Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun, Mr. Jing, and Pestoya chatted intermittently like this.

The atmosphere in the hot spring was relaxed and pleasant. They were like family, discussing serious matters, daily trivialities, and even joking around occasionally, teasing and playfully scuffling with each other in harmony.

In fact, after spending a considerable amount of time together, Su Lun had come to understand that although his senior sister appeared cold and aloof, she was actually very approachable. She was kind, elegant, resolute, wise, and considerate—a multitude of positive adjectives suitable for describing good character could be used to describe her.

But Mr. Jing naturally preferred quietness, and her vampiric lineage gave her an inherent air of chilliness. Besides, she was indeed the real daughter of Sir Isaac from a thousand years ago, which placed her in a high generational status, leaving hardly anyone who could talk to her about anything besides serious matters.

Except for her junior brother, Su Lun.

This made their closeness stand out even more.

Although Mr. Jing herself didn't like to talk much, when Su Lun spoke, she would listen with great interest and occasionally, a gentle smile like a spring breeze would flicker in her beautiful eyes.

Without realizing it, the wound under her ribs was treated, and Mr. Jing lay on the side of the pool again, revealing a vast expanse of her jade-like smooth back.

The scar left by the Holy Light burning resembled a scald, extending from the ribs to the lower back, and the redness strikingly stood out against her snowy white skin.

Luckily, it was dealt with in time; otherwise, it would have continued to spread and erode the area.

Such pain was simply unbearable for an ordinary person.

Su Lun concentrated on treating the wound on Mr. Jing's lower back, gradually drawing the coldness out of the muscles and bones. Then he neutralized and digested the divine principles with dark alchemy formulas.

It was a tedious and lengthy process.

After a while,

Su Lun let out a long sigh of relief, and the healing green light in his hand dimmed.

He now possessed almost absolute meticulous thinking ability, and the process of resolving the injury went as smoothly as planned.

However, it was not yet complete.

Su Lun, with his eighth-tier strength, handling the wounds eroded by those sacred principles beyond the ninth tier, found it extremely draining, and he could only remove about one-tenth at a time.

By his estimation, it would take over a week to completely remedy the situation.

"All done!"

At this moment, Su Lun exhaled a sigh of relief, and as he said it, he habitually patted with a smack.

A crisp "smack" resounded in the wilderness, particularly clear.

However, no sooner had his palm landed than he instantly realized what he had done and froze: Had he just slapped right on that round and perky bottom?

Due to his habit of treating Qiantiao's injuries and slyly taking advantages, this motion was purely unintentional.

But this time, it was his senior sister.

Even though it was through a soaked gauze dress, the gesture was somewhat frivolous.

Mr. Jing, having her bottom hit by that slap, was clearly a bit surprised.

But fortunately, since she was facing away, her mixed expression flickered and vanished, and she got up as usual and said indifferently, "Let's go."

The little misunderstanding would usually be harmless, but there happened to be a third person present.

Pestoya blinked her large eyes on the side, extremely curious.

She would not pass up the opportunity to tease Su Lun. With her hands on her hips, she let out a witch-like weird laugh and shouted, "Sister, I saw Su Lun deliberately touching your butt~ He's taking advantage of you, aren't you going to hit him?"

With this statement, what neither Su Lun nor she had cared about suddenly became somewhat uncomfortable.

Mr. Jing was also somewhat helpless with her quirky little sister.

To respond or not to respond, that was the question.

It was an unintentional act, so there's nothing to mind or not mind.

Su Lun felt he was in the wrong, but since Mr. Jing said nothing, he didn't take it to heart. Instead, he glanced at Pestoya with annoyance, pinched her face, and stretched it out long.

With that pinch, Pestoya indeed fell for it, and with a grimace, she clambered onto his neck, "Ah... you despicable Su Lun, you pinched my face again, I'm going to strangle you!"

...

Old Lington was once Duke Raphael's secret mine. After the ambitious Duke's restoration and subsequent sudden death upon ascending the throne, the place was taken over by the Lance family. Later, when Yekaterina became the Imperial Emperor, it became a part of the empire.

