Mechanical Alchemist

The people of the Mafa Empire clearly had a premeditated plan; the remaining few mechanical warriors boarded the submarine, and as soon as the hatch closed, the submarine quickly submerged and then, in full view of the onlookers, disappeared at the No.7 dock of the harbor.

"Put a magic mark on that ironclad! Board the ships! Chase them!"

"Call in the trackers, they must not be allowed to escape!"

"Notify the fleet to intercept!"

"..."

This kind of war machine, the submarine, had never before appeared on the battlefield between the two countries, catching everyone off guard.

The few mechanical soldiers who served as the rear guard on the dock self-destructed after being subdued, and the commotion in the city subsided.

At the dockside, several major arms dealers looked at one another with complex expressions as they watched the fleet scramble in pursuit out of the port.

What was thought to be foolproof had encountered such an unexpected event.

They were shocked that such a submarine, capable of underwater travel, even existed, and were also concerned about how such a stealthy method would add uncertainty to future wars.

No one knew how many soldiers the Mafa Empire had managed to transport into the heartland of Luying through this manner.

...

At the same time, in a luxurious small building on a mountaintop in Gadolangte City, a purple-haired woman was standing in front of a floor-to-ceiling window, quietly watching the distant battle.

Watching the submarine vanish at the docks, she swirled the red wine in her glass, took a sip, and remained calm, evidently not too surprised.

At that moment, an old butler walked in and reported, "Miss, those people from Mafa indeed escaped by sea."

Yekaterina was still looking at the bay in the distance and said with a deep gaze, "Of course they fled by sea. They couldn't do it by land or air, so this was the only way they could have escaped. I thought they would use some special means. It turns out the information we received earlier was true; those folks from Mafa really developed a submarine capable of naval action."

The butler added, "Our people have already taken action. Even with their stealth submarines, they won't be able to escape."

Hearing this, Yekaterina shook her head, "No... call them back."

"Call them back?"

Hearing this, the butler looked puzzled and asked, "Miss, didn't we arrange all this to get the blueprints... "

Before he could finish, Yekaterina interrupted, "The Regaldi family has just sent a message, telling us not to interfere with the blueprint matter. They have the means to lock down the location of the blueprints and have already sent someone to act."

"The Regaldi family?"

The butler's expression slightly stiffened, showing his bewilderment.

He was astute and immediately thought of something, "Are you saying that Regaldi is involved with Duke Raphael?"

"Yes."

Yekaterina narrowed her eyes, her tone tinged with complexity, "The 'Super Mechanical Warrior' made such a show of strength on the battlefield, which made me think that Raphael, after a hundred years of operating that 'mine,' must have discovered many unbelievable things, which is why he dared to show his power. Now, it seems that the entire Luying Empire has underestimated that nouveau riche."

Pausing for a while, she then mumbled to herself, "Hehe, a nouveau riche who knows how to bide his time and a bunch of conspirators dreaming of restoration... what a perfect match indeed."

Listening to her words, the butler's face also grew solemn as he asked, "Miss, then shouldn't we get our hands on those blueprints even more urgently?"

Yekaterina's eyes also flashed with thought as she shook her head, "Forget it, we won't get involved. Let's see how they play their cards. And let me see what kind of hidden hand they really have."

After a pause, she uttered a more meaningful statement, "Besides... it's not certain that those people from Mafa took the blueprints with them when they went to sea."

The butler seemed to have been startled by her words and gasped, "You mean..."

The butler stopped abruptly in mid-sentence.

Seeing that her mistress clearly had no further interest in discussing the topic, he did not press on.

At that moment, Yekaterina too had turned away from the window, returning to the interior of the room, and asked, "By the way, what about the beastfolk?"

Remembering something, the butler said with an ugly expression, "About that plan, a very strange message just came from the docks..."

After listening to the butler's report, Yekaterina's face showed real surprise for the first time, saying, "What?! You mean to say that the person who bought the beastfolk set them all free?"

The butler frowned as if his face had turned into a chrysanthemum and said, equally puzzled, "Yes. I did not expect this either. But the messages from the docks have already confirmed it."

The usual script is, whoever buys these slaves will surely use them, or sell them on.

Then, at the right moment, our people would conveniently rescue them as a way to gain goodwill.

But no, those people just left the auction and immediately chartered a ship to set them free!

Without giving us any chance to react at all.

Too much money?

Or someone with the same goal as them?

Yekaterina's delicate eyebrows wrinkled for the first time, feeling that she could not understand the situation at hand.

