The most shameless alchemist in history

After all, Grant was the leader of the Southern Front and the number one wanted criminal in the Snow Kingdom. Not only was it extremely difficult to see him, but no one knew what kind of killer moves Grant had. Even Lance and Celia didn't know anything about Grant's background.

After Dure finished formulating the plan, Lance, Kelly, and Celia left the hotel overnight. Although Lance and Dure had a lot to say to each other after being separated for a long time, both Lance and Dure knew very well that the situation in Winter City was turbulent and unpredictable, and it was not the time for them to reminisce.

Because even the slightest mistake could lead to a situation that is beyond their comprehension. If the situation in Winter City gets out of control, it will inevitably have a chain reaction on several countries, with unimaginable consequences!

“Well… next… I need to get moving too.” Du Lei looked outside. It was pitch black outside, and it was already late at night, but he wasn’t sleepy at all because he knew he had something very important to do.

At that moment, he took out a small piece of paper from his pocket with an address written on it. This was given to him by Liana earlier when they parted ways. He was sure he could find her if he went to the address on the paper.

After Dure blew out the oil lamp in the inn, the lights went out, and the night returned to silence. The group of people who had come from different countries and gathered in the same room had long since dispersed to different corners of the city. Their figures were hidden in the night and soon disappeared.

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770 went out to run errands

Dure had originally planned to go directly to the tavern that Liana had told him to visit, but when he arrived, he found the tavern door locked and no one there, which puzzled him.

He remembered that Liana had told him that there would always be someone at the tavern, and that he could simply knock on the door using a code. However, when he knocked on the door using the code Liana had given him, there was no response, which made Dure feel uneasy.

"Could something have happened to Liana? Or am I just overthinking it?" Dure was full of doubts, but considering that it was too late, perhaps he hadn't chosen the right time, he gave up on knocking on the door.

"Let's go back first and come back to see what's going on tomorrow morning." Du Lei withdrew his hand from knocking on the door again and immediately chose to return to the hotel. The Southern Front's stronghold in Winter City was very well hidden, and now was a critical time. Even if it was temporarily closed, it wouldn't be strange. Thinking of this, Du Lei felt much more relaxed.

Having dispelled his concerns, he returned to his hotel room to rest. In just one day, he had experienced quite a lot, and he could be described as exhausted. After lying down on the bed and going through the whole thing in his mind, he wanted to check if there were any flaws or oversights. Only after confirming that he had not made any mistakes in his thinking did he fall asleep.

That night's sleep wasn't easy for Dure, because he knew that as the situation became more and more tense, getting a good night's sleep was becoming increasingly unrealistic. He woke up just as dawn broke the next day and went downstairs early. The heavy rain that had fallen all day had stopped, and Rhodes and Tanya were talking downstairs.

"Dure, good morning! What time did you get back last night? I didn't see you around." Tanya greeted Dure with a smile. They hadn't had dinner together last night. Since arriving in Winter City, Dure had become increasingly mysterious, and they spent less and less time together.

“I went out to take care of some things yesterday, so I came back a little late,” Dure explained. He didn’t tell Dr. Sara and her group what he was going to do in Winter City, not because he didn’t trust Dr. Sara and her group.

He believed that if he told Dr. Sarah, they would definitely keep it a secret and help him. However, Dure really didn't want them to get involved. They were ordinary scholars, unrelated to any struggles, and completely detached from the conflict. If he were to drag them into this dispute, Dure would inevitably suffer from a guilty conscience.

“Oh, I see. By the way, Brother Du Lei, two people said they knew you yesterday. They were looking for you anxiously, saying they were your classmates from Maple Leaf Academy. Oh, one of them was named Lance, and what was the other’s name again?” Dr. Sarah thought carefully but couldn’t remember for a moment. She turned to ask her student.

“Her name is Kelly,” Rhodes reminded Dr. Sarah, stating the name of the woman among the man and woman.

