From Prisoner to Si Chen..

Chapter 373 Silver Bottle Sixteen
Flamel told his teacher, Mikara Melaskes, the news brought by the housekeeper exactly as it was.

After hearing this, the lady seemed unusually calm.

He just smiled and nodded at Flamel to show his understanding, and then instructed in a gentle tone:
"Miss Flamel, please go downstairs and call Mr. Gillan. I have something to tell him."

"Yes...yeah, okay teacher."

Although the noble girl was a little dazed, she quickly reacted, lifted her skirt and saluted the teacher, then turned and went downstairs.

She went straight to the door of the wooden house on the left.

But before he could raise his hand to knock, the wooden door creaked and opened from the inside.

The blond young man stood behind the door, looking at her quietly.

"Mr. Gillan, the teacher is asking you..."

"Okay, I see." Jilan nodded, walked past the noble girl and headed towards the main house. "Thank you for letting me know."

Flamel looked at his back and curled his lips.

Gillan went up to the attic of the main house.

He walked over to Mrs. McCulla's desk and bowed his head.

"Madam, are you looking for me?"

"Yes." Mrs. McCullagh nodded, and said directly without beating around the bush: "You also know the news about Flamel, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." Gillan confirmed. "The housekeeper of Count Nicholas's family came just now, and I heard their conversation."

Mrs. McCalla was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly sighed.

"I sensed the danger was approaching."

"Danger?" Jilan raised his head and narrowed his eyes.

Mrs. McCullagh hummed and explained:

"The path I took was the Crucible Holy Grail Spiral, the Godless Path of January... The 6th-order Essence was discovered by me alone, and it is called 'Prophet'."

"With the power of this essence, I can sense danger."

Ji Lan was startled.

She explored the path of godlessness on her own and successfully lit the lamp of the 6th-order essence... With such talent and ability, it is no wonder that she was noticed and valued by "Ms. Snow" in September Sichen, and was branded early on, qualifying her as an "apostle candidate."

Mrs. McCulla is worthy of being an apostle for future generations.

"The danger may come from the royal family."

Madam said softly.

Jilan was a little puzzled and asked:
"why?"

As far as he knew, the Sakya royal family and the queen herself treated Lady McCara with great respect, so it was impossible for them to take action against her.

Mrs. McCullagh shook her head and did not answer directly.

She suddenly raised her hand.

bang.

At this moment, the small door of the wooden wall clock opened automatically, and a mechanical sparrow made of brass, iron sheets, glass and gears popped out.

Then, the mechanical sparrow flapped its wings, flew out of the wall clock, and landed directly in the lady's palm.

Snap, snap…

The lady reached out and grabbed the spring on the back of the sparrow, twisted it a few times, and then threw it away.

"go."

The mechanical sparrow seemed to have gained more power. It flapped its wings, made a clicking sound, and flew out of the attic window and straight into the sky.

Gillan looked at the scene in amazement.

Then, Mrs. McCalla's eyes shone with bright silver. She turned her head and glanced at Gillan.

The moment the two sides looked at each other.

hum-

Jilan's consciousness flickered and his vision suddenly changed.

At this moment, he seemed to have become the mechanical sparrow that flew out of the window, soaring high in the sky.

The bird's-eye view quickly moved northeast, across the countryside, wheat fields and woods, and arrived above the town of Andrea.

The capital city looked quite small from a bird's eye view, with stone and wooden buildings scattered everywhere and streets crisscrossing.

Gillan couldn't help but be stunned.

Because he saw that the originally inconspicuous patterns on the street surface now formed a huge and complex equilateral triangle!
"Is that... an alchemy array?!"

Gillan was quite surprised.

At this moment, all the details and clues he had noticed in the past came together to form a truth that made his hair stand on end.

The capital city of Andrea will serve as the "vessel" for an alchemical ritual. The scale of the ritual will certainly reach an unprecedented level!
"Such a huge alchemy array is carved in the center of the capital, covering almost one-third of the town."

Gillan was shocked.

With his solid knowledge of alchemy, he quickly recognized that this alchemy array was extremely complex and advanced, and that it was not a single structure, but rather consisted of seven or eight layers of structures that were interconnected, influencing and coordinating with each other.

And he only recognized the functions of a few of these structures.

'Extracting the soul... compressing the soul... and the reflux structure and annealing reaction. There are five hub nodes, which happen to be the spires distributed in the five directions of Andrea.'

wow——

The bird's-eye view quickly disappeared.

