Seeing that Dudian didn't mind their spending what seemed like "wasted money", Barton heaved a sigh of relief and said, "We've been looking around these days, but we haven't found a suitable place. Clune went out to look again today and hasn't come back yet."
Dudian nodded. Seeing that all of them were there, he was quite happy. When he first gave each of them a gold coin, deep down, he had a bit of a mindset of testing them. After all, a gold coin was of extremely high value, and it could even make ordinary commoners not hesitate to rob or kill for it! However, Barton and the others didn't leave privately with that gold coin. It could be seen that they were determined to work with him.
Moreover, being able to resist the temptation of money was the stuff of those who could do great things, which made Dudian very satisfied.
"Clune has been out for a bit long today. I wonder if he's run into any trouble?" Barry looked at the time and said worriedly.
Barton looked at his expression, his face changed slightly, and he firmly said, "No, he's very smart."
Joseph nodded and said, "Maybe he's found a place."
Dudian looked at the surrounding environment and said, "You can find a better place to live. Don't be too stingy with money. If you run out, we can earn more."
"This place is fine." Barton smiled and said, "Compared to when I was a miner, this place is much better. At least we can see the sun occasionally, and most of the people living here are poor, so we won't be targeted."
Seeing this, Dudian didn't say anything more. Although Barton and the others were all orphans, the orphanage would also teach them some basic knowledge, especially how to protect themselves and not be disliked by others.
Despite their physical disabilities, Barton and the others were extremely perceptive. They were no less than those with sound bodies, and they were even more shrewd and cautious.
Dudian followed them into the shack. The area inside was very small. They chatted for a short while, and then Clune came back from outside, carrying three packages wrapped in oiled paper. As soon as he entered the door, he said, "I brought you some food. You must be starving..." Halfway through, when he saw Dudian, he was stunned for a moment.
Barton immediately said, "Did you find an abandoned factory?"
Realizing that they were going to talk about business, Clune put the things down and shook his head, saying, "I didn't find a suitable one. There were a few factories for rent, but the places weren't remote enough, and the prices were a bit high."
Barton and the others were a bit disappointed and looked at Dudian apologetically.
Dudian waved his hand and said, "There's no rush. You can eat first. Look for the place slowly. It has to be remote and hidden enough, and the surrounding environment is preferably open." When he asked them to do this, he didn't expect it to be completed so quickly. After all, the slum area was vast, and it was quite difficult to find a suitable place. No matter how clever Barton and the others were, they hadn't seen much of the world after all. This time, it was mainly to train them.
Although Dudian said this, Barton and the others still felt a bit apologetic.
After chatting with them for a while longer, Dudian looked at the time, got up to say goodbye, took a carriage back to the residential area, and then came to the alchemist hideout.
When Nightingale saw Dudian return, she didn't say anything and continued to be busy with her experiment.
Dudian noticed that the amount of gold powder on her table had decreased a bit and casually asked, "Are you planning to directly create the 'Philosopher's Stone'?"
Seeing that Dudian had noticed this, Nightingale didn't deliberately hide it. She shook her head and said, "How is that possible? The Philosopher's Stone is our ultimate goal. Even an alchemist master with a Five-Star Badge hasn't been able to create it. How could I research it out? I just want to see the compatibility of gold and see if I can use gold to mix with other metals to create precious metals."
"Alloy?" Dudian was taken aback.
Nightingale was a bit surprised. "Alloy? That's a good name. Let's call my experiment the alloy experiment. Hmm, you don't mind, do you?"
Dudian coughed lightly and said, "It's just a small matter. It's too polite to say I mind. But are you planning to use this alloy experiment to strive for the Meteorite Badge?"
"Yes. If I complete it as I've envisioned, I should be able to obtain it." Nightingale nodded firmly.
Dudian's heart stirred. When it came to alloy materials, the most famous one in the old days was naturally aluminum alloy. However, there was no gold in aluminum alloy, and gold was too scarce. Besides being added with other metal elements in gold ornaments, there were very few gold composite materials for other purposes. It was far less widely used than aluminum alloy, and aluminum alloy was used in many heavy industrial products.
"However, to create aluminum alloy, the metal needs to be electrolyzed, and I still need to have electricity first." Dudian felt a bit helpless. This was the limitation of the tools.
Nightingale looked at Dudian and said, "What's your experimental direction? Is it convenient to exchange ideas?"
