Mechanical Alchemist

"Interesting puppetry technique..."

Although Su Lun had roughly guessed the origin of the puppet before him, he had not understood how it was being manipulated.

He felt no pull of strings, nor any fluctuation of energy, and thought that this "Terrifying Wax Figure" was probably a kind of black magic like Spirit Control.

"The spiritual intelligence doesn't seem too high; it must be direct soul control..."

Su Lun could sense the fluctuations of the soul. Typically, spectral guards like evil spirits had incomplete spiritual bodies and were not highly intelligent. It's probably like training a dog; long-term training of evil spirits could enable them to retain some of their abilities from when they were alive.

Before he could ponder further, the person in the trench coat not far away suddenly made a move.

Su Lun wasn't particularly alarmed; as long as it wasn't a Seventh Order professional, not many could pose a threat to him now.

With just a glance to the side, he saw the raindrops within tens of meters around his body suddenly freeze in mid-air. Each crystal-clear droplet trembled with high-frequency ripples on their surface, then morphed into the shape of willow leaf-shaped knife blades.

"Impressive control over water elements, and this technique is quite interesting as well..."

Su Lun narrowed his eyes slightly, silently remarking to himself.

"Swoosh!"

"Swoosh!"

"Swoosh!"

"..."

In the blink of an eye, those suspended raindrops shot towards Su Lun like bullets.

With full-coverage from every angle leaving no blind spots, it was impossible to dodge in the narrow alley, sounding like a fierce barrage of rain hitting banana leaves.

The raindrops tore through clothes, and some special drops even penetrated the protective elemental barrier, striking Su Lun directly.

Upon impact, the raindrops didn't completely disperse but swiped like knife blades across rock. Even if there wasn't much damage, the sharp sensation was distinctly felt.

This move, if confronted head-on by almost any professional below the Sixth Order, would result in severe injury if not death.

But Su Lun had the "Rune Golden Body" for protection, so it was akin to nothing more than scraping.

"What a sinister wax puppet!"

Su Lun stomped on the ground, charging through the sky full of arrows like a cannonball. He threw a punch and hit the man in the trench coat in the abdomen.

Yet, the punch that could shatter stones and split gold struck the target but felt like hitting a water bag. The force of the blow was dissipated by the layers of oscillating cushioning force, reducing its impact by ninety percent.

"Elemental Body!"

From this brief exchange, Su Lun had judged the opponent's combat strength to be about that of a Fifth Order professional. But, with the addition of the "A-004 Rain Prayer" type of affinity for the four basic elements, it was almost unbeatable among its peers.

At a nearly face-to-face distance, Su Lun also saw the face of the person in the trench coat.

It was a horrific face patched together with centipede-like stitches, jagged sharp teeth, and a neck skin that was a creepy dark cyan color. The face was covered with thick makeup foundation that couldn't hide the black blood vessels and livor mortis, adding an eerie touch instead. It also wore a white bridal headpiece on top of its head, with black lipstick and eyeshadow. Just as deduced, this was a "Ghost Bride."

And now, up close, Su Lun could see a thin layer of corpse wax on its body.

His punch had evidently caused no harm to the bride. He then made a move to leverage his body, swinging back a heavy kick that slammed into its head.

With that heavy leg, a "splash" sound was heard as the water balloon head burst open, spewing noxious black water everywhere.

The black water obviously had a strong corrosive toxicity, sizzling as it splashed on the ground and creating pockmarked holes after the smoke cleared.

However, even after its head was kicked to pieces, the "Ghost Bride's" presence did not wane. In an instant, it reformed a new head from the elements and fixed its empty gaze on Su Lun before it.

"Tsk, tsk... quite strong! I never thought a puppet could reach this level."

The more he tested, the more curious Su Lun became.

He was not only adept in puppetry techniques but also in animating corpses.

The abilities displayed by the "Ghost Bride" before him far exceeded those of the animated corpses, and were almost on par with a real person.

That tremendous affinity for elements certainly wasn't something simple Corpse Manipulation Techniques could achieve!

If he could capture it for research...

A thought suddenly crossed Su Lun's mind.

...

Clearly, capturing it alive was out of the question.

