Mechanical Alchemist

Before long, deafening cheers erupted.

The arena was in disarray, as a lord-level "Mouth of Hell" monster had been smashed to pieces by a powerful punch, with its rotting flesh scattered all around and its corrosive green blood splashing across the sandy ground.

Kai stood in front of the monster's corpse, his body enveloped in fiery red steam, looking utterly fierce.

With one side dead, a bloody gladiatorial match had finally come to an end.

Amidst the tumultuous cheers from the audience, Su Lun and Qian Tiao discreetly made their way to the contestant's passage.

Due to prior arrangements made with a local fixer, Su Lun and his companion had disguised themselves as frenzied fans of the gladiator, successfully meeting with Kai. As all were members of the Mirror Organization, Kai also had absolute trust in them.

As planned, during their brief meeting, Su Lun used a mental crystal created by Pandora with divine power to implant a mental suggestion in Kai. With this measure, they at least didn't have to worry about him being completely enslaved mentally.

Now, the difficulty was that Su Lun had also received some troubling news: the key to unlocking the "Mechanical Slave Collar" was carried at all times by "Princess Scatty of the Frost Moon."

To obtain the key meant that they would have to find a way to approach the Princess of Mafa.

This was a major problem.

No one could get close to the princess past the Mafa Royal Guards.

...

Several days later.

After stocking up on sufficient sailing supplies, most of the members of the Dawn Group had left the City-State of Moros, staying aboard the Dawn. The ship didn't dock, just drifted near the coast on standby.

For the city was not at peace lately.

These days, Su Lun had gathered some intelligence, increasingly feeling a sense of an impending storm.

King Oleg of the North Sea's second son, Onis Popov, who had been rumored to be romantically involved with "Princess Scatty," was of both Viking and Roman descent.

The North Sea Kingdom's swift subjugation of Roman as a vassal state was directly related to this man.

His mother was a mystery; no one knew who she was.

But reliable intelligence indicated that when Oleg first came to Roman, he had conquered the City-State of Moros with mighty military force and even visited the Temple of Aghaparnon, considered sacred by the Romans.

Soon after, Onis Popov was born.

He was a child graced by the War God from birth, endowed with "courage" — a truly formidable progeny.

Some suspected that his mother might be a highly respected priestess from the temple.

For this rumour, Su Lun had deliberately encountered this Onis Popov. Handsome and dashing, he possessed the robust physique of the Romans and the bravery of the Vikings.

Oleg was strict with his offspring; those who were useless were simply thrown into the sea to feed the sharks. This guy, however, did well, achieving dozens of consecutive victories in the arena and possessing impressive strength.

However, this guy was also lustful, arrogant, and reckless in his actions.

He loved to plunder on the seas, particularly relishing the capture of beautiful women. Even though Princess Scatty was his blood sister, he didn't restrain his inclinations.

But Su Lun had no interest in this man's private affairs.

He was more concerned about other details.

Given Oleg's rugged appearance, genetically speaking, this guy must have had a beautiful mother.

And the most beautiful women in Roman were all in the temple.

Therefore, the rumor was probably true — Onis's mother might indeed be a temple priestess.

And that was precisely the problem.

The priests of the Temple of Aghaparnon were endowed with strong "prophetic powers"!

Drought, tsunami, snow disaster, pestilence...the temple could always predict these in advance, guiding the Romans.

Su Lun could not be too careful.

They had eliminated several units of the North Sea Fleet, and although foretelling took a toll, it wasn't guaranteed that some clues wouldn't be uncovered.

Caution was paramount.

....

Qian Tiao and the others stayed on the ship, while Su Lun, with his strong survival skills, remained in the city to gather information.

He wanted to find an opportunity to get the key from Princess Scatty's possession, also waiting for news of the goods from Mafa and about submarines...

But after several days, no opportunity had presented itself.

That day, at the Rainbow Tavern.

In the evening, Su Lun customarily sat in the tavern for a while.

