The most shameless alchemist in history

But he only agreed with part of it.

"So what?" Du Lei tried to avoid conflict with Kai, but if it came to the last resort, he would have no choice but to take action.

"So let's settle this in the simplest way possible. It'll be a duel between the two of us. If you win, I'll let you into the parliament building, and my men won't stop you. If you lose, I won't show any mercy either," Kai said solemnly.

632 The Capital City is Captured

Colonel Luffy was terrified and angry. He was terrified because everything was under their control and they were about to establish a firm foothold, but a sudden change had made his future uncertain. He was angry because Rock Castle had been breached.

This was particularly unbelievable to him, because the guards were the most elite of the six guards, the Steel Rock Guard, Colonel Rogge's personal guard. With the Steel Rock Guard there, as long as they held their ground, they could definitely hold out for a few days.

But who would have thought that in just one hour, the city gates would fall and a large number of local troops would flood into the capital. The garrison had not experienced battle for many years, and most of them were noblemen, so their fighting ability was very poor. They suffered defeat after defeat and had reached the point of complete collapse.

Realizing something was wrong, Colonel Luffy handed over command of his guards to his adjutant and rushed to the Capitol. He needed to find Treasurer Tama to discuss countermeasures. Tama was the one who had dragged him onto this pirate ship in the first place, and now that things had gone wrong, he needed an explanation from Tama.

"Damn it, if I had known it would turn out like this, I would never have followed that bastard Tamma. He swore he would definitely succeed, but now does it look like he can succeed? I shouldn't have believed him!" Colonel Ruf was filled with regret as he recalled Tamma's promises.

The city is now in chaos. The local army has entered the city, most of the guards have surrendered, and a small number of guards are still resisting.

Colonel Ruff quickened his pace, hurrying towards the Capitol Building, but halfway there, someone suddenly called out to him.

"Luffy!" The voice was very loud, and it carried a hint of excitement and smugness.

"Who?" Colonel Ruf looked over instinctively; there were no guards around him.

"It really is you! Great! I was looking everywhere for you, and I was so worried about not being able to find you. I didn't expect to run into you here!" A young man ran over excitedly, and in the pouring rain, he faced Luffy from a distance.

"Who are you? Which unit are you from?" Colonel Ruf frowned; he didn't recognize the man.

He assumed the man was a guard from some unit and didn't think of anything else at the moment.

"What? You don't know who I am? You old bastard, you've been the one who locked me up in jail time and time again. Now you don't recognize me? Didn't you want to arrest your grandpa? Well, your grandpa Leopard Tail is right here. Come and arrest him!" The young man, who was indeed Leopard Tail, was very excited.

Previously, he had gone to the city gate with Hu Che and others, and with the cooperation of Dom's men, they successfully opened the city gate.

Now that the troops outside the city have been brought into the city, he has completed his mission and is heading towards the parliament building to find Dure to provide him with assistance.

Unexpectedly, they ran into Colonel Luffy on the way, which was like winning a big prize for Leopard Tail!

The saying "enemies are especially hateful when they meet" is absolutely true here!

"So it was you. Don't block my way, or you'll regret it!" Colonel Ruf was stunned for a moment. After thinking for a while, he quickly remembered Leopard Tail.

He immediately pulled a flintlock pistol from his pocket, aimed it at Leopard Tail, and threatened him fiercely.

"It's pouring rain now, can that thing of yours even hit anyone? Luffy, let's settle our old scores together, come on!" Leopard Tail had long hated him to the core, and now that he had finally caught him, he wasn't going to let Luffy go easily. He brandished his claws and pounced on Luffy!

The heavy rain continued to pour down, and most of the citizens of Rock City stayed at home. Seeing the chaos and commotion on the streets, they had no idea what was going on. At first, it was just a rumor that local troops had entered the city, but then they saw a large number of guards entering the city.

This rumor has undoubtedly been confirmed, after all, these local troops have been stationed outside the city for quite some time, and people are already in a state of panic.

No one knew when they would break in, but now that they have finally taken action, in a way, it is a relief for them.

Because there were early rumors that Speaker Varo had been placed under house arrest, and now certain conspirators are actively planning war.

