The most shameless alchemist in history

"That's not what I meant, of course. It's just that with you here, our inspection department will feel more at ease, since we're going to interrogate two generals this time," Hank said truthfully.

"In short, you are fully responsible for this matter. You must investigate thoroughly and get to the bottom of it. No matter which level is involved, you cannot let anything slip by. There can be no carelessness whatsoever. If needed, you can contact Wenli and Liana; they will provide assistance," Dure instructed.

“Understood, then we’ll go carry out the mission now.” Hankel nodded, and soon he and Eileen left. At the same time, the follow-up personnel from the Inspection Department arrived and took everyone involved away.

Soon the train station was empty again.

"Du Lei, those people seemed really afraid of you just now," Sakura asked curiously after everyone had gone far away.

"Do you think I look scary?" Dure asked.

"It's not that scary, I just think Du Lei looks really cool when he's serious!" Sakura said with a smile.

"Alright, now that this matter is resolved, let's continue on our way," Du Lei said, glancing at the time.

He's already wasted quite a bit of time here.

"Du Lei, are we finally going to eat something delicious?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"If you want something to eat, then you can stay and eat. I need to leave this city now to take care of something."

"Stay? If I stay, doesn't that mean I can't be with you, Du Lei?" Sakura asked.

"So, whether you come with me to run errands or stay and have a nice meal, it's up to you," Du Lei said, giving her the choice.

"Although I really want to eat something delicious, I'll feel more at ease with you, Du Lei. So, I'll skip the delicious food for now and just go with you, Du Lei." After thinking for a long time and going through a fierce internal struggle, Yingyue finally made her decision.

"Are you sure you want to leave with me to take care of things? If you leave with me, not only will there be no good food, but you'll also encounter very dangerous things and might not be able to come back. But if you stay here, you can eat lots of good food every day," Du Lei reminded him.

"Although I really want to eat something delicious, if I had to choose between the most delicious food and you, Du Lei, you'd be more important. Besides, you said that place is dangerous, so I want to stay by your side and protect you!" Sakura said earnestly.

"Protect me?" Dure found the term somewhat novel.

"Yes, yes, I'll protect you, Du Lei. Don't underestimate me, Du Lei, I'm very powerful!" Sakura said proudly.

"Okay, you're amazing, you're the best. Let's get ready to go now." Du Lei had no choice but to say helplessly.

Red Flash followed closely behind.

"So, Du Lei, where are we going now?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Now, of course, we're going to find the Frost Dragon, to the place where I slept for eight years," Dure said calmly.

952 Your Hometown

Just then, a guard walked quickly over from not far away.

"Reporting to Commander Dure, the military train you requested is ready. When shall we depart?" the guard reported respectfully.

"We'll be departing in 10 minutes. Thank you for your help. We'll have to use a military train to get me to the Abyss of Winter," Du Lei said apologetically.

"It is our duty, Commander Du Lei, please!" The guard saluted.

Soon, Durei, Sakura, and Red Flash boarded the military train that was originally used to transport tobacco. However, at Durei's request, most of the carriages had been disconnected, leaving only one carriage to take them to the Abyss of Winter.

After all, most civilian trains had already stopped running at this time.

"Commander Dure is ready to depart. Have a safe journey."

"Understood. Thank you for your kind words. Let's set off then." Du Lei returned a military salute.

"Waaaaah..."

Soon the train sounded its whistle, and it slowly started moving, gradually leaving the station area and heading towards the Abyss of Winter.

For Dure, the Abyss of Winter has always been a very special place, because he once slept there for eight years.

Nearly 10 years ago, when he passed through the Abyss of Winter, he encountered a powerful ice storm. He was so shocked at the time that he didn't think about it at all. Only later did he recall that he had just encountered an ice dragon.

He couldn't figure out why the Frost Dragon appeared at that time.

