Mechanical Alchemist

The might of the magicians from the Divine Plane lies in their magic formations; once these formations are broken, their combat power plummets dramatically.

Su Lun was like a sledgehammer, brutally smashing the solid turtle shells of the ten-thousand-man formations, and what remained was all too easy to handle.

When the joint fleet saw this opportunity, how could they not seize it?

Hundreds of steam-powered ironclad ships charged towards those scattered magical formations.

The time for counterattack had come!

The defensive formation of the ten-thousand-man formations was broken and their wooden ships were destroyed by mechanical octopuses, presenting the perfect opportunity for an assault.

The remaining magicians, severely hit, quickly regrouped into five-hundred-man and thousand-man teams to stubbornly hold their ground.

But to such small formations, the alchemical cannonballs were not impenetrable shells.

"Boom," "Boom," "Boom"...

The deafening sound of cannon fire erupted, as countless alchemical cannonballs fell, shattering the sea's magical shields into fragments.

"Hahaha, we've broken through! We've shattered those magicians' military formations!"

"To hell with them!"

"Lieutenant General Cook, have your Third Fleet encircle from the left flank; Suzanna Winning, lead the Seventh Fleet to penetrate the central line and divide the enemy; Major General Barbara, take the Sixth Fleet... All forces, attack—don't let those enemies escape!"

"Yes!"

"..."

An unprecedented enthusiasm erupted among the joint fleet, as all soldiers charged fearlessly towards the enemy.

After many harsh battles with the forces from the Divine Plane, only today's fight was truly satisfying.

All the frustrations and grudges of the past were finally being vented.

Normally, when facing a ten-thousand-man formation, the best tactic would be to first deplete the enemy's magical shields with cannonballs, and then attack when a breach appeared.

But this method of attack was inefficient, time-consuming, and costly.

Usually, during this process, the enemy's legion magic would have already been cast several times.

The longer the stalemate, the greater the power of the prepared legion magic, and some forbidden spells could deliver devastating blows upon release.

Therefore, in an exchange of firepower, it was the Empire's army that typically suffered losses.

To stand a chance of victory, generally one would need several times the number of men as the enemy, and the expenditure of a large number of high-tier alchemical rounds to have a possibility of annihilating a ten-thousand-man formation.

But now, things were different!

Because Su Lun had broken the ten-thousand-man formations' magical shields, the joint fleet easily infiltrated the enemy's ranks and began close combat.

When mages of equal rank faced the alchemical plane's professionals and mechanical warriors, there wasn't much advantage to speak of.

And so, fierce battle erupted on the open sea.

...

On the main ship of the joint fleet, Meredith and General Rostov watched the unfolding battle with rapt attention.

The two old marshals could hardly contain their excitement.

The outcome of the battle was already clear.

This was destined to be a resounding victory.

And this battle held extraordinary significance!

The Empire, having faced consecutive defeats, needed this victory badly.

A decisive victory at sea would undoubtedly boost the morale of the Empire's soldiers tremendously.

Moreover, these eight ten-thousand-man formations constituted the main active force of the Divine Plane near the Imperial Strait. Their annihilation would alleviate the defense pressure on the Imperial Strait for a significant period.

Furthermore, with their ships destroyed, it would be difficult for them to gather the large vessels needed to cross the strait anytime soon.

The pressure that had been suffocating the alchemical plane could finally ease.

But most importantly, the old marshals saw a deeper meaning in the Dawn Group before them.

This was not just an adventure group; it was the hope of alchemical civilization!

...

However, this hope was not solely Su Lun.

As they looked on, the expressions of the joint fleet's soldiers stiffened with shock.

Following Su Lun's godlike descent, the Dawn Group made their appearance.

The sea emperor-class sailing battleship moved with unparalleled speed in this era.

Everyone watched as the sailing warship, riding the giant waves, forcefully entered the battlefield.

The domineering manner of its entrance left everyone in awe.

But in a large-scale, legion-level battlefield, normally only a legion itself is qualified to stand firm. Everyone in the joint fleet thought that a single ship, an adventure group, would not impact the overall situation.

However, to their surprise, the moment the black sailed warship appeared, it charged straight towards a fully assembled ten-thousand-man formation.

"This is bad, they're going to collide with the enemy's legion magic!"

"Quick! Provide fire support for them!"

"..."

The joint fleet watched in great urgency.

Even with their force of over two hundred thousand, they had conservatively chosen to attack the ten-thousand-man formations that Su Lun had disrupted.

Yet the Dawn Group, which was not a professional fighting legion, foolishly charged at the enemy's well-organized formations?

