Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

At that moment, an explosion was heard at a side entrance of the sewer. Upon going over, I found two burly men wrestling.

One of them was a chimera that looked like a cow, and the other was a familiar face to Isaac, Major Alex Louis Armstrong.

"Alex, do you need my help?"

"Huh? Brigadier General Isaac?"

Alex was surprised to see Isaac there, but as he was still stunned, he was punched in the face by a cow-like chimera.

Upon seeing Isaac, the bovine chimera remarked, "What bad luck! To run into the Cataclysmic Alchemist."

"Oh? You know me?"

The chimera deactivated its transformation, and its originally enormous body slowly shrank into a middle-aged man.

“My name is Roya. I am a veteran of the Ishvalan War, so I naturally know someone as important as you,” said the burly man named Roya.

"Oh, it's an old comrade-in-arms! Nice to meet you," Isaac said with a smile. "Let me ask you a question: who was it that transformed your body into what it is now?"

After a moment of silence, Roya said, "The army."

His answer surprised Alex, who was standing next to him, but Isaac seemed to have expected it.

Isaac said, "Now you have two choices: be killed here by me, or surrender."

Instead of answering directly, Roya asked, "How is Boss Greed?"

"You mean that android? It's already been taken away."

"Is that so?" Roya laughed, transforming back into his chimera form and roaring as he charged toward Isaac.

Isaac didn't look at him, took a step forward and walked right past Roya.

A few seconds later, Roya's body gushed out a large amount of blood, and his body was torn to pieces like a disassembled toy.

"With Alex gone, there shouldn't be any chimeras around."

"……OK."

Once out of the sewers, Alex, seeing that no one was around, quietly asked Isaac, "Brigadier General Isaac, how's the investigation going with you and Lieutenant Colonel Hughes?"

“There’s been a lot of progress, but the investigation stopped after the boss gave us a gag order,” Isaac said. “I’ll go see your sister in a few days.”

"..."

Upon hearing that Isaac was looking for his sister, this muscular hunk surprisingly became timid.

"Why are you so afraid? She's not going to come all the way from the north to the central government to beat you up."

"That's true..."

The two returned to where the army was located and found Alphonse and Edward there.

"Hey, are you two alright?"

"No," the two shook their heads.

Isaac looked at Alphonse's armor and asked, "How is your friend?"

“She…fled here as soon as I came out,” Alphonse said.

At that moment, a middle-aged woman dressed in white clothes and slippers walked towards them, but was stopped by the soldiers.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm here to see my apprentices," the woman said with a smile.

"master!"

Alphonse and Edward shouted at the woman at the same time.

Was she their teacher?

The soldier tried to stop her, but Isaac stopped him: "Let her in."

"Yes, sir!" The soldier quickly let them pass.

The woman entered, smiled, and walked up to the two brothers, then...

He slammed the two brothers hard to the ground!

"You two little rascals, instead of doing your work properly, you've come here!" she roared at the two brothers.

The two brothers huddled together, shivering.

After seeing that they behaved themselves, the woman said to Isaac, "Thank you for protecting these two children."

"It's my duty, even though these two kids are indeed a bit naughty."

“Haha, you noticed too?” the woman laughed, extending her hand to Isaac. “Hello, my name is Izumi Kadis, and I am a housewife.”

Isaac shook hands with her and said, "My name is Isaac."

“Well then, Mr. Isaac, I hope you don’t mind if I take the two boys back with me.”

"It's alright, you can take it back."

Izumi took the two of them back.

On the way back, Izumi asked, "Who is that guy named Isaac?"

Alphonse replied, "He is a State Alchemist, someone we've known for several years. He's said to have already developed the Philosopher's Stone."

“The Philosopher’s Stone?” Izumi seemed thoughtful upon hearing this word.

------

After the two brothers left, Isaac went to the Southern Command.

The president was found drinking tea in the lounge.

“If you had told me earlier that you were coming to the southern provinces for an inspection, I wouldn’t have had to come all this way here,” Isaac complained.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect the commander here to come directly to you for help," the President said with a smile. "What are your plans afterward? Are you going straight back to the Eastern Command?"

"Since I've come all the way to the South, I'll go check out Lashubaré. Maybe I can modify my mechanical armor."

"Alright, I'll head back to the Central Committee now. The android you gave me still needs to be interrogated," the President said, then narrowed his eyes. "Didn't the Brigadier General investigate that matter afterward?"

"Look at what you're saying, do you think I'm the kind of person who doesn't follow orders?"

"Hahaha, it seems I was overthinking it," the President laughed, leaving his seat and walking outside.

Isaac also found Violet, and after resting for a while, the two bought train tickets to Lashubaré.

However, to their surprise, they encountered the brothers Edward and Alphonse again on the train; their destination was also Lassaubaré.

Chapter 149: Old Friends

Lassoubarre is a relatively well-known town in the southern region.

The town is located in an arid valley region with a hot climate. Due to the internal strife in Ishvalan society, the area has experienced rapid development in its mechanical armor technology. Many residents are passionate about researching mechanical armor.

As you approach the city, you can see many people wearing mechanical armor, and mechanical eyes are no longer a rarity in this area.

Edward came to Winry to have his autosuit repaired because it was damaged in the battle with the artificial Grylls, while Isaac needed to have his autosuit undergo routine maintenance.

"Winry, you seem to be in a good mood today," Edward said with a fawning smile.

He knew very well how furious this seemingly gentle girl would be if she knew he had ruined the mechanical armor she had painstakingly created.

“Ed? Al? You didn’t even tell me you were coming back,” Winry said with a smile.

However, Winry's smile gradually disappeared when Edward lifted up his tattered mechanical armor.

"Winry, my mechanical armor needs some maintenance, could you please help me?"

Just as Winry approached the trembling Edward with a wrench in hand, Isaac appeared in front of her.

"Isaac?" Winry hadn't expected to see Isaac in Rashbarre, but she quickly realized, "Does that mean I can disassemble your autosuit now?"

Winry excitedly picked up the screwdriver. Isaac had once gone to Rissenberg to have his autosuit maintained, but it was always the Rockbells or an old lady named Pinac who did it.

Winry had long wanted to study the mechanical limbs produced by Stac Corporation on the continent of Tersis, but she had never had the opportunity.

“…Only for today,” Isaac said helplessly.

Anyway, since the Rockbells are so skilled, their daughter can't be too bad, right?

"Great!"

Upon hearing this, Winry happily ran back to the shop, leaving Isaac and Edward, who had survived the ordeal, behind.

Edward: "You've been a huge help, Isaac. I almost got killed here."

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.

Edward's autosuit was severely damaged, with several parts knocked off, so he could only be patched up with tape before he went to find materials.

Therefore, Winry decisively started by maintaining Isaac's mechanical armor.

Edward wandered aimlessly through the streets. Most of the shops in this small town were related to mechanical armor, and there was nothing to do for fun.

Turning around, I found Alphonse crouching in a corner.

"Al? Did you find a cat?"

"Brother, I found this." He said, picking up a person who had fainted.

"..."

……

In a restaurant, a black-haired boy wearing a yellow shirt is enjoying his meal.

Edward asked, "Where are you from?"

"I come from the new country."

Alphonse and Edward were both taken aback; the New Kingdom was a major power in the east.

"How could she suddenly faint right by the roadside?"

"I ran out of money on the way, so I fainted from hunger here," the boy said with a smile.

This young man was none other than Isaac's younger brother, Yao Lin, the twelfth prince of the new kingdom.

"What are you doing all the way from New Zealand to here?" Edward asked.