Chapter 92

This shows that while Luo Wenqing skillfully uses stereotypes, she herself is also constrained by them. Not all alchemists are so arrogant, honor-bound, or inept at verbal traps—at least, she isn't.

"So thought Eve, who, after making a promise, immediately turned around and used a communication device to contact Qin Mengde."

She didn’t dare use her terminal, opting instead for a rather circuitous alchemical method to send her message, precisely because the StarNet itself was owned by the Luo family. Until she could be certain Luo Wenqing wasn't already secretly monitoring her, Eve would not risk using the StarNet.

Her heightened caution towards public networks stemmed from a painful experience in her previous life, where a colleague had criticized their boss over the company’s internal network, leading to a disciplinary meeting.

Fortunately, since transmigrating into this novel world, she had always been mindful of this. Eve had no internet addiction; the black market she frequented most often did not require real-name verification, only task transaction records post-registration. Even her daily expenses were handled through anonymous stored-value cards. Thus far, her true identity, hidden beneath the alias of the mercenary and alchemist "Lu Qing," had fortunately remained undiscovered.

Although the Medici Patriarch might uncover the truth of her faked death through intense surveillance of the family’s daily affairs, once she fled to the Black Star, it became like a drop in the ocean, making it exceedingly difficult to pinpoint her whereabouts accurately.

Dealing with the privileged class had this drawback: at the slightest hint of trouble, one had to prepare comprehensive defenses.

After conveying all the intelligence she currently knew to Qin Mengde, Eve wearily released her grip on her earring, genuinely feeling that mental exertion was prematurely aging her.

She did her best to help Qin Mengde recall useful information.

Regarding the emperor, Family Head Oliver and the previous men in black had already explained quite clearly—since the emperor was merely a background character in the original novel, even Eve couldn’t provide more details. As for others, Qin Mengde herself, having been placed by the Cavendish family head as Isabella’s future right-hand woman, had some interactions with them.

What Eve could do for Qin Mengde was leverage her foreknowledge of the novel’s plot to reveal some major upcoming story points.

Two years after the original story begins, which is Alice’s third year at the First Empire Academy, a new wave of the Zerg War erupts. Even backup talents still in school are drafted to the battlefield. By then, the female lead had nearly gathered her harem, and her talent and charisma had earned her recognition throughout the academy. With the Crown Prince’s strong support, she rapidly rises through the ranks after joining the military and, upon becoming the overall commander, leads humanity to victory against the Zerg.

Now, four years before the Zerg War begins, although that terrifying conflict hasn’t yet broken out, there are already faint signs. Deep in the cosmos, the Zerg Queen hasn’t awakened, but her generals are gradually rousing.

The queen has 72 high-ranking close attendants, each surpassing the Advanced Zerg in power. Together with the queen herself, they are known as the Royal Zerg. Over the many Zerg Wars, many Zerg have died, including Royal Zerg, but whenever the next war begins, new successors emerge, keeping the total number of Royal Zerg constant at 73.

Of course, ordinary people are unaware of this; it is top-secret information within the military. What Eve needed to tell Qin Mengde was that soon, a Royal Zerg would awaken and kill a Legion Commander within the Cavendish family’s sphere of influence.

She knew this because, in the novel, during a moonlit stroll where the Crown Prince and Alice discussed the devastation of the Zerg War, the Prince mentioned that at the New Year’s Honor Ball during his twentieth year, an urgent message arrived at the Cavendish family on the capital planet. Amid the joyous family reunion, a Royal Zerg had appeared on the front lines.

The deceased Legion Commander was from the Ninth Legion. If the emperor intended to recognize Qin Mengde and acknowledge her as family, he would certainly leverage her usefulness. The most valuable item on Qin Mengde’s resume was her previous service in the military. If the emperor hadn’t completely lost his mind, he would inevitably send her back to the military.

Eve advised Qin Mengde to strive for a position in the Ninth Legion. That way, if something happened, she could, as a royal, temporarily assume the Legion Commander’s authority at the earliest opportunity. If she succeeded in killing the Royal Zerg, the credit would be enough to secure her position firmly.

"However, going to the battlefield certainly carries risks," Eve calmly cautioned. "I’m only giving you a suggestion, not demanding you do anything, because no one has the right to force another to risk their life."

Qin Mengde fell silent for a long moment on the other end. Although Eve didn’t explicitly state why she should do this, from the implied and hesitant words, she keenly sensed an impending storm.

After a while, she said, "I want to take the gamble."

"Then I will respect your choice," Eve replied.

And with that, the communication ended.

