The most shameless alchemist in history

Nothing happened after a day and a night, which finally allowed Kotetsu and the others, who had been on high alert for more than half a month, to breathe a sigh of relief. They enjoyed a rare day of peace in the car, but everyone knew that this peace would not last long.

Because the train was about to arrive at the station, strictly speaking, it would take half an hour to reach Rock Castle. Kotetsu, Hyobi, and Winry all understood this, so they quickly put away their relaxed attitude and prepared to wait for Rock Castle to arrive.

"Are we finally arriving at Rock Castle? This journey has been anything but easy." Leopard Tail looked out the window at the ever-receding scenery and sighed with emotion.

"Hey, now's not the time for sentimentality. You all need to be on your toes. The real challenge will begin once we reach Rock Castle, so we absolutely cannot afford to be careless," Kotetsu sternly reminded Hyobi. He was mainly speaking to Hyobi.

"I know, I know, I promise I'll be on my best and won't give those ambitious people any openings. But, Boss Kotetsu, what's our schedule after we arrive at Rock City?" After making his assurances, Leopard Tail asked about the specific arrangements.

After all, he had never been to Rock City and knew nothing about it, and he hadn't devised a concrete action plan on the way.

"How should we arrange it? Didn't we already discuss it before?" Kotetsu looked at Hyobi with a puzzled expression and asked in return.

"Huh? Were we discussed...we discussed it? I don't remember at all..." Leopard Tail scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly.

“You were still fast asleep at that time, and we couldn’t wake you up no matter what we did, so we just excluded you,” Bee Sting replied.

"Huh? What? You've excluded me outright? We're comrades, after all. How can you treat me like this? I'll be really sad, you know?" Leopard Tail immediately protested. He was trying hard to get his attention, and now even in meetings to discuss plans, he was being excluded.

"The city structure of Rock City is roughly like this..." Du Lei, who was next to him, took out paper and pen and sketched on the picture. Soon he drew a complete map. Although it was only a few strokes, it was very clear. Even the leopard tail could be clearly identified.

"Kid, have you ever been to Rock City before? How do you know so much about it?" Leopard Tail clicked his tongue in amazement.

“I’ve never been to Rock City before.” Dure shook his head, denying Leopard Tail’s guess.

"Never been there? How could you draw it so clearly if you've never been there?" Leopard Tail was stunned; he didn't quite believe Du Lei's words.

"Because there's a map of Rock Castle here. After looking at the map and following Uncle Kotetsu's explanation, I was able to draw a sketch," Du Lei said confidently, pulling out a map of Rock Castle.

"What? You actually have a map in your hand? With a ready-made map, why are you drawing? Is it just to show off that you have this skill?" Leopard Tail was a little unhappy. This was blatant showing off!

“It’s different. The official map only shows the areas that are visible on the surface. What we need are the areas hidden beneath the surface.” Dure shook his head, rejecting Leopard Tail’s suggestion.

"Don't pretend to be profound, what's this talk about surface-level and under-the-table? I'm telling you," Leopard Tail warned Du Lei sternly.

“Because the official maps are available on the market, we can get them, and so can our rival countries. Do you think the Mountain Kingdom would draw all its important locations on a map so that its rival countries could see them?” Du Lei explained in detail.

“Now that you mention it… it seems to make some sense. Okay, okay, this is getting more and more complicated. Just tell me what to do.” Leopard Tail originally wanted to follow Du Lei’s line of thought and speculate, but he quickly realized that he couldn’t keep up with the kid’s train of thought at all, so he had to give up.

“This is what we need to do…” Du Lei drew a few more points on the map and quietly explained the plan to Leopard Tail.

But almost at the same time, a loud explosion suddenly came from the carriage in front.

Along with the explosion came a rapidly spreading, intensely hot shockwave; all the train windows shattered, and screams filled the air.

"Oh dear, what's going on? What happened up ahead?" A woman stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

"Damn it, I almost fell to my death! Why did the train stop again? And what's all this noise?" Someone struggled to their feet to check the situation.

"boom!"

Before anyone could figure out what was going on, another explosion occurred, clearly indicating that the previous explosion was not a random event.

The explosion came from the rear of the train carriage, and the intense shockwave spread with scorching heat, causing a churning sensation in one's chest.

"Miss Winry, are you alright?" Dure was most concerned about Winry's safety; he had felt uneasy on the way here.

The train was so quiet it was almost eerily so.

Logically speaking, Winry is about to arrive at Rock City, which is something some people definitely don't want to see. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to deal with them on the way. Now, they have overcome all difficulties and are about to arrive at Rock City.

Those who have already paid a heavy price and exerted great effort have no reason to suddenly stop at this moment and not take action against Winry.

“I’m fine, Mr. Durley, and everyone else, are you all alright?” Winry indicated that she was alright.

She looked at the carriages in front and behind her. Affected by the explosion, the passengers in the carriages were in a panic, and many people even jumped out of the windows.

The train, which was traveling at high speed, suddenly stopped just half an hour away from Iwa Castle!

m.

