From Alchemy Apprentice to All-Powerful God King

"How do you know so much?"

After listening to Had recount these historical events in detail, Matthew's suspicions deepened.

He asked more than two or three people from the empire, whether they were from large families like Ruf and Noah, or Bishop Sawyer who had been transferred there, and none of them knew this history.

But how could someone who had only come into contact with remnants of the Vatican know so much?

Sutton had the same question.

But Hades didn't care. He took out a square stone tablet the size of his palm from the Ring and inscribed a lot of text on it.

Matthew and Sutton looked down at the same time and found that what was written there was almost identical to what Had had said.

"I stole this from them. It should be a historical text. I guess only the Empire's secret vault has this kind of thing."

Just as the two of them were about to examine it, Had snatched it back.

"What do you want? This is mine! I'm counting on it to save my life."

Clearly, this kind of thing would fetch a high price whether sold to powerful families, empires, or remnants of the Papacy.

Seeing this, Matthew and Sutton had no choice but to reluctantly back down.

After finding out the approximate location of the ruins, he led his men away from the gambling den and returned to the guild to guard the property.

After everyone left, Luca walked into the room somewhat embarrassed. Seeing Matthew's serious expression, he assumed he was troubled by something and only dared to call out softly.

"Brother Ma..."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

Seeing that Matthew didn't react much and remained the same as before, Luca finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"This was my fault. I shouldn't have taken it upon myself to come here and show off. But I really just wanted to test my abilities. It's just that suddenly someone came up on stage to challenge me, and that Had even secretly told me we could make money together. I was thinking..."

"Alright, it's nothing. Just get yourself in a good state these next few days. We're going to start looking for the ruins soon."

Matthew wasn't paying much attention to what had happened that day and interrupted Luca's explanation.

"Has it been born?"

Upon hearing that they were going to find ruins, Luca's eyes lit up.

Matthew shook his head: "Not yet, we just got the general location, and Had also knows the exact location."

But this is good too; it's better than wandering around aimlessly like a headless fly.

That night, Matthew took Luca and met up with Sutton outside the city.

The latter came alone, without a knight, as that would make him too conspicuous and easily expose his purpose, attracting the attention of others.

However, just as they were about to set off, a plump figure, dressed in full-figured clothing, emerged from the dense forest beside them.

"Matthew, where are you going so late?"

As a slightly languid female voice came, the three of them immediately turned to look at the woman warily.

"Ruf?" Matthew asked in surprise, then turned to Sutton. "You called her that?"

Sutton shook his head. How could he possibly call that crazy woman? He even thought there were too many people around, including Luca.

Ruf, however, conjured magical insects from silk threads at her fingertips, her face full of grievance.

"You haven't come to see me for almost a month, so I had to come to you myself."

Hearing Rufus's words, Matthew's head instantly throbbed. There were two other people standing there! He could only quickly tell her to stop talking.

"Shut up! Don't talk nonsense anymore!"

As Matthew reprimanded her, Ruf showed a satisfied expression and obediently shut her mouth.

Luca and Sutton, who were standing nearby, were dumbfounded.

Isn't Rufu a fourth-tier ability user? She was so casually reprimanded by Matthew, and she didn't even seem angry; in fact, she looked more like she was enjoying it.

Of course, she soon noticed Luca and Sutton's expressions, and then her expression quickly changed back to that aloof, unapproachable look.

This made Luca and Sutton think they were seeing things. Was this really the crazy woman they remembered?

"Don't follow me. We need to go out and take care of some business. You stay in the city and keep an eye on the other factions for me."

"Well, be careful then."

Following Matthew's instructions, Ruf nodded in agreement. She had come out today thinking that Matthew was planning to run away, so naturally she had to follow him.

Now that I know it's out of town on business, I'm not in a hurry.

The two people beside Matthew, however, could not understand this.

After Ruf walked away, Luca kept looking Matthew up and down.

"Brother, if all else fails, could you teach me a couple of moves? They're either goddesses or women from the Rogers family; I'd like to experience it myself."

"Get out of the way. It's just a cooperative relationship. She needs my help. Even if she's a fourth-tier ability user, she doesn't need to be so humble."

Matthew ignored Luca's teasing and simply gave a brief explanation.

Sutton, however, did not think so. He saw the clues but felt it was unrealistic. He could only apply Matthew's rhetoric, which seemed to make sense.

"Alright, let's hurry up, we still need to confirm the location first."

Matthew urged the two to stop speculating and to set off earlier.

Soon, the three of them headed toward the location Had had mentioned, and under the moonlight, they arrived at a valley.

In the stillness, countless tiny sounds are amplified. Matthew uses the ability of the Hidden Slug to minimize his own movements, while simultaneously luring out alien beasts or wild demonic insects.

Sutton also has ways to minimize his own impact.

Luca, on the other hand, simply took out a one-time-use magic insect that allowed him to hold his breath, used it on himself, and walked confidently through the dense forest.

They had expected there to be obvious traces or landmarks, but when they arrived, they found that it was no different from a mass grave, with corpses and bones weathered for who knows how many years.

"How long will it take to find the entrance? I bet the whole valley is made of bones."

Luca complained that anyone who didn't know better would think they were digging up graves in the middle of the night.

"At least it proves that this place is correct; you wouldn't find so many human bones in ordinary places."

Sutton analyzed that he felt Had was not lying to them; the exact location of this place was indeed difficult to pinpoint, but the ruins should be here.

Matthew glanced at the mass grave, which encompassed at least an entire mountain range, and frowned.

How many people would have to be killed to create this situation? It seems that the content written on that stone tablet has likely been embellished. The tyranny of that time was definitely not just about exploiting ordinary people; there must have been even more cruel sacrifices or massacres.

"Keep searching. If we haven't found it by dawn, we'll have to head back to the city."

After giving his insights, Matthew signaled to the two of them to stop slacking off, as the mountain range was too vast to be explored in just a day or two.

He himself was constantly paying attention to the Otherworld Records. If Had wasn't lying, there really were a large number of demonic insects in the ruins.

He would definitely be able to detect it as soon as he got close.