The most shameless alchemist in history

The man who made the promise with her back then was none other than the man in front of her.

"Do you remember now? I only just found out about this myself," Du Lei said calmly.

Bill and the others standing nearby were completely baffled, not knowing what he meant by those words, but Dure himself understood perfectly.

After he returned from the vortex of his memories, he found the Messiah, but the Messiah encountered a similar situation, trapped in the vortex of memories and unable to escape.

Moreover, her situation is similar to Dure's; it's not just about memories, it's more like a prison of time.

Dure then enters the Messiah's past and brings the Messiah out of it.

In other words, he is now involved in the Messiah's past, which seems incredible, but it is truly happening.

"I remember now, Dure, you're the one I met when I was little, the one with whom I made a promise!" Messiah nodded heavily. It took her a long time to finally recall this matter. She didn't know what was wrong with her, that she had forgotten something so important!

“Since you’re alright, let’s leave first.” Dure nodded, indicating that Messiah should leave first. This was not a safe place, and they needed to get out of there.

"Understood, let's go then." Messiah was overjoyed. She nodded and left with Dure.

"By the way, Lord Messiah, and Mr. Dure, what do you think is over there?" Just as they were about to leave, Bill suddenly pointed to the distance and asked.

Following Bill's direction, Dure and the others noticed something glittering not far away.

“You stay here and protect Messiah. I’m going to check on things,” Dure instructed Bill.

"Then you must be careful, Durei." Messiah nodded and gave Durei another word of advice.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Dure slowly went over to check the situation, and soon he walked to the vicinity of the glowing object.

“This is…” Du Lei frowned and looked at it carefully. He found that it was a crystal clear bead that looked somewhat familiar to him.

"Mr. Dure, what have you found?" At this moment, Bill and the others ran over. Messiah was still worried about Dure, so she asked them to come and take a look.

"It's nothing, just a bead. I remember this bead is... right, the one that the black serpent possessed." Du Lei thought carefully, and soon he remembered that when he was fighting the black serpent, the latter had spat out this bead from its mouth.

"A black serpent? Wait, Mr. Dure, do you mean that we're trapped here because of that black serpent?" Bill asked, stunned.

"That's about right," Dure nodded.

"What about the black serpent?" Bill recalled the terrifying scene of encountering the black serpent, a scene that still haunted him.

"Don't worry, I've already taken care of it," Du Lei said casually.

"What? Solved? Mr. Dure, you actually managed to take down that powerful black snake?" Bill's eyes widened. He was a seasoned veteran who had traveled all over the country and seen a lot of things, but he had never seen such a ferocious snake before. What surprised him even more was that Dure had taken down the black snake so easily.

You have to understand that when they were adrift at sea, Dure was completely helpless and had no way to deal with the black serpent.

“I was a little seasick at the time, and if we were on flat ground, it wouldn’t have been a match for me,” Durrell explained, noticing Bill’s confusion.

"So that's how it is. Now that the black serpent has been destroyed, we're safe, right?" Bill breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Dure say that.

Because they were trapped in this shadowy tower, everyone was somewhat uneasy.

“This precious pearl was carried by the black serpent; I will keep it for now,” Du Lei said, pointing to the black pearl.

“It was you, Mr. Dure, who dealt with the black serpent, so it should rightfully be kept by you, Mr. Dure.” Bill had no objection to this.

“Let’s leave here first and go back to the upper part of the tower.” Dure nodded, and they headed towards the top of the tower, since they were currently in the underground part of the Mirror Tower.

It was only after entering the underground section that we encountered many troubles, but they have all been resolved now.

By the time they returned to the ground floor of the Shadow Tower, it was already daylight outside. The stormy weather had subsided, the sky was clear, and the morning sun shone warmly through the windows.

"Finally back on Earth? It feels like this has been a very difficult journey," Bill said with emotion as he looked at the bright sunshine.

"Yes, I was going to die. I never thought I would be dead. I never expected to be able to see the sun, breathe, and live. It feels so good." The crew members were all enjoying the joy of surviving the ordeal.

"It's so good that everyone is alright. By the way, what's that over there?" Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, a crew member pointed to the distant sea and exclaimed in surprise.

"That's...that's a ship! Look, a ship is passing by! And it's flying the flag of our River Bend City!" The young crew members recognized the flag of River Bend City flying on the ship, which made them ecstatic. Good things just kept happening one after another!

"Hey, look over here! Look over here!" The young crew member waved his arms and raised his clothes high, hoping to attract the ship's attention. Soon enough, the ship noticed the situation and turned towards the location of the Shadow Tower.

Once Dure and his party were all on board, they discovered that the officials from River Bend City were there to greet them, which at least put them at ease.

