Mechanical Alchemist

The defenses of this secret base on Gold Digger Island are mostly on the surface of the island, so Duke Raphael probably never expected that someone could sneak into the laboratory undetected.

The members of the Dawn team had been raiding for quite a while before there was finally a sign of military forces gathering outside.

But the secret experimental base was too large, with too many things to take, and there was no way to move everything in a short amount of time.

Before long, Su Lun sensed something and narrowed his eyes, murmuring, "As expected, there are top professionals. A very strong guy is coming..."

Qian Tiao gently raised her eyebrows, "Oh?"

Su Lun was not surprised at all, "It should be one of the top ten Legendary Bounty Hunters. Let's go, Sister Qian Tiao, and take a look."

Qian Tiao's hand rested on the hilt of her blade, her expression eager with anticipation.

A ripple of spatial fluctuation passed, and the two of them went from inside the laboratory to the outside.

They emerged to a cacophony of noise.

"There's a breach in the laboratory! The Duke has ordered, seal all exits!"

"...."

At this moment, several hundred guards had already assembled outside, with nearly all of the underground world's second and third-tier professionals gathered here.

Since the laboratory doors were completely locked down, these people were unable to get in.

In their minds, there was no concept of the "outside world"; they probably thought it was some kind of thief.

When the spatial rift opened and two people stepped out, everyone was stunned.

The two now exuded their aura openly; one held a black scythe with the shadow of Death looming behind them, and the other was covered in flashes of purple thunder, with the Rakshasa Golden Body standing dominantly behind.

To those watching, they seemed as terrifying as gods, and they couldn't believe that such powerful beings existed in the world.

No one knew who fired the first shot, but then it was a barrage of gunfire.

However, Su Lun and his companion paid no attention, as the bullets were stopped by their protective aura, having no effect at all.

Most of the people in the mine were memory-wiped slaves brought in from various places, not necessarily Duke Raphael's accomplices, so Su Lun did not intend to kill indiscriminately.

With a fierce glare, the shadow of Death behind him suddenly unleashed an invisible pressure, causing the several hundred people to instantly faint and collapse.

Only a few strong-willed third-tier professionals remained, staring in horror at the young man who seemed to be the incarnation of Death itself. Among them was Captain Mark!

Looking at his lifesaver here, his eyes were filled with complexity.

The overwhelming shock caused his previous understanding of the world to seem as if it were collapsing.

....

The shadow of Death had a deterrent effect, but Su Lun rarely used it because it was not very effective against higher-tier professionals.

It was, however, perfectly suited to clearing out lower-tier professionals.

From the very beginning, Su Lun and his companion's target were not the mine guards.

They looked toward the castle perched above, the real threat was situated there.

Just as they emerged, there was a "bang" and a big hole was blasted in the wall of the castle. A huge, metallic centipede scurried out.

Upon closer inspection, the centipede's skull slowly condensed to form a person.

This person's features were highly distinctive, with protruding cheekbones and a broad skeleton, looking much like an unevolved wild man.

Qian Tiao lightly gasped, "Yo, it really is this guy."

Su Lun merely shrugged, "That's why I said it would be troublesome to fight."

The newcomer was none other than Dewen Keboloni, one of the top ten Legendary Bounty Hunters and the 'Beast Speaker'.

In fact, when Su Lun previously saw Duke Raphael's mechanical beast army in Old Lington, he had guessed that this Legendary Bounty Hunter must have been recruited. After all, those mechanical beasts were essentially bio-engineered creatures, and controlling such a large group required a top-notch Beast Tamer.

And seeing those top-tier magical beasts waiting to be modified in the base made it even more certain that it was him.

There weren't many Beast Tamers capable of controlling top-tier magical beasts, and this one in front of him was the most famous.

"Clang," the blade was unsheathed.

The demon blade "Onimaru Hyakumezosho" had its seal on a centipede monster's soul that was one of the Mountain Hermit's beings. Seeing the giant centipede before him, an overwhelming demonic aura surged from the blade.

The sword intent around Qiān Tiáo became denser and denser as she said to Su Lun, "Leave this guy to me!"

She now needed an opportunity to advance to the seventh rank, and an enemy from the "Top Ten Legends" could not have been more suitable!

Su Lun nodded, "Mm!"

He was well aware of Qiān Tiáo's strength. Even if she could not defeat this foe, there was no reason for her to be defeated.

...

However, what made the "Beast Speaker" Dewen so troublesome wasn't just his own body, but the fact that he was a top-tier Beast Tamer.

Which of the Top Ten Legendary Hunters ranked first was still a matter of debate.

But when it came to which of the top ten had claimed the most lives, this guy was definitely number one!

He had once been hired by a certain great lord, single-handedly controlling a beast army, annihilating several cities of an opposing lord, with casualties numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

The Beast Tamer was also a profession known for their zerg rush tactics.

He was somewhat of a colleague, in a sense.

Su Lun was anything but careless.