And despite the obvious reconsolidating legion magic, they did not attempt to dodge?

The black sailed warship moved rapidly, and in an instant, the two forces were about to engage in close combat.

But the distance was too great, and aside from providing cannon fire support, the joint fleet could do little to help. Moreover, with both sides so close, the cannons risked inflicting friendly fire.

"That's the legion's forbidden spell, 'Sacred Judgment of the Grand Sun'!"

"No good, that legion magic is coated with alchemical film. If they take this hit, the Dawn Group's ship might be destroyed!"

"They are being too careless... Now that the enemy's legion magic has been successfully consolidated, their ship is too big to evade it..."

"..."

The combined fleet watched as a "mini sun" suddenly formed in the sky above the ten-thousand strong mage formation; they knew all too well what spell this was.

The legion magic "Great Sun Holy Light" could use light elements to converge into an extremely high temperature, shining upon the target and even easily melting steel warships into molten iron.

They had already suffered losses in previous battles, so each of them watched, with hearts full of concern for the Dawn group.

Just when they thought Su Lun would teleport over to create a breakthrough, another jaw-dropping scene unfolded.

Elsewhere on a distant battlefield, Su Lun was controlling his puppet legion to heavily damage another ten-thousand mage formation, showing no intention of going over to help.

This left everyone in the combined fleet puzzled.

Even the two old marshals were watching with tightly furrowed brows.

Although they had recognized Su Lun's overwhelming strength, it couldn't possibly be... Could an adventure group really withstand an attack comparable to a ninth-tier ten-thousand mage formation?

However, before they could ponder further, they saw the sky above the Eternal Night ship also light up with the glow of the Nonagram Alchemy Formation.

Was the Dawn group also condensing a legion formation?!

At this, everyone understood what was happening, but they couldn't quite believe it.

After all, in all these years on the alchemy plane, there had never been a true ten-thousand magician group.

But the reality was right before their eyes!

It was in that instant that the "mini sun" in the sky of the divine realm had already reached its peak brightness, suddenly emitting a light beam several tens of meters in diameter.

The scorching beam seared the sea surface, steaming it white. In the blink of an eye, it streaked across several nautical miles, creating a huge white column of light on the sea.

Such swift attack left no chance for evasion!

Yet, instead of watching a scene of the ship being destroyed and the crew perishing, they saw the light beam that should have pierced the ship's hull, unexpectedly being reflected back!

Aboard the Eternal Night, a black-robed old man wearing an eyepatch suddenly raised his hand, and the condensing Nonagram Formation abruptly turned into a massive ice crystal mirror.

It was this mirror that reflected the white light back.

"This is... mirror reflection!"

"This seems like a variant of the eighth-tier ice series secret technique "Absolute Mirror". My God, how did they do it?"

"This is very ingenious elemental reversal... That black-robed magician is quite powerful. This move, I can't think of any eighth-tier professionals I know could manage. Yet he seems to have not even reached the eighth tier, his strength is truly bewildering..."

"I recognize that black-robed magician. He was on the wanted notice issued by the Rafaels before, seems to be an important member of the Dawn group, named... Mr. Hei!"

"..."

Seeing this countermeasure, the crew of the combined fleet were overjoyed, and couldn't help but marvel at the ingenuity of the response.

However, they couldn't fathom how someone would dare to respond in such a way!

To reflect a legion technique with power comparable to the ninth-tier, it required not just equivalent strength but also the prediction of timing, data calculation, energy control, precise release... The factors involved were extremely complex.

Such a feat demanded a terrifying ability to calculate instantly.

Even the slightest error could lead to the destruction of the ship and the loss of life.

Therefore, even if someone could think of this method, they would definitely not dare to execute it.

But the black-robed magicians of the Dawn Brigade did just that!

And they blocked it perfectly!

Before everyone could marvel at this divine counter-spell, they saw the beam of white light instantly reflecting back.

This destructive beam had the power to devastate any warship, even more so those divine vessels from the heavens.

As soon as the beam struck, the legion's magical shield stiffened for a moment, then was immediately pierced through, creating a massive hole.

In the blink of an eye, several medium-sized ships, including the flagship, disappeared into ashes in the light beam.

Seeing the flames erupt in the distance on the sea surface, the hearts of the allied fleet's crew, which had been hanging by their throats, now fell back into place.

Following that, a wave of euphoria set in!

So we've broken through!

The Dawn Brigade, using the same legion spell, had broken through a group of ten thousand mages.

In the eyes of those high-ranking officers, this was not just a breakthrough but a giant leap for the alchemy realm.

