Mechanical Alchemist

The blue dragon "Kazka" was severely beaten on Rainbow Island, and though it had caused a number of mage casualties, it ultimately couldn't overcome the magical barrier of the tens of thousands of people. The pride of its dragon lineage unwillingly kept it lingering for a long time but only added more wounds to its body, and in the end, it fled.

While Su Lun was secretly enjoying the spectacle, he gained an accurate understanding of this malevolent dragon's combat power.

The dragon's lightning breath was an area-of-effect attack, with an average energy fluctuation on the level of an eighth-tier professional's spell, which was almost impossible to avoid.

Those below the seventh tier who had not comprehended their domain were almost unqualified for direct confrontation.

However, compared to the situation when it had arrived with flames of malice raging, the dragon's aura had weakened by at least thirty percent as it made its pathetic retreat.

This was very good news for Su Lun and the others working behind the scenes.

Watching the dragon angrily and helplessly flap its wings as it flew northeast, Su Lun also teleported to follow it.

Before the battle, he had speculated that the blue dragon had only two paths to take after escaping from Rainbow Island.

It would either return to Dragon Island or go to Atalan City for revenge.

But dragons are cunning by nature, and having just been sneak attacked by humans, it would probably be wary of further ambushes inside human cities. Thus, it would instinctively choose to return to its nest on Thunder Sea Island. At least there, the environment was familiar, and it had its treasure hoarded over centuries.

However, it hadn't considered that on its way back to the nest, the Dawn Group had been lying in wait for a long time.

...

The blue dragon "Kazka" flew northward; its scales had been damaged in the previous battle, with fresh blood spilling across the skies.

But the wound was not too serious; the dragon's regenerative ability could recover in a short time.

After taking a beating and holding back a bellyful of rage with no way to vent, it flew on while viciously contemplating that after some rest, it would definitely return in a few days to teach these humans who had offended the grandeur of dragonkind a hard lesson!

But suddenly, it had a bad premonition.

The evil dragon had not yet realized the source of the crisis when it noticed hundreds of runes glowing on "iron lumps" flying towards it in its field of vision.

They were extremely fast.

There wasn't even a sound of them tearing through the air!

What the hell was this thing?

Kazka couldn't understand what was making these iron lumps fly.

After all, it had never seen anything like cannon artillery, let alone known that alchemical rounds could explode.

But it also instinctively felt a sense of crisis.

With a flap of its dragon wings, it abruptly performed a hard stop and changed direction.

Its huge dragon body, tens of meters wide, nimbly turned in the sky, just dodging the incoming cannonballs.

Hmph!

I am a blue dragon, a member of the dragon race with lightning speed!

A look of scorn appeared in the dragon's eyes.

However, just as it was feeling fortunate within its heart, a second round of cannonballs arrived.

This round, as if fully anticipating its flight trajectory, seemed as though it had run into them of its own volition, hitting it squarely in the face.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"..."

Two rounds of cannon fire, even though the blue dragon tried hard to evade, the shrapnel from the alchemical rounds exploding mid-air still rained down like a torrential downpour, scouring its dragon scales.

The specially-made ultra-penetrative alchemical projectiles were extremely sharp.

But when they struck those gleaming blue scales, there was only the spark of metal clashing.

Normally, this barrage wouldn't have harmed a pure-blooded dragon, but the wounds inflicted by the thousand-man spell formations hadn't yet healed, and many of the dense shards became embedded in the broken scales, enlarging the wounds even further.

The shrapnel came with burning, corrosive, toxin... among other multi-layered enchantments.

Physical and magical damage combined.

The dragon winced in pain, and an angry dragon's roar echoed through the heavens and earth.

At that moment, it realized it was hearing the sound of cannon fire near its ear, the same thunderous noise that had woken it from its slumber three days before.

Right then, Kazka suddenly had a bad premonition.

It seemed like from the moment it had left its lair that day, it had already fallen into a trap meticulously calculated by humans.

And at that moment, it hadn't realized the familiar fluctuations of space frequently flashing behind it—the little thief who had come to steal treasures from the island was following again!

Meanwhile, several kilometers away at sea.

A colossal black-sailed ship floated on the water, with hundreds of cannon muzzles still smoking.