Eve could only go so far. Revealing more about secrets that Qin Mengde shouldn’t yet know would only raise suspicions if she showed too deep an understanding, potentially causing trouble for both of them.

Another reason was that she intentionally controlled the information given to Qin Mengde. The Fourth Princess’s collusion with the Zerg in the original novel had left a deep impression on Eve, forcing her to keep some safeguards. If Qin Mengde still exhibited the extreme villainous tendencies of the original, Eve would not hesitate to use the impending Royal Zerg incident to eliminate her beforehand.

Years of working life had left Eve with some useful habits, such as always keeping a backup plan and skilled workplace psychology.

The side window in the corridor was wide open. Luo Wenqing had left first after their discussion, leaving Eve standing alone. She turned her head to look at the distant, verdant rolling mountains and the pale blue expanse of the sky. The rustling wind brushed past her ears, bringing fresh air into the majestic, stifling castle.

Everything seemed so peaceful and serene, as if time could freeze in an instant if she willed it.

But life had never truly been peaceful. Even at this moment, ambitious nobles were plotting grand schemes, powerful families were furiously uncovering the truth behind the schemes against them, people were traveling across galaxies in spaceships, and others were waiting in dark rooms for a chance at rebirth.

Only the world was leisurely; people were forever busy rushing about in the cycle.

She withdrew her wandering gaze and focused on what needed to be done next.

Lorca was still sitting in the alchemy lab, lost in thought. He only moved his eyes when Eve entered, his glass-like green eyes staring from afar. Combined with his usually pale complexion, he looked particularly lifeless at that moment.

"What did you talk about?" he asked. "My cousin left long before you returned."

She had even come in to say goodbye to Lorca before leaving, seeming to be in extremely high spirits.

"She told me to focus solely on your matters these next few days and not worry about anything else for now. And I agreed."

The content of her discussion with Luo Wenqing was too complicated. Although Eve didn’t mind telling Lorca, explaining it in detail would be too troublesome. It was better to just state the outcome and slightly embellish it to improve the relationship between the two siblings.

Sure enough, upon hearing this, a faint blush appeared on Lorca’s face, and he shyly lowered his gaze. His embarrassed expression made Eve unable to resist taking a few extra glances.

He was so easily appeased. If he could always be placated with a little sweetness in the future, wouldn’t she have mastered the trick to handling him?

Such wicked thoughts flickered in Eve’s mind for only a moment before being dismissed as unprofessional. She picked up the black briefcase Luo Wenqing had brought earlier—it was heavy. Upon opening it, she found it contained more than one set of materials.

Aside from some easily preserved crystals and dried herbs, materials obtained from living creatures were also prepared meticulously.

For example, one of the ingredients came from a rare beast called the Three Treasure Toad. These toads often inhabit heavily polluted waste planets and are named for their three-colored iridescent glow.

Beasts that feed on pollution sources possess extremely strong cleaning and filtering abilities, so Eve chose its heart as the neutralizing agent for the potion. However, due to its extreme living environment, even with vitality suppressed maximally in low temperatures, the Three Treasure Toad’s heart would inevitably decay into sewage within a month of being removed from the body.

The heart in the freezing case now, about the size of a thumbnail, dark red and still carrying the unique scent of blood of the rare beast, was not just well-preserved—it was practically freshly harvested.

Eve only glanced at it before closing the case. Having seen the extravagant ways of the four great families often, she wasn’t particularly surprised anymore.

The Oliver Family had provided three sets of materials. Alchemical materials were valuable, and although they weren’t short on money, Eve still wanted to succeed in brewing the potion within three attempts.

The Decomposition Potion itself wasn’t high-level; it was a medium-grade potion that could be brewed with the right techniques and formula—meaning any solid Three-Star Alchemist could produce it. But after modifications by Eve and Gu Zhaoxi, it now served as an external inscription tool potion, drastically increasing the difficulty. It required not only the techniques and formula but also the alchemist’s own understanding.

Brewing alchemy potions was an organic combination of adding materials and inscribing techniques. Before the modification, one only needed to follow the steps in order and wait for the potion to be completed.

But after modification, everything was new. Knowing when to inscribe the techniques to make the potion a seamless alchemical product greatly tested the alchemist’s personal skill.

A grand alchemist of Gu Zhaoxi’s caliber wouldn’t even need to think much; relying on keen intuition and rich experience, they would know what to do and when. But the problem was, Gu Zhaoxi wasn’t with Eve now, and even if she were, Eve didn’t plan to ask for her help.

