The most shameless alchemist in history

"This is... Magic Energy Fluid?" Dom, who was much more knowledgeable than his brother, was taken aback.

"What? A very precious magic energy essence? This is it?" Pam had never seen magic energy essence before, but she had heard of its reputation.

"This is a small gift for a friend. I hope you two won't mind," Du Lei said with a smile.

"How can this be light? I've heard that even a tiny drop of magic energy essence is worth ten gold coins, this..." Pam wasn't ignorant of the world. Not to mention that his brother Dom was a person of status in the underworld, even he himself was quite wealthy.

If you put ten gold coins in front of him, he probably wouldn't care.

But when it comes to something like Magic Energy Essence, which is completely new to them, the level of shock keeps rising.

“Ordinary magic energy essence is blue, but Mr. Redu, your bottle of magic energy essence is red, and it is even purer than the blue magic energy essence. Its value cannot be measured by ten gold coins,” Dom pointed out.

To offer something so valuable as a gift, this guy is truly extraordinary!

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598 Undercurrents

Hot Spring Village is located on the eastern border of the Miracle Continent, surrounded by mountains and famous for its hot springs. In earlier years, due to the treacherous roads, the village was isolated and had little contact with the outside world. However, with the advent of the steam age and the emergence of railways, the distance between the world was greatly shortened, and adventurers and merchants emerged in large numbers.

With the help of businessmen, the hot spring village was gradually transformed into a tourist destination. Every time it snows, it becomes the peak season for receiving tourists. Over the course of a winter, it can accommodate one or two hundred tourists, which is enough to bring a considerable income to this small village with only a few dozen people.

But recently, things have been quite unusual. In just two days, two to three hundred people have flooded into the village. Moreover, these people all look fierce and menacing, carrying guns and knives. Some have scars on their faces, while others have tattoos on their arms that represent the emblems of a certain guild. They are very different from the tourists who usually bring their families to visit.

With snow-covered peaks and the moon shining like frost, the mountaintop bathing area offers the best view and is the perfect choice for moon viewing and snow appreciation. Steaming mist fills the air, and delicate cherry blossoms drift down from the treetops beside the bathing pool, creating a dreamlike atmosphere. Of course, it would be even more wonderful if no one were to form a human ladder to peek through the fence.

"Hey, you said you'd step on my shoulder, why are you stepping on my head? If you ruin my handsome face, can you afford to pay for it? Du Lei, have you had enough? It's my turn!" Among the three furtive figures, the one in the middle was a tall, thin guy, about fifteen or sixteen years old, who kept complaining.

"What's all the noise about? Can't you keep it down? What if we get caught? Oh my, those thighs, that skin... city girls are something else. Damn this condensation, can't you disperse it a bit? I can barely see anything. Stop shaking it!" The guy at the top was watching with great interest.

He was about thirteen or fourteen years old. Perhaps because he was young and hadn't fully grown yet, he was only about 1.65 meters tall and looked very thin. He was peering through a gap in the fence, which was more than four meters high. In the hazy mist, his snow-white skin was faintly visible, indicating that someone was soaking in the hot spring.

"Why don't you come down here and let someone step on you? Will it not wobble? Du Lei, how many days has it been since you washed your feet? Why do your feet smell so bad? And did you drool? It landed on my head, it's disgusting. Watch out, if you don't let me go, I'm leaving!" the boy in the middle protested.

As dusk fell, the three of them saw people arriving at the mountaintop inn to stay the night. Among them was a young woman of similar age to them, who was stunningly beautiful. They had been keeping watch outside the mountaintop hot springs since early morning, so persistent despite the freezing weather, just to get a glimpse of her. This was something they were quite adept at.

But after waiting for so long, the young woman finally took a bath, but only Du Lei was watching from above. He had good reason to do so: firstly, he was the youngest, and secondly, he was the lightest. That made sense, but he watched for a long time without giving up his spot, which was still a bit unfair.

"Du Lei, can we go back now? I'm hungry and want to eat roasted sweet potatoes. It's so cold outside." At the bottom of the human ladder was a chubby boy who was also about fifteen or sixteen years old. He was bulky and weighed at least two hundred pounds. His lips were blue and purple from the cold, and his body was covered with a thin layer of snow.

"Alright, alright, almost there, don't worry, we're almost there... Hey? Did you hear anything?" The boy named Du Lei's ears twitched slightly. He clearly heard a "click" sound, paused for a moment, and subconsciously asked his two companions.

