Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

“Is that so…” Isaac sighed. “You tell them for me not to go near the battlefield on Intans’ side for the time being.”

"Huh? Why? They've gathered a large force now that they have the advantage, and they'll probably occupy Intans soon and launch a general offensive against us." Claudia asked, puzzled. If they didn't take action and let them gather their forces, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Isaac slowly said, "I previously used a large amount of Philosopher's Stones to launch an experimental subject behind Intans. Although I don't know if it will explode, if it does explode successfully, then..."

At this point, Isaac's smile gradually turned into a maniacal grin.

"The entire Intans will cease to exist."

Chapter 100: The Hydrogen Bomb

When Isaac opened his eyes again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.

"here it is……"

I tried to move my body, but found that I was covered in bandages and couldn't move at all, with needles sticking out of my body.

Looking around, he saw other wounded people like himself lying in hospital beds, with nurses occasionally coming to change their dressings.

How many days have I actually slept?

"Looks like you're awake." A voice reached Isaac's ears. He turned his head with difficulty and saw the familiar blue-black-haired man in a navy uniform. "You've been unconscious for three days."

Isaac fell into a coma after returning and has only just woken up.

"Oh, it's Little Di," Isaac said with a smile.

The visitor was Dietrich, who placed the bouquet of flowers he carried, which he used to visit patients, on the bedside table.

"Can't you stop using that nickname, you bastard?"

Why? Don't you find it familiar?

“Not at all,” Dietrich said, looking at Isaac lying on the hospital bed like a mummy. “I never thought that alchemists from your country would end up like this.”

"I'll kill those bastards sooner or later to get my revenge," Isaac said irritably, but then asked, "How's the battle going?"

Dietrich fell silent upon hearing this question.

After a long pause, he spoke up: "They surrendered yesterday."

"What?"

Isaac was completely bewildered; why had he suddenly surrendered when everything seemed fine? But then, in a flash, something occurred to him.

"That thing exploded?"

Dietrich nodded, and after thinking for a moment, he asked Isaac, "What terrible thing did you create?"

He, and indeed everyone else, cannot comprehend that weapon at all.

The once mountainous Intans was blasted into a basin; the sheer terror of such a weapon, capable of altering terrain, is beyond description.

On that day, even those not in Instein felt the atmosphere of impending doom.

A loud bang shattered the silence of the night.

The original darkness turned into daylight, just as if the sun were rising on the horizon.

A massive mushroom cloud covered the entire Intans, and the nearly 300,000 troops that Gadaric had gathered for the final assault were all reduced to ashes.

The rear of Gadarik was completely unable to contact the front lines, and there wasn't even a single person to communicate back home, as if there wasn't a single person at the front in Intans.

The next day, news arrived that 300,000 people, including officers and commanders, had all died before they could even scream, leaving no trace of their bodies.

The news was unacceptable to the high command in Gadallik; that was 300,000 soldiers, enough to fight several battles.

So many people vanished overnight, it's a joke.

They planned to go to Intans to check on the situation, but as soon as they approached the city, they felt very unwell.

However, when they saw that Intans was already shrouded in gray smoke, and the mushroom cloud shooting straight into the sky had not yet dissipated, the enormous mushroom cloud seemed to cover the entire world.

The city had become a bottomless abyss. Physical pain was accompanied by overwhelming fear; this weapon, with its divine punishment-like power, was something they were absolutely incapable of stopping. If Leidensheftrich had been more impulsive and planted one directly within Caldaric, then…

Not only Gadarick witnessed this tragic scene, but also other countries belonging to the Northeast Union, such as Tukurigao and Salbelt Holy Kingdom.

They were afraid.

In just one day, several countries in Northeast China surrendered. They did not want to face this unknown weapon, a weapon that could destroy a nation overnight.

Upon hearing this, Isaac did not answer but asked, "Around what time did it explode?"

"The information says it was 9 p.m. the night before last, which is twelve hours after you left the battlefield. At that time, because of your withdrawal, Gadalik began to gather troops to launch a general offensive."

"I see. So you failed?" Isaac said calmly.

"Failure? Why?"

Isaac sighed, "When I was making it, I set the explosion time on it. It should have exploded at 5 a.m. the next day, but it exploded so early. It seems that the structure of that thing is not very stable."

"You dare to use something that's still in the experimental stage? Should I call you a madman or something else?" Dietrich covered his face. "By the way, you still haven't told me what that weapon is."

“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained,” Isaac said, but still explained, “It’s a method that uses atoms with smaller masses to allow the electrons outside the nucleus to break free from the nucleus under certain conditions, allowing two atomic nuclei to attract each other and collide, resulting in nuclear fusion…”

At this point, Isaac glanced at Dietrich and noticed that he was listening with a completely bewildered expression.