With a clench of his sorcerer's seals, a super huge cross appeared in the sky, and countless transparent threads also fell.

After pulling a scroll, hundreds of variously shaped rune-shaped puppets also appeared by his side.

Qiān Tiáo had already charged forward, her sharp Sword Qi striking sparks upon the iron-armored centipede, occasionally severing some of its smaller limbs.

However, there was no sign of victory or defeat in the short term.

It was at this moment that the nearby wall exploded with a boom, and a tide of monsters surged out.

Thousands upon thousands of mechanical spiders climbed along the walls.

The sheer number of mechanical spiders, capable of spewing toxins and special sticky webs, was enough to wipe out everything in their path.

In an instant, the mechanical spider horde clashed with the rune puppet army.

Just one encounter resulted in severed limbs and tangled threads flying in all directions... a scene akin to hell.

Watching this god-like battle, the "original inhabitants" of the mines were simply astounded.

They had all been the "ultimate professionals" of the underworld, thinking they had reached the pinnacle of life.

But seeing these two, their beliefs crumbled...

....

Not only were there calf-sized mechanical spiders, but also palm-sized ones, along with tiny toxic insects...

The "Beast Speaker" Dewen's domain was the "Domain of Ten Thousand Beasts," allowing him to control almost all beasts within his range.

Su Lun didn't dare underestimate him for a moment.

Luckily, the death domain was very unique, as almost all life entering its range of influence rapidly died and decomposed.

Those toxic insects and mechanical beasts couldn't get anywhere near Su Lun's true body. Within the death domain's range of about a dozen meters, widespread death ensued.

The corpses piled up like mountains around him, not even having time to decay.

Moreover, this high-density slaughter caused the black light on the crown atop Su Lun's head to flicker, as he gradually grasped some insights, "Just as my sister said, to perfect this death domain, I need to contemplate death more..."

And the most direct manifestation of death, is slaughter.

Su Lun pondered, observing his puppet army at a disadvantage, he pursed his lips, thinking, "The number of puppets I can control is still not enough. I've hit a bottleneck with my spiritual power too; a few hundred is my limit, I need to find a way to enhance it..."

In the past, he'd overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers, but now that he was being overwhelmed, he saw his own shortcomings.

Zerg rush tactics were all about sacrificing large numbers of expendables to wear down the opponent.

The solution was to kill the opponent's controller.

But currently, it seemed that Qiān Tiáo was locked in an intense fight, and victory or defeat wouldn't be decided quickly.

Su Lun himself was unscathed.

The maintenance of the domain field was quite energy-consuming, but thankfully he had the [Isaac's Alchemy Heart], so he didn't fear consumption.

However, what he needed to worry about were not just these cannon-fodder-level mechanical armored suits.

Just then, the castle built against the mountain exploded, and three monster beasts each dozens of meters long climbed out with ferocious momentum.

The seventh-order [Ironback Centipede] was right in front of him.

Now, a seventh-order [Poison Spotted Fire Snake] had also appeared; both of these were the known beasts tamed by the "Beast Tamer" Dewen from intelligence gathered.

Plus, there were the previously unseen seventh-order [Golden Scaled Titan Python] and [Dark Salamander], whose majestic aura made it clear they were not to be trifled with.

One person controlling four seventh-order monster beasts, both resilient and powerful, would cause headaches for any seventh-order professional that faced them.

Su Lun wasn't too surprised, for he had sensed the presence of two of them when he first arrived on the island.

But looking at these behemoths, he also felt a bit of a headache coming on.

Size, too, is a measure of combat strength, signifying tremendous power, high vitality, and thick skin.

Even if the Dragon Dagger could penetrate their defense, several cuts on such a large volume of flesh wouldn't cause them much distress.

The Puppet Theater's threads could not control them, and the influence of the Death Domain field was not very significant either.

To kill them, one had to grind them down slowly.

The only clear shortcoming was that in this underground world, their massive bodies were not very agile.

As these creatures appeared, another went to encircle and besiege Thane.

The other two turned their gaze towards Su Lun.

The puppet legion was brutally charged through; two mountain-like behemoths charged straight at him.

Su Lun thought for a moment, retracted his scythe, rolled up his sleeves, and his muscles suddenly bulged with power.

He entrapped one with the Gargoyle and Elemental Wax figures, fearless, a Dragon Dagger hidden in his hand, he swung his fist and charged fiercely forward.

For a time, the vast underground space reverberated with "boom" "boom" "boom"... like the sound of mountains being struck.

....

The battle grew more intense, and the number of mechanical monster beasts involved rose.

The huge inner city was already piled with dozens of small hills of corpses.

However, for Duke Raphael's side, as long as the enemy was left behind, these losses counted for nothing.

Mechanical warfare was a matter of expendable materials; the main materials could be quickly recovered and used to remake what was lost.

Thus, these folks also released tens of thousands of mechanical monster beasts without regard for the cost.

Outside, Su Lun and Thane were under significant pressure.

