Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun never showed mercy to his enemies.

From the moment those guys harbored the intent to kill and seize the treasure, every single one of them who fired their guns had to die.

Perhaps feeling that their numbers were roughly equal, the "Prince Carnap Treasure Hunt Team" still held blind confidence they could win.

Without waiting for the members of the Dawn Group, who were still rapidly gathering in the jungle, to come closer, the would-be baronet Siegel issued an order, and the members of the Prince's team actually made the first move.

Suddenly, the roar of guns and cannons exploded in the air.

Bullets poured down on Su Lun's side like raindrops.

But once the fight began, those guys realized that they had hit a hard spot.

They had overestimated themselves and underestimated the Dawn Group.

Normally, the equipment of the official Luying adventurer groups was many grades higher than that of the civilian groups, and the average combat power of professionals was also much higher. Under normal circumstances, encountering other groups, the advantage would always be on their side.

But just as the fight broke out, the firepower of the "Prince Carnap Treasure Hunt Team" did not have any advantage at all.

In the jungle, fierce return fire responded.

They did not know that the equipment of the Dawn Group was previously seized from the elite units of the North Sea Fleet. Although it was pirate equipment, it was military supplies smuggled over from Mafa. In terms of firepower, it was not inferior to Luying's military equipment, let alone some adventurer groups?

Even though the members of the Dawn Group were still a great distance away, the precise single-soldier cannon shells had already covered the area.

This response speed, tactical arrangement, combat capability, and individual soldier quality...

Anyone with insider knowledge could tell at a glance, these were professional soldiers!

After this attack, the members of the "Prince Carnap Treasure Hunt Team" realized that the enemy in front of them was not some third-rate wild group, but the Luying Royal Knights equipped with Mafa weaponry!

They regretted taking action.

What was thought to be a confident equipment advantage instantly turned into being suppressed.

But they could only continue to fight.

Moreover, during this exchange of fire, a massive disadvantage that made the "Prince's Team" even more desperate immediately became apparent.

Only then did they realize that the gap in high-end combat power was also very large!

....

Barrett watched the enemy make a move, stamped his foot fiercely, and his figure instantly vanished from the spot.

There were several "pop" sounds in the air.

A shadow flashed, and the next moment Barrett had already appeared in front of Siegel. His fist, which twisted the light, was hurled out with full force.

Facing this overwhelming momentum, Siegel's face showed utter horror. He tried to dodge, but he found his body restricted by an eerie force field, unable to move as if he was trapped in a quagmire.

As a sixth-order professional himself, how could he not understand what this meant?

This was suppression by rank, a field of energy created by the laws of power.

This was the sign of a near-seventh-order level!

After just this encounter, Siegel was frightened to his core, crying out in his heart, "He... Barrett has actually condensed a power field?!"

The "Domain" condensed by the seventh order is the watershed for top-tier professionals. The Luying Empire had many geniuses, but this barrier had stopped ninety-nine percent of the people their entire lives.

He hadn't expected Barrett to have half-stepped into the seventh order already?

Moreover, what shocked him even more was yet to come.

With a punch thrown out by Barrett, Siegel barely managed to avoid the critical spot by relying on his lifesaving abilities. But even being hit by that punch, he was sent flying like a cannonball. The punch directly shattered his protective aura and severely damaged his internal organs.

The power was far beyond imagination!

"How is this possible... Wasn't Barrett said to have suffered a great decline in strength due to a severed arm, only retaining the power of a fifth-order?"

Siegel violently spat out a mouthful of dirty blood, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Although he was a sixth-order professional, he was far inferior to a professional soldier like Barrett, who had grown up in the Royal Knight Corps since childhood.

Thinking that the opponent only had the power of a fifth-order, Siegel had been so assertively decisive in taking action.

But now, upon clashing,

It was damn well near the seventh order!

Everyone knew of the great battle in the city-state of Morlos that night. But not many truly knew what had transpired. Almost all attention from various forces was on the "Temple of Aghaparnon Theft" and the "Princess of Frost Moon Assassination" concerns.

Few knew that the people of the Sacred Judgment had been rescued, nor did they know that Barrett, merged with the Hand of Silver, now possessed a strength even stronger than his peak!

"How is it possible, ah, how can a strength-based professional lose an arm yet not decrease in strength but instead become even stronger?"

Siegel couldn't make sense of it at all.

He had previously seen Barrett's silver arm and thought it was a mechanical arm, paying no mind to it.