"Look at your uncultured appearance. Even if I explain it to you like this, would you understand?"

"Could you explain it in simpler terms?"

“Sigh…” Isaac sighed and continued.

"In short, it is a weapon that uses the enormous energy generated by nuclear fusion to produce powerful destructive force in an instant."

Does it have a name?

“Yes, because the weapon I created uses isotopes of hydrogen to produce a nuclear fusion reaction, so I usually call it a hydrogen bomb.” He then added, “It can also be called ‘Isaac 1’.”

"...A hydrogen bomb, is that it? What a powerful weapon."

"Of course, because my research isn't finished yet, the previous one was just to test the effect. Judging from its failure to explode on time, the experiment was a failure," Isaac said nonchalantly. "But I didn't lose out; I got some good experimental data."

“You really are… never mind, let’s not ask about that.” Dietrich’s expression turned unusually serious.

"One last question, which is also what those people up there asked me to ask: Do the state alchemists of Amestris all create such things?"

This is a question that not only Dietrich wants to know, but now it is a question that leaders of all countries across the continent want to know.

If all the alchemists in Amestris could create such terrifying weapons, one can only imagine what the future situation would be like...

"I don't know about that. I just tinkered with this thing in the lab when I was bored. I don't know if other people would be able to do it."

"Okay, that's about all the questions I have." Dietrich said, getting up to leave the ward.

As he walked out the door, he suddenly turned back and said, "By the way, I had the Stac company attach a limb to your severed limb. They used the best materials."

limbs?

Isaac felt his right foot and realized that something had indeed been installed.

Then he looked at his right hand.

It was a mechanical hand that gleamed with a metallic sheen.

Chapter 101: It's me, Charlotte!

"The price is my right hand?" Isaac looked at his right hand, which had become a mechanical limb, and laughed. "Well, it's not a bad deal."

At least in my memory, Violet is alright.

I tried to move my right hand, and only a few joints in my fingers made a 'creaking' sound. I'm not used to using my limbs yet.

"It seems that a month of recovery training is inevitable."

Not long after, Isaac was moved to a private ward. He had been in a public ward before, which was a temporary arrangement due to the large number of wounded.

Lying in his single room, Isaac stared blankly at the ceiling. The war here was finally over; it was about time to go back. He was injured like this; if his boss didn't promote him and give him a fortune, then…

Just as he was lost in thought, he heard a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened gently, and a petite figure walked in.

"Mr. Isaac, are you feeling any better?"

"Charlotte? What brings you here?" Isaac asked in surprise, looking at the princess with long flaxen hair.

Logically speaking, she should be in the Kingdom of Rhodesel right now; she shouldn't have run this far.

"What are you talking about? This is the Kingdom of Anshel, right next to Rhodesel, so it's very convenient for me to come here," Charlotte said.

Anshel? Isaac remembered that this country was the largest in the southwestern part of the continent, with flat terrain, a stable climate, and a very habitable environment. It was a major agricultural country known as the "Bread Basket of Tersis" and also a transportation hub for neighboring countries.

This country has a long-established medical school and a large number of doctors, making it a base for soldiers wounded on the front lines to recuperate after their retreat.

Rhodesell and Unschel are separated by a border.

It seems I was sent here directly to recover after being injured.

"I came to visit you after I heard that Mr. Isaac was injured." Charlotte's eyes glistened with tears as she looked at Isaac's hand, which had been replaced with a mechanical limb.

"Isn't Mr. Isaac an alchemist? Can he restore this arm?"

“It’s not a big problem for me,” Isaac said.

"That's wonderful!" Charlotte's eyes suddenly lit up. "Then..."

At this moment, Isaac suddenly said, "But I won't restore it."

"Why?!" Charlotte exclaimed, puzzled. "Is it that difficult?"

“It’s not difficult for me. As long as I have enough ‘materials,’ I can rebuild my arm, but I won’t do that.” As he said this, Isaac lifted his bangs, revealing a mechanical eye with a red glow in its left eye socket.

"This is..." Charlotte was startled; it was the first time she had ever seen a mechanical eye.

“I could restore my eyes if I wanted to, but I won’t,” Isaac said calmly. “I never regret my choices. If I were to restore them, it would prove that I questioned my decision.”

Charlotte remained silent, while Isaac smiled and said, "This won't affect my life, so don't worry."

He'll leave his lost right hand and right foot as they are for now. He'll only restore them if he ever needs to use his physical body to perform his work. But such opportunities are unlikely to be frequent.

Charlotte remained silent for a long time, then sighed, "Never mind then, none of this matters."

But in an instant, she seemed to notice something and looked at Isaac on the hospital bed, asking, "Mr. Isaac, are you unable to move right now?"

Her face was flushed and she wore a strange smile as she asked the question.