Mechanical Alchemist

Luck was on our side.

Early the next morning, as Su Lun looked down from the waist of Tea Crying Mountain, he saw a large ship departing from the port of Izumo.

The trio quickly packed up their sundries and leaped down from the cliff.

After a whole night of meditation, Su Lun could just about walk on his own. Senjo supported him down the mountain path, and with a rune umbrella used as a walking stick, he moved at a decent pace.

The port of Izumo was vast. Hidden in an inconspicuous corner of the street, the Princess watched the two about to depart, her eyes shimmering, "Goodbye, sister Senjo, Mr. Su Lun."

Senjo glanced at her, "Are you really not coming with us?"

The Princess gave a small smile.

She didn't speak.

She was afraid she might let out an involuntary "yes".

Seeing her like this, Su Lun smiled and opened his arms; the Princess didn't hesitate, and they embraced to say goodbye.

As Su Lun smelled her fresh and tranquil fragrance, he tenderly stroked her smooth hair and said, "Take care."

The Princess buried her head in his chest, not daring to look up, "Take care, Mr. Su Lun."

After saying their farewells, Su Lun and Senjo headed towards the ship.

The Princess watched their departing figures, her gaze lingering for a long time.

...

After the "Black Sun Grand Festival" event, Edo Castle had almost purged all the outsiders, and foreign trade had nearly come to a halt.

But these days, ships had begun to sail again.

This "Hiyori-go", capable of carrying a thousand people, had traveled from Edo, and the ship was almost filled to the brim with those needing to travel by sea.

Su Lun and Senjo boarded without tickets, using Spatial Displacement to enter the cabin directly.

The ship was packed with people, even the cargo hold was full.

Nobody cared about the sudden appearance of two who looked like down-and-out samurai.

Su Lun and Senjo found a spot near a ventilation hole and started meditating on a pile of cargo.

Before long, the ship slowly left the harbor.

The port of Izumo was the last major harbor within the borders of Mountain Hermit, and this ship would not stop again, sailing straight to Pirate City Hasturin.

With their embarkation, their journey to the Mountain Hermit country finally came to a close.

Su Lun reflected on his experiences in the Mountain Hermit Nation, feeling a touch of melancholy.

Originally, he had followed the Ninth Fleet of the North Sea to collect taxes, only for the entire fleet to be annihilated, and the situation in Mountain Hermit had undergone earth-shattering changes.

Of course, the gains were not small either; he made new friends and acquired Fourth Order Armaments: "Endless Stomach of the Sky-roaming Whale," "Death Novel," "Armor Escape Secret Technique," and a plethora of treasures.

As he mused, Su Lun felt as if someone were watching him.

He opened his eyes and looked through the ventilation hole, just in time to see a girl in a red and white shrine maiden outfit silently standing on the riverside, watching the departing ship.

Senjo naturally saw her as well, raising her eyebrows and murmuring, "Ah, Miss Princess is such a fine lady; it's really a miss if you let her go."

While saying this, she didn't forget to tease Su Lun, "Speaking of which, you had such a good opportunity last night, why didn't you give it a try?"

"..."

Su Lun glanced at Senjo but did not respond to her.

If it were any other time, even if sharing a bed, he wouldn't act disrespectfully.

But after his body had mutated, some actions were driven by instinct, completely beyond the control of reason.

When he woke up in the middle of last night, Su Lun felt something was different, and that's when he discovered that he was holding not Senjo, but the Princess in his arms.

His hands had also been mischievous, slipping under her pajamas, directly caressing her smooth and delicate skin. Just like Senjo had said, the Princess's skin felt uncommonly silky and smooth. The vast area of skin contact was almost unimpeded; had he really "tried," his body would have enjoyed a nearly greedy pleasure, unwilling to let go voluntarily.

To Su Lun's mild surprise, the Princess certainly felt his roving hands. However, she did not resist and, out of shyness, dared not move.

Thus they embraced intimately throughout the night.

Qian Tiao heard those hurried breaths and small movements, only to tease with ill intention.

