The most shameless alchemist in history

"Just kidding, just kidding. Rhodes, you're not that petty, you can't take a joke, are you?" Tanya said with a smile.

"No, no, alright, let's get ready and set off!" Rhodes turned his head to the side. He had never won an argument with Tanya; he always ended up losing, which had become his daily routine.

“Ice Dragon…” Du Lei was still chewing on the word. At the same time, a scene appeared in his mind. The scene was eight years ago, before he entered the Abyss of Winter. At that time, he had just dealt with a leader of the Snow Shadow Guard who was impersonating the Southern Front. The other party’s name seemed to be Sean. He remembered it very clearly.

But it was right here that he dealt with Sean, and after the matter was settled, a sudden ice storm rose into the sky from the broken section of the Winter Bridge. At the core of the ice storm, there was a pair of huge wings that blotted out the sun. Although Dure couldn't see it very clearly at that time, and could only see the general outline through the heavy ice storm, he knew that it was a dragon, a dragon that was wrapped in incomparably cold and destructive aura!

It was under the dragon's attack that Dure finally fell into the Abyss of Winter. He remembered that during his fall, the ice dragon did not intend to let him go and continued to pursue him relentlessly. Just when he was about to be completely swallowed up by the ice storm spewed by the ice dragon, a soft light enveloped him, allowing him to escape the calamity. After landing safely in the Abyss of Winter, he was gradually frozen and fell into a dormant state.

"Brother Dure, what's wrong?" Dr. Sarah noticed Dure's absent-mindedness and called out to him. At this moment, he and his two students had already packed their things and were preparing to leave.

"No, nothing, I just suddenly remembered some things from the past." Dure snapped out of his thoughts and waved his hand as he spoke. After all, he wasn't sure if the one who attacked him back then was the ice dragon that Dr. Sara had mentioned, and besides, he didn't understand why he had been attacked.

"So, Mr. Dure, have you made up your mind? What are your plans for the future?" Dr. Sarah asked Dure about his next move.

“I want to go to Winter City first.” Dure thought about it all night. Although the eight years he had lost were very hard for him to accept, he had carefully considered his next plans. Winter City was also a place he had planned to go to eight years ago.

"Huh? Winter City? In that case, we're going the same way." Tanya said in surprise after learning where Dure had gone.

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693. Lack of trustworthiness

"On the way? By the way, Dr. Sara, you don't seem to be from the Snow Country, do you?" Dure suddenly realized this problem. He couldn't see any characteristics of the Snow Country's people on Dr. Sara and the other two. Moreover, he had spoken with Dr. Sara before and vaguely heard from the doctor's words that they were from another country.

“Yes, none of us are from the Land of Snow. Dr. Sara is from the Land of Time, Rhodes is from the Land of Sand, and I am from the Land of the Sea!” Tania answered the question on behalf of Dr. Sara.

“Three people from different countries?” Dure was taken aback. He knew beforehand that Dr. Sara and the others were not from the Snow Country, but he did not expect that they would come from different countries.

“Yes, Tania and I are both students at Sena University, and Dr. Sara is a professor at the school. We are about to graduate, and Dr. Sara led us here to look for traces of the Ice Dragon as our graduation thesis. Unfortunately, we did not find the Ice Dragon, so we have to find a new topic.” Rhodes nodded and said.

“Seine University… I’ve heard of it. It’s a university in the Land of Wind, and it’s very famous throughout the continent.” Dure thought for a moment. He had read a lot of books in the Maple Leaf Academy library, many of which were compiled by professors from Seine University.

“Yes, we plan to go back to Seine University first, since we’ve been away for so long. And to get back to Seine University, we’ll have to transfer through Winter City, so it’ll be on our way!” Tania explained further.

“So that’s how it is. The way out of the Abyss of Winter…” Dure remembered that it took him a long time to fall from the broken edge of the Abyss of Winter to reach the bottom of the valley. Looking out from the cave, all he could see were cold ice pillars, and the howling wind was in his ears. For a moment, he really couldn’t think of any way to leave this place.

“There’s a gap on the north side of the Abyss of Winter. Through the underground cave in the gap, we can leave here and then walk for a day to reach the nearest train station. From there, we can take the train to Winter City,” Dr. Sarah explained.

"I see. It seems I'll have to trouble Dr. Sara and the others for a while longer," Dure said apologetically. After all, Dr. Sara and the others had helped him so much, but he had almost hurt Tanya and the others before.

"Hehehe, it's alright, it'll be more lively with one more person. Besides, Dure, you're a magic user, right? You can protect us on the way. By the way, we're not paying you any commission." Dr. Sarah said with a smile.

