Mechanical Alchemist

The storm winds billowed the sails, and the Eternal Night Emperor swiftly sailed across the sea.

Not to mention that there was no warship faster than this ocean-sovereign class battleship; even if there were, it would be impossible to surround and intercept it in this boundless and endless desolate sea.

After Su Lun boarded the ship, he released the members of the Dawn Party who had participated in the battle.

Hundreds of people came out in succession, making the deck instantly lively.

"Hahaha, we've struck it rich this time..."

"Wow, I never thought Duke Raphael would have such a secret base. The leader must be in pain now."

"Oh, Mr. Su Lun, are we going to have a victory banquet tonight?"

"Of course!"

"..."

Those who participated in the plunder immediately bragged to their comrades left on the ship about their experiences in a lively way. Listening to their slightly exaggerated stories, it was as though they had entered the legendary dragon's den, with gold coins and gems everywhere.

Those who hadn't been able to attend were full of envy, vowing they had to be there next time.

Listening to them, the smile on Su Lun's face never faded.

The haul was simply too great this time!

If we're talking about the value of the loot, the Dawn Party's operation might have set a record in the history of Ruying pirate heists.

They had almost emptied that secret experimental base, those instruments, materials, and technical personnel were all priceless treasures.

It was estimated that the only thing comparable was the last time the North Sea fleet robbed Old Lington.

However, the pirates of the King of the North Sea didn't understand technology, and they couldn't carry away large items like laboratories. These pirates only knew about gold and silver treasures and looted them in a frenzy, and it's not certain that the value of the looted treasures was greater than this Gold Digger Island incident.

And coincidentally, Duke Raphael was the unfortunate victim on both occasions, truly unlucky.

The Eternal Night raced on, without seeing half a pursuer.

When night fell, a grand victory banquet was held on the ship.

Everyone ate and drank merrily, celebrating the huge harvest.

Ever since learning about the planar invasion, it seemed as if a heavy stone was pressing on the hearts of everyone in the Dawn Party. There was nothing else that could soothe their mood better than a sudden fortune.

...

A night of revelry.

The next morning, Su Lun received the latest intelligence from Lington.

Upon learning of the raid on the Gold Digger Island base, Duke Raphael, the acting leader, flew into a rage. All the major newspapers in Ruying published articles about the heinous robbery, condemning the act, while the Bounty Hunters guild also issued various bounties against the Dawn Party.

The total bounty on the heads of the Dawn Party members suddenly surpassed those of the teams of the three Pirate Kings of the North, West, and South Seas.

Mr. Jing, the leader, became the top of the bounty list with a bounty of 10 billion for disregarding Rafael's ransom demand, getting "involved" in the process.

Su Lun ranked second with a bounty of 4.45 billion Lysos, branded as an infamous grand pirate.

However, no matter how high the bounty on the wanted poster was, it didn't worry the Dawn Party members at all.

Dawn had already been characterized as a heretical cult of the outer gods; they were enemies already. If it wasn't for the opposition of the Lans family, they might have already started fighting in Lington.

Being wanted now doesn't make them feel any pain or itch.

A pirate who isn't wanted isn't a qualified pirate.

The people on the ship continued as usual, not affected at all by the bounty on them.

...

In the early morning, after breakfast, Su Lun also came to the deck.

He jumped onto the giant mainmast and sat next to Qian Tiao, who had been blowing in the sea breeze all night.

The fierce battle in the mine yesterday with several seventh-rank professionals provided Qian Tiao with the opportunity to advance to the seventh rank. Her state had now stabilized at the peak of her class.

Su Lun said nothing, and the two of them quietly sat atop the mast, meditating in the sea breeze.

The loot from this plundering was simply too abundant; he had been counting the spoils since last night.

Beyond equipment and supplies, there were also over a thousand technical personnel from the captives.

These were all treasures beyond measure.

Truly, to raise a mature technician on one's own could take decades, and even then, there's no guarantee of success.

However, Duke Raphael had his own methods of controlling his subordinates. Especially in such secret bases, the staff were usually subjected to a "memory wipe" and "Thought Imprint" combo. This ensured everyone's loyalty to him as their sole ruler.

So normally speaking, even if these key technicians were captured, they wouldn't serve anyone else.

Most people would keep them, at best, to exchange for ransom.

But it was different in Su Lun's hands.

Last night, he had summoned the will of Pandora to descend, and he successfully brainwashed that group of technicians throughout the night.

