Marvel: The Alchemist Just Wants a Peaceful Life

Upon entering the gate, what appeared before Zhenzhong Hehuan was a dark corridor, a complete contrast to the bright and warm corridor outside.

The black walls reflected almost no light, as if one were in a completely dark world. This darkness even made one hesitant to go out and touch the dark corridor walls.

The only thing that could give people the courage to move forward was the ground beneath their feet, which also had no reflection at all, but had been dug out with two light trails.

From the moment Zhen Zhonghehuan first entered this place, she never thought of touching the walls or the ground. Inside the tower, too much curiosity would only bring disaster.

With a blank expression, the girl, clutching the file bag in her arms, walked along the two 'corridors' marked by lights, and soon arrived at the end of the light strip.

After standing at the end of the light strip for a short while, a large door illuminated with pure white light slowly opened in front of the girl.

Even though the door in front of her, which was slowly opening and shone with bright white light in a place completely devoid of any reflection, looked like the gates of heaven, the girl knew that the place behind this door led not to heaven, but to hell.

She calmly walked through the gate, which led to a pure white space, where the girl was the only color.

After waiting for a while, an ordinary-looking wooden door appeared in front of the girl. She calmly opened the door, and on the other side of the door was a laboratory with a completely different style from the main door.

As the wooden door closed behind the girl, a languid female voice rang out beside Manaka Ayaka.

"Hehuan? Another unlucky one has joined the fray?"

“Yes, Miss Ieiri, I’m here to deliver the ‘contract’.”

Zhen Zhonghehuan answered the languid female voice's question with such calmness that it was devoid of any emotion. After a slight pause, she frowned slightly and continued speaking.

"Also, Ms. Ieiri, please do not smoke in the laboratory. Nicotine may cause the experimental results to deviate."

"Hey, hey, hey, how could that be? I've never smoked in the core experimental area! Besides, being locked in the lab every day, how miserable would I be if I weren't even deprived of my smoking habit?"

Faced with the woman's somewhat agitated complaint, Zhen Zhonghehuan turned her gaze to the direction from which the sound came. Not far away, next to a potted plant, a woman with a beauty mark at the corner of her eye and dark circles under her eyes from long hours of staying up late, wearing a white coat, was sitting on a bench next to the potted plant. The potted plant was full of cigarette butts with lipstick marks on them.

Those familiar with the Curse Return would likely recognize the beautiful woman before them at a glance: Gojo Satoru's contemporary, the official healer of the Curse Return, Ieiri Shoko.

Hearing Shoko's complaint, Manaka Awakening sighed helplessly, looked in Shoko's direction, and asked her.

"Aren't you going to ask me about Gojo Satoru and Natsuyu Suguru anymore?"

"There's no need for that. I can feel the traces of those two scumbags' power on the experimental materials that are delivered every day. It's enough to know that they're still alive."

After saying this, Shoko waved to Manaka Acacia, then got up and walked towards the door opposite the bonsai, which was Shoko's private 'laboratory'.

After watching Shoko walk through the gate, Manaka Awakening walked towards the end of the corridor, where there was another gate.

After taking a deep breath, Zhenzhong Hehuan, who was standing at the gate, opened the gate and went inside.

Unlike the corridor that was decorated with potted plants just now, the scene behind the door that Zhenzhong Hehuan opened this time was nothing short of terrifying.

The door opens to reveal a makeshift corridor made of iron pipes and wire mesh, which encircles the enormous room in front of you. Beneath that corridor are rows of huge glass jars.

Inside that glass jar were so-called 'monsters from the filthy world', some ordinary people who looked like humans, and a few humans who were mutating into 'monsters'.

Zhen Zhonghehuan still remembers the terror she felt when she first set foot here. The reason is simple: she saw a superhuman inside the jar—the same superhuman she had recently signed a 'normal person' contract with!

It was at that time that Zhenzhong Hehuan changed her 'dislike' of the tower for the first time and witnessed the true nature of the tower.

As time went by, Makoto Awakening's fear of the tower grew stronger and stronger. That fear, mixed with a vague expectation of change, tormented her from beginning to end. This is why Makoto Awakening showed that look in her eyes after seeing Sherlock sign the contract.

With a blank expression, Zhen Zhonghe calmly walked down the simple stairs, ignoring the malicious and even lecherous stares of some men in white coats. He walked past the glass jars and finally stopped in front of a large door that stood in the same spot.

The gate stood out starkly in this place; its pink and delicate decorations and color scheme clashed completely with the terrifying scene before them. Yet, it stood quietly in the road sandwiched between the jars.

Standing in front of the gate, Zhenzhong Hehuan took another deep breath before opening the gate and going inside.

If this laboratory full of jars ranks first in Manaka Awakening's level of disgust, then the person behind this door can be considered the person who can make Manaka Awakening and the laboratory in front of him rank at the top of the list of most hated beings.

