Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun immediately felt a sense of familiarity, "Tommy?"

Then, another voice came from upstairs.

"Even if you kill me, I won't join your Steam Party!"

"Hey, hey, hey... I already told you your old man's death has nothing to do with us. If it wasn't for the lady saving you, would you still be jumping around and shouting here? Don't be ungrateful!"

"Hmph, you are accomplices! I will never join you!"

"Shut up, you little brat, believe it or not, I'll hit you."

"I'm not afraid of you!"

"..."

Then there was the sound of whimpering, probably because his mouth was gagged.

This time, Su Lun listened carefully and confirmed it was Tommy.

"He's not dead yet..."

Thinking this, Su Lun's eyebrow slightly raised.

Last time, during the expedition to the "White Monastery," he had been preoccupied with his own troubles and had thought Tommy died in the witch's dream or perhaps in the aftermath with the Oliver family.

He didn't expect him to still be alive.

That was a stroke of luck.

But...

An old witch?

Could it be that Gang Lady Sabina?

....

And just as Su Lun was figuring this out, the pub suddenly quieted down.

The rowdy music continued, but the noisy voices gradually disappeared.

All eyes were once again drawn to the woman full of allure coming down the stairs.

Naturally, it was the Lady Sabina herself.

This enchanting woman was wearing a very revealing black chiffon dress today. The seven-part transparent split skirt faintly revealed her beautiful legs, perfectly outlining her shapely buttock contours.

The fabric of the dress was high-quality, reminiscent of an alchemy product. Calling it a dress seemed understated, as it more resembled trails of black smoke wrapped around her heart-racing, pale body, concealing her privates just adequately.

This woman was not stingy about showing off her superb figure in front of others, bold in both appearance and attitude, wherever she went, she was definitely the center of male attention.

Seductive yet just right, never seeming promiscuous but still full of allure.

Su Lun looked over, noticing that this woman always had men around her.

This time, she was followed by several well-dressed middle-aged gentlemen, who appeared to be members of the camp's five major families.

Following the group was a professional with a mechanical prosthetic limb, clearly a member of the Steam Party cadre, "Mechanical Tyrannosaurus" Toynbee. This guy had pursued Su Lun in the ruins last time and had his leg cut off; he now had a new mechanical prosthetic limb, which was visibly different in color.

Next to him, a chain led to a young boy with tape over his mouth, his face full of anger.

Upon closer inspection, if it wasn't Tommy, then who was it?

....

Su Lun raised an eyebrow and guessed that the members of the Steam Party had also recognized Tommy's unique talents, which was why they kept him.

"Old witch? Tsk tsk... Tommy's mouth is still quite venomous."

Su Lun thought of something, looking at Tommy with his mouth sealed, not surprised at all.

Although he was a little ragged from being locked up, at least his life was not in danger.

It seemed that the Steam Party fellows weren't intent on killing him. Otherwise, for merely sassing the Gang Lady, they would have cut out his tongue and gouged out his eyes long ago.

But then again, if they weren't enemies, joining the Steam Party would be a pretty good option for Tommy.

In the outer city, the Steam Party was one of the few organizations that could provide a large amount of machinery and extraordinary knowledge.

The moment this group arrived, the tavern fell silent for a moment.

Almost every man's greedy gaze fell on Sabina, and Su Lun was no exception. He felt he shouldn't be noticed, blending into the crowd, only stealing a quick glimpse through the gaps between people.

Unexpectedly, when Sabina's group was walking down, the still-struggling Tommy seemed to have discovered something suddenly. As his gaze swept across the tavern crowd, it abruptly turned towards him.

In that instant, Su Lun immediately realized that he had been spotted.

Fortunately, it seemed Tommy also knew Su Lun was a wanted man. After a brief flicker of surprise in his eyes, he quickly realized something and swiftly retracted his gaze.

Nobody knew that just a slight emotional fluctuation had alerted Sabina, walking at the forefront. A barely noticeable strange color flashed through her crystal eyes.

....

As Sabina and her group left the tavern, Su Lun didn't linger either and walked out through the back door.

The back alley of the tavern was cluttered with stacks of empty bottles, and several restless couples were intimately involved there.

Su Lun pretended to be a patron who had stepped out for some air, deliberately pausing at the backdoor for a while.

Although he felt Tommy, even if he recognized him, wouldn't expose him to others, he still couldn't shake off a sense of unease.

It was as if he was being locked onto by some unknown means.

But after carefully sensing his surroundings again, he detected no one following him, and his panel showed nothing unusual.