...

Su Lun and his companion stayed low-key in the cargo hold, but still encountered several groups of people who came to investigate.

They silently killed two groups.

Only after stripping their souls did they discover they were from the Black Dragon Association.

After all, since "Ote Himeya," the leader of the Black Dragon Association, had been captured by him, Takeda Nobuyasu was definitely searching everywhere, with outbound ships being of utmost importance.

By killing the informants, the lack of feedback would soon be noticed by the people on shore.

Fortunately, the ship set sail smoothly, entering the open sea, and the Black Dragon Association's men were too late to pursue.

After sailing several dozen nautical miles, a seagull flapped its way in through the ventilation hole and landed on Qian Tiao's hand.

This was a messenger from her "Dawn Pirate Crew."

Knowing there would be a great battle in Edo, Qian Tiao had Lo Lo Ta and other crew members set sail ahead of time, waiting along the coast these past days.

Su Lun and Qian Tiao directly disembarked from the merchant ship and stayed on the surface of the sea.

They released a lifeboat and signal flares, and before long, saw a pirate ship cutting through the waves from afar.

From a great distance, Lo Lo Ta and the crew cheered from the deck: "Captain!"

Su Lun and Qian Tiao leaped aboard in one jump.

Once on their own ship, the constant vigilance for enemies in their hearts finally settled down.

...

The pirate ship, being much faster than the heavily laden cargo ship, sailed away riding the wind and breaking the waves.

This was a well-established route, and after heading south for several days, they encountered no unexpected incidents.

One day, with gentle winds and a beautiful sun, the sea was calm.

They spotted a lighthouse atop a reef in the distance—it was the "Rock Caiman Strait."

On the deck, Dawn Crew members were sitting in a circle, laughing and betting among themselves.

This trip to Mountain Hermit Nation brought a few new recruits, including a top-ranked sumo wrestler and several warriors pursuing the Sword Dao.

At that moment, the sumo wrestler was arm-wrestling with the Giant Three Brothers, as other crew members cheered on the side.

The atmosphere of a pirate crew is directly related to the captain's personality.

Pirate crews that enjoyed plundering and looting mostly gathered lawbreakers and the dregs of society.

But under Qian Tiao, a battle maniac, most of her crew were also battle maniacs.

Those they rescued who didn't like adventurous battles were given a resettlement fee to leave.

The ones who stayed on the ship were almost all enthralled by Qian Tiao's charisma, willingly following as part of the combat crew.

Those who stayed didn't care much about the profits of robbing money. They were more interested in adventuring with their captain, enjoying the thrill of adventure.

Just then, with a "bang," the keg used for arm-wrestling was crushed to bits by overpowering strength, and the two contestants decided the victor.

The giant race proved superior.

Laughter erupted across the ship.

"Hahaha... Captain Yuguro lost!"

"Oh, Captain Heck is our Dawn Crew's First Great Strongman, there's no doubt about that!"

"Pay up, Tamu, you lost a thousand rixdales to me."

"Next up, who wants to spar in Sword Dao with our new mate Ran Saki? He is the current master swordsman of the 'New Shadow Style'..."

"Lo Lo Ta, you wanna try? Otherwise, your position as the second swordsman of the Dawn Crew might not be safe."

"Ah, Lo Lo Ta has been fighting Ran Saki for the past few days, not winning much. Ran Saki probably thinks he needs to challenge the captain to get a real challenge..."

"Yeah. Ran Saki, you give it a try. We also want to see just how powerful Captain Qian Tiao is now..."

"Oh, can you guys stop egging me on to do something foolish? The captain has already reached the Sword Saint Realm, and I've lost before she even draws her sword; I can't compare at all. She is the person I admire the most. However... one day, I will be just as formidable as the captain."

"..."

The crew laughed and joked, and one spar after another continued.

Fistfights, swordplay, wrestling, spearmanship... even fishing and drinking.

As long as it was about earning a "Dawn Group ranking," the crew was endlessly enthusiastic, each striving to become the first.