As the door opened, even before Zhenzhong Hehuan entered, a pleasant and gentle voice rang out.

"Oh my, Hehuan-chan, long time no see! Another unlucky soul has appeared?"

As the gentle greeting rang out, Zhenzhong Hehuan stepped through the door in front of her. Inside the door was a laboratory, and standing next to the laboratory was a long-haired woman whose appearance, voice, and temperament were all gentle.

Of course, this is on the premise that you ignore the mutating and screaming figure behind just a piece of glass, as well as the unusually obvious sutures on the woman's forehead.

Chapter 769 The Upper Level of the Tower (Part 2)

Faced with the question of this woman who possessed a gentle demeanor and even a gentle voice and appearance, yet whose actions were anything but gentle and could be described as cruel, Zhen Zhonghehuan offered no answer and expressionlessly handed the woman the file folder in her hand.

The woman didn't mind. She took the file bag from Zhen Zhonghehuan, opened it, and looked at the signature on the document. In an instant, the gentle expression on her face began to crack, and she even became a little distorted because of disbelief.

"Huh? Su Nuo? This guy can come to the Pure Realm? And he can even sign a contract with the tower? How is that possible?"

Faced with the almost uttered question from the gentle woman before him, Manaka Awakening's face remained expressionless, and a chill inexplicably arose in his eyes as he looked at her.

"Brain Flower, I advise you not to have any improper thoughts. Just obediently follow the orders from higher-ups to conduct the experiments. Su Nuo's affairs are none of your concern."

After saying this, Zhenzhong Hehuan paused slightly before continuing.

"You should understand from your previous two attempts to sneak out that the upper levels of the tower are chaotic. You can't escape, and you can't affect the lower levels either. Obeying orders is not a bad thing for you. If you do it again, it might not be a punishment but a death sentence. I'm sure you don't want to stand there wailing, do you?"

As Zhen Zhonghehuan spoke, she looked at the thing on the other side of the one-way glass that was no longer human, and even its screams had become extremely weak.

Faced with the girl's emotionless threat, and even the humiliating nickname "Brain Flower," the expression on So's face froze instantly, and a hint of fear even flashed across his face.

However, Su quickly adjusted her mindset, regained her gentle demeanor, and smiled as she spoke to the expressionless girl in front of her.

"Okay, okay, Hehuan-chan, don't be so serious. I know, this place is enough to satisfy my curiosity. I won't cause any more trouble. Hehuan-chan, don't look at me like that."

Faced with Brain Flower's explanation, Zhen Zhonghehuan clearly didn't believe a word of it and continued to coldly watch Brain Flower's performance. Sure enough, the next second after Brain Flower finished speaking, Brain Flower's demeanor changed.

"Can't Hehuan-chan tell me a little more about what's going on up there? I'm so lonely doing the same experiments in this lab at the bottom every day. I want to see something new and exciting too."

As Suo spoke, she moved closer to Zhenzhong Hehuan, her face flushed an unnatural red. However, Zhenzhong Hehuan showed no reaction to Naohua's reaction, instead coldly glancing in Naohua's direction.

"Do you want to die?"

"How could that be? Hehuan-chan, I was just curious~"

"That means they want me dead."

"Don't say that, Hehuan-chan. After all, you're the only high-level agent they know now."

"Is it because you killed the other two? Is Nanajo-senpai's body not good enough? Or are you disappointed that you didn't know what you wanted after all the scheming to get Nanajo-senpai's body, and now you've set your sights on me?"

At this point, Zhenzhong Hehuan's face was full of sarcasm as she coldly looked at Naohua leaning against her.

A crack appeared on Brain Flower's face, and the madness and hatred in his eyes flashed by. He didn't continue the performance and instead distanced himself from Zhen Zhonghehuan.

The reason is very simple: behind Zhen Zhonghehuan, a dark gate appeared, and that gate represented only one person: the person in charge of the tower, the mysterious 'Lord Tianyuan'.

Zhenzhong Hehuan also noticed the door behind her, but unlike before, the mocking expression on Zhenzhong Hehuan's face did not disappear. Instead, she stared at the Brain Flower, who was now keeping a distance from her, with even greater intensity.

"Brainy thing, make good use of Shichijou-senpai's body. Believe me, if you dare to overstep your bounds again, all that awaits you is scalding red oil and turning into excrement. I would be more than happy to do all this for the owner of your current body, my only friend, Shichijou-senpai."

After saying that, Zhenzhong Hehuan turned around without hesitation, opened the pure black door behind him, and walked in, leaving Naohua alone in the spot, gritting her teeth as she watched the disappearing black door.

In order to obtain the secrets of the tower, he went to great lengths to bewitch the girl who was the agent of the high-level and obtained her body, but he did not find any information related to the high-level of the tower. All he had left were the memories of being treated as a plaything.

