Mechanical Alchemist

The territory of Duke Rafael lay on the western edge of the Luying Empire, about half a month's journey by steam ferry.

It was one of the most flourishing territories of the Empire.

Further west, several days' journey across a vast sea, there lay a place not marked on maps known as "Black Castle Reef."

Atop the reef was a castle with a towering lighthouse.

But inside the castle lived no ordinary residents, only a secret guard unit loyal to Duke Rafael.

This was purely a military fortress.

Little known to outsiders.

Recently, the conflict between the Luying Empire and the Mafa Mechanical Empire on the East Coast had intensified, prompting many lords to call up military forces to join the fight.

The major nobles' withdrawal of troops from their territories also provided opportunities for pirates.

A fleet belonging to a pirate leader known as the "Northern Sea Overlord," Oleg J. Popov, was active near the territories of Duke Rafael, raiding passing merchant ships.

"Black Castle Reef" was also discovered by a small pirate scout team passing by.

Typically, such purely military fortresses were the last thing pirates wanted to touch.

High casualty rates, and not much treasure to plunder.

However, unusual movements on the reef caught the attention of a notorious pirate.

He was the division captain under the "Northern Sea Overlord", a pirate with a bounty of 160 million Riso, a fifth-tier professional known as "Shadow Demon," Tim Ashley.

After several days of patient observation, this notorious pirate realized that the military strength on the reef was too "high-end", far exceeding the needs of a normal military fortress.

Finally, he decided to take a risk and explore the island.

....

That day, a steam warship entered the military dock inside Black Castle Reef.

Only after multiple stringent checks were the several people on board allowed to enter the interior of the castle.

They went directly to the lighthouse inside the castle, descended underground, and entered a black tower, heading deep underground...

Unbeknownst to them, within a man's shadow, hid a great pirate.

"The 'Super Mechanical Warriors' secretly researched by the Duke showed remarkable performance on the battlefield. Even those fellows from the Mechanic Sect suffered a great loss..."

"Yes, compared to those bulky mechanical armors and warriors, ours are far superior. When it comes to mechanical limb replacement technology, our territory is the top..."

"This great victory in the 'Normandy Sea Battle' will surely change the Empire's view of the Duke. Even the Empress should value and reward him..."

"Of course, our Duke this time might be conferred the title of 'First-Class Duke.'

"Hey~ I've heard that the women from Old Lington are quite something. They spend all year underground, their skin is pale and smooth, not at all like those sun and wind-battered women on the surface. Shall we take a stroll in the city later? Hehe, the leader said that these so-called nobles, madams, and young ladies in the city are not inferior in demeanor to the high-ranking nobles outside. Whoever we like, we can pick freely, play however we want..."

"Don't just talk, I really want to try it."

"Let's settle the important task first. The Duke sent us with so much material; he expects us to send the latest batch of mechanical warriors to the battlefield. Let's go to the research institute first..."

"..."

Soon, the group had arrived in Lingdun City.

After exiting the Duke's residence, they went straight to the mechanical research institute.

And because it was underground, lighting was needed, casting shadows everywhere.

The group had no idea that after exiting the tower, the shadow of one of them connected with the shadow in the corner of the wall, then eerily "detached" from the man's shadow, merged into the darkness at the corner, and swiftly moved towards the outside of the Duke's residence.

After moving away from the guards of the black tower, in an alleyway within Lingdun City, the roaming shadow suddenly twisted into shape, becoming solid, and in a blink, transformed into a man clad in assassin's attire with triangular eyes.

It was naturally the great pirate "Shadow Demon" Tim Ashley.

His talent was [B-021 - Shadow Mimic], enabling him to hide his body in any shadow.

This underground world, full of shadows, provided immense convenience for his abilities.

"Tsk tsk...almost got caught there. Lucky for me, the boss gave me that artifact; otherwise, it wouldn't have been easy to infiltrate through so many checkpoints."

Tim murmured to himself and heaved a great sigh of relief.

After all, if a pirate were caught, he would be directly sent to the gallows.

But in a moment, as he looked at the bustling Old Lingdun Inner City before him, the pirate's eyes suddenly lit up.

Whether there was any "easy pickings" could be discerned just by looking at the buildings on the streets and the attire of the pedestrians.

Goodness, where is this a mine?

It was a bustling large city!

The people here dressed so luxuriously, not only were they a hundred times richer than these poor pirates, but they also matched those wealthy territories.

Moreover,

I heard from those guys that this is also Duke Raphael's secret research base!

Super mechanical warriors?

The "Full Mechanical Limb" technology that even the obsessive mechanics of the Mafa Mechanical Empire could not breach, has it really succeeded here?

And the ancient relic of a thousand years, the legendary Dawn City?

My God, does that 'Demigod' Great Alchemist really exist?

And so many people, just by capturing and selling them, wouldn't that be real gold and silver?

Isn't this the most ideal place for plundering?