"Thought Imprint," at its core, is still a form of mental enslavement, and erasing it completely is very troublesome.

However, if it's overlaid with a priority higher Thought Imprint, then it's no issue at all.

And divinity is a higher-level spiritual need.

For a god like Pandora, who performs a "moon reading," to help with this, it was almost as easy as flipping a hand.

With this trick up his sleeve, Su Lun dared to let these people work in his Minor Void realm, and once again increase the scale of his war workshop.

With this group of researchers specializing in mechanical magical beasts, and the previously captured senior Mechanics from Mafa, his workshop now had a combination of complementary skills.

The collision of knowledge between the two groups of technicians promised great surprises for the future.

After the battle at Gold Digger Island, Su Lun felt that his war workshop could be considered among the top in the present age.

The research into strengthening mechanical magical beasts also proceeded smoothly, bringing Su Lun a big step closer to his ideal of a mechanical puppet army.

...

Days passed in this way.

The Minor Void realm was a hive of activity as the war workshop continued production unabated.

It took several days for Su Lun to nearly finish inventorying the spoils from Gold Digger Island.

But as of today, the Minor Void realm was really packed full.

Apart from some room for personnel movement in the war workshop, every other place was stuffed to the brim.

Since Su Lun didn't need to produce mechanical magical beasts on a large scale, many devices had not yet been put into use. As a result, the sky of the Minor Void realm was dotted with various laboratories, research pods, material warehouses...

It even took up part of the space of the mirrored library.

Before, he thought the Minor Void realm was quite spacious, but now, space was immediately at a premium.

There are only two ways to expand the space of the Void realm: either by one's own improved understanding of space or with the help of external objects.

The efficiency of the first method can't keep up with the needs;

And the second requires a spatial treasure, which is very difficult to find.

Like the previous "Fragmented Plane Manifestation" of the mirrored library, or the "Fragmented Plane Crystal" he kept in hand for preserving life...

Spatial treasures are a matter of luck and cannot be sought.

Su Lun was somewhat helpless.

And the insufficiency of the Minor Void realm was one problem, but he had recently discovered some other issues as well.

Now that he had a mature mechanical magical beast factory, in recent days, he also continually tried using puppetry to control those mechanical magical beasts.

His proficiency had greatly improved, but he gradually realized that his ability to multitask and multitask had almost reached its upper limit.

That limit was roughly around the number "one thousand."

It was the extreme limit of his precise control.

Although to anyone else, this was an absurdly high number that would seem fantastical for any Puppet Master.

But Su Lun was far from satisfied.

The path he had planned for himself was that of a true "Puppet Legion Style."

It meant tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of puppets...

This "one thousand" was far from meeting his professional goals.

Fortunately, as Magicians, they were a group of Transcendents capable of creating miracles.

Through professional advancement and the grafting of specialized abilities, they could fulfill certain requirements.

Su Lun figured that after his next advancement, he must further enhance his multitasking ability.

Now that the interplanar passage had been established, the laws of heaven and earth became even more refined.

He felt that the feasibility of advancing to rank eight was not small.

And the future held great promise.

So the days passed, each one after the other.

Sailing days were quite peaceful so long as they didn't encounter any storms.

Su Lun also had plenty of time to assimilate and settle his gains.

However, on the fifth day after they left Gold Digger Island, an interesting little episode occurred in the mini-void realm.

Mr. Hei, who had been soaking in the library of mirrors, actually discovered a spy.

"Su Lun, I've found a particularly unusual fellow in the war factory," he said.

...

After the Old Lington Catastrophe, Mr. Hei no longer continued as an intelligence officer.

The invasion of the planes required a lot of high-end combat power, and being an intelligence officer was a waste of Mr. Jing's personal disciple's talent.

He had since remained holed up in the library of mirrors, where he would daily organize and read books to enhance the unique domain he had realized through the accumulation of knowledge as a Scholar—the Transparent World.

Su Lun had experienced that domain, and it was very special.

Within the area affected by the domain, Mr. Hei could sense everything with precision, gaining insight into all things—fluctuations in laws, composition of magical formulas, thoughts, and moves... It gave one the feeling that even the secrets of their heart were being thoroughly scrutinized by someone else.

Anyway, Su Lun did not want to encounter such an enemy.

But it was precisely because of this unique domain that Mr. Hei had detected the anomaly.

That day, at noon,

The technical staff of the war workshop were having lunch.

Since the Dawn Group wasn't short on money, the meals in the mini-void realm were always very rich, and everyone dined happily.

