Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"You ate that Philosopher's Stone back then, didn't you?"

"..."

He looked at Isaac in surprise, wondering how he knew.

"The moment you eat the Philosopher's Stone, your heart is very likely to be devoured by that stone. After all, it is a stone made from human souls, so it is normal for this to happen."

"So what if you find out?"

"Of course that's how it is."

Isaac placed his hand on Ashley's head, and red lightning covered his head.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

This was already the umpteenth time he had screamed in agony.

The moment Isaac grabbed his head, he felt immense pain; it was a pain that pierced his very soul.

"vomit!"

He couldn't help but vomit, and a tiny, red-glowing gem was expelled onto the ground along with his stomach acid.

"This is……"

Ashley stared in surprise at the Philosopher's Stone he had spat out; his previously cloudy eyes were now much clearer.

The Philosopher's Stone is a product forged from human souls. Once it enters someone's body, that person must endure the wails of the person being forged. The greater the amount of Philosopher's Stone, the more pronounced this effect will be.

Ashley is a typical example of someone whose soul was wailing in despair, unable to bear it any longer, which led to his mind being controlled.

Of course, there are also people who are completely unaffected by this, such as Hohenheim, who communicates with the millions of souls in his body one by one, and Isaac, who directly erases the remaining consciousness of his soul.

Having escaped the control of the Philosopher's Stone, Ashley once again looked at the canyon gradually being filled with lava.

"This can't go on, we have to save them," Ashley said, contradicting what he had said before.

“Alright, I’ll handle the lava.” Isaac grabbed Ashley, who was about to rush forward. “Now you have to answer one question for me.”

"what?"

"Do you want to stay in the Cleta army?" Isaac asked.

This question concerns whether I should just stab him to death later.

Ashley shook his head and said, "No, there's no point in staying there any longer. All I want to do is create a place where Julia and I can live in peace."

"Ah, very good."

Isaac pulled the knife from his leg and sheathed it as Isaac winced in pain.

“I can help you solve your problems, and I can even fix your face,” Isaac laughed. “But before that, you have to do a few things.”

"what's up?"

Isaac held up two fingers: "First, you must hand over your parents' research data to us, and you yourself must be under military surveillance for the next few years."

"This... is no problem."

“Secondly, you served in the Cleta army, so you know what it’s like there.” Isaac’s smile suddenly turned sinister.

"Uh, yes."

"Please tell me the locations of all their research institutes or facilities related to alchemy. I'll send them a big gift."

Chapter 357: Lack of Money is the Real Problem

The next morning.

A gentle breeze blew into the hospital room, and Ashley slowly opened his eyes.

“You’re awake.” Isaac sat down beside him and smiled. “The sex reassignment surgery was very successful.”

"Please don't make such tasteless jokes, Brigadier General Isaac." Ashley sighed, rubbing his head in exasperation.

Then he noticed a young girl lying next to his bed; it was his sister, Julia.

She's been by his bedside ever since he entered the hospital yesterday. As for why Ashley was in the hospital, one reason was to treat the injuries he sustained from Isaac, and another was that Isaac used the Philosopher's Stone to repair the skin he lost on his face. He needs to rest for a while now.

Ashley touched his face. His face, which had previously only contained muscles and blood vessels, now had skin.

He picked up the mirror beside him. Looking at his face, which had been taken from him when he was young, he was overwhelmed with emotion.

“Alright, stop taking pictures. Nobody’s as handsome as me,” Isaac said. “As agreed, you’ll be going to Central City for trial with those Black Bats. How many years you end up in jail isn’t up to me.”

“I know,” Ashley smiled.

This result is already quite good for him.

Originally, he was controlled by the Philosopher's Stone, which resulted in him burying the valley that raised him and becoming an enemy of his sister whom he had finally reunited with.

Even if you're locked up in prison now, there's always a chance you'll get out again.

He looked at Julia, who was fast asleep beside his bed, with a tender expression.

I still have a chance to start a new life with my sister.

“Now that you’re awake, it’s time to pack up and get going.” Isaac said, pointing to Julia. “Should we wait for her to wake up so we can say goodbye?”

“No, there will be other opportunities in the future,” Ashley laughed. “Right now, I don’t know how to face her.”

"Whatever you say."

"By the way, Brigadier General," Ashley sat up in bed and asked Isaac, "how is the Milos clan doing now?"

He vaguely remembered that the lava had been stopped by Isaac before he was taken to the hospital, and he didn't know what happened after that.

