Chapter 12: Rogue Alchemist
Chapter 12: Rogue Alchemist
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--- Chapter 12 ---
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, this city is called Wu Yan City."
"Looks smaller than Wu Tan City for some reason. Maybe because the Miteer Family didn't open their Auction House here? I mean, the bad rumor explained everything."
"Yes, That's correct."
Baek Ain and Lan Rou stood on the edge of a cliff, viewing Wu Yan City from above. They could see every city's detail from here and decide which places their target was likely to hide in.
"Shall we go in?" He asked Lan Rou in a low yet manly voice. He was using Voice Changing Art from Sign In's reward weeks ago.
Lan Rou glanced at Baek Ain, seeing his current disguise with a weird expression. He is dressed in a white robe, has a handsome young master's face from the renowned clan, and his hair is "neatly." tied in a ponytail with an expensive-looking hairpin.
She knew Baek Ain used a Skin Mask, but that smirk on his face annoyed her for some reason. The person he impersonated seemed to have a slapable look.
"What?" Looking at Lan Rou's expression, Baek Ain was confused.
"Nothing." Lan Rou pulled her cloth up, covering her lower face.
"Let's go. We should search for more information."
Baek Ain sighed because the women's mood changed abruptly. He followed Lan Rou to Wu Yan City and moved in the shadows while observing the people in the streets.
[Sixth Sense]
He focused his senses and scanned 1/6 of the city, digesting the information with a frown. Too much information is being shoved into his head as he tries to filter them slowly.
It doesn't happen when he scans Wu Tan City because he only searches up to the surface level. He must slowly collect the information and store them in his head.
His thoughts seemed separated several times but returned to normal a minute later.
[Ding! You have comprehended Passive Skill: Parallel Thinking(E+)]
"He's not here. Let's change our location."
"Are you sure?" Lan Rou responded in confusion. She didn't know Baek Ain used Sixth Sense and possessed incredible spiritual power, which only alchemists have to a certain extent.
"Yeah."
They moved to another district of Wu Yan City, and Baek Ain found no information about a guy named Xiao Che. Even a whisper of his name would be enough to locate his location.
This guy seems cautious about his well-being.
He's not just an average troublemaker.
"Not here too." Baek Ain scanned this part of the city.
[Would you like to use map, host?] Alicia suddenly commented.
'No.'
'I try not to depend on the system's function, Cia. Who knows how stronger I could become without any excessive help, right? Gaining experience is part of the journey.'
[...]
'I'll ask for help when the situation is tight and disadvantageous.' Baek Ain added while moving to another part of Wu Yan City. Lan Rou didn't have a problem with this as she observed his first mission from the side.
Arriving at a quiet part of the city, Baek Ain focused his Sixth Sense and sensed something.
"Doctor Xiao, thanks for curing my daughter. I don't have money, so can I pay with something else~?" A flustered woman is standing inside a building seventy meters from Baek Ain.
The woman faced a crooked-looking man. He's short and somewhat cubby with a whisker-like mustache, wearing expensive garments and several pieces of jewelry from rings, bangles, chain pendants, and even monocles made of gold.
Baek Ain described the man's appearance to Lan Rou and made her frown in disgust.
"Yes, that's Xiao Che." Lan Rou confirmed while nodding her head.
"The woman with Xiao Che is probably someone he fed with drugs so that he could play around with her mind. There are several cases related to Xiao Che, but he always could run away."
"Where is the building?"
"There." Baek Ain pointed at the small tower of polished rocks on the corner of Wu Yan City.
Lan Rou disappeared from her position and arrived at the ceiling of the small tower almost instantaneously. She peeked inside and held an urge to puke.
The intense smell of drugs was penetrating her nose.
'According to our intel, Xiao Che has stayed in this city for less than a week. Yet, his influence has spread over so quickly.' Lan Rou spotted some bodyguards in Dou Master Realms.
Baek Ain chased after Lan Rou and smelled something smoky yet peppery in the air. His Sixth Sense and instinct flared because a chemistry lesson from his past life flashed out.
"Instructor Lan, GET OUT AWAY FROM THAT TOWER!"
Lan Rou's ears perked as she caught the air around her deflagrates with orange sparks. She instantly activated her Dou Qi Armor and disappeared into the wind.
CRACKLES! BOOOOOOOOOOOMM!!
With a spark as a trigger, an explosion of tight-closed houses near the small tower. The eruption is so incredibly hot the rock used for the building around them melted into a slurry of burning liquid.
Several Dou Masters appeared before Baek Ain, surrounding him in this web-like formation.
Baek Ain breathed in and stepped forward.
[Hover]
[Hyper Jump]
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Baek Ain threw three consecutive punches and defeated the hostile Dou Master quickly, kicking the closest one with his right foot.
[Hyper Jump]
His right foot slammed into the hostile Dou Master's chest, sending the man down.
BAM! CRACK!
[Sixth Sense]
Baek Ain tilted his head to the left and saw a sharp spear brushing his hair. He turned around and noticed a strong-looking man in green armor with a bull-like emblem. This guy is standing on a building's roof with several weapons on his back.
'Surprise attack?'
'How did Xiao Che know we were coming for him?'
The green-armored guy stared at Baek Ain and said, "If you're looking for Master Xiao, he has been long gone from this city."
"He told us to be wary of visitors, and then that woman appeared out of nowhere."
"Where is he?" Baek Ain responded while using Sixth Sense to check the city around. This man could be bluffing.
Agitated by Baek Ain's simple response, the green-armored man clenched his fists and continued, "Go away. I'm sparing your life."
"And don't ever go back."
"Oh, If I don't want to?" Baek Ain smiled like a young master.
The arrogance in his voice is enough to make the green-armored man's veins pop.
"Then, you're courting DEATH!"
'Ey, the cliche line finally appeared.' Baek Ain watched the green-armored man throw a sharp harpoon at him.
Baek Ain dodged with Lightning Impulse and kicked the air, accelerating beyond the subsonic. He couldn't use this for too long because of the air resistance.
His limit is three minutes, which is more than enough.
Using multiple skills depleted more stamina than usual.
He arrived at the green-armored man and pulled out the Sharp Tiger Blade.
'Huh?' The green-armored man felt cold air in his neck.
Slash!
Baek Ain swung his blade indifferently and let the green-armored man see his headless body.
[You have killed 6-Star Dou Master]
'That was my first human's kill...' Baek Ain thought while storing the headless corpse in his inventory.
'Ain, return to the cliff.' Lan Rou's voice entered his ears. She used sound transmission.
'I know where Xiao Che's location is.'
"Catch him!" A shout comes from another Dou Master. It was a fierce-looking woman who pointed her finger at Baek Ain.
Baek Ain threw smoke bombs and disappeared from Wu Yan City with Silent Shadow Steps, leaving no trace behind.
He arrived at the cliff, where they had observed Wu Yan City before, and saw Lan Rou with a slight burn wound on her right hand.
"Instructor Land, your hand..."
Lan Rou smiled and replied, "It's okay."
"This is nothing but scratch compared to my other trips."
"Anyway, I saw a carriage out of the city after killing twenty Dou Masters. Xiao Che hired a mercenary group called Green Bull with a decent leader in 1-Star Dou Grandmaster Realm."
"That man you discovered before was his look-alike subordinate. Xiao Che wasted his life to catch us off guard..." Her voice sounds colder than before.
"Where does the carriage go?" Baek Ain seriously asked while applying ointment to Lan Rou's burn wound.
Lan Rou looked far to the horizon and answered, "Alchemist Association Branch."