Mechanical Alchemist

The Northern Fleet only sent a single squadron, which, considering Su Lun's current strength, didn't pose much of a threat.

Without a sixth-order professional or some special cursed object, he had nothing to fear.

Besides, although the squadron leader "Mechanic Puppeteer" Vasili Tyermidó was infamous, he also came from a Puppeteer heritage.

Since they were from the same profession, nearly all his methods were predictable.

If it really came to a fight, at least Su Lun was not likely to be defeated easily.

As for the deterrence of the Northern Sea Overlord?

Su Lun had nothing to intimidate him.

He unlocked the Mechanic Octopus Spear and ran wildly on the sea surface.

This action not only left Kama and everyone on the North Wind in shock and disbelief.

Even the pirates of the Seventh Squadron on the opposing pirate ship were completely baffled.

Was he in a hurry to rush to his death?

That was the Northern Fleet's fully organized squadron, with over 500 elite pirates!

...

His son was eager to settle the score with the "adulterer," and Vasili couldn't stop him.

Although he knew anyone capable of creating a fourth-order rune puppet wasn't weak, he wasn't too worried.

In the Northern Sea, no one dared to offend their fleet.

But Vasili never expected that the opponent would actually dare to carry out an assassination!

His only son was killed just like that?

Vasili was stunned for a moment.

Was someone daring to harm the men of the Northern Sea Fleet?

In his rage, he was about to order the chase so the murderer wouldn't escape, but then, to his surprise, the person was charging alone towards them?

Looking at the Mechanic Octopus Spear behind Su Lun, Vasili's eyes also revealed surprise, thinking, "The exclusive alchemical enhancement 'Octopus God Spear' of the Puppeteer lineage still exists in the world? Could it be a descendant of some branch of the Boyle family... But no, I haven't heard of it."

Just then, a psychic professional on the ship reported, "Boss, judging from the energy fluctuations emanating from that guy, he's just a fourth-order professional!"

"Just fourth-order?"

Vasili was even more puzzled. What gave a fourth-order the confidence to act?

But he didn't let his guard down for a second and, with a stern look, directly ordered, "Fire, take that guy down!"

"Yes!"

With that command, all sorts of guns and cannons on the pirate ship burst into flames.

Suddenly, bullets and alchemical rounds rained down on Su Lun, who was in the distance, like a torrential downpour.

With hundreds of muskets firing together and the additional firepower of large-caliber snipers and cannons, any high-order professional would have been riddled with bullets under normal circumstances.

And just after this barrage, the figure on the sea surface was shattered.

"It's an illusion!"

While the pirates still didn't understand what had happened, the figure with the Mechanic Octopus Spear reappeared, having advanced a hundred meters.

Su Lun previously harvested a vast amount of Space Law, so his use of "Teleportation" was mastered to perfection.

Charging headlong towards the full deck of guns, he teleported several times and landed on the deck...

Originally, Su Lun had a faster way to end the fight, which was to simply use the mechanical octopus to destroy the pirate ship, making it much more convenient to deal with the pirates afterwards.

But he thought it was a shame to damage such a fine light warship.

The three-masted sailing ship currently used by the Dawn Group was far inferior to this one.

Moreover... it was not easy to encounter someone from the same profession.

He also wanted to see for himself just what the combat power of this Master of Mechanism Puppets was like.

...

"Ah... Teacher..."

On the North Wind in the distance, Kama watched Su Lun board the ship, her crystal eyes filled with worry and shock.

Up until now, her brain still made her disbelieve what she saw: her teacher was really going solo against a squadron of the Northern Fleet?

That wasn't just any ordinary squadron, it was the third fleet's Puppet Master squadron. No one knew Vasili's strength more clearly than her, including that war demon handed down by the Boyle family, the "Mechanic Puppeteer War Demon."

The means of the people on that ship, even if faced with three to four times the number of ordinary enemies, were unlikely to be defeated.

This meant that Su Lun was facing at least a two-thousand-person pirate group!

How... how could this be possible!

Watching the scene of guns firing in unison, Kama's heart leaped with worry, but in the next instant, her expression froze.

"Spatial Ability?"

Kama's eyes instantly changed from worry to surprise.

So her teacher possessed such impressive spatial displacement ability?

And yet more shocking events unfolded.

Before Kama could sort her thoughts, she saw a giant cross materializing in the sky above the distant pirate ship.

