Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"yes….."

Bang!

Isaac slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone.

"It's good to be single, but can someone explain this to me?" Isaac asked, holding up the survey form. "What's going on with the average person having 4.3 girlfriends?"

"..." Everyone in the conference room fell silent.

"I was shocked when I got this form from the investigation team! I never realized you bunch of bastards were so capable!" Isaac shouted. "What's even more surprising is that even a random soldier can date the heiress of the merchant guild... Damn it, why don't I have a girlfriend yet?"

"Lieutenant General, are you finally telling the truth?"

“No, shut up.” Isaac looked at the group and put his hand on his forehead. “How did I manage to train such a bunch of soldiers? A bad soldier is a bad soldier, and a bad general is a bad army… Damn, why am I cursing myself? It’s all because of you guys.”

One of the captains raised his hand and said, "Lieutenant General, you are aware of this situation. Since you and General Yuan signed the treaty, the meaning of our blue uniforms in this country has changed."

Many people in this country want to curry favor with the people of Amestoris because they are now the true masters of this country.

"Actually, Lieutenant General, if you want a girlfriend, you can just go for a walk on the street. There's no need to go through all this trouble."

"I was just saying that. My main task right now is to use my limited youth to help Amestris reach its peak," Isaac said casually. "Besides, whenever I want to go out, Violet always rushes to do things for me, so I've basically never been to the city center."

"..." The captains also wisely kept quiet.

Chapter 411: An Army with Soaring Combat Power

"Alright, I won't criticize your conduct any further. Just be mindful of yourselves," Isaac said, tossing the documents aside and looking at the captains.

Since he hadn't committed any crimes and generally upheld the fine traditions of the Amestolisian soldiers, he could barely accept this issue.

Since they were the ones who ended up losing money, Isaac just let the matter drop.

"The lieutenant general is wise."

"The lieutenant general is mighty."

"Come on, don't think I don't know it was you captains who led the charge." Isaac said to the group with displeasure, "You're all married, and you probably have double-digit numbers of mistresses."

Isaac's words made them lower their heads in shame. They were largely responsible for the high average. After all, besides Isaac, they were the highest-ranking officials here. Even the general had to defer to them. Because of this status, there were a group of women in Japan willing to sleep with them.

These soldiers have been living a much easier life lately. During the day, they fly planes and tanks and slaughter Kabane at will. During their rest time, they gather together to play Gwent. As for the night, who knows which new girlfriend they'll be spending the night at.

They're living such a comfortable life; I don't even know if they're here on a mission or on vacation.

"In order to carry forward the fine tradition of our army's 'bravery and skill in battle,' we will conduct a clearing operation on the next large area of ​​Kabane tomorrow," Isaac said.

"no problem."

"Let me make this clear from the start," Isaac's eyes hardened. "While I'm no longer concerned with your lifestyle, the most important thing for a soldier is to win battles. Tomorrow, whichever team clears fewer than ten thousand Kabane will be..."

The captains' hearts were in their throats.

“Then everyone on the team will have to write me a 5,000-word self-criticism and then go back to Amestris for retraining. I’ll have someone else take over your jobs,” Isaac said with a sinister smile. “I’m sure many people would be willing to do this cushy job.”

"Reporting, General! We guarantee to complete the mission!!" the captains hurriedly assured them.

They don't want to leave their current paradise-like life.

"Remember what you said, meeting adjourned."

----------

Whether it was because of Isaac's order or not, the soldiers fought extremely fiercely the next day.

Tanks sped forward and opened fire on the area where the Kabane were concentrated. Helicopters also quickly arrived at the scene and strafed the Kabane below. When the bullets ran out, missiles were used to bombard them.

When some tanks ran out of ammunition, the commanders continued to fire with the tank's machine guns, the drivers drove the tanks over them, and the gunners and loaders got off the tanks with submachine guns and fought the horde of Kabane who were charging at them.

Their actions stunned several warriors who were guarding the city walls not far away.

Originally, even when facing a single Kabane, the sight of their glowing hearts and bloodthirsty eyes would send shivers down their spines, making them too afraid to even defend themselves. Now, seeing the soldiers of Amestoris roaring and wrestling with them, they felt a sense of unreality.

"Is that the officer from Amestoris? He's certainly different from us," they remarked.

This explains why Amestris, despite being the highest-ranking privileged class in Japan, consistently enjoyed a positive reputation among the populace.

Because those civilians knew that although the samurai often boasted that they could live safely inside the walls because of their protection, what they usually did was oppress the civilians. When they actually encountered a Kabane, most of them would run away.

The soldiers of Amestoris do not usually oppress civilians, and they are always at the forefront in battle.

Isaac looked at the group of soldiers who were now bloodthirsty and nodded in satisfaction.

It seemed that his order had indeed raised the combat capability of the entire force by several levels. More than 100,000 Kabane were wiped out in an instant.

"Not bad, not bad. It seems that the comfortable life here has not diminished your fighting strength."

After the battle, Isaac held a short meeting with the captains of each team at the camp.

"That lieutenant general, we..."

"Everyone can stay."

"Oh!!!!!"

The crowd began to cheer.

"Alright, now let's clear this area we've captured and set up a temporary airport." Isaac took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. "Headquarters will send a few A-10 attack aircraft and some transport planes to support us, so it will be convenient for you to go back and visit your families."

Everyone began to act upon receiving Isaac's orders.

