Mechanical Alchemist

Today the weather is fine and visibility at sea is high.

Su Lun and Thousand Sashes went up to the deck, leapt onto the mast, and then they saw a medium-sized warship following them far away on the distant horizon.

Taking out a spyglass, they saw the ship flying a flag with a crocodile mouth and skull, the insignia of the dominant Western Sea fleet.

"King of the Western Sea," Morlock Poppen, was also a veteran at the eighth-tier, with a bounty of 7.655 billion lyso. His fleet's total manpower was even proclaimed to surpass that of Oleg from the North Sea.

But in terms of strength, they were a notch below.

After Morlock advanced to the eighth-tier, he had two recorded battles among his peers. He fought against Oleg over a hunting ground division but didn't win; he was also defeated by a commander from the Luying Navy.

The assessment from the Bounty Hunters Guild was that he barely crossed the threshold of the eighth tier.

Su Lun, observing the angle of the sails on that ship, knew that those fellows were indeed tracking them.

"Are they really coming for us?"

Su Lun pondered to himself, somewhat puzzled by their motives.

Since their last battle in the Morlos city-state, which severely weakened the King of the North Sea's fleet, the "Dawn Group" had become well-known among pirate circles.

Within these circles, strength and fame served as a pass.

Normally, to avoid discord, there are certain groups one simply does not follow.

Moreover, they had no significant conflicts with this group of Western Sea pirates.

Thousand Sashes was much more straightforward, shouting an order, "Truda, signal them with flags to leave, or we'll sink them if they keep following."

"Yes!"

A voice responded, and the sailor at the top of the mast sent out the flag signal.

Through the spyglass, it was clear that someone on the opposing ship had seen them, yet there was no reaction.

Seeing this, Su Lun mused, "Tsk, tsk, this is getting interesting."

However, the Dawn Group was not afraid of a bunch of pirates with their current strength. Unless Morlock himself came, these people were hardly worth noticing.

His eyes shifted as he said to Thousand Sashes beside him, "I'll head over there."

Since they'd already greeted them and they still weren't leaving, there was no need for pleasantries.

Thousand Sashes also placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, intuition telling her that there was something fishy about today's turn of events. "Be careful," she said.

"Mhm."

Su Lun nodded, glancing at Mr. Crow lazily perched on his shoulder, who hadn't made any comment.

Then, in a blink, he had vanished from the deck.

....

Meanwhile, aboard the "White-headed Eagle."

This was the main battleship of the 11th squadron of the Western Sea's second fleet. The squadron's captain, "Poisonous Jellyfish" Mori Vilard, was observing the distant black-sailed ship through his spyglass on the deck.

That moment, the sailor at the top of the mast shouted, "Captain, they're signaling us with flags, telling us to leave or they'll sink us!"

On hearing this, Mori scoffed, "Hehehe, since when can anyone address the Western Sea fleet in such a tone on this sea?"

Upon hearing his remark, numerous underlings chimed in.

"The captain is right! What the hell is this Dawn Group, even daring to warn us? We're not like those North Sea losers who let a small pirate group escape from hundreds of thousands of us."

"Exactly. They think because they've made a bit of a name for themselves, they can mess around in the Western Sea?"

"..."

Pirates all have a rebellious streak, especially those from dominant pirate groups. Their members are all unruly and insubordinate.

Whether or not they could win in a fight was another matter, but their rowdy insults would never fall short first.

The clamor among the crowd was nonstop.

Yet, someone in the squadron expressed concern, "But... Captain, the Dawn Group managed to cause serious trouble for Oleg from the North Sea, so their strength must be considerable. By following them like this, could we not trigger an unnecessary conflict? I've heard the Dawn Group's leader is an eighth-tier..."

Mori shook his head, unconcerned, "We're not going to fight them; just keep following. And the boss said, that eighth-tier from Dawn is currently in the Senodia province, not on the ship. Besides, the message has been sent out, we'll just wait for those big shots to handle it."

As he said that, he looked toward the distant black-sailed ship and added, "Tsk, tsk... you never know, our fleet might just gain a Sea Emperor battleship from this."

At those words, the throng of underlings burst into laughter.

