Chapter 423: Chapter 39: The Resolve to Die
Night, two in the morning, the streets of Central City were brightly lit.
The war was unfolding just outside the city, creating a tense atmosphere in Central City, with food prices soaring and currency depreciating dramatically.
A dozen figures quickly crossed the streets, approaching the Presidential Palace.
"How come there are no guards at the Presidential Palace?"
Olivier held her sword, warily staring at the Presidential Palace, as if something monstrous was hidden inside.
"That guy doesn’t need guards."
Su Xiao thought of the High President’s strength and shook his head, remembering that he could easily wipe out other homunculi.
Lightly tapping his finger on the ground to sense, Su Xiao’s heart tightened.
The aura of something underground was too obvious, like a congregation of countless souls.
The Presidential Palace was empty, not even a single servant, let alone guards.
"Let’s go in directly; there’s no one inside."
Su Xiao walked openly towards the Presidential Palace, and after a moment of hesitation, the others followed.
The Presidential Palace was indeed empty, and everyone started looking for a way down.
"Bubu, back off."
Su Xiao stretched and flexed, while Bubu Wang retreated with small steps.
"What’s that guy going to do?"
Everyone looked at Su Xiao in confusion.
Su Xiao clenched his fist, Blue Steel Shadow energy enveloping his fist, faint blue arcs flickering.
"Could it be he’s going to..."
"Hey, hey."
Su Xiao ignored their calls, raising his hand to punch the ground.
Boom!
Crack, crack, crack～, large cracks spread across the ground, and everyone had different expressions.
"What are you doing, this will expose us."
Edward was quite displeased.
"We’re already exposed; how could there be no one in the Presidential Palace?"
Mustang sighed, acknowledging that their previous infiltration plan had failed.
With a crash, the ground cracked, and rubble fell downwards.
The space below was indeed empty, and jumping into the pit, Su Xiao found himself in a complex corridor.
Everyone jumped down, unsure which way to go and hesitating.
There was no need to think; the structure beneath the Presidential Palace was certainly intricate.
"Let’s split up."
After saying this, Su Xiao and Bubute Ni proceeded forward.
"Wait."
Mustang called out to Su Xiao.
"Hmm?"
"Now is too early to act alone."
Mustang lowered his eyes.
"No, I’m more accustomed to acting alone."
Su Xiao vanished into the dark corridor, leaving Mustang looking rather displeased.
"Is something wrong, Mustang?"
Olivier felt something was off.
"Our ally is very off, extremely off. I have the urge to turn around and leave right now."
Just as Mustang finished speaking, strange noises echoed through the dark corridor.
Now, it’s already too late to leave.
...
Walking through the dark corridor, Su Xiao had a reason to part ways with Mustang and the others; the alliance had already dissolved.
His plan was never to confront the Little Man in the Bottle with Mustang and the others; although their general goals were alike, differences in details meant they couldn’t continue to cooperate.
Su Xiao needed the Little Man in the Bottle to activate the Nationwide Transmutation Circle, otherwise, his previous arrangements would be in vain, and the promotion task would fail.
Before the Little Man in the Bottle could activate the Nationwide Transmutation Circle, Su Xiao wouldn’t let Mustang and the others defeat it.
Moving through the dark corridor, Su Xiao was looking for a person, a crucial person.
After a few minutes, light appeared at the end of the corridor.
It was a bright open area, with steel pipes covering the space above. If the original intel was correct, his destination was not far away.
Tap, tap, tap.
Footsteps echoed in a side corridor.
Su Xiao turned his head and frowned upon seeing the newcomer, then smiled.
"Didn’t expect to see you, should I say it’s unfortunate or lucky."
Taking a deep breath, Su Xiao began to adjust his state; his enemy was very strong.
A brawny elderly man emerged from the corridor, with neat black cropped hair and a square face, an eyepatch over his left eye.
"Flame Alchemist, no, you should be called the initiator of the alliance, Bai Ye."
This elderly man was, in fact, the High President, King Bradley!
The High President had three stabbing swords hanging on each side of his waist, radiating intense war intent.
"What you call me doesn’t matter, Bai Ye is just a codename."
Slowly drawing the Dragon Slash from his waist, faint blue arcs surged across its surface.
Su Xiao restricted his perception force, condensing it to only three meters, heightening its acuity.
Su Xiao faced off against the High President.
The High President wielded a sword in each hand. In truth, he wasn’t a complete homunculi, only a half one.
The High President was an orphan, taken in by an organization that adopted many children like him.
The organization trained these children, somewhat like training assassins, but they were training candidates for the country’s presidency.
The High President stood out among many candidates, but that alone wasn’t enough to make him the President; he had to overcome a final obstacle.
In his youth, liquid Philosopher’s Stone was injected into his body, containing a kind of emotion from the Little Man in the Bottle, wrath.
Despite the harrowing process, the High President persisted and became the last homunculi, Wrath.
In taijutsu, swordsmanship, commanding ability, charisma, leadership ability, the High President was top-tier.
Unfortunately, the High President had a group of incompetent teammates, his homunculi ’kin’.
The High President differed from other homunculi, possessing not just wrath but all normal human emotions.
If not for the High President’s efforts, Amestris would have long turned into a hell on earth.
Without the Little Man in the Bottle, the High President might have governed the country to extreme prosperity; he was a born leader.
"Let’s have a duel to the death. I don’t have much time left; you should be quite strong, and it’s great to encounter such a foe at the last moment."
Though the High President had a Philosopher’s Stone within, his lifespan was greatly reduced even as he gained immense power, living to 60 was already an indication of his incredibly resilient life force.
Su Xiao remained silent, taking out the "Eye of Havana", curious about how strong the High President was.
[Comparing both sides’ intelligence attributes... Completed. Our team’s intelligence is 1.285 times that of the enemy’s, obtaining 100% of the enemy’s data.]
The data is as follows:
Name: King Bradley
Life Value: 100%
Mana Value: 480
Power: 42
Agility: 40
Stamina: 37
Intelligence: 28
Charm: 29
Skill 1: Homunculi (Passive): Life Value +300, Mana Value +200, Power +15, Agility +13, Stamina +10.
Skill 2: Swordsman Master Lv.19 (Passive): Skill Effect: Sword weapon attack power increased by 81%, significantly enhancing swordsmanship skills.
Skill 3: President’s Authority (Passive), capable of intimidating enemies.
Skill 4: The Strongest Eye (Passive), dynamic vision +300%, nerve reflex speed +10%, able to detect enemy flaws.
...
Su Xiao grinned, the High President’s strength was beyond expectations, none of his five attributes were below 20, the Swordsman Master Lv.19 (Passive) and The Strongest Eye (Passive) were both formidable, especially Swordsman Master Lv.19.
Having mastered Sword Technique Master Lv.18, Su Xiao understood the potency of such abilities.
Gripping his saber firmly, Su Xiao dismissed other thoughts, his current goal was to defeat the High President, having resolved himself for death.
Fighting such an enemy, victory cannot be achieved without the resolve to die.
"Nice look, do you have the resolve to die? Perfect, I feel the same way."
As the High President finished speaking, Su Xiao kicked off the ground, charging towards him.