After observing for a while and detecting nothing out of the ordinary, Su Lun slipped into the alley and deliberately took several turns, employing some anti-tracking measures, before he returned to the main street.

He didn't go back to the Rose Hotel but instead randomly picked another busy and cheap Scavenger hotel, where he rented a single room.

The soundproofing here was not good; snoring and talking sounds could be clearly heard from the hallway and adjacent rooms.

But this was perfect to mask many traces.

It was now midnight, and Su Lun planned to wait here until dawn before leaving the encampment.

After dismissing all possibilities of being tracked, he figured he was probably just being paranoid.

Then, he sat cross-legged on the bed and began to meditate.

Thus, about half an hour passed.

Suddenly, Su Lun felt as if the surroundings had become eerily silent and faintly heard a seductive female voice lightly humming by his ear, a surge of invisible spiritual power enveloping him.

Upon hearing that whisper from the ether during his meditation, Su Lun suddenly felt a daze wash over his countenance.

Outside in the hallway, other sounds had completely faded away, almost as though space itself had twisted and become unreal.

The next instant, there was a click, and the door opened from the outside.

A red-haired woman stepped in with elegant, light footsteps.

She scanned the cheap hotel room, eyebrows slightly furrowed as if disdaining the filthy environment.

The person was none other than Sabina, whom he had seen once before in the tavern.

At this moment, her allure was more pronounced, but her demeanor was entirely different, not the coquettish Gang Lady, but exuding a dangerous aura like that of a seductive demon.

If anyone were there, they would be greatly surprised; the usually coquettish Gang Lady was actually employing a second-tier mental art!

She walked up to the totally unaware Su Lun, a playful look in her eyes, and muttered to herself, "Tsk tsk... let's see what secrets lie inside your head."

Sabina formed the magician's seals with her hands, her pretty face suddenly took on a demonic look, her pupils turned crimson, and she flashed a seductive grin, revealing sexy little fangs, while the triangular-marked tail behind her swayed gently.

In that instant, a dense, enchanting aroma enveloped the entire room.

The pink fragrance seemed to invoke endless desires from the depths of one's heart.

The sorcerer's seals quickly assembled as she chanted softly, "Mind Alchemy·Daydream Sleepwalking!"

It was when the alchemy formation lit up that red light burst from her eyes, seeking to glimpse the secrets in Su Lun's mind.

But just as the spell had formed, connecting to her spiritual perception, waves of negative emotions erupted like a volcano into Sabina's thoughts, violently assaulting her sanity.

Like being electrocuted, Sabina's face drastically changed, and she hurriedly stopped the spellcasting.

"How could he have such strong spiritual power?!"

Far from seeing any secrets, she was instead terribly frightened, and an exclamation arose in Sabina's heart, "What kind of monster is hiding in this guy's body!"

That momentary vision revealed not a man, but a terrifying monster formed of emotions.

As she spied on him, the monster also stared back at her!

If she hadn't stopped in time, it would have been an overwhelming terror capable of instantly driving any normal person mad...

But in that moment of Sabina's distraction, the man in front of her suddenly opened his eyes, which were filled with a blood-red hue.

She muttered to herself that it was a bad sign, but it was too late to react!

After a sinister smile crossed his lips, those iron clamp-like hands swiftly clutched her slender neck.

Before she could react, a tremendous force pinned the delicate beauty against the wall, followed by a heavy punch to her chest!

A dull sound of a hammer striking flesh rang out with a "bang."

The punch solidly struck her chest, causing Sabina's face to flush instantly.

The force pushing forward hadn't dissipated yet; passing from her chest through to her back, it also brought down the partition wall behind her, and both of them crashed into the adjacent room.

The entirely bloodshot Su Lun then mounted Sabina's delicate body, and his fists suddenly overflowed with a pale blue flame, raining down fiercely on the soft body beneath him.

Caught completely off guard, Sabina could not comprehend, feeling incredulous, "Isn't he just a first-rank Puppet Master... What kind of strength is this?!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"..."

The muffled sounds of fists hitting flesh echoed throughout the entire hotel.

The barrage of punches was so rapid that it sounded like the roar of a storm, forming a continuous stream.

While practitioners of the spiritual profession are strong, silently taking lives, her physical body wasn't even as resilient as a first-rank practitioner!

Now, with Su Lun's body modified by "X Serum", his physical strength and speed had reached the level of a second-rank practitioner, holding absolute suppression.

Moreover, with the additional physical and magical damage from the "Void Servant" cold flame, his punches broke through her defenses.

During this brutal barrage, Sabina's delicate body took dozens of heavy punches. If not for her protected body with alchemy materials, this round of pounding might have instantly killed her.

