The Alchemist's Guide to Flesh and Blood Ascension

"A soul contract!? That white-robed man would give you this thing?" Nehta's claws twitched violently, and several nuts fell to the ground, getting covered in dirt.

But it immediately picked it up, blew on it a couple of times, then popped it into its mouth and chewed, mumbling, "That thing... is it really real?"

"Could this thing possibly be fake?" Yunefu shrugged, and Nehta channeled a wisp of magic into it...

The next moment, countless mysterious runes appeared on the contract, giving the ratman ranger a headache at just one glance!

"Oh...it really is!" Its voice held a hint of surprise, then the mouse trotted over to Yunevo and looked the black-robed alchemist up and down. "You...you didn't do something horrific to that white-robed man, did you?"

"What could I possibly do?" Yonivo raised an eyebrow and continued, based on his guess, "I guess... the 'conservatives' simply can't afford to keep going."

"You remember Rednas, the female Templar Knight captured outside Stamock," he said, glancing at the thoughtful Nehta, before adding, "You and Tedes should have gotten some information during the interrogation."

The latter nodded upon hearing this.

To be precise, it didn't even qualify as an interrogation.

When it and Tedes arrived at the interrogation room... Rednas was already sitting there, wearing a pair of magic-suppressing shackles that didn't really restrict his movements, and had already confessed everything in detail.

She even confessed so quickly that the believers who were actually interrogated couldn't say much other useful information, so they were accidentally shot and killed on their way to "escape".

After undergoing soul memory reading and a planned ten-year observation period, Rednas will be able to continue living as a civilian of Starmoke.

In their testimonies, Nehta and Tedes only learned that there were indeed "conservatives" within the church, and that some of these conservatives were so deeply hidden that even they themselves were unaware of them.

I never expected to encounter one today, a "conservative" who would even risk his "life".

Nehta shrugged in return and asked Ionev, "Are you going to the apothecary later?"

The latter shook his head, not intending to return to that bustling place—he had more important things to do at the moment.

It's not just equipped with a waterproof coating and water purification system...

Seth's note meant that he had to organize a relatively strong resistance squad within seven days to bring the creatures of "Root" together on the same side.

He rushed back to his residence, unlocked the complex barrier that acted as a "lock," and saw Iseria still fast asleep in bed.

"This new flavor of cream pudding is so delicious..." Yunevo murmured under his breath.

Sure enough, the girl with the beige hair suddenly opened her sky-colored eyes!

"Frozen milk pudding!? Yunefu, you're eating it all by yourself!" She sat up abruptly in bed, looking at Yunefu who was trying not to laugh, her face instantly turning red. "Now... what time is it now?"

"According to Stamok standard time... it's 2 PM," Yunevo said, shrugging. He then took out two portions of food from his storage bag and placed them on a small table with a few metal plates placed on the corner.

Iseria rubbed her eyes, slipped out of bed in her leather boots, and poked at the food in front of her. "Speaking of which... Yunevo, you still have so much food in your storage bag, why don't you just give it to the creatures underground?"

"Appropriate assistance will make them grateful, but too much... will make them dependent," the black-robed alchemist picked a piece of meat from the pale-haired girl's food and continued, "Stopping at this point will easily provoke resentment."

"Hmm... but isn't the business of apothecaries always free?" Iseria asked, somewhat puzzled, as she snatched two pieces of meat back from Yunevo's food. "You haven't taken anything from them either, have you?"

"The basic form of trade is barter," the black-robed alchemist blocked the fork thrown by the pale-haired girl. "Although we distribute potions free of charge... those beings have developed the mindset of 'bring something in exchange'."

"This is all thanks to Lao Liu. He discussed this with me privately, and the conclusion we reached was..."

"What is it?" Iseria blinked.

"Under the 'script' I provided, Lao Liu, against his conscience, secretly spread some words about 'moral blackmail' among the rats, and also arranged a few 'shills' in the group that was giving out free medicine. One person tells ten, ten tell a hundred..."

The fair-haired girl pouted and complained, "How wicked... but it's definitely the best way right now."

"Hmm? Otherwise, they wouldn't have united so quickly," Yunevo wiped his mouth and placed a box of frothy pudding on the table. "We'll eat it later."

Iseria hummed in agreement, resting her chin on her hands as she thought about her experiences opening the shop over the past few days.

As Eunice said, those ratmen who came with the mentality of "getting something for free" inevitably felt embarrassed when they saw other creatures carrying things to exchange.

Shameless people are extremely rare here...

After all, how wicked could a creature living in dire straits still be willing to show its last bit of tenderness to its fellow human beings?

"Yonefu, are you making potions?" The fair-haired girl stood up and walked to Yonefu, who was fiddling with an alchemy array. She then bent down and said, "I don't think I've seen these things on the shelves of the apothecary..."

"Just in case, keep these for yourself," Yunevo said, placing several different colored potions on the table. "Come, let me introduce them to you."

He first picked up a bottle containing a pure white, gelatinous substance. "This is called 502..."

"502? What a strange name," Iseria tilted her head.

"It's actually an extract from the silk glands of cave jumping spiders, mixed with deliquescent crystals and solid ice magic source... Of course, there are also some cyanoacrylate analogs with a good concentration."

"Huh?" The fair-haired girl's mouth gaped slightly. "I only know that deliquescent crystals are products of the Endless Abyss, but what exactly is that cyanide stuff?"

"Okay, this stuff isn't actually that advanced," Yunevo chuckled, then forced a serious expression. "It's just glue. It's called 502 because the first 501 attempts to manufacture it failed."

"Huh!?"

The little farce had just ended when this "mansion," which almost never receives visitors, received an unexpected knock on the door...