As soon as the Puppeteer unleashed his technique, countless gleaming threads fell from the theatric stage.

"This is a Mystery spell!"

Kama knew her teacher was a Puppeteer and having this technique was not surprising. But when she saw Su Lun, after manifesting the Puppet Master, throw out a few scrolls that exploded into hundreds of rune puppets, her expression became frozen.

Hundreds of them!

My God...

Kama was overwhelmed with shock.

Before her, hundreds of Rune Puppets, each with distinct expressions, hung or stood, enclosing the pirate ship tightly.

What in the world is the teacher trying to do?

Karma was full of doubts, thinking it was some sort of tactic to confuse the enemy.

But in the next instant, what happened in front of her overturned her understanding.

A battle erupted upon first contact.

She watched as those several hundred Rune Puppets actually engaged in a fierce fight with the pirates of the Seventh Squad.

They were not stiff or dull; each puppet was like a living person, flexibly controlled, moving freely. Even though the enemies were numerous and formidable, Su Lun's puppet army didn't lose ground at all.

"The teacher can actually control every single puppet simultaneously!"

Karma, witnessing Su Lun's operation, was astounded.

Only those who were professionals as Puppet Masters knew the exaggerated difficulty of such a feat—it was practically unimaginable!

Indeed, it is better for a Puppet Master to control as many puppets as possible.

But one also needs to know their own limits.

She herself could control ten puppets, which was already the limit. With each additional one, the difficulty of control escalated immensely. Any more, and the precision of control would greatly diminish, negatively affecting combat efficacy, and she simply wouldn't have the mental capacity to manage so many.

But these hundreds...

Could the teacher really control them with such ease?

It was not just about controlling this exaggerated number of puppets in battle, but also executing tactical maneuvers, assaulting, penetrating, beheading, and charging as a group...

Looking closely at the details of the control only left her more shocked.

My God,

This is the true Puppeteer she had envisioned in her mind!

....

With Su Lun's command over the puppet army, he indeed caught the pirate group off guard.

To those lower-ranking pirates, the puppet army was almost like demons. With the army's charge, like locusts sweeping through, it was inevitable that a great number of lives would be reaped.

And because it was their own pirate ship that was the battleground, those guys were hesitant and restrained in their actions.

With Su Lun's maneuver, the dead were strewn everywhere.

Still, the Seventh Squad had quite a few Puppet Masters, and their response was extremely quick, as they immediately devised tactics against the puppets.

"Melidis, have your second team of Stealth Mages use 'Elemental Steal' to strip away the energy and bring down those crosses in the sky!"

"Boss, it's impossible! This spell's understanding of the laws far exceeds our own by too much; we can't reverse the spell in such a short time! I suspect... the spell possesses the refinement of a sixth-order!"

"How can that be, isn't he just a fourth-order?"

"..."

Those pirates wanted to bring down Su Lun's "Puppet Theater," but after attempting to do so, they were left in utter despair upon realizing the spell's tightness resembled an iron barrel, completely beyond the level of comprehension they could decipher.

Instead, because of that moment's delay, another swath of lives were harvested away.@@novelbin@@

The pirate ship restricted the movement of those people, and the threads could just spread to every corner.

It wasn't just the savage puppets, but also the "spiritual tentacles" and threads wrapped with the laws of space. These three-pronged methods combined into a ruthless meat grinder, obliterating a large number of lower-ranked professionals in just a few encounters.

The pirate puppet masters initially wanted to control their puppets to fight back, but in the puppet theater, Su Lun, the controller, was invincible!

As soon as the pirates' puppets were brought out, they were immediately entangled by countless threads, rendered useless before they could serve any purpose, turning completely into junk.

"The Thousand Gadget Hand," Vasili looked anxiously at his subordinates dying one after another.

He bellowed, "Damn it, move out of the control range of these threads and attack from a distance! Don't bother with those puppets, kill his body!"

There were capable people among this pirate crew, and as soon as the order was given, the pirates began jumping off the ship.

An ice magic professional conjured a fourth-level spell on the surface of the sea, quickly freezing a few hundred square meters of the sea's surface, providing most of the pirates with a place to stand.

The rest of the pirates demonstrated their own divine powers, some stealthily submerged in the sea, others flew in the sky with flying gear, and there were those capable of fighting on the water's surface. One by one, they escaped the coverage of the crucifixes and began another round of fierce attacks.

