Mechanical Alchemist

The Royal Academy Library of Luying is located in the northern district of the Academy.

It took Su Lun and his two companions nearly half an hour to get there.

It was a white building nestled in a botanical garden, teeming with greenery. The architectural style was so ancient it seemed like a magic castle from a bygone era of magic, with various magical restrictions pulsing throughout.

Oh, no!

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be several towers identified as element magic towers from an ancient magical period.

No one knew from which ancient ruins they had been excavated and then moved here in their entirety.

This was the Royal Library, as well as a museum.

These magic towers were the private collection of the Bonaparte royal family.

Gik was quite familiar with the large library and led Su Lun and the others on a tour.

This was the Royal Library, known for being the deepest repository of knowledge in Luying, even more luxurious than the "Congressional Library" where Mr. Hei worked. It was almost exclusively open to the nobility, with the environment and materials used being of the highest lavishness, truly resplendent with gold and glitter.

In addition to the hundreds of millions of books on the shelves, the warehouse held countless historical collections.

Most importantly, the library also had a special section for treasure galleries, where many of the collections were unparalleled rarities, including manuscripts, relics, and cursed items left behind by great alchemists of various eras...

Before coming, Su Lun had heard that within the collection area was a special exhibit room dedicated to relics of Sir Isaac. It contained over four hundred of the late alchemical demigod's handwritten manuscripts and various artifacts he had used.

...

As Su Lun followed Gik on the tour, they saw everything except a few confidential information areas.

Besides marveling at the foundation of this great empire of Luying, his All-knowing Eye was also identifying all sorts of prohibitions within the library.

While the library appeared as a public area, it secretly harbored various theft prevention mechanisms.

In fact, when they arrived at the entrance of the treasure gallery, Su Lun spotted a peculiar cursed object.

It was a statue of a hairless bronze cat, its eyes scrutinizing everyone who entered the gallery.

This was the famous Sphinx's Catman Statue.

While the public knew it as an ancient relic of the library, only those in the thieving profession were aware of the magical object's frustrating complications.

It was one of the "ultimate challenges" certified by the King of Thieves.

With a glance, Su Lun identified it as a dark gold quality magical device with a cause-and-effect curse feature.

The information plaque beside it detailed its origin, unearthed as a burial accompaniment from the tomb of some ancient king.

Beyond being a mere decorative piece, it was also an early-warning device to prevent grave robbing.

It could predict certain aspects of the future by sensing humans that approached.

This specific future was: if someone intended to enter and steal something.

Before the act of "theft" was committed, it would already predict its occurrence and trigger an alarm in advance, activating the original tomb's theft prevention mechanisms.

Here, you would be preemptively apprehended by the library administrators.

This was a transcendent power, something current alchemy couldn't explain.

Many thieves with ill intentions had been caught before even getting a glimpse of the Treasure Gallery.

This intelligence had come from the mouth of Kitty.

But ultimately the curse had caught so many people its function was deduced by outsiders. This information was one of the top secrets in the thieving profession.

As Su Lun looked, he found it to be exactly as described.

Fortunately, he was only scoping out the place, as the future theft would be carried out by Kitty, therefore not constituting the "act of theft" and therefore unable to trigger the magical alarm.

...

After passing the cat statue, Su Lun and his companions entered an ancient mechanical lift.

This was the only way to reach the Treasure Collection Room.

"Click," "click,"...

With the sounds of gears interlocking, the lift slowly descended.

This lift, too, seemed to be a historical antique with several centuries of history; even with a rustproof coating, rust spots were visible on the cage.

Gik was enthusiastically sharing information about the lift with his teacher.

It wasn't powered by a steam boiler, but rather by a perpetual motion-like special alchemical device.

Coincidentally, this old mechanical lift was designed by Sir Isaac himself.

After descending about four floors, the lift came to a halt.

This was the library's catalog area.

Most of the collections were manuscripts, secret scrolls, ancient magic books, and other antiques.

Upon entering the catalog area, Su Lun sensed the surroundings and muttered to himself, "No wonder Mr. Hei said there was no way to penetrate this place, it truly is impregnable."

Even though Su Lun's comprehension of the laws of space was extremely high, upon entering, it was as if he had walked into a special space filled with "glue."

Here, the difficulty of teleporting was immense, consuming one hundred times more energy than normal, and space traps were everywhere. These traps could cause those who teleported in to be swept into chaotic spatial currents, with no knowledge of where they might end up.