The few dozen people on board came up with some odd rankings like "Dawn Group's First Strongman," "First Gunner," "First Anchor Man," "The First Big Eater," "First Fart King"...

...

In the dimly lit cabin.

Since boarding the ship, Su Lun had been very reclusive, hardly ever leaving the cabin.

He needed lots of time to make puppets and study various secret techniques.

Suddenly, he heard a message from Qian Tiao.

He packed up his things and went up on deck.

Almost everyone in the Dawn Group recognized the very mysterious and powerful "Mr. Su Lun".

They also knew that he was very close to their captain, so they naturally didn't treat him as an outsider.

As soon as Su Lun reached the deck, the crew greeted him warmly.

"Hey, Mr. Su Lun!"

"Good afternoon, Mr. Su Lun."

"..."

Su Lun also smiled and responded to everyone in turn.

He walked to the deck and leaped up to the crow's nest on the mast. At this moment, Qian Tiao was up there, blowing in the sea breeze and observing the distant sea.

The winds were strong at the top of the mast, and the sea breeze, slightly fishy and damp, brushed against his face.

The crow's nest was simply two semicircular planks joined together, quite narrow. Su Lun, holding onto the rope, dangled in midair before he steadied himself and asked, "What's wrong, Sister Qian Tiao? Did you get me to come up here for something?"

"Yes."

Qian Tiao put away her monocular telescope and then said, "The Rock Caiman Strait is right ahead of us, and we need to be cautious. The crew mentioned that lately, there's been talk among the pirates that quite a few ships have mysteriously disappeared in these waters. There are remnants of ships on the sea's surface, which suggests a deep-sea monster may have passed through and sunk them..."

"A deep-sea monster?"

On hearing this, Su Lun's gaze also became slightly sharp.

He took the telescope that Qian Tiao handed to him and looked through it.

His eyesight was very good, and the visibility on the sea was high that day, calm and serene.

But he didn't see anything unusual.

If it really was a sea monster capable of destroying ships, it would indeed be troublesome. Raising the alarm was too great, and it wouldn't be easy to hunt it down in the sea.

While observing, Su Lun asked another question, "How many ships have disappeared? Have any survivors mentioned what kind of sea monster it might be?"

Qian Tiao replied, "About seven or eight, I suppose; the probability is quite low. They all vanished in the waters nearby. But what's strange is that, to this day, there have been no known survivors."

"How can there be no survivors?"

Immediately upon hearing this, Su Lun became alert.

Sea monsters attacking ships usually do so because they have been disturbed or they are hunting for food.

Typically, a sea monster capable of destroying a ship is huge, and even if hunting, there are bound to be some that slip through the net.

The total lack of survivors was suspicious.

It was a bit like a deliberate "eradication".

And if the monster was just passing through, sinking one or two ships might be the end of it, but seven or eight?

That means the monster might still be lurking in the nearby waters?

Su Lun suddenly felt a bit troubled.

Never mind how strong the deep-sea monster might be, if their "Dawn" were to be sunk, that would be a major problem.

With that thought in mind, he took his telescope and carefully searched the sea surface.

Indeed, he could see some floating barrels and broken planks.

Farther away, about a dozen nautical miles on the black rocks, stood that landmark lighthouse.

...

There was nothing particularly special about the Rock Caiman Strait itself, but due to its strategic location as a maritime throat, virtually all of the sea routes from the vast northern waters converged here, making it an essential passageway to the Pirate City.

If one were to detour, the journey could be more than twice as long.

This was a well-traveled route with hundreds of years of history, and aside from occasional pirate robberies by those of unknown identities, there were hardly any dangers.

Chian frowned deeply, the "Dawn" was her family's foundation, and she naturally wouldn't let a sea monster sink it. She said, "Su Lun, your perception is stronger than mine, check if there's anything else approaching from under the sea."

"Okay."

Su Lun nodded, also pondering what kind of sea monster it could be.