The "Ghost Bride's" intelligence clearly wasn't very high; it likely believed it could kill Su Lun. As soon as its head was reconstituted, it reached out with one hand, showing its long black fingernails.

```

In an instant, the spell was complete.

The water elements in the air formed a spherical water prison around Su Lun's body. No matter where he tried to escape, the water prison clung to him like a persistent ghost.

The water elements surrounding him became denser and denser, and Su Lun felt as if he had fallen into a pit of quickly drying glue, his movements becoming more and more difficult.

Not only did the spell restrict his movements, but it was also rapidly drawing water out of his body.

In a little while, he feared he would turn into a mummified corpse and die on the spot.

"Directional 'Water Element Stripping'? Quite a powerful comprehension of magic, at least the incomplete understanding of a sixth-rank law. It must be an ability that the corpse possessed in life. Which means, before death, this body was at least a sixth-rank professional, or even seventh-rank?"

Su Lun analyzed in his mind, finally feeling a tinge of the threat of death, "The soul fluctuation isn't very stable, so the resentful spirit inside it must not be original..."

He had to admit that this 'Ghost Bride' was truly strong. Its ability to turn into elemental form made it almost immune to any physical attacks, and its control over the basic elements was difficult to counter. The body's original elemental understanding had reached the sixth rank.

It could be said that any professional below the sixth rank stood no chance against it!

After a few exchanges, Su Lun had tested out some of the intelligence he wanted. Thinking that the puppeteer behind the scenes must have realized this too, he did not delay any longer and suddenly, his fist was wrapped in a layer of invisible energy.

He didn't even need to form the magician's seals for teleportation at this distance, and he teleported behind the 'Ghost Bride'. Without breaking a stride, he delivered a punch enveloped in domineering energy, blasting a hole in the chest of the monster.

"Boom!"

A punch pierced through!

For an elemental body, domineering energy was exceedingly effective.

Su Lun's punch didn't simply break the stable form of the water elements, but partially annihilated the elements at the microscopic level.

In recent days, he had mastered the use of domineering energy, and as he punched, Su Lun controlled the spiral of the energy to explode, blasting the upper half of the 'Ghost Bride's' body into fragments.

Under normal circumstances, this barrage would be enough to kill this wax puppet.

But before he could take a breath of relief, a bizarre scene unfolded before his eyes.

Though the target was critically hit and its presence dissipated for a moment, Su Lun didn't see the "gray mist" emerge.

"Not killed?"

He watched the black water scattered on the ground, puzzled.
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Suddenly,

A few meters away at the sewer entrance, he sensed the familiar soul fluctuation again!

"Escaped?"

A twitch passed the corner of Su Lun's eye, not failing to understand what had happened.

The escape was decidedly swift; he wanted to pursue, but it was too late.

The 'Ghost Bride' had clearly realized that Su Lun had the ability to kill it. This time, without any hesitation, it reformed and chose to flee. Its ability to turn into elemental form disregarded terrain constraints. It dissolved into black water and flowed into the underground through the drainage pipes.

"Heh heh..."

Su Lun gave a self-deprecating laugh.

He had thought this was a sure victory, but unexpectedly, it had slipped away.

But more than that, he was perplexed.

"That shouldn't be right! How could it not have been killed?"

Su Lun contemplated, his punch with the domineering energy should not have allowed the 'Ghost Bride' to survive.

His mind raced, replaying what had just happened, he thought, "No, it didn't revive on its own! Was it some other mysterious force that reformed it just now?"

He quickly thought of some key points, his brain whirring into action.

Almost instantly, he remembered having seen such a situation before.

That time when he was exploring the Dawn Relic '1911 Hotel' cursed space, he encountered four unkillable oddities.

The evil black magic that had created the oddities was called 'Four Ghastly Spirits' Corruption Offering Formation,' which involved the collection of corpses with the characteristics of earth, wind, water, and fire. The final effect was an energy cycle that was self-sustaining and self-replenishing, achieving immortality.

If one corpse was killed, the others would revive it, creating an almost unsolvable closed loop.

No wonder it was used for delivery; such puppets are untouchable and undying, making them perfectly suited for the task.

"Could it be that the puppeteer behind the scenes has already gathered the four elemental wax figures?"

Su Lun frowned, feeling the level of difficulty had just escalated by several notches, "Undying and unkillable, these puppets are really formidable..."

Luckily, he only encountered one today. If there were four as he suspected, he would probably have to run.

```

But on the other hand, someone who can control such wax figures is definitely not a nobody in Lington.

Another practitioner related to the Puppetry Technique, the list of suspects narrows down even further.

