Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

“People like you are the most troublesome. If something happens to you, I won’t be able to explain it when I get back,” Anjie said with a disgusted tone. “Can’t you just give me a break?”

"...Why don't you come too?"

"Tch, what a troublesome guy."

Ange turned her head away dismissively, seemed to hesitate for a moment before standing up from her seat and leaving the private room with Isaac and Victorica.

……

Victorica walked down the train corridor to a warehouse. The soundproofing here was fairly good, but the vibrations from the train made some unpleasant noises.

Anjie, who had initially looked impatient, suddenly reverted to her original demeanor after arriving here.

"Your Excellency, you should have figured it out by now."

“Pretty much. None of the people in that private room seem like normal people,” Isaac said. “The heartbeats of those four people changed when that small box fell out, so it seems that was…”

“It’s a ‘relic box’.”

Victoria Interface Channel.

"The relic box represents that person's life. I heard that only the eldest son of a large family can make one. A box is made for him at birth, and his 'history' is put inside. In other words, the so-called relic box is evidence of the person's life, miniature and placed in a small box."

“I see. So if that was the real ‘relic box’... then what Cordelia showed me was just a fake.”

"That's it. This 'masquerade ball' that dragged us into is a game where spies from the Academy of Sciences and the Paranormal Department determine who are friends and then eliminate the opponents without knowing each other's identities."

"Is it really that boring?"

“That’s not how it works,” Ange suddenly said. “When spies are on a mission, it’s also difficult to tell whether the organization has sent more people. To ensure the absolute secrecy of the mission, sometimes the organization won’t tell you that they have sent new people. All of this requires the spy to make their own judgment based on the situation.”

"...I've never been a spy, so I don't know. Speaking of which, Ange, you've been playing a completely nonsensical role since just now."

"Yes, the character I played was 'a spoiled country girl who, because her mother was seriously ill at home and her father had incurred a huge debt, had no choice but to work as a nanny for a spoiled nobleman in order to pay for her mother's surgery. During this time, she also had to resist the harassment of that scoundrel and began to hate the nobleman.'"

"That's a really complicated setup. Is creating a character design really that difficult?"

"This is to ensure that the roles we play have sufficient depth; we Black Lizards are always this meticulous."

"How many settings do you actually have?" Isaac sighed. "Speaking of which, isn't your current setting 'the nanny of a mischievous noble young master'? So how are you going to conjure up the 'mischievous noble' that you're taking care of out of thin air?"

Ange didn't speak, but just stared at Isaac with that calm gaze.

"...So it was me!?"

-

After leaving the warehouse, the three planned to return to the private room.

Isaac had no interest whatsoever in the 'Guess Who I Am' game played by a group of spies, nor was he interested in the 'Relic Box'. If he were truly interested, he would have simply stolen it instead of playing any games.

As they approached the door of a private room, Isaac suddenly perked up his ears.

Ange and Victorique seemed to have heard it too, so they stopped and listened carefully.

"Help me, help me."

The sound was very faint, and it was mixed with a lot of background noise, accompanied by the sound of machinery turning around.

"Brother, save me! Quickly, come, save, me!"

The three exchanged a glance and then stepped back into the room.

What came into view were noblemen squatting on the ground, who called themselves 'woodcutters'.

The young 'woodcutter,' with a noble appearance and dressed in impressive clothes, was pushed out of the private room as if by an unseen hand, and knelt in the corridor, taking deep breaths.

"What happened here?" Isaac asked immediately.

The woodcutter slowly raised his head.

That face was filled with an intense fear I'd never seen before. His gray eyes were wide open, his sparse eyelashes trembled incessantly, and his bloodless lips were like those of a young traveler frozen in ice and snow, completely immobile.

His expression was as if he had seen a demon or monster; his lifeless appearance was completely different from the smiling, amiable young man he had been moments before.

"The way you suddenly turned your head reminds me of the 'glance back' scene from Resident Evil. What happened here?" Isaac asked. "I think I heard someone calling for help. Do you need any assistance?"

"Ah, no, it's not that..."

The woodcutter hurriedly got up and brushed the dust off his body. Although he tried to appear calm, he still showed a timid smile.

"I'm so sorry to have made you three see me in such an embarrassing state," the woodcutter said with a forced smile. "To be honest, I'm really afraid of taking the train. Whenever I take a train, I get carsick and feel nauseous like this. I've been trying to endure it because it's so embarrassing, but I never expected that the children would see me like this."

"That sound just now..."

"I was probably talking to myself. I always have this bad habit when I'm scared."

"I see."

"Yes, then I'll be going now. You three should also head back soon."

After saying that, the woodcutter walked around the three of them and headed back to where the private room had originally been.

Isaac looked at the layout of the room; the constantly spinning machine inside appeared to be a communicator.

This is a communications room, and the 'woodcutter' is probably in contact with someone.