After pondering without success, she then asked, "Has the buyer's identity been investigated?"

"Not yet."

The butler shook his head and continued, "There was a report that one of Keller Fischel's subordinates had made contact with the Snake Gang, it appeared to be about seeking that buyer. The dock's informant confirmed this, but there was no feedback. We don't know if they were taken out, or died in the earlier battle..."

"..."

Yekaterina fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

....

The docks were chaotic.

On Luying's side, nearly all the high-ranking professionals had boarded ships and left the harbor in pursuit.

The aftermath clean-up and salvage operations on the battlefield were also slowly getting underway.

No one noticed that amidst the chaos, a figure quietly slipped beneath the fifth dock.

The skill "Master of Submersible Stealth" allowed Su Lun to quickly and covertly dive into the water, then following the direction from his memory, he began to descend slowly.

His superior dark vision enabled him to see clearly in the pitch-black sea water.

It wasn't long before he found that particular mechanical suit.

As Su Lun swam over, he could still clearly feel that the Soul Shards hadn't completely dissipated, and with a simple peel, he obtained some information.

「Obtained 4 memory fragments from "Dias Fase"」

「You have acquired some information: "Our mission is to act as a decoy, even if it means dying in battle, we must get the blueprints out..."」

「You have gained some "mechanical knowledge"」

「You have acquired information on the "Colonel-level Ship-Cutter IX Mecha"」

「Mecha piloting experience +133」

「Spiritual power +1.1」

Although some of the Soul Shards had dissipated, Su Lun had peeled off only a little information.

But he also knew that this guy was a Colonel in the Luying army, operating a tier four mecha. It was the same one that had wielded the Ship-Cutter, splitting a building in half earlier.

This guy was a graduate from the "Mafa War Mechanical Institute", with a very solid foundation in mechanical theory.

Even if the memories were fragmented, Su Lun still peeled away a lot of useful mechanical knowledge. At least his understanding of the technological level in Rumafa wasn't entirely in the dark now. Most valuable of all were the many open-minded mechanical approaches...

For example, the general structure and design modification direction of this external mecha suit.

However, that piece of information "we are decoys"...

Su Lun had received the information, which was content spoken to this corpse in life.

It sounded like these officers were also decoys?

What does that mean?

Could it be that the blueprints were not on them?

A feint within a feint?

But since the submarine had already set sail, Su Lun didn't bother to delve into it further.

He didn't linger in the water for long. He tied the mecha suit with silken threads and pulled it with great difficulty into his storage space.

Noticing the dense footsteps on the dock, he didn't dare to come ashore right there. Instead, he swam stealthily to the gap between ships at the other end of the dock and observed for a while before finally landing.

At this moment, there were many people on the dock. They were cleaning up the battlefield, looking for traces.

Su Lun didn't dare to stay long. He avoided people's sight and quietly teleported several times to enter the city.

He passed by the ruined Oak Street, which had already been cordoned off, giving him no chance to scavenge.

But having gained a suit of mecha, he was already very satisfied.

.....

A big battle made the peaceful night of Gadolangte City noisy once again.

However, for the ordinary residents, the impact wasn't significant. Most of them were completely confused, even thinking it was a Pirate attack.

Even the information merchants didn't have many people knowing why the fight started.

After all, ambushing a Mafa delegation is something that even if the Luying royal family did it, they wouldn't dare to admit it.

It might eventually be settled as a Pirate attack.

There were patrolling soldiers on the streets, so Su Lun didn't wander around the city anymore and went back to the inn where he had booked a room in the afternoon.

Entering his room and setting up a barrier, he then took out the two-meter-tall "Colonel-level Ship-Cutter IX Mecha".

Looking at the intact battle armor in front of him, Su Lun's eyes were full of a burning desire for knowledge.

He had been hoping to get a Mafa officer's mecha suit, and unexpectedly, he had really managed to get one!

For Su Lun, this suit of mecha was almost an entirely new world of mechanical technology.

The external mecha suit technology of Mafa and the mechanical augmentation of Old Lington are two vastly different development paths.

Compared to them, this sort of external mecha suit is more suitable for Puppets.

With the actual item in front of him, Su Lun put on his magnifying glasses and began studying the mecha meticulously.

Once he started his research, he immediately became immersed in it.

