The most shameless alchemist in history

Seeing Nuonuo so lively and energetic, he recalled her terrible state last night. He really couldn't understand what was wrong with her and why she had suddenly fallen ill.

"What could possibly happen to me, or are you hoping something will happen to me?" Nuonuo retorted.

"Don't think so badly of people. It's good that you're alright. Is there anything else?" Du Lei waved his hand.

"I can only contact you if I need something," Nuonuo said aggressively.

"That's not it." Dure was really struggling to keep up with her.

"Tch, what a boring person. I'm leaving. Anyway, remember, don't say anything out of line," Nono reminded him again.

"I understand. Goodbye then. Is she really going far away? I hope she's alright. I don't want to get involved in any strange things again. I just want to quietly read for a few days and study alchemy properly." Du Lei watched her leave and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He turned and left, intending to continue his battle at the library.

The academy was bustling with people, at its liveliest time, but even Du Lei himself didn't notice that a pair of eyes in the crowd were staring at him.

"I've found you!"

245 Returning the item to its rightful owner

Inside the library, Dure finally found a sense of peace. He had originally wanted to ask Winster some more questions about alchemy, but Winster wasn't there today. Instead, a young librarian, or rather a female student, was temporarily managing the place in Winster's place.

The female student was a year or two older than Du Lei. She had a stern face and seemed difficult to talk to. Du Lei asked her a couple of questions about the books, but she responded with an impatient tone. This made him wisely stop asking questions and quietly study the books by himself in the corner.

"If only Mr. Winster were here, I could ask him for advice. I'd better not bother that administrator." Du Lei glanced at the administrator who was tidying up the bookshelves in the distance. He had been rebuffed and didn't dare to talk to her anymore.

"I'm so sleepy. That's about it for today. I still need to digest what I've read. I'll come back tomorrow." Du Lei yawned. He hadn't slept well for the past few days. He checked the time; it was a little past nine o'clock at night, which was still early for him.

But the administrator had come to urge him once before, not allowing him to stay here longer than 10 o'clock. After all, the reason he was able to stay here all night before was because of Winster's leniency. Obviously, she was not as easy to talk to as Winster. Dure was also sensible and left before she kicked him out.

When Du Lei reached the library entrance, he still tried to greet the girl who was tidying up the bookshelves with her back to him.

"Hmm what?" The other person reacted strongly, immediately turning their head, holding a thick book, and looking at him warily.

"Don't be so nervous, I just wanted to say hello. Thank you for taking care of me today, and I wanted to say goodbye or something." Du Lei was at a loss for words because of her expression, so he smiled and waved his hand to signal her to relax.

The other party was "nervous" and deeply wary of Du Lei, making it impossible for Du Lei to communicate with her.

"Never mind, it's nothing. Anyway, goodbye." Du Lei waved his hand, knowing that continuing to communicate with her like this would only make things worse.

"Is he gone? Did I say something wrong?" After Du Lei left, the female student finally breathed a sigh of relief. She watched Du Lei's figure disappear completely, and after confirming that there was no one else in the library, her tense face finally relaxed, but what replaced it was disappointment.

Du Lei couldn't see this scene, because he was already heading towards his dormitory. The academy was quiet at this time, as most people had returned to their dormitories to rest. The moon hung in the sky, and the evening breeze was a bit chilly.

"Yawn, I'm actually a bit sleepy. A lot has happened lately. I hope I can have a few days of peace and quiet. Who is it?" Du Lei's wish was nice, but he soon noticed a figure approaching from behind, which alerted him and shattered his wish in an instant.

"Hey buddy, you noticed? You're quite the perceptive guy." Just as Du Lei turned his head, someone jumped down from a nearby tree. It was a boy who looked about the same age as Du Lei, or even a little younger. Du Lei looked somewhat familiar with him.

“You are…” Du Lei carefully recalled where he had seen him before.

“We just met last night, how come you’ve already forgotten?” The boy reminded Du Lei and the others of when they met.

