Mechanical Alchemist

Actually, sometimes when a crisis becomes too overwhelming, it strangely makes people feel less pressured.

Su Lun preferred being a pirate over being some idle prince. The sense of crisis from plane invasion wasn't even as intense as facing an enemy like the "Top Ten Legendary Hunters."

It was the same for Qian Tiao.

That gambling-addicted woman only had Sword Dao in her eyes. After hearing those reports, the only change in her was that the Sword Intent hidden in her eyes became three points sharper.

Su Lun organized the intelligence and mentioned it to Mr. Jing through a communicator.

His own senior sister was the person to carry the flag in the plane war. Let those reports give her a headache.

An unexpected skirmish that can hardly be called a great battle brought a minor episode to everyone in the Dawn Group, and they resumed their normal naval routine.

Su Lun and Qian Tiao, having some rare leisure time, sat on the mast of the sailboat, pouring some clear wine they brought from Mountain Hermit and began drinking.

The sea breeze caressed their faces, and the setting sun cast a fiery red glow on the surface of the sea.

The sea breeze also carried a leisurely and carefree scent.

But still, that's easy to say.

While chatting and drinking with Qian Tiao, Su Lun was also replaying the previous battles in his mind.

Having personally slain four seventh-tier mages, he gained a precise concept of the extraordinary system of another plane.

Alchemists are inherently seekers of truth. With a reference for combat power, most of their doubts suddenly dispersed.

Extraordinary power is always obtained step by step. The strong ones from other planes, except for the ethereal god-tier, no longer seemed like an invincible flood of ferocious beasts.

"Legion wars huh..."

Images of war floated in Su Lun's mind.

It was a pure world of magic and fighting spirit, devoid of any machinery, not even cannons.

But a magic barrage from ten thousand mages, the might unleashed was even more exaggerated than tens of thousands of cannons firing simultaneously.

And magic isn't limited by the barrels of guns, it's flexible and varied.

Techniques like "Meteor Fire Rain," "Storm Technique," "Earthquake Technique," "Tsunami Technique"...

Alone, a mage using these might not do much harm, but when a group of mages use them together, the power... could destroy cities and obliterate all life within minutes!

Below god-tier, in front of the top-tier mage legions of that plane, all were mere cannon fodder.

Thinking this, Su Lun felt increasingly optimistic about his "Legion Puppetry style."

Moreover, a major piece of good news was that during that battle, he also discovered that his "Gargoyle" was a natural counter to mages.

"Living Silver," a divine-class material, almost had perfect resistance against all types of magic. So though mage legions were formidable, if they faced a gargoyle legion... the scene would be unimaginably splendid.

Plus, gargoyles could nearly inscribe any rune, meaning they could possess the effects of any rune puppet.

If there could eventually be thousands, tens of thousands of gargoyles...

A mage legion?

The sight of a group of gargoyles charging through a mage legion is truly something to look forward to.

Just as Su Lun thought of this, he frowned, "But... where would I find so much 'Living Silver'?"

The gargoyle he had was collected by Barrett in the God Burial Ground, where there might be more silver mines underground. But it was too dangerous, unthinkable for now.

"I wonder if the Mafa Empire, known for its mining, might have a clue..."

Su Lun thought of something and could only hope that this trip to Mafa would yield some results.

...

Several days later, Dawn Group had sailed to the edge of the region marked on the official sea charts of Lu Ying.

"Gold Digger Island" was in this desolate and uninhabited sea.

Legends say that deep-sea leviathans frequently appeared in these waters, along with harsh and unpredictable weather.

On normal days, no merchant ships would pass by, and even if an adventure ship or a fishing boat blown away by storms ended up there, none were heard to have returned alive.

Over time, even pirate ships would detour around such dangerous waters.

And these kinds of hazardous areas were countless in the western sea, unnoticed by many.

Now, however, Su Lun knew there was a secret base here, and those rumors were likely deliberately constructed by Duke Raphael to protect it with false claims.

As they neared their destination, Su Lun didn't stay cloistered in the captain's cabin cultivating.

He held a rune-inscribed black umbrella at the bow, constantly watching everything nearby.

The shared vision with the sky crows allowed him to see the gigantic island more than twenty sea miles away.

That was "Gold Digger Island."

The island was lush and green, appearing no different from a common deserted island.