"The blue inscriptions are tier four physical defense runes, the red ones are magic defense runes, and the purple ones must be for energy conduction. Huh...I see, so rune script can also be altered like this, with the changes most likely made to adapt the runes for mechanical use. Triple engraving, quite a sophisticated skill. Some parts don't even seem to be hand-engraved. Has Mafa's technology advanced to the point where even such complex rune carvings can be mechanized…"

Once he saw the runes, Su Lun couldn't take his eyes off them.

Tier four runes were his current area of research, and he wasn't entirely clueless about them.

As he watched, his brain automatically partitioned its activity—recording structures, inferring functions, contemplating questions...

His highly developed brain made his thoughts sharp and his thinking efficiency extremely high.

As he looked, he began to gain knowledge and learn about these complex tier four runes.

It wasn't just the runes; Su Lun took a look at the mecha's coating layers and was equally astonished. "The coating technology is also quite brilliant. The super strong anti-corrosion effect can avoid wear and tear. A pity, though, I can't get the coating formula..."

Then, he turned his attention to the weapon systems, tinkered with the giant Ship-Cutter knife, and took out his equipment to test it.

"The alloy of this Steam Ship-Cutter is quite special, isn't it? Even without energy infusion, its strength has reached level eight, nearly akin to Mithril Blue Steel. The main material is 'Dragon Blood Black Iron', which seems to be a special metal produced inland in Mafa..."

"..."

Su Lun observed the mecha from top to bottom for a while, his amazement growing stronger.

Only someone knowledgeable could appreciate the complexity and the astonishment of the mechanical technology on this suit of battle armor.

Su Lun also better understood what Mr. Hei had told him back then; with Alchemy, the more you know, the more you realize your ignorance.

Until now, Su Lun wasn't sure about his level of mechanical technology, but looking at it now, at least in the Empire of Luying, he could be considered a master.

But looking at the technology on this suit of mecha, he also felt a sense of wistfulness.

He realized there was so much more to learn and explore.

....

It took Su Lun a little over an hour to briefly review all the runes on the exterior of the mecha. The more he looked, the more he was astonished, "To support such a complex mecha, the 'energy core' of this armor must be the real high-tech. But... how to open it?"

He initially thought to remove the corpse first, but gave up after a quick consideration.

The fully covered armor fit seamlessly, even at the joints, there was extremely precise mechanical protection which prevented even water from seeping through.

So, he wasn't in a hurry to dismantle this set of mecha armor.

This was a task that required patience, and could not be rushed.

The armor had a self-destruct device, and disassembling it incorrectly would immediately trigger the self-destruction sequence.

Being knowledgeable in mechanics and equipped with the All-knowing Eye, Su Lun could grasp the details of the armor faster than others.

After he fully understood the runes on the armor and added to that the knowledge fragments extracted into his mind, he was quite confident that he could dismantle the mecha completely.

"Phew..."

Having generally figured out the outer structure of the mecha, Su Lun let out a long sigh and his expression grew more and more excited.

In his study of mechanics, naturally his thoughts went to his own mechanical puppets.

"A pure manual control system, a pursuit of extreme defensive capabilities in materials, resulting in the armor's bulkiness..."

Su Lun smiled as he observed.

The officer's armor was strong, but the heavy armor also made it look towering and clumsy, the feet covered in plate armor as if wearing oversized boots...

Because he was very aware that the pursuit of armor defense and functionality required a certain volume.

The higher the level of runes, the greater the demand for material strength; if the strength isn't sufficient, thickness must be added. Steam power devices also need certain volume, as do weapon systems, cockpit chambers... all these things take up space.

But as a Puppet Master, Su Lun's mechanical puppets didn't need to stuff a person inside!

Without a pilot, they wouldn't need to fear any mysterious series attack methods either!

His "mechanical puppets" certainly needed these technologies.

While it's true that he couldn't decipher the technology just by obtaining the finished product, it was of great significance to him.

Runes, enchantments, construction, conduction, kinetic energy, weapon systems...

Each technology was cutting-edge military tech not available on the market.

You couldn't even buy it with money.

Moreover, the shortcomings of mechanical armor are quite apparent; it requires a group to prevent it from being easily countered by targeted measures.

Previously, Su Lun had personally witnessed a coordinated battle of elite mechanical soldiers, with roles like shield combat, damage output, ranged, logistics, engineering...

A single combat mecha, no matter how powerful, couldn't possibly be equipped with all functions, but several mechas working together could form a formidable defense and inflict tons of damage!

Su Lun, the Puppeteer, was precisely skilled at controlling groups of puppets.

Once he reached the third order, with even better divided attention control abilities, one person's reaction could completely match that of a team.

