The most shameless alchemist in history

395 is missing one.

Although Du Lei's arrow had forced the ghostly spirit to retreat, the latter still managed to escape while Du Lei and Hu Che were off guard, disappearing into the smoke-filled wilderness. Unsure of what other dangers might lurk around them, Du Lei and Hu Che dared not give chase and could only return temporarily.

Leopard Tail had a chance to defeat Ghostly Spirit just now, but he was bewitched by Ghostly Spirit at the crucial moment and failed. He looked depressed and very downcast. After Bee Sting comforted him for a while, he could only temporarily put him aside and discuss countermeasures with Tiger Che and the others.

"What exactly happened just now? We were all bound by the barrier here and couldn't defeat the Ghostly Shadow. Only Leopard Tail had a tiny chance, but you easily defeated her..." Bee Sting looked at the unassuming boy with suspicion.

Du Lei's actions were truly baffling. She was quite certain that Du Lei's strength level was only at the high-level, far from even reaching the steel-level threshold. He was the kind of person who seriously dragged down the team's average level, yet he had an astonishing performance at crucial moments.

"Actually, the answer is very simple: pride comes before a fall." Du Lei retrieved all the arrows he had just fired. The arrow that had hit Ghostly Ghost had pierced through her body and was stuck in the tree. Du Lei had to use a lot of effort to pull it out. These arrows were one less to go after each one he fired.

"What?" Bee Sting didn't quite understand what Du Lei meant and was a little puzzled.

“The environment here is strange. It can greatly weaken people’s abilities. You steel-rank magic users are greatly affected and have been suppressed to the high-rank or even mid-rank level.” Dure looked at the mist drifting around him, squatted down to check the arrows, and then checked the crossbow again.

"The barrier nearby is beyond the capabilities of that ghostly spirit. She couldn't possibly create such a powerful barrier; it would have to be at least at the Flame Rank to have such immense suppressive power." Hu Che recalled the details from earlier and came to this conclusion as well. His words were very convincing.

"Flame Rank or higher? She was almost defeated by Leopard Tail just now. She's at most Steel Rank, she couldn't possibly be Flame Rank." Bee Sting shook her head, she was quite certain of this.

"Isn't there something strange about this?" Kotetsu pondered, resting his chin on his hand.

"Which point?" Bee Sting immediately pressed.

"Why did she use illusions to lure us here?" Kotetsu traced the question back to its origin.

"Well..." Bee Sting thought for a moment, but couldn't think of a reason for it.

“It’s because she’s only confident of defeating us here. In other parts of Nightmare Mountain, she can’t beat us,” Dure answered for Bee Sting. He had considered this beforehand and had come to some conclusions.

"But what's so special about this place compared to other places?" Bee Sting looked around. She was a very careful and observant person, but she couldn't come to a conclusion in a short time.

“There must be something in this place that gives her the ability to weaken others, but the weakening has a certain range. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have deliberately led us here. I think I understand now. We are being suppressed, but your influence is very small.”

Although Kotetsu looks burly and fierce, he is incredibly meticulous and can spot things that even a bee sting could not.

"The impact is minimal? Even so, Dure's strength wouldn't be stronger than ours when we're being suppressed." Bee Sting still couldn't understand this; logically speaking, it made no sense at all.

“You’re right. Even after you were suppressed, you still have the strength of an eight-star or higher high-level expert, while I only have the strength of a three-star high-level expert. I’m still several levels below you.” Du Lei readily admitted this, and he didn’t think it was shameful to admit that he was not strong enough.

Moreover, the "strength" here is only on paper; otherwise, he wouldn't have shone so brightly just now.

"But what exactly is a mere three-star high-level rank..." This made Bee Sting even more suspicious.

“It’s his weapon.” Kotetsu pointed out the crux of the problem as he looked at the large crossbow that Dure was carrying.

“Magic Armor? Is it that crossbow?” Bee Sting recalled that Dure had used this crossbow to wound the Ghostly Spirit earlier, and turned his attention to the crossbow.

