Mechanical Alchemist

Several days later.

Today marked the 865th anniversary of the establishment of the Luying Royal Academy as well as the Victory Day of a certain ancient war. The academy had prepared a grand celebration, inviting many prominent figures of the Lyndon upper class to attend.

As evening approached, Su Lun changed into formal attire and waited by the street for Sabina to pick him up and go to the royal academy together.

He wasn't particularly interested in the festivities but was focused on Kit's plan to steal Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript from the royal library that day. Su Lun had to be there to provide assistance and to handle any special situations that might arise.

At exactly ten past six, in accordance with the agreed time, a white gothic-style steam carriage with silver ram's horn decorations came around the corner and stopped at the curb.

The driver, dressed in white, respectfully got out and opened the door. Su Lun got in.

As soon as the door closed, a burning hot body pressed against him, and a soft, tender voice cooed, "Master, it's been days since I saw you last, did you miss your dearest maid?"

Su Lun smiled and naturally wrapped his arm around her delicate waist.

Today Sabina was dressed in a sexy black low-cut gown, elegant yet filled with a mature woman's allure. On closer inspection, there was a different glint in her eyes than before.

Su Lun asked, "Has the grafting equipment integrated smoothly?"
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It had been many days since they had seen each other, a time she had used to advance to the fourth order and integrate the grafting equipment.

A coquettish look that Sabina never showed to others hung on her face, "Yes, thanks to the 'Void Potion' you gave me, both the advancement and the integration went very smoothly. I'm even more formidable now~"

As she spoke, she wrapped her arms around Su Lun's neck like silk. This position seemed inconvenient for closer intimacy, so she lifted her skirt, exposing her slender legs to the air.

Even though the carriage was spacious, she clung close to him.

Su Lun didn't find it unpleasant.

The allure of a succubus is in the bones, an ultimate pleasure that could be addictive.

His hands were not idle as he asked, "Have there been any special reports these days?"

Sabina responded enthusiastically, "Since Duke Raphael became the Sixth Great Councilor, he's been quite active lately. The biggest thing is the modification of the Imperial Armaments Bill. With his absolute technological superiority, he changed the Luying military's armaments supply list and has now become Luying's top arms dealer. Because of this, some of the older arms dealing families are holding grudges and there are hidden obstructions. However, after three councilors were assassinated recently, the voices of opposition have gone silent in public."

Su Lun chuckled lightly, "Heh, does the Luying royal family allow such methods?"

Sabina said, "That's the strange part, the royal family hasn't shown any intention to intervene. And behind Duke Raphael, there are a few senior councilors secretly supporting him, preliminary intelligence suggests the Lans family and the Roberts family."

Su Lun wasn't too surprised as he listened.

Duke Raphael had been quietly developing over the decades, with a vast army of super mechanical warriors and super battleships at his disposal.

With money, technology, and connections.

His military manufacturing level far surpassed any of Luying's old arms dealing groups, truly possessing the power to challenge the empire's old noble families.

But... the Lans family?

For some reason, Su Lun suddenly thought of Ekaterina.

The Lans family had been operating in the northern region of Luying for many years and had become very powerful. Just looking at their layout in the four countries of the Northern Continent, it was clear that they harbored major ambitions, and they were certainly not going to simply build bridges for others.

Previously, when Su Lun was killed, William was indeed aboard Duke Raphael's super battleship. In other words, the Lei family had long been cooperating with the Raphael family in secret.

Now with the Lans family seeking an alliance through marriage with the Lei family...

The relationships were starting to get complicated.

Su Lun also guessed that his identity as "Feike" would be a stepping-stone used by Ekaterina. But since this marriage was a trade of interests, there wasn't much to say about it.

He asked again, "What about intelligence from other areas? What's the situation with the Red Death disease?"

Sabina said, "The situation is very bad. The Red Death disease has suddenly erupted on a large scale, and several large factories south of the Lokwarren River have reported cases. However, the government has not taken a stance, and there seems to be an intention to suppress this news. The newspapers are not reporting the situation accurately either. But according to data obtained through various channels, the number of infected people is likely not small."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun's pupils shrank slightly.

Sabina continued, "On the other hand, 'Buckqi Biopharmaceuticals' has produced the Crimson Potion, which has already passed health inspection and is being produced vigorously. Apart from the Lance family and Duke Raphael's family who are still adamantly resisting, the other Senior Councilors have compromised. According to the intelligence I've received, the senior executives of the pharmaceutical company have used shares to bribe and divide the people from the other families..."

Hearing this, Su Lun felt the situation was so grave that it was beyond help.

After all, the Potion showed no problems upon inspection.