The Night Forever deliberately took a wide berth, approaching the island from its west side to avoid the densely guarded area organized by Rafael on the eastern side of the island.

Just then, Tanni suddenly jumped down from the mast and reported, "Mr. Su Lun, the fish told me that there are some strange creatures lurking in the sea over there—likely mechanical beasts. If we get any closer, we might be discovered."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun nodded thoughtfully, "Hmm."

He knew all too well that although the island seemed unguarded, those mechanical creatures hidden in the sea were the best scouts.

Any apporaching strangers would not only be noticed by people on the island but probably also be sunk.

Luckily, they had Tanni with his "ability to listen to the voice of sea beasts"; otherwise, nobody would be able to approach Gold Digger Island undetected.

However, Su Lun glanced at Tanni, the First Navigator who had advanced to the third rank within just a few months.

After the Planar Gates were connected, the laws of nature had gradually perfected, making job promotions increasingly accessible. Especially in the low-rank professional realm, the first to third ranks had never been much of a threshold, but now it was as easy as drinking water—as long as one was overflowing with spiritual power, advancement was almost ensured.

After his rank promotion, Tanni also became more adept in using his innate abilities.

Seeing this, Su Lun didn't delay any longer and called out to the people on board, "Brothers, those who are ready to raid, prepare for action."

"Haha, we've finally got the chance."

"..."

At this outburst, the prepared members of the Dawn Group excitedly began to shout.

Qiantiao also came over, wielding a knife-ready expression, "Are we going straight to the island?"

"No, let's sneak in first."

Su Lun shook his head.

Although a direct invasion wasn't much of a problem for the current Dawn Group, looking at the distant island, he still chose the most prudent method, "From the battle at Old Lington, I discovered that an indispensable part of Rafael's mechanical beast legion is the 'Beast Tamer'. If I'm not wrong, the Great Beast Tamer who has been out of public sight among the ten legendary hunters should also be on the island. If my guess is accurate, we wouldn't be able to defeat him quickly even with an eighth-rank professional. Moreover, if discovered prematurely, there might be other mishaps in the laboratory. We're here to raid treasures, there's no need for tough confrontations..."

Listening, Qiantiao shrugged her shoulders, "Okay!"

She wasn't good at plotting, and with Su Lun around, she didn't want to bother thinking too much.

The group entered Su Lun's miniature void domain, and Su Lun wrapped himself with the "Ozz Ice Man's Shroud", becoming invisible while completely masking his presence.

...

Just as the Dawn Group approached Gold Digger Island, underground on the island, in a secret mechanical research facility.

A technician, clad in a crisp white lab coat, was secretly exchanging words with a guard.

"This is the design blueprint for Mechanical Beast A3. Take it back to the empire during the next supply run. Also, tell the military department to send more people over. With enough manpower, I am confident I can seize control of this research facility. These devices and scientific talents are crucial, saving us decades of research time, and we absolutely cannot afford any mishaps!"

"Yes, Colonel Sir!"

"Another thing, the research facility has recently planned the mechanical transformation of high-tier sea monsters, and I suspect there are top-tier professionals on the island. Notify the military department, no matter whose intelligence forces are involved, absolutely do not let them approach the island's nearby marine area carelessly! No one should come probing, or it will interfere with my plans. Once places like the mines in Old Lington get militarily blockaded, it'll be difficult to obtain these technologies..."

"Yes!"

If anyone else were here, they would be astonished by the conversation between the two.

No one would expect that Duke Rafael's fiercely guarded secret research base had already been infiltrated by spies from the Mafa Empire.

...

Su Lun teleported several times and had already appeared on Gold Digger Island.

The place was characterized by a rainforest climate, with tall trees covering the sky and blocking the sun.

The forest was teeming with various animals, a vibrant scene of life. Monkeys leaping from branch to branch, vipers coiling under dry leaves, fish swimming in the streams, and deer grazing in the meadows...

It all appeared no different from a normal tropical island.

But nobody saw that some animals had their epidermis scraped off by branches revealing a metallic luster under the sunlight.

Quietly, a transparent figure appeared standing on the dry leaves.

A passing lizard, sensing this subtle disturbance, sniffed around but detected nothing and moved on.

Su Lun looked around; he detected many soul fluctuations and didn't dare to be careless.