Su Lun did not pursue them, for escaping the range of thread control indeed made them much safer.

But that didn't mean Su Lun had no means of attack left.

In his left hand, he held the "Scythe of Xiupunos's Night," slashing through with spatial fissures. He could now precisely control a certain degree of space fissure attacks without backlash. As long as he had enough dark spiritual power, killing was still as easy as chopping vegetables.

After all, there were many opponents, and those who survived were third and fourth-level professionals with strong combat abilities. Without the pressure of the puppet army, various spells and alchemical bullets were also promptly returned.

That kind of area coverage made it difficult for Su Lun to stand his ground on the pirate ship, even with teleportation.

But Su Lun was not at all panicked.

At that moment, he changed the sorcerer's seals twice and uttered softly, "Hormone Overdrive. Rune Vajra!"

As the spell took shape, a dark gold metallic luster emerged on the surface of his skin.

At the same time, a burly monster with wings thundered onto the deck.

It was an alchemical gargoyle.

The gargoyle spread its nearly ten-meter-wide wings around Su Lun, immediately forming an impregnable protective shield. Most of the attacks, whether spells or bullets, bounced off the metal body of the gargoyle. Even the few that could break through the defense and leave marks on the gargoyle, the "Living Silver's" memory properties, would instantly recover as before.

Even when a few attacks landed on Su Lun, his body, now under "Rune Vajra," was not so easily killed.

The group of pirates could only watch as the bullets sparked off of him without any effect, while Su Lun continued massacring the pirates on board as if nothing was amiss.

Witnessing this scene, the pirates looked at the individual standing alone on the deck as if they were seeing a monster.

Ordinarily, a puppeteer's strength lies in their puppets, while their bodies are inherently weaker.

Since puppeteers focus on controlling more puppets, both their career advancement choices and the alchemical enhancements they select are designed to serve that purpose better.

Almost no puppet master would enhance their physical body, as doing so would only make their abilities increasingly futile.

But what about now?

They were witnessing a monster.

A puppet master who could single-handedly withstand high-level spells, sniper bullets, and even alchemical cannons with his flesh alone!

Being able to control hundreds of puppets was one thing,

but to have such a strong physical body as well,

how was anyone supposed to keep up with that?

The longer they fought, the more the pirates despaired, unable to see a way to kill Su Lun.

....

Just as Su Lun was being targeted, Vasili had already brought out dozens of mechanical boxes.

Su Lun knew these were the Boile family's heirloom Mechanism Puppets—the "Thousand-Handed Mechanism War Devils" that Karma had mentioned.

With the sound of gears clicking into place, dozens of mechanical boxes suddenly clicked and transformed, and through the use of delicate cables and mechanical fittings, they assembled together.

Su Lun just watched as a thirty-meter-tall special puppet with countless mechanical arms appeared before his eyes.

Vasili had integrated himself into the puppet through some special implants.

Well... the puppet gave off a vibe somewhat akin to a fantasy version of "Transformers."

Upon inspection, although it was not an ancient artifact of a thousand years, it did possess several hundred years of history. Being the crystallization of the wisdom of generations of the Boile family, it naturally possessed extraordinary combat power.

Vasili was nicknamed 'Thousand-Puppet Hand,' and he made his name with this very mechanism puppet.

After all, he was one of the select few at the pinnacle of the Puppet Master sorcerers' domain; controlling this mechanism puppet, his combat power was greatly enhanced. Normally, a fifth-order professional without suppression means would find it hard to contend with it, even if there were three or five of them.

While it might not have a thousand hands, it indeed had hundreds.

These clicking wooden arms were incredibly agile; they could extend, projectile, turn corners, and hide various lethal mechanisms.

They could attack from a distance or engage in close combat.

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In a single square mile, it could reach the attack intensity of hundreds of people.

And its defense was astonishing as well.

This "Thousand-Handed War Devil" was a heavily armored puppet, and many parts were not just physically defensive but also hosted special energy absorption devices.

It could even dissolve the spatial fissures cut by the Black Scythe, as well as the attacks from the Rune Dark Umbrella's wraiths.

Once the puppet appeared, Su Lun's puppet theater was greatly restrained. The hundreds of agile arms were like his own, each grabbing a puppet.

The strength of the mechanism puppet was absurd, and even the control capabilities of the Endless Thread were greatly limited.

Su Lun seemed suddenly and utterly restrained.

