Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun didn't know about the Empress's secret order.

He just felt that the Royal Army being so decisive in entering meant they were relatively sure of themselves.

Those guys were carrying "Nelgale's Death Battle Flags," clearly well-prepared.

The place was full of "spectral" undead monsters, many of whose attacks were psychic in nature, such as fear, hallucinations, wails... For ordinary people, especially those with strength-based professions, it would be extremely troublesome.

But this battle flag could shield and slow almost all negative statuses, effectively countering them.

With this method, the fighting power of the Sacred Judgment Army would not diminish too much.

Su Lun roughly estimated the level of monsters in the cursed space and began to believe they really could bulldoze their way through.

Normally, the ranks of monsters in cursed spaces wouldn't exceed their ranks in life.

Moreover, without a stable power source, cursed spaces would dissipate energy, gradually becoming less dangerous. After a few hundred years, it was hard to say what rank the monsters formed in it would be.

Moreover, besides this sealed military flag, the Royal Elite Army wouldn't lack advanced equipment.

This kind of professional army operation was far more efficient than those of individual adventurers.

That's why Su Lun planned to follow and see for himself.

In terms of strength, he was far inferior to that army corps. But because the All-knowing Eye had identified detailed information about the cursed space, his chance of survival was not lower than either of the two thousand-man corps.

Furthermore, with a large force leading and drawing fire, Su Lun felt the danger to himself would be significantly reduced.

Of course, there were also many unknown factors.

The All-knowing Eye had identified some other things as well.

This wasn't merely a cursed space formed by the fall of the mighty. It also contained breezes leaking from the "God Burial Ground."

That was the most dangerous.

Those high-ranking law fragments were very violent, much like nuclear radiation, causing lower organisms to mutate unknowingly.

....

The cursed space was very dangerous, and Su Lun had no intention of taking Yuta into it.

To make Yuta understand, he repeated the information he had identified.

Yuta didn't say anything, listening quietly the whole time as Su Lun spoke.

The two of them didn't hurry to move, observing from a distance for a good half hour.

The black hole formation of the cursed space covered a large area, and even though those legions still stationed a formation's strength, Su Lun thought it would be easy to slip in unnoticed.

Before long, seeing the timing was right, he said to Yuta beside him, "I am ready to go in. Yuta, be very careful on your own."

"Mm."

Yuta obediently nodded.

After he spoke, Su Lun was about to walk away when a hand grabbed his arm.

He turned to see a face filled with tenderness looking at him.

Confused, Su Lun asked, "What's wrong?"

A flicker of emotion others would hardly notice passed through Yuta's crystal eyes, and after hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke, "Mr. Su Lun, thank you for always taking care of me."

It seemed as if she had much to say, but when the words reached her lips, she didn't know how to begin.

Clearly hesitating for a moment, she then added, "You... be sure to stay safe."

Su Lun heard the concern in her tone, gently stroked her cheek, and smiled, "Mm."

Having said all that needed to be said, he didn't linger and quietly dropped from the tree branch.

Watching Su Lun's departing figure, Yuta felt inexplicably sad and murmured to herself, "I really hope I can see you again, Mr. Su Lun..."

After speaking, the tenderness in her eyes gradually turned into determination.

Liking someone was her personal affair.

But she was a Druid of the Dalu tribe, with tribal continuity requiring her protection.

This was their closest moment to the ancestral relics in hundreds of years.

Yuta would not give up such an opportunity.

Druids all had more or less some special perceptive abilities.

At such close distances, she could already distinctly hear the call from the beyond. She guessed it was the spirit of the Dalu tribe ancestors.

This, she didn't share with Su Lun.

Because Yuta knew if she did, Su Lun would definitely help her.

But she also understood. Without her as a burden, Su Lun's chance of survival would be higher.

Although Mr. Su Lun was a friend, the Dalu people also had their beliefs and commitments. Matters concerning the survival of their tribe couldn't entirely rely on others.

Yuta watched as Su Lun's figure vanished into the black light of the cursed space and quietly descended from the tree as well.

....

To Su Lun, there was another advantage about [Druid's Gates of God Burial] in this cursed space; it was rather friendly to undead creatures.

