The most shameless alchemist in history

He understood that Du Lei had mentioned it before, which was a kind of precaution, but he was completely confused because Du Lei hadn't said why they were teleported here. Not only him, but also Hu Che and the others looked at each other in bewilderment, waiting for the staff to announce the next step.

"Hey, Dure, didn't you say there was some kind of Golden Castle here? Where is it? I can't see it." After looking around, Leopard Tail asked Dure in a low voice. When he came to this place yesterday, there were about two hundred people with him.

But today there were only ten people, which was rather deserted. He was puzzled about what strange things might happen next.

"Don't worry, just wait a little while." Du Lei gestured to Leopard Tail to be patient; he was quite composed.

"Wait, wait, wait. Can't you say anything other than 'wait'? Forget it, it's pointless for me to ask." Leopard Tail wasn't as patient as Du Lei, so he went to Kotetsu's side. At least he and Kotetsu had some common ground.

Just then, the staff member walked to the front and glanced around.

"Those of you who have made it to the fifth round are all of you here. Being able to break through the first four rounds shows that you are all very capable. This fifth round, which is the final stage, will determine the final winner," the staff member patiently explained.

"Hey, old man, we finally broke through to get here, we're not here to listen to your nonsense, let's get started, we can't wait!" Some people were rubbing their hands together, eager to try, and couldn't wait to start the final battle.

"Before we begin, we'd like to have someone witness this," the staff member said slowly and deliberately.

"What testimony? Just say it." Someone in the crowd said impatiently. Du Lei glanced at him and recognized that the person was one of Jin's people. In fact, of the ten people in the final round, apart from him, Hu Che, Bao Wei, and Yuan Bi, almost everyone else was one of Jin's people.

According to Jin's plan, he should have secured all the spots in the final rounds by himself, which would have been tantamount to skipping the fifth stage and declaring his victory. However, things went wrong at the last moment yesterday, and Du Lei obtained enough gold leaves through alchemy.

He not only secured a spot, but also helped Hu Che and others successfully enter the fifth round, catching Jin completely off guard. Jin was furious about this. Du Lei and his group occupied four spots, and Jin did not completely take over the remaining six spots.

To be precise, Jin and his team also only occupied four spots. The remaining two spots were filled by people who were unknown in the previous four rounds, who played the role of troublemakers. One of them was called Copper Lid, and the other was called Ji. Jin had not investigated the background of these two people.

"Because the wedding will begin when the fifth round ends, all the citizens of Storm City will be invited to celebrate this grand wedding. Are you all ready? If so, we will proceed to the venue," the staff member said.

"What? Invite all the citizens of Storm City? Hey, are you planning to teleport everyone in? You know Storm City has tens of thousands of people. Teleporting such a large number of people will consume an astronomical amount of magical energy." Someone raised a question.

"Wait, you said to go to the venue, does that mean we're not at the venue yet? Where exactly are you trying to take us?" Someone else noticed something else and questioned loudly as well.

"This doesn't seem good, Boss Kotetsu. It all seems to be just like that guy said. Could there really be some golden castle here?" Leopard Tail was concerned about what Du Lei had said on the way here, and he asked Kotetsu in a low voice.

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask? Just shut your mouth. No one will think you're mute if you don't speak. And even if there are any questions, I think they'll be answered soon." Kotetsu scolded Hyobi, his words firm.

But in reality, even Kotetsu himself wasn't sure. He couldn't help but glance at Dure, trying to find the answer in Dure.

"Everyone just needs to prepare well for the fifth round, so please look forward to it. Next, you will be going to..." The staff member withdrew his scanning gaze, turned around, and faced a huge square with his back to the crowd.

Dure and his companions were familiar with the plaza, as they had been there before and knew the structure of this ancient city. The huge plaza in the city center was surrounded by eight massive stone pillars, and there was nothing else there.

"Boss Hu Che, did you hear anything?" Leopard Tail suddenly asked, looking around nervously.

"Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth?" Kotetsu scolded impatiently.

"I did shut my mouth, but I heard some noise coming from underground. Did you hear it?" Leopard Tail's focus was on the underground.

"The sound... wait, the ground is... shaking?" Kotetsu originally wanted to refute it, but after careful investigation, he found that the ground was indeed shaking, a discovery that surprised him greatly.