Moreover, given the circumstances at the time, the Frost Dragon was clearly targeting him. Under normal circumstances, if he were attacked by the Frost Dragon, let alone back then, even now he would probably find it difficult to withstand it for a while.

He couldn't understand why he was able to wake up after being frozen for eight years, but upon waking, he discovered that he was missing two things.

The first one is Old Black, the Void creature who had previously formed a contract with him. After he was frozen, Old Black left and went all the way to the Flame Kingdom. He hid deep in the mines of Scorching Town and slowly collected Void power.

Later, based on Lao Hei's account, he realized that Lao Hei was in a very weak state at the time, and would have disappeared completely if the power of the Void Abyss had not been replenished in time.

The second thing he lost was the unidentified egg he had found in the spider's nest beneath the Misty Forest.

Even today, Dure doesn't know what the egg can do, but he does know that it saved him several times when he was in danger.

Moreover, Lao Hei was also very afraid of that egg, and he once asked Lao Hei what exactly that egg was.

But even Lao Hei himself couldn't explain it. He pointed out that it was an extremely powerful magic, so powerful that he had to behave himself and dare not act recklessly.

Old Black also told him that when he fell from the Abyss of Winter and was attacked by the ice dragon, he was doomed, but it was that egg that created a protective barrier for him and saved him.

It was also thanks to the defensive capabilities granted to him by that egg that he was able to sleep in the Abyss of Winter for eight years. Otherwise, let alone eight years, he wouldn't have lasted even eight days; he would have been dead long ago.

It can be said that Winter's Abyss was a major turning point in Dure's life.

If the events at Winter's Abyss hadn't happened, he might have grown up much faster and had a full youth.

Instead of having his precious youth cut short like this, leaving him feeling lost and helpless countless times.

Now, nearly two years later, he once again boarded the train and slowly returned to the Abyss of Winter.

He suddenly remembered that two years ago, it was that doctor who led two students to find him in the Abyss of Winter; otherwise, he didn't know how much longer he would have remained asleep.

"Du Lei, what's wrong with you? Why haven't you said a word the whole way?" Sakura was very bored on the train.

Hongshan was always gloomy and had a stern, cold face; she rarely spoke.

She could only talk to Du Lei, but Du Lei also seemed preoccupied.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about some things from the past. By the way, Sakura, do you miss your hometown?" Du Lei suddenly asked.

"My hometown? I used to have an older brother and a younger brother in my hometown," Sakura said after thinking for a moment.

"So you do have family after all?" Du Lei asked in surprise.

"Yes, Sakura doesn't just spring from a rock, she definitely has family," Sakura said confidently.

"Then why did you leave your hometown?" Dure asked again.

“Because my family was so poor, everyone was starving. And in Sakura’s hometown, everyone favored boys over girls. Girls had no status. It was common for them to be sold or thrown into the mountains,” Sakura said softly.

"So that's why you were put on the ship?" Dure asked again.

“Yes, because I would get a bag of rice if I was put on the ship, so my father put me on the ship,” Sakura said, nodding.

"I see..."

"Do you hate them?" Dure asked after a pause.

"Maybe at first I hated it, but later I realized it was a helpless choice. At that time, my brother and younger brother were sick, and my father was unemployed. If we hadn't sent Sakura on the ship, the whole family would have starved to death. Trading Sakura for the survival of the whole family was definitely a super worthwhile deal, even though Sakura isn't very good at math. And now Sakura is living a good life, and more importantly, she met you, Du Lei, and can eat delicious food every day." Sakura came forward and took Du Lei's arm, smiling as she spoke.

"And what about your older and younger brothers? What kind of people are they?" Du Lei asked again.