Meredith's voice trembled slightly with excitement, "It's incredible, the Dawn Brigade actually has a fully functional group of ten thousand magicians. This... this really is a huge surprise for us. Hahaha... we alchemists can now have our own groups of ten thousand mages too!"

He laughed, tears streaming down his face.

With these words, General Rostov beside him became excited as well, saying, "Yes."

He knew too well the significance of this battle, murmuring, "Before, the Royal Academy was still studying those legion formations from the heavenly realm, wondering whether we could condense our own alchemist legion formations to resist foreign enemies. It was a pity that due to the lack of intelligence, everything was still in the early stages. Compared to the countless years of experience of magical groups from the heavenly realm, we were far too lacking... but now the Dawn Brigade has given us a huge surprise. This is the experience of a fully matured magical group. Once the Imperial Legion manages to master those battle formations, they'll be able to replicate groups of ten thousand mages. Although we can't create many groups, by gathering the strength of the entire Unified Empire, we could form a few dozen teams. By then, when we face groups of ten thousand mages in direct combat, we won't be at such a disadvantage..."

The senior officers were thrilled at this proclamation.

Only they knew how brutal and despairing the previous battles were.

Facing groups of ten thousand mages, they had to sacrifice many times, even tens of times, the number of lives to contend, not to mention the horrors of such scenes.

And now, the alchemy realm finally had the means to respond!

...

Seeing this, the people of the allied fleet finally understood where the Dawn Brigade's confidence came from when they faced the ten thousand mages head-on.

However, aside from their collective strength, the high warriors of the Dawn Brigade also opened the eyes of the others.

"Good heavens, that Sword Qi is terrifying, that swordsman actually severely injured a group of a thousand mages with a single strike!"

"A sword that breaks a thousand spells... Could he be a master of the legendary 'Sword God Realm'? Snowflakes fluttering in the sky... The sword in his hand, could it be the second-ranked among the Twelve Master Craftsmen Famed Swords, '[Jiachiqinghua Light Whisper]'? It can't be that swordsman from Black Sam's pirate crew, can it?"

"Look up there, there's a Golden Angel in the sky! Oh, she's actually withstanding the legion's magic and remains unharmed!"

"That Golden Angel is the 'Number Nineteen Lady' from the Dawn organization. Watch closely, this is the pinnacle of mechanical warriors' combat power. Our mechanical warriors are second to none!"

"Haven't you noticed, the waves are aiding the Dawn Brigade? They must have an extremely powerful sea sorcerer among them."

"That is an eighth-order vampire, oh, 'Blood Duke' Moore Wazhuaz has actually reached the eighth-tier."

"Those giants of over ten meters on their ship..."

"..."

One by one, the high warriors of the Dawn Brigade revealed themselves, launching into the enemy ranks.

After the adventure in the Dragon Country Waters, the high-ranking professionals of the Dawn Brigade had all strengthened by one or two entire ranks. And although their power was not as exaggerated as Su Lun's, gene potions and dragon armaments had given everyone the strength of the top of their respective ranks.

It could be said that any of the Dawn Brigade's seventh-rank combatants were not the least bit inferior to the once famous "Top Ten Legendary Bounty Hunters" of the Emperor Luying's empire.

With this appearance, the high-level combatants were in the limelight.

Not only did their legion crush the opponents, but their high-end combat power did, too.

The ten-thousand-member mage formation was continuously beaten back in the face of the Dawn Brigade.

Although the rest of Dawn and the Combined Fleet had heard of them through various channels, they were not familiar with them.

But there was one person that many recognized.

Just then, someone spotted a burly figure rampaging through the ten-thousand-member mage formation and exclaimed.

"Look, you guys, that... that seems to be Captain Barrett?"

Barrett was once the captain of the "Sacred Judgment Legion," affiliated with the Royal Knight Legion.

Moreover, he graduated from the Royal Military Academy, and many people in the Combined Fleet were his former classmates and comrades-in-arms.

"I heard that guy was promoted to the seventh rank before. But how has he become so strong now?"

"Yeah. Barrett's combat power is so exaggerated; this is still the seventh rank? Saying he's almost the eighth rank wouldn't be far off."

"Didn't you notice that Barrett's body has grown a lot bigger?"

"Back in the academy, that guy and I were about the same. What on earth has he been through these past few years to have gained two whole rank levels over me?"

"..."

Those who recognized Barrett looked at one another, their faces reflecting shock, confusion, and... envy.

The people of the Sacred Judgment Legion were indeed carefully selected knights, but even so, they hadn't seen each other in a year or two; the gap couldn't have grown that much, right?

This increase in strength truly left people feeling that they had no hope of catching up.