"Was it an earthquake? Should we run for our lives?" Leopard Tail panicked.

"Don't be nervous, just wait and see." Du Lei was calm and composed, as if he had expected this to happen.

“You make it sound so simple. We don’t even know where this is. What if something happens and we’re all wiped out… Good heavens, what’s going on?” Leopard Tail originally wanted to refute Dure, but he quickly noticed that a large number of cracks had appeared in the center of the square.

The cracks spread rapidly, soon threatening to engulf the surrounding area, accompanied by a deafening roar.

At this point, he was struggling to maintain his balance and was about to fall to the ground!

545 Get ready

The commotion emerging from the ground startled everyone. Even Du Lei, who had a premonition, couldn't maintain his composure. The cracks spreading from the central square continued, and something was breaking through the soil. Leopard Tail was terrified and ran dozens of meters away in a panic.

"Du Lei, stop standing there like an idiot! You're going to fall into a crack in the ground if you keep going like this. Boss Hu Che, hurry up and drag him away. Now is not the time to be sightseeing." After running a distance, Leopard Tail realized that Du Lei was still standing in the same spot, so he turned back.

He did want to run away alone for safety and freedom, but after glancing at Dure, he still couldn't help but feel uneasy. He himself couldn't understand why he felt this way, but the current chaotic situation didn't allow him to think too much about it. The whole earth was trembling, and there were screams and shouts all around.

"It should be safe here now, Du Lei, are you alright?" Kotetsu and Hyobi grabbed one of Du Lei's arms from each side, pulling him away from the dangerous area where the ground was torn apart. Dust billowed on the ground, making it difficult to see the scene ahead.

"I'm fine, thank you all." Du Lei coughed twice; he had swallowed quite a bit of dust earlier.

"You actually know how to say thank you? Did I hear that right? Hey, Boss Kotetsu, is this the first time he's ever thanked someone?" Leopard Tail was a little surprised by Du Lei's thanks, and he immediately turned to ask Kotetsu, which surprised him somewhat.

“We’re partners, this is only natural, and you’ve saved us quite a few times before. By the way, Du Lei, what exactly happened?” Hu Che waved his hand. He was never one to dwell on such trivial matters, and besides, what he said wasn’t wrong.

All the dangers they had encountered before were saved by Du Lei, who had saved them countless times.

"You'll see what's happening if you look ahead." Du Lei composed himself and pointed ahead, gesturing for Kotetsu and the other man to look.

"Ahead? What could be ahead? Wait, something's not right, such a strong light..." Leopard Tail couldn't understand Du Lei's meaning. He frowned and looked in the direction Du Lei was pointing. He quickly noticed a golden light spreading through the thick smoke, and the smoke gradually dissipated under the golden light.

"This is not just a flash of golden light. This outline... No way... Du Lei, is that legend actually true?" Kotetsu's observation skills were much sharper than Leopard Tail's. He was initially a little surprised, but gradually he made some discoveries and his eyes widened.

"Legend? What legend? Boss Kotetsu, don't scare me. Please don't tell me it's 'that'." Leopard Tail rubbed his eyes. He thought Kotetsu was joking with him. Others might find their words strange, but Kotetsu and Ape Arm knew exactly what was going on.

"That's right, that's it, there's absolutely no mistake!" Hu Che seemed a little excited. Even someone like him who had seen a lot of things was trembling with excitement. He looked at Du Lei with ecstatic joy, while the latter clenched his fists nervously.

Not far from the four of them, Jin and his confidants also witnessed the scene of golden light emanating from them.

"What a bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world. Are they scared by a mere earthquake? Do they think they're worthy of competing with you, young master? They're really overestimating themselves." The confidant glared disdainfully at Du Lei and his group. He looked down on these ignorant fools.

After all, he had served the Pharos family for many years and always looked down on everyone, being arrogant and haughty. Furthermore, Dure and the others had offended Jin, and they would all fall into Jin's hands sooner or later. As Jin's most loyal servant, whether it was to flatter him or to share his hatred, he was willing to do so.

He was determined to see Du Lei and his group as thorns in his side, so a few verbal rebukes were nothing.

"No, that's not right. They weren't scared by the earthquake; it was something that came out of the ground." Jin frowned. Although he also disliked those country bumpkins, after a brief encounter, he had a certain understanding of the boy and knew that the latter wouldn't be so easily alarmed.

