Mechanical Alchemist

A simple "Not bad" from Qian Tiao, and the two had been tossing and turning for most of the night.

Despite the gambling-addicted housewife's usual lack of interest in men, after trying it, she seemed to awaken some innate abilities, finding even greater pleasure in the activities.

In myth, the Hell Rakshasa Woman is said to be incredibly beautiful, feeding on the essence of all living creatures.

During her time in Mountain Hermit Country, Qian Tiao had awakened the third solution of the Rakshasa Woman's abilities and had used the "Essence Feeding" secret technique. Back then, she devoured the finger of a Fallen Angel and gained the power to break through her boundaries.

Last night, the two discovered that this ability could also be applied to pleasure.

After using it, Qian Tiao also unexpectedly found that the third solution Rakshasa Woman's ability had a dual cultivation effect similar to that of a succubus. The union of soul and body allowed the two to exchange some understanding of the laws they each comprehended.

Su Lun found it very mysterious as well.

A good night's sleep.

...

Early in the morning, the dense sound of artillery fire disturbed the serene dream.

Even though the cabin had excellent soundproofing spells, it couldn't block the intense trembling noise of thousands of cannons firing simultaneously.

The entire sky fortress began to tremble.

Su Lun woke up from his rare good sleep.

Upon opening his eyes, he saw Qian Tiao's naked body still sprawled out on the bed, sleeping soundly.

The blanket was pushed to the side, and as she was lying face down, her majestic curves were flattened into a gentle arc. Yet, it remained impressively large, and from this angle, the proud curvature of her hips and legs was captured in his sight.

Su Lun smiled slightly as he watched, and gently pulled a corner of the pure white blanket over her waist, covering those graceful lines.

As if sensing something, Qian Tiao murmured without opening her eyes, still drowsy, "Why are you getting up so early... Don't worry about the bombardment, it happens every day."

Su Lun, of course, knew that.

They hadn't been informed, which meant the battle situation wasn't urgent.

He just felt that after this night, things seemed even more wondrous.

Their relationship, already intimate, grew even more intense.

The early morning was gentle and slow.

Looking at her lovely face, Su Lun's eyes unwittingly began to ripple with a touch of a smile.

Perhaps because he had been staring for too long, Qian Tiao's eyelashes trembled slightly. She still didn't open her eyes, but said irritably, "Hey, hey, hey, stop staring at me. I can't sleep like this..."

Su Lun chuckled

A very tender feeling surged in his heart, growing stronger. It was as if life, aside from constantly striving to become stronger, also had this covetous desire for time to stand still.

Like at this moment.

They had been flirting with death constantly; it was rare to enjoy such leisure.

Su Lun watched, slightly enchanted.

In the end, Qian Tiao couldn't fall asleep.

Suddenly, she flipped over and unceremoniously mounted Su Lun, squinting and complaining, "Ah, you're really disturbing my peaceful dream."

Su Lun held her, intentionally or unintentionally caressing her shapely backside.

The two looked at each other with a raised eyebrow, their gazes burning.

"Su Lun, kiddo, can you handle it?"

"???"

In the end, they couldn't avoid a tussle to determine who was superior.

Even as ninth-tier professionals, no matter how relentless they were at the start, they would eventually concede defeat.

...

Qian Tiao had new insights from last night. After breakfast, she disembarked from the ship and went to trouble those mages from the celestial realms.

She was now a demi-god level Sword God, and as long as she didn't venture into a million-strong enemy army's encirclement, hardly anyone could hold her back.

Moreover, she now possessed the otherworldly fire "Void Poison Flame."

Instead, it was the enemies who had to be wary of her, even Magic Gods didn't dare to show themselves alone outside carelessly.

There was no need to worry.

Su Lun ventured alone onto the deck.

The sky fortress and hundreds of nearby mechanical steam airships were all firing eastward, pouring out alchemy bullets as if they cost nothing.

Everyone on the warship seemed accustomed to the situation, each busy with their own tasks.

Mechanics were bustling about repairing the ship's body, replenishing ammunition, tuning equipment; the warrior legions were practicing their battle formations; several ten-thousand-strong Magician groups were harmonizing various large-scale Alchemy Spells...

The centaur Makamul and the Dragon Maiden Masia seemed to be getting along well with the members of the Dawn Party, as Mr. Hei was showing them around, explaining everything about the fortress.

At the same time, the others in the fleet were very interested in the situation of the otherworldly planes, and the youngsters surrounded the mythic centaur and Dragon Maiden, asking questions. The atmosphere was lively and harmonious.

Seeing Su Lun, the people on deck greeted him one after another.

Su Lun responded with a smile, not lingering, and headed straight for the highest iron tower within the sky fortress.

