. Lance, how’s it going?” Dure shook his head. He didn’t intend to repeat what he had just said to Messiah to Lance, partly because he didn’t think it was necessary, and partly because he didn’t want to talk about those things in the first place.

Secondly, given Lance's thinking ability, it would probably be difficult for him to understand.

"Is this serious business? I was just about to tell you something serious, Du Lei. Hehe, it's all done. As you instructed, I first set fire to the back of Kevin Construction's office, then took advantage of the chaos to make a mess of Kevin's office. It was so much fun!"

Lance looked excited. The fire that had happened at the office earlier certainly didn't happen out of nowhere. After all, that was Kevin Construction Company. For a construction company, one of the issues they only need to consider when designing a house is arson.

If even the construction company itself cannot effectively prevent fires, then such a reputation will be completely ruined.

The fire at the office was arson, and it was Lance who started it.

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330. Startle the snake by beating the grass.

When Kevin learned of the fire at the office, his expression changed. He abandoned his business negotiations and rushed back, heading straight not to the office where the fire had occurred, but to his own office, which aroused suspicion among his employees.

"What's wrong with Mr. Kevin? Why does he look so pale? Although no one wants to see a fire, thankfully there wasn't any damage. Given Mr. Kevin's status, he shouldn't be this panicked." Some people genuinely couldn't understand it.

"Moreover, the fire occurred in the front hall of the office, while Mr. Kevin's office is in a separate building at the back, which was not affected by the fire at all. Why did he ignore the office and go to his office instead?" someone else raised doubts.

"Don't you know? I heard that Mr. Kevin's office was burgled. Someone took advantage of the fire to steal things from the office. I don't know what was stolen, but that's why Mr. Kevin was so angry." Some employees who knew the inside story whispered among themselves.

Dure and Lance were in an alley several hundred meters away from the office. No matter how excellent their hearing was, they couldn't hear the chatter. In fact, they had no interest in the noise and knew more about it than anyone else.

"Did you remember to take all the valuables from the drawer before you left?" Dure asked Lance about the details. He knew that Lance was generally reliable, and he could tell from Lance's expression that he had completed the task properly this time.

However, out of caution, Dure still wanted to consider the details, fearing that Lance might have overlooked something that could cause the entire plan to fail.

“Yes, I did as you said, Du Lei, and cleared out all the valuables. And you know what? There were quite a few valuables in that office.” Lance nodded. Although he wasn’t a very good thinker, he was a very good executor.

He always managed to complete the tasks that Dure entrusted to him perfectly, which was one of his few strengths.

"In that case, there's no problem." Du Lei nodded, finally relieved.

"But Dure, you still haven't told us why we're doing this?" Lance was still completely baffled.

“You ask me why I’m doing this? The answer is actually quite simple: it’s to make Kevin think that we want him to do it,” Dure said casually as he led the way through the long, quiet alley to another location.

"What do you mean Kevin thinks we want him to do this? Dure, you've completely confused me." Lance carefully considered Dure's words, but the more he thought about them, the more they seemed like a tongue twister.

"Is Du Lei trying to mislead Mr. Kevin?" Messiah, who was standing next to him, thought about it carefully and came up with a possibility.

"Misleading? What misleading? What does that mean?" Lance looked at Messiah in confusion. Although the plan was devised by Dure, and he and Messiah were only responsible for execution, Messiah was undoubtedly much smarter than him, who was reckless and impulsive.

"It means we pretend that thieves broke into Kevin's company to steal," Dure answered his question directly.

"Pretend? But what if Uncle Kevin sees through us?" Lance was still worried.

“That’s exactly what we want, to make him see through us.” Dure shook his head, correcting himself.

"Let him see through it? Dure, I understand even less. Shouldn't it be the case that he can't see through it? Why should he see through it first?" Lance couldn't understand Dure's words at all. He thought there was a contradiction in them.

“Lance, you need to understand that Kevin is a middle-aged man with a wealth of life experience. Moreover, he was able to establish such a large company and still keep Kelly in check, making her unable to do anything. This shows that Kevin is a smart man, a very difficult smart man to deal with,” Dure explained as they walked.

“But if he sees through us, won’t we be in a very passive position?” Lance raised another question.

“At first glance, that does seem to be the case; we are in a very passive situation, but that's only if we reveal all our cards.” Dure shook his head. Although Lance had raised a valuable question, it wasn't enough to stump Dure.

"Hidden cards? Dure, what other hidden cards do we have? I still don't understand." Lance couldn't keep up with Dure's train of thought.

“I think I understand now. We used theft as a cover to enter Mr. Kevin’s office and ransack it. With Mr. Kevin’s thinking ability, it wouldn’t be hard for him to guess that someone was deliberately hiding something, and that the purpose was to find the things he had hidden in his office.”

After a moment's thought, Messiah pieced together a clear line of thought and gradually understood Dure's intentions.