"A sound? What sound? Don't try to stall for time with your nonsense, I won't fall for it!" The tall, thin man with distinct facial features and a handsome appearance knew Du Lei's personality all too well. They had grown up together. Don't let Du Lei's young age and harmless appearance fool you; he was notoriously cunning in the village.

"Durey, did you hear my stomach growling? The roasted sweet potatoes smell so good..." The fat guy on the bottom floor had no interest in peeping; for him, the greatest happiness was eating. However, he couldn't resist the invitation from his two companions, so he came along.

"It wasn't a gurgling sound, but... the sound of something breaking. I have a bad feeling about this. Oh no!" Du Lei thought carefully. As the youngest and most skilled hunter in the village, his senses were extraordinary. He realized something was wrong immediately and decided to retreat.

"Huh? Who... is that?" Just as the three sneaky people were pressing down on the wooden fence that had collapsed and exclaimed in surprise, the girl who was about to get out of the hot spring noticed something was wrong. She raised an eyebrow, grabbed her clothes from the edge of the pool and wrapped them around herself, and drew her sword.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurts so much! I told Hart last time that the wooden fence around his bathhouse was rotten and needed to be replaced, but he didn't believe me. Now it's really fallen down. They say that if you don't listen to a wise person, you'll suffer the consequences. That's so true. Huh, there's a murderous aura!" Du Lei cried out, clutching his butt.

Just now, the two logs he was lying on, rotten from age, broke under the weight, causing him to fall. Luckily, he reacted quickly and avoided the sharp logs, otherwise, the consequences wouldn't have been as simple as just complaining of a sore bottom.

"Assassin! Kill him!" Just as Du Lei sensed the approaching danger, a slender, paper-thin longsword followed him like a shadow and slashed towards him. In Du Lei's view, the beautiful woman under the moon wrapped one hand in a thin shirt, her skin as white as snow, and held a longsword in the other hand, the blade of which seemed to defy frost. He was stunned for a moment.

"So beautiful... Ugh, this isn't the time to admire a beauty. Wait, an assassin? Hold on, I'm not an assassin. Are you sure you're not mistaken?" Du Lei belatedly realized what was happening and instinctively shrank back, the gleaming blade almost grazing his nose.

He clearly saw a strand of hair slowly drift down. Before the sweat on his forehead could solidify, he immediately waved his hand in a ceasefire gesture, leaned back, and sat down on the ground with a thud, raising a few snowflakes. Only at this moment did his heart suddenly tremble, and he couldn't breathe.

"Not an assassin? Then who are you? What are you doing sneaking around here?" The girl looked down at Du Lei with a haughty air. The blade in her hand was pressed against Du Lei's neck. If he made the slightest movement, she could easily draw a brilliant flower of blood from the tip of the blade.

"Sneaking around...nothing like that. Um...I'm a local, a hunter from around here...oh, no, I'm a carpenter. I saw the wall was damaged and was going to repair it. That's right, that's the situation. My two assistants can explain the situation to me..."

Du Lei considered himself a prominent figure in the hot spring village, possessing considerable courage and imposing presence. However, facing this young girl, he dared not even breathe loudly. He saw no shyness on her face; her golden pupils held only an icy indifference that chilled him to the bone.

"Assistant? What assistant? Are there other people?" The girl immediately became alert. She hurriedly emerged from the water, her skin still covered in warm water droplets that had not yet condensed. Her long black hair was not yet tied up and was left loose. Cherry blossoms from the tree fell onto her skin and then onto the blade.

"Huh? Black Wind, Copper Mountain, where are they? Damn, that's so disloyal! We agreed to share the good times and the bad, and you two ran off faster than dogs? No way, you're heartless, I can't be unrighteous. Um... they went to move some wood, and it looks like it needs fixing, right?"

Dure turned back to look for his two companions, but behind him was nothing but broken planks and cold wind blowing in; there was no sign of anyone. Clever as he was, he naturally understood the principle of 'every man for himself' in times of trouble, but he still forced a smile and persevered, displaying remarkable mental fortitude.

"Carpenter? The kind who repairs houses and makes furniture? The plank over there is indeed broken. Okay, I'll forgive you for now, but I'll just gouge out your eyes." The girl looked at the broken plank, nodded thoughtfully, and made her decision on how to deal with Du Lei in a calm tone.

