The most shameless alchemist in history

“Messiah, it’s been over a decade since we last met. But I never imagined you would become this powerful. You’re making your brother me your prisoner now,” William said coldly.

“This… there must be some misunderstanding…” Messiah was at a loss for what to do when faced with William’s questioning.

“Your Highness William is mistaken. It’s not that we want you to be a prisoner, but that Henry wants you to be a prisoner,” Dure corrected from the side.

“That Henry guy… he’ll soon pay the price for his foolish choice. Don’t be fooled by his current smugness; it won’t be long before he’s kicked out.” William gritted his teeth with hatred whenever he mentioned Henry.

Without a doubt, Henry was the person he hated and loathed the most at this moment.

"Drive Henry out of Zee City? That sounds like a good idea, but Your Highness William, are you sure you're still capable of doing all that?" Dure asked slowly and deliberately.

“This… of course, no problem. As long as I return to the North, I will surely be able to rally everyone to support me in defeating that Henry and reclaiming the throne!” William said with great certainty.

"Well then, there is some news that I regret to inform Your Highness William."

"What news?" William frowned, wondering what this guy was up to.

“The governor of Saipan was arrested last night, and now the governor of Blackwater Province is Bamp. I don’t need to introduce Bamp to Your Highness William, do I?” Dure said calmly.

"What? Saipan has been arrested? Bamp succeeds as governor? How is this possible?" William was taken aback. Saipan was his uncle and could be considered a great help to him.

Bamp, on the other hand, was a strong supporter of Henry. He had been suppressed by Saipan and driven out of the Blackwater Province, where he was employed in the south. Unexpectedly, he was transferred to the north at this critical juncture.

"So, Your Highness William, how much control do you think you still have over the North? His Highness Henry has been eyeing the throne for a long time. Over the years, he has been making constant underhanded moves, not only controlling Ze City, but also turning Your Highness William's stronghold, the four northern provinces, into his cronies," Dure continued.

"How could this have happened, that guy Henry..." If William had some confidence before, now his lips were turning blue and purple, and his whole body was trembling, because he realized the seriousness of the problem.

He was no longer just a stray dog ​​driven out of the capital; he couldn't even find a place to go.

A person who was once glamorous and influential can suddenly become a homeless and pitiful creature.

This was a huge blow to William.

"This is the situation you face, Your Highness William. It can be said that, as things stand, Henry is the biggest winner, while you, Your Highness William, are the biggest loser. So, do you still consider yourself the 'future king'?" Dure coldly retorted.

“My throne… is it really going to be handed over to that bastard Henry like this? Damn it…” William clenched his fists, extremely unwilling.

Moreover, he is now facing not only the loss of the throne, but also the question of whether he can even survive.

“I think Your Highness William, you should be more concerned about your safety. Do you think Henry would allow you to live?” Dure asked again.

879 River Bend Fleet

For William, his life plummeted from its peak to its lowest point, when he was once the closest to the throne.

He had long prepared to ascend the throne, and he had even planned to carry out sweeping reforms in the Swamp Country.

He had lofty ambitions and grand ideals to realize, but all of that was destroyed in the fire of the Battle of River Bend. With the defeat in the Battle of River Bend, more and more voices questioned him, and the ministers and nobles who had originally supported him began to abandon him.

This caused William an unprecedented sense of defeat. With the death of the old King Charles, Henry, whom he had never taken seriously, turned the tide overnight. Henry, who had been plotting for a long time, quickly took control of the situation in Zee City.

Moreover, Henry's hidden agents in various places have all come into play. Even the North, which William considered an impenetrable wall, has shown signs of movement. His own uncle has been arrested, which means that he has lost his most powerful external support and the cards he still holds in his hands are becoming fewer and fewer.

Unfortunately, at this very moment, he ran into Messiah and was arrested by the River Bend Fleet, casting a shadow over his life once again.

"So... what do you want to do to me?" William knew he was in a very bad situation, and he was extremely nervous.

When facing Messiah and Dure, he was no longer as domineering as before.

Although his tone still seemed tough, anyone could tell that it was just bluster.

"What you want to do is not up to us, but up to Your Highness William." Dure was quite polite when facing William.

"It depends on me? What do you mean?" William frowned, looking at the young man in front of him suspiciously.

“Your Highness William, you are a smart man and should know your current situation. For you, inheriting the throne has become impossible, right?” Dure did not rush to answer William’s question, but asked in return.