Sovereign of the deep-sea eels? That temperamental sea creature did indeed like to attack ships, but it usually wouldn't stay in one area for too long; a school of sawtooth piranhas? That didn't fit either, those fish would indeed cleanly eat any humans that fell into the water, but they were almost no threat to large ships; the so-called "sailboat killer," the short-nosed spikefish? The cold climate wasn't suited for that type of fish...

Su Lun had harvested many pirates' souls before, and he was well-versed in various marine deities.

However, he racked his brain and couldn't associate any type of sea monster with the current situation.

With that ruled out, he couldn't help but think: what if it wasn't a sea monster, but a human action?

Su Lun's thoughts suddenly started whirling.

It was no wonder he thought this way, as he had personally encountered such a situation before.

....

That time, Duke Raphael's super battleship ambushed and captured the stray "divine mechanical blueprints," and except for him, who survived because of his replacement puppet, not a single person from that group of merchants survived.

To kill all, naturally, was for the sake of secrecy.

This also satisfied the logic of the crime.

But...

Now, the weather was clear and sunny, there was no natural fog, nor any war fog.

There wasn't a single battleship shadow.

Could it be Mafa's submarines?

No... The Mafa Empire was in a flirtatious phase with Oleg, and there were rumors about sending submarines to deliver munitions, but attacking passing ships didn't make sense. Many pirate ships aren't even as valuable as a single fish.

There was just no motive.

But the Rock Caiman Strait was a very special location; if one wanted to intercept a certain special ship, this was indeed the most convenient place.

Su Lun felt that if this line of thought wasn't wrong, then among those vanished ships, there might be something "special" worth being ambushed for?

With that in mind, he looked at Chian beside him and asked, "Sister Chian, have you received any other intelligence? I always feel that there's something odd about this."

"No."

Chian shook her head, her green hair fluttering with the sea breeze, "I just have a premonition that we might encounter some situations."

"Premonition?"

Su Lun glanced to the side as he heard this.

After advancing to a higher level, professionals indeed developed a sort of "sixth sense," a special perceptual ability that grew stronger. Chian had advanced to the "Sword Saint Realm," mastered dominance, and even awakened the legendary triple talents of the "Rakshasa Woman," which indeed transformed her strength dramatically from before.

Chian nodded and added, "After dying once in the land of the dead, my ability to sense danger has grown stronger. The closer we get to the Rock Caiman Strait, the more I feel there's 'something' under this sea."

Even so, they wouldn't change their route just out of fear of a sea monster.

Besides, taking an unfamiliar route might even increase the chance of encountering sea monsters.

Hearing Chian's words, Su Lun's brows furrowed slightly. He dared not take it lightly and, with a pinch of his sorcerer's seals, slapped them towards the void: "Necromancy · Release!"

"Bang," a black crow flew out.

The crow of death did not cry out, which meant there was no fatal danger.

However, he still released the black crow, letting it circle in the sky, surveying the entire marine area from above.

Su Lun also took out his Rune Umbrella and opened it, his senses extending instantly. Although water could impede his senses, he could still perceive up to a hundred meters underwater. The sea in this marine area was deep, but if any large creature approached the ship, he would be able to detect it in advance.

...

Su Lun and Qiantiao stopped at the mast.

It would take about half a day to travel through this marine area. The two sat there, one comprehending the Sword Dao, and the other carving puppets.

Qiantiao's premonition came and went but never completely disappeared.

Naturally, they did not dare to be careless.

By evening, the sky was already filled with a red glow.

Suddenly, the black crow in the sky cawed.

Su Lun's expression turned sharp, and almost at the same time, he sensed something, exclaiming, "Something swam past, very fast."

Qiantiao's hand fell on the handle of her knife, asking, "Is it really a sea monster?"

Su Lun frowned slightly, recalling, and said, "Seems like it. But it's not too big, probably around ten meters. It just swept under our ship, heading in the ten o'clock direction."

"Only ten meters?"

Qiantiao, full of confusion, listened on.

Marine creatures of about ten meters were merely "food" category, posing no threat to the ship at all.

She had thought it was at least a hundred meters long, a massive creature.