This greatly displeased the general public, with some even welcoming the local troops as they entered the city.

The local troops were well-disciplined and did not commit any offenses after entering the city, which won them considerable support from the citizens.

The local military even sent people into the city to appease the nobles and councilors, and deployed troops to protect them.

These wonderful scenes undoubtedly signaled that the situation was almost clear, right at the entrance of the Parliament building.

This place was originally a relatively quiet and safe spot, but even after being washed away by the torrential rain, traces of blood still seeped out.

Du Lei and Kai faced off at a distance of ten meters, but Du Lei had already sheathed his sword.

"Do you really have to persist to this point?" Dure asked coldly to Kai, who was kneeling on the ground.

His sky-blue uniform was soaked in blood, and he was only able to stay upright by a knife.

“I am a ‘Steel Rank’ mage, yet I lost to you. Can you tell me what rank you are?” Kai asked with difficulty.

"High-level, around six-star high-level." Du Lei thought for a moment and answered him truthfully.

"Hahahaha, I, a four-star steel-rank, actually lost to you, a six-star high-rank?" Kai laughed absurdly.

"If victory or defeat could be determined solely by ranking, this world would be incredibly boring," Dure said, seemingly unconcerned.

“You’re right, it is indeed very boring. I used to have the opportunity to become a free magic user, not bound by this military uniform. If that were the case, perhaps my skills would be even higher.” Kai coughed twice and continued.

“But you still ended up on this path.” Dure looked at him with a hint of sympathy.

He had avoided vital points when fighting Kai, but Kai insisted on fighting him with a life-or-death attitude every time.

This forces him to wield those knives, otherwise he himself will be the one to get hurt.

It was precisely Kai's desperate fighting style that caused him to endure several fatal blows.

Dure knew very well, and Kai himself knew very well, that his vitality was rapidly fading away, almost to the point of exhaustion.

“Yes, no matter how frustrated I am, I’ve still ended up on this path.” Kai looked up at the sky, and cold raindrops hit him.

"Perhaps you still have the right to turn back and choose," Du Lei couldn't help but say, hoping he would change his mind.

"No need. Just give me the stab. This is my final destination. Compared to living as a 'traitor,' perhaps death will at least bring some honor." Kai stood up with difficulty, swaying unsteadily.

Thunder rumbled in the sky.

"understood."

633 Breaking into the building

Among the six guards protecting Rock City, the most formidable, the Steel Rock Guard and the Lava Guard, were dismantled in a dramatic manner. The Steel Rock Guard was dismantled from the bottom up; after Colonel Rogge led his men to rescue General Mountain Rise, his adjutant ordered the guards to lay down their weapons.

When Colonel Rogge arrived at the location Simmons had described, he found no one there. By the time he realized he had been tricked and tried to rush back to guard the city gate, it had already fallen, and local troops poured in. This made Colonel Rogge grit his teeth in hatred.

After a brief resistance, he had no choice but to lay down his weapons and surrender. This would both save his men and avoid unnecessary conflict, since everyone knew that Rock Castle was currently facing a major problem.

As for the disintegration of the Lava Guard, it was a top-down process. Guard Captain Kai fought a fair duel with Durei and eventually fell in the torrential rain. According to the orders left by Kai, once he died in battle, the guards were to be disarmed and stand by, and were not allowed to participate in the conflict in the capital.

Dure didn't want to kill him, but Kai was determined to die, wanting to fulfill his sense of justice in this way. Out of respect for him, Dure could only shoot an arrow at Kai's chest as he charged forward. The cold arrow pierced his body, and Kai fell into the cold rain.

His men were furious, and many wanted the boy in front of them to pay with his life! But according to Kai's wishes, they could not do so. Amidst the cries of grief, Dure led his men into the parliament building area, and it could be said that they had breached the last line of defense of the capital.

However, this does not mean victory is assured, because they have never met the culprit behind the turmoil in Rock City, namely Tama, the finance minister who openly placed the Speaker of the Council of Varo under house arrest. Before the dust settles, it is still unknown what will happen.