Snakes, insects, rats, and ants inherently possessed extraordinary perceptive abilities—even with odor-masking potions, a human exposed in the air could be detected by animals miles away.

And any small animal on the island could potentially be a "spy" for the Beast Tamer.

Su Lun found a direction with fewer soul fluctuations and teleported again.

Looking again, he had already appeared in a secluded cave.

After expanding his perception, he murmured to himself, "There are very strong soul fluctuations on the island; it seems this is the place."

From appearances, the island showed no abnormalities.

But within Su Lun's perception, this island, spanning several kilometers in diameter, housed several beasts with at least sixth-rank soul fluctuations.

This was highly abnormal.

It wasn't strange for an island to have high-rank magical beasts, but they still had to conform to the basic supply and demand ecology of the natural world's food chain.

This island couldn't support so many high-rank magical beasts.

This anomalous situation made it easy to speculate on the only result, that high-level magical beasts were being tamed here on the island.

"That means the secret base is underground here..."

Su Lun realized this and confirmed the location.

Previously stripped information had only revealed that the island housed one of Rafael's research bases, but how to enter it remained unknown.

Rafael's bases always strictly separated combat personnel from research staff, which was why his base had not been discovered by outsiders for many years.

Although he had not sensed any underground space, Su Lun was not surprised.

The only reasonable explanation was that the research base was very deeply hidden.

He cautiously set up an isolating formation and then summoned a wax statue of an earth element.

Just like when searching for the altar of the outer god in Old Lington, as the statue became elemental, Su Lun merged into the soil with it.

He did not intend to look for any entrance but simply drilled directly underneath.

Fortunately, he was not discovered as he descended.

About two thousand meters down, Su Lun suddenly sensed a huge space beneath the ground.

Moreover, that space was filled with dense soul fluctuations.

"Found it!"

A joy surged in Su Lun's heart.

He pinpointed a direction and with a blink, he was already in a bustling mining city.

...

"Indeed, it's an underground vein. And these traces seem to be from over a hundred thousand years ago..."

Perched on a rock wall, Su Lun examined the ancient mining traces.

That is to say, this mine was also an ancient relic.

It existed before Duke Rafael began his excavation operations.

Seeing this mine, Su Lun also felt somewhat emotional; Duke Rafael's luck was truly good, not only discovering Old Lington but also finding such ancient mining relics.

This subterranean space spanned several hundred meters, and in the distance, a city almost entirely constructed of steel sprawled out.

In Su Lun's perception, the city was teeming with humans, likely numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

With so many humans around, Su Lun did not worry about being discovered.

After observing for a while, he tore off the shroud, performed a magician's quick change, and donned a shabby miner's outfit.

Another instantaneous movement, and he was already in an empty room in a high-rise building within the city.

Su Lun stood by the window, gazing at the bustling street below.

The city resembled a massive "steel mill," with iron pipes everywhere and many high-rise buildings, some up to twelve to twenty stories tall; nearly all buildings were steel structures, and the air was thick with a strong scent of rust and smelting waste gases.

Steam boilers hissed white smoke throughout the city, while countless smelting workshops varied in size. It was easy to see that the city was highly mechanized, though technically not very advanced.

The entire city resembled a steel monster hidden deep underground, continuously devouring stones and expelling gold.

"To have so many rare metal resources, just how rich must this vein be..."

Su Lun assessed and found that the building materials were not ordinary steel but rather alloy steel that fetched high prices in the outside world.

Were these rare metals not refined but directly used to build houses?

The only explanation was that the mine's resources were luxurious enough to afford such extravagance.

Su Lun's eyes twitched slightly, and his anticipation grew: this time, he might make a fortune...

Looking ahead, right nearby was a colossal ore refining plant.

Inside the workshop, countless workers were busy refining ores into metal ingots and then loading them onto carts for transportation.

As Su Lun looked on, he spotted a steam train's boiler roaring as it moved along the dedicated railway track to the factory floor.

"Clang, clang, clang"...

The ore car hauled a load of ores in.

Su Lun observed the colorful ores in the wagons, his eyes slightly narrowing in surprise, "Rainbow ore? The quality is exceptionally high!"

A rainbow vein does not refer to a specific type of ore but to various rare metals mixed together to form a rich vein.

Magical-patterned brass, mithril, black iron, threaded steel...