"Something emerging from the ground? Young master, what could possibly emerge from the ground? Oh, that light up ahead is really dazzling, let me take a closer look..." The confidant was so focused on making fun of Du Lei and the others that he hadn't noticed the smoke and dust in front of him.

He slowly withdrew his gaze and looked at the golden light overflowing directly in front of him. As the smoke and dust dissipated, the thing inside gradually revealed its true form.

"This is a... castle? No, this is a castle made of gold? Hey, no way, could this be the legendary Golden Castle? How could I see this here? This is impossible, this must be a hallucination!" He stared wide-eyed at the castle.

The scene before my eyes was real. Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, the outline of a huge golden castle was revealed. As the thick fog dissipated, the outline of the castle became clearer and clearer. The intense golden light under the sunlight was almost blinding!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Leopard Tail had already confirmed that this was indeed the Golden Castle, because he had heard Du Lei mention it on the way here, and was more or less mentally prepared.

"Wait a minute, wasn't it raining when we came? How come the sun is shining in the sky?" Kotetsu noticed this again.

"The sun we see may not be the real sun. If I'm not mistaken, we should still be near Storm City, but in a space isolated from the real world, so we can't perceive the weather and temperature outside. This is a world of its own."

Dure remained calm so that he could explain the current situation.

"So that's how it is? But the Golden Castle actually appeared, and it even has the legendary things. Who exactly is this Ababa..." Kotetsu nodded, and at the same time, he became even more curious about Ababa.

"Regardless of who Ababa is, or what kind of existence he is, since we've come this far, I think we have no other choice but to keep moving forward." Dure adopted a "what's done is done" attitude, calmly looking at the golden castle ahead.

"You actually said what I wanted to say first. Fine, I won't argue with you. This is what they call great minds think alike," Leopard Tail chimed in from the side.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm!" Ape Arm patted his chest, looking very confident.

It's clear that this group of people was well-prepared.

546 Be a witness

The sudden appearance of this golden castle left most of the people present at a loss. Even Jin, who was most likely to win, looked at this castle, which only existed in legends, with suspicion. Although he came from a large family and his father, Pharos, was a famous merchant.

However, they rarely interacted with Ababa. In fact, it wasn't just the Pharos family; the vast majority of merchants on the continent had no business dealings with Ababa. This led to a strange phenomenon: everyone knew that Ababa possessed wealth that rivaled that of a nation.

This can be seen from Ababa's spending habits. After all, even if Jin could do the same thing, it would still be quite a financial burden for him to book the entire Qinglan Building by himself. And booking the Qinglan Building is just the tip of the iceberg among Ababa's many achievements.

People are not surprised that Ababa has such a large amount of wealth; as the saying goes, the world is full of wonders. What people are curious about is where Ababa’s wealth came from. The reason why a businessman is a businessman is that he always accumulates wealth through business.

Businesses included traditional mining, emerging financial industries, and even a mix of fields. In fact, Kim's father, Faros, had tried to find out what kind of business Ababa was involved in through various channels, but no one in the vast continent could tell him.

Even with in-depth digging to uncover traces of the Ababa family's business, nothing was found. This directly led to rumors that Ababa owned a golden castle and that his ancestors had discovered a treasure with boundless wealth.

Of course, such claims are mostly rumors, and Faros doesn't believe them. Jin came to participate in the matchmaking event for two reasons: first, to make connections with the Ababa family, thereby increasing his chances of becoming the heir; and second, to find out more about the Ababa family.

If he could uncover the secrets of the Ababa family, he would have the potential to surpass his father. Jin wanted more than just to inherit the family business; he had been determined since childhood to surpass his father, Faros, and to make the family a leading merchant on the continent!

Before today, Jin always regarded the Golden Castle as a story to fool children. The lower classes were shallow and would be amazed by a certain legend, but people of Jin's status were always able to keep up with more information.

“When I was a child, I asked my father if a golden city really existed in the world. My father replied that it was all a trick to deceive people, and that there could not be a golden city in the world. But the castle that has appeared now proves that... my father was wrong!” Jin seemed a little excited.

This wasn't because of the wealth contained in the Golden City, but because his father had always been a mountain in his mind since childhood, someone who would never make a mistake and was impossible to surpass. But now, the Golden City, which even his father didn't know about or even denied, was appearing in front of him in a blatant manner. Did this mean that his father was not invincible and that he had found a way to surpass his father?