And after sensing around, Su Lun also discovered that the energy particles in the space of the collection room were constantly in an unordered and chaotic state. That is to say, a large "Magic-Banishing Field" was in place here.

There were internal air circulation systems, independent sewage systems, and state-of-the-art fire protection equipment...

The management had considered nearly all possibilities for exploitation.

Su Lun looked on with a slight frown, he felt challenged but not surprised.

After all, this was all known intelligence.

And still, the troubles didn't stop there.

Looking around once more, he noticed that each artifact was placed inside display cases that resembled glass domes.

After assessing with the All-knowing Eye, he realized these covers were even more incredible.

This is the hardest known enchantment material, "Thunder Crystal," crafted into an alchemy anti-theft cover deeply etched with various solid runes and magical markings.

While prioritizing aesthetics, this cover possesses an absolute defense that not even cannons can crack.

And the most brilliant aspect is that each display case has been solidified with a seventh-tier spatial spell, "Spatial Web Adhesion"!

These exhibits may appear to be independent, but their space is actually solidified together with the entire Treasure Gallery.

Just imagine the visible tip of an iceberg on the sea surface; to take it away, one would have to lift the entire iceberg from the ocean's bottom.

Even if high-tier cursed relics like the "Black Scythe" were used to cut away a specific item, even spatial ability users could not stuff it into a lesser space.

In other words, anyone who wanted to steal it would have to carry it in their hands at all times.

Moreover, with various tracking and locating devices, even if one successfully stole an artifact, it would be enough to have the Luying military intelligence division hunt them to death.

However...

Su Lun looked around and noticed that the spatial restriction didn't seem to affect putting things into another plane of existence.

But it's also precisely because of these stringent anti-theft measures that the Luying Royal Library has recorded several hundred theft attempts in the past hundred years, with almost no success.

In the last twenty years, only "Thief King" Carlo Meldis succeeded once and stole a famous painting.

Due to the extreme difficulty, it has also become the "ultimate challenge" for professional certification by the Luying Thieves League.

Su Lun, seeing this, couldn't help thinking, "There are absolutely no flaws... Even if Kit came, I'm afraid he'd be helpless."

Maintaining such extensive prohibitions at all times consumes a shockingly high amount of energy.

This also reveals the substantial wealth and power of the Luying royal family.

...

Coming here, Su Lun's eyes were truly opened.

"Dwarf's Gold Gathering Ring," "Loki's Deceptive Helmet," "Heimdall's Horn Gjallar," "Goddess Freya's Gold Necklace," "Will of the Master of All," "The Norn Sisters' Web of Fate," "Magic Ring Droppnir"...

One after another, treasures and artifacts that only appear in various texts were right before his eyes.

Su Lun felt that he already had enough treasures.

However, here, out of every hundred "forbidden items" level cursed relics, eighty were present.

There were also several legendary and epic treasures of the gallery.

Looking at them set Su Lun's heart ablaze with desire.

These top-tier cursed relics with peculiar effects laid there, like witnesses to the ages.

The heritage of the Luying royal family was truly terrifyingly profound.

Su Lun watched with envious eyes...

But now, he had reached a level where he no longer needed to rely entirely on external objects to save his life.

Although these cursed relics were exquisite, almost none of them matched his profession. Even if he held them in his hands, they would also only be collectibles.

Precisely because most of these cursed relics have terrifyingly exaggerated cursed properties and significant usage restrictions, even career professionals above the seventh tier would lose half their life if they used them, and so they could only sit here gathering dust.

Thinking this, the restlessness in his heart settled down a bit.

...

When Su Lun and his two companions came to visit, there were also several groups of people touring the gallery.

The most eye-catching was a group of eight or nine-year-old children.

Dressed in uniform school attire, there were about forty to fifty of them.

They chattered nonstop, creating a bustling noise.

Geke also recognized those juniors and introduced them, "That's the Royal Preparatory Academy I attended before. The academy organizes new students to visit the library every year."

Su Lun thought it was a good idea too.

The noisy little ones could also attract the attention of the administrators.

So, he followed and looked around.

The group of kids was curious about everything too, asking all sorts of questions.

"Mr. Tour Guide, why do these exhibits need to be shielded with a cover?"

"It's to protect them, as well as the visitors. Any cursed property from alchemical items will dissipate and affect the environment. This is the strongest defensive alchemy material in the world..."

"Why does that 'Crystal Skull' glow?"