582 Lava Guard

The explosion came suddenly, yet it was also within Durley's expectations. They protected Winry tightly because they all knew that the timing of the explosion was too coincidental. They did not believe that they had simply been accidentally involved in another attack.

This was clearly an attack targeting Winry. Dure quickly opened the window and escorted Winry out. After all, explosions were coming from both sides of the train, and no one knew who the opponent was or what actions they would take.

With the train no longer safe, staying on it would only lead to certain death, so they had no choice but to take action!

"What on earth happened? How could a perfectly good train explode? Cough cough, luckily I ran fast, or I would be dead."

"Oh no, my suitcase is still in the car, I have to go back and get it!" Someone realized this and hurriedly tried to return.

"Don't do anything dangerous. It's very dangerous on the train right now. Are you going to your death? Is the suitcase more important than your life?"

Others were pulling the reckless individuals back, hoping they wouldn't do anything foolish. Under the gaze of hundreds of eyes, the train underwent a series of explosions, becoming riddled with holes and completely paralyzed on the railway. Many carriages were billowing smoke and could no longer move forward.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. We will protect your safety. You go over there. This explosion was definitely planned. Look over there, there's a suspicious person. Go and arrest him. You search over there. Follow me to find the special envoy in the car."

Just then, a group of guards on horseback hurried over from not far away. They were wearing light blue uniforms and carrying gunpowder guns on their backs. After dismounting, under the command of the leading man, they quickly divided into several teams to maintain order at the scene. Their movements were clean, efficient, and well-trained.

"Is Miss Winry here? Who is Miss Winry?" The man leading the group of guards was in his twenties, a tall and handsome young man.

He shouted "Winley's" name loudly in the crowd, while his men entered the carriage to help passengers who had not yet escaped.

"Hey, what brings you here to see Miss Winry?" someone asked as they approached. The one who asked was Leopard Tail, who scrutinized the man from head to toe.

"We are from the Lava Guard. We were notified a few days ago that Miss Winry, the special envoy from the Land of Snow, would be arriving in Rock City to discuss border issues between the two countries. So we came to Rock City early to welcome her. Earlier, we learned that someone was going to attack Miss Winry, so we carefully checked every train. When we learned that this train was going to have an accident, we rushed over. We hope that Miss Winry is alright now."

The man looked somewhat anxious as he looked around, trying to find traces of the girl he was tasked with meeting.

"The Lava Guard? Is that the royal guard from the Mountain Kingdom? What can prove your identity?" Leopard Tail still looked him over suspiciously.

"Our Lava Guard's badge cannot be faked. According to the laws of the Mountain Kingdom, anyone who impersonates a member of the Lava Guard will be executed." The man said sternly and solemnly, pointing to his badge with a great sense of pride.

"Is that so? Come with me, Miss Winry is over here." After observing for a while and confirming that everything was alright, he gestured for the person to follow him.

"Are you... one of the guards escorting Miss Winry?" The man was cautious about Leopard Tail's identity.

"My name is Leopard Tail, and I'm Miss Winry's bodyguard. By the way, what's your name?" Leopard Tail asked as he walked.

"My name is Kai, and I am the captain of the Lava Guard," the man introduced himself.

"So young and already the captain of one of the elite guards protecting Rock City? That's a truly promising future." Although Leopard Tail had never been to Rock City, he knew that it was protected by six armies, and the Lava Guard was one of them.

"You must be joking. Where is Miss Winry?" Kai followed Leopard Tail for a while but didn't see any sign of Winry.

“It’s over there, Miss Winry. I’ve brought the Lava Guards. They seem to be here to protect you… Hey, you’re here to protect Miss Winry, right?” Leopard Tail turned around and asked Kai.

“Of course. As the special envoy of the Snow Kingdom, Miss Wenli is a distinguished guest of our Mountain Kingdom. If something were to happen to such a distinguished guest within the territory of our Mountain Kingdom, the consequences would be very serious.” Kai nodded emphatically, showing that he was a very responsible person.

"But as you can see, the train was perfectly fine and it almost had an accident. Miss Winry, this guy is called Kai, this is Miss Winry, this is our captain, Boss Kotetsu, this is Bee Sting, this is Ape Arm, you don't need to pay attention to him, he's mute."

Leopard Tail introduced each of his companions to Kai, with Miss Winry being the main focus.

"Are you Miss Winry? I'm so sorry to have startled you. I'm deeply sorry for what happened earlier. But please rest assured, I will definitely investigate this attack thoroughly, give you an explanation, and ensure that this never happens again," Kai assured him confidently.

"Mr. Kai? That really scared me to death. I had no idea what happened, how could it have turned out like this?" Miss Wenli patted her chest, looking as if she had been greatly frightened.

“The situation between our Mountain Kingdom and Snow Kingdom is currently somewhat tense. I believe most people hope that the two countries can maintain peace, but there are always a few who fear nothing more than peace and stability and hope to profit from turmoil. Therefore, Miss Winry has become their target,” Kai explained.