If she wanted to advance to a Four-Star Alchemist, she had to learn to grasp this "timing" herself.

Mulling over the sequence of potion brewing, Eve crossed her legs and sat down, leaning back in the chair and staring up at the patterned ceiling in quiet contemplation. Her dark eyes, visible through the mask’s openings, emitted a cold light of wisdom, her expression reminiscent of a high school student stuck on a math problem, spacing out during evening self-study.

A rustling sound came from beside her, followed by a pair of slender, delicate hands pressing on her shoulders, massaging with different pressures. Eve tilted her head and saw Lorca, with downcast long eyelashes, massaging her shoulders. His curly black hair cascaded to one side, giving him a very docile and gentle appearance.

"......" While heartwarming, the scene was also somewhat eerie. Eve remained silent for a long time. Though unsure what the young master was up to, she wasn’t inclined to refuse this offered service.

So she didn’t stop him and instead asked in this position, "Were you bored sitting over there?"

Lorca shook his head, then leaned in close to her ear, his breath cool like a snake’s tongue, and whispered, "You seem very tired."

"A bit, yes." Mostly emotionally drained.

Since Lorca was willing to volunteer as a masseur, Eve had no reason to refuse. She gazed absently for a moment before suddenly asking, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Right now... no, suppose you encountered a problem where you need to fuse several substances together, but you don’t know the order to add them. If you add them in the wrong order, the experiment will fail?"

Eve tried to articulate the problem she was facing to him—not for any particular reason, but purely because she felt there was something off about Lorca. She wanted to see if she could fight magic with magic and tap into some of that weird energy from this guy: "If it were you, what method would you use to determine the correct order of addition?"

"Brute force method?"

Lorca quickly offered the most common solution but was immediately met with Eve's blunt rejection.

"No, you only have three chances."

Lorca glanced at the materials on the table, sensing that she was likely consulting him about an alchemy-related issue. Though he was tempted to tell her that Oliver had plenty of money and she could just throw money at it, he also thought that if Eve really went through repeated attempts, it would be agonizing—not just in terms of wasted materials, but the constant cycle of trying and failing.

He furrowed his brows, his expression turning more serious. After a moment of thought, he said, "Then there are two other methods. First, carefully map out the properties of these substances and the possible experimental reactions they might trigger, then deduce the most reasonable order based on these conditions."

This approach sounded decent, but Eve had already tried it: "It doesn’t work. Even after organizing all that, I can’t narrow it down to a single outcome—there are still many feasible options."

"Then there’s the second method," Lorca said. At some point, his massaging had stopped, but he remained leaning against Eve’s shoulder. From a distance, it looked as though the two were intimately whispering to each other. Oblivious, he continued, "Stop thinking altogether and just follow your intuition entirely."

Eve’s eyelids twitched, and she instinctively wanted to say, "That’s just guessing, isn't it..."

"It’s not luck," Lorca cut her off. "Have you heard the story of God? In seven days, God created the world. He said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. He said, 'Let there be sky and earth,' and the world was divided by water, separating sky from earth. He imagined it, and it existed. Through His free-willed prophecies, an orderly world was born."

"Don’t confine yourself to a framework, because the ruler doesn’t need to follow any established laws."

He gently tidied the stray hairs around Eve’s temples, then placed his hands on her shoulders, his cheek nearly pressing against the cool silver mask—intimate yet strangely reverent. "Imagine you are God. Feel the residual spirituality in those lifeless things and breathe new forms of life into them."

His low, husky voice, spoken so close, somehow overlapped with a few handwritten lines from Eve’s memory.

What was the practical difference between Cionanado’s emphasized theory of creation and the generally popular theory of transformation in the alchemy world?

And why could only Four-Star alchemists enter the divine realm to meet the highest throne of alchemy?

The world suddenly seemed blurry, truth like a faint shadow behind frosted glass, and she was just one of the clueless seekers on this side of the boundary.

As if suddenly enlightened, a mind-blowing thought rose in Eve’s mind—

People involved in religious beliefs might actually be onto something.

"I’ve decided."

Eve suddenly said gravely, prompting Lorca, who was practically draped over her, to curiously hum, "Hmm?" ready to hear her insights.

"Once I’m done with this matter, I’ve decided to temporarily set aside my work and seek a higher state of being in the ocean of faith and spirituality."

Eve shifted away slightly, patted Lorca’s shoulder to signal he should move—if he wasn't helping, he shouldn’t be leaning on her—and announced, "Remember to lend me your books when the time comes."

Lorca: "..."

He suddenly felt weary too. Why?