In the command room, Dora quickly calculated the evil dragon's coordinates based on the information relayed by Su Lun and the various observation posts and immediately gave another order, "Load the cannons, auto-adjust to Observation Area 3 and be ready to fire at any moment!"

On the deck, Number Nineteen, Barrett, Wazhvas, and several seventh-tier vampires, all geared in mountain dwarf-crafted magic-resistant equipment, had also been waiting for a long time.

Looking at the rapidly moving thunderclouds on the horizon, a dense elemental wind gathered behind Number Nineteen's Golden Angel Wings.

With a stroke of her golden wings, she vanished from the deck with a "whoosh".

Immediately after, the high-ranking fighters of the Dawn Group charged forth.

...

Before, Su Lun had been chased and had fled all the way here.

Now, he was following the blue dragon all the way back.

Flying ahead, the blue dragon, after several rounds of cannon fire that added new wounds, became increasingly cautious.

It no longer charged towards the source of the cannon fire as it had done before but changed direction to keep its distance.

Su Lun knew well that the cunning dragon sought a place to kill him, his pursuer.

Indeed, after dozens of kilometers in pursuit, the evil dragon suddenly changed direction and turned back to attack.

Before the dragon arrived, its gaping maw shot out a breath of lightning.

"Crack!"

A lightning bolt thick as a water tank struck right in front of him in the blink of an eye.

Su Lun didn't dare to be careless.

This breath, comparable to an eighth-rank lightning spell, couldn't break the legion shield of a ten thousand magician army, but it could easily penetrate the protective domain of a seventh-rank professional.

Enduring it would mean serious injury if not death.

But lightning is fast; his teleportation is faster!

The moment he saw the dragon open its mouth, Su Lun had already teleported a hundred meters away, avoiding the dragon's breath.

Even so, at a hundred meters away, he still felt the paralyzing sensation of the violent lightning element shocking him.

This was the troublesome part of the blue dragon.

Its attacks were wide-ranging with paralysis, near-instantaneous in casting, and difficult to completely avoid.

If Su Lun's spatial displacement ability were not at its peak, that breath of dragon lightning would have hit him head-on; even if he wasn't burnt to a crisp, the paralysis alone would have given the dragon enough time to swoop in and slash him with a claw.

The paralyzing sensation wasn't too intense because Su Lun had observed the evil dragon on Rainbow Island before and knew he was slightly lacking in lightning resistance.

So he simply ate a [Lightning Dragon Breath Fruit].

He also let the thousands in his little void world eat one; just right to greatly increase their lightning resistance.

Seeing that it was going to be a head-on battle, Su Lun no longer avoided engagement.

He pinched his sorcerer's seals, fully released his implants, his muscles bulging out, dark spiritual power surged like tides.

Before long, four elemental wax figures had also appeared beside him.

The wax figures transformed the violent lightning elements around them, further weakening the might of the lightning dragon breath.

As the evil dragon came at him, Su Lun expanded his domain, and with a flick of the black scythe in his hand, he made two swift cuts.

"Swoosh," "swoosh," the ripples flashed by momentarily.

Unsurprisingly, such slashes were almost harmless to the dragon, which was difficult to penetrate even for eighth-rank professionals.

The scythe's attack only left some white scratches on the dragon scales, which disappeared instantly.

Is that all?

The blue dragon "Kazh Kazh" looked at Su Lun's attack methods with disdain, its pride in its eyes compelling it to immediately have the intent to kill.

The dragon that couldn't be defeated by that ten thousand magician army before, couldn't it defeat this mere weak human?

The blue dragon quickly accumulated lightning elements, and clouds in the sky over the sea flashed with lightning in an instant.

With a large swath of thunderclouds enhancing it, the might of the breath it released was nearly double what it was before.

Su Lun dodged repeatedly, his body gradually sustaining injuries.

But as long as he was in the area covered by the thunderclouds, he would be affected by the lightning.

It was like his own "Puppet Theater"—within its range, everything was under his control.

This domain of lightning was the blue dragon's home ground.

Just a while ago on Rainbow Island, Su Lun had already experienced its effects.

But seeing the blue dragon power up, he was not alarmed but delighted instead.