...

Originally, the intention was to track down the source of the potion, but now that the delivery person has escaped, there's no point in Su Lun delaying any longer.

Plus, the person behind the scenes might send out a warning to the Vaughn Brothers Association since they discovered they were being tracked.

Goods of unknown origin, even the gangs wouldn't distribute them recklessly. At least Big Beard Fogleres, the chairman, must know some information about the supplier of this batch of goods.

Su Lun didn't want to let even the slightest clue slip away.

He sensed Rich Lady Lena's location, his hands swiftly gestured the sorcerer's seals, and after condensing the dark energy required for Directed Displacement, the space fluctuated for a moment.

When he looked again, he was already standing on top of that dilapidated building.

Rich Lady Lena was crawling on the rooftop with a sniper rifle, watching the warehouse through the scope. Suddenly, seeing Su Lun appear beside her, her crystal eyes shone, "Mr. Su Lun, you're back?"

As she spoke, she pointed to a few gang members near the warehouse door and quickly said, "Just now, they seemed to have received some message, and someone rushed in hurriedly."

Su Lun, hearing Rich Lady Lena's report, also guessed that his assassination had been exposed. He nodded decisively, "Be careful, I'm going in."

Then, thinking for a moment, he added, "If someone comes out, kill them. Try not to leave any survivors."

Rich Lady Lena nodded earnestly, "Mhm."

Su Lun didn't waste any more words and teleported again, appearing directly at the entrance of the warehouse.

Seeing an extra person suddenly appear caught the suited, tattooed musclemen by surprise, and before their expressions of astonishment could turn into vigilance, a bloody line formed on their necks.

A burst of blood sprayed out like a human fountain, and only then did the bloody, glistening silk threads reveal themselves.

Throughout the entire process, Su Lun didn't even give these men a direct glance and went straight into the warehouse.

The mastermind behind the scenes was likely already on the way here, and there was no time to slowly gather intel from these men. Killing them and stripping their Soul Shards was the most efficient way.

He teleported once more and appeared inside the warehouse.

The addition of one person in the warehouse caused the twenty or so fully armed brutes to turn their murderous gaze towards him, with dozens of gun barrels all pointing his way.

The leader, Big Beard, was holding a Magic-energy Firearm — it was 'Old Smoker' Fogleres.

Su Lun's eyes were cold and indifferent. Without further explanation, he pinched the sorcerer's seals, his eyes emitting a fierce light, "Hormonal Outburst・Quadruple Dissolution!"

With a flick of his fingers, gargoyles and several puppets appeared out of thin air in the warehouse.

Then, a fierce battle erupted.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

The sound of gunfire in the enclosed warehouse was deafening like the rolling thunder.

Su Lun focused on giving 'Old Smoker' Fogleres a good beating.

After all, as a fourth-order professional, this guy took some effort to deal with.

Some of the underlings were trying to fight back, while others, seeing the enemy was too strong and sensing things were going south, tried to flee. But those attempting to escape barely reached the windows before sniper bullets precisely burst their heads open, splattering their brains like a busted watermelon.

The battle was fierce and ended very quickly.

Within two minutes, Su Lun had killed everyone in the warehouse.

After stripping Fogleres's soul, he indeed found information about the supplier.

Su Lun didn't delay, gathered the spoils of war, and walked straight out of the warehouse door.

Upon exiting, he saw Rich Lady Lena on the rooftop, sniping one target after another. Those gang members who heard the commotion and came to reinforce were pinned down before getting close to the corner.

Su Lun gestured a retreat signal to the silhouette on the rooftop, and Lena responded with a radiant smile.

She packed up her sniper rifle and, with cat-like agility, vanished silently into the alleyway.

Su Lun withdrew his gaze and casually threw an incendiary device behind him to destroy the corpses and erase the traces.

A loud boom erupted and the entire warehouse burst into flames.

The forensic doctors in this alchemical world were very skilled, able to make the dead "speak." They could deduce the killer's personality and methods from marks on the body, and some could even reconstruct a person's facial features. If one body doesn't yield enough, then many will, piecing together the evidence.

Su Lun had witnessed this before and didn't dare to be careless.

Now, with no survivors left in the warehouse, it was perfect.

He gestured with the sorcerer's seals and in a moment, he was standing beside Rich Lady Lena in an alley several hundred meters away.