A mechanical puppet legion was absolutely feasible!

....

The night had passed in this research.

When Su Lun noticed the light outside the window, he realized it was already morning.

At this moment, the room was littered with blueprints, on which were drawn structural analysis diagrams of the battle armor.

Su Lun's eight spider arms and hands had been busy all night, breaking down the runes layer by layer from the armor and transcribing them onto the blueprints.

Just the external runes alone had filled nearly a hundred sheets of paper.

By drawing these personally, the concepts in his mind became clearer.

He might not have mastered these runes yet, but he felt that once he was proficient in the tri-layer rune inscription technique, "copying homework" was definitely doable.

The difficulty with mechanical puppets wasn't in a single technology, but in bringing together the right technologies to forge a combat-capable armor.

One could say that for a mechanic to research this alone, it might take a lifetime and still not produce such a suit of armor.

A hundred years of the Mafa Empire's mechanical revolution, the wisdom of countless genius mechanics, led to these achievements.

Thousands of failed experiments, numerous technical tests and improvements, refined templates.

This also saved Su Lun a great deal of effort.

Once he fully mastered these technologies, Su Lun could certainly create lighter mechanical puppets.

"Phew..."

He exhaled a deep breath of turbid air.

Su Lun, with pen in hand, looking at the mechanical battle armor before him, couldn't help but feel contemplative, "However, without a large forging factory, items like plate armor can't be mass-produced in small workshops. And materials are a big problem too... It would be great to get a few more armors..."

He thought of something and chuckled, shaking his head.

To come across such a complete set of armor was already sheer luck. Otherwise, even if he could capture such high-end mechanical soldiers, they would self-destruct before letting him take the full armor.

Su Lun was very content.

Perhaps visit the legendary Mechanical Holy Land of Mafa?

The idea briefly crossed his mind.

He neatly stacked up the blueprints with his eight-armed spear and stowed the mechanical soldier into his storage space.

After tidying up the room and ensuring nothing was left behind, Su Lun stepped out of the inn's room.

Because he had booked an early boat, planning to leave Gadolangte City and head to the northern lands.

....

The intense battle last night left many scars in the city, with several blocks from Oak Street to the docks full of wounds.

But Gadolangte is one of the most important commercial ports in the North of Luying, with an astonishing daily turnover of people and goods, and by early morning, the port had returned to normal operation.

Su Lun walked the streets, listening to the passersby discuss last night's battle.

But battles on the level of national conflict didn't concern most ordinary people; they still went to work and ate their breakfast, with just a bit more gossip for after meals. On the docks, the porters were bustling about, and the sailors were busy with the sails, setting anchor and sailing out.

Su Lun had no intention of staying here any longer.

Last night's battle had little to do with him, but he had been involved in the killing of Viscount Primor, and he had personally killed several members of the Sea Snake Gang, with a set of battle armor on him...

Staying in the city, he feared, would lead to complications.

If he were to leave, the sooner, the better.

He had already been planning to go to the North to see for himself, especially now with the "prophecy" from the Dalu Druids.

He half-believed, half-doubted prophecies, but still felt that an earlier departure to sea wouldn't hurt.

At the port, he registered casually and found a merchant ship heading for the ice fields of the Far North.

The ride was free, with food and fresh water supplied on board.

Every day, many merchant ships sailed from Gadolangte to the North, and the ship owners were happy to take adventurers along who were on their way to hunt magical beasts. In case of attacks by pirates or sea creatures, adventurers could stand together in resistance.

Soon, a fleet of ten large and small ships set sail together.

Su Lun was on a medium-sized sailboat called the "Mopo Sang." The owner was an exotic goods merchant, heading to the North to collect demon cores, meteorites, rare ores, and various gemstones.

In addition to the crew, there were nearly a hundred adventurers on board.

Su Lun was assigned to a cabin for eight people, with the other seven from a group called "Night Cats Adventuring Party."

The cabin had only a dim oil lamp, small ventilation windows, and was very dark.

Once on board, Su Lun started reading in a corner against the hull.

Unless something unexpected happened, he would spend a long half month on the ship.

His night vision was strong, and the reading was unhindered. The dim light also conveniently disguised the fact that he was flipping through a tome of fourth-level alchemy.

The other adventurers didn't pay any mind to the guy who hadn't spoken a word since boarding and had been burying his head in books the whole time.

After boarding, everyone had little to do.

Other than sleeping, it was all about boasting.

The adventurers quickly struck up conversations.

Su Lun listened for a bit and quickly understood the relationships within this group.

