The most shameless alchemist in history

Because he had been preparing for the throne for eight years, during which time he skillfully cultivated relationships with many powerful figures in the army, and the nobles and merchants also unequivocally supported him.

But in such a short time, all those who should have supported him sided with Henry, which he found particularly incomprehensible.

He couldn't understand what the problem was, how they had suddenly become Henry's helpers.

“Your Highness William, we can only plan a counterattack if we leave the City of Swamp safely. There are still many people in the Swamp Kingdom who support Your Highness William. But if we choose to stay in the City of Swamp, which is now likely under Henry’s control, we will lose all hope of turning the tide!” Jones said earnestly.

“This…” William was still hesitant because it was all too sudden for him. He was completely unprepared. Just then, someone came over from outside to report the situation.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, something terrible has happened! The White Water Guards have arrived and surrounded us. We don't know what they're up to." The servant urgently reported the current situation. Ze Zhi City was in complete chaos, and no one knew what was going on.

"What? The Whitewater Guards? That bastard Chase... he really sided with Henry after all? How despicable..."

William was furious, clearly indicating that they were now in a very urgent situation.

"Your Highness William, if we don't leave now, it will be too late!" Jones urged repeatedly.

“I understand. We’ll leave now, Henry… I’ll make you pay!” William said, though he was very unwilling.

But he knew Jones's advice was right; once he fell into Henry's hands, everything would be for naught.

He quickly left with several bodyguards and Jones along the underground passage. This was a backup plan he had prepared in advance. Only he and Jones knew about the existence of this passage, and he trusted Jones completely.

When the Whitewater Guard stormed into the mansion, the huge estate was empty; there was no sign of William.

Soon, General Chase, the captain of the Whitewater Guard, reported the situation to Henry.

At this moment, Henry had just finished talking with his cabinet ministers.

"Lord Fama, I have other matters to attend to, so I won't see you off. Please escort Lord Fama back to his residence for me." Henry saw his trusted aide come to deliver information, so he instructed a guard to protect Fama as he left. After all, Zezhi City was in chaos, and it was necessary to ensure that no accidents would occur.

"What did you say? William ran away?" Henry frowned after learning about what had happened on his side.

"Yes, Prince William has fled the mansion. We have launched a city-wide search in Zezhi City, but we have not found any trace of him." The confidant answered truthfully. He had sent people to control all the key locations in Zezhi City early in the morning, originally to ensure that everything was foolproof.

But unexpectedly, William still got lost, which is a big hidden danger.

“He got away… This is a bit troublesome. Send men to hunt him down immediately, whether on land or sea. We must find William. If he escapes to the north, it will be very bad. There are still quite a few people supporting him in the north,” Henry said, frowning.

"I will go and relay the order immediately, but Your Highness, there is something I need to report to you."

"What is it?"

"The River Bend City fleet has pacified Old Harbor. River Bend City has announced the cancellation of the Octopus Family's noble title. The Octopus Family's patriarch, Halden, has fled to the sea and his whereabouts are unknown," the confidant reported truthfully.

“That useless Halden couldn’t even take River Bend. Forget about River Bend for now. We should focus on controlling the situation in Ze City.” Henry knew the priorities.

He was not in a dominant position in Ze City, but he turned the tide in a single day with swift and decisive action, dealing a fatal blow to his brother William.

William's has now fled in a sorry state, which has brought him some trouble.

Even if William escaped back to the north, his strength was insufficient to cause much trouble. At most, he could only send an army to the north to quell the rebellion. For Henry, everything could be considered settled.

At the same time that a great change occurred in Ze City, a fleet set off from River Bay City and headed towards Ze City.

Dure lay on the gunwale; for him, boating was no pleasant experience, and he was vomiting and had diarrhea.

"Dure, are you alright?" Messiah asked with concern.

"It's nothing, just a small matter, but..." Just then, a raven flew over from the sky.

The raven perched on Dure's arm, and a letterbox could be seen on its foot.

Clearly, this raven is used to deliver messages.

"Huh? Something so extraordinary has happened?" Du Lei exclaimed in surprise after opening the mailbox and seeing the letter inside.

"What's wrong, Dure? What happened?" Messiah asked, leaning closer.

