Mechanical Alchemist

The legend of the "North Sea Leviathan" has been circulating in the waters of northern Ruying for at least a thousand years.

It might not be this one we're dealing with right now, or perhaps it's a species of these Titan octopuses.

But Su Lun had to admit that these giants truly sat at the top of the food chain in the sea.

Fifty mechanical octopuses were enough to destroy a fleet of dozens of warships, yet in struggling with this creature, they gained no advantage, and several were consecutively scrapped. If the battle continued to the end, the entire mechanical octopus legion might be wiped out.

Fortunately, the "Pirate King" Melidis had taken off with Princess Stika, freeing up Su Lun's hands.

Together with Dr. Banks, they deployed poison and soul attacks among various methods. After a good half day's torment, they trapped the big fellow and used the winches on three warships to lift it, expending a great deal of energy before finally stuffing it into the "Little Void Realm."

Su Lun had always wanted to capture a massive octopus to create super-sized mechanical octopuses, but those available on the market fell far short of his needs.

This North Sea Leviathan was just like finding a pillow when sleepy.

It was of Titan bloodline and a dominator-class creature, with size, vitality, and growth potential far exceeding expectations.

It was simply the most ideal material.

And Su Lun just so happened to possess the ability to capture such gigantic sea monsters.

Dr. Banks also had a keen interest in this ancient-bloodline creature, extracting copious amounts of blue blood and body tissue samples for research.

He said that there might be a chance in the future to extract the "Titan genes" from the blood to create a [Ancestral Potion] that could possibly cultivate this type of "Titan octopus" artificially.

Not to say it would be as strong as this one, but at least much larger than ordinary octopuses.

Once it could be artificially bred, it would be a different ball game.

Su Lun felt optimistic about the future.

If they really had three or five lucky mechanical octopuses, not to mention sailing warships, even the steel mega ships of Mafa would stand a fighting chance.

However, with a single small octopus already costing over 100 million liso, the remodeling cost for one of this size... was probably astronomical.

For the time being, Su Lun hadn't thought that far ahead, taking things one step at a time.

Regardless, it was still a huge gain.

Of course, the price paid was not small either.

The arrows fired just now to drive away Princess Frost Moon consumed about one-tenth of the [Sand of Time], whose value was immeasurable.

Luckily, apart from the "North Sea Leviathan," there were other gains.

....

While Su Lun and some of the Dawn group were catching the octopus, others on the two ships went to salvage the previously sunk "Old Man Wan" and several pirate vessels' spoils.

Since they were covered by cannon fire, all five ships were beaten to a pulp. The sea was strewn with fragments of wood, treasure chests, barrels...

Of course, there were also some survivors.

As Su Lun's group completed capturing the "North Sea Leviathan," the salvage work on the other side continued.

Treasures were continuously fished out and brought back to the warships, piling up on the deck into mountains.

"Hahaha... This time's spoils of war can't be said to be a loss for our rounds of cannon fire!"

"Yeah. So many treasures I've never even seen before. These high-quality [Seven-Color Gemstones] are said to be offerings for the Temple of Aghaparnon in Roman, tsk tsk... What an eye-opener."

"Mr. Su Lun, come and see, isn't this the [Void God Hand of Chronos] you mentioned? Wow, there are also several spatial treasures..."

"..."

Su Lun watched as one treasure after another was fished out, joy appearing on his face. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire

The legendary-quality [Void God Hand of Chronos] was indeed on board the ship as expected, conveniently placed in a chest floating on the sea and among the first batch to be retrieved.

Upon appraisal, it turned out to be an alchemical prosthesis with a very high compatibility with Qiantiao, which, once fused, would grant the exaggerated ability of "Physical and Magical Penetration." This would be a qualitative enhancement in combat power for a light swordsman and would significantly increase slashing damage against heavy armored professions in the future.

The quality of the prosthesis was beyond doubt, but it provoked the concern that its strong curse properties might cause deformities upon fusion with Qiantiao.

Having fished out this treasure, Su Lun breathed a sigh of relief.

The initial purpose of their pursuit of the "Old Man Wan" was for this very item.

However, as the pile of treasures on the deck grew more extravagant, Su Lun's gaze slowly turned grave.

[Hero's Spirit], [Muse Goddess's Flowing Sand Crystal], [Frey's Golden Wheat Sheaf]...

These were all treasures of the same rank as the [Golden Fleece] they had captured before, and nearly each one could be linked to ancient myths.

Obviously, these were offerings the folks at the Temple of Aghaparnon had made to the sea.

But now they had been intercepted and salvaged by them.

Su Lun's brows were tightly knit.