But he was not the least bit panicked.

The "Thousand-Handed War Devil" was strong, but in its pursuit of heavy-duty defense, the puppet also lost the ability to move quickly.

Actually, killing Vasili would not have been difficult for Su Lun; the most straightforward method was still to use the Mechanical Octopus and the Black Scythe for segmented disassembly, slowly whittling him down.

However, doing that would significantly damage this precious mechanism puppet.

He wanted to keep it as a gift for Karma and her brother.

Moreover, Su Lun was not in a hurry for victory.

Because at that moment, a three-masted warship appeared on the distant sea; it was the "Dawn Group" coming to reinforce.

....

After a great battle, Su Lun had witnessed the skills of a Master of Mechanism Puppets and benefited greatly from the experience.

But once Karma and the others joined the fight, there was no longer any suspense to the battle.

Though it took some effort, under Karma's guidance, Su Lun finally managed to take Vasili down with minimal losses.

The Northern Sea Fleet's Third Fleet Seventh Unit was also practically annihilated.

Su Lun harvested Vasili's soul, resulting in another grand windfall.

'You have stripped away the soul of "Vasili Tyermidó"'

'You have extracted vast amounts of knowledge related to "mechanism puppets," gaining +11245 Puppetry Experience'

'You have stripped away knowledge of mechanism creation, puppet manipulation techniques,'

'You have understood the puppet manipulation skill [Mystery of a Thousand Hands]'

'You have learned some information: "The Boile family's core puppetry technique is not passed on to outsiders, and I cannot touch a dime of their wealth. Even if I die, my descendants will still be commoners. Damn it, I've given them so much, my talents are not inferior to theirs... Why them! Is it just because they are hereditary nobles? By a stroke of luck, I came into contact with the 'Ghost Shark Pirate Crew'... Five years ago, that night, I led them into the manor. I held back, and while the manor guards clashed with the pirates, the pirates were also severely damaged, I wiped them out... Haha, I've finally got everything I wanted."' '

'You have obtained a secret: "The fleet commander has orders to drop the sealed boxes from the ship in a specific area near Devil's Island, not to be opened midway."' '

'Spiritual Power +233...'

...

The battle had ended, and it was time for the crowd-pleasing harvest session.

This Northern Sea third fleet's seventh unit contributed a nearly intact high-quality warship to the Dawn Group, as well as a large amount of spoils.

The crew members of the Dawn Group were scouring the sea for those elusive fish, while some were collecting the spoils of war.

After hundreds of rounds of fierce combat with Vasili, Su Lun turned out to be the last to finish the battle.

At this moment, on the deck, Su Lun was disassembling the huge "Thousand-Handed War Devil".

After all, it was a Boile family heirloom, and with Karma being there, they quickly broke it down into pieces.

By activating a mechanism, each piece transformed into dozens of large and small mechanical secret compartments, looking like tightly sealed large wooden boxes.

Su Lun admired the precision and the exquisite construction of the mechanism puppet.

Alas, it had taken the Boile family centuries to accumulate enough to make just one such puppet; it had a very high manufacturing cost, and many materials were difficult to find.

Otherwise, if it were possible to mass-produce them, Su Lun would have loved to create an army of mechanism puppets.

Since he was pursuing a strategy of numbers, this thing was not suitable.

Once everything was packed away, he handed the puppet and several large storage rings he had gotten from Vasili over to Karma beside him and said, "Karma, this mechanism puppet is yours now. It belongs to your Boile family."

"Yes, teacher."

Karma nodded obediently.

At that moment, looking at her teacher, her eyes were filled with stars of admiration.

The recent battle had thoroughly imprinted in the girl Kama's heart the domineering shadow of a lone person suppressing an entire pirate crew.

After stripping away Vasili's memories, Su Lun learned the truth of the past events and said, "That...incident with your family was indeed Vasili's doing. He colluded with the 'Ghost Shark Pirate Crew'... However, that pirate crew has already been silenced by Vasili."

Su Lun briefly recounted the events from five years ago, and Kama listened with a gloomy expression, "Oh..."

Over the years, she had been investigating the truth behind the attack on her manor and her speculations grew closer to the truth.

It wasn't too surprising.

Now suddenly knowing all her enemies were dead, the heavy stone that had been hanging in her heart finally fell.

But she also let out a faint sigh.

It seemed... with the enemies gone, the goal she had been diligently striving for was also lost.