The slightly rusty steel ladder clanged under his steps as he climbed.

The height of the fortress was already among the clouds, with vast expanses of white mist in view.

As he walked, a mechanical arm playfully blocked his path; Su Lun laughed, "Dora, how do you feel?"

The mechanical arm replied, "Great!"

As it spoke, the surrounding steel merged into the form of a short-haired girl who appeared before Su Lun.

The entire ship island was her body, which was a sensation probably no one could understand.

This was but a step away from becoming a true mechanical life form.

Su Lun laughed, "I have some information for you, see what you can use."

Dora: "Okay."

The two had both integrated part of the "God Profaner" before; when their psychic cords connected, it was like copying data, and they could exchange a vast amount of information in an instant.

Su Lun transmitted to Dora all the necessary intelligence data in his mind about the celestial realm and various otherworldly planes.

With ample data, and technology ever advancing, the fortress's defensive and offensive systems could continuously evolve and improve.

One day, Dora was bound to become stronger and stronger.

Su Lun didn't linger and continued up the stairs.

Having ascended roughly fifty floors, they reached the lookout command room.

The space was not large, but the view was excellent, allowing one to overlook everything within the fortress. Beyond that, the azure sea and the faint magical light globes in the distant horizon marked the enemy's legion, numbering in the millions.

When Su Lun arrived, he saw through the glass door that there was only a lone figure in the lookout room.

Mr. Jing was seated on the sofa, earnestly flipping through a thick stack of battle reports.

Noticing Su Lun's entrance, she didn't put down the documents and simply greeted him softly, "You're here."

Su Lun: "Yeah."

There was too much to handle every day during a large-scale war, and she, as the Dawn Leader, naturally never had a moment's rest.

Perhaps because she had been reading the documents for a long time, her muscles were a bit stiff. Mr. Jing mentioned this as she gently twisted her neck.

Seeing this, Su Lun walked behind the sofa. His hands naturally rested on his senior sister's shoulders and started to gently knead them.

The two were already well-versed in this kind of tacit understanding.

A shallow smile appeared in Mr. Jing's eyes.

Su Lun caught a glimpse of the stack of documents and didn't make out anything particular. "Senior sister, it looks like the war situation has changed?"

"Yes."

Mr. Jing nodded and said, "After we discussed our plans yesterday, the diviners from the heavenly realm probably divined something as well. We've just received a message that the Ascieden, Golden Griffon, and Holy Crown empires have suddenly changed their multiple-front strategy and are beginning to converge towards our central battlefield. It seems they are still planning for a decisive battle."

"Oh."

Su Lun listened without surprise.

The heavenly realm was a realm of magic, where various divination spells and traditions were well-developed.

Before he returned, the enemy probably thought they could win by splitting their forces. Now that he was the "variable," they had changed strategies.

It wasn't necessarily targeted divination that revealed something, but certainly, a crisis was foreseen.

Gathering military forces was also expected.

But this was already a part of the plan they had discussed the previous night.

Leaving aside whether the issue with the planar channels could be resolved or not, the current arrival of this seven to eight million-strong army of magicians to the Alchemy plane had to be dealt with.

The enemy's consolidation made it more convenient to resolve them all at once.

The two did not discuss this issue further.

Not saying it aloud meant a lower chance of being divined by the enemy.

...

Su Lun's fingertips touched the slightly cool skin, pressing gently, and then he spoke, "Senior sister, I plan to pay Dr. Banks a visit. I also intend to head to the Dragon Country Waters to ask Queen Medusa for help. Her abilities will be of great help to us during the decisive battle."

"Mhm."

Mr. Jing nodded in agreement, "Demigod Medusa, even the gods would fear her by three parts. She is indeed a great help to us. It's fortunate that such a proud mythical race would be willing to lend assistance."

Su Lun smiled, "It's a fortunate coincidence that I helped her out."

Mr. Jing smiled back, noncommittally, then seemed to remember something and paused.

"Right..."

She turned to look at Su Lun and said, "If you have time, you might as well visit Lingdun."

Su Lun's gaze froze slightly, fully aware of what his senior sister meant.

After this decisive battle, regardless of the outcome, there would be some people he might never see again.

He was bound to make a visit.

At the very least, to say goodbye.

Lost in a myriad of thoughts, Su Lun pondered for a while before he finally murmured agreement.

The two then lapsed back into silence.

No one spoke.

The weather today was fine, with bright sunshine and an endlessly deep blue sky.

Seen from the lookout tower, there were no obstructions to the view, as if all the sights of the world were laid out below them.

This scene suddenly imbued an endless heroic spirit.

The two were among the few who stood at the peak to enjoy the view.

In their eyes, the world not only had the best scenery but had also reached the ultimate truth that humanity could touch.