Through the offerings, it was confirmed that the scale of this ritual was terrifyingly high.

What did it feel like...

It was as if you intended to rob a small noble under the guise of a Robin Hood, but ended up unsuspectingly robbing the disguised emperor out on a private excursion.

The abundance of treasure, on the contrary, made people feel uneasy.

This only intensified Su Lun's suspicion that there was a serious problem with the ritual.

Just then, Lolota, Kama, and Tanni came back in high spirits, piloting the assault boat. From afar, they waived their hands, shouting, "Mr. Su Lun, we caught a live one you wanted!"

The three of them brought the person aboard the ship, a priestess soaked to the bone, wearing a magic-binding bracelet. With blond hair, blue eyes, and a high nose bridge -- a classic Roman beauty.

Lolota excitedly recounted the process of capturing the prisoner of war, "She was hiding in the deep sea, sinking for some reason. If it weren't for Tanni, we wouldn't have found her..."

Tanni also wore a proud and coy expression, like a child waiting to be praised.

Su Lun listened and complimented the trio, "Hmm, not bad, you did well."

Probably realizing that Su Lun was the spokesperson for the Dawn group, the priestess looked up and glared at him venomously, saying, "You outsiders have desecrated the Sea God and angered the Sea King. You will be punished. You are enemies of Roman!"

Su Lun's brow furrowed upon hearing this. He didn't take the threat as just empty words.

Previously in the city, he was assassinated by the Golden God Spear, then there was the "Devil's Island Treasure", and now the ritual... The Temple of Aghaparnon played a key role behind the scenes in every event.

He hadn't intended to kill the captive, but the way she looked, he thought he could extract the information he wanted to know from her.

Without any hesitation, Su Lun raised his hand and flicked his fingers, and instantly a line of blood appeared on the beautiful priestess's neck.

Life quickly drained from her face, and her head thudded onto the deck, blood gushed like a fountain.

Blood sprayed onto Lolota and the others' faces, each one slightly puzzled in their eyes, not yet realizing why Su Lun suddenly took action to kill.

Su Lun didn't explain; behind him, the shadow of death emerged and directly devoured the "grey mist" on the corpse.

'You have stripped the soul of "Orlun"'

'You have learned some historical secrets about the Temple of Aghaparnon'

'You have obtained information: "Six months ago, the High Priest prophesied 'an outsider Puppet Master will bring disaster to the Roman nation'..."'

'You have learned: "A live Sea Sacrifice will bring good fortune to the Roman nation, receiving the Sea God's protection; no one will come out alive, they will remain forever in the ruins of the sea. This time, by attracting these outsider adventurers in search of treasure, Lord Sea King will surely be pleased with so many fresh souls, which will exchange for Roman's decades of peaceful maritime era..."'

'You have acquired: "The Golden God Spear can only be used by Onis Popov, a handsome and charming man, a born hero. Oh, he has intimate relations with the other priests in the temple, including me..."'

'You have obtained information: "Princess Stika heard that there was a piece of Urobolos shard on Devil's Island, so she wanted to use a sacrifice to exchange that treasure with Sea King Drake..."'

'...'

Through keyword searches, Su Lun abruptly resolved all the doubts in his heart.

The information was massive!

After digesting it, he found it quite a headache.

Turns out, the one who had shot at him using the Golden God Spear back in the city was Oleg's second son, Onis Popov.

Matching the rumors that circulated outside, this guy was a child born from Oleg and the High Priestess Helvi of the Temple of Aghaparnon.

Of course, any gossip about "the two of them tossing around in the temple for seven days and nights" became irrelevant.

What Su Lun cared more about was the reason the guy shot him, and it really was because of some inexplicable "prophecy."

Wasn't the cause and effect reversed here?

If you hadn't poked me with the spear, I would've been too lazy to deal with you...

A feud was definitely established.

But Su Lun felt that the priestess probably didn't know the whole truth either.

The prophecy was spoken by the "High Priestess" and only she knew exactly what it entailed.

Even the "Four Color Elemental Heart" of the Puppetry Technique was supposedly intentionally disseminated because of that prophecy, to attract the prophesied Puppet Master to Devil's Island.

And of course, spreading the news of the "Devil's Island Treasure" was also the temple's trickery from behind the scenes.

They wanted to lure outsiders to complete the "Sea Sacrifice" once every few decades.

In exchange for the lives of more than a hundred thousand people, Roman would enjoy decades of peace and prosperity.

In Roman, there has always been a tradition of sacrificing prisoners of war since ancient times; in the eyes of the faithful, offering one's life to the gods is not only not frightening, but also a glorious deed.