"Young...Young Master, what are you saying? Is what we're seeing real? Or is it some kind of hallucination?" The confidant stammered. Just moments ago, he had been mocking Du Lei and his group for their ignorance, but now he was completely dumbfounded. He pinched his face to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"This is not an illusion, it's real! The Golden City truly exists! Abbaba, I'm becoming more and more interested in you!" Jin suppressed his ecstatic feelings; if he didn't have important business to attend to, he probably would have shouted it out!

As everyone looked toward the Golden City with mixed feelings of excitement and anticipation, the only one who seemed to remain calm was the staff member who had led them there. He slowly turned around.

"As you can see, this castle presented before you is the main venue for the fifth round of this matchmaking event. To make the atmosphere even more lively, we have brought all the witnesses, and everyone will be visiting our great Golden City as guests."

The staff member spread his hands in a hugging gesture. Just as he finished speaking, another bright light appeared on the outskirts of the city, causing the contestants to turn their heads to look. It was an instinctive action because they had just witnessed an incredible scene.

My mind was still reeling from the shock; I was still being led astray.

"There's light again. Is another castle going to appear?" Leopard Tail whispered to his companion.

“A golden city is scary enough, how could there be a castle? Look over there, that outline is… a person?” Hu Che shook his head, denying Leopard Tail’s speculation. At the same time, the light gradually spread, and they were able to see clearly what was in front of them.

In Kotetsu's view, people kept appearing on the outskirts of the city. The once relatively empty streets were now filled with crowds one after another. Each appearance of a bright light brought forty or fifty people, and as the number of light spots increased, the number of people multiplied exponentially.

If these people were puppets created by magical energy, that would be one thing, but Kotetsu could clearly sense that they were living, breathing people with flesh and blood and souls, not puppets. These people were also puzzled by their sudden appearance in an unfamiliar place.

"Hey, what's going on? Wasn't I on the street? How did I suddenly end up here? Where is this place?" Someone looked around curiously, finding everything both new and inexplicable.

"I remember taking a shower at home... Oh dear, where are my clothes?" Some people, confused, realized their current situation and immediately covered themselves. Being stared at by those around them, even though most of the gazes were filled with surprise and doubt, made them feel embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"Look over there, that castle... My God, it's made of gold? I'm not seeing things, am I? It really is gold! And those people, aren't they the ones who attended the matchmaking event before?" someone exclaimed, recognizing Du Lei and the others who were looking over.

As the bright light appeared, more and more people gathered, and soon the streets were packed with people, with voices of doubt and shock rising and falling.

"This... Du Lei, these people can't be... people from Storm City, right? They were all brought here? Are you kidding me?" Leopard Tail couldn't believe what he was seeing, but it was the only possibility.

“I think you’re right, it’s true. But if that’s the case, then wouldn’t that mean…” Du Lei nodded, acknowledging Leopard Tail’s guess. At the same time, he suddenly thought of something and his eyes immediately searched through the crowd.

.vertex

547 Auspicious Start

Leopard Tail was right. With the appearance of this bright light, all the residents of Storm City were transported to the outside of the Golden Castle. However, while Leopard Tail was shocked by this magnificent feat, Dure noticed something else, something that made him very uneasy.

That means this teleportation was a collective, indiscriminate event. Almost everyone in Storm City was probably sent in, including the original inhabitants of Storm City, merchants and tourists from other places, and of course, people like Du Lei and his group who were transferring through Storm City to their next destination.

Of course, these few people participated in the matchmaking event, so they are not included in this category for the time being. However, there were more than just these few people who came from Maple City to Storm City. Among them were Nightingale, Bee Sting, and most importantly, Wenli. These three girls did not participate in the matchmaking event.

Now everyone in Storm City has been teleported in, including Wenli and her two companions. Dure immediately scanned the crowd, trying to find Wenli's whereabouts. In fact, this process did not take too long, although the number of people teleported in was in the tens of thousands, densely packed.

However, there were only ten people participating in the fifth round, and it was very easy to find them in the crowd. So Wenli and her two companions found them easily and walked towards them. Leopard Tail waved excitedly, but Dure felt a little guilty for some reason.