Moreover, not only Tama, but General Shanlong has not yet appeared. Dure is well aware that he is very likely to encounter these two formidable figures in the Capitol. He has never met Tama and dares not speak rashly, but General Shanlong is an extremely powerful character.

"What method did you use to defeat a four-star steel-rank Kai, a mere six-star high-level magic user?" Behind Dure, a boy named Gerald asked with great interest. At first, he had completely looked down on the guy who wasn't much older than him.

But after witnessing the boy's duel with Kai in the rain, he changed his opinion of the boy to some extent.

"This... is a secret." Du Lei had no intention of casually revealing his trump card.

Especially since the person in question is someone who has a lot of prejudice against him.

"I guess it must be something like a forbidden technique, forcibly increasing one's own power. Otherwise, one wouldn't be able to surpass a Steel-rank magic user in such a short time. However, I must warn you that this way of forcibly acquiring power that doesn't belong to you has significant side effects and will consume your lifespan."

Although Gerald disliked the guy in front of him, he still kindly reminded him.

"Thank you for your kindness, I will be careful." Dure didn't intend to say anything more to him, and they quickly led their men into the parliament building.

Many members of parliament panicked when they saw the guards burst in and fled in all directions. They ignored the members of parliament and rushed to the top of the building because Tama was there. Only by taking down the mastermind behind the scenes would all their efforts be worthwhile.

"You don't look like you'd accept advice, but it's your own life, it has nothing to do with me. You decide whether you live or die." Gerald shrugged; he wasn't the type to care about other people's lives.

It's already quite difficult for him to offer suggestions these days.

"You're really heartless to say that... Hey, who's up ahead?" Du Lei was at the forefront, and soon he sensed a powerful magical energy fluctuation coming from ahead. He immediately stopped and bent over to lower his center of gravity, preparing to fight!

"It's a magic user, a very powerful magic user. This feeling... at least a nine-star steel rank, no, it's the fire rank level!" Even Gerald was taken aback. He quickly retreated, taking seven or eight steps back.

Almost simultaneously, a massive figure crashed down, landing right where Dure was standing.

"Boom!"

The hard ground was smashed and cracked, covered with spiderweb-like fissures, but that wasn't the worst part.

With a flash of light, the stone pillar beside the building was cut in half, and the roof, now without its supporting pillar, collapsed considerably.

This gave Du Lei a fright, as the stone pillar was as thick as an adult's waist.

Let alone cutting it in two, even creating a crack on its surface would be extremely difficult.

When he calmed down and looked over, he saw that the person attacking them was an old man, an old man wielding a large knife.

"Unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable! The Rock City I've built up over so many years, has it been so easily breached by you? Is my grand dream about to be shattered? No, it's not over yet! I will tear you all to pieces!"

Amidst the falling rocks, a large old man was angrily shouting.

He was majestic and powerful, like a god descending to earth, and his great sword seemed capable of cutting down everything that stood in his way!

“General Shanlong? That’s quite a formidable enemy. It seems we’re in for a tough fight.” Du Lei recognized the old man.

He was very impressed with General Shanlong, because he and Wenli had visited him at his villa not long ago.

They had originally hoped that General Shanlong, Speaker Varo's closest comrade-in-arms, would step forward to help them rescue Varo.

But to everyone's surprise, General Shanlong was already on the opposing side, and they were almost wiped out by Shanlong.

They barely managed to escape from the villa last time, but now they've run into him again at the parliament building.

Dure knew very well that Shanlong was a much more difficult enemy to deal with than Kai!

“This is quite a challenging opponent. Leave him to me,” Gerald said, stepping forward.

"What? You're going after him?" Dure was somewhat surprised by Gerald's words.

"What, do you not believe me or what?" Gerald retorted.

"Well..." Du Lei didn't say it directly, but the implication was already very clear.

“You just had a fight with Kay and need to rest. Besides, I think you have an even tougher opponent waiting for you, right? So just leave this old man to me.” Gerald had his reasons.

“If anything happens to you, I won’t be able to explain it to General House,” Dure said frankly.

"I should return that sentence to you verbatim. Stop nagging and just go!" Gerald urged repeatedly.

At this moment, General Shanlong had already charged over!

634 The Meaning of Survival