The "Beast Tamer" Dewen himself was not too tricky to handle, but the four seventh-order tamed beasts were indeed troublesome.

Even though Su Lun had already stabbed numerous bloody holes in two of them, their combat strength had not decreased by much.

Compared to a human's physical strength, monster beasts were clearly several notches above.

Fortunately, Su Lun and his companions were not looking to defeat this one of the top ten legends; they merely wanted to delay, allowing the members of the Dawn Brigade in the laboratory to plunder as much wealth as possible.

This was the desolate sea, and Duke Raphael's reinforcements, if there were any, wouldn't arrive for a while.

But clearly, the enemy had the same idea.

The "Beast Tamer" Dewen also grew more astonished the longer he fought.

His strength, as one of the "top ten legends", was such that he could hold his own even if several of the same order were to come at him.

Originally, with him stationed on the island, it would be more suitable than deploying several legions.

But unfortunately, he hadn't managed to kill the two from the Dawn Brigade. One with an army of puppets kept his monster beasts entangled in endless battle, while the other wielded Sword Qi sharper than any he had seen among those of the seventh order.

Occasionally, the undead would also attack with high-order cursed objects, causing Wend to fight with fear and trepidation.

Thus, he could only call for reinforcements.

Although it was a desolate island, after Old Lington was attacked by pirates last time, Duke Raphael had, at great cost, constructed an ultra-long-distance teleportation circle.

After several turns on the island and taking some time, reinforcements could be expected.

The two sides had been in fierce battle for nearly an hour.

The vast inner city was a mess, with collapsed buildings everywhere, and even large rocks on the top of the mines had fallen in many places.

Finally, Duke Raphael's reinforcements arrived.

Seeing those few seventh-rank figures suddenly appear, Su Lun and Qian Tiao no longer thought about resisting head-on.

Fortunately, the elemental wax figures were rather sturdy, and after the loss of a few, good news finally came from the base, "Mr. Su Lun, we've managed it!"

...

Since there was already a battle plan in place, this situation was within expectations.

As long as no eighth ranks came, there wouldn't be a big problem!

"Sister Qian Tiao, hang in there, I'll go down first!"

"Okay!"

With a teleportation, Su Lun appeared inside the base.

At this moment, the hundreds of people from the Dawn Group had almost gathered everything that could be moved into the storage space, with engineers and scientific researchers all gathered together.

The large immovable objects were also marked with the Spatial Alchemy Array and fitted with energy crystal cores.

Su Lun teleported along, and without any delay, was able to instantly accommodate a huge piece of equipment into the small void realm.

In this way, he teleported along the base, visiting almost all the sections.

He moved seven complete mechanical beast assembly lines, eighteen A-level or higher independent laboratories, three archives of data drawings, one special rare material warehouse, one energy warehouse, three S-class beast nurturing rooms... and that colossal beast research institute, and so on.

Finally, he even kidnapped over a thousand captured researchers from the laboratory!

If it weren't for the small void realm being filled, Su Lun would even want to take away the mountain-like ore warehouse, various super-large mechanical arms, mine carts, and so on.

But it truly was full!

Moreover, although there was still something left in the base, it wasn't much.

The most important laboratories had all been labeled by the people of the Dawn Group, and Su Lun had completely emptied them in one fell swoop!

Su Lun used his Spatial Ability like a gluttonous snake, teleporting all over the base, scouring it layer by layer and, in just a few minutes, reappeared outside.

Qian Tiao was truly being besieged by a group of seventh-rank figures, yet behind her the Rakshasa Golden Body with six arms and three heads shone brighter as she fought, with Sword Qi spanning hundreds of meters.

If it weren't for the increasing number of enemy reinforcements, Su Lun felt like she might indeed want to fight to the death!

The Rakshasa Woman was known to get stronger as she fought, especially against tougher opponents.

At this moment, Qian Tiao's momentum had already reached its pinnacle, still managing to put subtle pressure on even one of the top ten legends.

Su Lun didn't dare delay any longer and took Qian Tiao with him.

To the surprise of the group, he teleported away.

Practitioners of Spatial Professions were rare, and treasures that could prevent teleportation were even rarer. "Beast Speaker" Dewen and those reinforcements, although powerful, had no ability to stop him.

From start to finish, they never expected anyone to be able to enter the laboratory interior, let alone someone capable of emptying out the experimental base!

"Little Void Realm," this kind of planar container, this time

The emergency plans in place for that mine were such that if they couldn't win the fight, they would just hold off the people, and the Duke's mansion would wait for a continuous stream of reinforcements.

But now, Su Lun had taught these people a vivid lesson with his special abilities!

...

Earlier, Su Lun had left teleportation coordinates on the outside islands and the sea, and after several Spatial Teleportations, he was already back on the Eternal Night.

When his feet stepped onto the familiar deck once more, the heist was declared a perfect success.

The gains... incalculable!

To call it an overnight fortune wouldn't be an exaggeration!