Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

Although he didn't know who it was, he had no choice but to escape from the hospital for the sake of his plan.

“Next, let’s find Julia first,” Ashley said, and dashed toward the interrogation room.

For the sake of our next plan, we must get Julia!

Julia was deep in thought in the interrogation room when she suddenly heard an explosion outside. Just as she was about to turn around, she saw her 'brother' standing behind her.

"elder brother……"

“Julia, I’ve come to save you.” Ashley smiled and reached out his hand to her.

Julia was about to reach out her hand when she immediately remembered what Isaac had told her.

'Your brother is dead. He peeled off your brother's face and sewed it onto your memory's face.'

Looking at Ashley, whose chin was clearly scarred, Julia's eyes flashed with fear, and she slapped his hand away.

"Do not touch me!"

Ashley was also stunned by this scene; he didn't understand why Julia was reacting this way.

"Julia, what's wrong?"

“Brother…” Julia looked up at the person in front of her, “Do you know what you said to me when we left Milos Canyon?”

Ashley was taken aback, and stammered, "How could I possibly remember something from so long ago?"

"Do you remember when we were at the bottom of the valley, scavenging together outside..."

“Julia, I don’t want to bring up the past.” ’Ashura’ grabbed Julia’s shoulder. “Our main task now is to seize the Holy Star and then revitalize the Milos race.”

Julia shook her head and backed away step by step.

"No, you're not my brother. Who are you?"

Upon hearing this, Ashley knew what had happened. His feignedly kind face changed, becoming treacherous and ruthless.

"You've already discovered it?"

"Who are you?! What happened to my brother?!" Julia shouted, retreating to the corner. "You killed my brother, didn't you?!"

"Hmph, so what if you know?" Ashley laughed loudly, stretching his palm forward.

The electric current struck Julia, knocking her unconscious.

Carrying the unconscious Julia on his back, 'Ashley' headed towards the center of Tep City.

--------------

Isaac and Kimberly rushed to the hospital after hearing the explosion, where they encountered Soins, who was also there with his troops.

"It's terrible! Brigadier General Isaac, the fugitive has escaped." Soins' face was filled with anxiety.

"Oh, where did you run off to?"

"It looks like the direction of the interrogation room," Soins said hastily.

“I see, the interrogation room.” Isaac nodded, then looked at Soins and asked, “Why did he go to the interrogation room?”

“Of course it’s to save that female fugitive…” Soins said, then suddenly paused.

Isaac then laughed: "I see, so he knew where Julia was. The question is, how did he know Julia was in the Sermon Room?"

"This……"

Feeling somewhat frightened by Isaac's fierce gaze, Soins began to stutter.

“I’ve been thinking about this ever since I arrived here. There are not only Cleta’s spies here, but also Milos’s Black Bats, yet you haven’t sent troops from Central City. Instead, you say you can handle it yourself. This is very strange to me.”

"I……"

"Now that I think about it, there's only one answer." Isaac smiled as he looked at Soins, whose face was gradually turning terrified. "You want the Holy Star too, right? But since you can't find it yourself, you have to use these terrorists to help you find it."

Soins couldn't hold out any longer. He frantically tried to explain, "That's not how it is... Although I did use them, I did it for the country. I wanted to obtain the Holy Star and then offer it to..."

"Then why not just report the information directly?"

"..."

Soins knew that things had been exposed and there was no room for maneuver, so his face turned ruthless.

“You forced me to do this, Brigadier General Isaac.”

"Oh?"

As soon as Soins raised his hand, several soldiers instantly raised their guns and aimed at Isaac and Kimberly.

“I can’t let things get out, so I’ll have to leave you here.” Soins saw that the two men were surrounded and a sly smile of triumph spread across his face. “A brigadier general and his men were killed in action in the fight against terrorists. I’ll just report that.”

Isaac and Kimberly were both taken aback for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha, Isaac, who is this guy? He's very interesting."

"Pathetic stupidity," Isaac said, covering his face with a laugh.

Soins felt a chill run down his spine when he saw their reaction, sensing something was wrong: "What are you laughing at!?"