"Tsk tsk, so the secret behind Duke Raphael's immense wealth lies here... It has always been rumored that the Raphael family owns a mine with endless treasures, so it was true!"

Tim was extremely excited, not expecting that his venture here would actually meet with such a super surprise.

The key was, being wealthy yet weak was a sin!

"The highest rank among the mine slaves here is only third tier, hahaha... It's time to get rich. I need to quickly clarify the intelligence and send it out, let the boss send a fleet over!"

Thinking of something, the pirate could hardly conceal his joy and once again blended into the darkness.

....

Meanwhile, underground.

In a tower near the city's core area of Dawn Relic.

Su Lun and Mr. Jing were still patiently meditating and waiting.

Because he stripped away some of the forensic doctor Gerard's memory fragments, Su Lun was not too difficult to understand the content in the research diary.

He quickly flipped through the contents of the notebook.

But this was just research notes, and the human body was one of the most complex life forms, so it was still far from a thorough study.

After looking through it once, Su Lun knew he would need a lot of time to digest it in the future.

Even Gerard himself often laments in his notes that he had only touched the "tips" of biological alchemy, leaving one research topic after another in his notes.

Su Lun closed the last notebook and exhaled heavily, feeling complex emotions in his heart, "The field of biological alchemy really is complex."

He finally understood that saying, the more you know, the more doubts you have.

After reading the notes, Su Lun finally understood why Gerard wore the "Life Usurper's Tri-colored Mask."

This guy had once found a humanoid ancient creature carcass, at least tens of thousands of years old, and then discovered living tissue within the corpse.

After experimental research, Gerard found that the tissue could merge with human flesh, giving the test subject super vitality and also withstand the third-tier state of "Hormonal Rampage."

He then used ancient alchemy to solve the not too strong alien biological rejection reaction and sewed that piece of flesh onto his own body. Your journey continues at empire

But he did not realize that this thing would affect not only the flesh but, over time, also affect the mind.

And then, his mind became distorted.

Being the leader of the umbrella organization, he naturally had access to the right cursed objects.

He then found this mask that could suppress the distortions in his spiritual power.

"Life Usurper's Tri-colored Mask"

Description: Once the mask is worn, no one loves.

Cursed characteristics: Wearing the mask maintains absolute rationality, suppresses other abnormal spiritual power fluctuations, and resists spiritual arts attacks not exceeding the fifth rank; if the spiritual power doesn't exceed 500, you will be affected by the cursed characteristics, once the mask is worn, it can't be taken off; it also causes mental splitting, ultimately turning you into a crazed monster; it absorbs other people's negative emotions, enhancing the cursed characteristics.

Detailed explanation: An ancient Life Usurper made this mask during divination after suffering a backlash, often hearing whispers from demons, to keep himself from going insane; but the mask absorbed too much negative emotion, becoming a cursed item with strong properties; can be used as material for professional advancement, spiritual power reaches 300, dark spiritual power value no less than 12W, amalgamation mutation probability not exceeding 5%; amalgamation leads to the understanding of 'Divided Spirit Technique.' This is not mental splitting, you can consider it as 'multi-hearts, multi-uses';

Su Lun also discovered that as his knowledge increased, the detailed explanations of the items he appraised became more detailed.

The very nature of cursed material empowerment is to allow the Magician to comprehend abilities via these "external" means which they are currently unable to grasp through normal approaches.

This "multifaceted focus" skill indeed has a very high compatibility with Puppeteers.

In the realm of spiritual power, this ability is as rare as Spatial Ability.

Su Lun could precisely control over a dozen puppets with one focus;

and with multifaceted focus, the number he could control would multiply several times.

This ability would also increase with the augmentation of his spiritual power.

It truly is an ideal material for advancement.

However, the conditions for advancement are exceedingly stringent.

No wonder it's a material that others couldn't integrate before reaching at least the fourth tier.

That 120,000 dark spiritual power requirement, Su Lun estimated that he could barely meet it when he was at the peak of the third tier. But this was under the precondition that his body was modified with "X serum," making his tolerance significantly higher at each tier compared to others. Normally, only a fourth-tier professional would potentially have several hundred thousand dark spiritual power.

Then there's the matter of spiritual power.

Even after absorbing so many spiritual fragments, his panel showed a spiritual power value of only 192, far from the 300 threshold needed for integration.

Luckily, he now had the "Starry Sky Visualization Technique," which allowed for the acquisition of spiritual power through meditation.

But even with this top-tier technique for bolstering spiritual power, it would probably take a year and a half to reach that level.

Hmm... there's also the "Reaper" talent.

If he encountered enough enemies, it should significantly reduce that time.

....

Su Lun was still sorting through the loot of the two elite family groups from before, identifying and categorizing, keeping some materials and equipment useful to himself, and then packing up those he couldn't use, preparing to sell them later.

Just then, Mr. Jing, who was beside him, abruptly opened his eyes and suddenly said, "He's here!"

