The most shameless alchemist in history

"Well... although I know a tiny bit about steam engineering, it's limited to the areas it affects and its significance in advancing the times. As for the specific technology, I'm sorry, I can't help you." Wen Li shook her head apologetically, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Oh no, oh no! Even if the train is right under our feet, nobody knows how to drive it. Kid, your idea is useless. We're still going to be trapped here." Hu Che was a little frustrated. Hope had appeared and then been dashed, which made him feel really bad.

"There's no other way, come with me." Du Lei didn't seem too frustrated. He walked forward and gestured for Hu Che and the others to follow him.

"Come with you? Kid, what are you trying to do? Hey, you wouldn't happen... you can drive a train, would you?" At first, Kotetsu didn't understand what Dure meant, but he quickly realized. He was stunned because Dure was only thirteen years old, and it was really too absurd to ask a teenager to drive a train.

“I’ve encountered a similar situation before when I was traveling by train. When I was stuck on the train and bored, I asked the train mechanic about the structure and power principles of the train. Although I’ve never driven a train myself, I thought I could give it a try.”

Durek said helplessly that since no one knew how to drive a train, he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

"Huh? Never driven before? You're just messing around." Kotetsu had originally held a sliver of hope, believing that this kid was indeed exceptionally talented, capable of anything, but now, after hearing what Du Lei said, he realized that he had absolutely no experience either.

“It’s better to do something reckless than to wait to die. The train is a suspended structure. Miss Winry, you two wait here. Uncle Kotetsu and Uncle Ape Arm, come and help me. I don’t know if the train can still be restarted after all these years.” Dure pointed ahead; they needed to climb out of the carriage.

Because the carriages are not connected, to get to the next carriage, they have to climb out. But now the carriages are surrounded by monsters, and they are determined to fight their way out. This is very dangerous, but it is something they have no choice but to do.

“But it’s dangerous outside. If you go out like this… Oh, right, take this with you!” Wenli was worried about the safety of Dure and Hu Che. Just then, she suddenly remembered the thing the old woman had given her before, a walking stick called Morning Star, which she didn’t know how to use yet.

However, she had used the other bottle of holy water before, and it had been very effective. With that thought in mind, she handed the holy water to Dure.

“Miss Wenli, you’d better keep this to save your life, in case of any unexpected situation…” Dure hesitated and did not take it immediately. He had witnessed the power of the holy water; it could knock down a large area as soon as it was sprinkled. The old woman had lived alone in the town facing monsters for several years.

This was not without reason; Dure had every reason to believe that the old woman was a formidable character before she came to Spring Breeze Town.

“It’s alright, I’m safe here. Besides, we can only leave Spring Breeze Town safely by driving the train. Rather than leaving it here to be of no use, I might as well help Mr. Dure and your family. Please don’t refuse!” Wenli shook her head, her attitude was very firm.

"I understand, then I'll accept it. Uncle Kotetsu, and Uncle Ape Arm, let's go!" Seeing that Wen Li had already said so much, Du Lei could no longer refuse. He accepted the holy water and immediately opened the window with Kotetsu and Ape Arm and rushed out.

"Close the windows and protect Miss Wenli!" Kotetsu instructed Beestaff and Nightingale. After they left, the latter immediately closed the windows to prevent the monsters from taking advantage of the situation. At the same time that Kotetsu and the others crawled out of the window, a large number of monsters surged in.

The dense, green expanse stretched out like a vast green tide, threatening to engulf them—it was truly terrifying!

"There's quite a lot... Come on, taste the holy water!" Originally, Dure was prepared to fight the monsters to the death, but now, with the help of the holy water that Wenli gave him, he opened the bottle and sprinkled a little bit forward. The moment the holy water touched the monsters,

The originally ferocious monsters all let out miserable "oohs" and puffs of white mist spread out. The monsters that had surrounded them all retreated. It was clear that the holy water had a very obvious restraining effect on them. It was just that the amount of holy water was limited. If they were given a few buckets of it...

They could have just rushed over; why did they end up being trapped at the station?

"If only we had more holy water, this stuff would be so useful. We wouldn't be in this predicament," Hu Che sighed. Although his arm had only been bandaged recently, the wound had reopened due to overexertion, and blood was flowing freely.

"It's good enough that it's there, don't be picky. The boiler room is over there, open the window and go in, hurry up!" Du Lei rushed forward while the monsters were dispersed and quickly reached the front carriage of the train. He gestured to the ape arm in front to open the window.

