The most shameless alchemist in history

"I was just guessing he would be staying here, and we do need to be exposed to the public, which is why we chose to stay here. Whatever you want to do, whether it's revenge or something else, don't rush it. Let's get the information first."

Du Lei nodded, confirming Leopard Tail's guess, and gestured for Leopard Tail to calm down.

"And you have to remember one thing: we moved in with great fanfare. When we were keeping a low profile, the other side knew exactly where we came from and what our background was. The fact that they were able to find out where we were means that they have been keeping an eye on us all along. Do you think they don't know that we are here now?"

Du Lei thought for a moment and then added something.

"You mean... we deliberately went right under his nose, not he went right under our nose?" Leopard Tail thought about it carefully and finally realized this.

"So let's hear the information Uncle Kotetsu brought back first." Du Lei gestured for Kotetsu to tell him what he had found out.

m.

516 Sunny Sky Hotel

At the same time that Du Lei and his group were talking in their room, in another room on the sixth floor of the Sky Hotel, someone was standing on the balcony overlooking the scenery of Storm City. In fact, the most beautiful scenery of Storm City is at dusk, when the colorful scenery of the mountains shrouded in mist is very beautiful.

As for the evening, only a few buildings were still lit up, while the rest of the area had only scattered lights. Although the view from the Sky Hotel was not as good as that of the Qinglan Building, it was still excellent, thanks to Alibaba booking the entire Qinglan Building.

Although business is usually not bad, the Qingkong Hotel, which has always been overshadowed by the Qinglan Building, has been completely full these days, with all the rooms occupied. However, the sixth floor is very quiet, with bodyguards guarding the stairwell.

Even the staff of the Sky Hotel couldn't easily get through. Those who didn't know the situation felt it was mysterious, but those who knew the inside story understood that this layer had been booked out by someone else. The scale was somewhat lacking compared to Ababa, but it was still astonishing enough.

"You mean... that guy named Redu, he actually came to stay at the Sky Hotel, and right downstairs from us?" The young man who was looking down at the night view from the balcony was stunned for a moment after receiving this news. His face quickly turned extremely ugly, and he gripped the wine glass in his hand tightly.

"Yes, our people have been keeping an eye on him. They followed them all the way to the Sky Hotel. We initially thought they were seeking revenge for the hotel explosion, but then we found out they were staying at the hotel. We don't know what they're up to."

Behind the man, someone was reporting information, because the man had instructed him to report anything related to Redu immediately.

“I gave them a little warning before, and I thought they would slink away, but I didn’t expect them to dare to come right under my nose. What are they doing? Are they provoking me? Or are they trying to attack me?” The young man pondered the motives of Redu’s group.

"Interesting, very interesting. What do you think we should do about this?" he asked his subordinates. After all, there were many things he couldn't handle personally and had to delegate to his subordinates. Right now, he had more important things to do.

"This... Young Master, what do you mean? You want to take them all away..." As a trusted confidant, the man knew very well that this young master was unpredictable and difficult to serve. He had to carefully consider every word he spoke to avoid angering him, as the consequences could be very serious.

He pondered it carefully for a moment, then placed his hand on his neck and made a gesture.

"What, are you planning to kill them all?" the man retorted.

"As long as it's your order, young master, I'll do it right away. They know you live here, yet they still dare to walk right into our trap?" The confidant was determined to handle this matter perfectly, so as to win the young master's favor and have a brighter future.

"Fool, this is the Sky Hotel, with countless eyes watching us. They stay in some obscure little hotel, where no one can see them, and they can do whatever they want. It's the same in prison; they can be killed without a second thought. But this place is different. If something happens here, it will be very troublesome!"

The young man slammed the cup he was holding behind him, and it landed on the ground with a loud bang, quickly shattering into pieces.

"Then what should we do, young master? Please give your instructions." The bodyguard, not daring to breathe loudly after being reprimanded by the young man, lowered his head and waited for his response.

