my slow journey to infinity

Chapter 57 The God Is Dead
There is nothing easy to describe about war, especially unjust wars of aggression. When the invaders are strong enough, words cannot describe their bestial behavior.

At first it was just for soldiers, then...

Ishval, who originally had the upper hand, began to retreat steadily after the national alchemists of Amestris were dismissed. They could only use the strategic depth that was not very obvious to contain them.

However, the enemy did not advance rashly, but instead devoured Ishval's land inch by inch.

Each occupied area was surrounded by control, and the number of Ishvar people inside was rapidly decreasing without the knowledge of the world.The aggressor side seems to be in no hurry. They pay more attention to leaving civilians behind than killing and occupying them. Their offensive is trying to surround those densely populated areas as much as possible.

Wang Shui turned into an Ishvar man with brown skin and red eyes. He returned to the core town in the hinterland of Ishvar. The group of elders had shrunk here, established a provisional coalition government, and had begun to build bunkers and civil defense facilities along the streets. .

At this time, a large number of refugees began to gather in the town, and the unfavorable war situation caused people to panic.

Wang Shui first went to see the equally worried Il. This genius alchemist remained quite calm. He was still working hard to optimize the plant catalysis plan, hoping to ensure food supply at the most critical moment. In fact, here Food is already quite tight.

"Mr. Azir...you are back."

Ir hesitated to speak. Wang Shui was the first person to point out the military strength of Amestris to him, and also made some strange remarks. The recent situation gave him some unrealistic expectations.

"Next, I will tell you some more shocking things. You must keep thinking rationally."

Wang Shui's straight-to-the-point words made El suddenly a little nervous. It was the first time that he saw the gentle and humble Mr. Azir so serious.

Then, a crimson crystal was thrown at him, and Wang Shui said:

"Use the perspective of alchemy to feel its "Qi". "

El subconsciously followed the instructions, and then his face suddenly turned horrified. His hand shook, and he subconsciously threw it away, letting the red stone fall to the ground and bounce a few times.

"This...this is...a person!?"

"To be precise, it is the human soul. This stone is the legendary Philosopher's Stone."

Wang Shui picked up the Philosopher's Stone, a slight red lightning spread across his palm, and a paper card was slowly shaped out - without consuming anything on the surface.

This Philosopher's Stone was the first one that Wang Shui had obtained from Colonel Magus, an Ames officer. There were two wailing souls inside.

Wang Shui did not use the Philosopher's Stone he made to show it to El, because he spent a lot of effort to make the sacrifice unconscious when making it. The souls in the new Philosopher's Stone are in a sleeping state and are relatively quiet. There is no shock brought by this kind of wailing.

Of course, it was not because Shui Wang was so kind that he was able to create this kind of "euthanasia", but because he was too proficient in alchemy and too sensitive to "qi". The stone full of despair and wailing was a super loud noise in his perception. Source, he even somewhat understands Hohenheim's feelings.

For the sake of purity, the subsequent Philosopher's Stones he made were all made of quiet materials.

"Stop your sense of "qi", you are relatively slow, it should be easy to do. "

As Wang Shui spoke, he threw the Philosopher's Stone to El again, and then threw him a small notebook as big as a palm.

"As you are thinking now, the legend of alchemy, the ultimate substance that brings miracles-the Philosopher's Stone, is made of human materials. Look at this notebook, it is from the research institution of Amestris Our compatriots, the Ishvars, are being made into this kind of red stone by them, and then handed over to those national alchemists to cause greater killings. Their goal from the beginning is to completely eliminate us. .”

El silently flipped through Wang Shui's notes. The more he flipped through, the more desperate he became. Complex tears flowed from the corners of his eyes unconsciously. After reading the [Blood Seal] conditions necessary to refine the Philosopher's Stone, he looked even more horrified. He stood up and stumbled out of the box a huge map.

El spread the map on the ground, then took out a book of newspaper clippings and quickly located several areas where rebellions and suppression events had occurred.

Although it was not complete, Il still completed all the nodes. He connected all the rebellion points and important cities to form a huge formation. He repeatedly confirmed the contents of the notes Wang Shui gave him. Then he looked at Wang Shui desperately.

Wang Shui nodded and said:
"As you might imagine, the top leaders of Ames did not kill Ishval because of folk traditions or religious reasons. Their target was here from the beginning." Wang Shui pointed at his feet. , "This is the node that requires the engraving of blood. We just happen to live here, and making the Philosopher's Stone, or developing and researching the performance of the Philosopher's Stone, is just a side matter."

"They...are planning to turn all 5000 million people into Philosopher's Stones?!"

"More than that, the country's population is now close to [-] million. The most basic properties of the Philosopher's Stone are infinite lifespan and strong self-healing ability. The senior leaders of Ames want to obtain immortality, and then use the country's population as materials, Create an army of immortals and become the ruler of the entire planet."

Wang Shui's words are half true and half false, which is more in line with ordinary people's logic.

Even though he described it as calmly as possible, it still shocked El.