“Something hidden in the office? But Dure, I searched Kevin’s office inside and out, and I didn’t find anything hidden.” Lance scratched his head. He had searched very thoroughly, but apart from some valuable gemstones and jewelry, he found nothing else.

“He may not be hiding anything in his office. Normally, no one would hide something important in such a lax place. But the fact that someone is trying to find what he's hiding is enough to make him panic,” Dure said softly.

"Durey, you mean... we're not actually going to steal anything, but to scare him?" Lance thought for a while and figured out what was going on. After all, even though he wasn't good at thinking, he had been around Durey all day and had been influenced by him.

"To scare? That's not quite the right word, but I've heard merchants from the East say something like, 'to beat the grass to scare the snake.'" Dure chose a more precise phrase to describe his plan.

"Startle the snake in the grass? Dure, what does 'startle the snake in the grass' mean?" Lance asked again.

"I know that. It means that when people pass through dense grass where snakes might be, in order to avoid being bitten by a snake suddenly, they often take a bamboo pole and poke around in the grass to drive away any snakes hiding there, so they won't be bitten."

Messiah was very knowledgeable; she had even read and memorized Eastern proverbs from books.

"Is that so? So what we're doing is... treating Uncle Kevin like a snake to disturb him?" Lance followed Messiah's train of thought and finally got some clues.

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331 followed closely all the way.

Kevin's face was extremely grim as he walked out of the office. Even the quick-witted young receptionist in the office, who wanted to go up and comfort him, and perhaps get to know him better, was startled by Kevin's expression and didn't dare to approach him.

After leaving the office, Kevin went straight to Academy Hill. Du Lei and the others who set fire to his company did not follow him, because they had already returned to Academy Hill. According to Du Lei's deduction, Kevin would definitely return to Academy Hill to make arrangements after discovering that his office had been burglarized.

Instead of cautiously following behind, they decided to take the initiative and wait for Kevin to arrive. After waiting for more than half an hour at Academy Hill, they soon saw Kevin looking anxious. Normally, as a construction contractor, he should be checking the progress at the construction site.

But he went straight to the grove behind the mountain. This time, Du Lei and the other two followed closely behind him. Sure enough, they soon saw Kevin and Kelly meet. After saying something, Kelly hurriedly left, but Kelly's face looked even worse than last time.

After confirming that there was some kind of relationship between Kelly and Kevin, Du Lei and his two companions went to investigate again in the afternoon. They didn't meet up until nightfall. Late at night, the three of them arrived at the entrance of an abandoned research institute at Maple Leaf Academy, where the bright moonlight poured down on the ground.

"Durey, are we sure we're not mistaken? Are you sure Kelly would come here? This place looks like it's been abandoned for a long time." Lance looked at the overgrown entrance. The research institute was located in a very remote part of the academy, in stark contrast to the magnificent and splendid buildings in other locations.

The research institute is dilapidated, with grass growing almost half a person's height. It has been neglected for years, and the iron gate outside is rusty. It's unclear how many years it has been abandoned. It's estimated that no more than two people visit this place in a year.

"Whether she comes or not, we'll just have to wait and see. Last time we followed her, we were discovered. This time, we'll set up an ambush in advance and be very careful not to let her find us, or all our efforts will be in vain." Dure told Lance to wait and see, while also reminding him not to reveal his location.

"Understood. I'll be fully focused this time, and there definitely won't be any problems," Lance assured, patting his chest.

"Du Lei, Lance, look, there's a figure coming over there. That must be Kelly, there's no mistake!" Messiah whispered to Lance and Du Lei, pointing to the figure approaching. Although the figure was still blurry, she knew Kelly very well and could confirm it.

"Shh, let's be careful. We must help Kelly this time." After Du Lei gave another word of advice, the three of them stopped talking and carefully hid. As the outline in front of them became clearer, it was Kelly who was unmistakably there when she got closer.

After looking around at the entrance of the abandoned research institute, Kelly cautiously entered. It was clear that she was being extra careful, having learned from her previous experience of being followed. Two minutes after she entered the institute, Lance, who was hiding, tried to follow her.

But he was firmly blocked by Dure. Lance didn't understand what Dure meant and was about to ask when Kelly suddenly came out from the entrance. She looked around and made sure there was no one around before she turned and entered the abandoned research institute.

“Kelly is really careful. Luckily, you were alert, Dure, otherwise I would have been exposed. If I had jumped out and Kelly had run into me, I don’t know how much she would have scolded me.” Lance knew Kelly’s temper very well. Giving him a good scolding would be the least of his worries.

"Alright, we should probably go in now. Be careful." Dure said this mainly to Lance, who was the most reckless of the three. Although Messiah was a little younger than Lance, he was much more mature.

"Understood, understood, I'll do whatever you say, Du Lei. Can we go in now? Let's go!" Lance rushed into the entrance impatiently.