"How infuriating! You've deliberately chosen to live right under my nose because you're hesitant to make a move? But if you think that, you're sorely mistaken. Come here, I'll tell you, you have to do this..." The man thought for a moment, then gestured for his confidant to come over and whispered something to him.

The moonlight in the sky was vast and boundless; apart from the silent moonlight, no one else could hear what they were saying.

Meanwhile, the conversation among Dure and his three companions was also taking place.

"You mean his name is... Jin, right?" Du Lei learned the name of the blond man who had been targeting him earlier from Kotetsu. He pondered it carefully, while quickly trying to recall if he had heard the name before.

“That’s right, it’s Jin. He’s staying on the sixth floor of the Sky Hotel, and he’s booked the entire floor.” Kotetsu nodded.

“Jin… wait, why does this name sound familiar?” Leopard Tail frowned, looking somewhat confused.

"Does that name sound familiar? If it does, that's for sure. It would be strange if you hadn't heard of him." Kotetsu said it as if it were a matter of course.

"Huh? Is that Jin really that famous? I've only heard of him, but I can't remember where I heard it before, and I don't know what he does." Leopard Tail scratched his head. He was the person who hated Jin the most. He hadn't even met Jin yet, but he had heard that Jin was someone important.

"Of course he's famous. Although I've never met him before, his reputation is widespread. He's a well-known playboy on the mainland," Hu Che said, providing some clues and giving a general introduction.

"Playboy? Right, now that you mention it, Captain, I think I vaguely remember him. That Jin guy often appears in magazines and has a lot of scandals. Oh, right, doesn't he have a father who's super rich?" Leopard Tail suddenly remembered and pointed it out.

"From what I understand, his father is a well-known wealthy man on the mainland. Although he is not as wealthy as Aba, he is still considered to be richer than a country." Hu Che nodded in confirmation.

"But why would such a playboy attack us? What's going on?" Leopard Tail still couldn't figure it out.

"I think I've found the reason." Du Lei thought for a moment and sorted out some of the clues.

"What's the reason?" Leopard Tail immediately pressed.

"Jin's presence here must be related to Ababa's marriage proposal. Ababa and his father are both famous wealthy men, so this kind of powerful alliance is quite normal. Jin, being an arrogant person, is definitely determined to succeed, and he will eliminate anything that threatens him."

Dure tried to think from Kim's perspective and came to this conclusion.

"You mean we pose a threat to him, so he's trying every means to get rid of us?" Leopard Tail suddenly understood after Du Lei's prompting.

"I think that's about it. I can't find any other reason. What other information have you found out? Continue." Dure nodded and waved for Kotetsu to continue. He knew that Kotetsu had definitely found out more than just this much information.

m.

517 Two Choices

The old saying goes that the most dangerous place is the safest place, and Du Lei has put this into practice very well. Including the hotel explosion that happened tonight, they have already suffered two attacks in Lan City, and both of them caused quite a stir.

Even Rom, the police chief of Lan City, was alarmed. The serious incident of the hotel explosion that night was also left unresolved. Dure had reason to believe that there must be a powerful person behind this, otherwise they wouldn't be able to pull off such a large-scale operation. The facts proved his guess.

Through Kotetsu's investigation, he learned that the mastermind behind the two attacks was none other than Kim, the son of the famous tycoon Faros. Based on this, it was not difficult to deduce that Faros intended to form a powerful alliance with Ababa, which was why he sent his son to seek a wife.

"So, this Mr. Jin is determined to marry Ababa's daughter, and he'll eliminate anyone who threatens him? It seems we've really encountered a very important person." Du Lei had only been away from the hot spring village for a few months at most.

But when he was still in the hot spring village, he had already heard of Pharos's great name. He was a man whose every stomp of his foot could make the entire financial world tremble. It was said that if he sneezed, the financial market would lose countless amounts of money. He was a very remarkable person.

"Actually, there's another reason why Jin did this," Kotetsu continued, relaying the information he had gathered to Du Lei and the others.