Using this means that the blue dragon really had a killing intent and was no longer planning to flee.

Su Lun, too, pinched a sorcerer's seal, and the sky lit up with an alchemical array. Suddenly, a huge cross shone forth. It grew larger in the wind, and in a blink of an eye, covered the entire thundercloud area.

Countless threads fluttered down, and numerous gleaming gargoyle statues also appeared in the air.

Flesh and blood fear the dragon's lightning breath, but puppets do not.

[Living Silver] is a divine material even more magically conductive than Mithril; even though terrible thunderstorms burst forth directly upon them, the puppets remained unharmed.

Upon the appearance of these hundred-plus gargoyles, they swarmed towards the evil dragon.

Engraved with the [Teleportation] spell, the endless threads allowed them to be precisely controlled by Su Lun, no matter where they teleported.

This was the charge formation of a knight's army, enough to smash through a five hundred man magician army.

But when the blue dragon saw these metal puppets, there was no ripple in its intelligent, human-like eyes.

Even having never seen such puppets, it could tell that these attacks posed no threat to it.

"Thud," "thud," "thud"...

The heavy fists of gargoyles, engraved with the Void Armor-Breaking spell, bombarded the blue dragon's body, resonating like an echo against a mountain.

But to little effect.

The gargoyles, over two to three meters tall, seemed like little children in front of the dragon, only able to reach its knees when they jumped up.

This barrage of blows not only failed to hurt the blue dragon but allowed it to catch several gargoyles with its claws, crushing them and sending them crashing into the sea.

"Tsk tsk... That strength is really outrageous," Su Lun remarked, squinting his eyes and inwardly marveling at the dragon's terrifying power.

Indeed, as a high-tier being at the top of the food chain, strength, magic, defense... all top-notch, dragons truly have no obvious weaknesses.

...

Watching a dozen gargoyles fall into the sea, Su Lun was not the least bit flustered.

He never expected these puppets to injure the evil dragon in the first place.

They were just a means to buy time.

If he alone could take down the dragon, then it wouldn't have been worth such a struggle for the Dawn Group.

Su Lun's mind raced, and he once again teleported, narrowly avoiding another blast of dragon breath.

Dragons were nearly invincible in close combat, and Su Lun had no intention of taking it head-on. Instead, he used teleportation to move in unpredictable 'snake-like' patterns.

It wasn't long before reinforcements arrived!

Suddenly, a golden figure streaked through the sky toward them. Number Nineteen entered the scene like a ray of sunlight piercing through dark clouds, her arrival marked by dazzling golden light.

She charged into the fray like a mechanical war god, braving the roiling thunderstorm overhead.

If dragon scales were the dragons' defensive gift, then equipment was humanity's different kind of "gift."

Number Nineteen wasn't made of flesh and blood; her war angel wings were fragments of a godly artifact, with extremely high defensive properties. For this battle, she had been specially fitted with custom magic-resistant components effective against lightning.

This seventh-order blue dragon would have a hard time injuring her in a short period.

Behind her, the golden wings clanged noisily, transforming into a sky filled with flying feathers, akin to a moving metal storm, surging towards the blue dragon.

The moment they made contact, a series of ear-piercing metallic sounds filled the sky.

The high-frequency attacks of the metal wings sliced open new wounds on the dragon's scales, streaking them with blood.

The blue dragon "Kazhka" opened its mouth and spewed forth a breath of dragon fire.

But to its surprise, the dragon breath seemed to have no effect on this human?

Number Nineteen was entirely composed of mechanical limbs, which the malevolent dragon couldn't comprehend.

Even if dragon breath was ineffective, the malevolent dragon agilely rolled in the air and, with a surge forward through the metal storm, slammed its claws onto Number Nineteen's mechanical body.

Though her wings were unharmed, Number Nineteen's mechanical limbs were of a much lower grade. Unable to dodge in time, her arm twisted and deformed under the dragon's mighty grip.

However, such damage was trivial for a mechanical body.

Unlike fleshy limbs, mechanical arms aren't vulnerable to damage in nerves or bones that would affect combat strength.

For a mechanical warrior, even if an arm was truly destroyed, it would merely mean replacing it with another.

Moreover, Number Nineteen had already completed her mission.