“We’ve encountered quite a few things like this on the way here. We thought things would calm down after we arrived at Rock City, but it’s gotten even worse. Captain Kai, what should we do now?” Leopard Tail complained for a while before asking Kai.

“Now our Lava Guard will be responsible for protecting Miss Wenli’s safety. We will escort you all the way to the Speaker. Please follow me.” Kai waved his hand, and his men immediately came to meet them. Dozens of fully armed guards heavily protected Wenli and her entourage.

"This setup...it doesn't look like they're protecting someone, it looks more like they're escorting them," Leopard Tail teased from the side.

"It's not an escort, it's just to guard against possible attacks," Kai quickly explained.

"I understand. Let's go then. I'm starving. I've been looking forward to having dinner when we get to Rock Castle."

Leopard Tail followed Kai away from the section of the train that had derailed, and they quickly mounted their horses and rode away.

m.

Train 583 has arrived at the station.

The train, which was about to arrive at Rock City, suddenly exploded and derailed. This was a very serious and dangerous incident. The Lava Guard arrived at the scene to maintain order and escorted the most important person on the train, Miss Winry, the special envoy from the Land of Snow, away.

The remaining passengers waited where they were, and soon another train came to pick them up. The survivors wept uncontrollably after boarding the train, clearly terrified, as many had been injured in the earlier explosion.

When the train finally arrived at Iwa no Shiro station, the passengers were finally able to end their difficult journey. Some of the citizens who came to greet them had sweaty palms after hearing about the previous derailment, fearing that their relatives and friends might have been affected by the explosion.

As all the passengers arrived, the young girl rushed to her companion who had come to pick her up and burst into tears. The station was packed with people, and due to the damage to the railway that could not be repaired in a short time, many passengers had to continue waiting or choose other trains.

Among the dense crowds pouring out of the station, the young couple was insignificant. They quickly left the station and found a hotel to stay in. Their journey was hurried, and their behavior was very low-key, which even puzzled the hotel owner.

However, considering that he had encountered quite a few strange people in his career, the boss didn't think too much about it and continued to patronize his business.

After the young boy and girl entered the upstairs room, the boy pulled a thin string at the door before closing it. He was clearly very wary and on guard at every turn. He also carefully checked the room to make sure there were no mistakes.

“It’s safe here, we’ll be fine staying here.” It was none other than Du Lei, the young man, leaning against the window looking out at the street. The view was excellent, allowing him to see the hotel entrance and the back door, which was the most important reason he chose this room.

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Dure. But is this really alright?" The girl, who had been wearing a hat the whole time, took it off and sat down to ask Dure's intentions. She was supposed to have the Lava Guard escort her away, but Dure had stopped her at the crucial moment.

"Don't you think the timing of the train explosion was a little too perfect?" Dure didn't answer her directly, but asked her a question instead.

"Timing? I don't quite understand what you mean by timing, Mr. Dure." The real Winry asked, frowning.

"The bomb was hidden on the train beforehand, not prepared later. It didn't explode earlier or later, but just when it was about to arrive at Rock City. Don't you think that's too much of a coincidence?" Dure explained further, having already noticed many suspicious points about the explosion.

"Well... Mr. Dure, do you mean someone deliberately waited until they were almost at Rock City before detonating it?" Winry thought about it carefully. She hadn't thought much about it when the explosion happened, after all, she had encountered quite a few attacks along the way.

Compared to those dangerous attacks, being hit by an explosion and remaining unharmed is nothing serious.

"No matter what people do, they always have a purpose. Everything they do is necessarily centered around that purpose. The train explosion seems to have serious consequences and many people are injured, but what good does it do? Is it a demonstration? Is it to show off their strength?"

Dure asked a series of questions, and he always managed to find the most crucial clue amidst the thick fog.

“Generally speaking, the purpose of an explosion is nothing more than two things: one is assassination, to kill an important person, and the other is to threaten, to warn someone that if they do not cooperate, there will be more explosions.” Wenli followed Dure’s line of thought and came to two conclusions.

“You’re right. Under normal circumstances, those are indeed the two possibilities. However, while there were quite a few injured people on the train, no one died. After the accident, I inspected several blast points on the train, and none of them were in critical locations. In fact, they were all cargo boxes.”

Dure's speculations were not baseless conjectures, but rather deduced based on sufficient evidence.

"So the purpose of this explosion was a threat?" After ruling out one possibility, Winry could only think of another.

"No, no, no, if it were a threat, they would definitely leave a letter or something. After arriving in Rock City, I also inquired around, and I haven't heard of anyone causing trouble in Rock City recently, so this possibility is also invalid." Du Lei denied this point.

“If that’s not the case, then what other possibilities are there?” Winry frowned; she couldn’t find any other possibilities.

"Excluding those two points, the conclusion we can draw is that the purpose of the explosion was simply to stop the train," Dure said definitively.

"Stop the train? But why do that? Mr. Dure, you just said that people need a starting point, a motivation, to do things." Winnie was increasingly confused; she didn't think stopping the train could bring any specific benefit.