Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

Isaac took the test paper and glanced at it; it seemed to be an essay. The topic was 'Dreams for the Future'.

As the exam papers were passed around, the students looked at each other, clearly puzzled.

One of them cautiously raised their hand to ask a question on behalf of everyone:

"Teacher, what does 'dream for the future' mean?"

"It refers to what you want to do or the profession you want to pursue in the future."

"What does the teacher want to do in the future?"

The children's eyes were all fixed on Isaac.

“Of course, I want to become the president,” Isaac replied without hesitation.

Everyone took it as a joke; Japan doesn't have a president.

The children all looked disheartened. It seemed they had never heard an adult make such a request before.

For them, simply surviving might be a luxury, let alone having dreams.

Then a rustling sound came from below. Looking at the children, he found that they were not looking at Isaac at all, but were wholeheartedly writing furiously on their test papers with their pencils.

Seeing how attentive his classmates were, Isaac shifted his gaze from them to the giant stone monument outside the window.

In three days, the monolith will collapse, and at the same time, Isaac will carry out his plan.

The police officers recruited by Isaac are currently on standby at 'Flame of Return', and there's nowhere for them to be used for the time being.

Everything will have to wait until three days later.

Just then, Yeonju shouted, "I'm done!" and stood up, eagerly handing the exam paper to Isaac.

I glanced at it and saw that it said, "My dream is to marry Rentaro and kiss him every day." The handwriting was clumsy and ugly. Below the exam paper was an illustration of a strangely shaped monster with an oddly swollen face staring at me with sunken round eyes.

It seemed that this monster was himself. Isaac thought to himself.

Seeing Yeonju's excited eyes, Isaac didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Just then, someone else said, "It's finished." It turned out that Tina had gotten up and handed in her exam paper.

Upon closer inspection, it read, "My future dream is to marry my brother and kiss him as much as I want every day."

Looking up at Tina, Tina blushed shyly and shrank her neck.

"No, is it not allowed?"

Looking at Enju, who was gazing at him expectantly, and Tina, who was blushing shyly, Isaac smiled warmly, placed his hand on their heads, and said in a gentle voice:

"Identical papers, all scored 0 points."

"Eh!!!"

Chapter 303: The Problem

All the exam papers were collected.

Isaac glanced at what they had written; some wanted to be idols, some wanted to be nurses, and some wanted to travel the world. These were all very common dreams.

Of course, half of the test papers contained statements like "[I want to marry my teacher]".

Isaac now suspects that these kids have been cheating right under his nose.

If so, then it must be acknowledged that they possess the talent to be spies.

As he put the exam paper into his briefcase, he turned around and saw Kisara's resentful gaze.

"What's wrong, boss?"

"Satomi, you're really popular with kids."

"what?"

"Never mind." Kisara didn't dwell on the topic. "What do you plan to do with those police officers from 'Flame of Return' now?"

The large-scale departure of police officers from the Self-Defense Forces' command system was a disastrous event for the Third Battle of Kwantung, although the Self-Defense Forces were completely unconcerned and always believed it was not a big problem.

However, experienced police officers had already realized that the current situation was far from optimistic.

Mugen didn't believe Isaac would do anything pointless; she always thought that his decision to concentrate the police in the rear was very useful.

“My goal is to prevent them from getting involved in the Third Battle of Kwantung,” Isaac said.

"what?"

“The police won’t gain anything even if they win, so let them lose, and then we’ll turn the tide. That way, our status as police officers will rise,” Isaac laughed. “It’s time for the public to know who is protecting them.”

"..."

Kisara sighed softly. She understood that the person before her was different from the former Rentaro Satomi. But he was also the one who made this vengeful demon feel the most familiar.

"Satomi, could you come with me somewhere in a bit?"

“Okay,” Isaac nodded.

After school, out of sight of others, Isaac used alchemy to create a motorcycle. Having learned a great deal about this world, his application of alchemy became increasingly skillful.

Where are we going?

"Megalith No. 32".

"okay."

With Kisara on board, they revved the engine and sped off into the distance with a roar.

After riding for about twenty minutes, we could already see the Self-Defense Force facilities at the forefront.

This unit is probably an infantry brigade, a unit primarily composed of infantry. The number of personnel can only be estimated based on the size of the facility, but it is probably around six thousand.