"Slow down... I knew I shouldn't have brought you along." Seeing Lance rushing around like this, Dure felt a little annoyed that he had ended up taking him along.

“If Lance doesn’t come along, he’ll definitely act on his own, and the consequences could be unpredictable.” Although Messiah hadn’t spent much time with Lance, she knew that he was the kind of guy who was fearless and would definitely do what he decided to do.

“This is really a headache. Let’s go. We have to be careful. If things go wrong tonight… all three of us could be fired. Messiah, are you sure you really want to come?” Dure asked Messiah again.

"Whether it's being fired or whatever, as long as it helps Kelly, it doesn't matter. Let's go." Messiah shook her head. She was a very opinionated person. After entering the entrance of the abandoned research institute, the light was very dim, and there were no lights around.

To avoid being discovered, they could not light candles and could only move forward by the faint moonlight filtering through the cracks in the walls.

After walking for more than ten minutes, the candlelight in front of them stopped. In this abandoned research institute, the only light was the one held by Kelly, who was walking ahead. After confirming that she had not found any followers, she felt relieved and continued to move forward in the dark with the candle.

Even so, it is very difficult for a girl to go on alone, especially deep underground. No one knows what is inside. The further you go, the less moonlight can see in. You can hear "bang bang bang" sounds in the darkness.

These are the sounds of footsteps descending the stairs; they are going down a winding road.

This abandoned research institute is located deep underground.

To avoid being discovered by Kelly, Du Lei and his two companions had wrapped their shoes in cloth beforehand so that they wouldn't make any noise while walking. After walking up the stairs for about ten minutes, they heard a "bang" from ahead, the sound of an iron gate opening.

It was clear that Kelly had reached the end and was opening a door. The candlelight moved slowly, and she had entered the area within the doorway.

"Durey, this place is really eerie and terrifying. Even I, a man, feel creeped out. Isn't Kelly scared?" Lance felt a chill creeping into every pore of his body and couldn't help but shiver.

“No matter how strong Kelly seems, she’s still a girl. She must be scared too, right? It’s just that she had a reason to go that made her come here…” Messiah knew Kelly well, and her eyes were full of worry.

"Be careful, we're about to reach the depths of the research institute. I have a feeling something's going to happen here." Du Lei looked around, a sense of foreboding washing over him. His subconscious told him he had to get out of here as soon as possible.

But he knew he couldn't leave now; he had to follow closely to the finish line!

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332 A Must-Do

Messiah was right. At this moment, Kelly was shrouded in fear, but she could not back down. With each step she took forward, a cold wind pierced through her pores and penetrated her bones, reaching deep into her lungs and soul. The only thing that illuminated her way forward was the faint candlelight in her hand.

After opening the rusty iron gate, the cold wind that rushed out became even more intense, making it difficult to even walk. No matter how courageous a person is, her physical condition cannot be changed. With her frail physique, the strong wind made it difficult for her to move an inch, and she even took a few steps back.

"No, I absolutely cannot back down here. This level of wind can't stop me!" Kelly gritted her teeth and went against the wind. Every step she took was extremely difficult, but even so, she managed to walk against the strong wind for more than ten minutes until the wind disappeared without a trace, and only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

"Has the wind stopped? Based on the distance calculation, I should have reached the core underground. So, all I need to do next is... Hmm? What's that sound?" Before Kelly could even relax, she suddenly heard a sharp sound, which made her heart jump into her throat again.

After all, she was a girl who had come alone to the dark and deep underground, and even the slightest sound or movement was enough to make her tremble.

"Meow." Just then, a stray cat came over from not far away. It walked up to Kelly and rubbed against her pant leg.

"So it was just a stray cat?" Kelly bent down and stroked the stray cat's head, feeling relieved and finally calming down.

"Are you alone? How pitiful, how did you end up here?" When Kelly saw the stray cat, she felt less alone and finally had a companion, which gave her a sense of sympathy.

"Meow!" The cat, which had been relatively docile, suddenly bristled and jumped up, staring intently at Kelly.

“What’s wrong? I meant no harm, you don’t need to be so scared…” Kelly soothed it and tried to approach it again.

"Kelly, get out of the way!" Kelly was completely unaware of what was approaching behind her, but someone called out his name. Lance, who had been following behind her, saw it clearly. Something was getting close to Kelly, and he could no longer hide himself. He pounced on it!

"Lance? What are you doing here? Didn't I warn you not to follow me... Ah!" Kelly was taken aback when she recognized Lance, but quickly became furious because Lance had followed her once before, which made her very unhappy. At that time, she declared that it would not happen again.

Lance, however, knowingly committed the wrong act, which enraged Kelly. She immediately planned to teach Lance a lesson, but just then, a strong gust of wind came from behind her. The wind came so fast that she couldn't react in time. Lance quickly tackled her and rolled to the ground!