Chapter 1152: Vodka and Raisins

After the 'woodcutter' left, Isaac took one last look at the communication equipment in the room before leaving, closing the door and heading back to his room.

"Anjie, what do you think?"

“It’s obvious that he’s in contact with someone,” Anjie said calmly. “The faint cries for help earlier were most likely not a code. Besides, ‘the woodcutter’ is far too inexperienced to be a spy. Under normal circumstances, a spy with any common sense wouldn’t choose to use the communications room at this time.”

"In other words... this 'woodcutter' deliberately infiltrated the train to play games with a group of spies because someone had been kidnapped."

"That's certainly a valid way of thinking."

"The only people I can think of who would do something like kidnapping are the paranormal department. I guess it was Albert who sent them again. That guy is really a handful."

As the three walked back to the private room, the black-haired girl 'Orphan' and the burly, bearded man 'Knight' also came out of it.

Are you also going out to use the restroom?

“No, I just came to find you because you haven’t been back for a long time,” the 'orphan' said.

"The 'Woodcutter' just got back. Since I can't sleep anyway, how about we go to the restaurant?" the 'Knight' said with a smile. "The 'Woodcutter' said he's treating. 'Farmer,' 'Grey Wolf,' and 'White Dove,' do you want to come?"

Isaac: "Then go ahead."

Anjie: "Tsk, as expected of a rich man's son. Anyway, I don't feel obligated to be polite since he's treating me."

Anjie handled this image quite well.

--------------

The group walked together to the train's restaurant, where a few passengers were already scattered around. Because there weren't many people at this time, the waiters were quite idle.

As soon as they arrived, they noticed the 'woodcutter' waving at them from the car window.

Isaac smiled and walked over to sit opposite the 'woodcutter'.

"Is this young man very generous, treating so many people to dinner?"

"Not at all, it's all fate that brought us together." The woodcutter smiled shyly.

Once everyone was seated, they all noticed something.

There were six people in the seats: the woodcutter, the orphan, the knight, the white dove, the gray wolf, and the farmer.

Isaac looked around and asked casually, "Where's the 'Scarecrow'? I haven't seen her."

The 'Scarecrow' was the middle-aged woman with her hair tied up that Isaac had seen before.

"'Scarecrow' seems to have something to discuss with the flight attendant," 'Knight' said with a smile. "If she goes back to her cabin and finds we're not here, she should be able to find us here."

"Really."

Isaac smiled slightly.

He already knew that the 'Scarecrow' had been killed. From the moment Isaac stepped out of the communications room, he felt her life suddenly disappear. And the person standing next to the 'Scarecrow' at that time was the smiling 'Knight' in front of him.

It was the 'Knight' who killed the 'Scarecrow'. This suggests that the two belonged to different organizations, and that one of them discovered the other's identity.

Isaac tapped his fingers lightly on the table and chuckled softly, "Tearing down the scarecrow in the field while the 'farmer' isn't home is a bit unethical."

"..."

What seemed like an unintentional remark made the four people sitting opposite him tense up.

"Well... how about we play a game?"

The woodcutter broke the awkward silence with a suggestion.

“Sure, what do you want to play?” Isaac asked with a smile.

"It's a game that's quite popular in Eastern Europe."

"The woodcutter," said the waiter, who then placed a large platter of raisins on the table and ordered a large bottle of vodka.

After everything was prepared, the 'woodcutter' opened the vodka bottle and slowly poured the liquid into a tray full of raisins. He then took a box of matches from his pocket, struck a spark, and threw it into the tray.

Wow!

Blue flames suddenly burst forth from the tray, and the heat emanating from it was felt by everyone around.

"After pouring vodka into a bowl, light it on fire, and then, while shouting 'It's so hot! It's so hot,' take raisins out of the fire and eat them while saying your wishes. Taking raisins out of the fire is both exciting and fun, and it's also interesting to hear other people's wishes. Playing with family can also lead to unexpected discoveries about each other."

"Oh, I think I understand."

The flames died down, but the raisins on the tray were still burning. If an ordinary person were to grab them directly, they would probably be very hot, and eating the raisins mixed with alcohol would also burn their throat.

I don't know if the 'woodcutter' had been preparing to play this game for a while, but a cup of water was prepared in front of each person.

"So, who goes first?"

"Then I'll go first."

Isaac laughed and casually picked up a few raisins from the still-sparkling tray and popped them into his mouth.

Unlike most people who would quickly reach out and grab the raisins to avoid getting burned by the heat, Isaac's movements were unhurried, as if the sparks in the tray didn't exist at all.

After eating the raisins, Isaac didn't drink any water. He simply rested his chin on his hand and said softly, "Let me think... My wish is to open a farm in my hometown after I've achieved all my goals, and live a leisurely and peaceful life."

"Hahaha, aren't you a 'farmer' to begin with?"

“That’s true,” Isaac laughed.