This was the busiest tavern in the City-State of Moros, and a favorite gathering spot for news traders.

The tavern was noisy with voices, with groups of flushed-faced drinkers, adventurers, and pirates loudly boasting. Scantily clad women moved about the tavern, and there was a blood-pumping erotic dance performance on stage.

Su Lun sat in a corner, leisurely sipping from a large jug of wine by himself, listening to the tales brought by those fellows from distant lands.

The situation between Ruying and the Mafa battle has changed again...

Some noble's butler has eloped with his sister-in-law...

A pirate crew has been sunk by the navy again...

An underwater shipwreck has been discovered somewhere again...

Wait a moment.

Taverns are the fastest channels for transmission of news.

Su Lun was drinking and occasionally glanced at a special communicator by his waist, murmuring to himself in a voice only he could hear, "Barrett has even turned off the communicator, seems like he's preparing to make a move."

The communicator Barrett gave had completely lost signal.

Not wanting to involve others was one thing. On the other hand, the high likelihood was that he was going to take action, which was why all possible means of tracking had been cut off.

Su Lun had just obtained some intelligence and wanted to inform Barrett.

But thinking about it, notifying him or not didn't matter anymore.

Knowing it was a trap, they would definitely take action to save people no matter what.

It just depended on which recent day the action would be taken.

The night was thickening, and the streets outside were gradually becoming deserted, but the tavern was getting livelier.

Recently, probably because of the news about "Devil's Island," it drew more and more adventurers and pirate crews from all directions. The tavern was also filled with many outsiders gathering information.

The news that the island contained innumerable ancient treasures had spread far and wide, with various rumors flying about, most of them unfounded hearsay.

Those who fancied becoming rich overnight had already set out towards that hazardous miasmic maritime region.

But no one had heard of anyone successfully returning with treasures.

Su Lun narrowed his eyes and surveyed everything in the tavern.

Before long, he had nearly finished his drink.

Su Lun thought he wouldn't hear any useful news tonight and was just about to leave.

Suddenly, an excited news peddler suddenly rushed into the tavern.

"Explosive news!"

"Explosive news!"

This person ran breathlessly, slapped the bar, and said, "Quick, give me a drink, I'm about to die of thirst."

This was a local hustler in the city, whom Su Lun also happened to know.

The bartender served him a drink and teased, "Hey, Mars, did your wife run off with someone, is that why you're in such a hurry?"

After gulping down a drink, he shouted excitedly, "Oh, no! You guys, go look, the 'Flying Fish Pirate Crew' has docked!"

No sooner had he finished than someone scoffed, "What 'Flying Fish Crew,' isn't that just a third-rate small pirate crew, nothing to make a fuss over?"

"It's Devil's Island! Devil's Island!"

Mars repeated excitedly several times then added, "They just returned from 'Devil's Island', their ship was loaded with a whole ship's worth of treasures! Oh, my God, the gold almost sank their warship, the treasures unloaded on the dock piled up like a mountain, some antique dealer roughly estimated, they made at least a few billion, a few billion—maybe even more! And I heard, they are planning to sell the map of the safe route they took this time!!!"

"This..."

At this, the tavern quieted down as if the mute button had been pressed, everyone seemed shocked by the news.

Mars reported excitedly, and very quickly, "Oh, my God, those guys from the 'Sailors Gang' wanted to monopolize this news, they kept it suppressed, didn't let it out. I also went through a lot of trouble to find out..."

As if they had just comprehended what he said, the entire tavern erupted like a barrel of gunpowder had been ignited, instantly boiling over.

"What! Someone came back alive from Devil's Island?"

"And they brought back treasures?"

"I've met the leader of the Flying Fish Crew, 'Old Smoker' Lauren before! Oh, damn it, their crew was so poor they couldn't even afford a new anchor chain, said they were going to take a chance, never thought they'd actually find treasure?"

"..."

If the last time "King of Fighting" Baron Optra came back alive, it was partly due to skill and luck.