“My brother is a very refined person. He speaks very gently and loves reading. Although there aren’t many scholars in the village and there aren’t many books, he always goes to faraway places to listen to other people’s lessons and humbly seeks knowledge. Because he always goes to listen to lessons, the private tutor made an exception and allowed my brother to go to the school to listen to their lectures. My brother knows many characters; he is the only literate person in our village. He always says that the chaos of the world is caused by the fragmentation of power among the daimyo and their mutual attacks, making it impossible for everyone to live a good life. He is determined to work hard to save the world from this chaos and unify our country so that everyone can live a good life,” Sakura said after thinking for a moment.

“Then it seems your brother is a very idealistic person,” Dure nodded and said.

"And what about your younger brother? What kind of person is he?" he asked again.

“My younger brother? My older brother used to teach me to read, but I was too stupid and only learned a little. Actually, my younger brother is much smarter than me. If he were willing to study hard, he could definitely become a learned person like his older brother. But he didn’t use his intelligence for learning, or rather, he didn’t use it for learning knowledge. Instead, he used it for learning swordsmanship.” Sakura said after thinking for a moment.

"Swordsmanship?" Du Lei was taken aback.

“Yes, because there are many samurai and ronin in my hometown. Those ronin can roam freely with long swords. In our hometown, there is a ronin who retired from the battlefield. He is very powerful and proficient in dual-wielding swordsmanship. My younger brother always goes there to pester him to learn swordsmanship,” Sakura continued.

“If you, Yingyue, have such strong talent, then your younger brother’s achievements must be considerable, right?” Du Lei said in surprise.

He had witnessed Sakura's swordsmanship before, and it was extremely formidable.

To master this level of swordsmanship, besides diligent practice, a certain amount of natural talent is absolutely essential.

"He's not that amazing, Du Lei, you're praising him again." Yingyue said with a smile, linking her arm with his.

"Have you ever thought about being able to go back to your hometown someday?" Du Lei asked again.

"Sakura's hometown... I never thought about it before, because my teacher told me that after joining the Purgatory Organization, I should treat myself as if I were dead, and I absolutely could not have any extra thoughts, because during the mission, these extra thoughts would interfere with me and make me die easily in the end. But now that I have left the Purgatory Organization, I can ignore my teacher's words..." Sakura thought for a moment and said.

"So, do you want to go back?" Dure asked again.

"Maybe I've thought about it a little bit, but Sakura doesn't want to leave Dure." She clung tightly to his arm, unwilling to let go.

“I didn’t say you had to leave,” Du Lei said with a wry smile.

“Well, we had an agreement, okay?” Sakura looked at him seriously.

"What did we agree on?" Du Lei asked in surprise.

"That's right, that's right. We agreed that no matter what happens, Du Lei, you can't leave me behind!" Sakura said firmly.

"Alright, alright, we've agreed. You're such a child," Du Lei said with a gentle laugh.

“Oh, right, Du Lei,” Sakura suddenly said.

"What's wrong?" Du Lei turned around and looked at her.

"Du Lei, what's your hometown like? What's there to see there?" Sakura asked curiously.

“My hometown? My hometown is a small village with hot springs and lots of wild monkeys,” Du Lei said after thinking for a moment.

"Strictly speaking, though, that's not really my hometown; it's more like the place where I grew up," he quickly corrected.

"Huh? Isn't hometown where I grew up? Du Lei, I don't understand." She tilted her head and looked at him.

"If you don't understand, then don't ask. You'll know when the time comes," Du Lei said softly, patting her head.

“Oh…” Although Sakura was still completely confused, she didn’t ask any further questions.

Just then, the train, which was in motion, suddenly stopped, and stopped very abruptly. Luckily, Du Lei was sitting very steadily, otherwise he probably would have been thrown off his seat.

"It hurts, it hurts so much..." Sakura hugged her head in distress.

The sudden stop meant she wasn't as steady as Du Lei, and she bumped her head against the window.

"What's going on?" Du Lei frowned. He knew that unless there were special circumstances, there would be no sudden hard braking.

"Report, sir, the railway tracks ahead have been damaged, and we cannot proceed."

Soon a train police officer came forward to report the situation.