Gillan was distracted and his sight returned to the attic of the wooden house, and the silver light in Mrs. McCalla's eyes faded away.

He took a deep breath to calm his inner shock.

Immediately, he said to the lady in silver robe in a deep voice:
"Madam, could the huge alchemical array carved on Andrea be the work of the 'Red Duke' Borol Dupu?"

Jilan paused for a moment and continued:
"To create the legendary 'philosopher's stone'?"

"That's right." Mrs. McCullagh nodded.

Gillan thought again of a book he had read during the time when Depras and his party were at Blood Harbor, eradicating the "Nightmare Monument" of the famous spiritualist Master Alden Higgins at the crater of the nameless island.

It contains Master Aldin's description of the "Philosopher's Stone", and it seems that there is a key material, which is the spirit.

"…the weight of a human soul is 0.46 ounces. To make a Philosopher's Stone, you need 309.5 ounces of soul, which is the total soul of 673 people."

Of course, this data may not be accurate, it is just a rough range. But in this era, there is no philosopher's stone.

The Red Duke was only a pioneer, a seeker, and his knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone was limited to the manuscripts of the original unknown alchemist.

So to be on the safe side, he would do his best to collect spirits on a large scale in order to increase his success rate.

"Do you remember what I taught you?"

Mrs. McCulla said softly.

"On the 'Form and Spirit Theory' in 'Metal Alchemy'."

"Of course I remember." Gilan nodded and said in a deep voice: "This theory comes from the 'Forge King' Master Hermes Mith."

"He pointed out that the body is a substance and cannot be evaporated, while the spirit is not a substance but can be evaporated, just like the two properties of 'mercury and sulfur'."

"If you extract the spirit of a metal and put it into another metal, you can change the metal. The soul symbolizes salt crystals. If you finally engrave a person's soul into the metal, it can stabilize it and permanently change its properties..."

"Yes, this is the key principle for refining the 'Philosopher's Stone'."

Mrs. McCulla's expression was solemn.

"Mr. Hermes, the 'Forge King' and I were both members of the 'Midnight Rose' and good friends with the 'Red Duke'..."

"Unfortunately, after the 'Forge King' proposed this theory, Borol seemed to think that he had found the truth, and became obsessed with the Philosopher's Stone, and eventually turned against us."

"Borol has extraordinary talents in the fields of mysticism and alchemy, but he was a slave in his childhood and was molested and tortured by the female nobles of Sakya, so he has a deep hatred for this country."

"The reason why we set up the alchemy array in Andea this time is probably to vent our anger and take revenge..."

"He wants to use all the residents of Andrea as raw materials to make the Philosopher's Stone?!"

Gillan asked, frowning.

Mrs. McCalla did not answer, choosing to acquiesce. "I received the news several months ago... 'Red Duke' Borol had a secret meeting with Her Majesty the Queen, and used the elixir of immortality as a vision, which aroused the interest of the royal family and even the nobles of Sakya."

"Because he had already refined the semi-finished Philosopher's Stone 'Black Jade', it was easy for him to convince the Queen and make her believe in the existence of the Philosopher's Stone."

"As the ruler of Sakya, how could she not desire immortality?"

Mrs. McCulla recounted.

"So, there was a series of subsequent actions... including recruiting folk alchemists to serve the court, in order to cooperate with the actions and plans of the Red Duke Boror."

"Of course, we also mobilized a large number of craftsmen to build and renovate Andrea. Whether it was the spires and tall buildings or the carvings on the streets, they were all preparations for refining the Philosopher's Stone."

"I see." Gillan raised his eyebrows. "Behind all this, it turns out that it was the Queen, the royal family, and the nobles who did it... The Red Duke was just fanning the flames to achieve his own goals."

"And the residents of Andea will become victims of their ambitions and desires!"

"How sad..." Mrs. McCullagh sighed. "Perhaps for Her Majesty, if the sacrifice of some of her subjects can be exchanged for her own long-term rule, it would be a very worthwhile deal."

"That's why, even though the royal family entrusted me with the task, they never sent anyone to urge me to do it for such a long time... Because their minds are no longer on these jewels and alchemical medicines that nourish the skin and strengthen the body."

Gilan nodded, indicating that he understood.

To put it bluntly, in the eyes of the royal aristocrats, so-called jewels and alchemical potions are no match for the philosopher's stone that can make people immortal.

As she was speaking, Mrs. McCalla was suddenly startled.

Jilan noticed her expression change and asked. But the lady looked at the scenery outside the window and said quietly:
"My mechanical sparrow was shot down..."

