The most shameless alchemist in history

"Yes, that's the question, so what's your answer?" Ababa had been observing the whole time, maintaining a smile.

"Isn't the answer obvious?" Dure said confidently.

"So it's obvious that you and Mr. Kim have the same answer, right?" Ababa asked again.

"The same? What's the same?" Du Lei was baffled.

“Of course you should follow my daughter. Wherever she lives, you should live there,” Ababa repeated Jin’s answer.

"No, no, no, I meant fat and ugly, you misunderstood." Du Lei suddenly waved his hand.

"Did you misunderstand? So what is your true intention...?" Ababa was a little unsure.

“I’ve heard the saying ‘A woman follows her husband wherever he goes, whether he’s a chicken or a dog, so after we get married, doesn’t she live with me? Wherever I am, she’ll be there too, and she has to listen to me in everything!” Du Lei patted his chest and said confidently.

571 Under Control

As soon as Du Lei finished speaking, not only Jin and Ababa, but even his supporters Kotetsu and Hyowei were startled. Hyowei, in particular, stared wide-eyed at Du Lei and picked at his ear, as if he hadn't heard clearly or thought he had misheard.

As for the others in the audience, there was an uproar. Jin's confidant, who had just been beaten up by Hu Che and Bao Wei, also crawled in with difficulty. He happened to hear Du Lei's words. His clothes were tattered and his face was bruised and swollen, clearly indicating that he had taken a lot of punches.

"Marry a chicken and follow the chicken? Did I hear that right? That guy actually dared to make such a demand, saying that you have to listen to him after marriage?"

"I think I heard right. This guy is really bold. I admire him to the core."

"This is no longer a question of whether someone has the courage or not. Don't you think this request is excessive?"

The audience stammered as they discussed. Jin's answer aligned with their mainstream values. If he could become Ababa's son-in-law, wouldn't they treat Miss Ellie with utmost care? Even if they had any other thoughts, they would have to consider them after marriage.

But this isn't even settled yet, and he's already acting so arrogantly. Doesn't he consider the impression he makes? Isn't this subtly pushing Miss Ellie away? According to common sense, no normal person would do something as outrageous as Durex.

"Boy, do you know what you just said? This is extremely disrespectful to Miss Ellie!" Jin said with a gloomy face.

His dissatisfaction with Dure had long reached its peak. If it weren't for the fact that they were in the Golden Castle, making it difficult to take action, and that even if he killed Dure, the impact would be negative, he would have remained patient. He even swallowed his anger and went to negotiate with Dure, hoping that he would withdraw.

But Du Lei had humiliated him for no reason, and he held a grudge against him for it. He was waiting for the wedding to end and for him to leave Golden City so he could get his revenge on Du Lei with interest. He wouldn't let that kid die so easily!

“What do you know? This is our family matter. What does it have to do with an outsider like you?” Du Lei retorted.

Even with hundreds of eyes on him questioning him, he remained unfazed, exuding confidence.

"Outsiders? You probably haven't figured out who the outsiders are yet. With your skills, you've already hit the jackpot by stumbling all the way here. Instead of cherishing this hard-won opportunity, you're spouting nonsense here. I think you've really gone mad!" Jin angrily rebuked.

"The 'hard-won opportunity' you mentioned, you wouldn't be referring to the opportunity to talk to me about a deal, would you?" Dure asked, his eyes half-closed.

"What deal? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Don't spout nonsense!" Jin vehemently denied it.

He would naturally not publicly admit that he had approached Dure and offered him leverage to withdraw from the matter.

"Alright, alright, it's fine if you don't admit it. Anyway, I didn't expect you to be able to handle this. I don't care. You're so short, fat, and ugly. We've answered all your questions, so what other procedures are there? I can't wait to meet my future wife."

Dure ignored Jin and turned to look at Ababa, awaiting the final result.

Because he knew there was no point in arguing with Kim; the decision was in the hands of Ababa, or rather, Miss Ellie.

"Understood. I have received your answers. My daughter will announce the result." Ababa nodded.

He quickly pointed to the location of the pavilion, where he had just come down the stairs from the second floor.

With his gesture, everyone's attention turned to her, and Miss Ellie was finally about to appear.