Perhaps those folks didn't think that "sacrificing hundreds of thousands of people" was particularly vile.

But hearing all this, Su Lun immediately lost any good feelings towards this so-called "Land of the War God", "Land of Heroes".

Indeed, the ancient alchemists were right to expel these believers of gods.

Some zealots, to humanity, are simply a cancer.

As for the consequences of interrupting the ritual, the priestess didn't know, except that it would lead to "terrible consequences," and everyone in this sea area would die in the "sea ruins," becoming sacrifices.

It included herself.

From the moment they left, these priestesses never intended to return alive.

...

Having extracted those pieces of information, Su Lun digested them quickly, and then barked into the communicator, "Everyone, back to the ship immediately!"

He immediately realized that there was no time to salvage the spoils of war, and they must leave the area at once.

The people at sea were surprised to hear Su Lun's order, and although it was a pity to watch those treasures sink into the sea, everyone began to rush back to the ship on the assault boats.

Qian Tiao listened to Su Lun's serious tone and came back from the sea's surface, asking, "What happened?"

Su Lun's brows were tightly furrowed as he replied, "There might be a major change in this sea area."

Coincidentally, just as he finished speaking, the world suddenly changed color.

The sky was filled with rolling thunder, fierce winds suddenly howled above the sea, and the waves became more and more exaggerated.

In a very short time, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to form a super huge skull shape, with its hollow eyes staring at the three warships of the Dawn Group, as if a deity was observing the mortal world, sending chills down everyone's spine.

Su Lun's eyes narrowed slightly.

He stared at that skull, and the identification display showed "Sea King Drake's Death Projection"; he murmured, "Sea King?"

Tanni also heard something and exclaimed, "Mr. Su Lun, the fish are panicking, it seems like something bad is going to happen!"

The crew reacted instantly, climbing aboard quickly.

"Forget about those spoils of war, get on the ship!"

"If we can't take the assault boats, leave them, grab the ropes!"

"Hurry, pull up the brothers who fell into the water..."

"..."

Luckily, Su Lun had warned the crew in the sea ahead of time, so after some effort, all the crew members got on board without any danger.

By this time, the sky was clouded over and the sea was pitch black. The waves were dozens of meters high, and the three warships seemed as insignificant as leaves, swaying violently.

Buckets of rain poured onto the deck, splashing loudly...

The previously calm seas had suddenly become terrifying.

No one had ever seen waves so exaggerated; in the face of nature's power, human strength seemed so insignificant. Waves of this magnitude could easily sink the Dawn Group's three galleons into the sea in an instant.

In the torrential rain, Tanni, the First Navigator, was desperately commanding.

"Second ship, a forty-five-degree angle, activate the alchemy sails, full speed up the wave!"

"Third ship, secure your inner sails, hard to port, keep up!"

"First ship, remove the cannon's locking chains, let them move with the hull to stabilize it with inertia! Quick, or you'll be flipped by the waves!"

"..."

This kind of storm was not something ordinary navigators could handle; a slight mistake, and everyone would be buried at sea.

At this moment, only Tanni's voice could be heard on the communications channel; everyone was following his command.

Even Su Lun did not interject.

Having previously witnessed Tanni's exceptional ship-handling skills in a severe storm, the Dawn Group had absolute trust in him.

So even if the orders sounded like a "march to death," everyone complied fully, busying themselves at their posts.

The newly joined Arbitration Group members were professional soldiers. They had the resolve to absolutely obey military orders, even if they were not familiar with Tanni, the "First Navigator," they did not question him.

If it was a motley crew of ordinary pirates, they would have been wiped out by the first wave.

The three warships sailed through the giant whirlpools several sea miles in diameter, with waves dozens of meters high, like bizarre cliff-like sea gorges... They seemed to be about to be completely overturned by the waves several times, but they miraculously made it out each time.

Wave after wave...

The peril was extreme.

Su Lun, Qian Tiao, Barrett... everyone on the ship looked pale.

Even Pandora, who never liked to join in the excitement, appeared on the deck and looked up at the skull in the sky.

Su Lun was also clear that this was the so-called "punishment from the Sea King."

But in the eyes of an alchemist, the essence of all phenomena is actually the conversion of energy.

These waves were not naturally formed; if the "Sea King" who stirred up such a commotion used a significant amount of energy, it probably wouldn't last long if it couldn't sink the three ships of the Dawn Group.

As Su Lun predicted, after half an hour, the terrifying storm suddenly subsided.

But the dark clouds in the sky did not disperse, and between the sea and the sky was only a faint bluish light.

To Su Lun, it felt a bit like the sky in the "Netherworld," full of gloom.

