Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"How long are you going to keep hiding?"

"What!?"

Kurama looked at Isaac in confusion. Just then, a young man with his face covered by a hood stepped out and blocked his way.

"Please forgive my rudeness, but I cannot let you kill him right now."

Looking at the person who suddenly appeared in front of him, Isaac smiled amusedly and said, "You 'Amalgam' people are really interesting. Sending one wasn't enough, you even gave one free."

“I am not here to be your enemy,” the man said with a smile.

"That's not up to you."

At this moment, the man suddenly said, "Brother Feifan, would you mind listening to me for a moment?"

"!"

Isaac suddenly stopped, his eyes widening slightly.

"you……"

"I'm sorry to meet you in this way."

The mysterious man removed his hood, revealing long, silvery-white hair and a handsome face. Looking at the boy before him, familiar memories surged in Isaac's mind.

“Reinhard…”

“Long time no see,” Leonard said with a smile. He turned to Kurama and gave the order, “You leave first. I have some things to discuss with an old friend.”

"This……"

"I'll be fine. Follow orders."

“Alright,” Kurama said with a wry smile. “Even if something happens to you, I probably can’t protect you. This person in front of me is not on the same level as me.”

"Of course I know."

Kurama limped down the stairs, and Isaac didn't stop him. He was now more interested in Leonard, who had disappeared for several years and reappeared in front of him.

"Kid, I heard from your sister that you were arrested. How come you're suddenly working for 'Amalgam'?"

"It's a long story, and it would take quite a while to explain what happened in between."

“Alright then, I only have one question now.” Isaac’s eyes gradually turned serious. “Are you my enemy now?”

"Of course not, I would never be your enemy, Brother Feifan."

"Tsk, how many times have I told you not to call me by that name?"

"How heartwarming!"

"Friendly my foot."

Leonard laughed and said, "Actually, I have never told the top leadership about your identity."

"Me? What's my identity?"

"Regarding the fact that you are the owner behind IW."

"..."

Isaac glanced at Leonard with some surprise.

It's not hard to tell from his words that his identity hasn't actually been discovered by 'Amalgam' yet, but how did Leonard find out? Even his parents, Chinatsu, and Erica, who live with him, don't know his identity.

"I'm curious how I knew?"

"A little curious."

"It's not hard to guess, the company name is Isaac."

Do you know how many people in the world have this name?

“It’s different,” Leonard shook his head. “There’s no one else in the world who could create an organization like this and grow it to this size in just a few years. Only you can do it.”

"You really think highly of me."

“When I heard the name of this company, I knew that the boss behind it must be you, not anyone else,” Leonard said.

“Alright, I’ll take that seriously.” Isaac shrugged. “Then can you tell me your position in ‘Amalgam’? Are you also the mastermind behind this organization?”

“Of course not. I’m a high-ranking member of this organization, but I’m not the boss,” Leonard said. “The key members of ‘Amalgam’ are represented by chemical element symbols, and the top decision-maker is a man named Mr. Hg.”

"Then what are you?"

"My code name in the organization is Mr. Ag."

Leonard didn't hide anything and told Isaac his information without reservation.

"...So the Mr. Ag I've been looking for is you, kid. I didn't expect you to have even connected with the KGB." Isaac chuckled and said, "Your purpose in coming to Japan, or rather, your purpose in the Shirasaki region, is to find 'The Listener' Ayana Fujisawa, right?"

"That was indeed the case originally, but the plan has changed somewhat since you came."

Chapter 670: A Theory from Fujisawa Ayana

"The plan has changed? Are you saying that your 'Amalgam' has abandoned this 'listener'?"

“That’s right. We’re going to put Fujisawa Ayana’s plan on hold for now. I’ll explain to Mr. Hg that I’m withdrawing from this mission later,” Leonard said.

Isaac was somewhat surprised by his decisive abandonment of a 'listener'.

"Speaking of which, how did you know that Ayana Fujisawa was a 'Listener'? The KGB report said that the information was provided by Mr. Ag, and that person was you, right?"

“It was indeed me. Mira, who was captured by them before, was also one of the ‘Listeners.’ I only found out about it after we met by chance.”

As Leonard said this, he pointed to his head.

“I am also a ‘listener,’ so I know that there is a phenomenon called ‘resonance’ between listeners, where under certain conditions, one’s consciousness can merge with that of the other person.”

"...There's such a saying?"

Although another piece of information he was unaware of had surfaced, Isaac wasn't too surprised.