"Yes, yes, that's the name. Look at me, I'm getting older and my memory is getting worse, so I can't remember it." Dr. Sarah scratched her head sheepishly. Sure enough, no matter how good one's memory was when one was young, or how photographic one could remember everything, in the end one still has to succumb to the passage of time. This made Dr. Sarah sigh deeply. She couldn't deny that she was getting old.

“Lance and Kelly? It seems there were indeed two such people among my former classmates…” Dure appeared very calm. In fact, he had already met with Lance and Kelly yesterday and made plans, but he had some concerns and did not say it out loud.

"So it really is your friend, Durei, right? I knew this tension was genuine. Rhodes was always worried they had ulterior motives. By the way, where are they? I haven't seen them." Tanya glared at Rhodes and said.

At the same time, she looked up at the fifth floor. She remembered that the two people named Lance and Kelly lived on the fifth floor, but the fifth floor looked empty and there was no one in sight, which made Tanya feel very strange.

"They're probably still resting. By the way, Doctor, the security situation in Winter City hasn't been good lately. You should stay in the inn if you don't have to, and don't wander around. I have some errands to run. Goodbye." After giving Dr. Sarah and her group some instructions, Durei prepared to leave again. He had gone to the tavern last night, but there was no one there. He would go again today to find out what was going on.

"Huh? Dure, are you going out on business again? Don't you plan to meet your friends?" Tanya was puzzled. In her opinion, this should be a time for long-awaited reunions, a time for laughter and tears. But Dure seemed completely unconcerned, rushing around in a hurry. This dimmed the anticipation that had been welling up in her heart.

“Yes, there was a little bit of that.” Dure nodded, trying to avoid discussing the core of the matter with Dr. Sarah and the others, lest they get involved.

“Alright, Tanya, let Dure go on his business. Just remember what Dure said: stay in the hotel and don’t wander around.” Rhodes was much calmer than Tanya. He gestured for Tanya not to ask any more questions. He knew that Dure’s avoidance of the main issue must have its reasons.

"Aren't you going out to play? I really wanted to go out and have some fun for a couple of days..." Tanya said with some disappointment. Before, when she was in Winter Town, she was sick and stayed in the hotel the whole time and didn't go out to play. Now that she has recovered, she is not allowed to go out to play, which makes her quite dissatisfied.

"Alright, alright, Tanya, just treat this as a pre-graduation study session. Don't wander around, just study diligently." Dr. Sara agreed. Although Dure hadn't told him much, his keen judgment told him that Winter City was currently a dangerous place, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were sitting on a powder keg.

"Okay, okay, I won't go out to play, alright?" Tanya complained softly. Although she had some complaints, she wasn't so willful as to be beyond redemption. She could still listen to Dr. Sarah and Rhodes and immediately gave up her plan to go out and have fun for two days.

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771 Tavern Closed

"Well then, Dr. Sarah, I'll have to go out and take care of some business. Goodbye." Dure waved his hand, and this time he really left the hotel. Soon his figure disappeared from Dr. Sarah and her group's sight.

"Ever since Dure came to Winter City, he seems to have gotten busier and busier. It's getting less and less fun," Tanya muttered to herself. Surely, it was more interesting back in the Abyss of Winter, Tanya thought. But if only she hadn't gotten sick back then, things would have been much better.

"Do you think he's like you, doing nothing all day long, so idle?" Rhode scolded Tanya. Actually, Tanya was a very talented person, with strong learning abilities in various subjects, but she was just too playful, which gave Rhode a headache. He tried many ways to correct Tanya's behavior, but all to no avail.

"I wasn't doing nothing! I was studying hard, okay!" Tanya defended herself, and she also felt that Rhodes was getting weirder and weirder, always interfering with her like this and that, it was so nagging.

"Alright, alright, since you're so eager to learn, Tanya, and we don't have anything else to do at the inn, I'll give you a lesson," Dr. Sarah said with a smile.

