Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

Isaac sighed and prepared to leave the Eastern Command Headquarters. He would first go back and inform Violet that he needed to make an emergency trip to the Central Command Headquarters.

As she walked down the street, the soldiers at headquarters all turned to look at the 'girl'.

Wow, it's so beautiful.

"Wow, she's beautiful. I wonder if she has a boyfriend."

"I can't believe I didn't notice that there was such a beautiful young woman in our headquarters!"

"She's looking this way."

The surrounding soldiers whispered among themselves as they watched Isaac, but none dared to approach him. Some of the bolder ones tried to strike up a conversation, but were all scared away by a single look.

His face was very ugly. He finally arrived at his apartment and opened the door to find Violet and Lanfang sitting in his home.

"You're all here, so..."

"Who are you? Why do you have His Highness's key?" Lanfang asked warily, looking at the 'girl' in front of her.

Lanfang is very nervous right now.

To ensure that Violet wouldn't get involved with her princess, Lanfang came to Violet's room under the pretext of helping her tidy up Isaac's room, and Violet agreed without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived, I saw another girl with a key to His Highness's room.

Why don't I have one myself?!

"Lanfang, have all those years of practicing your 'qi' been for nothing?" Isaac asked.

It was rather jarring to hear a male voice coming from a young girl, but Lanfang immediately recognized whose voice it was.

"Your...Your Highness!?" Lanfang was startled and asked tremblingly, "How...how did you become like this?"

Good heavens! His Highness is dressed in women's clothing!

"It's necessary for the mission," Isaac said helplessly.

Violet had been watching Isaac since he came in. She looked at Isaac and said, "Commodore, the clothes suit you very well."

She spoke expressionlessly, just as before, and no one knew what she was thinking.

"Oh, I'm glad you recognized me."

“The Brigadier General looks very beautiful right now,” Violet continued.

"Please stop talking!"

Chapter 164: Intelligence

"Will the cemetery next to Central City Park be there? Roy really knows how to pick a spot." Isaac looked at the note in his hand with displeasure.

Silently lighting a cigarette, Isaac, dressed in women's clothing, maintained a somber expression.

Just as he was about to leave the station, a little girl bumped into him.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, big sister." The girl quickly bowed her head and apologized after bumping into someone.

The beautiful young woman in front of her, with a cigarette in her mouth and a gloomy face, seemed extremely terrifying to her.

Big sister?

Isaac's expression darkened further as he noticed the girl wearing pink New Country clothing, accompanied by a small panda.

The little panda was so frightened by Isaac's imposing presence that it hid behind the little girl.

“Little girl, are you from New Zealand?” Isaac asked.

"Oh yes! We're here for tourism, and now we're heading north!" The little girl was startled by Isaac's question and stood up straight.

This older woman smoking in front of me is so scary!

“Really? Then be careful, things haven’t been peaceful in Amestris lately,” Isaac said, leaving the station.

After Isaac left, the little girl breathed a sigh of relief and hugged the panda, saying, "That big sister was so scary, wasn't she, Xiaomei?"

The panda named Xiaomei nodded.

At the cemetery.

Roy was waiting there in casual clothes.

“Roy, I’m here,” Isaac said, walking up behind Roy.

Roy heard someone call his name, turned around, and saw a beautiful young woman standing behind him.

"Miss, are you looking for me?" Roy saw Isaac and was so surprised by the 'girl's' beauty that he didn't recognize her for a moment.

"if not."

"Aha, if you want to go on a date with me, I'll say yes, after I finish taking care of things in a bit..."

"Believe it or not, I'll kill you right now."

Isaac looked at Roy as if he were already dead. Roy was startled by the sound and began to scrutinize the 'girl' in front of him.

“I…Isaac?!” Roy exclaimed in shock.

"Otherwise, who do you think it is?" Isaac spit out his cigarette and stomped it out on the ground, looking like a delinquent girl with his clothes on.

"Why... are you dressed like this?" Roy asked with a dry laugh. "And your clothes look so familiar, they remind me of Lieutenant Hawkeye when he was a kid..."

"After you called me, you sent a secret message to that old man, Gulaman. That old man then came up with some terrible ideas for me. The clothes belonged to his granddaughter," Isaac said. "So what intelligence did you get? If this intelligence isn't valuable..."

As Isaac spoke, he looked sharply at Roy.

When Roy saw the terrifying look in the teenage version of Isaac's eyes, he swallowed hard, and cold sweat dripped down his forehead.

“I’ll let you lie down where you’re standing right now,” Isaac said, pointing to the cemetery.

