Almighty Alchemist

Following in Andrew's footsteps, fifteen teenagers walked towards the depths of the island.

Purgatory Island is an irregular circular island with a diameter of about eighty miles. More than two-thirds of the island is covered by virgin jungle.

Large tracts of virgin jungle extend from this end of the island's shoreline to the depths of the island.

This jungle is like a product of the Earth's hundreds of thousands of years of the Jurassic era. There are giant jungle trees everywhere. Those tall trees tower into the sky, and the tall tree crowns are like a big umbrella covering the sky. Three or five people can't hold them together. There are twisted tree roots, vines and plant roots all over the place.

These tall trees are the most important tree species on Lianhe Island - fog fir.

Misty fir is a magical plant with water attributes. It absorbs water elements in the air and releases a large amount of formed water mist to adjust the humidity of the surrounding environment. They mixed with the rotten air above the Sea of ​​Death, producing a larger white smoke that enveloped the entire island. Only at noon when the sun is blazing, Purgatory Island will be freed from the fog, revealing its ferocious face.

Due to the transpiration of the fog, people's sight was greatly hindered, so after walking about 500 meters into the jungle, the teenagers discovered that there was actually a castle standing in the jungle in front of them.

The castle occupies a very large area, and in the center is a tall tower that stands like a sharp sword, overlooking the surrounding world.

He led the boys to the front of the castle, and two teenagers about sixteen years old greeted them at the door. One of them stepped forward, put his right hand on his chest, bowed respectfully and said, "Master Andrew, you are back."

Andrew said coldly: "Sark, did someone make a mistake while I was away?"

The boy named Sack quickly said: "No one dares to violate your will, Lord Andrew."

"Very well, Sisser, tell them what this place is and the rules here."

"Follow your orders, Lord Andrew."

Another boy named Sisser replied respectfully.

Listening to Sisser's statement, Gong Hao finally understood where he had come.

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To understand the existence of Purgatory Island, one must first understand the history of magic development in Fengming Continent.

Since someone in Fengming Continent accidentally discovered the existence of magic elements, and successfully resonated with the surrounding magic elements through their own power, thus creating the first human magic and becoming the first human magician in Fengming Continent, the history of using magic in Fengming Continent has been developed for six thousand years.

In the 6,000-year history of human magic development, more than 3,000 kinds of spells have been created, and dozens of factions have been separated. The types and levels of magicians have gradually become systematic, making the entire Fengming Continent a typical magic continent.

However, not everyone can learn magic. No matter how hard a person without talent works, it is impossible to become an excellent magician. Through thousands of years of research in Fengming Continent, people have discovered that there is only one person in every ten thousand people who can really learn and use magic power. And there is only one person in every hundred thousand people who has outstanding talent and can master advanced spells. There may not be one person in a million who can invent and create new spells.

Lineage has become an important criterion for determining whether a human being has the ability to learn magic. The probability that the offspring of a magician can become a magician is far greater than that of ordinary people. Therefore, the concept of blood is deeply rooted, and the spirit of nobility is deeply rooted in the hearts of everyone on this continent.

It is believed that the world is inherently hierarchical, and anyone who has the blood of a magician is a born noble.

However, human beings have never lacked rebels. There are always people who try to break through the shackles, break the rules, and break through the cages that shackle them.

Nearly a thousand years ago, a man named Georgie Lamborn, without the power of the element of communication, relentlessly pursued the mysteries of magic. Through tireless efforts, research, he discovered that resonating with magical elements and borrowing their power is not the only way to use magic. There are still many ways for human beings to borrow elemental power, so that ordinary people can also have the power to use magic.

This discovery caused a sensation at the time, and many people who longed for magical power continued the research of Georgie Lamborn, and finally formed a huge system of magical engineering, which is the origin of alchemy.

Unlike magicians, alchemists do not use their own power to use spells. They use their rich knowledge to collect various rare materials and make various magic props to achieve their goals. If a magician is a powerful individual, then an alchemist is a great engineer. They design and manufacture all kinds of magic equipment to fulfill people's constant pursuit of quality of life...

If the existence of magicians is the peak expression of primitive force in the magical world, then alchemy is the mainstream direction of technological development in the magical world. The latter is far more social than the former. It allows ordinary people to master the power of magic, and promotes the rapid development of the entire society.

Whether it is material technology or magical technology, their common feature is to constantly deepen their understanding of the world they live in, and use this understanding to transform it into inventions that can serve mankind. When civilization develops to a certain level, it becomes a competition for natural resources between human beings and other creatures.

A bottle of ordinary magic potion may need to destroy at least ten magic plants and kill five monsters to make it. People only use the part that is useful to them, and discard the part that is useless to them.

In the craziest era of alchemy, a large number of primitive jungles were cut down by people, and monsters were killed. Except for a few extremely dangerous areas where top-level monsters lived, people almost never let go of the places that human footprints can reach and destroy.

They take as much as they want and never give.

