Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

As Anjie spoke, she took a photograph out of her pocket.

“I got my hands on some connections and obtained photos taken locally; this is what it looked like back then.”

"Let me see."

Isaac took the black and white photograph from Ange's hand. The people in the photograph, whether dressed as gentlemen or beggars, all had pale faces and were screaming as if they were insane.

"This is……"

"The incident occurred in a border town of the Kingdom of Suvar, followed by another incident next to Suvaren. These troublemakers exhibited extremely aggressive behavior, and it is said that... they were unconscious."

“Unconscious?” Isaac frowned.

"Yes, I don't have the specifics to know, but those troublemakers didn't seem to have any obvious connection. It's more like they just happened to appear on the street and then went crazy."

"...Thinking about it this way, there's only one possibility."

Isaac stared at the photograph and murmured to himself:

"The Illusionary Book..."

"It's highly likely, but the magical books within the Kingdom of Suvar are mostly concentrated in..."

“They’re all in the hands of the Paranormal Department,” Isaac interjected. “Because this is the Paranormal Department’s bargaining chip against the Academy of Sciences. If the Paranormal Department did this, then it makes sense.”

Albert himself wanted to push the Kingdom of Suvar into war and profit from it, which is why he sought Isaac's help.

But Suvar had quieted down after the First World War, so there was only one way to push the country to the brink of war—control the people.

Chapter 1157: The Book of Atonement

"Hughie, I estimate that this matter is much more serious than we imagine."

"What do you mean?"

"This means that Suvar has begun to use the Phantom Book to instigate conflict in order to hasten the outbreak of a world war."

"How could this be..."

Upon returning home from St. Margaret's Academy, Isaac explained to Hugh the conclusions he had drawn from the information he had obtained from Angel.

“Although the professor is dead, the number of magical books he possessed must have been considerable, including some extremely dangerous ones,” Isaac said. “These magical books were gradually preserved by the Department of the Supernatural within the Kingdom of Suvar a month ago. If he had used some of the more dangerous ones, then…”

"Did something happen?" Hugh asked nervously.

He didn't know why Isaac told him this news as soon as he returned. Did he have some intelligence?

"I learned about the situation in the Kingdom of Suvar through some channels. There have been mass unrest and violent incidents in many places. Judging from the descriptions, it should be related to the Illusion Book."

"Well... there must be quite a few books in the fantasy world that can control people's minds, but controlling the minds and actions of many people at the same time must require a lot of skill," Hugh said thoughtfully.

The only things he knows that can control people's behavior patterns on a large scale are the Illusionary Song and the Incense Book that he encountered before, but both books have been destroyed, and the requirements for these two books to manipulate others on a large scale are quite numerous.

"After all, the Supernatural Department is one of the two largest organizations in Suvar, so it's not surprising that it can provide space for the Phantom Book to operate. The only thing we need to know now is which Phantom Book is there..."

"Hey! You damn alchemist."

"Ok?"

Isaac turned around upon hearing the sound and saw that Dalian had already walked up to him.

"What exactly happened during that unrest you mentioned? What were the specific details?"

"A group of people who normally had no contact suddenly started attacking others on the street, causing a lot of chaos. In addition... it seems that many of these troublemakers died directly after the riots."

As Isaac spoke, he handed the photos he had obtained from Angela to Dalia.

Dalian, as the Black Reader, has lived for countless years and has seen an immense number of phantom books. Perhaps she can deduce something from the photograph.

After Dalian took the photo, she stared at the people in the picture, her eyebrows furrowed.

"...Do you know the principle behind the Phantom Book?"

"I know, books that record forbidden knowledge in this world, and the books themselves have magic because of their contents."

“That’s it. Just like the books you wrote before, every book you write here will become a phantom book. The magic of phantom books comes from knowledge,” Dalian said. “But you should know that knowledge is disseminable. It’s not like before, where as long as there are original copies and enough paper, countless phantom books could be printed at any time.”

"You mean..."

"The people involved in these riots usually have no interaction with each other, so they must have been affected by the Phantom Book at the same time."

After saying that, Dalian returned the photo to Isaac.

"Judging from the appearance of the rioters in the photos, the only thing I can think of is a fantasy book."

Which one?

“The Book of Atonement,” Dalian said solemnly. “It is a book of punishment written with heretical secrets, which steals the soul of the person who reads it and turns them into a zombie. Anyone who sees this book will become a zombie controlled by someone else. They don’t die after the event, but they start causing trouble after they die.”