"It seems that the danger I predicted has arrived... It is likely that the Red Duke Boror said something to Her Majesty the Queen, causing the royal family to regard me as a threat."

"Of course, I will not sit idly by and watch thousands of Andrea's residents die and are turned into philosophers' stones."

rumble……

Suddenly, a loud noise came from the distance of the wooden house.

Jilan turned his head and looked, his eyes fixed.

With his extraordinary eyesight, he discovered that there were figures gathering in the woods in the distance. There were at least hundreds of female soldiers in armor and holding swords, who were coming towards the wooden house with great momentum!

"Mr. Gillan, please take Flamel and Galken away first... the farther away from Andrea the better."

Mrs. McCulla said gently.

"They both lack fighting ability. If they are encountered by the royal army, they may not survive."

"I understand, ma'am."

Jilan nodded solemnly and said.

He did not ask Mrs. McCullagh why she did not go with him, for he knew that she would stay to stop the Red Duke.

This will be a battle between the great alchemists of this era who are closest to the truth...

Jilan bowed to the lady, said nothing more, turned around and went downstairs without stopping for a moment.

The noble girl Flamel was waiting in the courtyard. When she saw the blond young man coming out of the main house, she hurried to greet him. But before she could ask, the young man grabbed her hand and pulled her out.

"Eh? Mr. Gillan, what...what are you doing?!"

Flamel looked up in surprise and confusion.

Jilan did not explain. After taking her out of the courtyard, he turned to look at her and said seriously:
"My lady has ordered me to take you and Galken away from the cabin and even Andrea..."

"Huh?!" Flamel's eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly. "Why?!"

"I don't have time to explain to you."

Jilan said calmly.

After he finished speaking, he returned to the courtyard and went straight to the wooden house on the left. Galken was writing at his desk inside, studying the knowledge on a piece of parchment carefully.

Gilan walked over, grabbed Galken by the back of his collar and walked out without saying a word.

“Brother Ji…Brother Jilan?!”

Galken came out of his study mode and looked confused.

Jilan was holding a person in his hand, looking straight ahead, and said:
"When danger comes, I will follow my lady's wishes and take you to a safe place."

"Danger?!" Galken's face changed. He seemed to know something. After an inexplicable emotion flashed in his eyes, he fell silent.

Not long after.

Gillan took Lemay and Galken with him, left the cabin, and walked quickly along another forest path away from Andrea.

But before the three of them had walked far, they noticed a group of figures appearing in front of them.

It was a team of thirty to forty people. The female soldiers were wearing armor and holding swords, and they were accompanied by two or three alchemists in long robes.

"It's the royal army."

Jilan said calmly.

"It seems that they have already sent people to outflank the retreat."

"Why did the royal army arrest us?"

Flamel was horrified.

Galken remained silent.

"The royal family was bewitched by the Red Duke and wanted to use the residents of Andrea as materials to make the Philosopher's Stone... They saw Madam McCalla as an obstacle, so they sent troops and alchemists to hunt us down."

Gillan said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Flamel's face turned pale.

"Then...then what should we do?" she asked.

"Don't worry, I promised Madam that I would keep both of you safe."

After saying this, Jilan took a step forward.

"Mr. Gillan?!" Flamel was shocked. "That's an army! At least forty people!"

Gillan waved his hand, signaling not to worry.

Soon, the royal army and alchemists discovered the whereabouts of Gilan and the other two, and quickened their pace to surround them.

But just as Gillan was about to take action.

Boom! !
There was a loud noise.

The ground then shook violently.

Gilan sensed an astonishing fluctuation of power and couldn't help but glance back.

I saw a dazzling silver light blooming from the direction of the wooden house. Even though it was daytime, the light was still bright.

The silver light formed a huge alchemy array in mid-air and soared into the sky.

Immediately, a violent storm came pouring down.

Wow!

Wow! !

It is difficult to see the human figure in the rain.

The royal army and alchemists were all confused by the sudden heavy rain.

Then, the rain gathered into streams on the ground, as if they had life, carrying the soil and merging into three-meter-tall human-shaped clay statues.

There were four or five clay statues with silver alchemical patterns on their foreheads. They rushed towards the army with heavy steps.

"This is...Mrs. McCulla's handwriting."

Gillan had an epiphany.

He turned to Flamel and Galken and shouted:

"The enemy is being held back, follow me!"

"Ah good!"

Flamel seemed to have just woken up from a dream and quickly responded.

(End of this chapter)