"It worked!" Edward looked at the tiny bugging device and monoaural headphones in his hand.

The material of the bug is the leftover material buckled from the right arm of his mechanical armor, this mechanical armor is something made by his childhood friend Wendy, Wendy has adjusted it many times for the comfort he can use, and the lack of a little bit of metal material will not affect the work.

The entire process of alchemy only took a few minutes, and the alchemy array that Ian handed him was perfect, and to be honest, the alchemy array that Edward had just used was probably the most ingenious alchemy array he had used so far, and the knowledge contained in it was something he had never known.

In Edward's country, even landline telephones were a rarity, only used by the military, and long-distance communication was basically limited to the extremely inefficient telegraph, which was unheard of as a miniature eavesdropping device that could be made only by refining into arrays.

Edward thought to himself that if he reported this thing to the government, he should get a lot of rewards and money.

However, he didn't plan to do this, his only purpose of becoming a national alchemist was to recover his brother's lost body, and to put the bugging device on it would cause unnecessary trouble, and the author of the refining array did not allow him to give this thing away at will.

The basic principle of alchemy is equivalent exchange, and Edward naturally follows the principle of equivalent exchange, this alchemy array was not exchanged for knowledge, but was "loaned" to him by Ian, and he divided these things very clearly in his heart.

"Then put it on Nina's body." Edward nodded, got up and pressed the flush button on the toilet, and left the toilet.

He returned to the reference room, and five-year-old Nina had woken up.

"It's so high! It's so high! Nina, be careful! ”

Alphonse lifted Nina up and played with her.

Al's steel armor looks very tall, but in fact, he is just a minor child, and his soul is fixed to the armor with a refining array, and children and children can naturally mix together.

"Hahaha! O(∩_∩)O hahaha~! Nina laughed.

Edward joined the play, taking the opportunity to attach the bug to the heel of Nina's shoe, holding it securely in place.

Nothing special happened in the afternoon, and soon dusk came, the clouds on the horizon were burned red, and the government car came to pick up the Edward brothers.

In the courtyard, Edward said goodbye to Tucker and his daughter.

"Thank you very much for taking care of you today, Mr. Tucker, then we'll leave for the time being and come back tomorrow." Alphonse bowed.

"No, no, I'm the one who wants to say thank you, it's because you're here that Nina is so happy today." Hugh Tucker said with a smile as he hugged his daughter.

He grabbed his daughter's little hand and waved it gently: "Come, Nina, say goodbye to my brothers." ”

"See you tomorrow, big brother." Nina waved her hands: "Let's play together tomorrow." ”

"Well, bye-bye." Edward waved goodbye and got into the back seat of the car.

He looked at Hugh Tucker through the car window, although the doubts in his heart had not yet dissipated, but after a day of getting along, he didn't think that Hugh Tucker was a very bad person, maybe he was thinking too much.

"But. Don't bet on someone else?"

He looked at his palm, put the one-sided earphone on the right one, and covered it with his hair.

Colonel Roy, who was also in the car, glanced at what was on Edward's ear and didn't ask much.

Alchemists each have their own secrets, this is the default rule in the alchemy world, and no alchemist has the responsibility to explain their alchemy arrays and alchemy items to others, even if that person is their own relatives and superiors.

Between alchemists, there is only "equivalent exchange", and there is no white prostitution.

"As for Hugh Tucker's ex-wife, I've sent Lieutenant Lisa to investigate." Colonel Roy whispered, "Hugh Tucker used to live with his wife in the Old Town to the south, and according to Hugh Tucker's neighbors, Hugh Tucker's wife disappeared suddenly. ”

"No one knows where she went, and we don't have any record on the government's household registration form that this person bought a ticket and left the capital."

"According to the information I heard, Xiu Tucker moved away from the old city a few days after his wife disappeared, although the specific date is difficult to determine, but it basically coincides with the time when Xiu Tucker obtained the national alchemist."

"In other words, Edward, there is a certain probability that your conjecture is correct, the synthetic beast that Xiu Tucker refined two years ago may indeed be refined by him using his wife, and I can't rule out this possibility."

"I'd like to hear your brothers' thoughts again, you spent a day in his house, do you have any clues?"

"I think my brother misunderstood." Alphonse spoke first: "Mr. Tucker is a very good man, and his daughter is also very lovely, and I can't find the purchase record of Madame's ticket, and it is possible that she left in a carriage." ”

"What do you think, Edward?" The Colonel turned to look at Edward.

Edward didn't answer immediately, he turned to say, "Colonel! Just stop the car and just pull over to the side of the road! ”

The car had already left Tucker's house and was on another street.

"Hey, what are you going to do?" Colonel Roy didn't know what he was trying to do with his sudden request.

"Leave it alone! Let the car stop first! And don't talk to me, you're too noisy! Edward clutched the headphones in his right ear and listened intently.

"Brother." The tacit understanding between the brothers made Alphonse feel something.

Soon he also pleaded with the colonel: "Colonel, please do what my brother says, please!" ”

"Forget it, you'll have to explain it to me later." The colonel frowned, he pulled down the small iron window behind him, and said to the driver of the car: "Stop the car, now." ”

The driver nodded, the duty of the soldier was to obey the order, he stepped on the brakes and stopped the car.

Edward listened to the headphones with a grim face, and he clearly heard the conversation taking place in Tucker's mansion.

In the dimly lit mansion, Takla covered all the curtains, the thick opaque cloth obscured the twilight light, and only the white candles burned quietly, and the hot wax oil dripped down and solidified on the sterling silver candlesticks, like some kind of jade grease.

These candle oils reminded Hugh Tucker of greasy fat, both humans and animals have a lot of fat on their bodies, and some candles are made of animal fat, such as the soap used by people in the bath of the present era, which is actually made from animal fat.