“Dr. Sarah, you’re joking. Why would I want your commission? Let’s set off now. We’ll have to bother you again.” Dure immediately stood up and took some luggage from Rhodes. They left the cave and headed out of the blizzard, leaving this land of howling winds.

At the same time, in the Frost City, a thousand miles away, in the Winter Palace, which was covered in silver, someone stood on the edge of the railing gazing into the distance. She was a young woman who looked to be about twenty-one or twenty-two years old. She was tall and slender with beautiful features and long hair that fell to her waist. She was a woman who seemed to have stepped out of a painting in the snow and ice, or like an elf in the ice and snow world.

"Your Highness, Her Majesty the Queen requests your presence at a military conference, which will begin soon." Behind the young woman stood a female guard, who appeared to be around thirty years old, waiting respectfully.

"I understand, Miss Bee Sting. Please wait a moment, I'll be there soon," the young woman said softly. She didn't look away from the distance. If she could, she would like to leave this cold city and go to a more distant place to reminisce, because at least she would be closer to that person. But she couldn't leave Frost City and could only reminisce from afar.

"Your Highness Winnie, are you still thinking about that person?" Bee Sting originally intended to turn around and leave, but after seeing the young woman's sorrowful profile, she couldn't help but ask, even though it was a question she, as a subordinate, shouldn't ask. However, out of concern for the young woman, she still asked.

“It’s been eight years. We made a promise that he would come to Frost City to find me as soon as he finished his studies at Maple Leaf Academy. I’ve been waiting for him here, but after waiting for so long, what I’ve received is…” Wenli paused here, her face filled with uncontrollable sadness. Even though she had gradually learned to be a strong and indifferent person under her mother’s influence over the past eight years, and in fact, she had indeed presented herself like that most of the time, she still couldn’t help but feel sad when she thought of certain things, such as him, and only him.

“Eight years already? Nobody wants this to happen. Brother Du Lei… So many people on the train were fine, but he was the only one who died.” Bee Sting sighed as she said this. She knew about the accident eight years ago. When she learned that the Winter Bridge had been blown up, she instinctively knew that something big was going to happen, and she actively prepared for war. But no one expected that a boy would die in that incident. If it had just been an ordinary boy, she wouldn’t have been too upset except for a slight regret. But after receiving the letter from Maple City, she was completely stunned.

Where in this world are there so many coincidences? She had always thought so before this, but after this happened, she changed her mind. Because things just happened to be so coincidental. The boy who died happened to be Du Lei, the man who left Maple City with them, crossed many obstacles, experienced many dangers, and finally arrived at Rock City, and turned the tide!

Sometimes, Bee Sting couldn't understand why he would lose his life in such a small accident on the Bridge of Winter, even though he was so powerful and had perfectly resolved all the dangerous situations they had gone through.

"They already made an agreement, what an untrustworthy guy... Let's go, Miss Bee Sting. Is the reason for today's meeting because intelligence from the front lines has come back?" Wen Li sighed softly. She slowly withdrew her gaze, and after the sadness subsided, she revealed a pair of cold eyes. Yes, time can change too many things. Eight years ago, she didn't have such eyes, but in the past eight years, she has changed far too much.

()

694 New Missions

"Yes, Your Highness, we have just received the latest intelligence from the front lines. It seems the stalemate between the Northern and Southern armies will soon be broken," Bee Sting said confidently. As Wen Li's personal bodyguard, she had the authority to know many confidential information.

"Is war about to break out again? It seems the decisive moment is fast approaching!" Winry slowly left the Winter Palace; a new round of war was about to erupt!

Meanwhile, in Cold Wind Town, the headquarters of the Southern Army is located, only a dozen kilometers away from the front lines of the Southern and Northern armies.

At this moment, a large number of high-ranking officers of the Southern Army gathered in Cold Wind Town. They were planning to hold a meeting to discuss the current strategy. After all, the Southern and Northern armies had been locked in a stalemate for a long time, and they could not allow this deadlock to continue. The longer the war dragged on, the more disadvantageous it would be for them. They were eager to find a way to break this delicate situation and thus grasp the key to victory.

"I'm sorry I'm late." In an ordinary wooden house, a number of people had already gathered. They were all wearing military uniforms, which were crimson in color, unlike the white uniforms of the Northern Army. These people were all high-ranking officials of the Southern Kingdom. The person who arrived late was also wearing a crimson military uniform, but she was a woman and looked to be in her early twenties.

