Mechanical Alchemist

The city wasn't too large, but it resembled a steel forest, with roads crisscrossing in complex patterns.

A large number of steel bridges and lofts constructed a particularly three-dimensional cityscape.

As Su Lun wandered for a while, he roughly figured out some clues.

The biggest building complexes in Steel City were various heavily polluting smelters. But obviously, this was just the raw material processing stage; the real research facility wasn't here.

"I need to find out where that research base is quickly..."

Su Lun, being from Old Lington himself, knew well that these low-level miners couldn't possibly know about the existence of the research facility.

Thinking of asking someone high up, he walked towards a street that clearly belonged to a wealthy neighborhood.

There were no boilers spewing toxic gases here, and the air was significantly fresher.

He hadn't gone far when Su Lun stopped, uttering a soft, "Huh..."

Because he sensed that within a small building a few hundred meters away, there were several third-order professionals.

This concentration of top-tier combat power in the mining pits wasn't normal; there must be some important individuals there.

Su Lun didn't think twice and walked straight over.

Before he could get close, he heard a woman's scream of violation, "No! Sir, please, don't do this. My husband is Mark, he is the hunting team leader..."

Then came a sleazy male voice, "Hehehe... now that you've mentioned it, I'm even more excited! Mark that bastard always likes to stand up for a bunch of poor souls, troubling my father, right? Today, I'll make him see, with all his might, he can't even protect his own wife!"

Followed by the sound of clothing being torn and pleas for mercy.

Su Lun frowned as he listened and quickly understood the situation from the dialogue.

Indeed, the story of the powerful oppressing both men and women was the same everywhere.

The guy committing the act was making quite some noise, but in such a large neighborhood, no one dared to come out to check.

However, hearing the name "Mark," Su Lun found it somewhat familiar.

Wasn't this the hunting team leader he had seen just now while passing by?

Su Lun raised an eyebrow and walked over calmly.

At that moment, however, a burly figure rushed towards the small building even faster than him, breaking through the blockade of three third-order professionals on the ground floor and made it upstairs in an instant.

"George, you despicable bastard!"

"Daring to attack the inner city guards is a capital offense, Mark, do you know what you are doing!"

"..."

Then came the sound of fighting.

It soon quieted down.

Su Lun sensed the movement inside the building and walked over unhurriedly.

He teleported to the doorway, just in time to see inside the room where Captain Mark was distressed, bloodied, and pinned to the ground by three bodyguards. His eyes were filled with hatred and humiliation, sharply glaring at the blond young man who was condescendingly looking down on him.

On the couch in the room, a woman with her dress torn sat curled up in the corner, her face ashen.

The blond's face had been punched, knocking out half of his teeth. He glared hatefully at Mark on the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood, "Mark, you're just an outlander, you're nothing in my eyes!"

Enraged, he ordered the bodyguards, "Break his limbs, I want him to watch..."

Mark struggled in humiliation on the ground, but one of the bodyguards was a mechanical warrior with immense strength, preventing him from breaking free.

The tragedy was about to unfold before his eyes.

Just then, a person strolled casually into the room.

Su Lun looked at Mark, but inwardly noted, "[C-010-Bear] Beastification? Seems like he has potential for a second transformation."

....

Suddenly, a stranger entered the room, and everyone inside was visibly stunned.

The young blond, who was just getting enthusiastic, saw another interruption and roared, "Who the hell are you!"

Yet his voice abruptly stopped.

The three bodyguards couldn't sense the newcomer's presence, but their sense of danger made their fur stand on end, their faces drastically changing.

They were about to act, but before they could do anything, they suddenly collapsed, incapacitated.

Mark hadn't seen anyone enter the room, but he felt the immense force holding him suddenly vanish.

Surprised, he struggled to his feet swiftly.

As he looked up, his face drastically changed!

He watched as a line of blood appeared on George's neck, his frenzied expression still frozen on his face, as a warm human fountain erupted.

Mark was shocked.

It was as if his own reason couldn't believe the scene he was witnessing.

Instinctively, he followed the dead man's gaze and saw an indifferent young man walking in.

Turning back to look at the three bodies beside him, he stood rooted on the spot, his thoughts already uncontrollably shaken, "How is this possible... These were super mechanical warriors and two veteran third-tier professionals, and they were... they were all killed in an instant?"

Su Lun paid no attention to his shock, not even sparing another glance, as the shadow of Death behind him soared, directly reaping several souls.

As the shadow revealed itself, an indescribable great terror struck.

In that moment,

Mark was terror-stricken, as if he had seen a deity.

....

"Inner city? So Steel City also has this class system."

Su Lun raised an eyebrow.

Just as he was thinking of finding a way to learn more, these people came right to him, coincidentally knowing the information he needed.

After reaping those fragments of memory, Su Lun had already comprehended the entire layout of the underground mine.

Now that he had killed people, he needed to act quickly.

He didn't plan to delay here and turned around to leave.

Watching Su Lun turn to leave, Mark suppressed the shock in his heart and hastily said, "Thank you... thank you, sir, for saving my life..."