In that moment of close-quarters combat, several feathers, marked with spatial signs, had quietly stuck to the dragon's back.

She and Su Lun had used this tactic before in the Dwarven Curse Space.

Mark first, then hunt down.

There was no escape.

...

"Now's my chance!"

Not far away, Su Lun witnessed this scene, his eyes sharp.

Suddenly, he spread his arms wide, performed a quick costume change, and put on the "Dragon Slayer Warrior's Dragonscale Armor." In his sleeve, he also concealed a crimson dagger.

In that instant, his aura changed dramatically, the threat in his presence became evident.

He formed a sorcerer's seal with his hands, and his figure dissipated on the spot.

The blue dragon, Kazhka, still engaged in battle with Number Nineteen, but when it caught a glimpse of the Dragonscale Armor on Su Lun's body from the corner of its eye, its pupils shrank, and it finally felt threatened.

Vaguely, it sensed that something was amiss.

The cunning dragon didn't hesitate, daring not to tangle with Number Nineteen any longer, and instinctively took flight, soaring a kilometer in an instant.

But no matter how fast it flew, could it outpace directed displacement?

Su Lun formed a sorcerer's seal with one hand, and his body followed the coordinates of the rapid movement, teleporting in pursuit.

The next instant, he was already atop the dragon's back.

The blue dragon was aware of the "bug" on its back; its body lit up with crackling electricity, and suddenly, the air was filled with roiling lightning like silver snakes in the tide.

Even though the Dragonscale Armor protected him from the thunder, just the brief contact was enough for the terrify dragon might, which felt like a collapsing mountain, to crash heavily against Su Lun's domain of death.

Su Lun felt his soul tremble, and his face grew stern, "What a powerful dragon might!"

In that moment, he vividly felt the superior disdain of a high-order creature, that pressure stemming from a difference in the hierarchy of life.

It was as if... an emperor regarded a commoner, with that innate dominance and authoritarianism.

This was a pure-blooded dragon!

A high-ranking species listed alongside the gods in myth!

Had it not been for Su Lun's own domain of death, honed through slaughter, an ordinary seventh-order creature would not have been able to stand its ground.

But it was this clash that gave Su Lun a deeper, instinctual understanding of his own domain.

These insights could only be truly grasped through actual combat.

Su Lun snorted coldly in his heart and shook off the slight [Intimidation] status that lingered in his mind.

He steadied himself in an instant and swiftly drew the dragon-slaying dagger.

Gripping the dagger, he flexed his right arm forcefully and drove the blade into the dragon's scales.

"Shh!"

It felt like driving a blunt knife into a piece of rotten wood. Although it took a considerable amount of effort, Su Lun's strike successfully pierced a slit in the dragon's scales.

The dagger was coated with [Dragon Slaying Potion], a potion that prevented the dragon's wounds from healing. This miraculous potion allowed Su Lun's dagger to penetrate deeper and deeper until it was firmly lodged in place.

With that support, he was solidly anchored on the dragon's back.

"Ahh~"

In pain, the blue dragon let out a piercing cry that shook the heavens, then plunged towards the sea surface, seemingly trying to shake Su Lun off.

But would Su Lun let it have its way?

With a single hand, he swiftly formed a spell and slapped it onto the dragon's back: "Necromancy!"

Violent spatial ripples surged.

And with a second glance, a massive mechanical octopus appeared on the dragon's back, its metallic sheen glinting coldly.

This is the North Sea Leviathan, the Kraken, that Dr. Banks and the Mafa Mechanics have been modifying all this time.

They have created this gigantic mechanical octopus using a living silver alloy and Mafa's top-tier mechanical technology.

No!

This is not like any typical mechanical octopus, it's a Void Mechanical Octopus!

In Duke Rafael's secret experiment base, countless mechanical beasts were studied, but ultimately, it was discovered that only the octopus made the most perfect mechanical creature.

The octopus excels in offense and defense, with virtually perfect functionality of its tentacles.

Once it clings on, there is almost no escape.

However, the previous mechanical octopuses had one shortcoming: they could only operate in water.

But in the hands of Su Lun, a new idea was born.

That was the Void Mechanical Octopus!