But the black crow's alarm meant there was indeed danger approaching.

Qiantiao did not dare to be negligent and yelled loudly, "All hands to battle stations!"

"Aye aye, Captain!"

On the deck, everyone immediately sprang into action.

Su Lun released the black crow, pursuing the direction of ten o'clock.

After the black crow flew a hundred meters, its vision suddenly expanded, and within the shared view, in the azure blue water, several fast-moving shadows were indeed visible.

"A school of marine creatures?"

This time, Su Lun seemed to have seen clearly and muttered, "They have tentacles, like more than ten large octopuses, seems like they are hunting."

Qiantiao became more puzzled upon hearing this, "Octopuses?"

When she heard about this creature, her head filled with images of "octopus balls," "octopus hot pots."

Could such food-grade marine creatures capsize a ship?

However, the very next second, sudden violent explosions erupted far off at the sea's surface.

"Boom boom boom!"

The explosion noise was deafening.

Everyone on the deck saw clearly, water spouts dozens of meters high surged into the sky, right on the sea surface two to three leagues away from their vessel, the "Dawn"!

...

Undersea explosions?

Su Lun watched, still puzzled, this was clearly not the noise of an underwater volcano erupting. Instead, looking at the way the blast light spread, he confirmed it was the light from high-explosive torpedoes or some sort of alchemical gunpowder.

It also meant that there were indeed submarines from the magic world underwater?

Were those large octopuses going after the submarines?

Although he did not understand what was happening, Su Lun shouted sharply, "Turn the ship around, away from the direction of the explosion!"

If a battle ensued, it meant they were "lucky," actually encountering the truth behind the recent shipwreck mystery near the strait.

That also meant they were very likely to be "silenced"!

Upon hearing the command, the sailors on deck quickly turned the helm and adjusted their course, the sails billowed, and they sailed at full speed away from the direction of the explosion.

And just then, a submarine surfaced rapidly from the ocean not far from the explosion.

Watching the over one hundred-meter iron lump rise from the sea, Su Lun finally understood what was happening.

"A mechanical octopus? What is this situation..."

Su Lun really was bewildered for a moment.

He had guessed the beginning, but not the ranking.

Seeing a mechanical submarine here didn't surprise him in the least. Currently, only the military of the Mafa Empire had this technology, and it was really hard to say how many submarines there were in the vast rear of Ruying.

But... what on earth was that mechanical octopus?

Su Lun's eyes narrowed; he had sensed and seen something in the sea before, but he hadn't expected these things to be mechanical creatures with souls.

There was only one entity with such technology.

In an instant, he thought of something: "Neural mechanical technology, Duke Raphael!"

Before him, several dozen mechanical octopuses clung with their mechanical tentacle suckers onto the submarine's hull, and then all kinds of "ion cutters" started to prepare to breach the hull.
Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire

They were like stubborn plasters that couldn't be hit, nor shaken off!

The submarine had no choice but to surface, and several warriors dressed in Mafa's mechanical battleship armor ejected from the submarine, engaging in a fierce battle with the mechanical octopuses!

....

"These mechanical octopuses, could they be capturing the submarine?"

Seeing this situation, Su Lun instantly understood everything.

Those mechanical octopuses weren't simply trying to sink the mechanical submarine; instead, it was clear they were carrying out a planned dissection, wanting to preserve the submarine hull as intact as possible.

Both the Mafa Empire and the Ruying Empire coveted "neural mechanical technology" from Duke Raphael, but he likewise lusted after this advanced submarine technology.

It was hard to find on the battlefield, but recently Mafa and the King of the North Sea were on ambiguous terms. By lying in wait in this strait, the chance of encountering a submarine increased significantly!

This area of the sea may have been stalked by mechanical octopuses hunting for quite some time now.

They wouldn't act on normal days, only appearing when they encountered submarines.

This could also explain why passing ships would occasionally sink in this vicinity.

It was probably just bad luck, happening upon a time when a submarine was passing by and getting caught up in the capture operation.