"Huh? Class? Here?" Tanya's eyes widened, somewhat surprised. She had finally managed to leave the school and conduct her research outdoors, but even though she was already away from the classroom, she still had to attend a class. This made Tanya feel dizzy.

“Yes, right here, Tanya. Is there a problem?” Dr. Sarah nodded and then asked her.

"Um... Doctor, can I skip class?" Tanya said with tears in her eyes. She really disliked going to class. The mere mention of class made her extremely sleepy, as if she were under some kind of spell or curse.

“No, Tanya, the opportunity for the Doctor to give lectures is not something everyone can enjoy. Besides, after graduation, there won’t be any more chances to attend the Doctor’s lectures. So let’s just listen carefully. Doctor, please begin.” Rhodes rejected Tanya’s suggestion.

He was ready to listen to the lecture and gestured for Dr. Sarah to begin. He knew that his student days were coming to an end soon. These unforgettable student days, once he graduated and left school, where would he go and what career would he pursue? Where would Tanya go and what kind of work would she do?

Lately, he'd been thinking about these things a lot. Maybe after graduation, he wouldn't have the chance to talk to Tanya this much, or even see her anymore? The thought made Rhodes feel a tightness in his chest and a bit sad. If only time could stand still a little longer, right? Rhodes thought to himself.

After leaving the hotel, Dure headed straight for the tavern again, because according to his plan, he needed to meet Grant in person and find out more about Grant's background. Of course, if he tried to meet Grant through normal channels, it would be extremely difficult.

He is the most wanted criminal in the Snow Kingdom. It can be said that the Snow Kingdom's current situation is largely due to his efforts. The Northern Kingdom regards him as a thorn in its side and wants to get rid of him as soon as possible. In order to deal with Grant, the Northern Kingdom has sent countless assassins, but in the end, not a single assassination operation has succeeded, which makes the Northern Kingdom particularly troubled.

When Du Lei arrived at the tavern, he found it still closed. He could understand that the tavern had closed the night before because it was too late, but the fact that it was still closed in broad daylight made him very uneasy. In order to find out what was going on with the tavern, he went to other shops nearby to inquire.

"Huh? You mean this tavern? It's run by that guy Kluff. Everything was fine yesterday, but Hanks suddenly closed it and left in the evening. I don't know where he went. Kluff would have opened for business long ago, but it's already this late and it's still not open. That's really strange." The owner of a nearby shop told Durei about the tavern.

He looked at the tavern's closed door with a puzzled expression. Based on his understanding of the tavern owner, Kluff, this shouldn't be the case; Kluff was a very punctual person.

"Did it suddenly close yesterday evening? I understand, thank you very much for the information." Du Lei thanked the shop owner and then took his leave. He had felt very anxious when he came to the tavern last night, and now that it was confirmed, something must have happened yesterday.

This is why the man named Kloff left in a hurry. Liana told him that this was the place where they contacted each other, which means that there must be some kind of connection between Kloff and Liana. Kloff's failure to open for business in time probably means that something happened to Liana!

Upon thinking of this, Dure's first reaction was that Liana had been arrested by the Northern Kingdom. He immediately rushed to the headquarters of the Northern Kingdom's army in Winter City to verify whether this was true. When he arrived at the headquarters, he originally intended to go directly to Winry.

When he and Winry arrived in Winter City, Winry gave him an ice ring. With the ring, he could go to headquarters to find her at any time. However, unfortunately, when Dure went to headquarters, Winry was not there, but Stinger was.

Bee Sting informed Dure that Winry had gone to meet with the special envoy from the capital and asked Dure what his purpose was in coming. Dure inquired about Liana from Bee Sting, but Bee Sting told him bluntly that the Northern Kingdom was unaware of the matter and no one had arrested Liana. Even if other forces wanted to arrest Liana, they would not be able to bypass Winry. They were indeed unaware of the situation.