“Of course, of course, I’ve obtained some very important information this time.” Roy said, handing Isaac a small note.

“I’ve hidden all the information I know here,” Roy said, his expression turning serious. “Now, both I and that kid Steel are under surveillance. They seem to be intentionally trying to prevent us from meeting you.”

"It seems they're afraid I'll find out their plans." Without making a sound, Isaac slipped the piece of paper into his pocket, now pondering who in the Central Committee might be his enemies.

Roy continued, "Steel and I accidentally entered the enemy's lair and discovered something extraordinary, something... that we couldn't touch."

As Roy spoke, a look of lingering fear appeared on his face.

"Where's that Edward kid?"

"I heard they're looking for information on alchemy in the new country. By the way, have you ever heard of alchemy? It's..."

“I’ve not only heard of it, I can use it,” Isaac interrupted directly.

"What!?" Roy was startled, but remembering his earlier cross-dressing, he wasn't too surprised and quickly recovered. "When did you learn that?"

“I went to the New Kingdom when I came back from the Tersis continent, and that’s where I learned it,” Isaac said. “I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I’m quite proficient.”

"That's great!" Roy exclaimed with delight. "We might even need alchemy to deal with that hidden enemy."

"Clam?"

“Anyway, this is good news.” Roy said, walking out of the cemetery. “I can’t stay here for too long because I’m being watched, or I’ll get suspicious.”

“Okay.” Isaac took the note and prepared to leave.

"Oh, right," Roy suddenly turned to Isaac and said, "Isaac, you look great right now, can I take a picture with you?"

Upon hearing Roy's words, Isaac smiled, walked up to Roy, grabbed his head, and slowly lifted him off the ground.

"Ouch! Ouch! Let go, Isaac! I was just kidding!" Roy grabbed Isaac's hand and struggled in the air. His legs kept shaking.

“Listen, Roy, I’m a tolerant man, but I’m going to be the president, after all. If any rumors affect my career, I’ll wipe them all out.” Isaac’s beautiful face, now disguised, gradually contorted into a grimace. “You’d better forget about this, or else…”

Isaac tightened his grip even more.

“I’ll help you cut your head off, burn it, and then bury the ashes in the valley of Brix.”

"Okay, okay, put me down, I'm going to die!" Roy begged quickly.

He knew perfectly well that Isaac was serious.

Isaac released his grip, and Roy fell to the ground.

The two then exchanged a few words of advice and parted ways.

Roy returned to his job in Central City, while Isaac opened the note he had handed him earlier and began to read it.

"The National Central Library, Second Branch, third floor, bookshelf number five, the thirty-ninth book from the left? Is this where the intelligence is hidden?"

Upon arriving at the library, Isaac headed towards his destination.

Isaac was still dressed as a woman, and while he was looking up books, he was constantly being stared at by many people who made him very uncomfortable.

"I really want to kill all of them."

Even Isaac himself didn't realize that when he wore women's clothing, he always exuded a faint but palpable murderous aura, giving off a feeling that strangers should stay away.

After finding the book, I opened it and found a black and white photograph and a note that fell out.

The photo shows a somewhat aged elderly man in a room filled with pipes in the background.

"Is this the enemy hiding behind the scenes? They look quite ordinary."

Just then, Isaac suddenly sensed a familiar presence. He turned around and saw that Edward and his brother Alphonse were also there.

They seemed to be urgently searching for something.

Chapter 165: Selim

“Brother, there’s practically no knowledge about alchemy in the library,” Alphonse said.

“Yes, the library has very few records about alchemy.” Edward put a book back on the shelf. “Why don’t we just go to the New Kingdom and learn it directly from there?”

After confirming that the Philosopher's Stone was made from human life, the two brothers turned their attention to alchemy. Compared to alchemy, which excelled in military applications, alchemy, which was powerful in medical applications, might be able to solve their problems.

Isaac stood behind the bookshelf listening to their conversation, knowing that they were indeed searching for alchemy, just as Roy had said.

"Where is that little girl with the black and white cat? We can't find her in Central City at all." Edward covered his head, having been searching for her since this morning, but to no avail.

"That girl named Zhang Mei? If we could find her, we could ask her for advice on alchemy." Alphonse said with a hint of regret.

Isaac, who was standing behind the bookshelf, overheard their conversation and pondered it carefully.

The name Zhang Mei sounds like it comes from Singapore. As for the black and white cat? Does it refer to a panda?

Could the little girl I met at the train station today be the Zhang Mei they were talking about?