He didn't know much about the 'listeners', only that these people had some technological knowledge that was ahead of their time.

I know nothing else.

Leonard himself is a 'listener,' and he certainly knows more about this specific group of people than Isaac, the 'fake listener.'

"So you found out that Fujisawa Ayana also had that kind of 'resonance' with you when you happened to come to Japan?"

“No, ‘resonance’ is just a random phenomenon. It doesn’t happen in every situation. I’ve lived with Tessa for so many years and we’ve never experienced anything like it. Judging by that alone is very unreliable.” Leonard spread his hands helplessly. “Brother Feifan, you’re also a ‘listener,’ and we haven’t experienced ‘resonance’ either.”

Of course not, I'm a fake.

"So how did you find them?"

"Didn't Ayana Fujisawa tell you anything about who she talked to?"

"..."

Isaac also remembered what Ayana had said to him after school yesterday.

……

"It must have been during summer vacation two years ago. I had just recovered from a serious illness and was chatting online with an anonymous user on my computer... At that time, I was also in the situation I am in today. We discussed some technical issues about 'modularization and miniaturization of medical robots.' For some reason, I was able to talk to someone for so long about things that I didn't know..."

……

"Could it be that the anonymous user she chatted with online two years ago was you?"

“That’s right,” Leonard laughed. “Two years ago, around the same time my home was attacked again and I was taken away, I joined ‘Amalgam,’ and the person I was chatting with online was me.”

At this point, Leonard paused and continued, "The technology in her mind is exactly what I need; miniaturizing industrial products perfectly compensates for some of my shortcomings in existing technology."

“’Miniaturization’...that’s not a simple matter,” Isaac said, frowning.

He himself had manufactured weapons of all sizes and knew that miniaturizing even a small part of a sophisticated instrument was extremely difficult, and the technical challenges involved were an insurmountable barrier.

“Remember that small AS I sent to the school? I think you dismantled it, so you must have studied its internal structure.” Leonard’s expression turned serious.

"We have indeed studied it. The layout and materials of the electronic muscle are fundamentally different from those of ordinary military AS, and there's also that palladium reactor..."

Leonard continued, "Now all countries are starting to develop the third-generation AS, and the power source for it is uniformly a small palladium reactor. The manufacturing of this device is extremely complex, and the finished product is at least half the size of an adult."

Isaac nodded. He had started his business selling weapons, and although he didn't sell AS, he still needed to know the market.

But he also discovered a blind spot.

"Your small AS power furnace should be at least ten times smaller than the ones on the market."

“That’s right.” Leonard stared into Isaac’s eyes and said, “This device was designed by Ayana Fujisawa.”

"What!?"

Isaac never expected that Ayana Fujisawa could create something so ahead of its time.

"Of course she didn't create it. I just used the theories she explained in our conversation two years ago to make it. I have a lot of power in 'Amalgam,' so I can usually get enough resources if I want to make something."

That being said, the practical value of Ayana Fujisawa's theory is enough to make people drool.

"So you followed the trail, found out about her, and then sent her information to the KGB?"

“I commissioned the KGB to investigate, and they certainly lived up to expectations by uncovering two ‘listeners’ in Japan,” Leonard said with a smile. “Moreover, their people are still keeping an eye on the movements of these two ‘listeners’ even now.”

It seems I've heard news I don't know.

Isaac has now confirmed that, despite seemingly having done a lot of intelligence work before coming to Japan, there are still many oversights.

It's been less than a month since I arrived in Japan after receiving the news. That's not enough time to gather enough intelligence. Back when we fought Yerkastum, it took us a full four years.

"I remember you have a friend named Balalaika, right? She's the person in charge of the 'Moscow Hotel' in Roanapura, Thailand. Do you really think she came all the way to Japan just to cooperate with a low-level yakuza?"

The meaning of this sentence is very clear.

Japan has KGB agents specifically tasked with investigating this, and one of Balalaika's purposes in coming to Japan was to recruit them.

"...I must admit, you know much more than I do."

"Regarding the two 'Listeners' in Japan, we've used our members there and the KGB for two years, so our intelligence is naturally very comprehensive," Leonard said. "However, we don't intend to hand them over to the KGB. That method of using drugs to force out the black technology hidden in the brain is far too outdated."

"Really."

Isaac turned his head and looked from the rooftop back at the spot where he had been standing. Yamase Yuya was still lying in a pool of blood, and the body had not yet been disposed of.

"That person was a pawn in your plan, wasn't he?"

"Yes, the outcome was already decided the moment he was chosen as our pawn."