The most shameless alchemist in history

"It really is you!" The young sheriff named Matthew was overjoyed after confirming that he had not mistaken the person for someone else.

"Hey, isn't Du Lei... the kid we met on that train in the Snow Country nine years ago?" A fat security guard next to him, carrying a flintlock pistol, looked Du Lei over carefully and exclaimed.

"You must be Pope."

"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to still recognize me. I really didn't expect that the little brat would grow up so much after nine years. We really are getting old, aren't we, Marlene?" The fat man named Pop said with a chuckle, looking very excited.

“Time waits for no one, and time doesn’t lie; we are indeed getting old,” the only female sheriff nodded and said.

"What are you doing here?" Dure was quite surprised to see Matthew and his two companions.

He met Matthew and the others right after he left the hot spring village.

At that time, Matthew and his companions were the train police officers on the train he was on.

At that time, they encountered a snow wolf attack while crossing the snowfield, and they spent a night together sharing life and death.

They were deeply impressed by each other and never saw each other again.

Nine years later, they met again on the land of the Land of Flame, something that Dure could never have foreseen.

“That’s a long story. The railway ahead has been damaged, and it will probably take several days to repair. Why don’t you stay in the neighboring town for a few days until the tracks are repaired and the railway can be reopened?” Matthew suggested.

"It seems like this is the only option at the moment." Dure nodded.

After learning about the situation, Marco Polo communicated with the passengers and obtained their consent.

They took the passengers to the nearby town of Jiaore.

This is also where Matthew and his colleagues work; they maintain order in the nearby town.

After all, bandits were rampant in the area, and there had been many bandit attacks before.

Matthew and his team have wiped out several bandit groups.

However, they only targeted small groups of bandits; dealing with large and powerful bandit groups would be quite difficult.

Scorching Town is famous for its mineral resources and can be considered a microcosm of the Flame Kingdom, as the Flame Kingdom itself is a country rich in magic stones.

Jiaore Town is quite large, with several thousand people. In other places, it would be considered the size of a city.

It wasn't difficult for the more than one hundred passengers on the train to stay temporarily in Jiaore Town.

After all, they managed to save their lives and their belongings.

The young man, in particular, who had almost lost the gold pocket watch left to him by his father, was extremely grateful to Matthew and the others.

The passengers have settled into the hotel for the time being. Matthew has reported the situation to his superiors and has been told that the road will be open in two days.

This means that Dure and his group will have to stay in Scorching Town for two days.

After finishing their business, Matthew and Pope hosted Dure in town, and Marco Polo came along too.

“We did work as train police officers for a while, but we quit because of some things. Then we worked as mercenaries in the south for a few years. After that, we came to the Land of Flames and became sheriffs here. Actually, it’s been almost ten years now, and we haven’t accomplished anything worthwhile.” Matthew shook his head with a smile, his words carrying a hint of self-deprecation.

"Matthew, you're a Flame-rank magic user, right?" Dure suddenly asked.

"Dure, how did you know?" Matthew was quite surprised.

“I guessed,” Du Lei said casually.

"Guess? I don't believe you could guess so accurately. But speaking of which, Du Lei, you said you were going to study at Maple Leaf Academy. After all these years, you must have graduated from Maple Leaf Academy and become an excellent magic user. But we can't see through your background. It seems you are much more capable than us." Marlene sized up Du Lei and gave this person she had met by chance a second look.

“There’s something that I find strange,” Dure suddenly said.

“Strange? What’s strange?” Matthew asked in return.

"With your abilities, let alone being a sheriff in a small place, it wouldn't be difficult for you to build a powerful brigade in a country. Why do you want to be a sheriff in this small place?" Du Lei asked with some suspicion.

When he first met Matthew and his group, Matthew was just a mid-level magic user who struggled to even deal with the snow wolves.

Ten years later, they have all made great progress and become Flame-Rank Magic Users.

Du Lei could easily imagine that they must have gone through many difficult times over the years to achieve such rapid progress in their strength.

“If only it were that easy. What good is strength if you have it all? Even if you catch the eye of those powerful figures, they just want you to be their lackeys. That goes against our original intentions. It’s better to stay in a small place and drift through life than to betray our conscience and do things we don’t want to do,” Marlene said quietly.

908 Ghostly Shadows in the Mine

Because the train tracks were destroyed by bandits, Dure, Marco Polo, and the others were forced to stay in Scorching Town.

However, Dure was surprised to encounter Matthew and others in Scorched Town, people he had met nearly ten years ago when he first left Hot Spring Village.

While in Scorching Town, Dure also received news that the Flame Kingdom was reinforcing its troops on its eastern border.

That place borders the Land of Lightning, and the two sides had already clashed twice before.

Both sides suffered losses, but a larger conflict is clearly brewing, like an impending storm.

"What? The Crown Prince of the Land of Flame was assassinated in the Land of Thunder?" In the inn of Scorching Town, Marco Polo finally understood the cause of the conflict between the two countries.

Because he got the latest newspaper there, which contained a detailed account of what had happened.

"Yes, the Crown Prince of the Land of Flame was originally engaged to the princess of the Land of Lightning. However, just as the Crown Prince was about to go to the Land of Lightning to marry the princess, he was shot and killed by radicals in the Land of Lightning. This is the reason why the two countries are now at war."