"That's about right." Dure nodded, confirming Kotetsu's guess.

"Even if one's own strength is insufficient, it is not uncommon to be able to kill enemies with high-level magical weapons. However... if I may ask, what level is your crossbow?" Bee Sting examined it carefully but could not find anything strange about it.

"The crossbow's grade... if we're classifying it by the quality of the raw materials, this one is made from the sinews of a superior-grade Blackwater Python, so its grade should be excellent." Du Lei thought for a moment and assigned a grade to the crossbow in his hand.

"Excellent level? Out of the ten levels, excellent level is only ranked third from the bottom. How could you wound such a powerful opponent with a mere excellent level crossbow? Don't be ridiculous. Leopard Tail's Blood Charm Poison Claw is an outstanding level magic weapon, two levels higher than excellent, and he still couldn't do it."

Bee Sting shook his head, disagreeing with what Du Lei said; the leap was simply too great.

"Alright, Bee Sting, everyone has their secrets, so don't ask anymore. Right now, we need to focus on Miss Winry's matter." Tiger interrupted Bee Sting, reminding her not to press the issue further. He believed that Dure was deliberately brushing them off because he didn't want to continue the conversation.

"Miss Winry? I don't know how she is now, and there's fog all around. Where is she? Damn it, there's not a single clue." Bee Sting looked around again. The pervasive fog obscured most of her vision, and the silence made her anxious.

"As for clues... there are some," Du Lei interrupted Bee Sting.

"What? What clues do you have?" Bee Sting immediately looked at Du Lei.

“The Ghostly Ghost said more than once that she killed Miss Winry, but in reality, given her behavior, if she really had killed Miss Winry, she would have already displayed Miss Winry’s body. But she didn’t do that, which proves that she was deliberately trying to anger us. Moreover, Miss Winry’s presence is still there. Although it’s obscured by the fog and we can’t pinpoint her location, she is definitely still around Nightmare Mountain.”

Dure affirmed this point.

“But what we need is Miss Winry’s exact location. Where is the clue you’re talking about?” Bee Sting was somewhat disappointed. She had originally thought that Dure would provide more useful information.

"Before I answer you, haven't you noticed something?" Dure asked rhetorically.

"What's wrong?" Bee Sting was losing some confidence.

“We are missing one person,” Dure said with absolute certainty.

.

396 Important things

Dure's words startled Bee Sting, because the last time Dure said something similar was when he exposed Miss Winry as a ghost in disguise, which almost cost them their lives and involved a fierce battle. Now he was saying that one of them was missing, which sounded rather creepy.

"One person is missing? Isn't the missing one Miss Winry? Dure, you must be joking." Bee Sting forced a smile. Even if she was brave, she was still a girl after all. It was late at night, and she was in the middle of nowhere, so she was a little scared.

“No, there’s one person missing besides Miss Winry.” Dure shook his head. At this moment, the long-armed man next to him, who had regained consciousness, stammered as if he wanted to say something, and gestured with his hands. He was mute and could not express himself with words, so he could only convey his opinion in this way.

“Ape Arm, what are you trying to say? You mean… right, Bai Ling! Why hasn’t she come back yet!” At first, Bee Sting was puzzled by what Ape Arm was trying to say and didn’t understand after looking at it for a long time. But soon she realized that Ape Arm wasn’t the only one who left to scout ahead.

“That’s right, it’s Bailing. The clue to finding Miss Wenli is on her.” Du Lei nodded in confirmation. Bailing was selected with him from Maple Leaf Academy to join the guard team. Maple Leaf Academy only had two spots for this.

One was won by Nono, and the other went to Bailing. Du Lei was not unfamiliar with Bailing, as they were both newcomers this year. During the freshman test, there were five outstanding individuals: Sterling, Keita, Roland, Bailing, and Du Lei himself.