"Duke Raphael has actually created a mechanical monster army, how many tricks does that guy have up his sleeve…"

Su Lun had speculated before that if it were possible to make "Super Mechanical Warriors," then theoretically there could be an army of "Super Small Mechanical Monsters."

Yet he hadn't expected that the finished product was already in existence!

By relying on "neural mechanical technology," Duke Raphael cut corners. With this technology in hand, the Ruying royal family's "sea dominance" was far behind Duke Raphael!

Even the Mechanical Holy Land Mafa would be weaker by comparison!

Thinking this, Su Lun couldn't help but exclaim at the excitement of it all

The situation in Ruying was getting more and more complex by the day.

If it weren't for King Oleg of the North Sea suddenly proclaiming himself king, throwing Ruying's rear into chaos, who knows when the scheming Duke Raphael would have revealed his hand.

Once the "mechanical monster army" was truly scaled up, then he would truly become the "Supreme Overlord of the Seas."

No wonder there was a need to "cut the weeds and eliminate the roots" for secrecy; with such a technique, the later it was exposed, the better.

Now that it was prematurely revealed, it was just that the submarine technology was worth exposing.

....

But Su Lun didn't care about the power struggles among the high nobility; he himself had been researching "neural mechanical technology" lately. Now, looking at these living mechanical octopuses, they seemed to him like walking "technology libraries," his eyes gleaming with excitement.

His own conception was still in the theoretical stage, but here were finished products!

This might be the result of the Raphael family's decades of work and countless resources.

The key is, this thing is too much of a Puppeteer's trump card!

Su Lun felt that if he truly got his hands on it, it would definitely be a "shortcut" that could save him decades of struggle!

Meanwhile, the battle had begun, and three fast-moving shadows appeared in the sea.

They were extremely fast, even quicker than the "Dawn" at full speed, and it looked like they were about to catch up soon.

This was a "kill and silence" mission!

Senjo also saw the rapidly pursuing sea monsters, "clang" her sword was drawn, and a bizarre Sword Qi soared into the sky.

Seeing this, Su Lun shouted, "Senjo, try not to damage them, leave them intact! I have a great use for these things!"

This mechanical octopus was worth much more than a battleship, and even if their ship was sunk, he felt they had to capture it to take a closer look.

Hearing this, Senjo also let out a light shout, "Got it!"

Su Lun spoke again, "Use the fog of war, activate the alchemy sails..."

He had no intention of fighting right away.

Since there were mechanical octopuses here, but their intellect wasn't sufficient for organized combat, there must be professionals working for Duke Raphael nearby, controlling them.

In such an unclear situation, to directly engage in that kind of battle was definitely not a wise choice.

They needed to take the opportunity while the mechanical octopuses were busy fighting the Mecha warriors on the submarine to escape as far as possible.

The crew on deck heard the orders and immediately started bustling about with their tasks.

As soon as the fog of war was released at the stern, a dense fog quickly enveloped the sea, blocking the view in an instant.

The pale blue formation on the sails shone brightly, and after consuming a large amount of energy crystals, their speed also shot up significantly.

...

Pirate crews that operate alone are usually not large, so only three mechanical octopuses were in pursuit.

They were underestimated.

Su Lun was pleased with this, considering it a good thing.

Senjo was at the stern, merely staring at the shadow that was getting closer and closer.

Even the loss of energy crystals worth hundreds of thousands in an attempt to escape could not shake them off; no wonder no survivors had ever escaped from encounters before.

But now that she knew what the creatures were, she actually breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn't some giant sea monster; for Senjo, killing them wouldn't be difficult.

She glanced at Su Lun beside her and asked, "This thing is very agile, huh? It can even cut through the steel armor of a submarine; our ship can't withstand that."

"Hmm."

Su Lun narrowed his eyes slightly, nodded, and added, "I have a plan."

As a soft-bodied creature, an octopus is quite tricky to handle. They specialize in entangling, strangling, adhering... and function even more powerfully when mechanically modified. If they got close to the ship, this kind of wooden vessel would likely not stand a chance.