Dure nodded. He believed that Bee Sting wouldn't lie to him, which would eliminate the possibility that Liana was taken away by the Northern Kingdom. Since the possibility of external sources was ruled out, the only explanation was that the problem originated from within the Southern Kingdom Front. Something major must have happened within the Southern Kingdom Front that led to the disappearance of Liana's important contact, Kluf.

"At this critical juncture, has something changed within the Southern Front? I really hope Liana is safe and sound. No, just hoping isn't enough; I have to do something." Dure made up his mind to find Liana, and he took action. Soon, he hurried forward and disappeared outside the headquarters.

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772 Survey Results

Dure was worried, and so was Liana. Kluff was supposed to tell her about the intelligence he had gathered yesterday, but he hadn't shown up, which made Liana very uneasy. She was worried that something had happened. Her fears were confirmed. After a night, Kluff finally appeared, but he was covered in blood and looked to be in very bad shape.

"Mr. Kloff, what happened to you? How did you get injured? My God, you're so badly injured!" In an abandoned warehouse, Liana and Kloff had agreed to meet here, but when she saw Kloff again, she found that he was covered in blood and staggering as he walked. His condition was very bad.

"Cough cough, Miss Liana, my injury is nothing. I've found out what you asked me to investigate..." Kluff's face was pale and bloodless, due to massive bleeding. He spoke weakly and with great difficulty, and he was in a state of rapid loss of life force.

“Mr. Kloff, please don’t talk about this now. I’ll take you to get treatment right away.” Although Liana cared a lot about the results of Kloff’s investigation, his injuries were definitely more important than that. She immediately decided to take him to find a doctor.

“No need, Miss Liana. I know my own condition very well. I’m beyond saving at this point. Please listen to me first…” Kluff waved his hand, stopping Liana from taking him to find a doctor. He knew he couldn’t hold on until he saw a doctor, and even if he did, there would be no way to treat his injuries. He could only fulfill Liana’s request and tell her the information she wanted to know.

“Okay, Mr. Kloff, go ahead and say it, I’m listening…” Liana had also been through a lot, and although she personally didn’t want anything to happen to Kloff, he was clearly having a final burst of energy before death. In the past eight years, she had seen countless similar situations.

“Miss Liana, your worries were indeed correct. That guy Grant, that guy… he really does have a problem, cough cough…” Kluff said weakly.

Although he wasn't a member of the Southern Front and Grant didn't know him, his impression of Grant wasn't too bad to begin with. After all, it was Grant who raised Liana, so it was wrong to suspect him. However, after investigating carefully, he discovered that there was a big problem!

"What's the problem? I'm listening..." Liana stood by his side, knowing that what Kloff was about to say was information he had obtained at the cost of his life. She had to hear every word clearly and could not let Kloff's efforts go to waste.

"Kloff established the Southern Front not to help the people of the South for their own benefit, but... he wanted to overthrow the country and turn it into a wasteland to achieve his ulterior motives..." Kloff said with difficulty, each word exhausting his remaining life force.

“How could this be… But, but why would Mr. Grant do this?” Although Liana had some doubts before, hearing it from Kluff herself still shocked her greatly.

“Because of Grant, Grant’s background…” Kloff wanted to say something more, but at that moment, a gunshot rang out. With the muffled sound of the gunshot, Kloff fell to the ground. He lay in a pool of blood, unable to get up again, and was dead!

"Mr. Kluff, Mr. Kluff!" Liana was shocked by the sudden gunshot. She shook Kluff violently, but he was already dead and could no longer respond to her. He had become a cold corpse!

"Liana, what are you doing here with this lackey from the North?" In the dim light, a man slowly walked over, holding a gunpowder gun with smoke still rising from the muzzle. Clearly, the shot from earlier was fired by him. He recognized Liana and said her name.

There aren't many people in Winter City who know Liana. Almost all of them have one thing in common: they are all members of the Southern Front. However, among the people of the Southern Front, there is only one person who calls Liana by her first name without using honorifics. That person is Grant, the leader of the Southern Front and the man who raised Liana.