Large golems used in wars were manufactured, various puppet warriors sprung up, each weapon was endowed with magical power, and warriors used scrolls and potions to fight... Any great invention was always first used in wars, consuming each other, aggressing, wantonly plundering resources, destroying production, and annexing land. For example, if a large amount of fine gold mines or mithril mines are found in a certain place, there will be competition among various countries, mining, refining, and consumption through wars at the same time, waving various resources to their heart's content.

During the crazy Hundred Years' War, alchemy became the criterion for determining the strength of a country. The huge magical war puppets were far more useful and affordable than those rebellious magicians. However, after the Hundred Years' War, people discovered that the once-rich continent had been ravaged into dilapidated ruins by the war. There are fewer and fewer materials that can be used for alchemy production, a large number of magical plants have died, and various magical beasts have disappeared from people's sight. The primitive jungles disappeared from the surface one by one, replaced by large ruins composed of discarded golems, golems, magic puppets and other alchemy items.

People have always spared no effort in destroying ecological resources, no matter in the past, in the present, or in the future. To some extent, it represents the level of scientific and technological development in a world - the greater the damage to the natural ecology, the higher the scientific and technological achievements.

However, with the exhaustion of resources, alchemy, which lacks materials and cannot carry out a large number of experiments and productions, gradually loses its former glory. It was discovered that magicians are still an irreplaceable force in this continent, but alchemists are beginning to be useless.

Since then, alchemy has gradually declined. Some powerful alchemy techniques were also lost.

Although alchemy has declined, some countries with strong expectations are not willing to give up their yearning for the glory of alchemy in the past...

About twenty years ago, when a merchant ship belonging to the kingdom of Lance entered the sea of ​​death, it accidentally entered the island of purgatory hidden in the mist.

On this island, they discovered the long-lost primitive jungle and various rare monsters.

They found that there are more than 8,000 kinds of creatures inhabiting Purgatory Island, including nearly 2,000 kinds of magical creatures and plants. Because Purgatory Island has been hidden in the mist for many years, this island is rarely known to the world, and the environment here has hardly encountered damage from outsiders. Currently, there are about 300 kinds of monsters living on this island that have been extinct in Fengming Continent.

The leader of the caravan reported this great discovery to the king of his country, and a huge plan was born.

King Strick V of the Kingdom of Lance personally invited Patrick Hynes, the most outstanding alchemist in the country at that time, and asked him to immediately go to Purgatory Island, build an alchemy castle, and designate the Sea of ​​Death area under the Kingdom of Lance as a forbidden area on the grounds of protecting the lives of the fleet.

On Purgatory Island, Hines received the help of the entire kingdom to develop various war puppets for the Kingdom of Lance. Due to the extreme scarcity of resources, war puppets are extremely rare in today's mainland. The existence of Purgatory Island gave Lance Kingdom a chance to revitalize.

From this day on, Hines devoted himself to his favorite alchemy research. On the one hand, he provided the Kingdom of Lance with a large amount of war equipment, and on the other hand, he researched various alchemy techniques that had been lost with the help of the Kingdom of Lance.

Ten years later, the Kingdom of Lance successfully defeated two neighboring countries that were originally stronger than him, and became one of the three most powerful countries in the North Continent of Fengming Continent. Strick VI was crowned emperor and became the Empire of Lance.

Twenty years later, Patrick Hines has become the most terrifying master alchemist on this continent. He has mastered at least thirty kinds of lost alchemy techniques.

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"So this is the empire's alchemy experiment site?" A teenager exclaimed, but there was a bit of excitement in his tone.

Every teenager would be excited to be able to work in the core secret location that makes a country grow stronger quickly, and everyone whispered. Some people even fantasized that they might be able to learn some profound and profound alchemy spells, so that from then on, they would be able to flourish.

But Gong Hao's heart sank in an instant.

After all, he is not those simple teenagers, but from the information age of information explosion, his understanding of human nature is much stronger than these children.

Coming to such a place of great importance usually only means one result-they will never even think about leaving this island for the rest of their lives.

Could it be that he traveled to this world just to be a prisoner?

And for some reason, there was a more ominous feeling in his heart, but he couldn't say it for a while.

Sisser said: "Master Haines is the supreme master of the Alchemy Castle, and his will is our destiny. Below Master Haines, there are two assistants. They are Lord Andrew and Lord Pierre. You have already met Lord Andrew. He is mainly responsible for managing servants. Lord Pierre is mainly responsible for managing apprentices."

Pointing to the tall tower behind him, Sisser said: "Master Hines and Lord Pierre live in that tower, and they usually don't come out. Under normal circumstances, you won't see them. All orders are issued by Lord Andrew, so we just need to follow Lord Andrew's orders to do things."

"What's the difference between an apprentice and a servant?" A teenager asked curiously.

"Apprentices are the assistants who are responsible for participating in the master's experiments, design and manufacture. Their status is much higher than our servants. There are only about ten of them. They are all the best alchemy apprentices selected from all over the empire to participate. The servants are those who do various chores and are the assistants of the assistants. There are about sixty servants in the castle, and each of them has a lot of work to do. Thaker and I are the chief servants, and you are usually under our command."