"Lord Messiah, and Lord Bill, I rushed here as soon as I received news of the incident in the capital, but I didn't expect to be a step too late and cause you any distress. This is my fault." The ship's officer apologized to Messiah and Bill. He was Colonel Poker, who was in charge of the naval defense of River Bend City.

"Colonel Poker, you've done a great job getting here in time. By the way, are there any royal fleets nearby?" Messiah asked while acknowledging Colonel Poker's contribution.

"The royal family's fleet? I didn't see it in the waters around here because there was a storm in the area before today, with thunder and lightning making it impossible to get close. I only started searching near the Shadow Tower after the storm subsided a bit. Fortunately, I found you, Lord Messiah, in time," Colonel Poker reported respectfully.

"I see. It seems the Wang family's fleet has also been hampered by this storm. We can take this opportunity to quickly return to River Bend City." Bill nodded. If it weren't for this sudden storm, they probably would have been caught up by the Wang family's fleet long ago.

Before returning to River Bend City, they still faced considerable pressure in confronting the royal fleet.

"It's wonderful that you, Lord Messiah and Lord Bill, are safe and sound. It's truly a blessing from the gods!" Colonel Pork exclaimed.

“No, it wasn’t divine protection, but Mr. Durley’s help. With Mr. Durley around, he’s much more reliable than any god,” Bill shook his head and corrected.

He knew that without Dure, they would all have perished in the belly of the black serpent and become its meal in the Shadow Tower.

"Mr. Dure, who is Mr. Dure? Please introduce me to him. I want to express my gratitude to him in person." Colonel Poker looked around carefully, searching for the man named Dure, but everyone nearby was someone he knew; there were no strangers.

"Hey, Mr. Dure was just here a moment ago, how come he's disappeared in the blink of an eye?" Bill looked around, trying to find him, but there was no sign of Dure anywhere nearby.

As the person involved, Du Lei could not simply disappear into thin air. At this moment, he was lying on the ship's side, vomiting and having diarrhea.

"I'm definitely not suited for boat travel. I have no idea when we'll finally arrive at River Bend City." Du Lei was thoroughly exhausted by the boat trip.

On land, he was virtually invincible, but once on the ship, his combat ability instantly dropped to zero.

"Um... Mr. Dure, are you alright? Do you need my help?" a trainee crew member asked worriedly from the side.

He was the young man who bravely stepped forward when the ship was caught in the storm.

"It's alright, I'll get used to it after a few more vomiting. By the way, how much longer until we reach River Bend City?" Du Lei waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.

He was more concerned about how much longer he would have to stay at sea; he was on the verge of a breakdown.

"Well... we'll arrive in about two more days," the trainee crew member said, counting on his fingers.

"What? There are still two days left?" Du Lei's eyes widened, startled by the answer.

For him, every minute and every second on the ship was torture, let alone having to stay for two more days.

“That’s right, just two days. But I really didn’t expect that someone as capable as Mr. Du Lei would be defeated by seasickness,” the boy said with a smile.

"Everyone has things they're good at and things they're not good at, and what I'm not good at is sailing," Du Lei said helplessly.

"It seems I have something I can do better than you, Mr. Dure, and that is that I don't get seasick," the boy said with a hint of pride.

"Ugh, this is really torturous. I feel like I'm about to collapse. I'd rather fight the black serpent ten times than continue on this ship." Du Lei sighed. At this moment, the ship rocked and swayed, and soon another wave of dizziness came over him.

He leaned over the gunwale and churned the water again.

The sky was clear and the seagulls flew around, with one or two occasionally landing on the mast.

A gentle breeze carrying a hint of the sea caressed my face; after the storm, it was a rare sunny day.

863 Duke of the River Bend

For Dure, the journey to River Bend City was not easy; he spent almost the entire two days seasick.

After finally arriving in River Bend City, Messiah originally wanted him to directly enter the mansion, but Dure refused her offer and instead chose to stay at an inn in River Bend City.

It took Dure almost a day and a night to recover from this ordeal; it had really worn him out.

The following evening, Messiah sent someone to invite Dure to a party. This party was to celebrate their successful and safe return from Ze City and to welcome Dure. The venue was the banquet hall of Messiah's residence.

Dure rode in a carriage through the streets of River Bend City, a prosperous region on the eastern side of the Swamp Kingdom, which controlled a total of six wealthy ports within Messiah's territory.

These ports have highly developed commercial indices, which has led to the River Bend region accounting for more than 70% of the economy of the Swamp Country. The main port of River Bend City, White Deer Port, sees more than a hundred ships coming and going every day. Merchant ships from the East transship at White Deer Port and then sell their goods to various regions of the mainland.