Su Lun's will descended upon the castle tower previously built, observing the dining crowd.

Mr. Hei, at his side, pointed at a female researcher who was eating not far away and said, "There, that's the one."

Su Lun also turned his gaze towards her.

She was a woman with sparse hair, a face full of freckles, a flat figure, and thick glasses...In short, she was the kind of female researcher who was ordinary in every way and absolutely wouldn't stand out in a crowd.

But it was such an unremarkable person, lost in the crowd, who was the spy.

Mr. Hei's dull eyes twinkled with wisdom as he explained, "If it weren't for the great disparity in rank, I almost wouldn't have noticed her. Her talent is very special and she might possess some particularly mysterious specialized graft. It allows her to avoid my Mind Reading Technique to a great extent."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Based on my observations over the past two days, this person has an incredibly impressive memory, observation skills, and professional anti-surveillance capabilities... Clearly, she's not one of Rafael's people but a professional spy. And she's very cautious; had it not been for the fact that the small void world is a closed space, she really would have found an opportunity to escape. Oh, no! She didn't just want to escape, she wanted to steal information from here, and even had thoughts of destroying this place."

"..."

On hearing this, Su Lun's gaze became intense, and he was also very curious.

In theory, Pandora should have already visited, and these people definitely shouldn't be causing chaos.

But why did such an unexpected event occur?

And previously in Rafael's mines, it was imperative to leave behind a "Thought Imprint," so if she really was a professional spy, how had she avoided this step?

Clearly, Mr. Hei was also very interested but just as puzzled, and he laughed, "She's very familiar with the manufacturing process of mechanical war armor, and there's a high probability that she's from Mafa Empire. She was previously infiltrated in Gold Digger Island base, and we just happened to capture her in one fell swoop. Speaking of which, she's probably still annoyed that we ruined her plans."

"Hehe."

Su Lun also smiled.

Now that they had discovered her, they naturally wouldn't let her succeed.

Although she couldn't escape, a technical staff member causing trouble was the real concern.

....

Dora felt that her luck was really bad.

Not to mention that her long-undertaken plan to steal information was about to bear fruit when suddenly a group of pirates disrupted it, causing all her efforts to go to waste.

She herself was also captured!

And that wasn't even the worst part.

Dora initially thought that as a captive, she would probably be used to negotiate a ransom, and eventually, she'd be able to escape, no big deal.

But she never imagined that these pirates would also bring a foreign god to brainwash her! How could all the technical staff of Rafael's secret base have been turned so instantly?

This series of maneuvers left her, a professional spy, at a loss.

It was at this time that she realized, these people were definitely not pirates!

Moreover, looking at this already substantial war workshop, Dora was also greatly shocked.

Mechanical war armor production lines—this was their Mafa's top equipment, how could it be here?

For a moment, she even thought this was a blunder made by another spy department within the empire.

But after careful observation, she realized, no!

These people were not from Mafa, nor were they from Lington!

And what was even more terrifying to her was that this place was actually an independent small world!

However, just as Dora was deep in thought trying to find an opportunity to escape, suddenly, the scenery around her changed, and she found herself, still eating, appearing inside a tower.

In front of her, there was a middle-aged man with a beard, and also a figure that was clearly a phantom.

In her heart, Dora thought that this was bad, she immediately knew that she may have been exposed!

....

Su Lun looked at the woman in front of him who was still holding her bowl of food, whose face showed shock but without any lapse, and asked indifferently, "Miss, what is your name?"

Clutching at straws, Dora said, "I... my name is Lona Bennett."

As she spoke, the slight panic in her demeanor was just fitting for that of an introverted research staffer.

Su Lun watched and silently commended her, the disguise was so good that no flaws could be detected.

But he didn't want to waste time with her playing games, he went straight to the point, "I mean, which side's spy are you?"

Hearing this, Dora's heart sank to despair, but she still tried one last time to struggle, "I... I don't know what you're talking about."

"..."