And now with benefits dividing the inside, four out of six Senior Councilors are in favor, making it even less likely to ban the Crimson Potion at the policy level.

Sabina said, "Moreover, after the dispersion of the shares, the interest group behind the Potion has expanded significantly. This has directly led to the legislators at the higher levels treating the Red Death disease flippantly, and there's even a sense of allowing the disease to spread. I've also gotten hold of a top-secret meeting record where they say that since there's no specific drug available in the market, those Potion merchants are not eager to release the Crimson Potion. Instead, they've teamed up to hoard it, preparing to wait until the number of infections increases before releasing the Potion to monopolize and make exorbitant profits."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun's expression turned grave instantly.

The nobles might not necessarily all be followers of that Outer God, it's simply because of their greed that they think of letting the Red Death disease spread to make a killing.

The Red Death disease, though highly fatal, has a very long course and could torment the patient for several months before they die in pain.

If unchecked, a few months would be enough for this disease to infect most of Luxendon.

No, it could even threaten the entire Luying Empire.

The remnants of the tragedy on the cruise ship were still fresh in Su Lun's mind, and he found it hard to imagine how terrifying that Evil God would be by then?

But knowing that this is a conspiracy of an Outer God and still being unable to stop it makes one feel the futility of individual power.

The noble system of Luying has indeed rotted to the core.

To those Big Shots, the lives of the commoners at the bottom might as well be the same as slaves and livestock; no one cares about their life or death.

This also provides convenience for that Outer God.

Unable to think of a better solution, Su Lun turned the topic and asked, "What about tonight's matter?"

Sabina was clearly prepared and said, "I just got the list of attendees before I came. The Royal Academy has invited some alumni graduates, and there will be many Big Shots from Luxendon's high society. Your fiancée, Miss Yekaterina, will be attending. Oh, and William, the young master of the Regadi family, will be there too."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Su Lun showed a very interested expression.

...

The steam car entered the gates of the Royal Academy; Jick had been waiting for a long time.

After making the bombs, he had spent the last few days in the academy's library, copying various Alchemy texts.

Explosives are a very minor branch of Potion studies, so minor that among the tens of thousands of students in the academy, those who study "Ammunition Expertise" would not exceed the number you could count on one hand.

But there are advantages to being in a field few people care about.

Neglected subjects mean cheap materials, and knowledge that comes at a very low price.

For instance, access to high-level alchemy formulas, ancient scrolls, and rare tomes would require a significant number of credits in other majors, but for gunpowder studies, one can freely read these texts in the library.

This convenience was advantageous for Jick.

Whether he understood them or not, he copied them all down first.

As soon as he got out of the car, Jick, who was waiting by the door, bowed respectfully to Su Lun, his expression filled with reverence, "Teacher!"

He also saw Sabina getting off the carriage and gave her a bow, "Good day, my lady."

Although she was not a "teacher's wife," he knew very well that this beautiful lady had an extraordinary relationship with his teacher.

Sabina smiled faintly and complimented him, "Our little Jieke is looking very handsome today."

Jieke was slightly shy, "Thank you for your praise."

Today, he was wearing a punk-style suit.

The fabric was not high-end, nor was the style particularly special.

The attractiveness was not in the clothes, but in the newfound confidence in his eyes—a stark change from before.

And this confidence, it came from Su Lun in front of him.

These past few days, Jieke had also specifically looked for a newspaper from a month ago to see for himself, and only then did he realize how terrifying his teacher's combat power was!

The battle at the Moros city-state where he faced two hundred thousand pirates alone and slew tens of thousands made headlines around the world. The story dominated the front pages of Lindon's newspapers for half a month.

However, the newspaper reports were only part of the story!

Having spent the previous days making explosives in the small Void realm, Jieke witnessed Su Lun's fully-fledged warfare workshop and realized that his teacher was not only powerful but also had an incredibly deep foundation.

Mass-producing mechanical armor that only the Mafa Empire could manufacture, as well as those mechanical octopi, rune phantoms on assembly lines...

Each one was exhilarating to behold.

This was something no one in the Luying Empire could achieve, not even the royal family.

As a disciple, Jieke came to understand just how powerful his teacher was!

No wonder Lady Demacula said that being a disciple of such a teacher, his status would not be inferior to any noble.

This was the source of Jieke's confidence: I have a formidable teacher!

Su Lun looked at his disciple and probably guessed from the sparkle in his eyes what he was thinking, and smiled, "How does the new mechanical prosthetic feel?"

Jieke did not need a combat prosthetic, so he didn't have to opt for Barrett's pure Hand of Silver. Instead, a complex mechanical arm was more suitable for his daily research needs.