"These...even if I know this, I...I don't know how to use alchemy to fight. Mr. Azir...I...I am a waste."

El's face was filled with tears, muttering painfully and reproaching himself for his uselessness.

He deeply felt the power of Ames' country and the helplessness of a small country. Whether it was a crushing war or a formation that covered the entire country, he could not imagine such massive construction and destructive power. There is no way to interfere.

"There is no need to give up on yourself like this. There is still room for improvement. Otherwise, why would I give you the Philosopher's Stone?"

After casually giving words of hope, Aqua Regia threw another Philosopher's Stone to Il. Counting the first lighter one, and the one consumed by Aqua Regia to open the truth, Aqua Regia obtained it from Magus. All three old stones obtained from the colonel.

El's hand shook subconsciously, but he still held the red stone firmly. When he heard that there was still room for change, he suddenly had some expectations and hopes for the mysterious Mr. Azir.

yes!To be able to obtain such confidential information and such a precious Philosopher's Stone, Mr. Azir must be no ordinary person!

"This country is sick," Wang Shui began to tidy up.

“Not only is Amestorius filled with dangerous borers, but Ishval is too!

This place is stuck in its ways, and the entire nation is waiting for the times to crush itself to pieces. This kind of thinking is purely spread by those old guys who don't want their status to be shaken!It's feudal!Foolish thoughts!El, do you really believe in the god Ishval?Do you believe that God will reach out to an entire nation before it becomes extinct? ! "

El Silence, if he believed deeply in God, he would not study alchemy.

"It is not difficult to save a nation. We can choose to compromise without dignity, and we can sacrifice everything and even the lives of our compatriots... But it is difficult to continue to live like a mouse! You have also seen the national chain that covers the entire country. In formation, the top officials of Ames will not let these millions of people escape. To the east is the great desert and to the south is the barren mountain Gobi. The people there also have evil intentions. If there is a large-scale escape, the casualties of the people will be immeasurable. …”

Wang Shui paused and looked directly at the first audience member, while El just stared back at him blankly.

"We need a leader, a visionary leader, a great man with courage and wisdom who can annihilate the enemy."

Wang Shui's calm tone was full of majesty that Yi couldn't ignore.

"Now, he's here."

El was truly shocked, and he couldn't even formulate a verbal response. "Okay, I assume you have joined. Saving this nation has little to do with you. What you need to study is this."

Wang Shui pointed to the land refining formation on the ground and continued:

"The National Refining Array is underground, and there are a large number of Philosopher's Stones flowing in those pipes. They will seriously affect the alchemist's ability to communicate with the earth's crust energy. I need you to develop the technology to crack this refining array, and I also need you to research it. The characteristics of the Philosopher's Stone, fully develop its abilities. Tonight, I will let you see the "truth", and all you have to do is cherish the ticket in your hand. "

After saying this, Wang Shui straightened his clothes and walked out, while Yier shouted from behind:

"Mr. Azir! What about the food! Plant growth technology! The current situation requires it even more!"

"I will solve the food problem. Your research alone is too slow."

……

……

After leaving the Il family, Wang Shui first returned to his local independent grain company. He dug a very deep underground railway under the town, even far under the country formation formation arranged by the villain in the bottle. For this project , he spent a lot of manpower and philosopher's stones.

The underground railway leads outside the country's borders. In the barren mountains to the south, Wang Shui is directing the construction of new grain factories and industrial bases.

This land belongs to a country called [Allugo]. This country is vast and sparsely populated, with a harsh environment but rich minerals and relatively developed industry.

In this Ishval resistance battle, a large number of guns and ammunition were supported by [Allugo] at low prices. There is a medium-sized bay between the two places, which provides good shipping resources.

Aqua regia also established a marine chlor-alkali chemical system with the help of the coast here. These important chlor-alkali plants have already started construction. Unfortunately, there is not much oil here, but aqua regia has also built a reliable railway network.

The construction of the new base marks Wang Shui's official preparation to intervene in the plot.As he mastered enough Philosopher's Stone, Wang Shui no longer needed to compromise with the artificial humans. What he wanted now was more space, time, and people.

Yes, people are not the material for the Philosopher's Stone. What Wang Shui wants is talents, talents like El.

Manpower is sometimes exhausted, and he cannot build a huge business empire with his own strength. Similarly, his strength alone is not enough to quickly promote the development of alchemy. Aqua Regia is ready to be mixed into this world. He needs to mobilize the smartest people in the world. A group of people helped him study together.

Just like the industrial revolution and the revolution in mathematics, physics and chemistry, they were not created by one person alone. Aqua Regia is preparing to create a comfortable scientific research environment, a scientific hotbed, so that scientists from all over the world, especially alchemists, can concentrate their efforts to promote The development of alchemy.

And tonight, Wang Shui took the first step.

Starting from the next day, the Ishval tribe elders received news that the supply line at sea had inexplicably lost contact, and the desert trade route to the new country was also cut off. They immediately sent out a large number of scouts, but no one returned.