Almost at the same time, Du Lei touched the dagger at his waist, lowered his center of gravity slightly, and stared intently at Jin, who was not far from him.

At this moment, Jin's attention was also focused on the stairs above, and he did not notice that he was being stared at by a pair of fierce eyes. In fact, he had been on guard until this moment, and he was always on alert for any unexpected situations. But now, the final result was about to be revealed.

This was absolutely the most important moment of his life, because the decision that Miss Ellie was about to announce would affect his plans for the next few decades. He, who was usually calm and collected, was inexplicably nervous. His breathing was rapid and his palms were full of sweat.

Dure was only a few steps away from him. At first, Dure touched the dagger, but he gave up because the dagger was too conspicuous. However, he did not only have one hand, but he also touched a needle in his pocket, a needle that had been soaked in venom for a day and a night.

It can easily penetrate human skin and deliver venom into the blood vessels. According to Dure's prediction, within ten seconds, the person stabbed will collapse to the ground and convulse, and after another ten seconds, the person's heart will stop beating. Using it to kill is clean and efficient.

Having two options means that his decision was not impulsive but premeditated.

Kim is very confident about the final result of today's matchmaking event, and so is Dure.

The only difference between the two is that Kim relies on his strong background and his outstanding personal qualities.

Dure's strategy was direct and simple: just eliminate the biggest threat.

He had been waiting for an opportunity, a chance to strike decisively, and until that moment arrived, Kim was highly alert.

Because at that time, Kim was watching him closely, and he also had people protecting him.

But now, Jin is very relaxed; he is focused on Miss Ellie, as everyone is watching for her appearance.

There are many rumors about Miss Ellie, but no one has ever seen her.

Hundreds of eyes were filled with anticipation, but no one witnessed what Dure had done.

Only his eyes showed apology; those were Dure's eyes.

He wasn't apologizing to Kim, because he knew Kim would kill him too, and Kim had already tried that before.

He felt sorry for Miss Ellie, because this should have been a happy moment for her wedding.

But he wanted to turn a wedding into a murder scene.

He could completely foresee what was going to happen next.

He easily approached Jin, then with a gentle stab, brought him down. The scene was bound to erupt in chaos, and the wedding would certainly be unable to continue.

No one would know it was a murder, because he was confident that no one could detect the needle mark.

It looks like a light mosquito bite; even if the investigation finds out, it will take a long time.

But by then they had already left Storm City.

If someone dies, the wedding will inevitably have to stop, and the Storm City train station will no longer be closed; it will definitely be reopened.

All of this was under his control.

And he's about to put it into practice!

m.

572 Miss Ellie

Dure did not share his plan with Kotetsu, Hyobi, and the others. This was not because he did not trust these companions, but because he knew very well that he could do this alone. The more people knew, the more unstable factors would be added, and the lower the chance of success would be.

He could remain calm and composed, unlike Leopard Tail and the others. Moreover, to be fair, what he did was despicable. However, he didn't mind using despicable means to deal with despicable people. He approached Jin silently with a poisoned needle between his fingers, a move that seemed very natural.

No one suspected him, and no one expected that he would choose to kill Jin at such a critical moment. Jin, who was about to die, also did not expect that a boy from a poor, remote village whom he looked down upon would have such a strong desire to kill him.

Dure's progress was going very smoothly, and everything was going according to his plan, until Miss Ellie came down the stairs and appeared in front of everyone. An unexpected situation occurred, because Jin's expectant expression froze instantly.

His expression shifted from anticipation to shock, then to confusion, and finally to anger. He turned around abruptly and saw Dure standing right in front of him.

The latter did not expect Jin to suddenly turn around. This was not a passive reaction to sense danger, but an active reaction to something else. Du Lei, who was just about to make a move, was caught off guard and immediately put away the poison needle, just in time to meet Jin's eyes.

"How could this be? How could this be? You knew all along, didn't you? You all conspired to frame me?" Jin seemed to have suffered a great blow. He suddenly rushed over, grabbed Du Lei's collar, and shook him violently, which made Du Lei panic for a moment.

