The most shameless alchemist in history

"Alright, I'll take you to eat when we get there. Be good, stop making a fuss," Du Lei said soothingly.

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you, Du Lei!" Sakura nodded emphatically.

"Red Flash, what's wrong?" Du Lei looked at Red Flash, who was sitting on the other side.

Hongshan rarely spoke throughout; she remained silent.

"It's nothing." Red Flash shook his head gently.

“If you need anything, just let me know,” Dure said kindly.

"Understood," Red Flash replied softly.

"Red Flash, are you hungry? We can go eat something delicious in a little while," Sakura said excitedly.

However, Red Flash did not reply to her in the end. After all, she and Sakura were very different. Sakura could be very satisfied and happy as long as she had good food, but for Red Flash, the hatred she carried kept her emotions in a very depressed state.

"However, Frost City... seems somewhat different from when I left..."

Du Lei frowned as he looked out the window at the scenery.

Because he clearly remembered that when he left Frost City, it was a prosperous place.

Although it had just gone through a protracted civil war, Frost City quickly resumed production after nearly a year of recovery.

Those merchants who had fled returned to Frost City to do business.

With the opening of Frost University, more and more people are flocking to this vibrant northern city.

It can be said that Frost City was once one of the most prosperous regions on the continent, but when he returned to Frost City this time, he found that many shops on the street were closed.

Although he could only see a general outline from a distance while in the car, the desolate atmosphere was quite telling, indicating that something big must be happening in Frost City.

"What's wrong? Du Lei will be able to eat delicious food soon, why do you look unhappy?" Sakura asked curiously.

"It's nothing. What exactly happened in Frost City while I was away? I think we'll find out soon. I just hope it's not the worst-case scenario," Dure said, shaking his head.

A few minutes later, the train slowly pulled into the station. As the train stopped, Sakura seemed to get more and more excited. However, Dure noticed that there were a large number of guards stationed near the train station.

These guards, dressed in overcoats and carrying the latest gunpowder rifles, were patrolling back and forth.

As soon as the three of them got off the train, an officer came up to them and saluted Durei.

"Welcome back, Chief Inspector!"

"Chief Inspector? What is a Chief Inspector? Can you eat it?" Sakura asked curiously.

“I no longer hold the position of Inspector General, so you don’t need to address me that way. You are…” Dure asked, frowning.

"Our Inspection Department has been revitalized under your leadership, becoming the most respected department in the entire Snow Kingdom. Therefore, you will always be our Chief Inspector! My name is Wright, and I currently work in the Inspection Department," the officer named Wright said earnestly.

“Wright? Very well, but what’s going on with Frost City right now? Why is it so deserted? And why are there so many troops deployed at the station?” Dure asked.

"Reporting to the Chief Inspector, there are indeed some issues in Frost City. Please discuss the details with me when you arrive at the Inspectorate," Wright said respectfully.

"Understood, let's go to the Inspection Department first," Du Lei nodded and said.

"The Inspection Department, what kind of place is that? Does Du Lei have any good food there?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Yes." Du Lei pinched her cheek, and then their group headed towards the Inspection Department.

Even when Dure was still on the train, he sensed that something was very wrong in Frost City.

The Frost City, which should have been bustling with activity, was instead deserted and desolate.

Now, after getting off the train, I can see it more clearly: all the shops on the streets and alleys are closed.

Moreover, you can often see armed guards rushing past on the street.

Not only that, but I also saw horse-drawn carriages pulling huge magic cannons to be set up on nearby city walls.

No matter how you look at it, this is clearly a harbinger of an impending, brutal war, and a dark cloud has been cast over the sky.

Du Lei arrived at the gate of the Inspection Department with a heavy heart. Originally, the Inspection Department was just a powerless government office in the Snow Kingdom.

This department was originally neglected, but since Du Lei became the inspector general of the inspection department, the entire department has been transformed.

Especially under Dure's leadership, the Inspection Department carried out sweeping reforms in all areas of the Snow Country.

The two most influential figures in the Land of Snow have steadfastly supported the Inspector General.