Armored vehicles and tanks are arranged horizontally, along with missile silos. The sentries are armed with Type 21 rifles from Sima Heavy Industries.

They are well-equipped and their morale appears to be very high. This is the overall combat capability of the Self-Defense Forces…

I rode my bike inside and arrived at the giant stone monument. Suddenly, there was no one around. Perhaps the cordon was set up to prevent people from being injured by the debris and dust from the collapsing monument.

The massive stone monument that once stood guard over the Tokyo area was bleached and polluted within just a few days, leaving it looking dilapidated. The sight of such a desolate state is chilling, and it's only natural that one wouldn't want to be affected by the collapsing monument.

Isaac stopped 20 meters in front of the monolith and said to the car next to him, "We're here."

Kisara took off her helmet and shook her head, her beautiful, shiny black hair falling to her waist even in the darkness. She said, "Thank you for your hard work," and strode towards the megalith.

Isaac followed.

Kisara arrived at the base of the megalith, approached it from the side secured by iron hoops, and reached out to touch the megalith.

This was also Isaac's first time getting up close to this towering holmium stone monument. Out of curiosity, Isaac touched it as well.

It felt very loose. Like withered leaves that could be easily crushed. Isaac moved his palm up and down, and the surface of the megalith peeled off, the fragments piling up at his feet.

The megalith is really about to collapse.

"It's truly pathetic. Although it hasn't corroded the interior yet, the holmium corrosive fluid can still turn holmium into this state," Mu said in a lower voice.

She looked at Isaac and saw him peeling the whitened material off the stone tablet.

"What are you doing, Satomi?"

“For research purposes.” Isaac put the scraps he had removed into a test tube.

Ignoring Isaac's actions, Kisara took two steps back, looked up at the massive black stone monument, and said:

"Hey, Satomi, do you know how the megaliths were built?"

“Although I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, I’ve heard that the megaliths were assembled by bringing the parts to the construction site and then piecing them together,” Isaac said, but a look of doubt appeared in his eyes. “That’s what they say, but I can’t see a single gap.”

"Japan's megaliths are among the world's most precise," Kisara said confidently.

As she spoke, she held up one finger: "If this No. 32 megalithic monument were to collapse, the first step in the project would be to quickly pile up a 100-meter-high metal block. This would keep ordinary Gastrea out. The next month would be spent gradually accumulating the height, eventually reaching the target of 1.6 kilometers. The megalithic monument at the end of the Gastrea War wasn't this tall at first."

Isaac nodded; he had done his research on this aspect of history.

However, he immediately noticed a problem.

"I remember the Holy Emperor said that he would soon build a giant stone monument."

“Yes.” Kisara nodded.

"Then why did they choose this time? If Aldebaran hadn't been defeated when the megalith was built, it would still be eroded again... Wait a minute!"

Isaac finally discovered the problem.

Why did Aldebaran specifically choose to erode Monolith 32, instead of others? If it truly possessed the ability to erode monoliths, creating multiple breaches would have been far more effective than targeting only one.

“It seems you’ve already discovered the problem,” Kisara said with a smile. “I’m currently investigating this issue as well.”

Isaac also lowered his head and began to think.

The first possibility is that Aldebaran was rather stupid, but that's obviously nonsense. Gastrea at stage three and above already possessed a certain level of intelligence.

The second possibility is that Aldebaran needed to make adjustments after attacking the megalith.

But it has been far too long; several days have passed since the incident occurred.

So the last possibility is...

“Someone has tampered with this megalith,” Isaac blurted out.

"Huh? Is that even possible?"

Mogen didn't expect Isaac to come to this conclusion.

“This is the only plausible possibility at the moment,” Isaac said.

"But there are Self-Defense Forces patrolling near each of the megaliths... Could it have been done by the Self-Defense Forces?"

"Unlikely. It wouldn't benefit the Self-Defense Forces to do this, unless they were instigated, or..."

Isaac frowned:

"There were problems with the construction of this megalith."

Chapter 304: The Gradually Paralyzed Tokyo District

"Satomi, now that you mention it, it is indeed possible."

Kisara pinched his chin, thinking. If that were the case, then the problem was serious.

Problems with buildings like this, which are vital to the lives of everyone in Tokyo, are not something that can be easily resolved.