“Oh, them? They’re busy building their nation right now,” Isaac laughed.

"Found a nation?" Ashley asked, his face full of confusion.

In fact, while Isaac was stopping the lava, a group of people used the tunnels they had dug over the years to sneak into Cleta's geothermal plant. Then, a large number of armed Milos poured in, took the plant by surprise, and declared the establishment of a nation.

Although Isaac had promised them a piece of land after taking down Cleta, their actions ultimately backfired and showed Isaac a different side.

The result is that if Clayta wants to target them, none of them will escape.

These people, who had lived their entire lives at the bottom of society, still thought too simply about the founding of the nation.

"Anyway, you can pack your things and we can hit the road," Isaac said as he left the ward.

Ashley got up and changed his clothes, taking one last look at Julia, who was still lying on his hospital bed, and stroking her hair.

"Wait for me to come back, Julia."

Ashley, having prepared everything, left the ward, leaving Julia alone.

Julia slowly opened her eyes and murmured softly:

"What an idiot."

……

Hundreds of Black Bat members, along with Ashley, were escorted onto a train bound for Central City, while Isaac and Violet were also preparing to leave the city of Tepp.

"Kimberly, the orders have come in. It seems that Tep City will be under your jurisdiction until new administrators arrive," Isaac said, summoning Kimberly before leaving.

"That's really a troublesome job. I have absolutely no idea how to manage a city."

“Anyway, the new official will be back soon. Until then, you just need to ensure the safety of this place,” Isaac said, handing a thermos to Kimberly.

"what is this?"

"My newly made bomb has a blast radius of several square kilometers. When you see Cleta's army, just press the button to throw it at them, then run back. It will automatically explode when the time is up."

"This is really a good thing~" Kimberly looked at the thermos in his hand, seemingly eager to test its power right now.

"Then I'll head back now. I should be back soon, by which time it will be the end of Cleta."

"Then I'll look forward to it."

After explaining everything, Isaac and Violet prepared to board the train back to Central City.

--------

In the central city, Olivia was still sitting in her office, overwhelmed by a mountain of documents.

"Sir, I've returned after completing my mission."

Isaac walked straight into the office and sat down opposite Olivia.

"Thank you for your hard work. I've heard about what happened over there. I didn't expect that the Milos people still live on the border with Clayta." Olivia put down her pen after seeing Isaac return.

“I was startled at first, but I still managed to get some important information,” Isaac said. “It seems that some people on Cleta’s side have returned to alchemy and are planning to start research on the Philosopher’s Stone. I’ve also captured the only person who knows the research data.”

Hearing this, Olivia rested her chin on her hands and looked at Isaac: "So what do you think of the current situation?"

“Since Clayta has already declared war on us, I think there’s no need to show any mercy. I’ll just throw a few thermobaric bombs at them to destroy the main military targets and research facilities. If they want to retaliate, we’ll launch a war of annihilation.” Isaac’s eyes became serious as he said this.

“Yes, this plan is indeed feasible, but it’s probably not very realistic to project such a thing into their country,” Olivia said. “Among the plans you gave me before, I remember there were blueprints for manufacturing jet fighters and bombers, right?”

"Yes, I think as long as we have these few things, a place like Clayta will be completely..."

“The idea is good, but it’s very difficult,” Olivia interrupted Isaac.

"Huh? Why? For us alchemists, creating something like this is a piece of cake." Isaac looked at Olivia, puzzled.

Olivia sighed: "Although our core technology in Amestris is alchemy, there are very few people who actually become alchemists. It will be difficult to mass-produce such a groundbreaking weapon."

She continued, "Let's not even talk about airplanes; we might not even be able to build the new tanks you brought back."

"what?"

Olivia picked up a blueprint and frowned, saying, "The manufacturing process for this tank is completely different from our existing tanks. If we replace them all, it means we will need to rebuild our entire domestic armored vehicle maintenance system from scratch. At this stage, our problem is not the upgrading of military equipment."

"That is……"

Olivia's eyes were somewhat deep as she slowly spoke:

"I have no money."

Chapter 358: Isaac Future Technology Co., Ltd.

Amnesty, as one of the few powerful nations in the world comparable to New Zealand, is most notable for its military strength and industrial capabilities. In these two aspects, it can be said that no other country in the world can rival Amnesty.

However, as a country that has only been established for a hundred years, it still has its own shortcomings.

That's the economy, or to put it simply, money.