With his agile arms, he was incredibly efficient and decisive, even though he couldn't speak. He quickly opened the window, and Du Lei and Leopard Tail rushed in, with the monsters following closely behind. Although the holy water was very effective at suppressing them, the monsters were still close by.

But after a brief retreat, they charged even more fiercely. It was only because the ape arm reacted quickly and closed the window immediately that they were kept outside; otherwise, there would have been considerable trouble.

"That was really dangerous! We almost died out there. Kid, what should we do now?" Still shaken by his encounter with Kotetsu, he looked around. Unfamiliar with the train's layout, he asked Durei for their next plan. The Most Shameless Alchemist in History

Chapter 450 Train Structure

If it weren't for the unexpected situation, Kotetsu wouldn't have followed Dure to the train's engine room. This wasn't his first time riding a train; in fact, he and Leopard Tail had ridden trains many times during missions. It was the newest mode of transportation to traverse the continent.

But this was the first time they had ever been to the carriage where the engine room was located, because anyone with common sense knows that this is the domain of professionals, and usually only train mechanics and staff can come here; ordinary passengers should just stand aside.

But now they arrived in a sorry state under the pretext of driving the train. After entering the carriage, Kotetsu looked around and saw all kinds of equipment, including boilers, and a tangled mess of pipes. He was completely confused about what all these devices were for.

"This...this...hey kid, this is a behemoth, are you really going to start it?" Kotetsu was dazzled by the train's internal structure, which made him feel like he didn't know where to begin and had no clue where to start.

"The boiler is working normally, the firebox is working normally... Hey Uncle Kotetsu, don't just stand there, come and help." Du Lei ignored Kotetsu's words and checked the various equipment on his own. After verifying everything, he urged Kotetsu and the others to come and lend a hand.

"Help? How can I help?" Kotetsu was completely bewildered; he knew absolutely nothing about mechanical things.

"Light the fire, throw all the coal here into the firebox, and keep the firebox running to ensure a continuous supply of steam. I'll go check if the pipes are damaged." Du Lei instructed Hu Che and Yuan Bi to get busy, while he himself carefully checked whether the pipes were normal.

"Huh? That's all? Just by lighting a fire here, this big thing can be started?" Hu Che was a little dumbfounded. In his opinion, driving a train should be very complicated and sophisticated, like Dong Xiong. But now he was being asked to light a fire here.

"Of course it's not that simple; it requires the coordinated operation of various devices. However, the principle is roughly the same: using the heat energy provided by coal to boil water and produce steam, the steam is transported through pipes to the cylinder, driving the piston inside the cylinder to move, thereby providing power..."

Dure carefully recalled what the mechanic Spenna had told him on the train. He had only asked out of curiosity at the time, never expecting that it would actually come in handy one day.

"What are you talking about? Wait a minute, kid, I don't understand a word you're saying." Kotetsu was completely bewildered, feeling like his brain wasn't quite up to the task.

"Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh." Ape Arm scratched his head, he couldn't understand the whole bunch of stuff Du Lei had just rattled off.

"You don't need to understand so much, just throw coal into the firebox. I need to check the pipes, cylinders, and valves, and see if there's enough condensate. Okay, get to work!" Du Lei became the undisputed head of the group at this moment. He urged Hu Che and the other to get to work while he went off to do other things.

"This kid is actually ordering me around." Hu Che complained as he watched Du Lei's back. He had traveled all over the country for so many years, but in the end, he was being bossed around by a teenager. If it were any other time, he would have skinned Du Lei alive.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmm." The ape-armed man next to Kotetsu seemed to want to say something.

"Stop babbling and I can't understand what you're saying. Stop dawdling and get to work!" Hu Che glared at Yuan Bi in annoyance. The latter scratched his head, his eyes filled with confusion, but he quickly buried himself in his work, shoveling coal into the fire one shovel at a time.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Wenli patiently waited for any movement from ahead. Nearby, a large number of monsters were banging on the windows, including some of the townspeople who had previously occupied the carriage. Because of their sheer number, they blocked most of the light, making the carriage pitch black.

"Cough cough." Wen Li coughed twice. After walking underground for a long time in dim light, she found it difficult to adapt to the dark and damp environment.

"Miss Wenli, are you alright?" Bailing asked her with concern.

