Mechanical Alchemist

The police badge naturally was the one they had acquired last time in the clock tower space.

Because it was stored inside the storage ring, he brought it out directly.

Su Lun initially wanted to give it a try and hadn't expected the badge to be quite so effective.

The blonde young lady covered her mouth with one hand and her tone suddenly became respectful, exclaiming softly, "Oh, Officer Johnny, please wait a moment."

Then, Su Lun naturally got to see the registration records.

After flipping through them, he also saw the check-in records for rooms 1021, 1055, 1071, 1099.

The registered name was the same person, Teague Carlson.

It looked like a fake name.

However, the marginally good news was that only four rooms were registered under this name on the first floor.

And the two female attendants clearly described the appearance of the man who checked in.

There were only about half as many rooms on the second floor as on the first, and Su Lun glanced over them briefly.

Then, Su Lun looked at the name registered by the magician for room 2113, Robert Bell.

After that, he looked at the third floor, which had only ten luxurious suites.

Because he speculated that the third floor might be the "source of the curse" for this cursed space, he paid close attention, especially to the check-in dates.

Only one room had been checked into on the same day as the four other rooms.

Su Lun looked at the name of the tenant registered for that room and asked, "Do you remember this Miss Gloria Garry in room 3001?"

This question triggered a special dialogue.

The blonde lady seemed to remember something and replied, "Oh, that was an old nun. It happened to be my shift that day, and I have a vivid memory of it. Because the guests on the third floor are all VIPs, the doormen would help them with their luggage. But that old nun brought a very large box... the doormen offered to help her with it, but she didn't allow it and carried it upstairs herself."

An old nun?

A large box?

Hearing these two keywords, Su Lun suddenly thought of something.

The profession of a nun is quite rare in Dawn City, and from what Su Lun had heard, there was only one discovered monastery ruins left.

Coincidentally, he had experienced one himself, which was the White Monastery where the Wailing Witch resided.

And before entering the space, Su Lun had already identified that the source of the curse at Hotel 1911 was a "superior being's limb."

So upon hearing this information, he immediately guessed something, "It seems that the box must contain the contaminant. In that case, the seal underneath the White Monastery from before must have been sealing this..."

Having seen this far, Su Lun had already figured out some of the story's context.

He felt that he roughly knew who the old nun might be.

....

Su Lun chatted with the two receptionist girls at the front desk for a while, and managed to extract all the information they could provide.

Considering the time, he decided to go watch the magician's performance in the banquet hall.

Nothing else mattered; the advanced material was the top priority.

Unfortunately, as he left the front desk, he was cornered in the corridor by two Scavengers.

One of the guys with a modified mechanical arm sized up Su Lun and said cockily, "Hey, brother, you've been chatting with those two receptionists for so long, you must have gotten a lot of information, right?"

Su Lun had already noticed that the two had been observing him from before and guessed their intentions, so he didn't show a friendly face, "And then?"

They were part of the "Sand Scorpion Group," and their leader was the interim commander for this foray, a somewhat famous old pro. Of the sixty-plus people who came in, this group represented half, clearly having the absolute say in matters.

The man, seeing Su Lun's uncooperative demeanor, reminded him with a sneering smile, "Bro, you really are something. I've never heard of anyone who could get information out of those two receptionist chicks. What exactly did you say to them?"

The other person also flaunted the firearm at his waist, smiling mockingly, "Share some of that information with us. Since we've come together to explore this space, it's fate, let's get rich together, huh?"

The intentions of these guys were already quite clear.

They wanted to seize the information by force.

This kind of behaviour was commonplace among Scavengers in the wilderness, as Scavengers risk their lives for money and few are good-natured.

Hogging resources, cutting out the middleman, seizing by force...

Ordinary lone Scavengers only suffer silently.

Su Lun knew he was being taken for an easy target, and as they revealed their firearms, he didn't so much as lift an eyebrow.

He didn't even care to pay them any attention.

Killing someone here would involve the inn's security, and that could greatly affect his subsequent plans.

He glanced at the two of them and walked away.

The two men were stunned by Su Lun's attitude for a moment then followed, angrily saying, "Hey, are you deaf? Didn't you hear me speak?"

Su Lun turned around calmly as he heard they had drawn their guns and asked, "Do you dare to shoot?"

While speaking, he noticed from the corner of his eye that the attention of the guards had been attracted, and the intent to kill in his eyes also vanished.

He snorted coldly and didn't bother with the two blustering individuals anymore, and walked straight ahead.

....

