CHAPTER 398: CHAPTER 14: HIGH PRESIDENT

High President Kim Bradley walked up to Su Xiao, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Do you know... who you killed?"

Though Kim Bradley wore a smile, his tone was icy.

Su Xiao squinted, his right hand moved unconsciously, ready to draw Dragon Slash at any moment. He clearly sensed the murderous intent from the other side.

"Who knows, maybe it’s the product of some alchemist."

"Is that so? Should I then commend your actions?"

Kim Bradley’s body relaxed, it seemed he did not intend to fight with Su Xiao.

The homunculi seemed powerful, but this was not true. They had a fatal weakness—they could not stand the light.

The goal of the Little Man in the Bottle was to transform all people in Amestris into Philosopher’s Stones, something only a few homunculi and high-ranking military officials knew.

As for the purpose of refining Philosopher’s Stones, it was to become ’God’.

The Little Man in the Bottle was not trying to cultivate for immortality or ascend, which was impossible in the Steel Refinement World.

According to Su Xiao’s conjecture, the Little Man in the Bottle might want to use the Philosopher’s Stone to exchange for something with The Gates of Truth, or simply wanted to obtain The Gates of Truth.

In the Steel Refinement World, obtaining The Gates of Truth was equivalent to becoming God.

Though the Little Man in the Bottle had survived for hundreds of years, the Philosopher’s Stone within him would eventually run out, and that would be the time of his death.

The Little Man in the Bottle pursued perfect existence. It wanted to become God, to become an eternal existence.

Although the Little Man in the Bottle appeared strong now, it knew that with its current ability, it could not control Amestris by force, so the homunculi operated in the shadows.

Kim Bradley was aware of this too. It was true that Su Xiao had killed Greed, but Greed was no longer one of their own; it had left a century ago.

Doubt might arise, but the possibility of directly turning against Su Xiao was slim.

Su Xiao had already eliminated three homunculi, and was prepared to continue. Paper can’t wrap up fire; exposure was only a matter of time.

But before exposure, Su Xiao wanted to gain as much advantage as possible for the decisive battle with the Little Man in the Bottle.

To defeat the Little Man in the Bottle relying solely on himself was unlikely, and he never intended to go solo against the possible strongest entity in the Promotion World.

In the original work, there were four factions opposing the Little Man in the Bottle.

The first faction was led by Colonel Mustang, the Alchemist of Flames.

The second faction was the protagonist and his blood relatives and mentor.

The third faction was the army of the Birguz North Wall, led by the Ice Queen Olivier Mira Armstrong. This faction had the most people and extensive connections.

The fourth faction was the remnants of Ishbal, with only Scarface.

Following behind Kim Bradley, Su Xiao began to consider which of these four could become allies.

First, he eliminated the protagonist and Scarface. His compatibility with the protagonist’s team was not good, and he did not approve of their way of doing things.

Their mere belief in not killing would put their side in a passive position. Facing an enemy and thinking about not killing; they must know the Little Man in the Bottle controlled the administration of an entire country.

Next, he ruled out Scarface. Though his combat strength was decent, the identity Reincarnation Paradise had arranged for Su Xiao participated in the ’Ishbal Extermination Campaign’. Upon seeing Su Xiao, Scarface might roar: ’Die, you devil.’

The remaining two factions were the best choices, Colonel Mustang, the Alchemist of Flames, and the Ice Queen Olivier Mira Armstrong.

Both had armies under their command, and their own strength was not weak. They were not corrupt individuals. Of course, this was a nice way of putting it; another way was that they were ruthless enough.

Su Xiao first considered allying with Colonel Mustang because he was about to return to Central City, escorted by Kim Bradley.

Yes, escorted. Su Xiao couldn’t easily escape now; only upon returning to Central City could he regain his freedom.

Sitting in the train returning to Central City, Kim Bradley sat opposite Su Xiao with a cup of black tea in his hand.

"Flame Alchemist, a murder case has occurred in Lorial City recently. I wonder if you have heard about it."

Kim Bradley’s tone was calm, as if chatting idly with a subordinate, but danger was hidden beneath.

"Murder case? Haven’t heard of it. I’ve been suppressing riots these past few days, too busy to read newspapers."

"Is that so? There aren’t many capable State Alchemists like you."

"You overrate me, High President."

Su Xiao chuckled lightly, and the High President also showed a smile. Both concealed daggers within their smiles to the extreme.

They might turn hostile at any moment, but there was no excuse to do so—this was the current situation of the High President.

Su Xiao was on standby for an opportunity, but the time was not yet ripe.

He had a vague feeling that the High President Kim Bradley seemed to have noticed something, only restrained by the lack of evidence, unable to tear their faces apart.

"I wonder if you, Flame Alchemist, have any relatives. The record states you have no family. Do you not intend to start a family?"

"I haven’t considered it for now, indeed no relatives, though I do have one friend."

"Oh? Who is it? Is he an alchemist? If his ability is not weak, you might consider recommending him to become a State Alchemist; you’re aware of the benefits."

Su Xiao took a sip of black tea and nodded.

"Indeed, but that guy’s situation is a bit unique."

"What situation?"

"He’s in prison, we were cellmates before."

Su Xiao looked up at Kim Bradley, his face full of smiles. The other party asking if he had family was actually probing for his weaknesses.

If Su Xiao’s expression had shown any unease, Kim Bradley would immediately have someone investigate. If they truly found something, the so-called family would soon become hostages.

"In prison, it’s..."

"It’s him, Zolf J. Kimblee."

"It really surprises me that you two were friends."

The High President fell silent, seemingly contemplating something.

Seeing that the High President stopped probing, Su Xiao leaned back in his seat, thinking of the next strategy.

The plot of the Steel Refinement World was actually very straightforward: the Little Man in the Bottle wanted to turn all the people of Amestris into Philosopher’s Stones, and the protagonist team and other forces stopped this, eventually succeeding. It’s that simple.

Although it sounds simple, actually doing it was fraught with difficulties.

In the original work, the protagonist team took a long time to defeat the Little Man in the Bottle. Su Xiao couldn’t wait that long, so he needed to speed up the progress.

Currently, the Little Man in the Bottle’s large alchemy circle had not yet been successfully arranged, making it the best time to deal with it.

...

The train soon returned to Central City. Su Xiao began to stay indoors at his residence, waiting for someone. If there were no accidents, that person would definitely come looking for him.

In the bedroom, after setting up mechanisms on the windows, Su Xiao took out two Purple Treasure Boxes.

He had been busy before and did not have time to open the treasure chests, but now he finally had time.

It’s worth mentioning that while killing Greed before, the other party surprisingly did not drop a treasure chest, which greatly depressed Su Xiao.

Not only Greed himself, but even those synthetic beasts under his command, Su Xiao didn’t even see a White treasure chest.

This made him think of one possibility; it might be due to using an alchemy bomb.

More precisely, it was because of using a bomb made with an uncertified Philosopher’s Stone, so it reduced the probability of dropping treasure chests.