"Last night...right, you were the one being chased by the auction house yesterday," Du Lei suddenly remembered what had happened, which ignited his anger, because in a way, he was taking the blame for this guy in front of him.

"Now that you remember, things will be easier. So, brother, hurry up and give me back my things." The other person smiled, looking harmless. In reality, he looked very handsome, with a bright and intelligent look in his eyes. It was hard to be angry with him because of his appearance.

"What are you talking about? Your stuff!" Du Lei already didn't like him much, and this time, after what he said, he was even more confused.

"Of course it's the thing I gave you yesterday. If you don't know, just feel your pockets and you'll know," the boy pointed to Du Lei's pocket, speaking with full confidence, which made Du Lei find it even more absurd and laughable.

"I don't understand what you're saying at all. As for my pocket, that's nonsense." Du Lei scoffed at this. Apart from bringing him bad luck, the boy in front of him hadn't brought him any good luck. As for the pocket, that was utter nonsense.

But when Du Lei subconsciously reached for his pocket, he froze.

"What is this thing and when did it come about?" Du Lei reached into his pocket and found a ring-shaped object. It looked completely black in the moonlight, and he didn't know what it was made of. It seemed to be a bracelet, but he didn't remember having one.

Something that didn't belong to him ended up in his pocket, and then the other party came to his door demanding it back. He carefully recalled the details of the incident last night when this guy bumped into him in the hallway.

"That expression, buddy, you finally remembered? So, it's about time to return it to its rightful owner, isn't it?" The boy stared intently at the bracelet in Du Lei's hand. Last night, when he was being chased in Maple Tower, he knew that he had nowhere to run.

The only way to avoid being caught was to prove that the other party had the wrong person, which meant that he absolutely could not carry that item on him. However, he couldn't leave empty-handed. When he met Du Lei and Nuonuo, he decided to ask Du Lei to help him bring the item out.

So, without Dure's knowledge, he used the bump to slip the item into Dure's pocket. Dure had been busy since last night and hadn't paid any attention to this detail. In fact, given Dure's cautious nature, he shouldn't have missed something like this.

The only explanation for the current situation is that the other party was too fast, so fast that he didn't even notice their movements.

"Returning the item to its rightful owner," Du Lei held the bracelet in his hand, its surface reflecting an eerie color under the moonlight.

"Of course, I went to great lengths to get this, so of course it has to be returned to me. What, buddy, you're not planning to double-cross me, are you?" The young man smiled at Du Lei and slowly walked towards him. Du Lei immediately assumed a defensive stance.

"You stole this from the auction, right? Even if it's returned to its rightful owner, it shouldn't be given back to you." Du Lei frowned. The scene of him being intercepted last night was still vivid in his mind. The reason why the other party was willing to offend the customer was because an important item had been stolen.

"Sure, sure, just give it to me, and I'll return it to those guys." The boy stopped three meters away from Dure. It wasn't that he didn't want to go any further, but he knew that if he closed the distance any further, Dure would definitely attack him.

"You went to great lengths to steal these things from Maple Tower, would you really be so kind as to return them?" Du Lei was skeptical.

"What, buddy? You're not so noble as to think you can return it yourself, are you? Have you forgotten how they treated you yesterday? They deliberately obstructed you, and your companion almost lost his life. Besides, you were treated as a suspect yesterday. What will they think if you take the item back with you?"

The boy didn't take Dure's words seriously; his description was very precise, and every sentence hit Dure's weak points.

"Were you just watching from the sidelines in the crowd yesterday?" The boy's words only fueled Du Lei's anger. While he was furious at the auction house's actions, the boy in front of him was clearly the one who started it all.

"Well, I may have indeed caused you trouble, brothers. How about this, I'll give you some appropriate compensation. What do you think?" The boy hesitated for a moment before throwing a bag over.

"This is a crystal card. Where did you get it?" Du Lei took the bag and was surprised to see what was inside, because it was Maple Leaf Academy's hard currency. Based on what the boy had done yesterday, he couldn't help but suspect how he obtained the crystal card.