Matthew recounted the events, explaining that as the sheriff of the Flame Kingdom, the assassination of the Red Prince had caused quite a stir.

This has become the most discussed topic among the public, since it is closely related to their interests.

"Why would they shoot the crown prince out of the blue? This was clearly an important step in the marriage alliance between the two countries, but this incident not only ruined the prospects of the marriage alliance, but also turned them into enemies. This is really..." Marco Polo found this somewhat unbelievable.

"This is because the old king of the Land of Lightning has no sons, only a daughter, the princess who is engaged to the Red Prince. Once the Red Prince and the princess marry, he will become the rightful heir to the Land of Lightning," Du Lei explained.

"So that's how it is. So someone in the Land of Lightning didn't want the Red Prince to become its king, so they shot him? And what about the king of the Land of Lightning? Since he chose the Red Prince as his successor, he wouldn't allow war to break out, would he?" Marco Polo still had some doubts.

“The problem is that the old king of the Land of Lightning died the day after the Red Prince was shot,” Durei continued.

"What? Dead? I've never heard of this before!" Marco Polo was shocked.

“I haven’t heard of this either, Dure. Where did you hear it from?” Matthew was also somewhat surprised.

"Let's just call it hearsay for now, but in any case, the two countries have reached a point of no return," Dure said casually.

He has his own unique sources of information, which naturally allows him to obtain intelligence that Matthew and others cannot.

“That’s right. Prince Chi was usually humble and polite and was very popular with the people. Now that he has died tragically in the Land of Lightning, the people of the Land of Flame are very angry. Everyone is calling for revenge for Prince Chi. In Scorching Town alone, more than sixty people have gone to join the army.”

Matthew knew a lot about the situation in Scorched Town, and said with a sigh.

"I never expected such a thing to happen in my hometown. It's truly regrettable," Marco Polo sighed.

In his memory, the Land of Flame was originally a peaceful country.

But when he returned after many years, he found that a fierce war had broken out, which explains his emotional reaction.

"By the way, Dure, where are you headed?" asked Pope, the fat guy next to him who was eating a chicken leg with gusto.

“I plan to go to Lava City,” Dure replied.

"Lava City? That's an eastern border city. The headquarters of the Flame Kingdom is located there. What are you going to Lava City for?"

Popper was even more puzzled, looking at the kid he hadn't seen for many years with surprise.

"I have some things to take care of over there."

"I see..." Matthew nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Just then, someone rushed in from outside. It was a security guard who whispered something in Matthew's ear.

"What did you say?" Matthew's expression changed drastically after hearing this, and he immediately stood up.

"What's going on, Matthew? What happened?" Marlene asked, frowning.

"Something happened at the mine!" Matthew said gravely.

"What? Something happened again?" Marlene was also taken aback.

"What's going on? Is there anything we can do to help?" Marco Polo asked.

"Durey, and Mr. Marco Polo, we need to take care of some things first, so we can't keep you company for now. Pope, let's go!"

Matthew left in a hurry, and soon only Dure and Marco Polo were left.

"Why did you leave in such a hurry...? Did something very important happen?" Marco Polo had no idea what was going on.

"Huh?" Du Lei suddenly looked into the distance.

"What's wrong, Du Lei? Is there a problem?" Marco Polo asked again.

“There is indeed a problem.” Du Lei got up and followed.

"Hey, why are you all being so secretive? What happened?" Marco Polo was completely baffled.

Although he didn't understand what was going on, he still hurriedly followed.

About ten minutes later, Marco Polo finally caught up with Dure, and at that moment he saw the entrance to a mine ahead.

In fact, he was quite familiar with mines.

After all, the Flame Kingdom is a place rich in magic stones. Although the land in the Flame Kingdom is barren and cannot grow many crops, it has abundant magic energy mines. Almost every town has one or more mines.

Or rather, the towns were all built with the mines behind them.

In Marco Polo's childhood memories, his father was a miner. The prosperity of the mining industry allowed him to enjoy a wonderful childhood until the mines were exhausted, his father contracted an illness, and eventually died.

With no more worries, he embarked on his journey to explore various places...

“This feeling… I knew I couldn’t be wrong!” Du Lei looked at the entrance to the mine.

It was daytime, but a dark cloud hung over the mine, accompanied by lightning and constant rumbling.

"What does it feel like? Du Lei, you should explain it clearly," Marco Polo asked, puzzled.

"You don't need to go in; it's very dangerous inside," Du Lei told him before heading towards the mine entrance.

"Huh? Danger? I finally caught up with you all this way, and you're telling me not to go in? Du Lei, are you kidding me? Besides, I, Marco Polo, have traveled all over the continent and been to so many countries. What kind of danger haven't I seen? This level of danger can't scare me."

Marco Polo ignored Dure's advice and followed him inside shortly after Dure went in.

As soon as Du Lei entered the mine entrance, he saw a number of miners running out.

The miners shouted as they fled, all looking panicked.

He also encountered a miner who had fallen to the ground, and Du Lei quickly went over to help the miner up.

What exactly happened inside?