A mechanical octopus that could float in the void.

At present, this project only has this North Sea Leviathan and a few experimental products. Su Lun imagines a scene where tens of thousands of Void Mechanical Octopuses descend from the sky like a blanket.

No matter in the sky, on the ground, underwater...

Wherever they passed, all the enemies were crushed to death!

To deal with ordinary ships, such an oversized mechanical octopus would normally be overkill, but now it's the perfect tool to restrain this giant dragon!

...

Su Lun directly summoned the mechanical octopus onto the dragon's back, where its dozens of meters long tentacles and countless suckers instantly clung onto the dragon's scales.

The mechanical tentacles began to exert force, immediately wrapping around the dragon's wings, restricting its flight.

The reason the blue dragon dared to turn around and fight was that it relied on its flying speed advantage. Even if it couldn't defeat its opponents, it could always escape.

But now, the mechanical octopus was restraining its wings!

The giant dragon tried to break free, its body flashing with lightning, attempting to electrocute the octopus off.

Unfortunately, the mechanical octopus was stripped of its pain receptors, so even in pain, the octopus's tentacles wouldn't retract due to reflex. Instead, they would only wrap tighter and not fall off.

This was a mechanical programming setting: Mechanical Lockdown!

And mechanical creatures excel at physical restraint and struggle.

This mechanical octopus might not be stronger than this seventh-tier giant dragon, but due to its special suction cup adhesion method, it could apply force more precisely. The sticky method of exerting force left the dragon at no advantage.

With its wings restricted, the blue dragon's flight speed suddenly slowed down, and it even started to wobble in the air.

Seeing his plan successful, Su Lun's eyes lit up with joy, "It worked!"

He had considered other means of control before.

Like spatial restrictions.

However, spatial restriction devices like the "Stanitz's Chessboard" or the "Terrifying Wax Museum" worked well on lower-tier professionals, but were likely to be forcibly destroyed in top-tier battles. Instead of trapping the enemy, they would lose valuable assets for nothing.

And as for spatial spells, Su Lun was not able to control such a huge creature at his current level.

Therefore, physical restraint was the best choice!

He had not deployed it earlier for fear of exposure.

Now that the plan succeeded, he had no such worries.

Su Lun raised his hand ahead, and a black hole appeared in mid-air. A swordsman with an overpowering aura of Sword Intent and an old man in a black cloak instantly rushed out.

It was Qian Tiao and Mr. Hei, who had been waiting for some time.

Looking further, nineteen and Barrett's group were also charging in from not far away.

The high-ranked fighters of the Dawn Group joined the dragon hunt in an instant.

Fighting a true pure-blooded giant dragon was a rare battle experience.

Su Lun did have other means to kill this blue dragon, such as the "Bow of Time Curse" from Cronus or the newly acquired "Medusa's Serpentine Staff."

But they wanted not just to hunt this Thunder Dragon; they aimed to preserve as much intact material as possible for Dr. Banks to research the "Dragon Bloodline Potion" and to refine the alchemical implants from Sir Isaac's manuscript!

So they had to fight with all their might!

With all the high-ranked fighters of the Dawn Group engaged in battle, the sea area was turned upside down, erupting in a turmoil like the end of the world.

Thanks to the detailed battle plan that Su Lun and his companions had made earlier, the entire battle process went almost without any surprises.

All that was left was attrition.

...

Meanwhile, in Atalan City.

Everyone was baffled again.

Those who had panicked and fled the city suddenly found that the giant dragon did not return to retaliate against the people in the city?

Instead, they heard the thunderous sounds from three days ago coming from the south.

The adventurers who had come upon hearing the news also realized that this noise was not a treasure emerging, but the sounds of battle.

But...

What kind of battle could produce such terrifying sounds?

However, what shocked them even more came afterward.

After the roaring sounds, they saw the thunderclouds in the sky condense visibly, clearly due to the commotion of the blue dragon "Kazka's" battle.

After observing for a while, not only did the commotion not dissipate, but it intensified, as if engaged in a fight to the death.

The tsunamis triggered by the combat shockwaves even reached Atalan City, growing wave after wave.

Seeing this scene, everyone harbored an unbelievable thought: Could someone actually be... slaying a dragon?!