"Oh dear, you're such a kind guest. There are so few guests like you who are so gentle, beautiful, and reasonable. Well then, I won't bother you any longer and will be leaving... Huh? What did you say? Gouge out my eyes?" Du Lei thought things were looking up when he heard the girl's tone soften, so he immediately started flattering her.

However, once he understood the meaning behind the girl's words, he immediately raised his voice, because he realized that the girl was not joking with him. The clear blade was already raised, and it looked like it was about to stab his eyes. The gods were about to close his bright windows!

"Sweet talk, cut your tongue out too!" The girl's eyes were sharp as a knife, and a cherry blossom fell onto the blade and was instantly sliced ​​in two!

"Hey, let's be reasonable. Don't be so brutal. Besides, I'm praising you and stating the facts. How can you call it sweet talk? Hmm, there's murderous intent again. This is... Quick, pounce on him!" Du Lei shrank back and waved his hands repeatedly. He didn't want to become mute and blind at such a young age.

Just then, his ears twitched again. He initially thought the murderous aura was coming from the girl in front of him, but upon closer inspection, he realized it was different. With a quick thought, he stomped his left foot and used the force of his right shoulder to ram forward, knocking the girl to the ground.

"How dare you! What are you doing? You're asking for death..." The girl was caught off guard. In her eyes, Dure was short and thin and posed no threat to her at all. She was a little careless for a moment. By the time she came to her senses, she had lost her balance and fell into the snow.

"Shut up, you woman! They're coming!" Du Lei snapped at the girl. At that moment, he couldn't care less about anything else. At the same time, a huge creature leaped high into the air and crashed down on the spot where they had just been standing.

"Boom!" When the enormous object landed, the ground made a loud noise, the surroundings trembled, and snowflakes flew everywhere.

"This is..." The girl was clearly stunned for a moment, and she couldn't care less about the awkward position she and Du Lei were in. Her chest heaved violently.

"Are these the monsters that have been appearing frequently on the outskirts of the village lately? Damn it, how did they get into the village? But don't worry, I'm here... Hey, what's this thing? It's soft and squishy. Did someone's rabbit escape?" Du Lei turned around and stared at these uninvited guests.

While marveling at the experience, he suddenly realized that the feel of the ball was unexpectedly good, and turned around in confusion.

"You bastard, where exactly are you touching?" The girl's cheeks flushed red, and her angry eyes were fixed on the guy in front of her, as if she wanted to devour him alive!

"Huh? Not a rabbit, but... um... Oh, actually I'm not only a carpenter, but also a doctor. I just gave you a check-up. This feel, this elasticity, it's perfect! Looks like you're developing very well. No need to thank me, you can skip the check-up fee!" Du Lei was stunned for a moment.

However, with his quick wit, he found an excuse in the shortest time and even gave the girl a thumbs up, praising her profusely.

"Unforgivable, unforgivable! You shameless bastard, go to hell right now!" Enraged, the girl drew her sword and slashed at him!

All 599 will die.

The private conversation between Dure and Dom lasted for more than an hour. After the conversation ended, Dom personally sent someone to escort Dure and Dom out of the underground world. He originally intended to take Dure to stay at his place, but Dure declined and insisted on returning to his hotel.

After returning to the ground, he took Winry for a long drive around the streets. Winry didn't understand what Dure meant at first, but she noticed that Dure's palms were covered in cold sweat and knew that the situation must be very bad. She didn't say anything until they returned to the hotel safely and breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're being followed," Du Lei said softly after taking a sip of water back in his room.

"Following us? Who's following us? Are they Dom's men?" Winry was taken aback and immediately asked.

“It wasn’t just Dom’s people, there was another group. We were being watched when we were in the underworld, but thanks to Dom’s people, they didn’t make a move. After leaving the underworld, it took me a lot of effort to shake them off, and we are safe for now.”

Du Lei leaned against the window and looked out. From this vantage point, he could clearly see the front and back doors of the hotel, offering a wide and unobstructed view.

"How could that be? We haven't dealt with anyone since we entered Rock City. We've been so careful, how could we still be targeted?" Wen Li carefully recalled whether she had made a mistake somewhere. She was afraid that she would become a burden, unable to help at all and only holding them back.

“Those people probably weren’t after you, so you can rest assured and don’t blame yourself. However… according to the information we’ve gathered, Rock City is really turbulent right now. It’s no exaggeration to say that we’re on the eve of a storm,” Du Lei said worriedly.