"It's alright. I wonder how Mr. Dure and the others are doing now." Wen Li shook her head and waved her hand to indicate that she was fine. She was more concerned about Dure, Kotetsu, and the others who were busy getting the train moving at the front.

“They… will definitely be fine.” After a moment’s hesitation, considering Wenli’s feelings, Bailing nodded affirmatively.

"By the way, what kind of person is Mr. Dure?" Winry suddenly changed the subject and asked.

"Du Lei?" Bai Ling was taken aback, not expecting Wen Li to suddenly ask such a question.

“Yes, Miss Bailing, you and Mr. Du Lei are from the same academy, right? You're both members of Maple Leaf Academy. I heard you're both freshmen this year. It's truly remarkable that you're so young and already taking on the duties of the guard team.” Wen Li praised with a smile.

"Well... I guess we're classmates, I guess." Bai Ling thought for a moment and gave a vague reply.

"Huh? Could it be that Miss Bailing and Mr. Du Lei don't get along very well? But thinking back carefully, you two don't seem to have said much on the way." Wen Li recalled carefully; on the way, her relationship with Bailing was quite close.

But Bailing and the others, whether it was Hu Che or Du Lei, didn't seem to have much to say to each other.

"It's not a matter of good or bad relationship. We're not in the same class." Bailing shook her head; she didn't know how to explain the situation.

"Oh, I see. I thought I had said something I shouldn't have and upset you, Miss Bailing." Wenli breathed a sigh of relief; she cared a lot about other people's attitudes and opinions.

“How could that be? Miss Wenli, you are so young yet you shoulder the heavy responsibility of the nation’s rise and fall. That is truly remarkable. Compared to you, we are nothing at all.” Bailing’s words came from the bottom of her heart.

"The rise and fall of nations? It sounds impressive, but it's not actually that great. And whether we can even reach Rock City on this journey is still unknown." Winry shook her head gently. She had already made up her mind the moment she stepped out of Frost City.

"No matter what happens ahead, we will do everything in our power to protect Miss Wenli, even if it costs us our lives," Bailing said earnestly.

"Thank you so much, Miss Bailing, and everyone else." Wenli expressed her heartfelt gratitude.

"This is our duty, but I don't know what they... wait, what's going on? The train seems to... move?" Bailing suddenly noticed that the train was swaying for a while, which was different from the swaying caused by the monsters outside.

The train is really starting! The most shameless alchemist in history.

Chapter 451 Leaving the Town

This discovery delighted Wenli, Bailing, and the others. It was the second happy thing they had experienced since entering Spring Breeze Town. The first was finding a map of the mine at the town mayor's house. With a sway of the train, the train slowly moved forward.

"That kid did a good job. I didn't expect him to actually get the train moving. Now we can leave Spring Breeze Town." Hu Che wiped the sweat from his forehead. He hadn't had much hope, but Du Lei had successfully started the train.

"Ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh!" Ape Arm, who was shoveling coal with Hu Che, also gave a thumbs up. Although he couldn't speak, his meaning was very clear. He also admired Du Lei very much. If it weren't for Du Lei, they would definitely have been trapped and died underground in Spring Breeze Town.

"Alright, I don't understand what you're saying either. Let's get back to work. It's really hot here." Kotetsu glanced out the car window and continued shoveling coal. The coal in the firebox was burning red-hot, and the rising temperature made him sweat profusely.

"Hopefully, we won't encounter anything else strange or unusual." Kotetsu sighed. He had been carrying out missions for many years, but never before had he faced such danger as escorting Winry to Rock Castle. Who knew what other unexpected events might occur on the journey ahead?

As the train started moving, the monsters that had been crawling all over it were thrown off. Some monsters tried to stop it on the tracks, but their bodies couldn't withstand the crushing force of the train and they couldn't stop it at all. The train smoothly passed through the tunnel and gradually moved away from the station.

Meanwhile, in the empty station, a pair of eyes had been watching the train's movements the whole time. Only after the train had gone far away did he emerge from a corner of the station, his shadow cast by the lamplight, stretching very long.

"I didn't expect you to leave Spring Breeze Town in this way. That's quite unexpected. I'll just consider this a pass for you. My mission is pretty much over. As for whether you'll make it to Rock City alive... that's hard to say."

Emerging from the shadows was a man who looked very young, with an unnaturally pale, sickly white complexion.

"Huh? What, you've lost your target, so you've turned your attention to me? Don't forget, I'm the one who woke you up from your slumber. Do you think a vicious dog will bite its master just because it hasn't filled its stomach?" The man shifted his gaze.