It was only after taking a beating did he realize that the fist was much stronger than anticipated.

But reality left no room for his regrets, Barrett punched someone and sent them flying, then forcefully stepped forward and gave chase once again, with the intention of thoroughly decimating his foes.

Siegel's face was filled with despair, fully aware that he was no match at all.

"Thud," "Thud," "Thud"...

The force of the punches was like exploding cannon fire.

He could only hastily block them, and after taking a series of heavy blows, his body was sent flying around like a punching bag.

In Siegel's heart, there remained a sliver of hope that his several fifth-tier squadron leaders would come to his aid and together they could encircle Barrett.

But upon seeing the sudden appearance of "thunderous lightning" in the sky, Siegel truly despaired.

That heaven-reaching Sword Qi was sharply imposing from afar, and he could clearly see that his subordinates were each struggling to save themselves, so how could they come to help him?

Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at the six-armed female swordsman, his face ashen, already foreseeing his end.

Inside, his heart was filled with unwillingness and confusion.

The second form of the [Rakshasa Woman], Sword Intent, domineering aura, famous blades...

Such a mighty warrior, wherever placed, would be a person whose name resounded throughout the region. How could there be absolutely no mention of this person at sea?

...

Qian Tiao, with her six arms and six blades, murderously charged into the crowd.

To deal with these people, she didn't even need the third form of [Rakshasa Woman]; just the Thunderous Sword Qi stimulated by the Demon Blade was enough to overpower most of them.

Lower-tier combatants were harvested in swathes, while only those of the third and fourth tiers could barely withstand a few strikes.

It seemed Qian Tiao didn't plan to exert her full power. After killing a wave of people, she targeted the two fifth-tier combatants in Prince Carnap's group.

She fought against the two alone, pressing them into retreat at every turn while still having plenty of energy to spare.

At this moment, the lower-tier combatants from Prince Carnap's treasure-seeking team were utterly astonished.

If all their team leaders were forced back so miserably, what were they to do?

To the side, the only ones who hadn't joined in the battle were 'Red Nose' Myles, the leader of the 'Black Panther Squad', and several dozen core members.

Faced with the choice between a financier and friends, they chose their friends.

Previously, just hearing from Su Lun that he knew Barrett may have made the decision difficult.

But now, with Barrett miraculously appearing before them, where would they take action?

If it weren't for a life-and-death friendship, Myles wouldn't have pulled strings to buy the loyalty of several members from a holy team.

Besides, the Black Panther Squad had no ties with the other teams; they were merely strangers on the same path, each paid to be there.

Moreover, he was now extremely relieved that he had not taken action.

This "Dawn Squad," though not famous, had strength that was certainly not to be underestimated!

Whether it was their equipment or that female swordsman, their power was surprisingly strong.

Myles thought if his old friend, known as 'Ferocious Beast' Alek Barrett, was helping out, the Dawn Squad would definitely not suffer a loss in this battle.

But thinking this, thinking this...

Myles was also seized by a trace of doubt.

He turned his gaze towards the young man who was wounded.

The very person who had caused his magical pet 'Beibei' to feel extremely uneasy from the first time they met was right before his eyes.

So what about him... would make the spirit leopard feel "extremely dangerous"?

He didn't seem to exhibit any special traits.

Before the members of the Black Panther Squad could dwell on their doubts,

At that moment,

An assassin from the Prince's team, a fourth-tier combatant, set his sights on Su Lun.

After all, being a battle-hardened high-tier assassin, he made his own judgment.

He saw that Su Lun's identity was absolutely not simple, and he thought to either kill or capture this key figure to perhaps turn the tide of the battle.

Amidst the intense battle, the assassin used a large tree to conceal himself and then stealthily entered a state of stealth.

On the battlefield, it seemed no one noticed his existence.

The injured young man appeared to have no awareness at all.

'Red Nose' Myles saw it, his gaze sharply narrowing. Just as he was about to say something was amiss, hesitating on whether to speak up and warn them,

It was at that moment, out of nowhere, a winged creature teleported in front of the young man. With no forewarning, it reached out with a grab, pulling the fourth-tier assassin, who was hidden in the air, out of stealth. Before the man could react, the winged creature struck with a heavy blow, smashing the assassin hard into the ground with a "boom," creating a spiderweb of cracks on the surface.

It was then that everyone clearly saw that the winged creature was actually a metallic automaton.