“So what if it is?” William knew that Dure was right, even though he had been very close to the throne not long ago, as if it were within reach.

But with Henry's forceful intervention, all of that vanished. At this point, not only was inheriting the throne out of the question, but even preserving his own life became extremely difficult.

“If I were Your Highness William, I would consider issues that align with my own interests. For example, if I cannot obtain the throne, then I should strive to maximize my own interests. Your Highness William, do you think that Henry will guarantee your rights after becoming king?” Dure continued to ask.

"That Henry, he schemed to bring me down in one fell swoop. He probably wants to kill me. Protecting my rights is definitely out of the question." William gritted his teeth as he mentioned Henry, extremely angry about it.

"So, compared to Henry, what do you think, Your Highness William, if Messiah were to become the Queen of the Swamp Kingdom?" Dure then slowly brought up Messiah. Even Messiah herself was somewhat surprised at this point, because she did not believe that she could become a queen.

“Messiah? This…” William was stunned for a moment, clearly he had never thought about this question before.

"What is it, Your Highness William? Do you have any questions?" Dure asked, noticing his hesitant expression.

“When Henry and I joined forces to deal with Messiah, you…you must be itching to kill me now, right?” William recalled what happened in the city of Ze. After learning that the old king intended to make Messiah his heir, Henry took the initiative to find him.

Henry made it clear at the time that he would support William as king, and the two joined forces to defeat the Messiah.

That's why the Messiah was almost arrested and fled back to River Bend in a sorry state, which then triggered the Battle of River Bend.

“I absolutely never thought of such a thing!” Messiah said immediately.

"Never thought about it? Messiah, don't you hate me?" William asked blankly.

“Of course I don’t hate you. Actually, you were very good to me when I was little. When I first arrived in Ze City, I was bullied by other noble children. It was you who protected me. I remember all those things.” Messiah brought up some distant memories.

“That’s… such a long time ago,” William remarked with emotion.

In fact, he always had a good impression of Messiah and always regarded her as his younger sister.

It was only after learning that the Messiah would be listed as the heir to the throne that, under Henry's influence, he did that thing.

“I have always regarded Brother William as a respected elder brother. I think you had your reasons for doing those things, and I have never been angry with you,” Messiah said earnestly.

“Messiah…” William was filled with melancholy upon hearing the Messiah’s words.

He really did do a lot of wrong things!

When William met with Messiah and Dure, Ze City was in complete chaos.

Henry had finally managed to quell the situation and was methodically dealing with the North because he knew that William was his only threat, and William's support came from the North. Although the North was still secretly stirring, at least he had control of the North on the surface.

For Henry, there was only one thing left to do: prepare for his coronation ceremony. Once he successfully ascended the throne, completed the ceremony, and notified all the countries on the continent, it would be a done deal, even if turmoil broke out in the Swamp Kingdom.

In this way, by signing agreements with various countries in the name of the King of the Swamp Country and inviting neighboring countries to send troops, he can also firmly control the situation.

At most, he's only ceding a portion of the Swamp Country's territory; after all, he's still young and has grand plans to realize.

It's not a big deal to cede some land now, because he will take it back in the future.

Henry had originally planned it this way, and everything did indeed proceed according to his plan; his capture of Ze City went extremely smoothly.

However, despite all the preparations he had made, the accident still happened.

The River Bend City fleet headed towards Ze City and stopped thirty nautical miles away.

The arrival of the River Bend City fleet caused a great uproar in Ze City, and people were discussing it extensively.

"Hey, have you heard? The River Bend City fleet is here! There are nearly a hundred warships! They've assembled near Crocodile Bay. It's very close to us from Crocodile Bay; they can get here in just two hours!"

"Could this be just a rumor? Not long ago, our capital and the Octopus family's combined fleet attacked River Bay City. It's only been half a month, and they've already turned around and attacked us. Isn't that a bit too ridiculous?"

"What's so funny about this? I don't know what's wrong with the River Bend region. They weren't good at naval warfare before, but after winning the Battle of River Bend City, they suddenly became very aggressive. Not long ago, I heard that they were attacking the Octopus Family's Old Port and drove the Octopus Family back to the sea. How long has it been? They've actually come to the capital. This is unbelievable."