Seeing her demeanor, Su Lun smiled slightly and comforted her, "You have a long life ahead of you, work hard. Your talent is good, and you will be a formidable Puppet Master in the future."

Inspired by these words, Kama nodded earnestly, "Mm."

At that moment, it was as if she had found a new goal.

She wanted to become a Puppet Master as powerful as her teacher.

Just then, someone from the Dawn Crew called out, "Mr. Su Lun, please come take a look inside the cabin!"

....

Su Lun entered the cabin.

Because they had just set sail, the cabin of this pirate ship was stocked with a large supply of provisions, and the storage room was packed to the brim.

The Dawn Crew members were taking inventory of the supplies.

And in the most central cabin, Qian Tiao and a few captains huddled around something, curiously pointing and discussing it.

Seeing Su Lun approach, the crew members greeted him, "Mr. Su Lun."

Qian Tiao was still his usual careless self after several days.

Glancing at the timid Kama by Su Lun's side, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yo, Su Lun, is this girl your new apprentice?"

"Yes. Sister Qian Tiao."

Su Lun looked at Qian Tiao and introduced her with a smile, "This is Kama."

Kama too politely greeted them, "Hello Sister Qian Tiao, hello everyone, my name is Kama."

The young girl's heart was extremely nervous.

Meeting the Dawn Crew, her teacher's team, for the first time was undoubtedly nerve-wracking.

There were giants, sumo wrestlers, ronin, and even strange mechanical modified warriors, as well as a doctor who looked like a monster... They all seemed so formidable and intimidating.

Qian Tiao took a glance and praised, "Not bad."

Su Lun chuckled and shook his head, not continuing that topic, but instead asked, "What did you call me in for?"

Qian Tiao pointed to a treasure chest in the storage room adorned with golden rivets and said, "We found this chest. But it seems to be sealed and we can't open it."

"Oh?"

Su Lun looked at the chest and identified it, noticing it had a seventh-level magic rune seal.

He remembered the information about the chest from Vasili's stripped memories and also knew how to open it.

This seventh squad's voyage wasn't only about pursuing Su Lun and Kama, but they had also taken on a mission from the higher-ups of the Northern Sea fleet to search for treasure on Devil's Island.

And this chest was the one they were explicitly instructed not to "open prematurely."

Su Lun frowned slightly upon remembering this because the order seemed very odd.

What exactly was inside this chest, and why was it that even the squad leader, Vasili, did not know?

And why was it meant to be cast into a specific sea area?

They were not members of the Northern Sea fleet, so naturally, they didn't need to follow any orders.

However, Su Lun was also worried about what undesirable things might be inside the chest, or if it might explode if opened prematurely...

Thinking it over, he suggested, "I'll take it up and open it to see."

Qian Tiao nodded, "Okay."

....

Su Lun moved the chest to the sea.

The ship was at a considerable distance, and a large crowd of Dawn Crew members who loved to watch the excitement gathered on the deck.

Everyone wanted to know what exactly was inside.

After preparing, Su Lun finally used a puppet to open the mysterious chest in the prescribed way.

There was no explosion as expected.

However, upon opening, the brilliance that burst from the chest almost blinded everyone's eyes.

Upon closer inspection, Su Lun discovered that the box was filled with heaps of golden fleece called "The Golden Fleece of Colchis."

This was a special material found only in Roman, and legend had it that one could weave the strongest defensive Golden Armor in the world with this fleece.

Goats that produced this golden fleece were only found in one place: the Temple of Aghaparnon just outside of the city-state of Moros!

But the yield was extremely scarce, with just a small tuft of golden fleece able to be harvested from a goat each year.

Such a large chest likely contained the entire Roman nation's stockpile of a hundred years!

Such a precious thing, to be thrown into the sea?

After determining there was no danger, Su Lun dragged the chest back onto the deck.

The Dawn Crew looked at the golden fleece, expressing admiration with clicks of their tongues, without understanding why it was inside the chest.

Just then, Pandora, who had not shown herself from below decks, came up for some reason.

Looking at the chest full of golden fleece, she enlightened everyone, "This golden fleece, even during the mythological era, was a very precious treasure. It symbolizes wealth, ideals, adventure, resilience, and the pursuit of happiness. It's a very auspicious item, and in any era, mortals simply don't have the right to possess it. Usually, it is used for sacrifices to the gods or in certain mysterious rituals."