Old Lington's residents used to be slaves brought in by the Raphael family. Now, with the United Empire abolishing both slavery and the lordship system, it has become a special administrative district of the United Empire.

Old Lington was originally a mine, rich in various minerals and ancient relics. It also had a wealth of abyssal products and ancient relics due to its existence as a dimensional gateway for countless years.

What attracted adventurers most was "Dawn Relic," the legendary city left behind by the Alchemical Demigod Sir Isaac.

Therefore, after Old Lington opened up to the outside, it drew countless adventurers to seek fortune there.

However, due to the dimensional wars, the United Empire almost controlled all long-distance ships. The regular cruises from Ruying to Old Lington, which used to depart every few days, suddenly stopped, and only a few warships were able to travel back and forth. Old Lington had almost returned to its former state of isolation.

Luckily, Su Lun's Spatial Ability allowed him to travel anywhere, so he didn't plan on wasting time searching for any ships. With a series of teleports, he soon arrived at Black Fort Reef.

In the past, to keep it a secret, Duke Raphael had disguised the black tower on this sea-island with just an inconspicuous fortress. But now, it had changed dramatically.

From a distance, Su Lun and Mr. Jing looked towards the war fortress that bristled with cannons like a hedgehog, their expressions slightly altered.

They had once broken out of the Black Tower and fought a great battle with the pirates of the Northern Sea Fleet's Third Fleet right here. Back then, Su Lun was just a little Level 2 professional, and fighting a group of pirates was fraught with dangers. But now, upon his return, he was already Level 8.

Revisiting the old place, some memories unconsciously resurfaced.

Back then, Su Lun remembered mustering his courage to go back and "rescue" Mr. Jing. Afterwards, the two encountered a storm at sea and drifted for many days before they met Jick and his father, who were on their way to Blizzard City to trade in furs.

Clearly, Mr. Jing remembered it too, as if shadows flickered in her eyes, she said with a slight sense of emotion, "It's been a few years since I've been back, this place has changed a lot."

Su Lun raised an eyebrow and also said, "Yes. I wonder how Old Lington is doing now."

He didn't plan on alerting anyone, and with a pinch of his sorcerer's seal, a spatial rift appeared before them.

The two of them stepped through it.

The next moment, they found themselves surrounded by towering high-rises and a bustling scene.

This was the Inner City of Old Lington.

The tall Black Tower stood in the center of the city, with alchemical light sources illuminating this underground metropolis. High walls separated the Inner City from the Outer City, and the cake-like layout of districts 1~8 featured futuristic style blue glass skyscrapers, as well as those smokestacks hundreds of meters tall billowing with white smoke...

Everything was very familiar.

Although the Northern Sea Fleet had plundered a lot of wealth from Old Lington, the city's foundation remained unharmed, and the underground city had long since returned to its former prosperity.

The streets were bustling with people and lively cries of peddlers filled the air.

Due to its development in isolation, the Inner City of Old Lington possessed a unique prosperity that was no less than any other city.

Most of the old acquaintances had already rushed out, so there wasn't much to miss.

Su Lun and Mr. Jing did not stay long in the Inner City. Another teleport and they were already outside the walls of the Inner City.

Unlike before, the Outer City had undergone tremendous changes.

The once dilapidated scenery no longer existed; numerous high-rise buildings had sprung up.

After the abolition of slavery and the lordship system, everyone in Old Lington became citizens of the empire. Free from exorbitant taxes and exploitation, the wealth adventurers risked their lives for was now enough for them to live prosperously.

Old Lington was the birthplace of neural-mechanical technology, and the various mechanical augmentation industries here were very developed.

On the streets, one could see adventurers with modified mechanical prosthetics everywhere. By their accents, many were even foreigners from Mafa.

Also because of the top-notch technology from the Mafa passed on, mechanical prosthetics in Old Lington now had a breath of fresh air, with various mechanical technologies undergoing qualitative leaps in their research and development. On the streets, various mechanical modification shops could be seen everywhere.