The team leader was Mark, a forty-year-old with a big beard, a second-tier "Jungle Hunter," and an experienced adventurer. He was leading the team to the North to hunt magical beasts for money.

There were a few newcomers in the team from "Visota County" in the East. It seemed like their first time heading to the North, and they were listening to the veterans and the leader talk about how incredibly rich the Far North Ice Field was in resources.

"Captain, I heard that the ice plains to the north are even larger than our empire, is that true?"

"Larger? Ten times, a hundred times larger, practically endless! Us humans have only explored a tiny bit along the coast. I tell you, the Far North Ice Field is not the barren wasteland people from the inland think it is. It's just that we haven't set foot there much and don't understand it..."

"Legend has it that beneath the millions of years of ice, there are ancient ruins frozen in time. If fortune smiles upon you, you might dig up some ancient relics and get rich overnight. Half a year ago, the 'Hydra Slave Group' accidentally entered deep into the Silent Forest when they were capturing demi-human slaves and stumbled upon an ancient temple, finding several cursed artifacts with mighty powers, making a fortune..."

"Captain, can we also go capture slaves? Like ice giants or demi-humans, I see slaves selling for hundreds of thousands at the slave markets!"

"Capturing slaves isn't so easy anymore. Those demi-human tribes are now far from the coast, deep into the ice field. There are powerful magical beast packs there; it's hard to say who would become the prey. Specialized slave groups handle the slave business, let's not think about it and just hunt some magical beasts around the periphery of the ice field."

"Captain, have you ever encountered sea monsters? I heard that there are Gana people in the sea who don't wear clothes, descendants of the elves, each one beautiful and graceful and would repay humans who are good to them. If they find a handsome man, they would come aboard at night, hehehe..."

"Haha, you've been listening to too many fairy tales, kid. Speaking of sea monsters, you better pray we never come across one! Ever heard of the 'Siren's Song'? If you hear that thing, it means the Grim Reaper's knocking on your door. Five years ago, I saw with my own eyes a ghost ship adrift at sea, all the people on board were physically unharmed, but their souls were taken away. They say it was the work of sea monsters..."

"Hiss... that's terrifying."

"Captain, I heard there are treasures everywhere at sea, are those 'Pirate King treasure legends' real?"

"Of course, they're real! Sunken ships, treasures, this sea has plenty of gems... There are also ancient underwater cities! Every year you hear about lucky Navigators and Explorers finding some. It's just that our route has been pretty well explored already, if you really want to find those treasures, you need to venture into the unknown waters to the west. However, you need to be strong to be an Explorer and you need a good ship; those terrifying sea beasts in the deep sea, they don't eat veggies..."

"When I was young working on a big ship, I once encountered a huge sea creature that bit off half the ship in one bite. I barely escaped with my life..."

"Ever heard of dragons? Sometimes when the weather is clear, you can hear dragon roars coming from far out west..."

"And the stories of Serpent Island..."

"Let me tell you, the most famous legend at sea is the 'Cursed Ship'. It's said that sometimes, on a foggy night, lucky folks at sea encounter a Ghost Ship drifting on the water. The ship is loaded with gold and silver treasures and has wine and beautiful women; you can go aboard and take anything you want, party to your heart's content. But, anyone who boards must get off before midnight, otherwise, they can never leave again. Once the Ghost Ship vanishes, you would have to become a ghost along with it..."

"..."

The ship had sailed for half a day, and many stories had been told.

Su Lun was also quite intrigued.

The tales told by these old adventurers might not be reliable, but they certainly were rich in twists and carried strong narrative appeal.

They also informed him about many legends of this sea area.

Yet he hadn't expected the story of the "Cursed Ship" to become so lively, just as the spooky and thrilling atmosphere had begun to spread through the cabin...

Suddenly, there was a commotion coming from the deck.

"Oh, damn it! How could such thick fog appear in this area? Everyone, be careful, we have entered the fog zone, beware of pirates and sea beasts..."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the cabin simultaneously showed a strange look on their faces.

Su Lun felt it couldn't be such a coincidence to encounter a Ghost Ship.

Because it was daytime.

However, this fog did seem abnormal.

Having peeled away a pirate's memories before, Su Lun had picked up some knowledge of "navigational weather identification". He looked out through the vent and gauged the air pressure, humidity, and temperature, realizing that this weather seemed unlikely to form such dense fog...

Before long, he heard the sailors on deck exclaiming as if they had seen some terrifying monster: "My God... what is that!"