The memories are so deeply etched into this body that they cannot be erased. No matter how hard the brain tries, it cannot even remove the scars on this body. Each scar seems to be a testament to those disgusting memories, and every time you touch the body, you will personally experience those nauseating memories.

This is also the main reason why a schemer like Brain Flower would stay here obediently; the Tower's methods far exceeded his imagination.

Of course, Zhen Zhonghehuan knew all of this, and this was already the limit of her ability to retaliate against Brain Flower.

Suppressing the nausea he felt at the sight of the brain-shaped object, Masaka Awaken forced himself to regain his expressionless demeanor. After opening the main door and walking along a corridor for a while, another main door appeared before Masaka Awaken's eyes.

When the door was opened again, all that could be seen was a pitch-black place with no end in sight. However, unlike before, this time what appeared before Zhen Zhonghehuan was not a corridor or a door, but a magnificent high platform.

On the high platform, behind layers of thin gauze, a figure sat languidly on the throne.

"Master, the task has been completed as you instructed."

Zhen Zhonghehuan knelt on one knee and respectfully addressed the being on the high platform.

"Hmm, what was their reaction?"

Upon hearing Zhenzhong Hehuan's report, the being on the high platform lazily replied. The voice was unusually strange, as if many people were answering at once, including women, men, children, and the elderly. Hoarse, high-pitched, ethereal, crisp, deep, sharp, and mellow voices were almost all mixed together.

"There seems to be no reaction so far, but the being named Sukuna doesn't seem to be showing any hostility towards Gojo Satoru."

With her head bowed and kneeling on one knee, Zhenzhong Hehuan answered the person on the high platform sincerely. After a slight pause, she continued to speak to the being on the platform.

“Master, Gojo Satoru’s intentions are impure. He’s allowed that unstable element who claims to be Sukuna to come into contact with Gojo Satoru and the others. Shouldn’t we take some precautions in advance?”

Zhenzhong Hehuan asked the being on the high platform with a worried tone. The entire space fell silent as Zhenzhong Hehuan asked the question. The being on the high platform did not answer Zhenzhong Hehuan immediately.

The oppressive atmosphere grew stronger in the silence, to the point that cold sweat began to bead on the forehead of Manaka Awakening, who was kneeling on the ground.

After a while, a soft laugh came from the high platform, addressed to Zhenzhong Hehuan kneeling below.

"No need, just keep everything as usual and let these ants put on their show."

As soon as she finished speaking, another large door appeared behind Zhenzhong Hehuan in an instant. The girl didn't dare to refute it, and after respectfully responding, she was swallowed up by the door behind her and disappeared.

As the True Joyful Union disappeared, the entire space fell silent once more. The dense blackness around them began to dissipate, and a spacious and bright room gradually revealed its original appearance as the blackness faded.

Outside the window, under the sunlight, layers of clouds were dyed gold, spreading out below the room, making the room seem, in an instant, a place only gods could live in.

"Sherlock, the alchemist...heh."

That voice, which sounded like a composite of many voices, rang out once again, but this time, it was filled with disdain.

Chapter 770 The old man's reputation is in tatters...

Sherlock didn't know what happened on the upper levels of the tower, but that didn't mean he gained nothing.

Alchemy is based on the ability of equivalent exchange, and its sensitivity to contracts is almost nonexistent. It is precisely because of this that Sherlock can easily sense where the labor contract he signed is located.

It was because of this seemingly insignificant ability that Sherlock discovered a secret, though not insignificant: the upper level of the tower was not a single, unified space, but rather a chaotic space divided into numerous smaller, disorganized units.

In Sherlock's perception, the jump in his 'employment contract' was far too large. If the leap of a hundred meters in the blink of an eye wasn't what he thought, then it could only mean that Zhen Zhonghehuan or someone who served the higher-ups had such ability.

Of course, compared to this not-so-small piece of information, Sherlock's attention was not focused on the higher-ups, at least not when he encountered that scumbag, Teacher Wu.

Or rather, there's no time to figure out the real situation of their 'employment contract' that keeps jumping around on the upper levels of the tower.

The reason is quite simple: after picking up Sherlock, the teacher, Satoru, did not subtly reveal the truth about the tower to Sherlock like Corazon did. Instead, he took Sherlock to the entrance of a maid café.

Do you think Sherlock is allergic to maid cafes, or that he's shy about the environment or because of the pretty maids who call him "master" in a sweet voice?

How could Sherlock, with his dog-like shamelessness, possibly do such a thing? Or rather, if that's really what you think, then you're seriously underestimating the personality of Gojo Satoru, that bastard cat.

To be honest, when Sherlock stood at the entrance of this maid café, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

When Sherlock pushed open the door of the maid café and saw not pretty maids or cutely decorated tables, but all sorts of maid outfits hanging on the clothes rack, his bad premonition almost instantly became a reality.