Even General Rostov, who was Barrett's former teacher, was pleased but also incredibly surprised: "How did that kid become so strong?!"

There were many seventh-rank professionals in the Combined Fleet, but as they looked around, they realized that they had no chance of winning against any of the seventh-rank members from the Dawn Brigade.

Not only Barrett, but a significant portion of the backbone of the Dawn Brigade were former Royal Knights of the Sacred Judgment Legion.

The more people began to scrutinize, the more familiar faces they recognized.

But it was precisely because they recognized them that they felt even more surprised.

How could the gap be so big between them and their former classmates, whom they were once comparable to?

Visibly, they were one or two whole rank levels behind, not to mention the difference in equipment and enhancements!

When they fought, the radiance of their treasures was blinding.

Gold quality, dark gold... even legendary!

All sorts of high-rank cursed items were used as if they were free of charge, one or even several per person, pummeling those mages without mercy.

"My god, their equipment is too good, isn't it? Did I see every one of those guys carrying a gold-quality cursed item?"

"Yeah. Their enhancement grades are terrifyingly high, too."

"And the mechanical warriors. Aren't those laboratory-level equipment from our Mafa? How come it's already equipped on their ships when the empire's most advanced warships don't have them yet?"

"..."

The Combined Fleet truly envied them.

But something felt off the more they thought about it.

They were supposed to be the empire's most elite fleet, so how could a civilian adventure group have better equipment than them?

If it was just one or two individuals, that would be one thing, but the average equipment of the entire "Dawn Brigade" was far better than theirs!

Meredith smiled with satisfaction upon seeing this, "It seems they've had great fortune in the Far Western Seas."

General Rostov also agreed, "Only by surviving that legendary, fatal Far Western Seas could their strength be explained."

The atmosphere of the battle had lost all tension.

All that was left was to reap the rewards.

...

This strange and unpredictable sea battle lost all suspense after the Dawn Brigade's strong intervention.

Su Lun had not taken action earlier on purpose; he was waiting for the eight ten-thousand-member mage formations to get close enough so they had no chance of escape.

And just as he had anticipated, Su Lun broke through five of the mage formations, leaving the rest to the Dawn Brigade and the Combined Fleet to handle.

After that was the complete encirclement and slaughter at sea.

Without their ships, the divine plane mages, except for a few who excelled at escape techniques, were essentially fighting a losing battle.

The only one whom Su Lun found slightly troublesome was the overall commander of the Holy Army.

That was the eighth-rank great mage who had almost beheaded the two marshals of the Combined Fleet with his lightning spells.

However, after some time, Su Lun successfully dispatched the man as well.

With the situation under control, all that remained was to mop up the remnants and clear the battlefield.

Su Lun did not plan to linger there any longer; he teleported to the main fleet, greeted the two old marshals, and then left.

He was going to Mr. Jing's place to check on his sister's injuries as well.

...

After Su Lun left, the battle continued for most of the day before ceasing almost entirely.

The Combined Fleet had over two hundred thousand people, so there was no need for the Dawn Brigade to be involved in clean-up.

Soon after, the ship Eternal Night headed for the Combined Fleet's flagship.

As his mentor was on board, Barrett naturally paid a visit.

Not only for the teaching grace he had received but when the Bonaparte royal family had colluded with the Evil God and he and the Sacred Judgment Legion were denationalized and wanted, it was General Rostov who had gone through various channels to save some of the family members of the Sacred Judgment Legion.

And now that Barrett was the vice-captain of the Dawn Brigade, he also represented the Dawn Brigade.

He and a few core members of the Dawn Brigade boarded the ship.

"Barrett, long time no see!"

"Tegus, it's been years. How did you become so strong?"

"Oh, I watched your battle just now; it was truly unbelievable."

"..."

Barrett and the core members of his group had many acquaintances in the combined fleet, and there was no awkwardness after boarding; everyone received a warm welcome.

It was not just the warmth of old friends meeting, but also gratitude.

Everyone knew that without the Dawn Group's reinforcements, their combined fleet of over two hundred thousand might have been doomed in these waters.

General Rostov said, "I really owe you one for before. Without the Dawn Group, our combined fleet would have probably taken a big tumble this time."

With those words, he suddenly stood up straight as an arrow and gave Barrett a very solemn military salute, saying, "On behalf of the empire, and these two hundred thousand soldiers, I extend the most genuine thanks to the Dawn."

At that military salute, including Old Marshal Meredith, all the soldiers on the main ship's deck saluted in unison.

The atmosphere suddenly turned solemn and fiery.

Seeing his own mentor and everyone's military salute, Barrett also responded with a solemn and respectful salute.

...