This gave the entire Snow Country a completely new look.

Although Dure later resigned from his position as Inspector General of the Inspection Department and left the Snow Country for another place, the Inspection Department still retained the position of Inspector General for Dure. Currently, the Deputy Inspector General, who was Dure's deputy when he served as Inspector General, is still in charge of the daily management affairs of the Inspection Department.

About 20 minutes later, Dure apparently arrived at the location of the Inspectorate.

At this moment, a large number of guards had gathered outside the Inspectorate. Dure could tell from the different uniforms these guards wore that they came from different units.

As he passed through the gate, all the guards stopped what they were doing, saluted him, and made way for him.

Du Lei entered the Ministry of Supervision without any hindrance.

No matter how noisy or busy the place was before he arrived, everyone fell silent and looked at him with admiration after seeing him.

Du Lei arrived smoothly at the conference hall on the fourth floor of the Inspection Department. There were guards at the entrance of the hall, and a noisy commotion could be heard coming from the hall. It was clear that an emergency meeting was being held inside, and the noise was quite loud.

"So your approach has long been proven outdated and won't work. We must keep that guy outside Frost City and absolutely cannot let it invade the interior of Frost City!"

"You said you'd keep it outside Frost City, but how is that even possible? Tell me, can you do it? Or are you saying you can, but we have no way to stop it at all?"

"Whether we can stop it or not, we have to do something and try. Are we just going to stand by and watch it run rampant in our homeland? Are we all cowards who can't even protect our own home?"

Inside the not-so-spacious conference hall, everyone was arguing noisily. Most of these people were middle-aged men, and they were mostly strong and dressed in military uniforms.

Moreover, judging from their military ranks, they are all very high-ranking, core generals at the highest level of the entire Snow Kingdom.

"Dong dong dong."

Just as they were arguing, there was a knock on the door.

"Can't you see we're in a meeting? We can talk about this later. Everyone, get out!"

A middle-aged general snapped impatiently. They were all furious because none of them had come up with a definite result yet.

"Generals, this isn't the General Staff Headquarters. Why don't you discuss these issues at the General Staff Headquarters instead of coming to this small Inspectorate?" someone asked softly at the entrance of the conference hall.

His voice wasn't loud, and seemed so insignificant in the noisy conference hall, but everyone did hear it and stopped talking at the same time.

"No way, that voice is..."

The generals all turned around and stared wide-eyed at the young man standing at the door.

"Durey, it really is you! That's great, you're finally back!"

When the old generals recognized the young man as Inspector General Du Lei, they were overjoyed. They stopped arguing and came forward to pull Du Lei over.

"So, could the generals explain to me why we have to discuss matters in the Inspectorate instead of the General Staff Headquarters?" Du Lei asked.

"Well, Du Lei, it's because the General Staff Headquarters has been destroyed, so we can't hold meetings there. We can only borrow your place for a while. You wouldn't be so petty as to be upset about this, would you?" An old general patted Du Lei on the shoulder and said cheerfully.

"What? The General Staff Headquarters has been destroyed? What happened? Who has the audacity to attack the General Staff Headquarters?" Du Lei was taken aback.

Upon returning to the Land of Snow, he worried that Purgatory would extend its reach into the Land of Snow.

After all, even the Thunder Tower, the sacred site of the Land of Lightning, was attacked before, so it is only natural that the Land of Snow would also be attacked by Purgatory.

He only hoped that he could return to the Snow Kingdom as soon as possible before Purgatory launched its attack, but judging from the current situation, he was probably too late; Frost City had already been attacked.

"Well, Dure, you've just returned to Frost City, so there might be many things you don't know yet. Please sit down, and we'll tell you everything slowly." The general beside him gestured for Dure to sit down and then slowly explained the whole story to him.

Durei initially thought that Frost City had been attacked by Purgatory, which made his heart sink. However, after the generals told him what had happened, he realized that things were not so simple. The one who attacked the General Staff Headquarters was not from Purgatory, but from a much more troublesome entity.