"A Puppet Master? What kind of automaton is this?"

Myles frowned deeply at the sight of the automaton with its dark golden sheen, which even made him, a fifth-tier professional, feel a sense of crisis.

It turned out that this puppet was the source of the young man's calm composure.

The members of the Black Panther Group all revealed a sudden realization, and it was fortunate that they hadn't had a conflict the first time they met, otherwise this puppet would have indeed been a big problem.

But the black panther became restless at the sight of Su Lun suddenly getting up.

Myles felt the anxious emotion of his companion that "wanted to flee immediately" and suddenly woke up, looking at Su Lun and exclaiming in his mind, "No, it's not the puppet that Beibei fears! He... he has another ace up his sleeve!"

...

The battle erupted in an instant; the troops of the Dawn Group had not yet assembled, and Su Lun did not want these treasure-hunting killers to escape.

He had almost finished assimilating the stripped knowledge and could now spare the energy to deal with these scoundrels.

Although his physical injuries were indeed serious, for a Puppeteer, combat power was not solely in the physical body.

The gargoyle continued to hammer down heavy punches on the fourth-tier assassin, but Su Lun did not take another look.

With both hands forming sorcerer's seals, quickly behind him condensed eight-armed spider spears, and a giant cross in the sky instantly solidified.

With one hand, he pulled out two sealed scrolls, and exclaimed, "Unseal!"

A series of spatial fluctuations burst forth, and hundreds of differently shaped runic puppets appeared before his eyes.

The "Prince Group" used the complex terrain of the rainforest to engage in guerrilla warfare, and even with the Dawn Group in pursuit, the killing efficiency was not high, and it came with great risk.

However, to charge through the jungle, puppets could not be more suitable. Find your next read at My Virtual Library Empire

With the eight-armed spider spears behind Su Lun unfurling, the puppets charged into the forest emitting "click-click" noises that made one's skin crawl.

Even without looking, he could easily sense the location of those people's souls.

When encountering a difficult opponent, a few slashes of the black scythe in his hand could swiftly decapitate them.

Su Lun harvested the lives of his enemies with an expressionless face, while the gargoyle protected his surroundings, capable of both fighting and defending, not feeling the slightest threat from the enemies that outnumbered them by hundreds.

Once the puppet army made its move, the enemy completely lost any advantage they had.

Seeing this, the bystanders from the "Black Panther Group" were utterly dumbfounded.

The operation of this one person controlling hundreds of puppets stunned these adventurers who had seen the world in Emperor Luying's domain.

And it was only now that "Red Nose" Myles understood why "Beibei" was so uneasy.

The strength of this young man in front of him was truly frightening.

A single person facing a large adventure group of several hundred, not falling behind in the slightest,

also meant that he could just as easily kill them, the Black Panther Group!

Luckily they had not made an enemy of him...

Cold sweat streamed down Myles' forehead.

Just then, the main force of the Dawn Group finally arrived.

They charged into the forest, forcing the "Prince Group" enemies into a retreat.

...

The fate of the Prince Group's annihilation was sealed from the moment they decided to trouble the Dawn Group.

The battle in the jungle was extremely bloody, with corpses everywhere; the Dawn Group swept through with an overwhelming force.

After the main force arrived, Su Lun joined forces with Qiantiao to kill those two fifth-tier leaders, then they surrounded and attacked the sixth-tier together.

Barrett's combat strength was now very strong, originally killing Siegel wouldn't have taken too much effort, but for some reason, it had taken longer than expected. To end the battle quickly, they all joined in to help.

Before long, the battle was over.

Siegel was slain on the spot.

Under normal circumstances, it would be Su Lun's turn to harvest knowledge.

But while stripping the soul of this man, Su Lun also peeled away some strange things.

"You have stripped the soul of 'Siegel Kuhn'"

"You have comprehended some 'Fragments of Calamity Law'"

"You have acquired knowledge on 'Magic Energy Firearms'"

"You have learned some intelligence about Emperor Luying's capital"

"You have a piece of obsession: 'I am a member of the 'Giant Hermit Society', the great master has bestowed upon me extraordinary powers, enabling my advancement to the sixth tier...'"

"Spiritual Power +11.2"

"..."

Su Lun had stripped the souls of sixth-tier professionals before, but the amount of knowledge he gained from Siegel was far greater.

This was like... a half-baked sixth-tier.

Moreover, he stripped a very strange piece of information from him; this guy was clearly an alchemist, yet he was a member of something called the "Giant Hermit Society."