Su Lun's brow furrowed upon hearing this.

```

I don't think it's worth wasting time on a spy.

He simply didn't want to kill unnecessarily, that's why he asked. It wasn't that he didn't have the ability to gather intelligence.

But it was this frown that gave him away before he could speak. Seeing something in his expression, the other party didn't dare to play dumb anymore and said in a desperate tone, "Even if you kill me and search my soul, I assure you, you won't find much!"

Upon hearing this, Su Lun let out a slight "hmm," "Mind Reading Technique?"

Mr. Hei beside him chuckled and shook his head, obviously figuring out something, "No, it's just that cultivation ability."

Listening to the two men, Dora's complexion changed drastically.

She knew her disguise had been completely seen through.

Especially this seemingly gentle middle-aged man, those eyes were just too terrifying!

Even with the disguise of a "God Profaner," she felt as though the thoughts of her heart were being completely spied upon.

After hearing Mr. Hei's words, Su Lun then considered asking another question, "If I were you, I'd think of a reason to make me not want to kill you."

"I..."

At this moment, Dora looked incredibly complex.

As a professional spy, Dora had undergone strict training, and she was well aware that if she were captured, she would undoubtedly be tortured.

But… this guy clearly had no intention of torturing her.

She could sense very clearly that he truly wanted to kill her!

It was as if with just one more useless word from her, he would not hesitate to become an assassin!

Damn it!

Is this guy a murdering fiend?

Does he have no interest in intelligence, only murder in his mind?

But Dora also knew that dragging this out was pointless, so she said only, "My name is Dora Mosie, belonging to the Mafa Military Thunder Intelligence Group, with the rank of Marshal. If you don't kill me, my empire can pay a sufficient ransom for me."

When he heard she was a Mafa spy, Su Lun was not surprised in the slightest and narrowed his eyes, "Oh? Marshal, do you think I'm short on money?"

What he was more curious about was how this Mafa spy had managed to avoid the "Thought Imprint," and how she had become immune to Pandora's brand of faith.

Mr. Hei, on the other hand, seemed to have noticed something else and interjected, "I think you could talk about your other identity. Like… your family lineage."

When he heard there was more to it, a cold gleam flashed in Su Lun's eyes again.

He really wanted to kill this sly spy and save time.

Sensing the strong intent to kill, Dora's face changed.

She knew she had been read like an open book.

She originally intended to avoid the main issue, but now it seemed that was no longer an option.

Scowling, she said directly, "My grandfather is Meredith Ben Moses, the Grand Marshal of Mafa Naval Forces, known as 'Lei Tiger'. However, this has nothing to do with my duties and my work!"

"Oh?"

Su Lun found the name somewhat familiar.

Upon reflection, wasn't he the Mafa warrior who had fought the sea giants alongside Mr. Jing and Master Pierre during the Old Lington catastrophe?

Dora, with a resigned expression, dropped all pretense but still maintained the pride of a soldier, "So, now that you know my identity, you also know that what I say is true. Speak of the ransom and terms you require, as long as it's within reasonable bounds, my family and empire will satisfy your demands!"

Had it not been for the fact that she could not die, she would not have feared the threats of these men!

However, what puzzled her was that after she mentioned her grandfather's name, the intent to kill of the man before her actually subsided?

Fearful of her grandfather's status?

That didn't seem likely.