Dure was well aware of his own abilities; he knew that being ranked alongside the other four was largely due to cheating, as he wasn't as skilled as them. Sterling, on the other hand, was the most outstanding freshman and was originally the most qualified to join the guard team.

For some reason, Sterling refused. As for Keita, he joined the academy's patrol team. Recently, the patrol team has been busy and short-staffed. The patrol team wouldn't release people, so Keita was willing to stay in the patrol team and also gave up the opportunity to join the guard team.

Roland has been missing for some time and is not in the academy, so among the five, only Du Lei and Bai Ling are truly qualified. Bai Ling's strength has reached the high level of six stars, which is the result of the last level assessment.

However, as is well known, an accident occurred during the last level assessment. Although a retest was conducted afterward, the results were generally low. Bailing had already surpassed the advanced level in the first level assessment and was one of the three students who crossed the threshold of the advanced level. The other two were Sterling and Roland.

It is precisely because of their outstanding performance that the new class of students at Maple Leaf Academy is known as the strongest class yet. It is understandable that Bai Ling is now being sent to the guard team as a student representative. Along the way, she and Yuan Bi Yi Tong were on the task of reconnaissance, and they completed the task in a decent manner.

Now, Ape Arm was attacked in the forest and returned with serious injuries, but Lark is still missing.

"By the way, Ape Arm, didn't Bai Ling go out with you? Why did you come back alone? Where is she?" Bee Sting realized something was wrong and immediately asked Ape Arm. Bai Ling was Ape Arm's assistant, after all, Ape Arm was stronger and more experienced than Bai Ling.

"Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh..." The ape-like arm gestured in place, trying to convey some information to Bee Sting and the others.

"What did you say? I don't quite understand. I wish you could speak." Bee Sting tried to decipher the meaning behind Ape Arm's words, but after pondering for a long time, she still couldn't understand.

"Can someone with ape arms write?" Du Lei couldn't help but ask when he saw this.

“Yuanbi was an orphan when he was young. He never went to school and doesn’t know how to read.” Hu Che shook his head. He understood what Du Lei meant. He wanted Yuanbi to write down what he wanted to express. He had tried this before and even taught Yuanbi to write.

However, he couldn't learn how to use the ape arm at all, which greatly troubled Kotetsu. He could only watch the ape arm gesturing wildly, but he couldn't understand what it meant.

“I understand. Don’t worry, Yuanbi. How about this, you calm down first. If something happens to Bailing, nod. If she’s safe and sound, shake your head.” Du Lei suggested a solution.

"Huh? Is that even possible? But this method sounds like it might work. Ape Arm, how is Bai Ling now... She shook her head, she's still alright!" Bee Sting thought about it carefully and thought that Du Lei's method was indeed feasible. She immediately looked at Ape Arm and waited for his response.

As expected, the ape arm responded in the shortest time. It shook its head and continued to mumble incoherently.

“Since Bailing is safe and sound, but you came back injured, did you break up with her for something? Or did Bailing tell you she has a plan? Nod if yes, shake your head if no.” Du Lei continued to ask, waiting for Yuanbi’s response.

This time, it was a nod.

“Bai Ling must have discovered something, which is why she broke up with you. This makes the problem much easier to understand. Miss Wen Li didn’t fall into the hands of the Ghostly Ghosts, nor did she return. Bai Ling is also missing. I think there’s only one possibility left.” Du Lei nodded, drawing his conclusion.

"What possibility?" Bee Sting immediately pressed.

"You mean... Bailing is with Miss Wenli, right? But if that's the case, why haven't they shown up yet?" Hu Che understood what Du Lei meant, but he still had a question.

"Uncle Kotetsu, do you know our current location?" Du Lei pointed around and asked Kotetsu.

"This..." Kotetsu squinted at it, glanced at it, and shook his head slightly.