Then this "Flying Fish Crew" managing to bring back treasures was definitely a spirits-lifting minor cautious.

This "Flying Fish Crew" wasn't strong, their captain was only Tier Four.

Since they could come back alive, the same thought popped into everyone else's mind, why couldn't they?

Treasure hunting, it's a matter of acting early.

If someone else steals a march, those going late won't even get soup to drink.

With this news out, the tavern's patrons instantly sobered up.

No one knew who shouted "Let's go!", everyone swarmed out.

Mars looked anxiously as he took off his hat, tugging at his throat and yelled, "Hey, guys, my fee for the information!"

The informed crowd was not stingy, and each man threw a few silver coins. In the blink of an eye, his hat was heavily filled with a pocketful.

When the crowd had largely dispersed, Su Lun flicked his finger and threw a silver coin into the hat of the information merchant before he too walked out of the tavern, unhurried.

"Someone actually came back alive from Devil's Island..."

As he walked, he muttered.

His eyes lacked the frenzy of those earlier, but a thick sense of anticipation was evident. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

After all, on Devil's Island there was a top-tier puppet energy core—The "Heart of the Four Elements".

Previously, those who ventured to explore Devil's Island were either fanatic adventurers or impoverished pirates betting their lives for fortune.

Even if Su Lun was covetous, he wouldn't joke with his own life.

But now... a small group had actually made it back alive?

With that thought in mind, Su Lun quickly headed towards the city's outskirts to the docks, eager to uncover the truth.

...

This news spread like it had wings, sweeping through the entire city-state of Moros in an instant.

It was nearly midnight, but at that moment, the docks outside the city were brightly lit.

The dock was crowded with people, a dense mass that likely numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

By the time Su Lun reached, the city's exit road was already jam-packed, making it impossible to reach the docks. Like others, he had no choice but to climb a cliff. He found a high spot and, from a distance, surveyed the scene at the docks.

Fortunately, his vision was excellent, and he could see clearly.

At that moment, at Dock Number Seven, a rickety pirate ship was moored.

But at that moment, all eyes were on that pirate ship.

Not many of the Flying Fish crew seemed to have survived, but the faces of those who did were filled with ecstatic joy. They were carrying off basket after basket of treasures from the ship.

Gold and silver artifacts, gemstones, agate, crystals, antiques, Demon Cores... under the light, those treasures shone dazzlingly, utterly captivating.

Captain "Old Smoker" Laureen was surrounded by a group of professional merchants, discussing the selling prices of those treasures.

Right then, his face was beaming with a radiant glow.

As time passed, more and more spectators from the city came to watch.

Even the cliffs where Su Lun stood were packed with people.

Watching such an abundance of treasures, Su Lun managed to stay calm, but the onlookers, their eyes gleaming green with envy, spoke with tones as sour as if they'd swallowed a mouthful of lemon juice.

"My, my, the 'Flying Fish crew' really hit the jackpot this time. These gains could set up their crew members for several lifetimes, damn I'm envious!"

"Ah... why didn't I think of joining them? Just recently, their crew was recruiting sailors in the tavern, and I didn't go because their ship looked too shabby. Who would have thought I'd miss out..."

"Stop complaining, let's see if we can get a hold of a sea chart. I heard the Flying Fish crew might have discovered a safe route, at least one that our regular crews could pass through. Hey, even if we don't gather as many treasures, getting just one-tenth would be enough for this lifetime..."

"Exactly! I heard that the Flying Fish crew hadn't even set foot on Devil's Island; they found all this treasure on a nearby island. Their ship was simply too full, that's why they returned. Apparently, there are many more such treasure islands in that sea area..."

"If I can really buy a sea chart, I'm setting sail tonight!"

"..."

The sudden riches of someone else were a powerful example that stirred everyone's heart immensely.

Even Su Lun considered, if he could really get a sea chart, whether to make a trip to that "Devil's Island." His Dawn Era crew's strength was much stronger than ordinary pirate crews, and their chances of obtaining treasures would be very high.