"Because that is a wicked cursed relic. The glow is a manifestation of its cursed property leaking out; it's not real luminance..."

"..."

Su Lun needed to observe every detail here, so he looked very carefully.

Besides, these artifacts were truly intriguing; the higher the rank, the more one could get inspired and gain insights from the crystallization of wisdom of the ancient Great Alchemists.

Crafting methods, runes, design concepts, management of cursed properties, and so forth.

He walked along, observing and like a humanoid camera, committing everything within the Treasure Gallery to memory.

Finally, Su Lun arrived at the "Sir Isaac's Exclusive Treasure Room."

The room was not large, but there were many alchemy manuscripts on display, as well as models made based on those manuscripts.

Most prominent among them was a notebook with billowing black qi.

Su Lun walked over, inspected it closely, and recognized that it was indeed "Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript II"!

It was similar to the one he had in his possession, also described as a special cursed relic entwining fate and causality, with an added learning enhancement aura.

He already knew the content recorded within; it was about "Isaac's Giant Strength," a type of alchemical augmentation that the Luying military wielded to greatly enhance physical strength.

He already had an "Arm of the Hundred-Armed Giant King," which was perfect for synthesizing this augmentation.

Although he didn't know if they could be fused together, he decided to craft it first and see later.

"It really is authentic."

A subtle change flickered in Su Lun's eyes.

The reason he had come in person was to confirm that the library was displaying genuine articles, not just high-quality replicas for the exhibition.

Su Lun carefully examined the various prohibitions in the exhibition room, then proceeded to scrutinize the manuscripts in detail.

His teacher's mastery in the field of alchemy was unrivaled in the modern era, and his work had even laid the foundation for some of the rule systems of modern alchemy.

After all, these items were a thousand years old. Although there were many items, they were quite assorted.

There were design drawings, potion recipes, alchemy, and various other fragments and doodles scattered about.

After authenticating them, apart from a few high-quality forgeries, the rest were indeed genuine.

Su Lun thought that when Kit came to visit, he could just take them away with him on the way out.

...

Since these were his teacher's relics, Su Lun took an extra moment to look them over.

As he was looking, a group of young apprentices swarmed in.

Su Lun hadn't planned on joining in the bustle with these folks and was about to call Sabina and Jick to leave.

But unexpectedly, the fat accompanying tour guide uttered an astonishing statement that made everyone's jaw drop.

A little apprentice asked, "Mr. Isaac, is it true that you are a descendant of the great Alchemical Demigod, Sir Isaac, from a thousand years ago?"

"Of course! He is my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. Many of these collections were donated to the library by my ancestors, they are the heirlooms of our Isaac family. Look, right beside the name of the donor is my ancestor Dodoru Isaac. See there, that's the year when his majesty bestowed the hereditary noble title upon my family. Luying Calendar year 921. Oh, that was a grand investiture ceremony..."

"Wow... It's really true! You're so amazing!"

"..."

The group of youngsters immediately burst with excitement.

The fat man reveled in the envious gazes around him. This identity alone brought him much honor and praise.

Su Lun, however, listened with a bewildered expression.

He had heard someone call the fat man "Mr. Isaac" before and had thought it was a common surname. After all, while famous, the surname wasn't exactly rare.

He initially wondered if it was some distant relative of his sister's lineage who had passed it down, but upon hearing this, the fat man confidently claimed that his great-great-great-great-great-grandfather was Isaac's own son.

At this point, Su Lun knew he was dealing with an imposter.

Jick, who had also heard about this legendary figure's self-praise, excitedly introduced him to Su Lun and Sabina, "That tour guide is quite famous in Lyndon, because he is the true descendant of Sir Isaac, even royal nobility! The Isaac family memorial gallery in the Queen's district of the city was established by his family..."

Even Sabina showed great interest upon hearing this, giving the fat man another look.

After all, the halo surrounding Sir Isaac was incredibly dazzling, and the descendants of that demigod naturally carried an aura of genius.

But Su Lun smiled and shook his head, "Let's go."

Jick, barely able to contain his excitement at seeing his idol, suddenly saw his teacher leaving and followed him out.

Sabrina looked at Su Lun's expression and guessed something, she asked softly while holding his arm, "Sir, do you think there was something wrong with that person just now?"

With a shrug, Su Lun revealed a wry smile, "Although I don't know how that guy got Sir Isaac's legacy or how he convinced the royal family to bestow a title upon him. But as far as I know, Sir Isaac only had two daughters."