How could there be such a terrifying powerhouse?!

For a moment, that great shock lingered long in his mind.

Su Lun glanced at Mark, as if seeing himself back in Old Lington when he thought the third tier was the ceiling for professionals.

A thought flickered in his mind, and he took out a storage ring.

Mark wanted to say something more, but his vision went dark, and he fainted.

Su Lun had no intention of explaining further.

With hundreds of thousands of miners, it was impossible for him to take them all. Moreover, with the upcoming changes in the alchemical realm's conditions, leaving might not be better than staying here. The storage ring contained materials needed to advance to the fourth tier, leaving a glimmer of hope for the people here.

It was like the "Mirror" back in Old Lington.

....

Humans are social creatures, and over time, they naturally stratify.

Like Old Lington, there was an inner city here, where the elites resided.

Located in another mine tunnel a few kilometers from Steel City.

Entry required a special identification card and tight security; ordinary miners had no right to get close to that area.

But this could hardly hinder Su Lun at all.

Having harvested the memories and learned the entire layout of the underground city, he teleported several times and appeared in another large mining space.

The sight was one of more luxurious buildings, a lavish construction with golden rooftops and silver pillars. At the very top, built against the rocky walls was a huge castle adorned with gemstones on its walls.

In terms of the crude luxury of the buildings, aside from Frederic Royal Palace, he had not seen it elsewhere.

But then, he realized.

Gold and silver might be valuable outside, but in the mine, they were just building materials.

In his perception, there were quite a few second and third-tier professionals guarding the inner city.

Although they were well concealed, their positions were blatantly exposed to Su Lun's senses.

These guards' techniques could not detect a "super-tier professional."

Su Lun easily infiltrated.

The inner city lacked those heavily polluting smelting plants and forging factories; besides some unique residences, there were several heavily guarded tunnel entrances.

This was the "secret laboratory" researching mechanical beasts!

Su Lun ignored the guards at the door, sensed the spatial layout, and teleported directly behind the door into a vast space.

The surroundings shifted dramatically, as if moving from a medieval mine directly into a modern laboratory. Purple alchemical lights made the area bright, with sterile corridors emanating a strong sense of technology all around.

Several researchers in white coats were bustling about the laboratory.

Su Lun avoided their gaze as he walked through the corridors.

The highly encrypted mechanical security doors were as nothing under his Spatial Ability; he teleported his way through.

He hadn't walked far when he saw a laboratory covered with large pieces of transparent glass.

Inside, a group of scientists in white coats were deftly stripping nerve tissues from several magical beast spiders.

The biological limbs of the beasts were removed, leaving only the crucial nerve tissues, which were then fitted with sensitive metallic parts. These were then soaked in a culture dish for a period, and those without a rejection reaction were deemed qualified products.

It was like a canned food production line, with thousands of glass jars filled with green potions.

Su Lun was familiar with this process, as mechanical octopuses were made in the same way.

As long as their nerve tissues gradually adapted, mechanical limbs could later be directly attached, turning them into real mechanical magical beasts.

Of course, there were also many defective products in this process.

But looking at the scale of the laboratory, there must have been a mature magical beast cultivation ecosystem.

And this is the advantage of a mechanical magical beast legion.

The [Cave Magic Spiders], originally without even first-tier magical beast combat power, could be transformed with various mechanical limbs, instantly reaching the combat power of third or fourth-tier professionals.

Given the strong breeding capabilities of these magic spiders, the cost could almost be neglected once the technology was mature.

With this mine providing an inexhaustible supply of various metals, it truly was an excellent manufacturing base.

....

"Duke Raphael really had every advantage on his side..."

Su Lun looked at the mature production line of mechanical magical beasts, truly envious.

He didn't know how many years the Duke had secretly been developing this, to have achieved such fruitful results.

It wasn't just the technology; these high-precision devices were priceless treasures that couldn't even be bought outside.

And then there were these researchers.

To put it bluntly, without this equipment and technicians, even if you had the blueprints, you couldn't have built it.

Trying to research the corresponding precision equipment on one's own, even with Mafa's super high-tech level, would take who knows how many years.

But now, all these high-precision devices were ready-made!

"I'm gonna make a fortune..."

Su Lun felt the thrill of being a pirate once again.

In his eyes, these items had already become possessions in his bag.

He didn't linger outside this laboratory, but continued walking.

A1 area, B3 area, C5 area....

As Su Lun passed these areas, he noticed that the laboratories were divided into various independent units with clear divisions of labor and high production efficiency.

There were not only mechanical spiders, but also mechanical bears, mechanical crocodiles, and mechanical snakes...

All types of mechanical magical beasts that had appeared in the battle at Old Lington were present here.

There were specialized mass-production laboratories as well as research laboratories.

The group of researchers here worked day and night to explore various schemes of transforming magical beasts into mechanical magical beasts, choosing some with practical combat value to be mass-produced on assembly lines.

It was not hard to imagine, aside from the finished products seen, their "technical data library" had even more research results, which were truly priceless treasures.