The crow truly enjoyed the scent here.

Su Lun went around the guarding soldiers and conjured a crow to act as his scout before it flew into the cursed space.

Seeing no traces of the British Legion that entered earlier, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At least he wouldn't be ambushed.

Meanwhile, he realized that stepping into this space seemed to place one at a random location.

After observing the surroundings, Su Lun reluctantly took out a piece of blackened corpse, looking at it with disdain.

The corpse poison wasn't a big problem for him.

But if it weren't for increasing his chances of survival, he definitely wouldn't choose to eat such a thing.

He stuffed it into his mouth.

Su Lun, avoiding the taste of the rotting meat and chewing as little as possible, swallowed it whole, nearly choking.

But the effect was immediate.

In an instant, the lively air around him was shrouded by the putrid miasma of decay.

With last night's preparations, Su Lun didn't hesitate and silently slipped into the cursed space.

....

The surroundings shifted instantly, from dark enormous trees to a world ablaze with red light.

In front of Su Lun stood a tall city wall, its design familiar to him as it resembled the ruined walls they had encountered previously.

"It seems the timeline within this cursed space precedes the arrival of the Druid Divine Arts seal?"

Su Lun speculated.

Though he couldn't see the full extent of the colossal city from the base of the walls, the crow saw everything quite clearly.

The city was intact.

But also very eerie.

No living giants were in sight, and there were no people from the Dalu tribe.

Moreover, more eerily, there were no light sources in the sky, but it was full of spatial rifts.

It appeared that a terrifying world of lava lay within the rifts, as dark red light, akin to blood, spilled from the cracks, bathing the city in a glow similar to that of some dubious massage parlors.

Lifeless nonetheless.

The atmosphere turned incredibly eerie in an instant.

"Could the lava world within the rifts be the 'God Burial Ground'?"

Su Lun guessed, clearly feeling the thick, bone-chilling aura of death around him.

If not for the piece of rotting flesh he had consumed, a rash entrance would likely have made him as conspicuous as a torch in the night, instantly drawing the attention of whatever lurked in the shadows.

The crow seemed delighted, like a parched fish encountering water, greedily devouring the deathly aura.

The foolish bird, perhaps overexcited, cawed loudly in the air.

Then, it got its comeuppance.

A mysterious tentacled creature suddenly lashed out like lightning from behind the city walls.

The crow was struck and exploded into a cloud of death energy.

Su Lun watched as the foolish bird reformed its body on his shoulder, his brow furrowing.

It seemed that even with the cover of death energy, one couldn't be too careless.

There were sounds of battle within the city; it must have been the British Legion that had entered earlier.

With those fellows attracting the monsters within the space, Su Lun felt much more at ease.

He figured out his direction, unfastened his spider spear armor, and, sheltered by his black umbrella, quietly climbed the tall wall.

....

Once atop the city wall, Su Lun could take in the entire city.

Earlier, outside in the ruins, he had seen similar but fragmentary structures, none comparing to the scale here.

This was an imposing city.

The scale of the buildings was enormous even in the eyes of ordinary humans.

Buildings a hundred meters tall were commonplace; altars, temples, coliseums, baths, open-air council venues, fountain pools, statues... the entire city's architecture was roughly hewn.

Simple, yet mysteriously inspiring a profound reverence for their "massiveness."

Numerous spatial rifts distorted the view, rendering the space like an abstract painting with a dark red background.

Su Lun stood on the city wall, pulled out a telescope, and observed for a while.

Before long, he spotted a familiarly enormous palace among the buildings, murmuring softly, "That structure... resembles the temple I saw in the bas-relief?"

In a race with gods to worship, temple structures tend to be quite distinctive, likely the same one.

Thinking of the mythological story from the mural depicting eye sacrifices, Su Lun felt anticipation to see what the complete mural actually looked like.

Moreover, coincidentally, that temple was located in the direction of the city center, exactly where the noise of the battle was coming from.

Su Lun put down his telescope and decided to go and have a look.

He used his Spider Spear to climb down, avoiding the area where the tentacle monster had been, and found another route.

....

The giant city was like a labyrinth, once inside, all around were tall white stone walls.