"...So you're saying...that reading this book of atonement will turn you into this, but no matter how the book is published, will so many people be reading the same book at the same time?"

Isaac had just asked the question when he suddenly thought of something and lowered his head to think.

"No, there's a way... If it's not a book, but another kind of reading material, like... the newspaper that's on sale that day."

If it's a newspaper, then it makes sense. People buy newspapers on the street to learn about the day's news. If the content of a fantasy book is published in a newspaper, it would indeed be easy to control people at the same time.

If it's the Department of the Supernatural, then it's not impossible that they could control several newspapers and publish specially printed newspapers in fixed areas to experiment with the effects of the illusionary book.

“Isaac, about this…”

“This matter might need some investigation…though it’s probably unnecessary.” Isaac said, glancing at Hugh beside him. “Are you planning to get involved?”

Hugh said firmly, "Of course, we can't let this dangerous thing continue to spread, or more people will suffer."

"I think so too."

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

Just one day later, Isaac obtained the information from Ange.

Comparing the previous locations where the incidents occurred, it is true that the same newspaper was publishing the newspapers at that time, selling them to people on the street through newsboys and newsstands.

The newspaper's headquarters are located in the capital, Suvalen.

It just so happens that the headquarters of the Paranormal Department and Albert are both in Suvarnadez, making it quite convenient to control them. Thinking about it this way, these unusual events are indeed related to the Paranormal Department.

In other words, if Isaac is not mistaken, the next time something like this happens will be in Suvarnabhumi.

"Perhaps nothing will happen in Suvarn in the short term, but a huge number of newspapers will be copied from Suvarn's newspaper headquarters and sent to all parts of the Kingdom of Suvarn. At that time, the entire Kingdom of Suvarn will become a zombie country."

Are you planning to leave?

“Yes,” Isaac said.

After receiving the information from Ange, he had already arranged for her to go to Suvalen to investigate first, and he himself went there shortly after.

"I'll go too, so we can look out for each other."

"That's fine too, just take the illusion book I gave you."

This time, Isaac plans to go to Suvarnadez again, not alone, but with Hugh, Darian, and Fran.

"and many more."

Victorique, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.

"what happened?"

"You don't want to leave me here alone, do you?"

"...Oh right, we've all left, so you're the only one here now."

Isaac then remembered that there was such a thing.

He arranged for Victorica to stay in his place to protect her; it didn't seem safe for her to be left alone after everyone else had left.

"Then you'll come with us to Suvarnabhumi?"

"of course."

Chapter 1158: The Theater

As the train arrived at the platform, the group disembarked.

Once again, upon arriving at the heart of Suvarn, the capital of the Kingdom of Suvarn found many more police officers patrolling the streets.

On the one hand, there's the tightened management resulting from Isaac's killing of a large number of powerful figures when he first came here; on the other hand, there's the recent riots in several cities within the kingdom.

The entire Suvarnabhumi region is on high alert.

"Your Excellency, you've all come this time."

"Ah."

As soon as they stepped off the platform, Anjie was already waiting for them outside.

Who is this?

“Oh, Hugh, you haven’t met Angela yet, have you?” Isaac introduced to Hugh and Darian, “This is Angela Lucale, my assistant.”

"Hello, Lord Diswald and Princess Black. Lord Isaac once told me about you. You can call me Ange."

"Hello, Miss Ange," Hugh said politely.

As for Dallian, she immediately hid behind Hugh.

Although she acts arrogantly even when facing Isaac at home, she still shows a hint of timidity when meeting strangers.

"How's the situation here?"

“I investigated the newspaper office here before, and it seemed perfectly normal, with the day’s news printed on it,” Ange said. “However, just like the results of my previous investigation, this newspaper office is under the control of the Paranormal Department, and there are guards there.”

"So that means..."

Hugh pinched his chin and lowered his head in thought.

"The events that happened before should be related to the Book of Atonement, just as Dalian said."

"Should we just break through and destroy the newspaper office?"

“This isn’t a good idea. We don’t know exactly how many newspapers the Supernatural Department controls in the Kingdom of Suvar. If this one is destroyed, and they alert the enemy, they might start publishing other newspapers to distribute the Phantom Book. Things could get out of control…”

Hugh's idea was to play it safe for now.

Victorica has been standing silently to the side since just now.

Dalian had already explained to him what the Illusionary Book was: a book with mystical powers. This was a field she was completely unfamiliar with, so for now, she could only wait and see.