The two changed back into their previous outfits and walked onto the street without attracting any attention.

...

Suddenly, sounds of combat burst from a warehouse, startling the entire block.

Without understanding what had happened, most probably thought it was a gang shootout. Members of various gangs appeared on the streets armed and looking ferocious, but they still didn't know who their enemy was.

Onlookers from the night market also flooded the streets upon hearing the news, swarming about like ants out of a nest, filling up the streets.

With his arm wrapped around the slender waist of Rich Lady Lena, Su Lun also blended into the crowd of gawkers without being noticed.

No one knew who fired the shot in the crowd, but suddenly the street erupted with "bang bang bang" as a shootout began.

Everyone scattered like birds and beasts, no longer daring to casually spectate the commotion. Within moments, the roar of motorcycles echoed from the alleys.

Su Lun and Rich Lady Lena retrieved their motorbike from the Rolling Stone Bar garage and joined the stream of vehicles leaving Fox Avenue.

Different from before, Rich Lady Lena held Su Lun close from the back seat, her pretty face sporting a joyous smile.

Amidst the rush of wind, just as they left the block, Su Lun suggested, "Want to grab some late-night food?"

After jumping around all night, Rich Lady Lena was also a bit hungry and happily responded, "Sure."

Normal restaurants would be closed at this hour. Rich Lady Lena's upscale restaurants could have specially opened for them, but Su Lun had no intention of troubling the chefs to work overtime in the middle of the night.

Before long, the steam motorbike stopped in Mann District.

This was a working-class district with a large number of manufacturing plants nearby. Workers would often come out looking for food at night. Over time, a lively night market had developed here.

Su Lun parked the bike at the head of the street and located a small stall called "Beef Mince Pies & Mashed Potatoes."

It was a shop he remembered having a good taste from the memories stripped from a gang member earlier.

As the workers hadn't yet rested, business was slow. The two found a table and sat down.

The food was delicious, reasonably priced, and the portions were quite generous.

Su Lun actually found it quite satisfactory, considering in his eyes, it was all just a matter of proteins and carbohydrates.

In the dark alley, rats squeaked as they foraged for food. Steam pipes with holes in the walls hissed white smoke into the air, and everyone passing by wore the simple attire of the lower-class...

The lady of affluent background, Rich Lady Lena, didn't mind the environment in the slightest. She could sit elegantly in high-class restaurants sipping wine, but she enjoyed the street food just as much.

While eating, they resumed their earlier conversation.

Su Lun had stripped the memories from that "Old Smoker" Fogleres and indeed learned about the supplier for this batch of goods.

The supplier was an underworld figure known as "The Curator."

This person had quite the reputation in Lindon's underworld and was said to be a Big Shot with real power in reality as well. Yet his real appearance remained a mystery, as no one had ever seen him. He was familiar with the Vaughn Brothers due to some illegal human trafficking dealings, and he often purchased black magic materials or ancient texts through the gangs.

Having previously fought with that "Terrifying Wax Figure・Ghost Bride," Su Lun was almost certain that it was this "Curator" who was behind the scenes supplying the goods.

However, Su Lun felt there was something even worse than that.

From the information he had stripped from the Vaughn Brothers' members, apart from learning that the person possibly supplying goods from behind the scenes might be "The Curator," he obtained a piece of information that seemed profoundly troubling.

That was the emergence of a disease in Lindon's lower class, known as "Red Death."

Plagues and diseases were nothing new to humanity. From the mythological era to the modern day, there have always been some incurable infections.

Like the bubonic plague, the Black Death, smallpox, and so on...

But this was different.

The reason Su Lun paid attention to it was because... the mode of transmission for this disease was also through body fluids.

This was strikingly similar to the incident on the "Queen Rodrica" cruise ship!

Moreover, what was peculiar was that this disease couldn't be cured by normal means, but could be suppressed, and even completely eradicated by using a Potion refined from Blood Crystals.

A conspiracy immediately surfaced in Su Lun's mind.

Even though it was known that the Potion was problematic, now a disease emerged that only the Potion could treat – it would be impossible to say there was no connection.

Su Lun initially thought that the Potion was spread just among drug addicts, and that would only affect a small area.

But if, as he suspected, the disease transmission was also related, then the problem was considerably more complicated.

Extremely complicated!

If the Potion tested free of any issues, then it might ultimately be used by the unsuspecting public to treat the disease.