"You don't need to worry about where I got it. Hey buddy, why do you have to care about such details? As long as you get the benefits, that's all that matters. In this day and age, don't try to be a good person. Getting the benefits for yourself is the right thing to do." The boy avoided mentioning the source of the crystal card.

“What you said seems to make a lot of sense,” Dure hesitated for a moment, looking as if he was deep in thought.

"Right, right? I can tell you're a reasonable person. You get the benefit, I get the benefit, we're all happy, isn't that a great thing?" The boy beamed with joy when he saw that Du Lei was showing signs of relenting.

“Then only one question remains,” Du Lei said slowly.

"Whatever the problem, brother, whatever you need, just let me know. There's nothing I can't solve." The other party was in a great mood.

"What can you do to me if I don't give it to you?" Dure looked at him with half-closed eyes.

246. Each gets what they need.

Du Lei and Nono left halfway through the auction, so he didn't know what was auctioned next or what the bracelet in his hand was. However, he was certain that the other party had gone to great lengths to get his hands on it.

This means that this item is definitely not simple, and the other party gave him dozens of crystal cards. It would be a lie to say that he wasn't tempted. You know, back in the snowy mountains, Du Lei dug up every single dead person buried in the ice and snow.

However, he didn't believe what the other party said at all. He was a vengeful person, and he hadn't forgotten the trouble that the boy in front of him had caused him yesterday, especially since Nono's condition had been extremely bad. He had no reason to ignore this matter because of a mere crystal card.

"Hahahaha." Right after Du Lei finished speaking, the boy suddenly burst into laughter, clutching his stomach.

"What's so funny?" Du Lei stared at the boy of unknown origin, ready for him to rush over at any moment. Yesterday at Maple Tower, firstly, Nono's condition was not optimistic, and secondly, he was surrounded by so many people in a cramped environment, so he had no choice but to compromise.

But now, not only is there a wide view nearby, but it's just the two of them. Under these circumstances, Du Lei will definitely not back down.

"Sorry, sorry, buddy, I couldn't help myself, hahaha." The boy said, still laughing.

"So, have you laughed enough?" Du Lei reprimanded sternly.

"Dude, have you even figured this out?" After a few seconds, the boy finally straightened his expression and stopped laughing.

"What is it?" Du Lei asked warily, watching his every move.

"Since I was able to leave the things with you and find you, it naturally means that I can get them back. You don't naively think that I can't even deal with an ordinary person like you who doesn't even have magic power, do you?" The boy finally stopped smiling and revealed his ferocious fangs.

"Whether I can handle it or not, I have to try," Du Lei decided to teach the other party a lesson. But just then, the boy who was right under his nose suddenly disappeared into thin air, which surprised Du Lei.

"Too slow, too slow, buddy. You're supposed to be a member of Maple Leaf Academy, how come you haven't even learned the most basic Swift Step technique? That's really disappointing." The voice came from behind Du Lei, who immediately reached out to grab it, but missed.

"I'm truly sorry to disappoint you." Dure didn't panic just because he was slower than his opponent. In fact, he had expected this, because someone who could steal something from the heavily guarded Maple Tower and leave so many guards helpless was definitely not an ordinary person.

"Since you know you can't beat me, why do you still do this, buddy? You don't look like a fool, so why would you do something so stupid? So, what did you get?" The boy said smugly. He knew from the first glance that Du Lei was nothing special.

It was precisely because of Du Lei's ordinariness that he was able to put the item on Du Lei at the crucial moment. In fact, if Nono hadn't suddenly gotten into trouble and Du Lei hadn't been in a hurry to leave, he wouldn't have been targeted by the guards. This was a miscalculation on the part of the boy, but in the end, he managed to get away with it.

After Du Lei left, he followed him closely. After figuring out that Du Lei was a member of Maple Leaf Academy, he infiltrated the academy. He had even inquired about everything related to Du Lei during the day. Only when he was sure it was time to make his move did he appear in front of Du Lei.

But just as he was about to get the unknown bracelet from Du Lei's hand, he saw Du Lei suddenly reveal a cunning smile. The bracelet, which had already slipped from his grasp and was clearly within his hands, seemed to have grown legs and flew back towards Du Lei.

