Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"Oh, I'm not hungry."

"Feed me."

"Kid, do you believe I'll burn this box of octopus to your face?"

Isaac silently took the box of takoyaki and picked one up with a toothpick.

"what……"

Tina leaned forward, closed her eyes, and slightly opened her mouth, seemingly waiting for Isaac to put the takoyaki in her mouth.

Then Isaac served the piping hot takoyaki.

He stuffed it into his mouth.

"Huh!?"

“Kid, you have to work hard to earn your own living. I don’t think you understand how cruel this society is,” Isaac said as he chewed.

"Well……"

Tina glared at Isaac, but he remained unmoved.

"Here, eat by yourself. Don't always expect others to feed you." He said, handing the box of takoyaki back to Tina.

"..." Helpless, she had no choice but to eat it slowly with a toothpick.

Perhaps because it was her first time eating this kind of food, she ate very slowly, and the takoyaki kept slipping off her toothpick.

Finally, I finished eating, and my mouth was covered in sauce.

Isaac glanced at it and handed over a stack of tissues.

"Thank you."

Tina wiped her mouth and thanked them.

"Now that you've finished eating, it's about time I left."

Isaac stood up from the bench.

“Mr. Rentaro!” Tina suddenly called out.

"Ok?"

"Thank you," Tina said with a smile. "This is the first time I've been treated like family."

Just then, Tina's cell phone rang in her pocket.

She looked at the caller ID on her phone, and her expression instantly froze.

"I'm sorry, I have something to attend to." Tina gave a forced smile. "I might have to leave first."

"Oh, then you can go. I'm leaving anyway."

Tina bowed to Isaac and quickly left the spot.

In a secluded place, she turned on her phone.

"Hey?"

"Too slow," came Dr. Rand's reprimand over the phone.

"I'm sorry, Master, I just ran into Mr. Rentaro."

The person on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment after hearing this voice.

"I'm here to talk to you about this. The Holy Emperor's client has been found."

"who is it?"

"It's Rentaro Satomi, a police officer from the Tendo Civil Security Company."

"!"

When Tina heard the name, her expression instantly turned to horror, and she covered her mouth.

That's impossible.

She refused to believe it was true.

Chapter 268: The Four Sages

"Then... Mr. Rentaro is..."

"They are our enemies."

Rand's heartless words shattered Tina's last shred of hope.

She couldn't believe that her enemy was the gentle Rentaro Satomi.

"What should I do?" Tina asked in a trembling voice.

“From what I understand, his IP ranking is fifteenth, which is among the world’s top combat power, and his ability to shatter Stage 5 at the cellular level is even more terrifying,” Rand said.

"That……"

"But judging from the previous cases, he is helpless against snipers, as can be seen from your safe departures on the previous occasions."

Although Isaac managed to block the sniper shots in the previous few attempts, he was unable to reach the enemy due to the distance.

"..."

"So, when he's off guard, you can take him down with a sniper rifle from a distance."

"What are my chances of success?" Tina asked.

“10%,” Rand said, uttering a desperate number.

In other words, this plan is almost certainly going to fail.

Tina didn't speak this time, but simply faced Rand in silence.

"Tina, my lovely masterpiece, you're not trying to disobey my orders, are you?"

"Of course not, Master," Tina quickly replied.

Her mistress remained silent, displeased. Tina secretly wiped her sweaty hands with her skirt without being noticed.

"Tina, who is your master? Tell me."

“It’s you, Master… no, Dr. Rand.”

"Whom did you have to thank to survive?"

"It's all thanks to Dr. Rand."

"what do you?"

“It’s your prop, Dr. Rand.”

"...That's enough. What you need to do hasn't changed. I think you understand very well that you can't fail this time."

What if...we fail?

Killing Isaac is practically an impossible task.

"It must succeed. If it fails... then die."

Tina gripped the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands.

"You must kill yourself, so he can't find his way here."

Tina tried to steady her breathing, pressing her hand to her heart and closing her eyes.

Then she suddenly realized that the hand holding the phone had loosened.

Dr. Rand, who was on the other end of the line, did not hear Tina's reply. He frowned in displeasure and said, "And what is your answer?"

"I'll give you a piece of my mind—".

Dr. Rand was startled by the voice coming from the phone; it wasn't Tina's voice, but a man's.

"who are you?"

"It is your beloved old father."

Isaac's answer nearly enraged Dr. Rand, but after forcing himself to calm down, he seemed to have thought of something.

"You are... Rentaro Satomi?"

"Looks like your head isn't completely shut yet. You actually dared to try and get Tina to kill me," Isaac sneered. "As for your identity, I can find out with a simple check."

"..."

"Judging from your area code, it seems to be from the United States or Canada. If it weren't for the visa trouble, I would fly over right now to take your life," Isaac laughed.

"Rentaro Satomi, I've wanted to see you for a long time."

"What a coincidence! I'd also like to see you. Why don't you come to Japan and we can have a good chat?"

"What if I don't come?"

"Then congratulations, you've been spared a miserable life and can barely survive for a while."

Every word Isaac said made him feel his blood pressure rising.

"Where's Tina? Did you kill her?"

"Not yet, I still need to pry information about you out of her."

"..."

"Of course, if you're willing to tell me anything, I'd be happy to listen."

After a moment of silence, the other person said, "Rentaro Satomi, I actually heard of your name ten years ago."

"Oh? I was famous ten years ago?"

“Of course not, but I’ve heard a bit about you, since you’re a mechanized soldier created by that woman, Sumire Muroto,” Rand said.

"You know Dr. Muroto?"

Instead of answering directly, Rand asked, "Mr. Satomi, do you know about the Four Sages?"

"what is that?"

This was the first time Isaac had ever heard this term.