Thacker took a step forward: "Okay, now everyone counts, from left to right. Those with even numbers follow me, and those with odd numbers follow Siser. We will take you to where you need to do things. From now on, you must work hard and don't make adults unhappy. Do you understand?"

"Understood." All the teenagers shouted at the same time.

After explaining some things that should be paid attention to, Sisser and Thaker divided the new boys into two teams and brought them into the castle.

In the center of the castle is a large open space. Countless young servants in white clothes are busy with their work.

The target of their work is those unknown creatures who are kept in cages.

A mantis-like creature waved its sickle-like arms inside the iron cage and screamed sharply at the people outside. The magic barrier on the iron cage shone with white light from time to time as the sword arms waved.

A huge snail, like a hill, lay lazily in the cage. Along with its breathing, a burst of freezing cold fog appeared.

A three-eyed cat Youyou jumped up and down in the cage, hissing like thunder, but it couldn't penetrate the soundproof barrier outside the castle. Closed in the iron cage next to it is a dragon-shaped creature covered with thick and thin scales, breathing out flames, which makes people's hearts jump.

What surprised Gong Hao was that he didn't find any information related to these creatures from Hugh Igles' memory, that is to say, most of these monsters were endangered species.

Surrounding the castle are puppet warriors in iron armor, exactly the same as those worn behind the middle-aged man. The main defense force of the entire castle is composed of these puppet warriors. They are not real beings, but they are very powerful and will always be loyal to their masters.

After arranging other teenagers to do things, Siser took Gong Hao to a flower shed, where some strange potted plants were planted, which Gong Hao had never seen before. There are even branches and leaves of some plants shaking around, as flexible as human hands and feet.

"Gler, from today onwards, you will be in charge of material collection in Area 13." Sisser said to Gong Hao.

"What should I do?" Gong Hao asked.

Sisser casually pulled out a plant from the flowerpot beside her. The root of the plant grew like a doll, with hands, feet, and a face with all five senses. It was pulled out of the soil at this moment, and immediately burst into tears.

"This is called weeping grass, and its cry is very annoying." Sisser said, and then gently pinched the cheeks of the stem doll with her fingers, and there was a row of sharp teeth in the wide open mouth.

"The saliva of the weeping weed is an excellent solution. Pinch its face and drip a few drops of saliva, just like what I do now, but be careful, its teeth are extremely poisonous. If your finger is bitten by it, you will die. Don't drip too much every day, or the weeping weed will die." Sisser took a few drops of saliva in a bottle, and stuffed the weeping weed back into the flower pot, and shoveled the soil to cover it again, and the crying stopped.

Next, Xiser explained the characteristics and precautions of various magic plants to Gong Hao.

There are about forty kinds of plants in area 13, each of which is unique, and each has its own purpose. In addition to the weeping grass, there are at least five magical plants that are extremely deadly, and you need to be very careful when handling them.

"Okay, I've already told you all about the usage, maintenance and collection methods of these magic plants. It's not complicated or simple. Do you remember them all?"

"Yes." Gong Hao nodded.

"Well, every morning, an apprentice will come here to collect the materials you collected the previous day. You can just hand them over to him. At the same time, he will tell you what materials you need to prepare the next day. If you continue to prepare the supplies for the next day as instructed, you will complete the task. Your room is No. 13, which matches your management area. As long as you have done the work at hand, you can arrange the rest of the time yourself. There is a canyon on the east side of the castle, and a lake on the west side. , and only apprentices and a few adults can come and go freely. Other than that, you can go to other places, but I suggest you don’t go out of the castle, because the castle is protected by an enchantment, and there are many kinds of scary monsters outside the castle. Don’t think about escaping, just concentrate on your work, understand?”

"Understood." Gong Hao nodded.

After thinking for a while, he suddenly said, "Siser, can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"I remember you said that the number of servants here is kept at around sixty all year round, is that true?"

"Yes."

"But I heard that the empire sends a batch of servants to Purgatory Island every month."

"indeed so."

"Where did so many people go?"

Sisser said: "There are often some people who make mistakes, and Andrew will take those who made mistakes away, and then never see them back. Andrew said that they didn't work hard, so he didn't want them to work here, and sent them to work elsewhere."

Gong Hao's heart fell to the bottom in an instant.

Send a batch of young servants who don't work hard every month to work elsewhere? Then send a batch of new people over every month? I am afraid that such a lie can only deceive these inexperienced children.

Gong Hao said in a low voice: "So, last month, fifteen people were taken away by Andrew?"

"Yes, so fifteen more people came in this month."

"How many people does Andrew usually take away every month?"

"I'm not sure about this. I've only been here for four months, and the number of people is different every month. Last month, a chief servant made a mistake and was taken away by Lord Andrew, and I was the one to replace him." Speaking of this, Sisser frowned: "You said you only asked one question, Hugh Iglell, you ask too many questions, so let's work hard."

"Ok Sisser, I'll make things right. I hope you will too."

"What do you mean?" Siser was stunned, unable to understand the meaning of Gong Hao's words.

"I mean...good luck."