His first reaction was that Kim had seen through his plan, but he quickly thought that if Kim had really seen through it, he wouldn't have reacted like this. The only explanation was that Kim had been stimulated by something else, and that stimulation came after he saw Miss Ellie.

After going through this in his mind, Du Lei immediately looked at Miss Ellie who was coming down from upstairs. He was quite surprised when he saw her, because he was very familiar with Miss Ellie. He had seen her before, and several times in fact!

“Ellie? Miss Ellie?” Dure looked at the person coming down the stairs.

Although this person was dressed in a black evening suit and was so radiant in the huge hall, Dure immediately recognized him. Wasn't this Ellie, whom he had seen several times before, even half an hour ago?

"Oh my, is this Ababa's daughter, Miss Ellie? She's truly a young lady with both elegance and beauty, so gorgeous!"

"Who said Miss Ellie weighs two or three hundred pounds and is ugly beyond words? Come out here, I promise I won't kill you."

"That old man is such a fat, ugly guy, how come he has such a beautiful and lovely daughter?"

A gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd; some expressed doubt, but most were filled with admiration.

While everyone was discussing it, Kotetsu and the others noticed that Du Lei's reaction was very strange.

"Hey, what's wrong with Dure? Why is he just standing there dumbfounded? Could it be that he forgot his own name because he saw a pretty girl?" Kotetsu frowned. In his impression, Dure was a very composed person and shouldn't be acting so out of control.

"Is there really such a guy? Before, they were saying how terrible Miss Ellie was, and that she was in her forties or fifties. But now she looks like she's only in her teens, about the same age as Dure. He's really lucky. What is he standing there for? Why doesn't he go over and say hello?"

Leopard Tail's words implied anger at Du Lei's lack of ambition, and he really wanted to push him forward.

"Tch, these men are so shallow. They're all like they've lost their souls just because someone is pretty." Seeing everyone's reaction, Bee Sting crossed her arms and scoffed, her expression showing a hint of indignation.

“This Miss Ellie is indeed very beautiful, and she and Mr. Dure seem to be a good match.” Winry smiled gently.

"I wonder if others will even look at him. With that Jin around, he probably won't have much of a chance, right?" Bai Ling frowned.

She knew Dure well. Although she had a high opinion of him along the way, it was all based on the fact that he had solved a series of incidents. In other words, her first impression of Dure was not very good.

Du Lei has only been participating in the matchmaking event for a few days now, and his opportunities to showcase himself are extremely limited. It would be very difficult for him to defeat Jin, who has a clear advantage in terms of competitiveness.

"Did you notice Miss Ellie's eyes?" Winry suddenly asked.

"Her eyes? What's wrong with her eyes?" Bee Sting hadn't noticed this before. Following Wen Li's reminder, she looked over, but after observing carefully, she couldn't figure it out.

“Those were eyes full of adoration, there’s no doubt she’ll make the right choice,” Winry said with absolute certainty.

"Admiring eyes? For that guy Dure? That's unlikely, isn't it?" Bee Sting was taken aback; it was simply unbelievable to her.

“What’s impossible, Mr. Durley… he’s such an outstanding and charming person!” Winry said softly.

She could see that Ellie's eyes were full of adoration, but what about her own?

How much of the spirit remains in those bright, intelligent eyes?

Meanwhile, on the other side of the crowd, Night Raven and Red Sparrow stared intently at Durei.

"Nightcrow, that kid has no chance of winning, right? With his skills, how could anyone possibly be interested in him?" Red Sparrow scrutinized Dure from head to toe several times, but she really couldn't see any redeeming qualities in him.

Judging from her aesthetic sense, if she had to choose, she would definitely choose gold a hundred times out of a hundred, and not that despicable guy, Du Lei.

"Don't judge a book by its cover. At first glance, he may not seem to have any competitive advantage and is insignificant compared to Jin. But don't forget our encounter in the Snow Country. It was this unassuming guy who made us all look fools," Night Raven reminded him.

He is someone who can always see through appearances to the essence of a problem, even if Dure had wronged them and was on the opposite side.

But he spoke very highly of Dure.

"He's just a little bit clever. I don't believe that such a classy Miss Ellie would choose such a bastard!" Red Sparrow said through gritted teeth, harboring a deep hatred for Dure.