This was exactly what Su Lun had been lacking!

...

Su Lun sensed around, and the underground laboratory was as big as several dozen floors.

And in his perception, near the center of the base, there was a very spacious area.

Since he hadn't been discovered, he wasn't in a rush to raid but curiously moved closer to scout it out.

He arrived in front of a password door guarded closely by mechanical soldiers, and Su Lun teleported past it directly.

Then the surroundings changed abruptly, and he was immediately stunned by the scene in front of him!

It was a gigantic laboratory nearly two hundred meters high.

The space was packed with various types of scientific research equipment, huge mechanical arms, giant devices...

What was most striking were the eight nearly one hundred meter tall gigantic glass jars.

In the green potions, there soaked a head of giant-sized magical beasts.

Eighth-tier Deep Sea Giant Monster [Tyrant Sea Eel], seventh-tier [Deep Sea Dragon Crocodile], seventh-tier [Giant Troll Lizard], seventh-tier [Titan Kong Gorilla]...

Seeing this, Su Lun's gaze involuntarily solidified, and he was shocked internally, "They are actually already researching giant magical beast mechanical transformation plans?"

Seeing each of these giant magical beasts already fitted with some metallic limbs, he was both alarmed and delighted.

"Hiss... Duke Raphael actually has such an ace up his sleeve!"

Su Lun looked on, his breathing slightly heavy.

He knew all too well the difficulties involved in mechanically transforming giant beasts.

That was because he himself had previously captured the "North Sea Leviathan - Kraken" in the Roman Sea Area. It was because of the lack of mature technology that he hadn't rashly modified it. Even Dr. Banks had only used its genes to cultivate giant octopuses.

But such high-level beasts already possessed powerful Powers of Laws, and rune machinery could grant them even stronger combat abilities, making them more adaptable to various battles.

If truly successful in transforming them, their combat power would be unimaginable.

To some extent, size equates to dominion.

One could say that in future naval wars, these behemoths would be the nemesis of any warship!

Moreover, this was an idea; in the future, it might be possible to mechanically retrofit more magical beasts, like mechanical dragons!

Su Lun's mind had already conjured up too many images.

But before he could think further, alarms suddenly sounded beside him, and warning red lights started flashing.

"Alert! Enemy invasion!"

"Alert! Enemy invasion!"

"..."

The mechanical alarm echoed throughout the entire base, with all gates closing and the emergency plan activated.

Su Lun didn't know how he had been exposed.

But it no longer mattered.

He watched as over ten super mechanical warriors approached him; he didn't lift a finger, but as soon as the Death Domain activated, the guards collapsed before they even reached him.

Su Lun looked at the laboratory before him, the corner of his mouth slightly lifting as he quickly formed the sorcerer's seals.

With a single hand raised ahead, a spatial black hole appeared, and hundreds of figures streamed out.

The Dawn Group members looked excitedly at the secret base, barely containing their thrill.

"Guys, pack up all the materials you can carry. For those you can't, set up spatial marks. And those researchers, not one should get away, but try not to hurt them!"

"Yes, Mr. Su Lun!"

"Hahaha... brothers, let's do this!"

"..."

The crowd swarmed out, rushing towards various laboratories, overwhelming them like wolves among sheep.

The Dawn Group members, with their average strength between fourth and fifth grade, faced the second-grade powers of the miner's world, effectively crushing them through a dimensionality reduction.

Moreover, after their previous adventure in the Spatial Enclave, many members of the Dawn Group had mastered Spatial Abilities; the solid alloy mechanical doors couldn't stop them at all.

The researchers wore faces of terror, still unaware from where so many intruders had appeared, but they had hardly any power to resist.

Sen also appeared beside Su Lun, marveling at the highly technical secret base, "Wow, we're really striking it rich this time."

Su Lun was also quite envious, "Yeah."

If it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't move or fit everything, he would have even liked to stuff the entire base into the minor void realm.

He took out a rune black umbrella, sensed around, then with several teleports, he had eliminated several problematic existences within the base.

What remained was merely to plunder.

The Dawn Group was well-prepared, stuffing various documents, small items, and research instruments into their storage rings.

The researchers were rounded up, while the large equipment was marked with spatial alchemy arrays, waiting for Su Lun to collect them later.

However, a spy major of Mafa caught up in the situation was also dumbfounded.

She had never expected someone to storm this laboratory base.

What was more, she had also been captured!

"Damn it, what is the origin of these pirates! How did they find this place? Could I have been wrong, and there are no top professionals on Gold Digger Island?"

In the crowd, a timid-looking female researcher with glasses cursed incessantly.

Her plan was possibly a year and a half away from fruition, by which time the entire base would have been within the empire's bag.

But now pirates invaded?

Looking at the stolen experimental equipment and documents, her heart bled - those were to be empire's spoils of war...

Moreover, whether the pirates succeeded in their robbery or not, the location was now exposed, and it was expected that Duke Raphael would heavily guard this mine in the future.

All her plans had gone awry!