After the Dawn Group boarded the ship and observed closely, the people of the combined fleet realized just how extraordinarily strong these individuals were.

Having been oppressed by the might of dragons all this time, they all carried an aura of fearlessness.

Although not many boarded, the aura they unintentionally emitted was enough to make the eighth-rankers on the deck feel a chill down their spines.

And up close, that visual impact was even more direct.

They noticed that the members of the Dawn Group, led by Barrett, were uniformly over three meters tall and significantly more robust than the average magician.

As fellow alchemists, the combined fleet's personnel knew well that this must surely be the result of gene potion modifications.

And looking at this situation, it was definitely a high-quality gene potion that provided such enhancement.

There were also some with horns and scales, clearly signs of incomplete fusions from bloodline potions.

Then looking at the flying dragon troupe on the Evernight, they were most likely enhanced with the Dragon Blood Gene Potion.

It wasn't just one or two people, but everyone had undergone gene modification, which meant that the Dawn Group controlled the technology to mass-produce gene potions!

Although it was unbelievable, this was something not even the imperial military had mastered.

But there it was, right before their eyes.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, General Rostov, with a flash of a strange expression, took the initiative to speak.

He knew that he was the most appropriate to make such a request, "I have an impolite request... I would like to ask whether it's possible for your group to conditionally transfer the Combination Attack Technique and gene potions? Of course, the empire is willing to pay a substantial price."

Whether it was the Combination Attack Technique of the ten thousand magicians or the gene potions, these were technologies that could be replicated!

If the Dawn Group was willing to transfer this knowledge, the military strength of the combined empire could leap to a higher level in an instant.

This would have far-reaching significance for the plane wars!

It could even change the course of the war to a certain extent, saving countless lives from death!

Alchemists have always believed in equivalent exchange, and the military wouldn't take advantage of an adventure group.

After all, they knew that the Dawn Group must have exchanged their lives for these opportunities.

So, paying a price for resources was a given.

Upon hearing this, everyone in the combined fleet turned their gaze to Barrett and his group.

The request was indeed quite impolite.

After all, they had just been saved by these people, and now they were asking for their secrets; it didn't seem very honorable.

But in the face of the greater good of civilization, General Rostov was ready to put his old face and any personal feelings on the line to make an attempt.

However, what no one expected was that Barrett seemed to have anticipated this request.

Upon hearing it, he laughed and said directly, "Teacher, I was actually just about to discuss this matter. Our Dawn Group indeed has the 'Giant Dragon Gene Potion', 'Titan Gene Potion', and others like the 'Behemoth', 'Elf', 'Griffon' amongst many mythical creature gene potions... as well as some ancient alchemy manuscripts and secret techniques. These were what we gained from our venture to the Far Western Seas..."

As he listed the Dawn Group's treasures like an inventory, the expressions of the combined fleet were extraordinarily animated.

Most of the people on the main ship were high-ranking officers who had seen the world.

But hearing the names of those mythical creature gene potions, their eyes widened in shock, barely concealing their anticipation.

My God, there were so many!

No wonder the entire Dawn Group was so strong!

Continuing, Barrett said, "Su Lun Jue, the leader of our group, had already instructed us that these technologies and knowledge will be provided to the imperial military and the Alchemy Guild without any charge. Now that the planar pathway is established and the planar law's upper limit keeps rising, this is also the best opportunity for advancement. With the aid of gene potions, we can quickly create a large number of mid-level combatants. And this is also the basis for the ten thousand magician army..."

This was something the Dawn Group had discussed early on.

The alchemical plane had reached a critical juncture, and it was not the time to remain complacent.

Moreover, they were never afraid of leaking things like gene potions.

Because the heavenly plane was a plane of divine belief where even if they got their hands on these technologies, they would consider them "heresy" and "sacrilege to the powers of the gods," and erase them instead of using them.

On the contrary, the more widely alchemy was spread, the further the seeds of civilization were sown.

Someday, some of these seeds would grow into towering trees.

Furthermore, they were only providing finished technological formulas, not the detailed research data, so there was no fear of sabotage by ill-intentioned individuals.

What?

Provided without charge?

Upon hearing this, the two old marshals and all the senior officers of the combined fleet straightened up, fully aware of the significance in those words.

General Rostov's expression became complicated for a moment.

At that moment, thousands of words of gratitude seemed so colorless.

He saluted again, his voice resonant, "Thank you, gentlemen, for your selfless contribution to civilization!"

The people behind him followed with a salute.

At that moment, the vast deck of the ship was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. The sudden good news energized everyone in the combined fleet, their eyes shimmering with endless anticipation for the future.