“It’s alright, Liana. Now that you’re here, let’s begin the meeting. We’ve just received intelligence that the Northern Army is facing a severe shortage of supplies. Therefore, I propose attacking the Northern Army’s logistics base, Winter Town. If we capture Winter Town and burn all the supplies there, the Northern Army won’t have enough winter clothing to survive the cold winter. In that case, the Northern soldiers will naturally lose their will to fight and will have no choice but to surrender.” A middle-aged man presided over the meeting and proposed the battle plan.

“Wintertown?” The young woman, known as Liana, pondered the name of the place, then frowned, lost in thought.

"What's wrong, Liana? Is there a problem?" The middle-aged man who was chairing the meeting asked, noticing her unusual expression.

“No, there’s no problem, please continue.” Liana waved her hand, signaling the middle-aged man to continue.

“Since everyone has no questions, let’s discuss the specific battle plan. This is Winter Town…” The middle-aged man nodded, and soon he pointed to the location of Winter Town on the map and began to introduce and deploy the plan.

Everyone listened attentively, but Liana, who was usually the most focused, fell into thought. She remembered that Wintertown was the closest town to the Bridge of Winter. Many years ago, when she was on a train to the Northland on a mission, she had a deep impression of a boy on the train. However, the train had an accident when it reached the Bridge of Winter, and that boy had perished in the Abyss of Winter.

Liana knew very well that the boy could have survived. If he hadn't cared about the lives of everyone on the train, he could have easily stayed far away. But he didn't hide; he stood up for the sake of all the innocent people on the train. In the end, everyone survived except him, who fell into an endless abyss.

"Liana, what's wrong?" The middle-aged man called out to Liana, who then snapped out of her daze. She looked around blankly and found that everyone else had left, leaving only her and the middle-aged man in the cabin.

"Huh? Mr. Grant? The meeting... is it over already?" Liana belatedly realized that she had been lost in thought and hadn't noticed that the meeting had ended.

"Yes, the meeting is over. Liana, what's wrong with you? You're not usually like this." The middle-aged man named Grant asked worriedly. Liana was not only his subordinate, but also the daughter of his old friend. He had promised to take good care of his friend's daughter when his friend passed away, so he usually took extra care of Liana.

"Um... I'm very sorry, Mr. Grant, I might be feeling a little unwell," Liana said softly, rubbing her head.

"Is that so? Liana, you've been working too hard. You need to rest properly. I'll give you two days off so you can get some rest," Grant said to her.

"Huh? A holiday? In times like these, everyone has missions to perform, but I'm on holiday. That doesn't seem right, does it?" Liana knew very well that this was a critical time. The armies of the South and the North had been locked in a stalemate for some time. Everyone knew that this was just a delicate balance, and any slight disturbance would break the situation.

"It's alright, Liana. You also have a mission to complete, so I'm giving you two days off. It's just so you can prepare." Grant shook his head and said. He was a wise commander who could always assign the right task to the right person. If it weren't for his outstanding command ability, the Southern Army would have been wiped out when the Northern Army besieged Maple City.

“A mission? My mission? Mr. Grant, I don’t know what my mission is…” Liana hesitated for a moment. She had been distracted during the meeting and hadn’t heard the arrangements clearly, so she had no idea what mission Grant had assigned her.

“Based on the arrangements made at this meeting, we have decided to use Wintertown as a breakthrough point to proactively break the stalemate with the Northern Army and thus gain a strategic advantage. However, before that, we need to obtain the defense map of Wintertown, so I hope you can go to Wintertown. You are the most suitable person to do this.” Grant told Liana the core content of the meeting and informed her of the task assigned to her.

“Wintertown…do you want me to go there?” Liana was very surprised by this mission, because she had been distracted by thinking about Wintertown, but she didn’t expect Grant to ask her to infiltrate Wintertown on her own initiative.

“Yes, Liana, is there a problem? If you don’t think it’s quite suitable, I can arrange someone else.” Grant noticed the surprised look on Liana’s face. He assumed that Liana was unwilling to accept the task and was going to arrange someone else.

"No, I'm happy to accept this mission, Mr. Grant. Please rest assured, I will definitely not let you down and will get my hands on the deployment map." Liana nodded very seriously, regaining her usual focused expression.

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695 Bodyguard Duties

“I believe you can definitely complete this mission. Go and prepare.” Grant had great confidence in Liana’s abilities because eight years ago, Liana had proven that she was capable of completing missions independently. If it weren’t for Liana’s outstanding performance eight years ago, he would not have agreed to let her join the Southern Front. Moreover, after eight years of growth, even in the talent-rich Southern Army, Liana was one of the most capable young people. Even though she was just a girl, she could still convince those men.