Su Lun was going to pick up number 88 from Ginkgo Street, in the southern part of the city.

Seeing such great changes in Old Lington, they were in no rush, taking the opportunity for a nostalgic trip, walking and sightseeing along the way.

The two walked on the street, witnessing all kinds of magically modified motorcycles roaring and speeding along the road, while the shops on both sides were bustling with activity.

The outer city, once a scene of war and slums, was now completely different, looking like a normal city.

However, as they walked, they also overheard some other news.

"I thought we poor people could finally have a good life, but I didn't expect the newly appointed governor to reinstate the old lordship system just a few months into his tenure."

"Yeah. The taxes are so high, and the treasures obtained from hunting in the wild have to be sold to the Town Lord's office first. This way, fewer and fewer adventurers and merchants from other places will come..."

"What outsiders will come now? Haven't you seen the cruise ships are all being controlled? And the Alchemy Academy, which the empire said our commoner children could also attend, has that not been abolished now? Looking at the situation, that governor wants to monopolize alchemy knowledge as before, confining us for generations of servitude."

"Wasn't it said that the empire has abolished nobility and slavery, and that we have all been granted amnesty from servitude? The law says we are free people, allowed to go wherever we want..."

"Heh, you believe what those noble lords say? They claim it's to prepare materials for the great war, but anyone with clear eyes knows those guys are just amassing wealth for themselves, no different from the former Duke Raphael."

"Shh... keep your voice down. Don't you know the identity of the governor we trust? Be careful what you say privately, or you might bring trouble upon yourself."

"What identity?"

"You don't know that the lord governor is Master Merlin's youngest son? Master Merlin is the strongest profession holder in the empire. It's said that because of his illustrious military achievements, His Majesty the Emperor granted Old Lington as a fief to their family..."

"..."

Su Lun and Mr. Jing walked on the street, without deliberately inquiring, but also roughly learned the current situation of Old Lington from bits and pieces of conversations among the adventurers.

It seems that Master Merlin, relying on his position as the court's premier minister, requested the position of Old Lington's governor from the council.

And then, this new lord named Alvin Gregory, upon his arrival, began to show signs of reverting to the old autocratic lordship system.

But after all, a large portion of the adventurers in Old Lington now were outsiders, who had seen the freedom of other systems, and naturally were full of complaints against such oppression.

On hearing this, Su Lun realized something with a hint of surprise, "The United Empire now has a new ninth-grade?"

Mr. Jing nodded, "Mm. I've been in the Mafa recently and only heard about a new ninth-grade ascender, but I haven't seen him. According to the information from the Jing Organization in Lington, this Merlin minister once served as a royal guard for Prince Carnap, a strong veteran of the eighth-grade, who ascended to ninth-grade half a year ago and is now the court's first minister."

Speaking of this, she added, "Anyone who advances to ninth-grade in their profession won't lack in strength or talent. But it seems he's a supporter of the 'old faction' that's pro-nobility. The intelligence from Lington indicates that this Merlin Gregory doesn't quite get along with the new policies and seems to be wielding his power too independently. But given his strength, no one dares to speak against him. And looking at it now, that's indeed the case."

"..."

Su Lun also revealed a rather wry smile upon hearing this.

Another ninth-grade is a good thing, but a ninth-grade not aligned with the rest poses a big problem.

This guy stationed his own son in Old Lington as the governor, clearly had his own ulterior motives.

Being far from the Ruying mainland, even if a great war broke out, it would be hard for it to reach here. That Master Merlin probably wanted to secure a backup plan for his descendants.

But knowing this, there was nothing they could do.

Su Lun could imagine someone as astute as Yekaterina probably also had a headache over this.

A ninth-grade isn't really something you can't do anything about, but at this juncture, internal conflict was to be avoided.

The empire's first minister represented the highest combat power of the empire, and any situation involving Master Merlin would bring significant negative impact.