With the eighth-tier absent, it seemed like there was suddenly no pressure.

"Captain, who exactly are these big shots at headquarters, so arrogant and overconfident? They don't seem like those noble royals from Luying..."

"Who knows? The boss told us to follow their orders, so that's what we'll do. As long as they're paying well, who cares who they are."

"..."

While the crew was still joking in ignorance, a hint of unease crossed Mori's eyes.

As the squadron captain, naturally, he knew more than the others.

Intuition told him there was something off about this tailing mission.

But then again, he thought, even if a fight broke out, with his capabilities, he could escape even if he couldn't win—as long as the eighth-tier from the Dawn Group wasn't there, there weren't many in the sea who could kill him.

It seemed there wasn't much to worry about.

However,

just as this thought formed,

an unexpected turn of events occurred!

...

Ripples flickered in the void, and a figure holding a black umbrella with a black crow perched on his shoulder appeared out of thin air above the battleship.

That look was almost instantly recognized by all the pirates on the ship—it was the notorious killer from the Dawn Group, the "Death" Su Lun!

The pirates on the ship, facing the young man who looked down on them from above, had initially been hoping he wouldn't dare to act.

After all, this was the Western Sea, and any passing pirate group owed them some respect.

If they really attacked, Lord Morlock would personally come after them.

Merely tailing them wasn't sufficient reason for such a deadly enmity.

Yet Su Lun swept a cold glance, devoid of any hint of "consideration" in his eyes.

It was that single glance that made Mori's eyes abruptly contract, understanding the meaning within that indifference.

But what shocked him the most was that he felt absolutely no courage to rebel against this man?

This isn't good!

Mori inwardly cursed his luck, trying to stall for time with words, "Wait, perhaps Your Excellency has some misunderstanding..."

But before he could speak any further, with a flash of light and shadow, the figure was already standing on the deck.

Suddenly, a sense of impending death swept over everyone's hearts like a tsunami.

Despite being alone, he pressured the several hundred people on the ship to hold their breath and break out in cold sweats.

The opportunity had been given earlier, and Su Lun had no intention of bickering with these people. A dark domain that absorbed light spread out from under his feet, and before the pirates could react to what was happening, they fell like wheat at harvest, as if their souls had been sucked out.

In almost the blink of an eye, the corpses lost all vitality, decaying and blackening rapidly.

As the strongest on the ship, Mori didn't die instantly, but his complexion drastically changed: "A domain? Impossible!"

He distinctly felt a strange force rapidly draining his life, making his entire body weaken.

How could it be so terrifying!

Weren't the reports saying that he was only fifth-tier?

Su Lun wouldn't give his enemies any chances. Seeing that this guy was still alive, he teleported a few meters, grabbing his neck in one move.

With a "crack," the terrifying force turned his neck into a crushed tomato.

The sound of bones breaking seemed a bit too brittle. Su Lun frowned slightly at the blood plasma oozing between his fingers.

Just thinking about killing, he squeezed with all his might, not expecting to dirty his hands.

"Still not precise enough with controlling strength..." Su Lun muttered to himself.

The [Isaac's Giant Strength] had increased his power by so much that he couldn't yet control it perfectly.

At the same time, he felt somewhat nostalgic because the fifth-tier pirate captains who once seemed invincible to him now couldn't withstand even a single move in his hand.

...

With the domain of death, taking down this complete pirate crew wasn't much effort for Su Lun.

He didn't delay, harvesting the souls that rose from the bodies on the ship.

In the instant he digested these memories, he understood the entire truth behind the pursuit, murmuring, "So they really were after us..."

The underlings knew very little, but from the captain Mori Vilard's memories, Su Lun found many useful pieces of information.

Not too surprising.

The first piece of news was that beings from the divine plane had already descended.

The second was that they had cooperated with "King of the Western Sea," Morlock Poppen.

Right now, the only ones who would dare trouble them openly, aside from the ambitious Duke Raphael, were likely the Saint Heir with a motive.

Both empires are still identified as the Alchemical Empire; it was unlikely they had become devotees of the gods just yet.

If "Saint" Frank wanted to recruit troops, he inevitably had to rely on some fringe forces.