"Thank you, Mr. Grant. I will complete the mission." Liana looked gratefully at the middle-aged man, who was like a father to her. If it weren't for him, she would probably have died in the war long ago, and she wouldn't be in this situation today.

After saying goodbye to Grant, Liana left and returned to her room to pack her things. Coldwind Town was quite a distance from Winter Town, and the Southern and Northern armies were currently in a stalemate, which meant she had no way to reach Winter Town by normal means of transportation.

However, for her, who had already successfully completed many infiltration missions, these were all a piece of cake. She began to meticulously plan the mission to infiltrate Wintertown. This was a mission that she had to complete, not only because the mission itself was very important and had strategic significance, but also because Wintertown was very special to her.

“It’s been eight years. Although we only met once and traveled together briefly, brother… I’ve never met someone as interesting, as special, and as unforgettable as you again in all this time.” Liana sighed softly, put on her hat, and continued her preparations.

At the same time, in the Abyss of Winter, a group of four were struggling to move forward against the howling wind. The Abyss of Winter was a canyon that was frozen all year round. Blizzards raged, making it very easy to lose one's way. Although Dr. Sara and her group had a map of the Abyss of Winter, it was unclear how long ago the map had been drawn. Even following the map, they could not find their way back. This made Dr. Sara somewhat panicked, as she realized that she had encountered a serious problem.

Fortunately, Dure came in handy at the crucial moment. He was not only Dr. Sarah and the other two's bodyguard, but also played a full role as a guide at this time. Although he was not familiar with the terrain of Winter's Abyss, after all, he did not come from Winter Town like Dr. Sarah and the others, but fell from the broken Winter Bridge directly above the canyon.

This meant that he knew less about the Abyss of Winter than Dr. Sarah and the others. Even so, he was still able to serve as an excellent guide. This was because he had grown up in the vast snow-covered mountains and was very good at finding his way in blizzards. Thanks to his guidance, Dr. Sarah and the others finally escaped the blizzard and found the underground cave they had come from.

"That's it! Doctor, you can't be wrong. That's the underground cave leading to the surface. As long as we follow the cave upwards, we can get back to the surface." Rhodes exclaimed in surprise after finding the entrance to the cave in the blizzard. He felt overjoyed because they had been lost in the blizzard for almost two days. During this time, their food and water were almost used up. If they continued to be lost like this, they would surely die in the harsh environment.

"Tanya, hang in there, just a little longer, hold on tight, we'll be safe soon. Tanya, are you alright?" Dr. Sarah called out loudly. He was concerned about his student's safety. Tanya had fallen ill two days ago due to the extremely bad weather. She was very weak and had a persistent high fever, which made Dr. Sarah and Rhodes very worried, fearing that something might happen to Tanya.

"Doctor, Rhodes, quickly take Tanya to the cave... There's... a magical beast over there?" Durei braved the howling wind to escort Dr. Sara and the other two towards the cave, but at this moment he noticed a giant bear appearing directly in front of them. He recognized it as an Icefield Bear, a very difficult and troublesome magical beast to deal with.

"Damn it, why did we have to run into them now of all times? This is really troublesome!" Rhodes was shocked. He was just an ordinary student, not a magic user. Facing a magical beast like the Icefield Bear, he had no chance of fighting back.

"Rhodes, Dure, take Tanya into the cave quickly, leave this to me!" Dr. Sarah, though just an ordinary scientist, knew that it would be difficult to escape the Ice Bear's attack. He immediately decided to lure the Ice Bear away. After all, he was an old man, and ensuring the students' safety was worthwhile!

“But teacher…” Rod knew very well what his teacher was planning to do, and he didn’t want Dr. Sarah to risk doing such a thing, so he immediately tried to stop her!

"Doctor, and Rhodes, leave this to me. You can go ahead without worry." Seeing Dr. Sara and Rhodes's nervous expressions, Dure gestured for the two of them to take Tanya away.

"Leave it to you? But Brother Dure..." Dr. Sarah was not very at ease. He was not the kind of person who would let others take risks, or even die, just for his own safety.

"Doctor, don't forget my duty. Didn't you say I'm a bodyguard? With me here, your safety will be guaranteed, so please rest assured." Even in the face of such a difficult and dangerous situation, Du Lei simply smiled easily, without the slightest hint of tension on his face.

“But…” Dr. Sarah only said those things to avoid putting too much psychological burden on Dure, but she didn’t expect that Dure would actually take it seriously at this moment.

“There’s no ‘buts’ about it. You guys go ahead first. Besides, Tanya can’t stay in the blizzard for too long in her condition.” Dure pointed at Tanya as he spoke. His implication was clear: even if he didn’t care about his own comfort, he had to consider Tanya’s situation.