Only then did Sabrina understand why Su Lun had that expression earlier, "So, you mean that was an impostor?"

Su Lun nodded, "Mhm."

"Ah..."

Standing to the side, Gik heard this and his face showed disappointment mixed with confusion.

Although he would not doubt his teacher's words, he was also curious, "Teacher, how do you know Isaac only had two daughters and no other descendants? What if there really are..."

"There are no what-ifs."

Su Lun interrupted Gik.

After pondering for a moment, he casually revealed, "Because... I know both of Sir Isaac's daughters."

"???"

Upon hearing this, Gik's expression instantly froze.

He felt as if his brain had encountered some unfathomable information and was unable to digest the meaning of Su Lun's words for a good while.

Meanwhile, Sabrina, who was beside them, had her eyes shimmer with realization, guessing something, "Is it... the leader?"

Su Lun nodded again, "Mhm."

Gik was stunned for a long time before he finally came to grips with the fact that he had not misunderstood.

With an expression holding back great shock and a voice slightly tangled, he asked, "Teacher, did you just say...?"

Su Lun shook his head, indicating he did not wish to elaborate, "Let's talk about it outside."

Now that "Dawn" had come, and he had the power to protect himself, it was time to start revealing some of the familial background to his disciple.

But this library was filled with enchantments and wasn't a convenient place to discuss overly secretive matters.

...

Soon after, the trio finished touring the collection room and left the library.

Once they were back strolling down the shady avenue on campus, Su Lun gave Gik a brief overview, "My teacher was Madam Saleya, the founder of the Puppeteers and also Sir Isaac's wife. You have another junior brother and a junior sister; I will take you to meet them in a couple of days. From now on, you'll stay by my side. There are also a few 'ammunition masters' from the Mafa in my war workshop, their craft in explosives surpasses that of the Royal Academy, and we have no lack of materials or equipment..."

Some people are suited for trials and tribulations, while others are only fit to be homebound scientists.

Having observed Gik for a while, Su Lun knew he was more cut out for research in the laboratory.

Hearing Su Lun's words, Gik was beyond shocked. He had never imagined his lineage to be so impressive!

Looking at Su Lun, he was so stunned that he became lost for words, "I... I..."

Knowing that this information would take some time to digest, Su Lun didn't say much more, "You handle your academy affairs well these next few days. If it's not necessary, you probably won't come to the academy much anymore."

The Luying Empire was far behind in the fields of ammunition engineering and explosive technologies. Gik was essentially teaching himself at the Royal Academy now, which would greatly limit him and waste his talent and enthusiasm.

He had stayed at the Royal Academy before because it had advanced laboratories and low-cost materials not available elsewhere.

But in Su Lun's war workshop, there was no shortage of materials and laboratories for the time being.

The only thing worth lingering over were those ancient tomes.

However, as long as one was a student of the academy, one could still come and borrow them when there was nothing else to do in the future.

As for those relationships with classmates, for Gike, it seemed there was no improvement.

Su Lun clearly had thought everything through and, with a thought coming to him, smiled and said, "As for that classmate Phoebe... I think you could invite her out for a meal first."

While speaking, he looked at Gike and said, "Be confident. You are my disciple and second to no one."

Upon hearing this, Gike's eyes trembled uncontrollably, and a surge of indescribable excitement swelled in his heart, "Mhm!"

At this moment, he inexplicably gained confidence!

He then understood why the lady had said those words.

He was the teacher's disciple, and certainly no less than any noble!

.....

The three continued to stroll on campus.

Su Lun had already scoped out the library's various arrangements, but at the moment, he couldn't think of any way to get his hands on "Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript."

Gike, seeing his teacher deep in thought along the way, guessed what it might be and tentatively asked, "Teacher, did you say you came to the academy for something related to the inheritance from our sect in the library?"

The library held many treasures, including many manuscripts and relics of great alchemists.

Now knowing his teacher was an heir to Isaac's lineage, he naturally guessed something.

"Mhm."

Su Lun had never intended to hide anything from his disciple.

He hadn't told Gike before for fear that his disciple, knowing the truth, would not be able to evade the observations of certain special eyes.

Now that they were out, it didn't matter. He said directly, "That manuscript is very important; I must get my hands on it. However, it seems a bit difficult at the moment."

Gike, thinking of something, asked again, "Teacher, do you think the library's security measures are very challenging?"
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"Mhm."