As he pummeled her, the red-eyed Su Lun let out a bestial roar from his throat, as if he wouldn't rest until he had pounded the person in front of him into pulp.

....

"Damn it, what kind of monster did I release!"

Sabina's eyes darkened as she looked at the red-eyed Su Lun, and she understood perfectly well what had happened.

She thought she had controlled her target with her spell, but in reality, she had unleashed another, more terrifying existence within him!

Without rational control, the dangerous emotions in Su Lun's heart were unleashed uncontrollably, rapidly transforming him into the murderous monster before her.

As she thought about breaking free, the even more terrifying strength of Su Lun in his berserk state didn't give her a chance to turn the tables.

Red pupils against red eyes, Sabina also terrifyingly discovered that ordinary spiritual techniques simply couldn't control this bloodthirsty monster!

Like gunmen, professionals with spiritual powers are very dangerous when someone gets close, due to their physical weakness.

She never expected that her foolproof Mind Alchemy would fail her today.

As the light from the silver bracelet in her hand faded, the force from the flaming fist had already penetrated her lungs. In the critical moment, Sabina bit her tongue sharply and spat a mouthful of hot blood onto the man's face in front of her.

In that instant, a wave of coolness washed over his spiritual power.

The bloody red in Su Lun's eyes suddenly faded, and reason seemed to return to his body.

However, as he looked at Sabina below him, he immediately understood what was happening. Yet, he didn't stop his attack. Instead, like lightning, he drew the fire gun from his waist. In the instant, he pressed it against her forehead; he decisively pulled the trigger.

But it was in this moment of rhythm break that Sabina finally got a chance to breathe. The dark spiritual power swirling inside her rapidly converged, and she finally managed to cast her spells.

"Bang!"

The moment the gunshot echoed, the delicate body under Su Lun exploded into a dispersing pink mist, vanishing in an instant without a trace.

"Escaped?"

Su Lun looked at the red mist that Sabina had turned into and disappeared, a solemn expression appearing in his eyes.

The presence of danger did not mean he lost consciousness, but only that reason no longer dominated, making his actions uncontrollable.

He was very clear about what had just happened.

The talents of the Reaper have brought his spiritual power to an incredibly exaggerated level, far beyond Sabina's ability to forcibly control.

...

After Sabina disappeared, the guest in the room who had been dazed finally came to his senses. Looking at the shattered walls and the additional person suddenly in the room, his face was full of confusion. Like having blacked out from drinking, he clearly had no idea what had just happened.

Su Lun didn't dare to stay at the hostel. As the guests were just awakening from a dream, he had already quickly left the hostel.

As he walked, he replayed the fight in his mind.

"[Talent B-005-Succubus]... Sabina is actually a high-level spiritual power professional! With that Mind Alchemy that invades people's consciousness, no secrets can hide from her in plain sight. Did she find out about Tommy's abilities, hypnotized Tommy, and then discovered my presence?"

Piecing the clues together, Su Lun deduced the reason the woman had sought him out.

And then, something else occurred to him, and his face slightly changed, "Could it be she is the major ranked intelligence officer of the Umbrella organization, known as 'Sleepwalker'?"

Thinking about how that woman managed to stay well-connected among major powers, Su Lun felt this guess was probably right.

Before he hadn't known this woman was a rare mental field professional. Looking at it now, it completely matched the situation described by number nineteen!

The girlfriend of the Steam Faction's boss turned out to be a high-tier professional and also an intelligence high official of the Umbrella organization?

Heh heh... With this power of mental manipulation, this woman could invisibly play people into applauding; no wonder she could be an intelligence officer.

"But how did she trace me here before?"

Without figuring this out, Su Lun no longer dared to stay in the city. Without waiting for the city's guards to react, he directly made his way to the camp's city walls.

He had originally planned to leave at dawn, but it seemed he couldn't stay in the camp anymore.

Before entering the city, he had already scouted this section of the city walls, noting the warning systems were present but the guards were few.

Once his gear was disassembled, he used his octopus spear to climb the walls.

Suddenly, alarm bells rang loudly.

However, he needed to escape now, so he didn't mind being noticed.

After vaulting over the wall and exchanging a few shots with the city wall guards, dodging a few rounds of cannon fire, he easily melted into the darkness.

With his current physical condition, escaping was easy; even for a second-tier professional, catching him wouldn't be easy...

PS. If you think it's filler, just bear with it a bit. This volume is about to wrap up. Many plot lines can't be explained in just one or two chapters, making it easy to break suspension.