Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

“I understand the general situation.” Isaac tapped the table with his pen. “However, you haven’t mentioned your brother, Ashley Clayton.”

"Um..." Julia hesitated for a moment, "I wanted to ask, how is my brother doing now?"

“That’s good. Although I hit him a bit too hard, he’s been taken to the hospital and is fine now,” Isaac said. “Now tell me about Ashley.”

Julia hesitated for a moment before saying, "My brother has always taken good care of me. After our parents were attacked, he took our parents' research data and helped me escape. However, I fainted during the escape, which is why we were discovered. My brother escaped to Amestris, and you know what happened after that."

"Ah."

Isaac nodded and looked at the notes in his hand.

The conclusion that can be drawn is that the alchemy they possessed was researched and invented by the Claytons, and both siblings used a portion of it. Julia, as the younger sister, had a rudimentary grasp of it, while Ashley possessed the vast majority of the research materials.

More importantly, the country of Clayta seems to have also mastered alchemy because of the Claytons.

Isaac has now labeled Cletta as a country that must be destroyed.

“Um…” Julia suddenly asked weakly.

"what happened?"

"Could I see my brother? I'm very worried about his condition."

“No rush, I have one last question.” Isaac closed his notebook and smiled at Julia.

"what?"

She always felt that Isaac's smile was somewhat malicious.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a personal matter," Isaac laughed. "Are you and Ashley siblings?"

“Of course,” Julia said, somewhat puzzled.

"Do you remember when I brought you to Tep City and took your blood sample?"

"Um……"

Julia nodded and said that as soon as they returned to Tep City, Isaac not only ordered Ashley to be sent to the hospital and placed under strict guard, but also had someone draw her blood. At that time, she did not know what had happened.

Isaac handed the document on the table to Julia: "Take a look."

Julia opened the document and began to read. It contained information about Ashley and Julia's blood samples, but the last sentence made her pupils shrink instantly.

"This...this is impossible."

The document clearly stated: 'A comparison of the DNA sequences of the two individuals determined that they are not related by blood.'

Are you surprised?

"That can't be, my brother and I should be siblings, since Mom and Dad have never said anything about it..."

“The test results are right in front of you, that’s a fact,” Isaac said. “At first I thought your parents were just deliberately hiding this information, but then I discovered something interesting.”

"Something interesting?"

Isaac pointed to his chin. "Didn't you notice that your 'brother' has a noticeable injury on his chin?"

Julia recalled that her brother did indeed have a noticeable scar around his chin after he returned.

"Wasn't this left behind during the attack by the Cleta army?"

"But from my observation, his scars were not left by an attack, but by being forcibly stitched up using alchemy."

"What!?" Julia looked at Isaac in disbelief.

At that moment, a terrifying thought popped into her mind.

At that moment, Isaac said, "Have you ever thought that your brother has been dead for a long time, and this person peeled off your brother's face and sewed it onto his own face?"

"The purpose is to get close to you and obtain the sacred artifact of the Milos clan through you."

Chapter 350: The Marleyan Empire

“Brother… is dead…” Julia’s eyes were lifeless.

The contrast between the joy of reunion and the shock of being told that the returning Ashley was an imposter brings a young girl to the brink of mental collapse.

“We can’t be sure if they’re dead or not, but normally they would choose to silence them to cover up the truth,” Isaac said.

Julia was speechless for a moment.

After a long pause, she looked up at Isaac again. "I want to confirm my brother's identity in person."

"Suit yourself, but I haven't settled accounts with you for sneaking into Tep City without permission," Isaac said calmly. "Also, don't bother looking for your clan's 'Holy Star,' it's pointless."

"Why? This is the key to the restoration of Milos!" Julia shouted.

"Are you stupid? Whether it's Cleta or Amestolis, which country would just stand by and watch you restore your kingdom?"

"With the Holy Star, even the combined might of these two nations cannot stop us!"

"madness."

Isaac spread his hands, and red electricity gathered in them, illuminating the entire interrogation room.

A red gem appeared in his hand.

"This...this is..."

“I heard a description from a Cleta spy before. This is the ‘Holy Star,’ or as Amestris puts it, the Philosopher’s Stone,” Isaac said. “This thing is already being mass-produced in our country. Even if you go through all the trouble to obtain the Holy Star, it won’t be of much use to you.”

"How could this be..."

Through their continuous efforts and numerous sacrifices, this is the result their clan has ultimately achieved.