Du Lei, who was initially leaning backward, regained his balance instantly. He quickly raised his arm and aimed at the boy. With a "whoosh," something flew towards him. The whole process was so fast that it gave him no time to catch his breath.

"That was close, that was close! I almost lost my life just now. Dude, you're aiming for my life, isn't that a bit too much? And the reason why the cursed bracelet is like this is because..." The boy recalled the attack just now, still feeling lingering fear. He had been a bit careless.

But he was already on high alert; he didn't want to be defeated here. As for the moment when the bracelet suddenly flew towards Du Lei, he finally noticed that there was a thread tied to the bracelet. It was hard to see clearly due to the light, but it was definitely there.

Du Lei deliberately threw the bracelet out to attract his attention, and then, just as he was about to get his hands on it, he pulled the bracelet back with the silk thread in his hand. At the same time, he took out a hidden miniature crossbow and fired it at him, catching him off guard.

"So it's called the Cursed Bracelet?" Dure pondered the name.

"No, there shouldn't be any threads on the cursed bracelet. I didn't see you wrapping any threads around it just now. Also, you just came out of the library. Why would a normal person carry something like that with them when they go to the library?" The boy was still very indignant despite having just suffered a loss.

But he quickly realized something was wrong. He noticed that the crossbow in Dure's hand was only the size of a palm, much smaller than a regular crossbow. It was obviously modified, and such a miniature thing would be hard to spot even if hidden in clothing.

"Looks like you're not too stupid after all." Du Lei repeated exactly what the boy had said earlier.

"No, no, something must have gone wrong. You knew I would come to find you today, you knew you had a bracelet hidden in your pocket, and you deliberately chose this secluded road to lure me in." The boy connected all the discordant elements and sorted out his thoughts.

He quickly came to a shocking conclusion. He had thought he had just encountered an ordinary person and that he could easily get his hands on the things he had painstakingly retrieved from the Maple Tower. But now it seemed that things were not so simple.

He actually picked an incredible role; he's clearly been tricked.

"So you finally realized that, huh? Heh heh. Before I even made a move, you've already fallen to this state, Du Lei. It seems he's not as powerful as you made him out to be." At this moment, a voice rang out from behind the boy, which startled him.

The boy immediately turned his head to look, and saw that someone was already standing behind him, completely cutting off his escape route.

247 That's despicable.

To some extent, the boy did not choose the wrong person. Du Lei did take the item out of Maple Tower, and he had been watching over Nono all night. He did not notice anything in the pocket. In fact, even if he had noticed, most people's reactions would have been one of two things.

One possibility is that he knew the value of the bracelet and took it for himself, but the boy could completely rule out this possibility, because when he bumped into Dure, the auction was in progress. If he knew about the cursed bracelet, he would definitely have waited for it to appear as the final item in the auction.

I would never wander around outside during the height of an auction.

Another reason is that people don't know the value of the bracelet. Usually, people wouldn't pay much attention to something that just appears out of nowhere. Based on the boy's judgment, Du Lei belongs to the second category, which is actually confirmed by Du Lei's previous reactions.

However, as events unfolded, the boy realized he had been too naive; he had been completely fooled. It was a trap. Dure had used himself as bait to lure him out, and once he revealed himself, they would block his escape routes, forcing him into a corner.

"It's just one more clueless guy. You don't actually think I'm afraid of you just because of that." Although the boy realized that the situation was not good for him, he still refused to back down and believed that he still had a chance of winning.

"Hey, hey, don't you understand the situation? Who are you calling a blockhead?" Lance was enraged by his words and immediately rushed over aggressively. Although he didn't know what kind of entanglement Dure and the boy in front of him had last night, he only needed to know one thing.

That this guy is Dure's rival, that's enough.

"Charging over so recklessly, isn't that just foolish? He's really strong." The boy originally wanted to confront Lance head-on, but he quickly realized that Lance's strength was astonishing. A head-on confrontation was not a wise choice, so he had no choice but to dodge.