At this moment, Mr. Jing spoke again, "Moreover... there is intelligence pointing out that some of the people from the old faction supporting Merlin Gregory have close ties with the Tianmu Sect. However, without concrete evidence, it's premature to draw conclusions."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Su Lun's brows furrowed.

Exploiting one's position for personal gain can at most be considered selfish.

But if there's an involvement with the Tianmu Sect, that is... treason.

Su Lun's eyes darkened as he speculated, "Senior Sister, could it be that the ambush you encountered and the joint fleet's ambush are the schemes of these people behind the scenes?"

Mr. Jing didn't rush to a conclusion and said indifferently, "It's hard to say."

But after walking a few steps, she added, "Now that things here are settled, I'm going to visit Lingdun. By then, whatever the situation is, we'll find out."

"Hmm."

Su Lun heard the profound meaning beneath the calm tone.

If the rear isn't handled properly, and things like his ambush or the joint fleet's ambush happen a few more times, they wouldn't need to fight the plane war; they'd collapse from within first.

However, the two of them didn't talk much more about it.

To others, a ninth-order is indeed a ceiling-level power.

But in their eyes, it isn't an insurmountable trouble.

The current Dawn Group is much stronger than a newly promoted ninth-order.

If Master Merlin truly harbors ill intentions, even if he is ninth-order, they wouldn't leave such a hidden danger unchecked.

...

Su Lun and his companion traveled via a combination of walking and teleportation, and soon they reached the location of Ginkgo Street in their memory.

In an Old Lington with alchemy and various mechanical prosthetics, naturally, there's nothing to say about the speed of urban development.

Even Su Lun, who had once lived on this street, couldn't recognize it; high buildings were densely packed everywhere, and the street was far busier than before.

Luckily, the house numbers hadn't changed, so the two walked along the street and Su Lun immediately spotted the small western-style building at number 88 still standing there.

This is, after all, a "haunted house."

Su Lun wasn't in a hurry to arrive for the reason that he knew the cursed space here couldn't be dealt with by anyone.

Except for someone like him who took a shortcut, knowing the name of the grudge master in the cursed space and chanting it to come out, it is definitely a "T-level" space for others.

After all, the "Living Corpse Research Journal" from the second-floor safe had been taken out by him, and whoever searched later would never know the name of the grudge master. If someone tried to go to the morgue on the third floor below, Su Lun reckoned that even a seventh-order professional might not make it out alive.

This dilapidated small western-style building looked out of place among the new buildings.

Su Lun and his companion paused in front of the small western-style house, and at that moment, a little boy wearing a duckbill cap and with a cigarette box hanging around his neck immediately came up to them, asking enthusiastically, "Sir, would you like to buy some cigarettes?"

As he spoke, he saw Mr. Jing and couldn't help but exclaim, "Oh, you are the most beautiful lady I have ever seen."

Mr. Jing smiled slightly upon hearing this.

Even if her wide-brimmed hat concealed her stunning face, her ethereal aura still caught the boy's eye. However, she carried an innate Mirror Domain with her; if she didn't want to be seen, then she wouldn't be.

Su Lun didn't smoke, but charmed by the compliment and after glancing at the price tag, he took out a 100 Liso bill and bought a box of cigarettes.

The duckbill cap kid happily accepted the money, but seeing the two's interest in the house, he warned, "Are you adventurers from outside? Forgive my forwardness, but this is a haunted house. If you're looking to rent, I'd recommend Norton Street up ahead; it has Old Lingdun's best bathhouses."

Su Lun smiled, "Hmm. We're just looking around."

The boy didn't say much more and left with a polite smile, "I wish both of you the best of luck."

Su Lun didn't miss the familiar cross emblem on the boy's chest, and watching the boy's retreating figure, he beamed, "So the 'Cross Society' is still around."

Norton Street is the heartland of the Cross Society, and Qian Jiao was once the big sister of that street. This kid was drumming up business for his gang's territory.

Mr. Jing also displayed a faint smile upon hearing this, "Indeed."