CHAPTER 388: CHAPTER FOUR: BEWITCHMENT

"How were you released? Show your release proof."

Colonel Mustang blocked in front of Su Xiao, ready to fight at any moment.

"Is it strange that I was released? Besides, you don’t have the authority to command me, don’t forget we are of equal rank."

Su Xiao carried Isaac’s corpse forward, with Bubu Wang, who had a straw hanging on its head, following behind.

Ordinary State Alchemists were of Major level, while those who participated in the ’Ishval Extermination War’ were at least Colonel level, although such Alchemists were rare.

Most of the Alchemists who participated in the ’Ishval Extermination War’ were exiled to remote areas or imprisoned for various reasons.

It was very rare to find an Alchemist like Roy Mustang serving in Central City; if you searched the entire country, only Roy Mustang was like this.

Others could see this unusual situation, let alone Roy Mustang himself, so the Colonel was already preparing for rebellion.

Roy Mustang was kept in Central City because the Little Man in the Bottle valued his talent.

This was not a good thing; the ultimate goal of the Little Man in the Bottle was to transmute the entire population of the country into a Philosopher’s Stone, and now the high-ranking military officers were its minions.

To be precise, Amestris was established by the Little Man in the Bottle; it was originally a small country, which the Little Man in the Bottle developed into its current state.

To transmute the entire population into a Philosopher’s Stone was not easy, especially since it had to be done secretly.

First, an alchemy array covering the entire country had to be set up, and after the array was successfully set up, a person had to be sacrificed at each of the five corners of the array.

These five people could not be chosen randomly; first, they needed to be powerful Alchemists, and second, they must have performed Human Transmutation, which meant they had seen the Gates of Truth.

These five sacrifices were called Human Pillars by the Little Man in the Bottle, and they were:

Edward Elric (protagonist)

Alphonse Elric (protagonist’s younger brother)

Roy Mustang (candidate for Human Pillar)

Izumi Curtis (protagonist’s mentor, female)

Von Hoenheim (protagonist’s father)

It’s worth noting that the protagonist Edward Elric was having a hard time; not only was he a Human Pillar, but his brother, father, and mentor were also chosen by the Little Man in the Bottle as Human Pillars.

Currently, Colonel Roy Mustang is a candidate for a Human Pillar, which is why he was kept in Central City.

Su Xiao’s mission target is the Little Man in the Bottle; the Divine Power (Fake) is within the opponent’s body, but the Little Man in the Bottle is very powerful. In Amestris, its ability is almost unassailable.

In the original, the Little Man in the Bottle was defeated after being attacked by a group, and Su Xiao was aware of this, so he wouldn’t touch the plot characters for the group attack on the Little Man.

Moreover, Su Xiao wanted to weaken the forces under the Little Man in the Bottle.

Under the command of the Little Man in the Bottle, there were two groups of forces. One was the six homunculi it created; there were originally seven, but Greed had already betrayed because of compatibility, and couldn’t possibly be loyal to anyone.

The second group was the high-ranking military officers; they had cooperated with the Little Man in the Bottle to gain eternal life, becoming its lackeys.

Su Xiao’s primary target was the six homunculi; those military lackeys were easy to deal with, so there was no need to startle the snake for now.

To deal with these homunculi, one first needed to infiltrate their camp, and only by successfully infiltrating would it be possible to find the whereabouts of the homunculi; otherwise, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, there was no need to infiltrate the enemy’s interior for now; he already knew the whereabouts of two homunculi.

"Deal with those two first; one is easy to handle, but the other is a bit troublesome."

Su Xiao walked down the street carrying a corpse, with a contemplative look on his face.

The two homunculi he had to deal with weren’t particularly strong, but one had a troublesome ability, and if hit by it, he would suffer a heavy price, even if he didn’t die.

Taking out a map, Su Xiao circled around according to the map’s position and arrived at a research facility.

This research facility was supposedly abandoned, yet a guard stood watch at the entrance.

Su Xiao walked towards the main entrance of the research facility, and the guard stopped him.

"Codeword."

"3T4M, fish, candy, lime."

Hearing this strange codeword, the guard nodded. He had no idea what was inside the research facility behind him; he only needed to let through those who spoke the codeword.

Walking into the courtyard of the research facility, several adjacent large buildings appeared ahead. The buildings had already been abandoned, with some windows broken and left unrepaired.

Entering the central building, Su Xiao headed straight for the basement.

The basement of the entire research facility had been connected, forming a large square. In the center of the square was an open area, with a circular alchemy array on it. In the center of the alchemy array stood a low wooden stake, also engraved with an alchemy array.

Walking towards the alchemy array, Su Xiao saw pools of black blood on the ground, which had been there for a long time and had long since dried.

"Punctual, huh? Were you followed?"

Enwei walked out from behind a stone pillar, approaching Su Xiao and sitting on the wooden stake in the center of the alchemy array.

"Inspection."

Su Xiao threw Isaac’s corpse towards Enwei. Enwei kicked the corpse and, upon discovering the wounds on the chest and abdomen, frowned.

"Is this... a knife wound?"

"Yes."

"Did you slash him?"

"No, when I saw him, he already had this wound on his chest, most likely slashed by a young boy."

Of course, Su Xiao wouldn’t admit that he made the cut; when he killed Isaac, he sensed the surroundings and no one else was there.

"A young boy?"

"A blond youth, around his mid-teens, about 1.6 meters tall, with a mechanical arm on his right."

"So it’s that guy, huh."

Enwei scrutinized Su Xiao, seemingly pondering something.

"Are you interested in obtaining eternal life?"

Enwei asked, his words carrying a tempting tone.

"Eternal life? Like your form of life?"

"Yes, and no."

"Not interested."

Upon hearing Su Xiao’s response, Enwei showed an expected expression.

"As expected, let’s change the bargaining chip then. Are you interested in obtaining more Philosopher’s Stones?"

Su Xiao’s eyes lit up, deliberately displaying a look of desire.

"Definitely interested."

"Great, then let’s cooperate; help us, and we’ll pay you in Philosopher’s Stones."

"You all?"

"Yes, us. Our power is beyond your imagination. To be precise, you’ve been working for us all along, whether it’s war or eliminating dissidents."

Su Xiao secretly thought the fox’s tail had finally shown itself; Enwei had possibly released him from prison to recruit him into their ranks.

"I want to see King Bradley; he’s your leader, right?"

"Hahaha, what’s the point in meeting him? If you’re willing to work for us, you’ll see our real leader in the future; it’s not possible right now."

Su Xiao pretended to be pondering, as if weighing the pros and cons. Enwei remained silent, waiting for Su Xiao to make a decision.