Su Lun shared the intelligence he had observed, intending to let Sabina, the professional informant, refer to it, since she was a specialist in this area, "The library's protections are among the most complex and multilayered defense measures I have seen. There are magic-banning fields, spatial traps, and theft prevention covers... even the fire, ventilation, and drainage systems offer no opportunity for exploitation. Solving them one by one would take far too long, and if one were to trigger some hidden security measures upon entry, one could even end up trapped inside..."

Listening, Sabina's face also became grave, and she pondered without finding any solution.

This was the "ultimate challenge" for the thief profession, naturally not so easy.

Gike, watching the two elders with serious and pensive expressions, thought he might be able to help and said weakly, "Um... Teacher, I have an idea."

Su Lun looked at him, his eyes asking, "Oh?"

Gike said, "Actually, if it's just about getting in, we don't need to deal with those defense arrays; that way, it wouldn't be so troublesome."

Su Lun didn't understand at first, "Are you saying there's a loophole to bypass it?"

"No, there's no loophole. We learned in our engineering courses before that the barrier is designed by the top security experts of the empire; no one can break through it. What I mean is..."

Jieke shook his head, then said, "Actually... using explosives, it could be broken through."

Su Lun was confused, "???"

He had thought about explosives, but for the level of defense of the library, stacking tens of thousands of tons of explosives might not even make a dent.

By then, the whole academy might be blown away, and the barrier of the treasure room might still remain intact.

If he caused such a commotion, not to mention the harm to the innocent, Emperor Luying would probably not rest until he had exacted vengeance.

Jieke obviously realized he was misunderstood by Su Lun and quickly explained, "The engineering teacher had said before that no external force could possibly breach the barrier. But I think it can. Then, with a try-and-see attitude, I made detailed calculations and concluded that as long as the method is right, it's entirely possible to blow it open with explosives."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun's eyelid twitched involuntarily.

He suddenly realized that his disciple seemed to have found a blind spot, so he asked, "How exactly would you do it?"

Jieke continued, "Actually, any solid object can be destroyed if its stable structure is altered. The library's collection room is a perfect dodecahedron. It already possesses super strong stability. Even the outer casting material has reached the so-called Absolute Defense of Level VIII blast-resistance standard... Of course, that's not important. What's important is that if super high temperature and high-frequency vibration could directly dissolve this stable structure. It involves the 'Ovlrast Theory of Explosive Demolition' from our engineering courses. By locating eight specific points on the dodecahedron and carrying out a directional blast, you can use just one-thousandth of the energy needed for a frontal demolition to achieve the same blasting effect..."

Confronted with this series of professional descriptions, Su Lun immediately felt

Although he was not proficient in explosive engineering, he had a general understanding.

Su Lun furrowed his brows, "But even with one-thousandth of the necessary explosive energy, wouldn't it require at least several hundred tons of explosives?"

Jieke responded, "Ordinary high explosives would indeed require that much. But if it's a special explosive, then not at all."

He paused, then went on directly, "Ordinary explosives usually can't meet the requirement of having both super high temperature and the ability to vibrate at high frequency. But I found an ancient dwarven engineering tome in the warehouse of the mining library, which records a special mining explosive called 'Multi-Layer Sequential Thermo-Blast Bomb.' This is a special explosive the ancient dwarves used to break through various kinds of solid ore layers. I calculated before, and roughly one hundred kilograms of this substance would be sufficient, as long as we control the power of the directional blast. There wouldn't even be a big commotion, and an immediate opening of two meters in diameter could be created right above the collection room..."

At these words, Su Lun and Sabina beside him exchanged a glance, both discerning shock in each other's eyes.

They had been considering how to circumvent or break through the treasure room's restrictions,

but Jieke's approach was simple and rough, not even trying to bypass.

What defines a genius in explosives?

This is it!

Explosives can solve everything!

If they don't solve the problem, then it must be that the quantity of explosives is insufficient!

This method of blasting even eliminates the risk of infiltration, solving the problem of entry and exit within ten seconds!

Upon hearing this plan, Su Lun immediately felt that the matter was more than halfway to success. This was a hundred times more reliable and a hundred times less risky than the hundreds of plans he had previously conceived in his mind!

He asked directly, "Can you make 'Multi-Layer Sequential Thermo-Blast Bomb'?"

Jieke nodded, "To confirm my calculations were correct, I had previously made a small amount and tested them."

Looking at Su Lun, he added, "As long as we have enough material... it won't be a problem."

This genius of explosives was infinitely confident when it came to his area of expertise.