"What other reasons are there?" Du Lei nodded, signaling Kotetsu to continue, as the more information they obtained, the more advantageous it would be.

“Because Pharos had many children, including twenty-seven sons, and Kim was just one of them,” Kotetsu continued.

"What? Twenty-seven sons? How can that Pharos be so prolific? Even a boar wouldn't be that prolific!" Leopard Tail was startled.

"You should be glad that we heard what you said, and not outsiders, especially Jin or his men, otherwise they would definitely have thrown you into the river." Hu Che glared at Bao Wei, who quickly realized that he had indeed been a bit too outspoken.

"Anyway, there are no outsiders here, sorry, sorry, let's continue." Leopard Tail quickly put on a smile and changed his words.

"Jin is still the son of Pharos who is not favored, so his appearance in Storm City is less about Pharos wanting to form a powerful alliance with Ababa, and more about Jin trying to gain Ababa's support so that he can increase his bargaining power," Kotetsu continued.

"Champions? What chips? What does this mean?" Leopard Tail was completely baffled by the intricacies.

"Of course, it's to improve his status with Pharos and gain leverage for the inheritance. By the way, does Mr. Ababa have a son?" Dure continued to ask. He was always able to catch information that others could not detect and would not miss any detail.

"Yes, Mr. Ababa has a son named Harry, but it is said that Mr. Harry has no interest in inheriting the family business, and we rarely hear news about him. Even if we do, it's usually in news about mountaineering or something else," Kotetsu answered truthfully.

“That makes sense. If Jin really becomes Ababa’s son-in-law, he will inevitably inherit Ababa’s business. Using this as leverage will definitely increase his competitiveness within his own family, and he is very likely to stand out among the twenty-seven brothers and become the final heir.”

Dure thought about it and considered the possibility based on the information provided by Kotetsu. This was the possibility that was closest to the truth.

"So what?" Leopard Tail was still completely confused, not understanding the crux of the matter at all.

“So once Jin really achieves his wish, he will simultaneously gain the wealth and support of two major tycoons, and then he will probably…” Du Lei paused here, this conclusion of his deduction was very surprising even to him.

"Tell me what I'm afraid it will be like," Leopard Tail urged anxiously, also very curious about what was to come.

“I’m afraid he’ll become a billionaire, surpassing Ababa and his father Faros, and in a historic way. We should be excited to meet such a big shot, even though we’re currently on opposite sides,” Dure said slowly.

"Hey, this joke isn't funny at all. So, Jin will stop at nothing to achieve this goal, right? This isn't good news for us. We should leave here as soon as possible and not stay in Storm City for too long." Leopard Tail said anxiously.

"What, is Leopard Tail, who is usually fearless, actually afraid of this Mr. Jin?" Du Lei asked him with a smile.

“It’s not that I’m scared, it’s that this person has no bottom line. Look, he even attacked Miss Winry. If Miss Winry weren’t here, I could take him down by myself, but I can’t disregard Miss Winry’s safety,” Leopard Tail said worriedly.

“You’re right. We can’t ignore Miss Winry’s safety. But we can’t just leave now. We’ve already got our eyes on her. Do you think he’ll believe us if we just go to Kim and tell him we’re just passing by and pose no threat to him, and beg him to be lenient?”

Dure pointed out the crux of the problem: it wasn't that they were willing to take on the trouble, but rather that the trouble came to them on its own initiative.

"This..." Leopard Tail also knew that this was a very tricky issue, as they didn't have control at all.

"So now we have two choices. One is to bite the bullet and keep going, which might make us a target. I believe the hotel attack was just a warning. Mr. Jin is just targeting us. The other..." Du Lei paused here.

"Tell me what it is, stop dawdling." Leopard Tail gradually lost patience.

“Another option is for us to withdraw from the matchmaking now. Maybe he’ll see that we’ve lost our competitiveness and are no longer a threat, and he might let us off the hook.” Du Lei said this with some helplessness, because it meant retreating and failing.