These rare metals mixed together reflected a variety of dazzling colors.

In the outside world, a purity over "20" is already considered a valuable rich mine.

The high purity ores identified here commonly had an "purity 25," "purity 29," "purity 27"... exceptional purity levels.

Taking it out to sell in the outside world, one cart would be worth a million lisuo.

Looking at the numb expressions of the workers, was this just ordinary ore?

"This... no wonder..."

Su Lun looked on with immense envy.

In an instant, he had understood why Duke Rafael was so wealthy and had been able to manufacture those hundreds of thousands of mechanical soldiers!

The value of these mine pits was definitely enough to rival that of a nation.

It looked like the Rafael family had been operating here for decades, who knew how much wealth they had accumulated!

....

Su Lun observed silently from a higher position for a while, then teleported again, having already stepped out from a small alley, quietly blending into the crowd on the main street.

"To think it already had such a large scale..."

Su Lun, looking at the bustling city before him, also felt unexpectedly light.

His memory flickered momentarily, and he thought he had returned to the underground world of Old Lington that never saw daylight.

But the situation here was slightly different.

Old Lington had once been an ancient city relic itself, its main industries being mechanical military, biological research, and hunting for treasures, although the industrial chain was malformed, yet it was similar to a normal city.

This place, however, was purely a mining pit that had been dug out, from which a densely populated city had sprung.

Moreover, merely observing the dirt-covered clothing of people on the street, the occupational structure here was also very singular, almost entirely "miners"!

Hundreds of thousands of miners!

Su Lun perceived the spatial structure below and discovered a web-like network of passages, and he had no idea how deep the mine stretched.

As he walked along, he also saw some shops selling basic materials and alchemy knowledge, but even more were shops for mechanical modifications.

There was a great likelihood of bodily impairments among the miners, so mechanics-equipped limbs could be seen everywhere on the streets. Some "advanced miners" were equipped with mechanical exoskeletons, not for fighting, but for more efficient mining and heavy lifting.

Potion shops, food stores, various living essentials outlets, and for entertainment, there were inns, pubs, and public baths.

The commercial ecosystem of Steel City was well-established, capable of maintaining the lives of these hundreds of thousands of people.

.....

Su Lun walked along the street.

In his soul perception, they were all uniformly low-tier professionals and ordinary people.

Miners did not need much combat power, he hadn't seen a single third-tier professional on his way.

Duke Rafael controlled the necessary "Sun God Stone" for advancing to the fourth tier, all the people in this mine were unable to break through to the fourth tier.

People's complexions were pale from never seeing the sun all year round, but from their features, it was evident that they were not only from various places in Luying but also from Mafa.

The origins of the population were clearly from slaves brought from various places.

This was exactly the same scenario as Old Lington.

Among the pedestrians on the street, besides miners, there were also a few armed professionals. Listening to their conversations, these were the "Hunting Teams" responsible for killing the burrowing beasts in the mine.

While Su Lun strolled and observed on the main street, he turned down a noisy street and happened to encounter a returning hunting team smelling of blood.

The leader was a third-tier bearded burly man.

This was already the strongest professional Su Lun had seen in this city.

As they walked, people greeted them as if welcoming heroes

"Hi, Captain Mark, you're back. Did you clean up those damned cave rats in Zone T5? We're running low on meat at the cannery."

"Of course. Not only are the rats taken care of, but we also discovered a new vein of purple gold. Oh, the fellows assigned to mine there next month are lucky; they'll not only meet the Town Lord's monthly quota but also save up a hefty sum."

"Haha, young Mark, with this mission completed, you should be able to join the inner city guard, right? Oh, that's a life of worry-free living for you."

"Uncle Ward, here's hoping. Your Aike is joining the hunting team this year, right? I'll have my teammates look after him..."

"Oh, that's so kind of you. You should head home now, your beautiful wife Joanna is waiting for you..."

"Hey. Then I'll be off, let's get a drink next time."

"..."

It was just some very ordinary neighborhood gossip, with a simple community spirit.

These conversations might sound incredible to an outsider.

But Su Lun, coming from Old Lington, felt it all too deeply.

These "miners" had their memories wiped clean, unknowing of the outside world.

If not for outsiders, they would spend their lives in this "underground world," continuing on to the next generations.