Pirates were one of the best options.

However, it surprised Su Lun that the people from the divine plane sought out Morlock not for combat but to search for something in the Western Sea?

"Those guys from the divine plane are also looking for the [Mimir's Spring]?"

When Su Lun got to this piece of information, his surprise was not slight.

The name [Mimir's Spring] was something he had decoded from the [Hanged Man] tarot card as the location indicated by the treasure map.

He had guessed it might be related to the origins of the All-knowing Eye talent.

Unexpectedly, beings from the divine plane were also in search of it.

Moreover, these pirates' memories precisely contained this directional name.

In the memories of the captain, those mysterious big shots were also looking for something called "Horseshoe-shaped Island."

This was in high agreement with the intelligence Su Lun had.

With a bit of reflection, it made sense within the grand scheme of things.

The alchemical plane was destroyed during the Dawn Era. It wouldn't be strange for the civilization of the divine plane, if not interrupted, to know some ancient secrets.

Receiving this information simultaneously brought an unexplainable sense of urgency to Su Lun's heart.

He contemplated, "It seems I must make haste to visit Dragon Country soon..."

Knowing those beings were after the [Mimir's Spring], it also directly confirmed something for him.

That was, for a god-level civilization to regard it so highly, the spring must indeed represent a tremendous opportunity!

If possible, he wanted to find it before top-tier powerhouses from the other side arrived.

A chance of this level, if missed, would truly be a pity.

....

Beyond that, there wasn't much useful information in the souls of this gang of pirates.

After digesting their memories, Su Lun felt somewhat lamentable that their information was extremely outdated.

In their minds, he was still only fifth-tier?

But it wasn't really surprising.

Constantly drifting at sea, these pirates sometimes got newspapers that were several months old.

In the memories he stripped away, they didn't even know about the catastrophe in Lynden that happened nearly half a month ago, let alone about the inter-plane channel.

Otherwise, if they had known the detailed current affairs of Dawn, they probably wouldn't have dared to follow so blindly and confidently.

They even didn't know the identity of those "mysterious big shots."