"Something has happened in Ze City. I regret to inform you that your uncle, King Charles, has passed away." After reading the letter, Dure burned it and turned to Messiah, speaking earnestly.

“What? My uncle…” Messiah was very surprised by the news.

“Everyone dies eventually, so don’t be too sad,” Du Lei comforted her.

“I know. Actually, when I saw Uncle’s appearance last time, I knew he was close to reaching that point. I was mentally prepared, but it still felt a bit sudden,” Messiah said softly.

“The old king is dead now, and the past is dust, but many people are still alive, and those who are alive will continue to fight for power. Your two cousins ​​have already begun their struggle, but judging from the current situation, Henry seems to have the upper hand,” Dure continued.

"Henry has the upper hand? Shouldn't it be William who has the advantage?" This surprised Messiah.

“William’s advantage is only superficial. Henry had been secretly bribing William’s supporters for a long time and had long been firmly in control of Ze City, but William was completely unaware of it. Today’s changes are William’s own fault.”

878 Prince William

Although Dure was not in Ze City and was not very familiar with it, having only been there once before, he knew the situation in Ze City like the back of his hand, especially the matter between William and Henry.

All of this was thanks to the intelligence department he established when he was still serving as the inspector general of the Snow Country. He had intelligence agents in various countries, and these agents obtained information through various channels and then informed him of it.

"So, does that mean the city of Ze is now under Henry's control? But now that Uncle has passed away, and William has been expelled by him, wouldn't Henry be..." Messiah followed Dure's train of thought and quickly realized the seriousness of the situation.

“That’s right. I think Henry will announce his coronation soon. He needs to establish his legitimacy as soon as possible, gain a favorable position, and win enough support. If he is slow and William gets there first, it will be bad for him.”

Dure nodded affirmatively, saying that he could fully anticipate Henry's next move, because Henry would only take this step when faced with the prospect of profit.

"So what should we do next?" Messiah was still unsure what Dure was up to.

"Our next step, of course, is to besiege Ze City and prevent Henry from becoming king smoothly."

"Then if Henry isn't going to be king, who should be? William?" Messiah asked again.

"Do you think William and Henry are fit to be kings?" Durrell countered.

"This..." Messiah was stumped by Dure's question, and for a moment she didn't know how to answer him.

"Actually, there is a problem here. William has the courage, but he is too reckless and lacks a sense of the big picture. Henry, on the other hand, is meticulous enough, but he is too petty and has a gloomy personality. He lacks the magnanimity to become a king. Therefore, neither of them can become a king."

Dure gave his comments on William and Henry respectively, and Messiah thought about it carefully and found that they were indeed as Dure had said.

"Since neither William nor Henry is suitable to be king, then who should be king?" Messiah was stumped by Dure's question and didn't know who else was suitable.

“It was you then,” Dure said, pointing to Messiah.

"What? Me? Dure, you must be joking. How could I become king?" Messiah quickly waved her hand, taking it as a joke and not taking it seriously.

“I’m serious, Messiah. No one is more suited to be a king than you,” Dure said earnestly, showing no sign of joking.

“But Dure, you just said that William and Henry are not suitable to be kings. They both have fatal flaws. Compared to them, I obviously have more flaws.” Messiah was quite aware of his own situation.

“Messiah, you’re right. In terms of personal ability, you can’t compare to your two cousins, especially Henry. You’re far inferior. But Messiah, you have advantages that they don’t have,” Dure said earnestly.

“They don’t have any advantages… what is this…” Messiah was stunned for a moment.

“King Cheng’s ambition and his thirst for power,” Dure explained calmly.

"This..." Messiah didn't know how to answer him for a moment.

Just then, someone rushed over from not far away to report the situation.

"My Lord Messiah, and Mr. Dure, we've discovered something up ahead!" a guard reported urgently.

"What's going on that you're in such a panic?" Messiah asked, frowning.

"We spotted a ship ahead. After it spotted us, it immediately fled. We noticed something was wrong, so we sent out a fast boat to chase after it and successfully captured the people on board," the guard explained in detail.

"Did you capture the people on the ship? Who were they?" Dure realized that the people on the ship were the key to the problem and immediately asked.

