Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

Chapter 136: I Might Be Arrested by the Military Police

The night is deep.

The room was very tidy, with a stack of quilts and two pillows on the bed.

It was the first time the two of them had spent the night in the same room, and Isaac couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.

"What's wrong, Brigadier General?" Violet asked, looking at Isaac who was standing stiffly by the bed.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Isaac said. “Violet, if you’re tired, go to sleep. I have something to talk to Hughes about in a bit.”

"Yes."

“…Um, Violet,” Isaac said haltingly.

"?"

"Don't change your clothes while I'm still here... Never mind, I'll excuse myself for now."

With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Violet looking puzzled.

"Brigadier General Isaac is acting really strange today." He then continued changing into his pajamas.

……

Standing on the balcony of Hughes' house, looking at the night view of Central City, Isaac sighed.

"You're still young, don't sigh all the time."

Hughes had somehow walked onto the balcony and was standing next to Isaac, looking at the night view.

"Can't you sleep?"

"Watching my lovely daughter fall asleep makes me especially energetic!" Hughes gave Isaac a thumbs up.

"..."

The two gazed at the night sky for a long time before Hughes spoke first:

"We've known each other for quite a while now."

“It’s been five years,” Isaac said.

“You and Roy both want to become president. He wants to become president to protect the people of this country. You haven’t said why you want to sit in this position yet.”

“I don’t know either,” Isaac replied after thinking for a moment. “Maybe it’s because people think that if they’re standing so high up, they could spit on someone and kill them.”

"Hahaha, that's really your style," Hughes laughed.

After saying that, he took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and looked at Isaac, saying, "Want one?"

"I'll give it a try."

Isaac took the cigarette from Hughes, and after a tiny flash of electricity, the cigarette was lit.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

“Haha, that’s how it is when you’re a first-time smoker,” Hughes laughed.

"I have to say, it feels pretty good." Isaac was slowly getting used to the feeling of inhaling smoke into his lungs.

The two of them smoked on the balcony.

"Speaking of which, what's your relationship with Violet?" Hughes asked, exhaling a smoke ring.

“I already said it’s a superior-subordinate relationship,” Isaac said, “just like Roy and Lieutenant Hawkeye.”

"Don't you want to develop something?" Hughes asked with a wicked smile, pointing to the guest room where Violet was staying.

"Do you really want to watch me get arrested by the military police?"

"Haha, just kidding."

The two chatted for a while longer before returning to their respective rooms. Hughes rushed back to his room to continue seeing his daughter, while Isaac also went back to his room.

When I returned to the room, I saw that Violet was already asleep.

Isaac casually found a chair in the room, sat down, and fell asleep.

the next day.

Isaac slowly opened his eyes and found himself lying in bed. Looking down, he saw Violet's head right in front of him.

Isaac was startled and quickly threw off the covers.

Upon closer inspection, he realized he was wearing pajamas, and Violet was curled up asleep in his arms.

Isaac: "..."

After a long while, Violet slowly woke up, her clothes slightly disheveled, and said in a daze, "Good morning, Brigadier General Isaac."

Isaac: "..."

"what happened?"

"I think I might actually be taken back for questioning by the military police."

Yesterday, Violet woke up in the middle of the night and saw Isaac sleeping in the chair, so she lifted him to the bed and covered him with a blanket.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At that very moment, Edward arrived in Central City.

As soon as they got off the train, they went straight to the First Branch of the National Central Library to search for the materials left behind by Marco.

“I found it, brother!” Alphonse shouted.

"Shh! This is a library, keep your voice down." Edward gestured and took the book from Alphonse's hand.

"One Thousand Recipes for Today... by Tim Marco..."

Edward stared at the book speechlessly, casually flipping through its contents.

"A large spoonful of sugar plus a little water... That's it!"

At first glance, it does seem like an ordinary cookbook, but in Edward's eyes, it's not that simple.

Alchemy is a highly dangerous art if used by evil people. To prevent this, research data needs to be recorded in the form of coded messages. What appears to be ordinary culinary research to the average person is actually a mystery known only to the author.

With enough knowledge and patience, these research materials can be deciphered.

"Al, let's find a place to start deciphering."

"Okay brother."

After borrowing the books, the two went to a separate room to begin their deciphering work.

Hughes also arrived at this time, needing to look up information on criminal cases here. Isaac, who was protecting him, also came here with Violet.

They happened to see Edward and his companions leaving with a pile of books.

"Those were Edward and Alphonse just now, right?"

"seems like it."

“Let’s go say hello,” Hughes said, following them.

Outside the single-person reading room, a male and a female soldier were guarding the door. When they heard someone approaching, they turned around and immediately broke out in a cold sweat.

“Lieutenant Colonel Hughes! And Brigadier General Isaac!”

The two quickly saluted.

Standing before them were high-ranking military officials.

“Oh, Lieutenant Ross, and Warrant Officer Prosser,” Hughes greeted them, then said to Isaac, “These two are the brothers’ bodyguards in Central City.”

Isaac greeted them, saying, "Hello."

The two men remained tense as they watched Isaac, whose name was quite famous in the military, having become a brigadier general at the age of seventeen and being invincible on the battlefield.

Hughes opened the door and walked in: "Hey, you two, you came all the way to Central City and didn't even come to see me? That's too much of a formality."

"Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?"

The two brothers apologized to Hughes, saying, "We're sorry, we had urgent business to attend to and forgot to visit Lieutenant Colonel Hughes."

"Oh, I see. I'm also very busy. I came to the library to look up some information."

"I see."

Just as Edward and the others were about to continue talking, they noticed another person walking in.

"Isaac?"

"Mr. Isaac?"

The two brothers were slightly startled when they looked at Isaac, followed by a brief silence, and the atmosphere suddenly turned cold.

"What's wrong? You two, there's something off about the way you're looking at me," Isaac asked, puzzled.

“No…nothing like that. I’m just a little surprised to see Mr. Isaac in Central City.” Alphonse broke the silence first, but his voice was still trembling slightly.

After hearing Marco say that Isaac might have already completed the Philosopher's Stone, the two were unable to calm down after seeing him again.

Chapter 137: The Fifth Research Institute

"I came to Central City for work, of course. But you guys, you've only been here a few days and you're already at the National Central Library. What are you investigating?"

Isaac looked at the two brothers, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Oh, well, we'll just take a look around," Edward immediately waved his hand and said.

Mr. Marco had previously instructed them not to tell Isaac about the information he had provided them regarding the Philosopher's Stone.

Isaac casually picked up the document they were looking at and started reading it.

"You guys have all the way to Central City to look at recipes? You must have a lot of free time."

"I just happened to be a little interested," Edward said with a dry laugh, scratching the back of his head.

Seeing that the two were clearly nervous, Isaac handed the documents back to them. "Never mind, I won't ask any more questions."

Seeing that the other party did not continue to ask questions, the two brothers breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, he didn't discover anything.

As Hughes and Isaac left the room, the two continued to analyze the documents in their hands.