Therefore, after compensating for the deficiencies in his fingers with materials, Su Lun used his superb mechanical knowledge to design an external mechanical arm.

It would fold up thinly over his arm, and when unfolded, become a multi-functional mechanical limb, capable of meeting some of the needs of dangerous experiments.

That way, even if there were another accident, the potential for injury could be greatly reduced.

When the topic of the mechanical arm came up, Jieke raised his left hand, where his previously blown-off palm had now fully recovered. Thanks to bionic skin, it looked no different from a normal hand.

He excitedly said, "Teacher, it feels amazing, just like it's my own hand. And the external mechanical arm is extremely practical, too; I've never seen such a sophisticated arm anywhere in Lindon!"

Su Lun, seeing his pupil nearly ready to demonstrate on the spot, gently stopped him with a laugh.

After all, a functional custom mechanical arm would become even more perfect after continuous improvements through use. He added, "I'm glad you're comfortable with it. If you have any other functional requirements, just let me know. I'll have the mechanics in the workshop modify it for you."

Jieke nodded, "Okay."

Suddenly, something occurred to him, and his expression grew somewhat somber.

Having spent several days in his teacher's warfare workshop, Jieke had witnessed the world's most cutting-edge mechanical technology and had seen Mafa's senior mechanics, which made him keenly aware of the huge technological gap between Luying and Mafa!

It was like a country bumpkin entering the city, feeling an enormous gap in everything he saw.

It also made him realize that the road ahead of him was long.

At this moment, Gik spoke very seriously, "Teacher, I have thought carefully about the proposal you mentioned before, and I want to go to Mafa to study."

Listening, Su Lun was not at all surprised, "Oh?"

Gik continued, "The Royal Academy is indeed the holy land of traditional alchemy, but it is far behind in the study of mechanical engineering and ammunition science. I can only learn what I truly want by going to the Mafa Empire and delve deeper into this field."

Su Lun had known all along that he would make such a choice.

A genius in the field of ammunition science, in Luying was truly wasting his talent, resembling a caged bird.

Although Gik now seemed alright, already shining like a star.

But those were all flashes of inspiration for minor inventions.

Only after truly understanding more, Su Lun also knew how important a systematic body of knowledge was. That would save one from taking too many detours and allow one to go further.

And in the Mafa Empire, there was a complete and mature system for Ammunition Experts.

He said, "As long as you have thought it through, go ahead. The road ahead is long, and since you have chosen it, no matter how difficult, you must walk it yourself."

Gik said with utmost seriousness, "Yes! Teacher, I have decided!"

Hearing this, Su Lun did not say much, "Good, take care of your affairs at the academy in these next few days. I will arrange the matters for your studies later."

"Mm."

Gik nodded.

At this time, Sabina, who was to the side, deftly noticed underneath the resolute glint in Gik's eyes while he spoke, a quietly suppressed touch of reluctance. She asked with a smile, "Little Gik, have you asked your classmate Phoebe out for a meal recently?"

At these words, Gik's gaze suddenly became evasive, his previous confidence fleeting, and he stuttered, "Ah... no... I haven't."

If there was anything in the Royal Academy that he couldn't let go of, it was only his sole friend, Phoebe.

Sabina understood this all too well and laughed, "True love doesn't fade with distance or time but grows richer. As long as the lady agrees, I will personally deliver a visitation card to her family."

As the master's apprentice, she considered herself an elder, of course she needed to show some concern.

Sabina spoke too directly, leaving Gik somewhat at a loss, flustered, he said, "Ah... Lady, I... I am not with Phoebe the way you think..."

He wanted to say, he and Phoebe were friends, but she may not necessarily have other thoughts.

That encounter outside the small auditorium, Sabina, with no trace of those naive, bashful hesitations, stated plainly, "Be brave, that young girl actually likes you quite a bit. Invite her for a dance later at the ball."

Gik had already lost his relatives. Sabina had originally intended to invite the young girl to dine at her home as an elder, but she had been busy advancing to the fourth tier and hadn't found the time.

Today was a good opportunity, so she took the chance to help make it happen.

Otherwise, they might miss out if they had to wait for Gik to speak up himself.

Upon hearing this, Gik was originally somewhat hesitant.

Because in the academy for over a year, he had really lived too unconfidently.

So unconfident that apart from the slight sense of achievement in his studies, anything else seemed like a luxury to him.

But thinking that he might go to the Mafa Empire to study later, if he didn't speak up now, he might never have the chance again.

Gik finally mustered the courage and responded, "Oh."

PS. A bit of writer's block, sorry for the filler.