...

After the storm subsided, aside from some damage to the ships and some supplies lost at sea, fortunately, there were no casualties.

The crew began to busy themselves again.

"Engineers, check the ship for damage and make repairs!"

"Everyone check your equipment; don't let your guard down. Sensing team, take note of the situation in the sea."

"It's getting foggy, turn on the fog lights."

"..."

Thanks to the emergency plan, everyone carried out their duties in an orderly fashion, busily at work.

Meanwhile, on deck.

Su Lun, Qian Jiao, Dr. Banks, and Barrett met up, their expressions solemn as they held a brief meeting.

Su Lun shared the intelligence he had gathered with everyone.

The peril did not seem to startle them much, for it was all part of a maritime adventure.

However, when they heard about the Temple of Aghaparnon's true intention to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of adventurers to the sea, everyone's faces turned grim.

Qian Jiao, "So, from the very beginning, the treasure of Devil's Island was a conspiracy?"

"Yes."

As Su Lun spoke, he pointed at the gloomy sky and said, "The current situation is that Devil's Island is actually a 'Sea Ruin'. The recent waves have brought us to this area. And unfortunately, we are now trapped here..."

The All-knowing Eye had already identified that, soon after the ghostly face appeared in the sky, this space became a 'Sea Ruin'.

'Sea Ruin' is a term from legend, described by minstrels as "the sea's land of the dead," "the place where the Sea God is buried."

It sounds quite romantic.

But in reality, it's a dangerous place.

All who die at sea are said to go to the 'Sea Ruin,' where there are pathways connected to the Netherworld and secrets unknown to man.

It's somewhat like a massive cursed space, but not quite.

The Dawn group is now trapped here.

Even Su Lun suspected that from the very beginning, the High Priest of the temple probably had this in mind.

By this means, to kill that person prophesied.

Once you enter this maritime region, there's no going back.

Su Lun then said, "There's also that mysterious 'Sea King'. I'm not sure what kind of being he is. He could be some false god, or maybe some sea monster but... he must be powerful. The recent storm was likely his handiwork. Of course, the most crucial problem is, we are trapped now and need to find a way out."

With those words, everyone on deck fell silent.

No one had ever been to the Sea Ruin before, so naturally, they had no idea how to leave.

At that moment, Qian Jiao, looking to lighten the heavy mood, spoke up, "Regardless of whether that 'Sea King' is a monster or whatever, if it comes after us, we'll just have to kill it."

She had once witnessed real deities at the Dawn Relic and had slain false gods in the Netherworld.

Therefore, she had no fears in her eyes, nothing that could daunt her.@@novelbin@@

Hearing this, Barrett analyzed, "Indeed, if it comes, we fight. Our strength in the Dawn group is not weak at the moment. It's not very likely that we'll encounter an unbeatable foe. Furthermore, false gods need faith to sustain them. If that 'Sea King' is a false god, then he might not be too strong. Otherwise, he would have taken action during the storm."

Those who have faced life-and-death situations appeared very calm in the face of adversity.

After a pause, he said, "Our biggest issue now should be figuring out how to leave."

Su Lun nodded; he thought the same.

But after inquiring over the communicator, no one knew.

That's when Qian Jiao suddenly suggested, "How about asking Philo? She might know something."

She was still accustomed to referring to Mr. Jing by this pseudonym.

Upon hearing this, Su Lun exclaimed, "Right!"

His senior sister had seen much of the world, and besides, she had a father who had seen even more.

Caught up in thinking of solving the problem on his own, his thoughts had inadvertently become limited.

With that, he directly called Mr. Jing's communicator.

Barrett twitched the corner of his eye, knowing who Su Lun was trying to contact.

Now that he had formally joined the Dawn group, he had come to know the true identity of the Dawn's leader.

There had been countless speculations about the mysterious "Mr. Jing's" identity, yet he could have never imagined that person was actually the daughter of Sir Isaac, the "Alchemical Demigod" from a thousand years ago!

Soon, the communicator connected.

And sure enough, Mr. Jing knew!

"You're trapped in a 'Sea Ruin'? That could be a bit troublesome. My father once visited a 'Sea Ruin' in the Southern Seas. He shared some of his experiences with me. To escape, first you need to find the 'River of the Underworld'. Only by going upstream against its flow can you return. Be cautious, though; the Sea Ruin is full of dead spirits... "

As Su Lun and the others listened, their expressions immediately turned lively.

The term 'dead end' has to be qualified.

To ordinary people, the Sea Ruin is an inescapable doom, but for someone as powerful as Sir Isaac, it might just be a sightseeing spot with a touch of danger, right?

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