"What was found on the ship was... His Highness William," the guard said cautiously. This was a serious situation, and they couldn't make a decision on their own; they had no choice but to run over and report to Messiah.

"What? William? We actually ran into him?" Messiah was taken aback. They had set off from River Bend City two days ago and rushed to the outskirts of Ze City at top speed. They hadn't even had time to rest yet, but they never expected to receive such information.

“This is truly an incredible find. Let’s go and meet His Highness William.” Dure was also quite surprised by this.

Soon after his reminder, Messiah came to her senses, and the group went to meet her brother, who had just escaped from the City of Ze.

William was terrified and confused, like a frightened bird. He had gone to great lengths to escape from Zezhi City, and he had paid a heavy price in the process.

The cost was not only financial but also human; several of his loyal guards were killed during the escape.

This infuriated him, because Henry had always been humble and submissive, giving him the illusion that Henry had no chance of competing with him.

But now Henry has finally stopped keeping a low profile. In just one day, he took control of the entire city of Ze, which turned William into a stray dog ​​overnight.

It would be strange if William wasn't angry that everything that originally belonged to him was taken away by Henry right before his eyes.

He finally managed to escape Ze City and planned to go north, where his mother's family was based, and where he still had many supporters.

Once he reaches the North, he believes he can rally a formidable force to rival Henry.

But he had only just left Ze City and hadn't even returned to the north when he encountered a fleet. At first, he was a little confused about this fleet and couldn't figure out where it came from.

He was startled when he recognized the emblem of River Bend City on the fleet's flag, and hurriedly tried to flee, because William believed that they had a grudge against River Bend City.

After all, the previous Battle of River Bend was still fresh in everyone's mind, and the smoke of battle had not yet completely dissipated. Now, they had run into the fleet of River Bend City again, which made William exclaim that he was very unlucky.

He had originally intended to escape, but unexpectedly he was caught by the people of River Bend City, which made him both angry and terrified.

"You idiots, release me right now! Do you know who I am? I am William, the future king of the Swamp Kingdom! How dare you treat your own king like this? Aren't you courting death?" William shouted at his captors.

He was extremely nervous at this moment, because he didn't know what fate awaited him. He was probably a bit of a blusterer than a coward.

It wasn't until a moment later, when he heard footsteps, that William noticed two people approaching. The two people were a man and a woman, and he recognized the woman; she was his cousin, Messiah.

Although Messiah had stayed in Ze City for a period of time before, William was busy with other things at that time and did not stay in Ze City, so he did not meet Messiah at that time.

If we trace back to the last time they met, it would be about twelve years ago, when Messiah was only ten years old and still a beautiful little girl.

Now Messiah is twenty-two years old and has blossomed into a very womanly woman. Without a doubt, Messiah is a very charming woman.

Beside her was a young man with black hair and black eyes. This man was neither strong nor handsome; he was just an ordinary person, so ordinary that he would be easily overlooked on the street.

Normally, William wouldn't even give this man a second glance, but at this moment he had no choice but to examine him carefully.

He had heard rumors before that Messiah had a classmate named Dure when he was studying at Maple Leaf Academy in the Snow Country. Dure later became the chief inspector of the Snow Country and was a prominent figure.

The reason the Allied Fleet was defeated in the previous Battle of River Bend City was because they did not expect the Snow Kingdom to suddenly join the war. They had no way to deal with the Griffin Legion, which came from the air and had super mobility.

Furthermore, the latter were clearly well-prepared, having brought a large number of javelins imbued with fireballs. Under their fierce attack, a massive fleet was reduced to a sea of ​​fire and ultimately destroyed by the enemy.

If it weren't for the disastrous defeat at the Battle of River Bend, William wouldn't have lost so quickly. He had to take responsibility for the loss, which led many neutral ministers and nobles in River Bend to side with Henry.

Now this rumored man has brazenly stood on the opposite side of William, which makes William both angry and afraid, because he knows that this kind of thing is the most difficult to deal with, at least it is beyond his ability.

“Cousin William, it’s been so long! What are you doing? Untie him!” Messiah immediately ordered his men not to make things difficult for William upon seeing him.

His men quickly untied the ropes binding William, which finally relieved him. It was truly outrageous for a prince like himself to be tied up like that.