It was Su Lun who inferred that.

```

But now that they knew they were being instructed by someone from the divine plane, the purpose of their visit wasn't hard to guess—they were most likely after Kite, seeking the whereabouts of that coffin as well.

Moreover, given the current situation, some thoughts became clearer.

The main goal of the first batch of divine plane beings who descended to the alchemy plane was treasure hunting.

The "Saint Heir" Frank was no exception.

Because there was no point in rushing into a fight; they could conquer the entire plane, which didn't even have gods, sooner or later once the large-scale invasion commenced.

Instead, now was the time to find some treasures before their kin invaded en masse.

It was like adventurers discovering a large cursed space, and these guys treated this place as a treasure-hunting paradise.

...

"The message has been sent out, which means someone is on our trail..."

Su Lun pondered, but a bold idea flashed through his mind.

If they wanted to be cautious, they should escape right away.

But Su Lun had another plan in mind, carefully assessing to himself, "To subdue an Eighth-Tier Gatekeeper like 'King of the Western Sea' Morlock Poppen, they needed several people to gang up on him and even called upon a god to descend... This means that there are probably no Eighth-Tier beings among those who have arrived so far."

From the memories of those guys just now, he found that none of the people from the divine plane had the characteristic "third eye."

Which meant Saint Frank wasn't there.

And according to Mr. Jing's analysis, the talent "All-knowing True Revelation" was very difficult to awaken to begin with, but to also manifest with the phenomenon of a third eye, made it even rarer.

So, among the group that went to deal with the pirates, there wasn't likely to be anyone with such an extraordinary talent.

The gods don't have the leisure to protect every believer all the time.

Piecing together various clues, Su Lun almost concluded that the combat power of this group wasn't necessarily very high.

They knew very little about the divine plane at the moment and were in desperate need of intelligence to determine how to respond in the future.

And the best method was to capture a few people from the divine plane, kill them, and search their souls.

Now was the best opportunity!

The planar portal hadn't stabilized yet, and the ascending enemies were of a low order. Otherwise, there would be fewer and fewer chances like this once the stronger beings descended.

Moreover!

There was an even more important point.

After the pirate's information became blocked.

Correspondingly, the outsiders from the divine plane likely got their information from the pirates as well, meaning they had little to no information about the Dawn Group!

Those people might not be aware of his and Qian Tiao's combat strength!

This kind of information asymmetry was the most precious opportunity!

With these thoughts, Su Lun decisively made a decision and operated the communicator, "Sister Qian Tiao, I have an idea..."

Qian Tiao, upon hearing about a fight, didn't hedge at all.

With an advance notice, everyone in the Dawn Group sprang into action.

...

Having informed Qian Tiao of the battle arrangements, Su Lun didn't rush to leave and strolled on the pirate ship, scavenging some spoils of war.

Although from his current perspective, the pirates were really poor.

But the equipment and materials of an entire pirate crew were worth quite a bit of money.

Su Lun collected everything he could take and also set up some alchemy formations in preparation for emergencies.

Before long, he suddenly sensed a spatial fluctuation surging a few hundred meters away.

"They arrived quite fast... So, there's a spatial mage," Su Lun raised an eyebrow and glanced over.

Glancing at the crow perched calmly on his shoulder, he felt no urgency at all.

In that instant, he appeared on the deck.

An old man with a white beard who had teleported over was also holding a magic wand, chanting an unintelligible spell.

Watching the intense white light bloom on the magic wand, Su Lun thought, "A seventh-tier space mage, is this the best you've got?"

He could have interrupted the old man's spellcasting if he wanted to, but after some thought, he didn't make a move.

Although the old man seemed like a seventh-tier mage, Su Lun didn't really feel... threatened at all.

However, it was precisely in this moment, when Su Lun deliberately gave the opportunity, that six more figures emerged from the old man's magical portal.

The people who appeared were enveloped by domains around their bodies, obviously seventh-tier professionals.

But Su Lun was puzzled as he observed, "Such weak dominance, how did these guys advance to the seventh-tier?"

This wouldn't have been possible in the alchemy plane, not by a long shot.

Ah, believers advance through the power of the gods.

As Su Lun realized this, he understood.

Seeing people from another plane for the first time, he had already gleaned too much useful information in an instant.

Considering the degree of pressure, Su Lun felt that these divine plane seventh-tiers were far inferior to the alchemy plane's seventh-tiers.

Compared to the several "Top Ten Legendary Hunters" he had encountered before, they had probably only a tenth of the strength.

And with a full seven people having arrived, not a peep from the crow on his shoulder?

Which meant, these people actually posed no fatal threat to him?

In a flash, Su Lun regretted that some of the arrangements he had made in preparation to flee were now wasted.

These guys were far weaker than expected.

Today, without the gods descending, these people were bound to die here.

...

The divine plane folks who saw Su Lun on the ship hadn't yet realized what kind of opponent they were facing.