"Me?" Dudian thought for a moment and said, "I'm researching 'electricity'."
"Electricity?" Nightingale was taken aback. She looked at him twice and said, "This is a bit difficult, isn't it? My teacher is still groping around it. Don't you plan to start with basic physical materials?"
Seeing her persuasive look, Dudian knew that she was worried that he was aiming too high. In fact, this was a common problem among most alchemists. Some beginners even wanted to directly create the ultimate alchemical treasure like the "Philosopher's Stone", which was completely a pipe dream.
However, he wasn't someone who was "fearless due to ignorance". It was just that he really looked down on ordinary research. The things he wanted to create happened to require the support of electricity, so "electricity" had become the first problem he needed to solve.
Moreover, the post-modern world had also proven that the penetration and assistance of electricity to humanity were extremely profound. Without electricity, the entire human society would be paralyzed. In simple terms, the existence of electricity had divided the ancient era and the industrial era of humanity, which was of great significance.
Dudian shook his head, indicating that he would stick to his experiment.
Seeing this, Nightingale didn't say anything more. After all, interfering in someone else's experiment wasn't a good thing.
At this moment, Rat also finished his work. Seeing Dudian and Nightingale, he said, "What are you talking about?"
"Problems related to the experiment." Nightingale said casually.
Rat didn't ask further. He said to Dudian, "Are you ready? I'll take you to the market. The sooner we go, the sooner we'll be back. Have you brought enough money?"
"I think so." Dudian said.
Rat nodded and said, "We'll meet at No. 23, West Side Street. Do you know where that is? If not, you can ask someone."
"Okay." Dudian nodded.
The two of them then left one after another.
Dudian had never heard of this place name, so he directly hired a carriage to go there. Anyway, the carriage was charged according to the length of the route, and he could afford a few copper coins. Everything was focused on efficiency.
West Side Street was relatively remote. There were few shops on the street, mostly residential houses, which resulted in few people there. The cold wind blew on the street, giving it a rather desolate atmosphere.
Dudian got off the carriage, covered his head with his robe, paid the fare, and immediately put on his mask. He came to the small building with the house number "23". The small building seemed to have been uninhabited for a long time, and the lawn was full of fallen leaves that no one had cleaned up.
However, Dudian could immediately smell the presence of three or four human scents in the small building.
Suddenly, one of the scents disappeared.
Dudian was slightly stunned. The scent seemed to disappear out of thin air and suddenly faded, as if the owner of the scent had suddenly left the place.
He was puzzled but didn't rashly enter the small building. Instead, he waited near the door.
Not long after, Rat came over wearing a mask. He looked at Dudian a bit out of breath and said, "Why did you come so early?"
Dudian could tell at a glance that he should have come on foot. He was a bit surprised and touched and said, "I made you come all this way."
Rat waved his hand and said, "It's nothing. We're all comrades. Let's go. I'll take you in." After saying that, he took the lead in coming to the front of the small building and knocked on the door gently.
Dudian noticed that his knocking had a certain rhythm: three heavy knocks and two light knocks, two slow knocks and three fast knocks.
Shortly after knocking, the door opened. A figure completely wrapped in a black robe opened the door, wearing a snow-white mask, and looked at the two of them indifferently, saying, "Come in."
Rat went in first, and Dudian followed behind.
After the two of them entered, the tall figure said indifferently, "Please show your tattoos."
Rat rolled up his wrist, revealing the black hook tattoo.
Dudian opened his clothes in front of his chest, revealing the black cross tattoo. At this moment, he suddenly felt that there were some advantages to the position of Rat's tattoo, that is, it was more convenient to verify the identity. If the tattoo was in a special and private part of the body, although it was not easy to be exposed, it would be troublesome to verify each other among comrades. However, fortunately, after obtaining the Meteorite Badge, it would be enough to show the badge.
The tall figure took a look, said nothing, turned around, and led the two of them inside the small building. He took out a bottle from his arms, which contained orange-yellow liquid, and said, "I'll help you eliminate your scents first, lest you be detected by those hounds." After saying that, he poured the orange-yellow liquid into his mouth and sprayed it towards Dudian and Rat, splashing it all over them.
Dudian immediately smelled that the scents of himself and Rat had actually faded.
"Go in." The tall figure pointed inside.
There was a door there. Two figures completely wrapped in robes in front of the door opened the door and motioned for the two of them to enter.