Su Lun noticed many fresh tracks of monsters on the ground and was thankful that Lu Ying's group had attracted their attention, which spared him from encountering any large groups of monsters.

But just as this thought crossed his mind, an accident occurred.

Su Lun proceeded very cautiously.

The raven led the way in front, and his Soul Perception was fully extended.

Even with such caution, avoiding several groups of monsters hidden in buildings, he still ran into trouble.

When passing through a residential area, he didn't sense the presence of any monsters.

But as he walked past, his perception range suddenly filled with the special soul fluctuations of a deathly spirit fire.

In the blink of an eye, two dual-headed giants, each over six meters tall, materialized out of nowhere and blocked his path.

"Monsters from a space rift?"

Su Lun thought of something, and the corner of his eye twitched.

He himself had mastered some aspects of Space Law and keenly noticed the spatial fluctuations when the monsters appeared.

Indeed, the space in this cursed area was not normal.

The monsters' skin was pale as a corpse. However, instead of rotting flesh, the exposed skin had a metallic luster akin to mercury.

Su Lun looked on with curiosity, glanced at the beings, and immediately identified the information.

[Dual-Headed Silver Giant Corpse]

Details: Level three silver-class undead creature; possesses immense strength; deathly aura and special metal afford it strong defense and regenerative abilities;

Seeing the phrase "special metal" in the identification, Su Lun's original thought to avoid the battle instantly vanished.

Instead, he became excited and speculated, "Could it be 'Animate Silver'?"

He immediately recalled a special puppetry material his teacher had once mentioned.

If it truly was that material, it was indeed a top-tier material that was extremely rare.

It was definitely not something to pass up!

Thinking this, Su Lun's actions were swift.

His hands formed magician's seals, and a giant mechanical battle suit appeared out of nowhere in front of him.

At that moment, the two dual-headed giants also charged at him, wielding their Wolf Fang Clubs.

Different from before, Su Lun had placed a reanimated corpse inside the battle suit after acquiring the new armor, which could be controlled with a single thread. The agility of the battle suit had increased immensely.

The mechanical boiler vented with a powerful blast, and in a flash of lightning, the two forces clashed.

The mechanical battle suit loved clashing head-on with opponents. When it came to grappling or comparing defense, machinery had a natural advantage over flesh, even if the opponent was a bizarre creature!

The Ship-Cutter slashed widely, aiming at one of the giants.

If the strike had landed, a typical level three creature would likely have been cleaved in two on the spot.

However, to Su Lun's surprise, when they clashed, the Ship-Cutter indeed cut the dual-headed giant's Wolf Fang Club. But the normally reliable trembling strike felt like a blunt blade chopping wood, cutting only two inches deep before stopping.

At the same time, the point where the blade touched the monster emitted a metallic slicing "screech" noise.

"Such incredible toughness!"

Seeing this, Su Lun was not startled but oddly expectant, thinking to himself, "If it's really that metal, with such toughness, it should..."

His gaze intently fixed on the wound of the dual-headed giant, he immediately saw the wound flickering with silver light, then visibly healing itself. Like a severed liquid, it restored itself automatically!

Seeing this, Su Lun became quite excited, muttering, "Memory metal! It's really 'Animate Silver'!"

No wonder he was so thrilled; this metal was what his teacher, Serena, had mentioned as the primary material to create her ultimate puppet project, the "Alchemical Golem"!

'Animate Silver' is said to be one of the metals with the most stable material states in the world.

High temperatures, cold, corrosion, cutting, various types of energy erosion... all have little effect on it.

A puppet made from this material would thus possess a nearly unsolvable dual defense against physical and magical attacks.

Moreover, this metal could also be merged with other metals, gaining additional properties such as hardness and flexibility.

It could withstand top-level rune inscriptions and various enchantments without deteriorating...

The advantages are too numerous to list.

The reason Serena thought this metal was most suited for puppet construction was because it is a "memory metal"!

It can regain its original form within a short time after its shape is altered by external forces.

Such an "Alchemical Golem" would be unkillable and indestructible, almost unsolvable!

However, this metal is very strong yet extremely rare.

It didn't exist in the natural mines, only in mythological tales.