That appeared to be a "religious organization."

The corpse's memories revealed an unmistakable reverence for a certain existence.

Su Lun wanted to know more about that mysterious organization, but he discovered that some key memories had been erased, such as the object of worship and the ritual processes...

He stood beside the corpse with a furrowed brow, pondering for a moment.

Now that the Luying royal family had issued a new decree proclaiming freedom of religion, indeed many strange cults had emerged within the territory of Luying.

It would not be easy to use external forces to achieve a breakthrough from the fifth to the sixth rank.

Thinking of something, he turned to Barrett, who also looked puzzled, and asked, "Mr. Barrett, what do you think?"

Barrett pondered for a moment, "It's a bit like that 'heretic' we encountered before."

"I think so too."@@novelbin@@

Su Lun nodded as well.

It was in Cursed Valley that Barrett had lost an arm, a gift from that "heretic".

As he said this, he suddenly beckoned with his finger.

The strands of thread in between immediately tensed and sharpened like a scalpel, then made a cut across the corpse's chest and extracted a blood-drenched heart.

At first glance, there appeared to be a blood-red worm entwined around the heart.

The worm, seemingly sensing the presence of the living, stretched out its body like a bloodthirsty leech, reaching out in all directions.

Seeing this, Su Lun's pupils suddenly narrowed as he thought, "It's really this thing!"

He immediately called out through the communicator, "Dr. Banks, could you come over here?"

Dr. Banks had a great interest in odd and peculiar creatures and had conducted extensive research on them.

He carefully examined the heart that Su Lun had placed into a glass jar, mumbling to himself, "This worm seems to be a creature from an extraplanar space. The Plane of Calamity? Oh, that sounds like a very bad place. I've read about it in some ancient text before."

Su Lun was at a loss with the worm but felt it might be significant, saying, "This worm can't live for more than a few days outside the body, not even in a reanimated corpse."

Dr. Banks replied, "Hmm. I'll give it a try. I should be able to keep it alive longer."

...

Once the battle was over, it was time for the joyful task of harvesting the spoils.

There were vast treasures in the Crystal Palace, and the members of the Dawn Group excitedly transported them to the surface.

Before long, the treasures on the shore had piled up into a mountain.

All kinds of riches glinted in the sun, dazzling the eyes.

"Be careful, everyone; Mr. Su Lun said not to go deep into the Crystal Palace..."

"Hey, Jack, just pile those gold coins to one side; this is the box for magic treasures—don't waste space with gold coins!"

"Oh, the [Elemental Ivory] has a strong curse property; Hannah, bring a sealing box to Captain Black Feather!"

"Let's pack up the treasures first, then dismantle those crystal structures and put them on the shore!"

"Right, Team Three, if you can dig out those stone carvings and statues, especially the ones with inscriptions and bas-reliefs... Hey, brothers of the Steam Team, your mechanical arms have some serious work to do."

"..."

Some were counting, others recording, while yet others carefully distributed and packed up the treasures.

For an average adventure group, the treasure inside this Crystal Palace would've been impossible to handle; even seeing it would mean not being able to take it away.

Because there was just too much.

The members of the Dawn Group went from the initial shock, excitement, and ecstasy to later feeling numb, as if picking up gold coins was as mundane as picking up stones.

In this ruin, the least valuable treasures were the various gold and silver artifacts.

With a thousand members in the Dawn Group, each person carried at least one half-cubic storage ring, but even then, after strapping all their gear on their backs, they were filled to the brim.

Eventually, they could only pack up the excess and leave it on the ground.

Moving so many treasures to the ship would have been a time-consuming and laborious task.

Fortunately, they had Su Lun.

Su Lun's principle for treasure hunting was clear: as long as there was no danger, scavenge every part of the Crystal Palace.

Including the palace itself.

The crystal pillars, each longer than a typical sea vessel, were impossible to move unless broken down, which would have been a shame as their value would drastically decrease.

Such large natural crystals were exceedingly rare, used in certain super-large alchemical arrays, valuable commodities not found in the outside world.

The crossers of the Dawn Group disassembled them one by one and hoisted them out of the water with cranes, then piled them up on the shore.

Su Lun's "Little Void World" also came into great use; although it drained a lot of his shadow spiritual power, he managed to fit those large objects in, one little piece at a time, like ants moving a house.

This time, the Dawn Group reaped a great harvest.