The Sand Scorpion Gang?

If they really have a death wish...

Su Lun wouldn't mind sending them on their way ahead of time.

As for the two insignificant characters, Su Lun didn't waste time entangling with them and directly headed to the inn's banquet hall.

It was dinner time now, and nearly all the guests of the inn were dining there.

To observe the conditions of the guests in each room, now was the best opportunity.

But the inn's banquet hall had security, and one needed to show their room card key and meal ticket to enter.

When Su Lun arrived, there were already seven or eight Scavengers squatting there. They occasionally approached to strike up conversations, seemingly trying to coax some information out of these passing guests.

But apparently, to little avail.

These NPCs directly ignored those "strange" behaviors that were beyond their understanding.

Su Lun walked straight over, showed the room card and meal ticket he had processed from the front desk lady, and walked right in.

This action naturally caused bewilderment among the few Scavengers at the door.

"Eh... wasn't that guy just now a Scavenger like us?"

"He doesn't have a dark aura, he's definitely a Scavenger."

"Strange, how does he have a room card key?"

"..."

It wasn't that the Scavengers lacked the means to blend into the banquet hall, but those were all shady methods. There were assassins who scaled walls to sneak in, those who stole maid uniforms to disguise as waitstaff, and those who drew the security's attention to sneak in...

But there wasn't one who walked in so openly.

Seeing Su Lun's maneuver, the Scavengers were naturally quite surprised.

At this moment, the two "Sand Scorpion Gang" guys Su Lun had encountered at the front desk managed to shake off security and happened to see this scene.

Watching Su Lun go in, the guy with the mechanical arm turned an ashen hue and cursed, "Damn it, that guy must have gotten some important information at the front desk. Wood, you stay here, I'll go notify the boss!"

....

The banquet hall was bustling, with about a hundred or two guests dining.

The glittering lights shone brightly, lighting up the dining area with an orange glow.

Gentlemen in refined suits, ladies in low-cut evening gowns...

The dining tables were laden with a variety of appetizing foods and fruits.

On a stage not far away, singers and dancers were performing a bold and passionate dance.

Su Lun found a seat with a frontal view of the stage and sat down, sweeping his gaze over the dining guests. He didn't see the nun or the man fitting the description of "Teague Carlson" who had booked four rooms.

No sooner had he sat down, a petite and cute waitress dressed in a black maid's uniform approached with a professional smile, "Sir, would you like to order?"

Su Lun glanced at the delicious food on the neighboring table and indicated, "I'll have the same as them."

With that, he handed over a coin as a tip, in accordance with the custom.

The maid smiled sweetly and bowed deeply, "Of course, sir. Just a moment, please."

When midnight strikes, these waitstaff will transform into beasts with sharp teeth and claws. The "Bloody Maids" in the reports, who chase and gnaw at humans, refer to them.

Su Lun didn't look any further and turned his attention elsewhere.

The singing was melodious, tugging at the heartstrings.

The performance on stage featured dancers from the "Swan Lake Ballet Company," with their registration recorded at the front desk.

Originally, Su Lun visited the banquet hall mainly to wait for the magician's performance.

Fearing he might miss some special NPCs, the gleam in his left eye was constant, a sign of the sustained release of the All-knowing Eye.

But unexpectedly, there was an unforeseen gain.

At that moment, looking at the enchantingly provocative lead singer on stage, his gaze suddenly changed.

Identifying other NPCs in the restaurant displayed a uniform "Contaminated Ancient Remnant Manifestation" above their heads.

However, the singer performing on stage actually had a name, displayed as "Contaminated Dancer Barbara's Remnant Manifestation"!

Su Lun looked at the woman on stage, exuding charm, and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

Her beauty eclipsed all others, appearing as if she alone had been enhanced with a filter, a clear indication of high allure.

This made Su Lun immediately think of the Gang Lady Sabina and an idea surfaced in his mind, "Could she also be a woman with the 'Succubus' talent? Is she an ancient alchemist?"

Clearly, having a name meant she was different from the others.

And there was no information about this Barbara in the outside world.

Because she was a guest on the second floor.

Su Lun recalled the check-in records he had seen before, she was staying in room 2115, right next to the magician's room 2113.

The performance on stage continued.

Watching the fair and beautiful singer, Su Lun didn't conjure any erotic images in his mind, but his first reaction was, "If this woman transforms into a monster, it's likely going to be quite troublesome..."

He thought of Sabina's mental attack methods and frowned.

If she turned into a monster, her combat power would surely be formidable.

