163: Fooling, and then fooling

There's also Twitch?

Dashan and the others were dumbfounded.

It was truly like going to bed at night, pulling back the covers, and finding them full of Twitch.

"Twitch-daren said before he left that he wanted to atone for his sins."

"Even if he had to tear himself into a thousand pieces, he would fulfill his long-cherished wish..."

Purple Tuqi sighed, recounting the entire story:

"Twitch-daren was a renowned alchemy genius, the most outstanding alchemist in the past century."

"Three years ago, Twitch-daren was deceived and purchased several evil rats from the Poisonous Swamp for research and experimentation."

"However, during a laboratory accident, the modified poison-source evil rats escaped the lab and entered the city."

"Then, the nightmare began."

"A terrifying plague began to spread in the city; a large number of infected people developed fevers, bled, and their lives ebbed away in agony, even dying within hours! Regardless of gender, age, commoner or noble, no one could escape the clutches of death."

"The poison-source evil rats had been modified, and the plague they spread after mutating was impossible to treat or suppress."

"Twitch-daren worked day and night, giving his all, but still couldn't develop a cure. Finally, even he contracted the plague, suffering in agony."

"In his final moments, Twitch-daren suddenly had a unique idea—"

"The poison-source evil rats weren't killed by the terrifying plague, so did they possess something or some ability that humans didn't?"

"The essence of alchemy is to achieve transformation between substances through specific rituals, incantations, and material combinations. Twitch-daren hoped to combine the abilities of the poison-source evil rats to make people no longer fear the plague."

"Human alchemy was an absolute taboo, but Twitch-daren had no other choice. In his final moments, he used himself as a test subject to complete this... successful yet failed alchemy."

"He successfully survived."

"But... he could no longer be called a human."

At this point, Purple Tuqi looked at Cheng Zhen and the others: "Gentlemen, if it were you, what would you choose?"

"To walk towards death in pain and torment? Or to be reborn as a monster?"

"Twitch-daren had no choice; he could only become the latter."

"Through human alchemy and newly invented protective suits, he no longer had to worry about dying."

"However, the plague had not been resolved, and besides him, infected people were dying every moment in the city."

"Every life lost became a weight of sin, pressing down on Twitch-daren."

"So, he tried to make others like him, no longer fearing the plague, no longer having to endure torment and death."

Hearing this, Cheng Zhen clicked his tongue: "But not everyone would be willing to turn into a rat to survive, right? And human alchemy sounds like something that isn't 100% successful."

"Yes." Purple Tuqi sighed helplessly, "Failure in alchemy would lead to death. But what made Twitch-daren even more distraught was that many patients, after successful alchemy, chose suicide because they couldn't accept their change in appearance."

"The more people Twitch-daren 'saved', the more suffering he caused. Eventually, he too collapsed in endless pain and chose to end his own life."

"Before he departed, he completed one last human alchemy."

"He transformed his entire being into energy, dividing it into hundreds and thousands of portions and integrating them into the patients' bodies. It could even be used as energy to activate alchemy platforms and create potions."

Purple Tuqi looked at the Team Leader: "I, we, everyone here, received the energy bestowed by Twitch-daren, as well as his memories, knowledge, and the obsession to solve the plague."

"Twitch-daren has become a part of our bodies, so everyone here is Twitch."

"We have inherited Twitch-daren's last wish; we want those patients to live long lives. Even if it means transforming into this appearance."

"The medicinal baptism I just mentioned to you also contains the energy bestowed by Twitch-daren. We hope others can understand our determination to save lives at all costs, even if the outcome means a different form."

"And it's not just us who received that energy, but also... another group of 'people'."

"They are our 'other side'. They are the opposite individuals created after Twitch-daren bestowed the energy, because of their overwhelming regret for their choices."

"They also inherited Twitch-daren's knowledge, memories, and regret. They believe our existence is wrong, just like this damned plague."

"As much as Twitch-daren hated himself, they hate us."

"Their essence is still human, and they are desperately trying to stop us."

"They also possess Twitch-daren's alchemy, so they quickly developed potions against us and planted moles to deal with us..."

Purple Tuqi laid everything bare, clarifying the confusion for everyone.

Perhaps due to the influence of memories, everyone here felt that Twitch had merged with them, so they also considered themselves Twitch.

"Huh? That's not right..."

Dashan suddenly noticed a crucial point: "If you are Twitch, then that other group of people should also be considered Twitch, right?"

Are they fighting themselves, left against right?

Then our mission is... to help Twitch eliminate Twitch?

Cheng Zhen patted him, telling him to calm down.

"Although I'm not sure how you managed to block Twitch-daren's energy to join us, now that you know the whole story, how do you plan to cooperate with us?" Purple Tuqi asked.

Cheng Zhen pointed at Xiao Tong: "We have a genius alchemist here; she can cure people without an alchemy array!"

"Please bring a patient over, and we'll demonstrate for you. And bring a Green Tuqi too, so we can experiment."

"Alright." Purple Tuqi agreed, then looked at A Dong: "Then, my friend, could you please put away your weapon? If the protective suit is cut, I'll need a lot of energy to repair it..."

Cheng Zhen shook the remote control, signaling A Dong to carefully sheathe his sword.

The Team Leader's face was ashen: "Since we're cooperating, can you withdraw those explosives?"

"Don't worry, there won't be any accidental triggers."

Cheng Zhen 'comforted' him: "Once we cooperate well, I naturally won't do anything detrimental to each other."

The Team Leader snorted angrily and walked away quickly.

Rui Jun looked at Cheng Zhen, his face full of admiration: "Amazing, Brother Xu, how did you put those gas canisters in their lab? I didn't even notice just now!"

Cheng Zhen smiled: "I didn't put them there; I lied to him."

Rui Jun: "Huh?"

Cheng Zhen shrugged: "I was busy processing information just now; how could I have time to hide things? I only put a few gas canisters in that abandoned house."

Rui Jun was stunned: "Then the bomb remote..."

Cheng Zhen handed him the remote control to look at: "It's my air conditioner remote. The explosion was caused by other means."

Rui Jun: "..." And it was a Haier brand!

He stood disheveled in the wind, asking with some lingering fear: "Then, what if he wasn't fooled by you and attacked us?"

"No fear."

Cheng Zhen said with particular confidence: "The Team Leader won't kill us."

Rui Jun thought Cheng Zhen had some backup plan, but then he heard Cheng Zhen say: "At most, he'll just turn us all into big rats, like he does with the moles!"

Xiao Tong beside him stumbled, almost planting herself into the ground.

She hadn't known the danger she was in, and suddenly looking back, she nearly wrote her will on the spot...