But after observing for so long, he had also thought of a way to counter these mechanical octopuses.

The sounds of battle at the rear of the ship grew increasingly distant.

Su Lun still did not hurry to act.

Each side pursued the other for a quarter of an hour, the distance closing rapidly.

On deck, the crewmembers who had no tasks crowded at the stern, holding weapons and on full alert.

Only then did they get a clear look at the monsters in the water chasing them, and they were greatly surprised.

Seeing their own captain and Su Lun appearing so calm, they weren't too tense either.

Someone asked, "Captain, what is that thing? It looks like an octopus, but why is it made of iron?"

Senjo spread her hands, "How would I know?"

Neural mechanical technology was not widely known, and even fewer had ever seen it.

Not to mention these "mechanical monsters."

Lolota glanced at Su Lun and asked, "Mr. Su Lun, do you know what that is?"

Responding with a phrase, Su Lun said, "As you can see, it's a kind of mechanical monster."

"Ah?"

Lolota was somewhat perplexed.

Given the backward mechanical technology of Ruying, she naturally couldn't understand such advanced technology that was far beyond her time.

Su Lun didn't elaborate, as there was a lot of technology on the mechanical octopus that he himself couldn't decipher.

They weren't idle either, as cannons fired pell-mell into the water at the three mechanical octopuses.

But naturally... it was to no avail whatsoever.

"Hephaestus titanium manganese alloy? The technological content is really high..."

Su Lun recognized the material as a special alloy he had seen on the main body of the super mechanical warriors, something that ordinary firearms couldn't damage at all.

Naturally, it wasn't something that could be purchased on the open market.

Just then, the three octopuses had closed the distance to within a hundred meters and suddenly accelerated!

"They must have reached attack range, activating the rush program..."

Su Lun keenly observed a significant energy fluctuation in the mechanical octopus's kinetic boiler and wasn't surprised.

Seeing this, it seemed they aimed to sink them with one strike.

But just then, behind Su Lun, the eight-arm spider spear suddenly jerked, and countless transparent threads instantly solidified, weaving in a flash into a huge trawling net at the stern.

The three mechanical octopuses, having just accelerated, charged directly into the net. They struggled to break free, but at this moment, Su Lun forcefully yanked them, pulling them out of the water.

A formidable creature in water should be pulled out of it;

Those with might in the sky should be confined to the ground;

That way, their combat power would decrease by more than eighty percent.

The three mechanical octopuses were the same, hanging midair in Su Lun's net.

Although the mechanical octopuses were formidable, they were easy to deal with given the right countermeasures.

They countered submarines and mechanical armor, those kinds of "hard objects."

But against "soft things" like threads, they were helpless.

Once the mechanical octopuses left the water, they frantically writhed their tentacles around, trying to entangle...

But Su Lun's "Thousand Threads" implant had infinite hair; however much they entangled, he would release even more.

Soon, the three octopuses had nothing to leverage, directly wrapped into cocoons. Even equipped with cutting tools, the cutting speed couldn't keep up with the speed of being entangled.

Su Lun didn't want to kill such a precious research product, so he put his three-stage alchemy implant "Spirit Tentacles" to use.

One by one, the threads burrowed into the mechanical octopus's interfaces and gaps...

The more a mechanical product sought flexibility, the less likely it was for its armor to be entirely comprehensive.

Su Lun's threads easily found some neural tissue.

But just then, he realized that the mechanical octopuses couldn't break free and had actually triggered a self-destruct program.

"Still want to blow yourselves up?"

Su Lun noticed the abnormal neural signal and sneered inwardly.

Others would be helpless in this situation, and even if they managed to capture these mechanical octopuses, they'd end up with just a pile of scrap.

Pity, Su Lun himself was an expert in the field of neural mechanics!

He knew that to control mecha, the octopuses must have a complete nervous system.

He used the threads to easily find the neural center and directly severed the self-destruct command.

The three mechanical octopuses were immediately immobilized.

Gazing upon the spoils of battle he had captured, Su Lun's eyes blazed with a scorching light.