But...

Why would an alchemist be in a dance troupe?

Then he thought of the magician Edward, who also seemed like he was here to perform?

Su Lun thought of something, a trace of deep contemplation appearing in his eyes.

....

Before Su Lun could ponder further, a waiter pushed a cart over and began to serve dishes.

Although it was a cursed space, the food was real.

Colorful fruits, roasty aromatic grilled chicken, fine wine, and various exquisite dishes...

Delicacies from a thousand years ago were a luxurious treat,

Su Lun tasted a fruit, it was sweet and juicy.

In Old Lington, fruits were a luxury, especially ones he had never seen before.

Before he had even taken a few bites, the ballet troupe had left the stage.

Then, someone brought up several boxes.

It was time for the magic show.

At that moment, a dashing man in a tailcoat and top hat walked onto the stage and bowed deeply to the audience with impeccable grace.

Su Lun watched him, his eyes narrowing slightly, because this man was also identified as having a name, "Contaminated Magician Edward's Remnant Manifestation."

After the applause, Edward began his performance.

He first conjured a wand out of thin air, twirled it a few times, then with a squeeze, it exploded into streamers and disappeared...

Then he took off his hat and pulled out live rabbits, pigeons...

Then, he performed a spatial teleportation.

There were two cabinets on the stage, covered with black cloth a foot off the ground, into which he crawled and pulled the black curtain shut.

The next second, the black curtain of the cabinet several meters away was pulled open, and the guy walked out with a smile...

It was these seemingly common magic tricks,

Yet Su Lun watched with sparkling eyes, his heart beginning to surge.

He thought of a saying.

Some people, under the guise of performing magic tricks, are actually casting spells.

He was certain that this guy named Edward wasn't just performing magic tricks, but was truly casting a spatial spell!

Su Lun possessed the All-Knowing Eye, which rendered most illusion-based magic tricks meaningless.

If it had been a prop, it would have been identified immediately.

Like the hat, if it had a compartment, it would be identified as [Top Hat with Hidden Compartment]. But now, what was displayed was just an ordinary [Top Hat]!

The two cabinets used for the spatial teleportation didn't show up as [Cabinets with Mechanisms] but simply [Ordinary Cabinets]!

This guy had moved from one cabinet to the other, not using any twin substitutes or secret doors...

The magician had genuinely teleported from one to the other!

Seeing this, Su Lun immediately confirmed that Edward was a professional with spatial ability.

Telekinesis...

Spatial Displacement...

The abilities the magician demonstrated perfectly matched all of Su Lun's expectations for his own Tier-2 career planning.

"This magician's body is exceptionally agile, definitely bolstered with a high 'skill' attribute, plus the ability for spatial teleportation makes him excellent in both defense and attack. If advanced materials were to be produced, the match with my role as 'Puppeteer' could be very high!"

Su Lun, watching the performance on the stage, had a slight tremor in his gaze.

But while he was feeling expectant, he suddenly showed a touch of trouble on his face, muttering in his heart, "He has the ability to teleport instantly, he might not be killed even with a black scythe..."

.....

Su Lun's original plan was to kill the magician before midnight, before the contamination occurred, if he confirmed that the magician had the spatial ability he needed, and then take the occupational materials.

Otherwise, after the aberration, unforeseen events could arise.

But now, having seen some of the professional techniques Edward showcased in his performance, Su Lun realized that even without the aberration he wasn't confident he could kill this magician!

No hand signs, no signs of Alchemy formations lighting up, meant that this guy was very adept with spatial abilities.

Even using an invisible zombie for a sneak attack, Su Lun felt it likely wouldn't succeed and he might end up on the receiving end instead.

If you get killed by an NPC, it's a real death!

But spatial materials are hard to come by.

Having finally encountered a cursed space capable of producing them, Su Lun still counted on this special NPC to drop spatial occupational materials; he couldn't let it go just like that.

But if he couldn't overpower it by force, he had to think of other methods.

"This is a bit troublesome..."

Su Lun couldn't wait until midnight.

He found it difficult to imagine how troublesome this ability wielder would become after mutation.

"A+" difficulty on the second floor?

No!

If the two before him were to mutate, the rating would be at least "S-level", possibly even higher!

With this thought, Su Lun "whooshed" to his feet and headed straight for the backstage area.

Because he had thought of a breakthrough.

Hiding two strong alchemists within a performance troupe clearly pointed to a "main storyline" concealed within the background story of this cursed space!

If he couldn't kill them straight on, what about "storyline killing"?