“Mr. Kloff was not a lackey of the North, Mr. Grant, why did you do this?” Liana was shocked by Kloff’s death and, immersed in grief, loudly questioned Grant.

“He’s not a lackey of the North… yet he’s investigating me. Could it be that he’s doing this not on the orders of the North, but at your behest?” Grant stopped in front of Liana and coldly questioned her.

“Mr. Grant, what exactly do you want to do? What was the original purpose of establishing the Southern Front?” Liana’s body trembled slightly as she questioned the man she once respected so much. She had once been captivated by his grand ideals and joined the Southern Front, but now she found that things were not like that, which made her feel very uneasy.

“Liana, my silly child, what are you talking about? This man is just spouting nonsense. Would you rather believe him than believe me?” Grant retorted.

"Then why did you kill him? Why?" Liana felt extremely guilty. If she hadn't sent Kluff to investigate Grant, he wouldn't have met such a tragic end.

"That's because..." At this moment, Grant was very close to Liana. When Liana questioned him, he had a sharp knife hidden in his left hand. He was about to attack Liana, but she was still unaware and her life hung by a thread!

"Bang!" Another muffled gunshot rang out, but this time it didn't come from the gunpowder gun in Grant's hand. Instead, it came from another direction, and the target happened to be Grant. Fortunately, the latter was alert and quickly retreated, dodging the shot.

"Miss Liana, run!" A shout came from behind Liana. Liana instinctively turned her head and saw Doma raising his gun and aiming it at Grant. At the same time, he shouted a warning to Liana.

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773 When you're blind

"Doma?" Liana was stunned. At this moment, Grant had already raised his gun and started to fight back, but Doma behind him fired first, giving Liana a chance to escape. Liana reacted quickly and ran away.

"Traitors, you two traitors! Don't think you can escape like this! Anyone who stands in the way of my great ideals will be torn to pieces!" Grant roared furiously, watching Liana and Doma's retreating figures.

Liana and Doma fled for a long time before finally stopping. In that short day, Liana experienced too many changes. Originally, both Grant and Kluff were very important people to her, but now one of them was dead and the other was hunting her down. Grant, in particular, had become completely unfamiliar, which made her feel unprecedented despair and panic.

"Miss Liana, are you alright?" After confirming that the area was safe, Doma inquired about Liana's condition. She seemed to be in very bad shape, which worried Doma greatly.

"I'm fine, Doma, what are you doing here?" Liana waved her hand to indicate that she was alright. She was very surprised by Doma's arrival. If Doma hadn't appeared just now, her situation would have been really worrying, and heaven knows what terrible things would have happened.

"I happened to be nearby, and then I heard the gunshots and rushed over..." Doma said vaguely. He couldn't very well tell Liana that he had been following her the whole time.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Just then, someone walked over from not far away. It was a man wearing a Northern Guard uniform. He looked over warily.

"We, we were just passing by..." Doma said nervously, very wary of the guard who had suddenly appeared.

"I find you two quite suspicious..." The guard looked the two men over suspiciously, and then stepped forward to investigate.

"Bang bang bang." Three muffled gunshots rang out, and the guard who came over to check fell to the ground and was killed on the spot. Just as Liana and Doma were in shock and uncertainty, several people rushed over from behind.

“Reibo, is that you?” Doma recognized the leader of the group. This was Reibo, a like-minded friend he had met after arriving in Winter City, and also a member of the Southern Front.

"Doma, and this is... Miss Liana? Are you all alright? Are you all okay?" Rebo stepped forward and asked with concern.

"Fortunately, nothing serious happened, but..." Doma was quite surprised by Rebo's appearance, but Rebo did solve a big problem for them, although the way he solved the problem was a bit too violent.

"But what? Doma, is there a problem?" Rebo asked curiously. He and Doma were both young and had a lot in common. They got along very well. As for Liana, she was the number two figure in the Southern Front and the object of admiration for countless young people. Seeing Liana and Doma together now made Rebo extremely envious.