"So the answer to the question is obvious. This Nightmare Mountain is shrouded in thick fog, and the distance that can be seen is no more than ten meters. Moreover, the terrain here is complicated. Bai Ling and Miss Wen Li are probably lost, or they are hiding in the shadows and have not shown themselves," Du Lei gave the answer.

"Hide? Why would they hide?" Bee Sting didn't understand why Dure would say that.

“Because the ghosts are hunting them, they have to hide to avoid being discovered,” Dure continued.

"I see. So what should we do next? Should we go look for Bailing and Miss Wenli?" Bee Sting finally understood.

“No, we can’t do that now,” Dure decisively shook his head in denial.

"Aren't we going to go find Miss Winry and the others? Are we just going to leave them to their own devices?" Bee Sting disagreed.

“It’s not that we’re abandoning them, but that we have more important things to do.” Dure shook his head.

“What could be more important than rescuing Miss Winry?” Bee Sting didn’t believe there was anything more important.

"Of course we need to deal with Ghostly Spirit so she can't cause any more trouble."

.

397. Treasure Barrier

Upon hearing Durei's words, Bee Sting thought they made no sense, because they had already repelled the black smoke, and their top priority should have been finding Winry. They hadn't seen Winry for a long time and didn't know what her situation was.

"Although we have repelled her, there is no guarantee that she will not come out to deal with us again. Moreover, this Nightmare Mountain is, after all, her territory. Furthermore, she possesses something that can greatly weaken our strength. If we do not completely subdue her, we will still be in great danger."

Dure noticed the doubt in Bee Sting's eyes and continued to explain, confident that his words were persuasive enough.

“You’re absolutely right. Even if we find Miss Winry now, if we are attacked by her again, and she’s prepared, it won’t be so easy for us to defeat her. We must find her now while she’s injured and then eliminate her completely.” Kotetsu thought for a moment and agreed with Durei’s opinion.

"But the problem is that Nightmare Mountain is so big, and it's all foggy, so we can't see anything. Where are we supposed to find her?" Bee Sting didn't object to Durei and Hu Che's opinions, but still raised an important question.

"This..." Kotetsu looked troubled, clearly he hadn't come up with a good solution yet.

"There's still a way to find her," Du Lei said confidently.

"What method?" Hu Che's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked. Bee Sting and Ape Arm also looked at him at the same time.

“There must be something on this Nightmare Mountain that can greatly weaken the abilities of magic users, so the ghostly figure we encountered earlier, posing as Miss Winry, was able to suppress us for a while, right?” Dure asked.

"That's true. Although I didn't see what it was with my own eyes, there are indeed many powerful treasures in this world. In some ways, these treasures are even more powerful than high-level magic users. I'm afraid she has such a treasure in her possession."

Hu Che nodded. He was knowledgeable and experienced, and among the guards, he was the most qualified to speak.

"So we can use this treasure as a clue to find her." Dure established a connection between the ghost and the treasure.

"Wait, what did you say? Using the treasure as a clue? But where exactly is the clue to the treasure?" Bee Sting considered herself a meticulous and thoughtful person, but after hearing Du Lei's words, she didn't react for a moment and felt like she couldn't keep up with the young man's pace.

"I understand." Kotetsu initially frowned like a bee sting, but soon he realized something and his brows relaxed.

"Captain, just say what you understand." Bee Sting was getting impatient.

"Our abilities have been greatly reduced because of the barrier of the treasure. The closer we get to the treasure, the stronger the pressure becomes. After Ghostly Shadow was injured, she must have hidden near the treasure to feel safe and heal," Hu Che explained.

"The closer we get to the treasure, the stronger the pressure becomes... Conversely, does that mean the stronger the pressure we feel, the closer we are to the treasure?" After thinking carefully, Bee Sting finally figured it out, and all his thoughts became clear.

“That’s right, that’s it. The most oppressive position should be… this way. Let’s go. We must take her out completely. Once we’ve dealt with her, Miss Winry will be safe!” Kotetsu pointed to the west. With his keen senses, finding the target’s location was not difficult.