Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

"I know."

Ange and Dorothy walked together in the hallway of Queen Mayfair College.

"Unfortunately, there was no follow-up response from above after receiving my message; they only told us to maintain a good relationship with him."

"There probably won't be any special plans from above in the short term. Isaac's identity carries too much weight, and they probably won't be able to reach an agreement without holding a meeting for several days."

“I think so too. After all, he’s a person with even more power than Her Majesty the Queen,” Dorothy said with some emotion.

As she said this, she suddenly turned her head toward Ange.

"Speaking of which, if we can just win over the lieutenant general, wouldn't we be able to say goodbye to our spy identity?"

Isaac's status and strength are undeniable; if he were to succeed, neither the Kingdom nor the Republic would dare utter a word.

"Indeed, but that's impossible."

"Why not? He agreed to your conditions so easily yesterday. I think you have a good chance," Dorothy teased, then bit her nails with some resentment. "Tsk, I didn't expect that lieutenant general would like your type. Is it true that all those in high positions like innocent young girls?"

"probably."

Anjie didn't say anything more.

Her deal with Isaac included betraying their former employer, something Dorothy couldn't know about.

I walked all the way to the door of their activity room, opened the door, and went inside.

"You've arrived?"

"Princess? You've already arrived?" Dorothy asked in surprise, then looked at the seats beside her. "And... Lieutenant General, when did you arrive?"

In the activity room, the princess calmly sat down and drank tea, Beatrice stood nervously to the side, and Isaac sat on a stool waiting for them.

“Even earlier than your princess,” Isaac said. “Regarding what Ange mentioned yesterday, I can cooperate with you for the time being, but if you want to put the princess on the throne of queen, that depends on the value of the information you can provide me.”

Anjie: "So, it depends on the value of the intelligence?"

"That's right. Of course, I can offer you a little help when you're carrying out your mission."

"for example?"

Isaac smiled and crossed his fingers to lift the bridge of his nose.

"For example, we can help you infiltrate some places and upgrade your equipment for free."

“You can certainly help us infiltrate some locations, but it seems there’s nothing about our spy equipment that needs upgrading,” Dorothy said.

She walked to the blackboard in the activity room and pushed it hard.

The blackboard on the wall suddenly flipped over, and its back was covered with all sorts of guns and props.

"Oh? The equipment is quite complete."

"After all, we also bear heavy responsibilities, and the organization is willing to spend money on weapons."

Isaac looked at the props hanging on the blackboard, picked up something that looked like a pen, and examined it from all angles.

"Really? But these things seem outdated."

As he said this, he touched a groove on the pen with his finger.

Dorothy was nearly scared out of her wits when she saw that the pen was actually a miniature pistol, with the recessed area being the trigger position.

And Isaac just happened to be pointing the pen at himself.

"Wait!! Don't press..."

boom!

The sound of gunpowder rang out, startling everyone present.

"Huh? What did you just say?"

Isaac turned his head, and there was a small steel ball that had just come out of his mouth between his teeth.

Chapter 953: Upgrading Equipment

What did you just say?

Isaac removed the steel ball from his mouth.

He had a rough idea that the pen was a tool of a spy organization when he used it, but he didn't expect it to be a miniature pistol.

Even if the bullet hits him, it probably won't cause any damage.

"...Are you really human?"

"More than one person has asked me this question."

Isaac put the pen back on the table and said.

"There is no doubt that I am human, at least that's what I believe myself to be."

"What does it mean to have it? The talent of a State Alchemist?" Dorothy asked.

She had only ever heard of the term "alchemist," and because of its secrecy, she had never actually seen an alchemist. Alchemy had always been extremely mysterious to people like them.

"You can think that way if you want."

Isaac turned to face Angela and Dorothy.

"Given the current situation, you should stop using your old equipment for now."

Dorothy asked, puzzled, "Huh? Is there something wrong with our equipment?"

"You're spies, aren't you?"

"Yes."

“First, let’s talk about guns,” Isaac said. “As spies, when you’re assassinating a target, loud gunfire will attract attention and expose your position.”

"Well, it's a firearm after all, so there will always be a sound when it's fired. Usually, we'll plan an escape route in advance in these situations."

"I happen to have something here that can solve this problem."

As he spoke, Isaac walked to the side, took a small box from behind the clutter, and placed it on the table.

The moment he opened the small box, everyone around him gathered around.

The box contained a pistol with a long, narrow barrel.

"This is……"

"The silenced pistol manufactured by Amestoris for special operations uses a ring of copper wire in the barrel, which cools the propellant gas through heat absorption, thereby reducing the sound."

"That's amazing?"

It's important to understand that in the world Isaac lives in, apart from Amestris, no other country even has a silencer, let alone a silenced pistol that originated in the Cold War era.

Anjie looked at the pistol lying quietly in the box, reached out and picked it up, skillfully cocked it, and fired a shot at the plaster statue placed in the activity room.

Biu~

With a crisp sound, the plaster statue exploded instantly after being hit by the bullet.

Ange looked at the gun in her hand and said, "The sound level is around 80 decibels. Using this weapon during a mission will greatly reduce the chances of being detected."

"And this too."

Isaac took a dagger out of his pocket.

He turned the dagger upside down, with the handle facing the plaster cast, and pressed the button on it.

Biu~

An even fainter sound than before followed, and another tiny bullet hole appeared on the broken plaster statue.

"This dagger gun uses 'Fang' series subsonic bullets, making it perfect for assassinations."

This thing was used by the Soviet KGB in the last century, and Isaac copied its production process back with it.

"Just how advanced has Amestris's technology reached...?"

Dorothy looked at the weapons Isaac had brought out. Needless to say, neither the Republic of Albion nor the Kingdom of Albion had the capability to produce such weapons independently.

Anjie: "Are you lending us all of these?"

“I’ll lend it to you for now. There will be other things later,” Isaac said. “You are not allowed to take it to the Republic for disassembly and replication without my permission. If you are found to have violated this rule, the cooperation will be unilaterally terminated.”

"of course."

"There's one more thing."

Isaac took out a phone and handed it to Ange.

"If you can get in touch with your superiors, give this to them."

"learn."

-

Nighttime, a secluded area within the western border of the country.

Bang!

In the dimly lit room, a man dressed as a soldier slammed his fist on the conference table in front of him.

"Is now really the time for a meeting?! Our spy has already made contact with that Isaac. If we hesitate any longer, can you bear the responsibility if he suddenly attacks us?"

"Colonel, please calm down."

The elderly man sitting in the middle of the conference room spoke calmly.

"We are still unclear about the reason why that lieutenant general contacted us, and we need to analyze the reasons as a precaution."

"What other reason could there be? If he is hostile to us, not only us, but the whole country will be doomed."

The colonel sat back down in his seat, feeling agitated. To calm himself, he took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and put it in his mouth. His hand holding the lighter trembled slightly.

Just yesterday evening, Dorothy relayed the news of their contact with Isaac back here, explaining that their theft of technical data had been discovered, but Isaac had not taken any action, and that they were supposedly willing to cooperate.

The moment this news broke, chaos erupted. Intelligence analysts from all sides have been studying it, and meetings have been going on from last night until tonight.

"Should we send someone directly to contact that official?"

“We’ve already had Dorothy and the others keep him calm. The fact that he didn’t kill them outright means there’s still room for negotiation.”

"But perhaps he wanted to lure us out and capture us all at once."