Su Lun also tensed up, "So... should I go now?"

Mr. Jing nodded, "Yes."

As he spoke, he performed a sorcerer's seal with both hands, and a glow emerged from Su Lun.

Upon looking again, Su Lun found himself teleported outside the tower.

"What a marvelous technique..."

Su Lun looked at the fading glow on his body, then glanced back at the tower and shrugged.

Normally, as a second-tier "lousy chicken," meeting that Fallen Angel was akin to a suicide mission.

Regardless of His combat power, the guards at the duke's estate around Him were definitely not something Su Lun could handle.

But with Mr. Jing's technique, Su Lun was not panicked at all.

To avoid the stealth guards around Madam Theresa being mistaken for an assassin with unclear intentions, he didn't wear a mask and simply walked into the depths of the mist.

Now Su Lun had a rough understanding of the whole affair.

The brooch he found at the Storm Manor was made of a special material that could carry souls.

Now, Su Lun affirmed that the hidden information impossible to identify was indeed a fragment of the Fallen Angel's spirit hidden within the brooch.

In retrospect, burying it cautiously was the right decision.

Otherwise, he might have unknowingly become a "puppet" controlled by that deity.

But he didn't know how, that butterfly brooch ended up in the hands of Madam Theresa at the duke's estate.

Then, probably possessed by the soul of the Fallen Angel, Theresa became very enthusiastic about the relic-hunting expedition in Dawn City.

She even came personally.

Calling it relic-hunting was actually mobilizing the entire force of Old Lington in search of the sealed limbs of that deity.

Unfortunately, they were mostly intercepted by Mr. Jing and his group.

...

As Su Lun walked along, his thoughts were rapidly spinning.

Before long, he "expectedly" saw a little girl floating through the mist.

Seeing that well-behaved appearance, it was naturally Pestoia, the little ghost he had just seen not long ago.

Upon seeing Su Lun, she greeted him enthusiastically, "Hi, Mr. Su Lun, nice to see you again..."

Su Lun smiled as well, knowing already why she appeared here, yet he deliberately asked, "Pestoia, what brings you here?"

Pestoia tilted her head and thought for a moment, as if waking from sleepwalking, "Ah? I don't know... I sensed you nearby, so I came looking for you."

The Fallen Angel knew the whole truth, but Pestoia was completely unaware that there was a "god" soul hidden within her own.

Su Lun didn't pursue the question further.

He extended his hand, signaling Pestoia to hold it.

Pestoia didn't mind and happily reached out to grab the offered hand.

At that moment, as if she had discovered something, she floated in front of Su Lun, very close, and sniffed with her cute nose, "Hey, there seems to be a nice smell on you too~"

"What smell?"

Su Lun, of course, knew it was the scent of "Isaac's Alchemical Heart", which the Fallen Angel had come for, but he pretended not to know.

After all, in the normal script, he was supposed to know nothing.

Unaware of the Fallen Angel's existence, unaware of any divine body, and unaware of any millennia-old schemes... He should only see Pestoia as a ghost "good friend."

The Fallen Angel was cunning, previously defeated by Sir Isaac and had its body severed and sealed.

Though just a mere human, it would certainly not underestimate such an enemy.

It also suspected that the earlier "execution by fire" hid other conspiracies.

Even after a thousand years, this once thriving city of Dawn had turned to ruins, and the enemy had disappeared without a trace.

But without clarity, it would absolutely not casually let go of Pestoia, this "amulet".

....

Su Lun directly got to the point, holding Pestoia's hand, and said, "Last time you entrusted me with something, didn't you? I met Madam Sereya."

"Ah..."

Upon hearing this, Pestoia's eyes filled with a mix of nervousness, resentment, and anticipation...

Su Lun took out the ring given to him by Sereya and gestured, "Give me your hand."

Not giving the young ghost lady much time to think, Su Lun took her tender hand and slid the ring onto her index finger.

The ring looked unremarkable.

The Fallen Angel still thought Su Lun was unaware of its existence and continued to pretend...

And our little ghost lady truly had no defenses up.

As Su Lun was placing the ring, he calmly said, "I asked her your question, and Madam Sereya asked me to tell you a message, she said..."

Hearing this, Pestoia's face filled with anticipation, completely forgetting to withdraw her hand.

Su Lun paused, looked at her, and then slowly uttered three words, "She loves you."

"..."

Listening, Pestoia froze completely, her big, bright eyes full of bewilderment.

She never expected to hear such words.

A thousand years of resentment,

with no outlet,

suddenly turned into endless grievances.

But before Pestoia could dwell further,

at that moment, the ring in her hand suddenly emitted a scorching light.

Pestoia felt nothing unusual, but the entity hidden deep within her soul screamed in panic.

Meanwhile, about one or two kilometers away in Theresa's team, a sudden blast of activity erupted.

An indescribable and terrifying will abruptly descended upon the entire relic!