But intuition told him that something about this seemed off.

...

Su Lun, holding a monocular, closely observed the treasures being unshipped, and also scrutinized the condition of the crew and the ship's damage.

The metal artifacts bore marks of being corroded by seawater over the years, and there were stains of beast blood from battles on the ship...

From all aspects, this was evidently a pirate crew that had just returned from a perilous sea adventure.

Moreover, possessing the All-knowing Eye, Su Lun could see that those treasures were genuinely ancient relics.

Not just gold jewelry, but also some cursed objects with special effects, extraordinary artifacts, and magical items.

"Pharaoh's Gold Scarab Beetles," "Gedro's Spear of Courage," "Dark Magician's Gold Tea Cup," "Sea Wave Pearls"...

They had all sorts of items, although mostly damaged.

But Su Lun also noticed a problem.

These items were clearly not from the same era of civilization!

"Why would ancient relics from different eras appear in the same place?"

Su Lun was somewhat puzzled.

Mythological period, post-mythological period, prehistoric era, glacial era, Dawn Era...even the majority of ancient artifacts identified were from civilizations that Su Lun had never heard of.

Normally, the treasures of an ancient site should be from the same era.

However, the artifacts found on "Devil's Island" seemed to be a bit of a mishmash.

It was as if someone had deliberately collected them together.

"Could it be that Devil's Island was originally some collector's treasure trove?"

Su Lun could only think of this possibility.

...

The treasures on the Flying Fish Group's ship were so numerous that Su Lun spent almost an hour looking over them and still hadn't seen them all unloaded.

The crowd at the dock was growing larger; it seemed that almost half the city had been drawn there.

The scene was heating up, but just then, suddenly, a fierce explosion rang out in the city!

"Boom!"

A loud noise burst eardrums.

A wave of explosion several dozen meters high erupted in a corner of the north city.

The flames instantly lit up the entire sky.

This commotion quickly attracted the attention of the bystanders.

"Look, quick, what's happening? There's been an explosion in the city!"

"That strength of the explosion, ordinary explosives couldn't achieve that."

"Blue flames, that's a special compound explosive. I've seen military high explosives from Mafa that looked just like this."

"North city... it seems to be in the direction of 'Princess Frost Moon's' guildhall!"

"Could someone be attempting to assassinate the princess?"

"..."

After the first explosion, there were successive explosions one after another.

The entire north city was engulfed in flames.

Everyone at the dock was shocked,

While others didn't understand what was happening, Su Lun looked on, his first thought being that Barrett and his crew had made their move.

Because those blue-glowing military high explosives were personally handed to Barrett by Su Lun!

Were Barrett and his team there to assassinate Princess Stika?

No,

Of course not!

"Make noise in the east, strike in the west..."

Su Lun squinted his eyes, immediately guessing what was happening.

Now, undercurrents were surging in the city, with nearly all factions focusing on 'Princess Frost Moon.' This explosion would certainly trigger a series of chain reactions.

Sure enough, just as the explosion had erupted, the sound of fighting came from that direction.

After some tentative skirmishes, the fighting grew more intense.

"Rumble~"

"Rumble~"

"..."

Shortly after the north city erupted in chaos, a district in the west city also erupted in explosions and intense fighting.

The ruckus of the battle grew louder and louder, clearly indicating massive combat was underway within the city.

Seeing the battle flames rising from the west, Su Lun was not at all surprised.

Because that location was precisely... the headquarters of the Sun Slave Trading Post, where the 'Sacred Judgment Legion' members were detained!

Currently, the city's bystanders had mostly gathered to watch the excitement. It was indeed the best time to make a move.

"Barrett and his team really chose to attack aggressively, huh..."

Su Lun noted, as his gaze shifted.

Without any hesitation, he blended into the crowd of onlookers, swiftly moving towards the area from where the commotion in the city was emanating.