"Laugh at your ignorance, you fool." Isaac's smile gradually turned sinister. "Originally, you knew about the terrorists but failed to report them, which would have only put you in jail for a few years at most. Now that you're pointing a gun at your superior, you're basically doomed."

"What!?"

"And do you think you have enough men to deal with a State Alchemist?"

As he spoke, Kimberly, who was standing next to Isaac, had already put his hands together in front of his chest.

boom!

The location where the soldiers were standing suddenly exploded, and all the men who had been pointing their guns at Isaac were blown away.

The smoke and dust in the air made Soins cough.

"Cough cough!"

"Major Soins, this is the last time I will address you as that."

Isaac pushed through the smoke and walked up to Soins, placing his hand on Soins' head amidst Soins' fearful gaze.

"No... wait..."

Just then, the entire city of Tep suddenly began to shake.

All the residents held onto the wall.

As time went on, a bright red light appeared on the ground.

"This is……"

Cold sweat began to bead on Kimberly's forehead, but he couldn't hide the maniacal smile on his face.

“Yes, it is undoubtedly one of those forged from the land,” Isaac said.

He had sensed something was amiss when he discovered that Tep City was circular, but he never imagined it was already connected to the Transmutation Circle. Although it didn't possess the power of the Miniatures in a Bottle or Isaac, where standing on the circle would drain one's soul, it was undoubtedly used to forge the Philosopher's Stone.

"Tsk, I'm never coming to a round place like this again."

Isaac looked around and spotted a tower glowing red. He picked up Thorins, who was lying on the ground screaming, and he and Kimberly headed towards it.

Chapter 352: A Five-Year Conspiracy

Several years ago.

Julia was still an innocent little girl.

She lived in the valley with her parents and her brother. Although life was tough, it was still fulfilling.

One day, a fire broke out at the bottom of the valley, and soldiers from Cleta, dressed in green military uniforms, arrived at the bottom of the valley.

Their arrival terrified the people at the bottom of the valley. But her father, along with his family, approached them, carrying a book she had never seen before.

A leading Cleta officer, upon seeing her father's book, slightly changed his expression and said in a deep voice, "Yes, the research facility is ready. We are now preparing to proceed to Cleta."

As he said this, he turned to look at his two subordinates.

"Lieutenant Atolas, Sergeant Raul, this is Dr. Clayton and his family. Please take good care of them."

"Yes!"

Before long, the family was led into an elevator that would take them into Cleta.

Julia, unaware of what was happening, stared blankly at her parents, then at the silent Cleta soldiers beside her, and asked curiously, "Dad, Mom, where are we going? Aren't we going home?"

The Claytons remained silent.

After a long pause, her father spoke first:

"Sorry, they will understand us someday."

Her father's tone was filled with sorrow and reluctance, and Julia was momentarily unsure who the "they" he was referring to were.

Then, as the elevator slowly ascended, she looked out through the glass window and witnessed a scene she will never forget.

As they left the valley floor, the inhabitants, also trying to escape the fire, were mercilessly shot dead by Cleta soldiers during their flight. Blood stained the ground.

That's when she learned that her father had traded his research data for the opportunity to live in Cleta, while the others in the valley were not so lucky and were shot dead on the spot as illegal immigrants during their escape.

------

Back to the present, Julia slowly awakens from her coma.

She found herself on a tall tower, the structure of which resembled a prison.

"here it is……"

“You’re awake.” Ashley smiled at her from the side.

Then she remembered that she had been knocked unconscious by the person in front of her in the interrogation room, and that she had woken up in this place.

"You're not my brother! Who are you?!" Julia shouted. "Where is my brother now?"

"Oh? You're asking who I am?" 'Ashley' seemed to have heard an amusing question, and covered his face to laugh loudly, "Hahahaha, that's right, this face really won't make you recognize me now."

As he spoke, he slowly moved closer to Julia, who retreated in fear.

“I’ve been waiting for this day ever since I overheard your parents’ conversation.” Ashley sneered as he looked at the girl who looked terrified. “It started when I was in charge of escorting that filthy family of scholars who escaped from the bottom of the valley.”

The person responsible for escorting them?

Julia finally remembered and stared in shock at the person in front of her who looked exactly like her brother.