He noticed that a large number of monsters and undead near the train station were turning to look at him, and some monsters were already approaching him. Judging from this situation, it didn't look like a good thing.

"What a bunch of useless things. You can't even handle such a simple opponent. I think you don't need to hibernate anymore. You might as well all go back to hell. And you..." The man didn't take the attacking monsters seriously at all.

If Kotetsu and his group hadn't left yet, they would have found this scene unbelievable, because the monster that had given them so much trouble was utterly useless in this man's hands. He simply stretched out his hand and pushed it out, but he didn't push anything; it was just air.

But such a simple action caused a large number of monsters to be pressed to the ground by some unknown force, unable to move.

"You are nothing but soulless walking corpses. There is no point in living in this world. No, you can't even be considered alive. So I will give you a quick death and let your bodies rest here forever." He looked at the undead slowly approaching him and said softly.

The lights at the train station flickered a few times before quickly going out, apparently due to a malfunction from lack of use. The once brightly lit train station quickly fell into a deathly silence as the lights went out, and the sounds of the train tracks that could still be heard disappeared as well.

Meanwhile, Du Lei, who was on the train, finally breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the train was running normally. Kotetsu, Winry, and the others on the train were also overjoyed that the train had started. They admired and were happy that Du Lei was able to start the train. However, Du Lei himself knew that he had just been guessing.

He had learned about the structure of trains from books and from Spena, but he had never actually built one himself. Now, he was forcing himself to do it, which was completely futile. There were even several lines that he still didn't understand what their function was.

"I was lucky this time. The train started normally. If everything goes smoothly, we can arrive at Harrenhal in three hours. Then we can transfer in Harrenhal and arrive at Rock City in two days at this pace. This journey has really been difficult." Du Lei said with a sigh of relief.

Only he himself knew how much pressure he was under. Looking back on everything since he left Maple Leaf Academy, he counted on his fingers that it hadn't actually been long, only two days, but so much had happened that it felt like two months had passed.

"Mr. Dure, Mr. Dure." Just then, someone walked up from behind Dure.

"Oh? Miss Wenli, what brings you here?" Du Lei turned around and saw Wenli and Bailing walking over.

"Here's the thing, after the train resumed operation, all the functions on board were restarted. We found food and water in the carriage. I tried them, and they're all edible and drinkable. Miss Wenli said you must be hungry, so she made some food and brought it over for you."

As Nightingale spoke beside Winry, Dure looked closely and saw that Winry was indeed carrying a basket.

"My stomach..." Du Lei touched his stomach, just as it made a "gurgling" sound.

"You must be hungry, Mr. Dure. You haven't eaten much on the way here, always busy with this and that. It's all thanks to you, Mr. Dure, that we were able to leave Spring Breeze Town safely." Wen Li smiled and winked. She opened the basket, which contained canned food that had just been heated.

"Being able to leave Spring Breeze Town is the result of everyone's joint efforts. I didn't do anything special, but that old woman..." Du Lei looked at the scenery outside the window that was constantly receding. According to the distance, they had already left the area of ​​Spring Breeze Town.

With their departure, only the old woman remained alive and watching over the entire town.

"Once we arrive in Rock City, we'll write to Maple City to ask General Serena to send people to clear the monsters from the mines, and for the city hall to allocate funds to rebuild Spring Breeze Town. We hope this declining town can regain its vitality," Wenli said earnestly.

This was probably the only thing she could do for the dying town. The most shameless alchemist in history.

Chapter 452 She got carsick

The train slowly moved along the tracks. At first, Du Lei thought there would be many problems, after all, the train had been parked in the underground station for several years, and there were uncertainties about whether there would be obstacles on the tracks.

But it turned out that Durrell had overthought things, because the rest of the journey went very smoothly. In the nearly three-hour journey, the train moved along the tracks. Although the speed was not fast, it was much faster than when they had walked. The exhausted group was finally able to rest for a while.

"So, is our next destination Harrenhal? I've taken the train so many times, but this is the first time I've ever enjoyed having a private car like this. There are only a few of us on board, it's not crowded at all, and we can sit however we want." Kotetsu sat by the window, in a great mood.

“Mr. Dure just said that we will arrive at Harrenhal in about two hours. We will transit there. We were able to get here thanks to Mr. Kotetsu and Mr. Dure, as well as everyone else. So we are now in the territory of the Mountain Kingdom.”