“Doctor, since Dure said that, he must be confident. Kania is in bad shape right now. We need to get her to a safe place immediately.” Rhodes was very concerned about Tania’s safety. He carried Tania on his back and headed towards the cave.

“I understand. Well then, I’ll leave this place to you, Dure. Be careful, we’ll be waiting for you!” Dr. Sarah hesitated for a moment, but finally went to the cave with Rhodes. Before parting, she gave Dure another piece of advice.

()

696 Adding insult to injury

"Be careful, huh? So that's why you dared to block my way so blatantly. You're relying on your numbers. This number... is actually quite troublesome." Du Lei looked around and quickly noticed that in the vast blizzard, there were dozens of magical beasts approaching him. In addition to the ice bears, there were also snow monsters. There were so many of them that they seemed to be surrounding him.

“If it were eight years ago, dealing with you would definitely be very troublesome, but now… although it is a great pity that so much time has been lost, after carefully examining the condition of my body, I found that these eight years were not entirely wasted. At least during my hibernation, I seem to have unconsciously absorbed a lot of magic power, which I can now use on you.” Dure faced the ever-shrinking encirclement without dodging or avoiding, responding calmly.

Meanwhile, Dr. Sarah and her two companions had successfully reached the interior of the cave. With the cave providing shelter, the blizzard subsided considerably. They looked at Dure, who was surrounded by the vast blizzard, from afar, and felt somewhat worried.

"Doctor, is it really okay to let Dure deal with so many magical beasts by himself? You stay here to take care of Tanya, I'll go out and help him." Rhodes was still uneasy about Dure dealing with so many magical beasts by himself. He was restless and after a moment, he prepared to leave the cave to go out and lend Dure a hand.

"Rhodes, stop! You're just an ordinary person, without any professional magic training. What's the difference between running out like this and suicide? Although I'm also worried about Dure's safety, he is, after all, a magic user who has received proper training. Moreover, he was able to slumber in the Abyss of Winter for eight years without being attacked by other magical beasts during that time, which shows that he has his own unique abilities. Now we trust that the little independent arm is here patiently waiting for it to get better. If you rush out, you'll only be a hindrance to him, and he'll have to divert his attention to protect your safety." Dr. Sarah stopped the student who was about to rush out and gently shook her head.

“This… I understand, Doctor. I will wait for him here. Tanya… you must hold on and wake up soon.” Rhodes thought carefully and finally gave up his plan to go out and support Dure. He chose to stay in the cave to take care of Tanya. At this time, Tanya’s forehead was burning hot and she was still in a state of high fever. This made Rhodes very worried because there was no doctor here. They had given Tanya the medicine they had prepared, but she had no effect at all. Her condition was getting worse and worse.

Outside the cave, a fierce wind howled and a blizzard raged, greatly obscuring their vision and making it impossible for them to see what was happening outside. Even though Dure was not far from them, they were unsure of his condition. Furthermore, Tanya's situation inside the cave was extremely dangerous, causing great concern for both Dr. Sara and Rhodes.

They didn't know how much time had passed, but finally there was some movement outside the cave. Dr. Sarah and Rhodes looked over, and their first reaction was that a magical beast had broken in. This made their hearts jump into their throats, but when they saw that it was Dure who walked in, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother Dure, are you alright?" Dr. Sarah asked with concern. Although Dure seemed fine, he knew that it would be extremely difficult to escape unscathed from such a large number of magical beasts.

"It seems there are no problems so far. How about Tanya? Is she feeling any better?" Dure waved his hand to indicate that he was fine. He was more concerned about Tanya's physical condition. They only needed to walk along this cave to leave the area of ​​the Abyss of Winter. However, according to Dr. Sarah and the others, it would take at least a day and a night to get through the cave. Given Tanya's current condition, she couldn't withstand such a trek.

“No, Tanya has a persistent high fever and is getting weaker and weaker. She can’t eat anything. Her condition is very bad…” Although Rhodes was very reluctant to admit that Tanya was in a dangerous situation, the situation did not change or improve because of his admission.

"It's all my fault. Tanya's health is clearly not good. I shouldn't have let her participate in this journey to the Abyss of Winter." Dr. Sarah took off his hat, feeling extremely guilty. Tanya was one of his favorite and most proud students. If something happened to her here, Dr. Sarah would not be able to bear it. He wished that he was the one suffering from illness right now, instead of his student!

"Tanya, can you hear me? Please wake up, Tanya..." Rhodes gently called her name, trying to wake her, but he had done this many times before. Tanya showed no signs of waking up, and her breathing became weaker and weaker, and her body temperature dropped.