Within Ze City, the people were deeply worried about the arrival of the River Bay City fleet. Not long ago, when the Allied Fleet headed towards River Bay City, they were all cheering and shouting things like "Down with the River Bay guys!"

After all, the River Bend region has always been known for its wealth, even more so than Ze City. The people of Ze City were happy to see River Bend suffer, but they never expected that in such a short time, the tables would turn and it would be their turn to be attacked.

The people of Zezhi City were terrified by this, let alone Henry. He had gone to great lengths to stabilize the situation in Zezhi City, and just as he was about to ascend the throne, the River Bay City fleet set sail, which gave him a particularly troublesome headache.

“What’s with Messiah? With her audacity, how could she possibly send a fleet to attack our Ze City? Is this an open act of rebellion?” Henry was particularly annoyed by this. When he was in a superior position, he could easily control the situation.

But now that something unexpected has happened, he feels extremely anxious and uneasy.

Because he had a vague feeling that something very unfavorable was going to happen.

“Someone must be directing her from behind the scenes, and I think it’s very likely that it’s Durex,” said Karen, Henry’s confidante, calmly.

“Durex? It’s him again? What’s wrong with him? Why is he deliberately trying to go against us?” Henry was especially angry about this.

"I don't understand what this person is trying to do either. Back in the Snow Country, he had every opportunity to seize all the power, but he didn't. Instead, he resigned and left the Snow Country. Now he has come to our Swamp Country and led the naval battle of River Bend City. Now he has even orchestrated the River Bend City fleet to besiege the city. Is he simply trying to seize the throne for Messiah?"

Karen thought it over carefully. He was a meticulous person and believed that everyone needs a starting point to do anything.

However, he thought about this matter for a long time but could not find out where Dure's starting point was.

"Damn it! No matter what his purpose is, the Swamp Country hasn't faced a situation where it is forced into a military situation for more than a hundred years. According to the plan, my coronation ceremony is supposed to begin tomorrow, but now, facing the military might of the River Bay Fleet, how am I supposed to ascend the throne?"

Henry's furious questioning infuriated him, especially since the River Bend Fleet had arrived at the worst possible time.

If only it could have come two days later, then he could have taken his time to handle the matter after he ascended the throne.

But the fact that he chose this particular time made him especially awkward.

“Your Highness, you need not worry. With the defensive capabilities of our Ze City, dealing with the River Bay Fleet is a piece of cake. Your coronation ceremony can proceed as scheduled tomorrow. Moreover, Your Highness, we can also do this…” Karen whispered in Henry’s ear.

"What? Is this... really okay?" Henry frowned.

“Don’t worry, they’ll definitely agree. If we can get their help, we can definitely annihilate the River Bay Fleet in one fell swoop,” Karen said with a smile, placing a map in front of her and Henry.

There is a point on the map that marks the location of Crocodile Bay, which is also where the River Bay Fleet is stationed.

"Understood. Do as you say. That fool Messiah, does she think she can go against me with her few tricks? Tomorrow she'll know how stupid she's been!" Henry grabbed a dagger and stabbed it hard into Crocodile Bay!

Crocodile Bay is a natural deep-water bay, ideal for stationing a fleet.

Moreover, Crocodile Bay has abundant freshwater resources, which can be replenished here.

The mighty fleet that had sailed from River Bend chose to camp at Crocodile Bay, where the guards and sailors disembarked to rest.

Dure and Messiah also disembarked and walked along the shore, looking out into the distance from this vantage point.

The outline of the city of Ze can be seen.

“I never thought I would be able to return to Ze City one day, and so soon.” Messiah recalled the scene of her desperate escape from Ze City a month ago, when she was being chased by William and Henry and almost lost her life here.

But unexpectedly, a month later, she led her fleet back to the outskirts of Ze City.

Moreover, the idea of ​​launching an attack on the city was so unrealistic, it felt like a dream.

“Henry is probably discussing with his men how to deal with us right now,” Dure said, looking in the direction of Zezhi City.

“But Dure, with our forces, I’m afraid it will be difficult to take Ze City. Ze City is much more fortified than River Bay City…” Messiah said with some difficulty, having left the entire process to Dure.

She fully supports Dure's actions and trusts him, but she still has some doubts about this matter.

Because Ze City's defenses are so strong, the River Bend Fleet is quite large, but to take Ze City, it would probably take two River Bend Fleets.

Moreover, if Zezhi City chooses to hold out, it will take them a long time to take it over.