Soon, there began to be a shortage of food on the market.

There was an inexplicable fire in Ishval's grain storage warehouse, but during the rescue, they accidentally discovered that there was no trace of food in the granary.

The food company set up by the Ishvar people had been helping to stabilize food prices before, but now it was suddenly empty of people and a large amount of expensive and unknown food appeared in the underground market.

The group of elders immediately discovered the anomaly and sent a large number of troops to investigate. However, they did not find any clues about food supplies. They only captured a few small groups that incited the people to unite and actively resist Amestorius, because there was nothing. It's a big problem so I don't care about it.

At this time, ammunition and food supplies on the front line were also starting to run out. There was plenty of food on the black market, and there were even a lot of guns and ammunition supplies waving to the Elders, saying that they could also provide these supplies.

When the body of elders had nowhere to go, a little-known staff member came up with a brilliant idea:
Print money!

Prices are slowly rising. As the elders of the coalition government, we cannot wait for the currency in our hands to depreciate. Now we have to secretly print money, and then use a large amount of currency to clear the black market, and use the currency that will be worthless in the future to hoard food and arms, and those that maintain their value. Hard currency to ensure the supply of the army and the authority of the elders.

The elders were a little hesitant at first. They didn't have any psychological burden to fight for food with the people. The problem was that they were afraid of violent reactions from the people here. After all, there were a large number of refugees gathered here.

The staff officer said, "Let's print it secretly. Don't tell those ignorant people. After we have accumulated a large amount of supplies, we will release some for free to rescue them, leaving most of the troops to protect our control."At the same time, we are actively communicating with foreign trade routes. When the material supply chain is reopened, we will be able to make up for the previous deficit, adjust prices to save the people, and even hoard a lot of gold, silver and other hard currencies.

The elders said that you are really a little genius!Then he gave the staff the title of "Divine Strategy".

Soon, there was a food shortage in the black market. Prices that were originally rising slowly increased tenfold in the past half month. The currency in the hands of the Ishvar people instantly became worthless, and a large number of people began to Forced to sell assets and sell hard currency such as gold and silver.

Wang Shui did not intervene to make money, he just controlled the flow of materials, and then began to give more frequent speeches.

He secretly collected evidence that the elders had amassed money and grabbed supplies, and quietly spread it among the people, even spreading the news to the troops on the front line.

Wang Shui also bribed a large number of military officers and social elites, providing them with sufficient food supplies and security promises in exchange for their support.

Then he established the [Ishwal National Liberation Front], referred to as the [Ishwar National Liberation Front], and began to recruit manpower and organize a census to facilitate the allocation of supplies.

Another month later, news of certain towns being bombed kept coming from the front line. Fortunately, the casualties were not particularly large. Amestolis's troops were making slow progress. The [Enclosure Offensive] tactics they adopted were obviously intended to To round up more Ishval people and annex them.

At this time, in the oasis city in the hinterland of Ishval, Wang Shui had never paid attention to the place name. The locals usually casually called this place [Big Oasis], but this was no longer important.

Wang Shui led several people into the temporary castle of the Elders. The soldiers guarding the castle immediately saluted him and let him go.

Il and several representatives of civil organizations who were accompanying him all had serious faces. They adjusted the small cameras on their clothes from time to time and confirmed their live broadcast through headphones. Now, they are the whole city, no, all Ishvar people. Eye.

The group of people came to a side hall without any obstruction. There was no exaggerated wine pool and meat forest here, but a huge dining table filled with sufficient staple foods, meat, eggs, milk, and a large number of vegetables and fruits. However, these were already rich beyond imagination for the Ishvar people. Supplies.

In the side hall, which is like a living room, the decorations are restrained and luxurious. A group of dancers who are more energetic than the frontline troops are performing hard. The elders are gathered here today, partly because they need to worship the gods today, and partly because they need to worship the gods today. It was they who received a notice from the staff of "Shence", saying that they had progress on the trade route to report.

These delicacies and beauties were also provided by this newly-emerged "Shen Ce". After resisting, the elders finally accepted everything with difficulty, and acquiesced to this newcomer's small moves to make money and climb up. This is indeed a person worthy of reuse. Talent.

Therefore, when the trusted "Shen Ce" staff member led Wang Shui and others into the side hall, the elders were not surprised.

Especially the chief high priest, an old guy with gray hair and beard but full of energy. After he took the amethyst-like grapes from the dancer who was younger than his granddaughter in his arms with his mouth, he looked quite impressive. Question to the staff of "Shence":
"You said you have something important to say, what is it?"

"Shence" looked indifferent at this time. He didn't say anything, but just gave up his position for Wang Shui.

Wang Shui's serious expression was a bit of a performance. He asked Sylvia to adjust a handsome shot that had been rehearsed many times, and then took out a black pistol and pointed it at the chief high priest. The distinguished elders on the tall seats began to panic.

Wang Shui solemnly declared to all the Ishvar people:

"The gods are dead."

boom--!
(End of this chapter)