```

```

Did he seem about the same as an ordinary sixth-tier among the pirates?

Seven people looked at Su Lun with disdain in their eyes.

That condescending look was all too familiar to Su Lun.

Wasn't that the same attitude adopted by the Saint Heir before?

It was probably like the way Americans in the past with hunting rifles looked at Native Americans, right?

It seemed that all their sensory abilities instantly confirmed Su Lun was only sixth-tier.

The seven seventh-tier professionals felt they had him in their grasp. The bearded old man leading them waved his hand grandly, and three of them headed straight for the "Eternal Night Emperor" in the distance.

Leaving just four here.

Su Lun watched but didn't stop them.

Speaking of killing prowess, Qian Tiao could hardly be considered weaker than him. Those three guys heading over there? Hehe...

Just as these folks were about to speak, out of nowhere, Su Lun suddenly made his move!

Even though he didn't perceive these people as threats, he didn't treat them with the slightest contempt when he struck. He stomped his foot fiercely, and with a "snap" sounding crack of Stepping on Air, he shot out like a cannonball.

Fused with "Isaac's Giant Strength," Su Lun's Stepping on Air short distance power made him so fast he couldn't even be seen!

Watching the residual light and shadow of "Su Lun" left in place, the four mages' faces changed dramatically, and they each raised their magic staffs, chanting their spells.

But how fast was Su Lun?

His first target was the white-bearded old man who could use spatial magic.

Only by killing him first, the others would have no chance to escape!

The white-bearded old man, driven by that terrifying intent to kill, felt his scalp go numb. He could have never imagined that a sixth-tier professional could unleash such frightening combat power.

But shock was shock, and the old man's reaction was not slow. As a space mage, he had long been accustomed to being the prime target. His right hand holding the magic wand flashed, and the pages of the magic book in his left hand flipped open, casting the solidified instant spell fluidly.

An invisible ripple of space flowed out, a seventh-tier magic, the "Spatial Compression Barrier," capable of blocking most fatal attacks.

The Spatial Barrier was perfect against all sorts of brute force melee fighters. It appeared to be only a few meters away but was in fact tens of meters distant.

The white-bearded old man breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he finished chanting his spell, and the teleportation magic formula had already taken shape.

One glance and he had already teleported a hundred meters away.

But as soon as he appeared, the killing intent that had locked onto him not only hadn't dissipated but had already arrived right in his face!

"How is this possible?!"

The white-bearded old man couldn't understand how that fellow had caught up so quickly.

But a moment later, after sensing the spatial fluctuation, it dawned on him: This guy was also a practitioner of spatial techniques!

In an instant, the old man's face turned ashen.

Only amongst peers could one judge the depth of their abilities, and it was this spatial fluctuation that made him realize he was actually inferior to his opponent?

Wasn't this man supposed to be a brutal melee fighter? How could he possess such a profound understanding of space law?

As thoughts flashed through his mind, Su Lun didn't give him another chance to act.

To others, the Spatial Barrier might seem tricky, but to him, it was as good as non-existent.

He charged forward, his hand holding a Death Scythe wreathed in black light, and slashed at the old man's waist.

With powerful coiling strength in his arm, the slash was so swift that it was utterly unavoidable!

The black scythe encountered some resistance, but his arm suddenly coiled, a freakish strength enhancing the black scythe handle. After breaking the defense in an instant, he easily cut through the opponent's protective field, and a spurt of blood jetted out.

Too weak!

That dominion and field were the weakest Su Lun had ever seen for a seventh-tier!

They were even inferior to the Death Domain he had condensed.

....

With one slash from Su Lun, the old man wasn't bisected, but his lower abdomen was ripped open, spilling his intestines and inner organs.

Just as Su Lun was about to make another cut, at that moment, a bolt of lightning hacked down from the magic wand of another fellow with a "crack."

Su Lun instinctively dodged the strike of lightning.

The people from the celestial plane hadn't expected this sixth-tier native to be so fierce, injuring one of their own in a single encounter?

Luckily, they worked well together and saved their companion in time.

Having been severely wounded by a slash, the white-bearded old man hurriedly opened his magic book in his off hand, wanting to use his already-prepared teleportation spell again to flee the battlefield for healing.

But far away, Su Lun saw this and his eyes flashed coldly. He raised his hand wearing the "Chronos's Space Gloves," and with a virtual grasp, he seized the air with his fingers.

The white-bearded old man was just about ready to teleport when, to his surprise, after the magic light flickered, he found himself still in the same spot!

Realizing suddenly what had happened, the old man looked at the man in the distance in horror.

The focus tightened, and the man was already up close.

Alchemy wasn't just about spells; they also developed various cursed objects to counteract divine magic!

If Su Lun's first strike could wound, then the second strike against an already severely injured old man would be even more devastating?

He swung the black scythe again, and this time, it severed the old man at the waist!

Su Lun didn't give anyone a chance to save him, swiftly chopping the head and body into several pieces with two more "swish" sounds.

In a moment, a "gray fog" rose from the corpse.

Behind Su Lun, a terrifying shadow of the Grim Reaper emerged, reaping this cloud of gray mist.

Not rushing to assimilate what he had obtained, his gaze then turned to the other three.

....

Having killed one of their seventh-tier companions in just two encounters, the remaining three celestial beings were utterly horrified, shocked on the spot!

This... this native, who was he?!

How could he possess such terrifying combat power?