The research behind the various conveniences and technologies that people enjoy can be bloody.

"Dad, what's wrong with you, aren't you happy?" Nina poked her index finger in her chin and looked at her father ignorantly.

"I'm a little worried, because the review day is coming again." Tucker sighed.

"What is censorship?"

"National alchemists must report their research results once a year, Dad's reputation last year was not very good, if he fails again this year, he will not be able to be a national alchemist again."

"Hey! How could it be! Dad must be fine, you've been studying hard! ”

"Nina." Tucker crouched down and hugged his daughter, "yes. You'll have to work hard."

"The government seems to be a little dissatisfied with me, and has begun to investigate me, and my father has no way out."

"Now, Nina, are you tired of playing today?" Tucker stroked his daughter's hair, "Do you want to study with Daddy for a while?" ”

"Is that okay? Won't bother Dad? Nina asked.

"Of course not, with Nina's presence, Dad is motivated."

"Really! Nina is so happy! ”

Tucker picked up his daughter and led her to the underground lab.

Alexander followed behind them, and on weekdays Tucker didn't let the pet dog into the lab, but today was an exception, and he waited for Alexander to come in before locking the door.

"If only my mother was there." Nina hugged her father's neck.

"Ah, if only my mother was there." Tucker placed his daughter on the operating table and secured her wrists and ankles with iron buckles.

"Dad, what are you doing?" Nina winked at Tucker, "Are you playing a game with Nina?" ”

Tucker didn't speak, he remained silent, took out the surgical scissors, and grilled them on the alcohol lamp.

No matter what Nina asked him, he didn't reply.

After he had finished poisoning the scissors, he took out the whetstone, the sound of Hoho's sharpening echoing in the small basement, and the flickering candle flame illuminated his shadow as demonic.

"Dad, why don't you speak, you're accompanying Nina. Playing games? ”

After several times of not getting a response, Nina's voice trembled a little.

She tried to break free, but she was only a five-year-old girl, and even an adult could not break free from the shackles of steel, let alone her.

A few minutes later, a red mark was drawn on her wrist.

"Dad, Nina is so uncomfortable"

"It hurts, Dad"

"I'm so uncomfortable. Daddy"

Listening to Nina's call, Alexander barked at Hugh Tucker.

Hugh Tucker kicked Alexander, this kick so hard that Alexander was kicked and whined.

"Go back!" Edward hammered the small window that connected to the driver's seat.

"Go back? Where to go? Roy asked.

"Go to Tucker's house! Hurry up! Listen to me, drive! Edward yelled, blushing.

But the driver still only looked at Colonel Roy, who was his commander.

"Calm down, Edward." Roy pressed Edward's shoulder, "You can at least explain what happened." ”

Edward ignored him, he slammed the lock of the door, the car in this country still uses an external physical lock, and only a slight lift is required to open the car.

He went crazy and ran towards Tucker's mansion, and neither Colonel Roy nor Alphonse realized what he wanted to do.

"Brother!" Alphonse called out to Edward.

"What an unreasonable bastard!" Roy's head also sticks out of the window: "Follow him!" Go to Tucker's house! ”

"Yes!" After the driver gave the order, he re-ignited the engine.

The engine of the internal combustion engine roared, the body shook, and the acceleration of the car at the start was much slower than that of Edward in a wild race.

Edward's location was not far from his family, and soon he saw the mansion, and Nina's cries were still ringing in his ears.

"Daddy. You're so scary."

"Talk to Nina, Daddy."

"It's okay, Nina, Daddy will inject you with anesthetics, and you'll fall asleep in no time, it won't hurt." The silent Tucker finally spoke up.

"Where! Where the hell is it! Edward angrily kicked open the door to the mansion.

The door lock was directly refined by him with alchemy, and he scurried around in this huge mansion.

No, you can't be impatient!

He listened carefully to the sounds in his headphones, from the barking of synths to the barking of Alexander's dogs.

He lay on the ground and listened carefully.

Got it! In the underground!

It's easy to figure out, there is basically no shadow of Tucker in the daytime, he must have a private laboratory underground!

Moreover, the refining of synthetic beasts requires a lot of preparation, and it is not something that can be completed in a short time, so don't panic, take your time, and catch up!

As he thought so, a cry came from the headphones.

Nina cried, not only from the headphones, but also from the wooden floor.

He's got his place!

He quickly found a square iron door embedded in the ground next to the reference room.

Steel couldn't stop him, and he quickly forged it and broke into the dimly lit basement.

The crying became clearer and clearer, and he finally found the locked door, pressed his hands on it, and formed a circle with his body, arms, and door.

A white light bloomed, and the iron door quickly deformed and opened.

He saw that Nina was chained to the operating table, snot and tears running down her face.

Hugh Tucker was standing on the operating table with an anesthetic needle in his hand.

"Why are you?" he looked at Edward in amazement.

Before he could finish his sentence, Edward leapt to his feet and slammed his steel fist into Hugh Tucker's face.

Two bloody teeth flew through the air, and the smashed glasses fell to the ground.

Hugh Tucker, an unruly alchemist who has locked himself in the door for many years, is a pure waste in terms of physical fitness.

He could only bully and bully the pet dog and the five-year-old girl, he was no match for Edward at all, and he was beaten unconscious with two punches.

Edward threw him aside and quickly undid Nina's shackles, holding the weeping Nina in his arms.

"Big brother, don't don't hit Dad." Nina said as she cried.

"Well, I won't hit him anymore."

Edward glanced at Hugh Tucker, who had fallen to the ground, and in a fit of rage, he lost his strength, in fact, he knocked Hugh Tucker unconscious with one punch, and the second punch was purely a vent of anger.

He took the bugging device off the heel of Nina's shoe, and without it, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

(End of chapter)

.