```

```

...

Actually, when he heard that name, Su Lun's intent to kill instinctively faded.

Putting aside his political stance, his grandfather's actions in Old Lington were admirable from a civilizational standpoint.

Moreover, Su Lun didn't have much of a political stance either.

It would indeed be a pity to kill a renowned general's offspring.

Although he didn't understand why the daughter of an esteemed Imperial Navy Marshal would become a spy, now that she was captured, the key point was that she possessed some very special intelligence.

Su Lun's mind swiftly crossed several thoughts, and he felt that he could unearth more secrets from this female spy.

He directly asked, "First, let's set aside the matter of ransom. I want to know how you exempted yourself from the previous 'Thought Imprint'?"

Dora truly found it difficult upon hearing this.

This was her biggest secret; revealing it would have significant repercussions.

Before she could hesitate further, Su Lun added, "I know that your abilities come from an implant. If you're unwilling to talk, I believe that by killing you, I can also learn what exactly it is."

Upon hearing this, Dora's face became ashen.

Because she was acutely aware that this man truly had the means he claimed.

She wasn't afraid of death, but even in death, she couldn't keep her secrets—that was why she was hesitating.

However, what Dora didn't know was that, just as her emotions were violently fluctuating, Mr. Hei beside her had discerned something and spoke up, "Quite a special mystical implant. Greatly enhances thinking ability, learning ability, has a compulsory will retention, increases brain region development... tsk, how intriguing, this implant is practically your 'second brain'. Even your appearance has been forcibly changed due to the extremely high level of brain region development."

At this point, the Scholar paused, then continued, "But the integration conditions for the implant are quite harsh, which is why you are considered a strategic asset by Mafa. Is that why you were so confident that, no matter what conditions we proposed, your empire would ransom you back?"

This almost described all the features of the "God Profaner" implant!

"You..."

Dora looked at the middle-aged man in front of her with a face full of terror and quickly forced herself to suppress her shocked emotions.

She knew that because of her emotional fluctuations just now, her mind had been read, but she didn't expect this man's abilities to be so terrifying!

It seemed that under those wise eyes, there were no secrets at all.

Su Lun, too, was very curious upon hearing this—what kind of implant could be so miraculous?

Not only could it reverse techniques like the "Thought Imprint," but it also had such powerful effects?

Significantly enhancing brain power, being described as a "second brain," and Mr. Hei saying so, it must be extraordinary.

Su Lun immediately thought of his own "Multi-heart and Multi-use." Could this implant enhance this ability?

And this was only a second-tier professional's implant—would higher-tier implants have even better effects?

Su Lun also felt fortunate; with Mr. Hei aiding in the interrogation, everything was much more convenient.

He straightforwardly said, "I'm not interested in beating around the bush. Answer my question now."

Dora was like a deflated ball, completely devoid of any will to resist stubbornly: "My implant is called 'God Profaner', and its effects are pretty much as this gentleman described. As for how I acquired it, it's a top secret of the empire, and even I do not know."

As she spoke, she glanced at Su Lun and Mr. Hei, then explained in detail: "As this gentleman hypothesized, the integration conditions for this implant are extremely harsh. Firstly, my talent is 'B-059-Thinker', which means I naturally have very strong spiritual power. And since childhood, I've taken some special potions, which resulted in extremely high brain region development, and there are slight uncontrollable abnormalities in my brain... If you don't believe me, you can open up my brain and see for yourselves."

"..."

Su Lun listened as the woman with glasses nonchalantly suggested a cranial examination and knew she was not afraid of death.

But it was clear what her objective was in being so forthcoming.

Of course, it was to reveal the harsh integration conditions and dissuade Su Lun from the idea of killing her to remove the implant.

If the integration conditions were indeed so harsh, it would truly be difficult to integrate.

It was also this "God Profaner" implant that allowed her to be exempt from the Thought Imprint.

Yet such an implant was not something any ordinary person could create. And since it involved Mafa's top secret, it obviously wasn't that simple.

Glancing at Mr. Hei from the corner of his eye, seeing that he remained silent, meant she had not lied.

```

Discussing the issue of the living armor requires a long-term plan.

....

Su Lun pondered and then asked Dora Mosie some questions, such as how she managed to infiltrate the base on Gold Digger Island.

The purpose of the infiltration, of course, was to steal technology.

The general process involved a series of complex war slave trades, which ultimately led to her being sent into the secret base due to her identity as a Mechanic prisoner of war.

Of course, this was predicated on targeted memory erasure and Thought Imprints.

But thanks to the "God Profaner" living armor, she was able to infiltrate successfully, and indeed, she was the only one who met the conditions to infiltrate as a spy.

Even if it wasn't Gold Digger Island, it would be some other secret base; either way, there would be gains to be had.

However, the entire infiltration process was risky, and the fact that she, as the granddaughter of the grand marshal, was personally involved spoke to a high level of ideological awareness.

Su Lun wasn't too interested in these processes.

He didn't want to kill Mido, so it was time to talk about "ransom."

A Marshal Mafa colonel, and the granddaughter of a naval grand marshal; there was certainly a lot to dig into here.

Money, for instance, wasn't of much interest to Su Lun, as he wasn't short on it at the moment.

Mido seemed to understand this as well and asked again, "So, I've said all I can. If you don't intend to kill me, we can talk about the ransom you want in exchange for my freedom."

Now that the topic was broached, Su Lun didn't beat around the bush and directly asked, "I heard that Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript once appeared in Mafa Country, do you know of it?"

Intelligence of this nature was naturally more accessible to someone in a high position.

Especially something like Isaac's notes, a top-tier alchemical resource, which ordinary people couldn't even come close to.

If it truly had appeared in Mafa, asking her might yield some clues.

Mido responded, "I've heard the rumor too, but that's all it is—a rumor. If you want to use this as a condition for my ransom, I can ask my grandfather. He will give you the most reliable answer. If he doesn't know, then no one else in Mafa would know either."

Su Lun wasn't too surprised upon hearing this, as it was only a rumor to begin with.

He continued, "That's acceptable. But besides that, I also need some materials."

Mido, hearing this, was slightly relieved. Could it be that there was hope if it was just materials?