Su Lun had once read a description in an ancient tome about dwarven mining, which stated that this metal was only produced where gods were buried. It was said to be the product of the decay of godly flesh.

Su Lun had inquired about this metal in various material shops at Gadronte Harbor and Blizzard City, but those material merchants not only did not have it but had never even heard of "Activated Silver."

He had thought the material was nowhere to be found, but now he had unexpectedly encountered it!

"This is the 'God Burial Ground', it makes sense for this metal to be here..."

Thoughts whirled in Su Lun's mind, his expression shifting rapidly.

He looked at the two giant monsters in front of him as if he saw two mountains of treasure. In his heart, he was already calculating; the two giants mentioned were not small, the amount of "Activated Silver" that could be extracted was probably not insignificant...

If he could actually manufacture an elementary alchemical golem, its value would far surpass that of the set of "Major General-level Ship-Cutter IX Type Mechanical Armor"!

But then, another problem arose...

The mechanical armor, it seemed, couldn't kill these two bizarre creatures.

....

In that instant of confrontation, the Ship-Cutter failed to cut the monster in half.

The mechanical armor staggered, and another bizarre creature beside it hammered a heavy club into the armor's waist.

With a thunderous "thud", the force actually sent the mechanical armor flying, crashing heavily against a wall with a loud noise.

Seeing this, Su Lun's eyes slightly narrowed.

The bodies of the two giants contained Activated Silver, which made them unkillable in one or two cuts.

From this, one could predict that if the standoff continued, even if the mechanical armor ran out of energy, it probably wouldn't be able to handle the two giants.

Although the mechanical armor was tough, the noise of the battle was loud and would attract other monsters in the city.

Su Lun observed everything from a distance.

As the mechanical armor was smashed and had not yet managed to recover, Su Lun saw the two giants charging towards him.

Fortunately, the twin-headed giants weren't too agile; his pupils moved rapidly, accurately capturing their approach toward him.

Normally, he could easily avoid their speed, but unexpectedly, the giant whose Wolf Fang Club had been chopped off, managed to throw a punch from dozens of meters away.

Although turned bizarre, the fighting instincts of the giant race, famed to battle gods, were still intact.

As this punch was thrown, a sound like that of a cannon blast echoed through the air.

"Boom!"

In a flash, the punch created a visible ripple in the air.

Su Lun's face immediately changed, as he felt as if the air around him had solidified.

He wanted to teleport, but his body felt as if it was weighed down by lead, moving extremely difficultly.

"Third-ranking giant's strength is so exaggerated? The force twisted the space..."

Su Lun's gaze became sharper.
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This punch, if dealt to an ordinary third-rank, would have been a severe blow.

He didn't plan to continue draining his resources and used Flash to avoid the punch. Then he reached out with empty fingers, and a figure wielding a black scythe, the unseen zombie, appeared next to him.

Meanwhile, the mechanical armor also burst out from the smashed ruins.

This time, the armor put away the Ship-Cutter and charged straight ahead. After resisting a punch from the twin-headed giant, two metallic pincer-like hands firmly controlled it. The two started to wrestle.

The two giants turned bizarre had become very strong, but since they were bizarre, their combat was mostly instinctive, and their intelligence was extremely low.

It was controlling this moment that a pitch-black spatial rift appeared on the giant's neck.

"Clang" a head fell to the ground.

After the limbs were separated, the head that fell to the ground trembled like a magnet, showing a tendency to attract and reattach itself to the severed neck.

Su Lun, quick in action, teleported over, and swiftly stored the head in the storage ring.

Only then did the headless giant cease to move.

Subsequently, Su Lun executed the same technique and quickly killed the other one.

Having collected two corpses, he also obtained two pieces of cursed silver material, "Corrupted Giant's Magic Muscles".

.....

"Whew..."

After storing the two bodies, Su Lun also breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, as he looked at the large buildings in the distance, his gaze grew even more solemn.

The first wave of monsters he encountered had taught him a lesson.

If he didn't have the black scythe, he couldn't have managed these two bizarre creatures at all.

Inside these ruins, he would have been unable to move an inch.

However, the gains indeed exceeded expectations!

While the noise of the battle hadn't attracted more monsters, Su Lun didn't linger and darted into the streets.