"What did you say? Frost Dragon?"

()

946 Inspector General

Durey was shocked when he learned from the generals who was responsible for the attack on the General Staff Headquarters.

“Yes, Dure, that’s right, it’s the Frost Dragon. About two days ago, the Frost Dragon suddenly flew over the Snow Kingdom. We received reports that someone had witnessed it. At first, we didn’t take it seriously, since the Frost Dragon has been sighted many times in the history of our Snow Kingdom, and the Winter Abyss in our territory is also a place where the Frost Dragon often appears. But just yesterday, the Frost Dragon suddenly appeared over Frost City and launched an attack on the ground. Many buildings within the Frost City area were damaged, including the General Staff Headquarters.” A general told Dure the whole story.

"The one that attacked Frost City was actually a Frost Dragon? That's quite unexpected."

Dure frowned and remained silent for a long time. He was not surprised at all by the Frost Dragon.

After all, he followed Winry to the Mountain Kingdom from Maple Leaf Academy back then. At that time, he was just a 14-year-old boy, full of youthful vigor.

But on his way back from the Land of Mountains, he passed through the Abyss of Winter, where he encountered an unexpected turn of events.

This led to him falling into the Abyss of Winter and being frozen for eight years.

This has always been an insurmountable obstacle for Dure, because he missed the most wonderful time of his life, and somehow went from a teenager to a young man in his twenties.

This wonderful time mysteriously disappeared, and the culprit behind it all was the Frost Dragon, because it was the Frost Dragon that attacked him on the Bridge of Winter that day!

After he awoke, he tried to find the whereabouts of the Frost Dragon.

However, the Frost Dragon has vanished without a trace, and no one knows where it went.

Unexpectedly, more than a year later, he learned of the whereabouts of the Frost Dragon again in the Snow Country, and the Frost Dragon was near Frost City!

"Yes, Inspector General, it is the Frost Dragon. We are helpless against its attacks. General Restia led the Griffin Legion to fight against the Frost Dragon, but the difference in strength between them and the Frost Dragon is too great. Not only did the Griffin Legion suffer heavy losses, but General Restia herself was also injured and is currently recovering." Someone lamented.

"Today, someone witnessed the Frost Dragon lurking near Frost City, and it's very likely it's preparing for a second attack. If it attacks again, we simply won't be able to defend ourselves," the generals said helplessly.

If their opponent were an army from another country, they would certainly have a way to defend themselves and fight back. But when facing the Frost Dragon, they had absolutely no way to deal with it and could only be on the receiving end of attacks.

After all, the only air mobility force in the Snow Kingdom was the Griffin Legion led by Restia. Now that even the Griffin Legion had been severely damaged by the Frost Dragon, they were even more helpless.

"No wonder Frost City was on high alert the whole time; it was to guard against the Frost Dragon." Du Lei suddenly realized. He had initially thought that Purgatory was preparing to attack Frost City, but now it seemed that the opponent was not a member of Purgatory, but his old nemesis, the Frost Dragon.

“Yes, we can’t even protect the General Staff Headquarters, so we have to come here to occupy your place for a meeting. We haven’t come to a conclusion yet. Now that you’re back, Du Lei, do you have any better ideas?” an old general asked Du Lei.

"Hey, Dure has just returned to Frost City, can't you let him rest for a bit?"

“What’s the point of young people taking a break? Solving the problem of the Frost Dragon is the most urgent task right now. If the Frost Dragon attacks Frost City again, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

"So Dure is quite capable in handling things. He also put in a lot of effort when our Snow Kingdom faced a crisis, but he still didn't have a good solution against the Frost Dragon."

Some of the generals asked Dure questions, hoping to get his help, while others sighed and thought that even if Dure returned at this time, he would not be of any use.

"What's this about the Frost Dragon that Dure and the others were talking about?" Sakura, who was standing next to her, had also realized that the country was facing a very urgent situation, and she asked in a low voice.

"Frost Dragon, isn't that a member of the legendary powerful dragon race?" Red Flash said, frowning.