No matter how rare the materials were, they all had a price. Relying on the endless Monster Mountains, the vast and rich Mafa Country never lacked various alchemical materials.

She asked directly, "That's fine! What do you need?"

Su Lun said, "Have you heard of 'Living Silver'?"

Mido frowned upon hearing this, clearly familiar with the material but finding it a problematic request.

After pondering for a moment, she cautiously asked, "How much do you need?"

Su Lun's eyes shifted as he said, "At least one hundred thousand tons! The more, the better!"

After Yekaterina had sent a large batch of materials, and he had robbed Gold Digger Island, he was not in need of mechanical materials.

What he lacked the most, naturally, was 'Living Silver.'

A regular-sized gargoyle statue would require about twenty tons of Living Silver, so one hundred thousand tons would be enough for about five thousand such statues.

This was indeed asking for the moon.

That kind of divine-grade material was sold by the gram; a demand for one hundred thousand tons could not be met by the Mafa royal family as ransom.

But as for negotiations, one has to start by quoting a price.

As for the final price, it could be discussed.

If he could exchange the captive for a satisfactory ransom, he wasn't averse to releasing her.

"Impossible!"

Just as expected, Mido interrupted instantly.

With a face expressing shock that she was being taken for a fool, she said angrily, "Such divine-level materials are already scarce in the world, and even the Mafa Country's treasury wouldn't have more than a thousand tons!"

This despicable kidnapper isn't sincere about releasing me at all!

Su Lun had no expectations that the other party would agree to this feeble demand.

Although he felt that a thousand tons might be worth considering, it obviously wasn't enough.

He didn't want to let go of an important captive so easily, originally planning to wait until he had thought through his conditions before listing them to maximize the benefits.

But unexpectedly, at this moment, Mido spoke again, "However, although I can't find that much material to use as ransom for you, I do know of a place that has enough Silver of Activation! A hundred thousand tons, maybe even more!"

"Oh?"

Su Lun perked up upon hearing this.

Mido went straight to the point, "In the Monster Mountains to the east, the imperial Hunter Squad once found an ancient ruin. The warehouse's stockpile of Silver of Activation... it all came from there."

"Ancient ruins?"

Su Lun had not expected to actually receive a clue just by casually asking.

Whether he could get it or not, at least there was hope now.

He chuckled as he looked at Mido, saying, "Is it very dangerous then? So, are you hoping we will go and get ourselves killed?"

Naturally, Mido hoped the despicable kidnapper would die, but she couldn't say that outright, replying, "Hmph! I can only ensure that the information I've given you is true! As for what you choose to do, that's your business. I can also give you a heads-up. It's indeed very dangerous there, but not only does it contain Silver of Activation, it's also an ancient dwarf ruin, filled with treasures! This information has been classified by the military. If you're willing to make the exchange, I can have someone provide you with the details and a map."

Ancient ruins?

Su Lun was genuinely interested upon hearing such an enticing offer. It was clearly meant to lure him into a deadly trap.

He thought about it and said, "Alright. If the information is true, I promise I won't kill you!"

Upon hearing this, Mido's face twitched, "You...!"

She could see that the insatiable pirate would not let her go easily without squeezing every bit of value from her.

....

That had been Su Lun's intention all along.

However, after talking for a while, he began to have other ideas.

Through the conversation, Su Lun also realized that Mido did not recognize him.

That is to say, she was unaware of recent news, at least for a while.

Thinking logically, it made sense she would be out of the loop, as it was impossible to frequently contact the outside world from within a mine shaft.

After discussing exchange terms for a while, Su Lun also noticed this female spy's occupational predisposition to constantly try to extract information from him.

Su Lun played along, intentionally giving out some news.

As they talked, he casually mentioned some intriguing intel, "During the time you were submerged in your mission, there's a piece of news you might have missed. That is the disaster in Old Lington, the planar invasion..."

Su Lun believed that when dealing with someone of a higher realm of thought, simply discussing benefits was too pedestrian, and that ideals should be discussed.

Her grandfather had made the right choice for the greater good of civilization, and Su Lun thought that it might be worth trying with her.

She could stand on the empire's side, spy and infiltrate Duke Rafael's secret base.

So... what about on the side of civilization?

If they could come to terms on ideas, Su Lun thought, perhaps the status of her as a "hostage" could change.

Maybe a valuable ally?

Or perhaps, a partner of mutual interest.

After all, her backing "Moses Family" was amongst the top powers of Mafa Country.