“I didn’t expect Rock City to turn out like this either. Speaker Varo has been placed under house arrest, and our Snow Country’s intelligence agency hasn’t been able to find out a thing. So our peace talks are probably going to be…” Winry was also very worried. Things had far exceeded her expectations.

"The fact that Speaker Varo was placed under house arrest and the Rock City underwent a major change makes sense. This explains why the Mountain Kingdom suddenly deployed a large number of troops on the border. In terms of the timeline, this happened after Speaker Varo was placed under house arrest." Dure connected the clues and came to this conclusion.

"So, someone brought down Speaker Varo and deliberately provoked this war? When I left, my mother told me that although Speaker Varo had a tough attitude, he was a very reasonable person, and that the war could be avoided if the pros and cons were explained to him in detail. But now..."

Wenli's expression was somewhat gloomy, her future was shrouded in shadow, and she didn't know where she should go from here.

“The Mountain Kingdom is currently in the hands of the war faction. With Speaker Varo under house arrest, going there to negotiate peace is tantamount to walking into a trap. Therefore, we cannot reveal our identities in the near future. We must lie low in the Rock City and wait for the right opportunity.” Dure thought for a moment and began to formulate the next course of action.

"Wait for an opportunity? Mr. Dure, what do you mean..." Winry wasn't quite sure what Dure was planning next.

"We still have a chance."

"Chance?"

“That’s right. They’ve been keeping Speaker Varo under house arrest for two months, but they haven’t made the news public. What do you think this means, Miss Winry?” Dure asked in return.

"This means that although Speaker Varo is imprisoned, he still enjoys extremely high prestige, and many of his former subordinates, whom he personally promoted, still hold real power. The conspirators must be worried about causing a backlash, which is why they did not make the news public and instead used the Speaker to issue orders."

After a moment's thought, Wenli came up with the answer. After all, she had grown up in the vortex of power and was very adept at political maneuvering.

"So, once Speaker Varo is rescued, reveals his identity, and raises his voice, what do you think will happen?" Dure asked hypothetically.

“Once Speaker Varo is rescued, he will surely do everything in his power to suppress the rebellion and restore his power,” Winry replied again.

"So our opportunity has come. The war with the Snow Kingdom is certainly not on the orders of Speaker Varo. We just need to find the crux of the problem, rescue the Speaker, and help him quell the rebellion. Then the war between the two countries can be put to rest," Dure said confidently.

“But…we are outnumbered and outgunned, and we probably don’t have much mobility within Rock City.” Winry hesitated.

"So we need to find enough partners," Dure continued.

“Partner?” Winry was taken aback.

“Miss Winry, didn’t you just say that the conspirators weren’t confident in taking over the whole thing? That’s why they didn’t make the news of detaining Speaker Varo public. So they must be wary of certain people, or even certain forces, and these are the forces we can win over,” Dure explained.

"I see. So, if we win over Speaker Varo's old followers and unite them, we'll have a way to rescue the Speaker?" Winry finally understood Dure's intention, and she wholeheartedly agreed with it.

“However…” Du Lei hesitated for a moment before saying this.

“Mr. Dure, what are you worried about?” Winnie asked.

“What I’m worried about is Uncle Kotetsu and the others’ safety. We split into two groups earlier, and they were taken away by the Lava Guard. Their situation is probably not good now.” Du Lei’s face was full of worry.

“Then we should contact them as soon as possible.” Wenli was also worried about the situation of Kotetsu and the others.

“I’ve already sent Dom to gather information. With his connections and influence in Rock City, I think we’ll have results soon,” Dure nodded.

“By the way, Mr. Dure, may I ask you a question?” Wenli asked earnestly.

“Miss Winnie, please speak freely.”

"Who is your teacher? Why did Dom's attitude change so drastically just because of a Death card?" Winry still asked this question that puzzled her.

“My teacher? Actually, he can’t really be called my teacher.” Du Lei shook his head, and the image of a thin man appeared in his mind.

"What?" Wenli didn't quite understand what he meant.

“Miss Winry, you are a member of the royal family, right?” Dure asked.

“This…” Wenli paused for a moment, not answering immediately.

“You don’t need to be nervous. I was just asking casually. Since you’re a member of the royal family, I think one day you’ll understand, Miss Winry, what exists above the ‘King’.” Dure shook his head and didn’t explain further.

He remembered when he was still on the snowy mountain, flipping through the notebook that the man had left behind again and again.

One of the pages features a symbol of death, with a sentence below it.

All kings must die.

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