Through the carriage window, Du Lei could see numerous inns and taverns lining the streets. It was dusk, and while other places would likely be pitch black, River Bay City's vibrant nightlife was just beginning. The area was brightly lit and bustling with people, only a portion of whom were locals. The majority had a distinctly foreign flair, coming from various ship fleets from different countries and regions. Stalls selling goods from different countries lined the streets, a dazzling array of products. Many street performers entertained passing merchants and travelers with their acrobatic acts, drawing cheers and applause. Children watched intently, clapping enthusiastically, while young couples ran hand-in-hand towards the lively scene, enjoying their own special time.

About 20 minutes later, the carriage finally stopped at the gate of the Duke's mansion. By this time, a large number of carriages had been parked outside the mansion. Most of these carriages were luxuriously decorated and looked glittering. Some even had gold leaf covering their exteriors, making them magnificent and extraordinary.

"These are all wealthy merchants from River Bend City. After learning of Lord Messiah's safe return, they all wanted to come to the mansion to see him. In fact, Lord Messiah didn't want to see them, but many of these merchants' families had connections with the previous Duke, Lord Doske, so they had to meet him out of courtesy." After Dure got out of the carriage, the young coachman explained the situation. He had previously been Messiah's close attendant and had returned from Ze City with Messiah, so he knew Dure.

“I see. But River Bend City is truly prosperous, far more bustling than any city I’ve visited before, even surpassing Ze City.” Du Lei nodded and said. Before this, the most bustling city he had ever seen was Ze City, after all, the commercial sector in the Snow Kingdom was not well-developed.

The Land of Swamps possesses geographical advantages that the Land of Snow, with its harsh environment, cannot match.

“Of course. The Swamp Kingdom is famous for its ports, which are also its main source of income. Of the eight prosperous ports in the entire Swamp Kingdom, the River Reef region occupies six of them. The capital has long coveted our River Reef region and has tried every means to seize these ports. However, the previous Duke, Lord Dosk, has managed the River Reef region for many years and has a good reputation. He is supported by the people of the River Reef region, and the many schemes of the Swamp City have failed.” The young coachman named Zelen explained.

“The Swamp City certainly wants to keep power firmly in their own hands, especially now that the king is old and sick and embroiled in a succession dispute. Nobody wants a powerful separatist force within the Swamp Kingdom before the throne is settled.” Dure understood this perfectly.

“But without the support of our River Bend region, the king wouldn’t have been able to ascend the throne. Back then, Lord Dosk supported him in becoming king, providing him with manpower and money as needed. But now that Lord Dosk is gone, they’re bullying Lord Messiah. That’s truly ungrateful,” Zeren said with dissatisfaction.

"What is kindness or righteousness in the face of power?" Dure shook his head slightly. At this moment, they walked towards the Duke's mansion. Because there were a lot of carriages parked outside, their carriage could not pass and could only be parked in a secluded corner.

Dure and Zelen walked towards the mansion, and Dure didn't seem to mind at all.

Just a dozen steps away from the Duke's mansion, a carriage suddenly sped towards them from a distance. The horses were running very fast, and the area was bustling with people. A housewife who had just bought a basket of fruit was passing by when the carriage came rushing towards her. She hurriedly dodged it, but she lost her footing and stumbled, causing all the fruit in her basket to fall to the ground.

"Are you alright, Madam?" Du Lei stepped forward to help her up when he saw her condition.

"Thank goodness I'm alright..." The housewife squatted down to pick up the fruit scattered on the ground, while the carriage that had bumped into her earlier stopped.

This carriage was tall and magnificent, adorned with jewels and beautiful feathers. It was not only a size larger than an ordinary carriage, but the horses pulling it were also pure white steeds without a single blemish.

The saddles of the horses are all gold, covered with a layer of gold leaf, making them look shiny and impressive.

Zelen also squatted down to help pick up the scattered fruit, and soon most of the fruit was back in the fruit basket.

Some fruit couldn't be retrieved; it had been trampled by the horse earlier, and broken apples still littered the street.

"Thank you both very much." After thanking Du Lei and his wife, the housewife hurriedly left the vicinity.

At this moment, the coachman immediately got off the carriage and placed a stool at the door of the carriage.

With his help, a young man wearing a golden cloak stepped out of the carriage.

The young man was dressed very elegantly, with a cloak adorned with beautiful patterns, and every stitch was made of gold thread.

He looked up at the mansion and walked over slowly. Many people nearby saw him and immediately crowded around him with smiles on their faces.

"Who is he?" Dure frowned as he watched the young man enter the Duke's mansion and asked Zelen beside him.

“That’s young master Halden, the future head of the Octopus family,” Zelen explained.

"The Octopus Family? Is it the family whose crest is a golden octopus?" Dure asked after thinking for a moment.

Although this was the first time he had heard of the octopus family, it wasn't the first time he had seen one.

However, he had only seen the octopus family in a book before.