“Is that so? Although it’s very frustrating, it’s not a bad idea. We didn’t participate in this matchmaking event to become that rich man’s son-in-law. We just wanted to leave Lanzhi City by train as soon as possible.” Leopard Tail thought for a moment and preferred the latter suggestion.

"So what are your two opinions?" After learning of Leopard Tail's answer, Du Lei went to ask Tiger Che and Ape Arm for their opinions.

After all, a decision can only be made if all four of them reach a consensus.

518 Cute Little Brother

Du Lei and his group, including himself, along with Hu Che, Bao Wei, and Yuan Bi, totaled four people. Four is an even number, which means that if they were tied 2 to 2 in the vote, it would be very awkward, because they would be unable to make a decision and would have to find another way.

However, this awkward situation did not occur among them, because the final vote was four to zero. Everyone agreed that the best way to get rid of Jin was to withdraw from the matchmaking service. This way, they would no longer pose any threat to Jin, and Jin would have no reason to make trouble for them.

So all that's left for them is to wait for the results of the marriage proposal. There's a high probability that Jin will have the last laugh and become Ababa's son-in-law. In that case, Ababa will have achieved his goal, and the blocked train station can resume operation.

This was clearly the most efficient way for Dure. However, just as the four of them finished their meeting and returned to their rooms to rest, and were about to withdraw from the matchmaking event the next morning and quietly await the final result, Dure found a letter in his room.

The letter was simple: someone wanted to see him. The location wasn't far, also in the Sky Hotel, but in a different room. Du Lei hesitated for a moment, but went anyway. He didn't inform Hu Che and the others about this, as they should have already rested by now.

"Knock knock knock." Du Lei arrived at the designated room as instructed in the letter and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly.

"Are you sure you're alone, without anyone else, or that you've leaked this information to unrelated people?" Inside the door was a bodyguard-like man who scrutinized Dure closely, seemingly surprised by the visitor's youth.

“Let him in. He’s a smart man. Smart men don’t do anything unnecessary, and they certainly don’t play tricks, right?” Another voice rang out from inside the door. Through the crack in the door, Dure could see that the speaker had blond hair, but not the flamboyant blond of a playboy; it was a dark gold.

He looked to be in his thirties, not very tall, and his clothes were buttoned up neatly, making him seem like a very meticulous person.

"You are...?" Du Lei followed him into the room, which was much larger than the one he was staying in. It was a suite, and there were seven or eight people sitting in the room. Some of them were playing cards on the sofa, while others were reading newspapers near the window.

Du Lei was able to detect that these people were all magic users, and at a high level; they were clearly the bodyguards of the dark gold-haired man.

"Just call me Lyon," the man introduced himself, gesturing for Dure to sit down beside him.

"Mr. Lyon? So, what brings you here, Mr. Lyon?" Dure asked directly about the other party's intentions. At the same time, he placed the letter he had found in the room on the coffee table. This way of meeting made Dure feel uncomfortable.

Because the other party placed the letter in his room instead of slipping it under the door, it meant that the other party could easily break into his room without his knowledge. It's hard for Du Lei not to associate this with provocation.

“I know this invitation is a bit abrupt, so I’d like to apologize to Mr. Redu… no, I should say Mr. Redu.” Lyon was polite and courteous.

“Redu… Dure… Mr. Leon seems to know quite a lot.” Dure chewed on the two titles. If you called him Dure alone, there would be no problem, as that was his real name. If you called him Redu, that would also be correct, as that was his pseudonym to avoid unnecessary trouble.

However, if you address Dure as both Dure and Lei Du, then problems arise, or rather, trouble comes knocking.

“Let’s get straight to the point. I’m Kim’s older brother. I’m the fourth of the twenty-seven brothers.” Leon took a bottle of wine from the bodyguard, poured himself a glass, and was about to pour one for Dure when Dure waved him off.

"So... Mr. Leon came here to participate in a matchmaking event?" Du Lei had a premonition beforehand, because not many people knew his name was Le Du, and Leon did indeed have some similarities to Kim in terms of his features.