"Lieutenant General, someone is looking for you," Violet said as she approached Isaac.

"Oh? I'll be right there." Isaac quickly extinguished his cigarette, stood up, and walked out of the camp with Violet.

Violet pointed in a direction, and Isaac looked in that direction and saw a middle-aged man with a small mustache and a young girl, surrounded by a group of samurai holding steam guns.

“Lord Isaac, I am so sorry for not greeting you sooner,” the middle-aged man said, bowing his head. “I apologize for making you move to the camp, and I am extremely grateful for clearing out the Kabane in this area.”

The middle-aged man spoke in a very humble tone; he was quite nervous just standing there in front of Isaac.

The surrounding warriors stared in astonishment at the plain that had turned into a sea of ​​blood. Hundreds of thousands of Kabane had once roamed this place, but in such a short time, they had all been wiped out.

“I think I remember you. I saw you at the General’s Mansion.” Isaac looked at the middle-aged man in front of him, as if he remembered something.

He deliberately spared the lives of several officials present when he blew up the general's mansion.

“I am truly touched that Lord Isaac remembers me.” The middle-aged man said with a slightly obsequious smile. “I am Shifukawa Kensho, the lord of ‘Xianjin Post Station’ here. I would like to invite you to my humble abode.”

"Oh, it was you. I remember now," Isaac laughed. "It seems you were the one who suggested that the mentally challenged general stall for time."

"This……"

Yoshikazu Kensho's body began to tremble.

"Father?" The girl hurriedly helped her father up.

"I deserve to die, but..."

"Alright, I don't mean to blame you. The fact that I spared your life back then speaks volumes." Isaac waved his hand. "I remember this place is a special production site for 'Juncheng' (a type of ancient Chinese sword).

The Junjo was a massive train, heavily armored and extremely defensive, operated by the shogunate and staffed by convoys recruited from various stations on a rotating basis. Each station sustained itself by trading its own products, while the shogunate, managing the logistics, wielded immense power.

Isaac was actually quite interested in this huge armored train.

"Yes, our Kenkin Station is a station that makes a living from heavy industries such as ironmaking and steam engines. Most of the 'Shunjo' (travel castles) that cruise around various parts of Japan are produced and prepared at Kenkin Station," Yomokawa Kensho quickly said.

"Alright, lead the way."

Chapter 412: Xianjin Post Station

"Hey, look, the lord is back."

"Who did he bring back? His clothes are rather strange."

"Shh, keep your voice down. That's a high-ranking officer from Amestoris. He's not someone we can afford to mess with."

When Yoshikazuki led Isaac into Kenjin Station, the steam workers who were repairing the 'Shunjo' and maintaining the railway nearby all looked in their direction.

"Are those Amestoris people? This is the first time I've ever seen one."

The boy, dressed in a steam worker's uniform and sporting green hair, looked at Isaac.

"You look so young."

"That blue military uniform is undoubtedly Lord Amestoris," a chubby boy next to the green-haired youth laughed. "Look at those warriors, they're always so arrogant towards us, but they bow and scrape before him."

"Cheng Sheng, I heard they just wiped out all the Kabane outside the walls, is that true?"

The cannon fire outside was extremely loud, and many residents of Xianjinyi were quite frightened inside.

The chubby boy named Cheng Sheng nodded: "It is said that he swept away hundreds of thousands of Kabane outside in a few hours, which is why the lord and his group of warriors were able to swagger out."

"Wow, that's amazing." He looked at Isaac and the others as they walked away with admiration.

"Let's not talk about that. Ikoma, how's your thing coming along?"

"You mean jetting bullets?" Ikoma scratched his head in frustration. "The destructive power isn't enough; it's probably because there's not enough explosive."

"That's a real shame," Cheng Sheng said with a smile, then continued with his work.

After thinking for a while, Ikoma suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "I've heard that the Amestris people have a lot of advanced weapons. How about we ask them about it later?"

When Cheng Sheng heard Ikoma's words, he was startled and immediately ran over to cover Ikoma's mouth.

"Are you crazy?! That's someone from Amestoris! If you rashly go up and ask him questions, you'll get hacked to death and no one will even dare to collect your corpse!"

"...I was just saying." Ikoma said this, but he was still very unwilling in his heart.

He believed that once the jetting projectile was successfully developed, he would be able to fight the Kabane.

He glanced at the stone tied to his hand and made up his mind.

--------

As the lord of Xianjin Station and the head of the Shifangchuan family, Shifangchuan Jianjiang is practically a local tyrant here.

Isaac and he entered the mansion where he was. Although it was not as luxurious as the previous general's mansion, it was still a large mansion covering several acres, which was already very huge.

To be honest, Isaac usually lives in his office, and his home is just a small room of about 50 square meters, where he has to pay rent regularly.

Inside the residence of Yomogawa, everyone knelt in their respective places. In Japan, there is a type of mat called tatami, on which they usually sit in a kneeling position. Isaac, who is used to sitting in a chair, could not adapt to this custom at all and could only sit cross-legged.

Yoshikazu Kenshin prepared a banquet in response to Isaac's arrival. The Yoshikazu family retainers surrounded Isaac and flattered him incessantly, which annoyed him.

As the saying goes, one shouldn't hit a smiling face, and Isaac also suppressed his urge to punch them in the head.

Japan's resources have been severely limited due to long-term isolation and constant attacks by the Kabane, resulting in a shrinking human environment and a persistent food shortage.