Julia closed her eyes in pain, feeling as if she could barely breathe.

“So stop thinking about unrealistic things all day. Calm down here for a few days, and we’ll send you back to the bottom of the valley soon,” Isaac said. “I’ll go interrogate that imposter.”

After Isaac finished speaking, he walked out of the interrogation room, leaving Julia alone with her head down.

"What have we been working so hard for all this time...?"

--------

After a lot of hard work, Edward finally managed to repair the platform and tracks.

Shortly after he left, a train arrived in Tep, and a cockroach-headed man in a white suit stepped off.

“Long time no see, Kimberly,” Isaac said with a smile.

It has been half a year since the incident with the man in the bottle. Isaac had heard from Olivia that Kimberly was on the western border, not far from Tep City, so he came to find him.

“Long time no see, Brigadier General Isaac. It’s a pleasure to see you still alive,” Kimberly said with a smile. “What brings you here today?”

“Yes, some petty thugs are trying to cause trouble in Tep City, and we also need to investigate some things,” Isaac said. “By the way, since you’re on the western border, do you know anything about the situation in Cleta?”

"It's the same as always. They haven't made any moves, and they haven't even concentrated their forces there," Kimberly replied. "Although they declared war on us, they have no intention of starting a war at all."

"This is really a strange phenomenon."

Logically, given Amestris's situation of being besieged on three sides, if Cleta had chosen to send troops before Isaac's return, the country would be under immense pressure. However, the fact that only a small number of troops have been deployed despite declaring war is rather intriguing.

“My spies have brought back some information on this,” Kimberly said.

"Oh?"

“To the west of Cleta, there are several small countries that have formed a union,” Kimberly said, reaching into his pocket as if searching for something.

"Really? You mean they're going to war with the allied small countries?"

“On the contrary, they are protecting those smaller countries,” Kimberly said. “The reason is that to their west, there is a much more powerful country.”

"Further west...you mean the Marleyan Empire?" Isaac remembered.

I've seen that country on a map before. It's not very big, but it's extremely powerful, second only to Amestris and the New Kingdom.

“That’s right, that’s the country.” Kimberly said, pulling a photograph out of his pocket. “Take a look at this. He only managed to take one picture.”

"Huh? What's this?"

Isaac took the photo. It was a black and white photograph, but the burning buildings and damaged weapons were clearly visible. In the center of the photo was a very strange-looking monkey.

"monkey?"

"This isn't an ordinary monkey. Look at the buildings next to it, and you'll see that this 'monkey' is at least fifteen to seventeen meters tall." Kimberly looked at the photo with a sigh. "Without a doubt, it would be quite terrifying as a weapon."

"That's really impressive," Isaac said with a smile, looking at the photo. "Is this monkey very powerful?"

“The combined naval fleet of the small nations has been completely destroyed, and their armored forces on land are almost wiped out,” Kimberly replied. “The Cleta side intervened to protect them because they understand the principle of ‘if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold.’”

"I see. No wonder they hesitated to take action after declaring war."

"Then what do we do? Just leave them alone?" Kimberly asked.

“How could that be? To attack Cleta directly after resolving the situation in Tep City?” Isaac sneered. “Since war is inevitable, then let’s strike first.”

“Hahaha, it’s so good to see you back,” Kimberly laughed. “Nothing happened at the border, I was just standing by. My body was practically rusting.”

“Alright, now that you’re here, just help me investigate the situation in Tep City. I’ll show you my newly developed bomb then,” Isaac laughed. “The location will be within Cleta.”

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Isaac put away the photos and led Kimberly into the city.

"By the way, what exactly was the combat strength of that monkey we just talked about?"

"According to the intelligence from our spies, those small countries are basically powerless to fight back. However, they will suddenly disappear after appearing for a period of time," Kimberly recalled the information he had been told before.

"Would feeding it bananas even help? It's just a monkey anyway."

"I don't know, anyway, nobody's tried it."

boom--

A loud bang was heard, and the hospital in Tep was engulfed in flames.

"What's going on?" Kimberly asked, frowning.

Isaac, however, revealed a smug smile: "So, which fugitive finally made his move?"

Chapter 351: The Traitor

"Damn it, thank goodness we escaped." Ashley said hatefully, looking at the smoking hospital.

After being injured by Isaac, he was covered in bandages. To prevent him from escaping, the transmutation circle on his palm was wiped off, and his hands were placed on either side of his body.

I thought it would be a difficult journey to escape, but I was surprised to be released.