Unnoticed, a gust of sea breeze entered through the window, rustling Mr. Jing's waterfall-like hair and bringing a fresh fragrance to Su Lun's sense of smell.

Su Lun looked down, as this angle provided a perfect view of that flawless profile.

Mr. Jing was dressed in a blue gown with golden embroidery, a body-hugging design that showcased her perfect curves, and a low-cut neckline that added a touch of sensuality, elegant and beautiful as ever.

The two had developed a tacit understanding over time, finding that even sitting quietly together without speaking felt very good.

But suddenly, Su Lun's mind flitted through some thoughts, recalling what Thousand Threads had said last night.

After this war, either he would die in battle, or he would have to leave the Alchemy plane.

Whether he had a chance to return, he himself was not sure.

Su Lun suddenly spoke up, "Senior sister..."

Mr. Jing raised her eyebrows and hummed inquisitively, "Hmm?"

Su Lun's words reached his lips but he swallowed them back down; there seemed to be so much to say, yet he didn't know where to start.

He and Mr. Jing were not just fellow disciples, their relationship was also quite special: companions in adversity, mentors in learning, and intimate friends.

Those complex feelings were indescribable.

To put it in the terms of his previous life: A teacher, a friend, a confidant; in halves, admiration, affection, heartstrings pulled tight.

Time gave meaning to life, but as it never stopped flowing, the beautiful things always left quietly in one's life.

There would come a loss eventually.

At this moment, Mr. Jing seated on the sofa appeared calm and indifferent, continuing to review the intelligence before her.

But suddenly, Su Lun bent down and kissed her on the cheek.

It was this unexpected touch that caused Mr. Jing to look slightly astonished. Her lips curled into a tender smile, "What's the matter?"

Though there was a small surprise in her heart, she showed no signs of minding it.

Su Lun, with a sudden clarity, said, "Senior sister, you are very beautiful~"

Mr. Jing raised an eyebrow, his gaze not leaving the intelligence report as he said indifferently, "Oh? And then?"

"Why are you suddenly praising me?" she asked again.

"Because you are very beautiful," he replied.

Su Lun didn't know how to respond, so he expressed himself through actions. His hand, resting on Mr. Jing's smooth shoulder, gently stroked down, crossed over the collarbone, and tenderly slipped inside the collar of the garment.

This was already a rather intimate and presumptuous gesture.

Mr. Jing certainly felt it, a flash of unusual color flickering briefly in her eyes, yet she did not stop him.

Her thoughts turned in an instant, and a faint smile appeared on that cold and stunningly beautiful face.

After a moment, she gently patted Su Lun's hand that was inside her garment and said softly, "Alright, let's focus on the important tasks first."

At their level, their will was no longer controlled by greed for physical desire. Often, a spiritual connection could resonate even more strongly.

The tacit understanding between the two of them meant that they already knew everything without having to say anything.

Su Lun snapped out of his slightly melancholic thoughts and, seeing that his senior sister allowed such intimacy, became delighted all at once.

Mr. Jing's brows also held a trace of a barely perceptible smile, and she even uttered a rather bold statement, "How does it feel to the touch?"

For her cool demeanor, this might be a phrase that others would never hear.

Su Lun grinned broadly, "It feels incredible."

Mr. Jing listened and stroked her hair that fell beside her temples, her eyes brimming with tenderness, "Good. As long as you like it."

...

Su Lun teleported away from the sky fortress and headed west.

Before long, he had reached the vast blue ocean of the West Sea.

Not a single island was in sight here.

It was a Nameless Wasteland Sea, a place not even pirates would bother visiting.

Yet, strangely enough, a city was floating on the sea surface right now.

Yes,

Not a ship!

But a huge city constructed of steel!

Steam boilers within the city belched white smoke, and it seemed like quite a few people lived there.

This was Steel Ship Island, the most crucial part of the United Empire's "Eternal Flame Project."

No one could predict the final outcome of the war.

If the Alchemy realm were to fail, the continent would surely fall to the Divine realm. These steel cities on the sea would carry the seed of Alchemy civilization and drift to unknown areas in the far west.

The seed of civilization would then take root and sprout on these drifting ship islands, passing down the Alchemy civilization.

Su Lun detected Dr. Banks's coordinates, and with a teleport, he was already in a lab replete with high-tech equipment.

This ship island had been constructed in the lesser Void realm previously; his battle array workshop and everything else were almost entirely within this ship island.

Seeing Su Lun arrive, Dr. Banks, who was busy operating the experimental instruments, also rejoiced, "Young friend Su Lun, you are back."

Before going to fulfill the contract with the demon god, Su Lun had emptied the minor void realm, and Dr. Banks was aware of it.

Now, as he watched him return safely, that distorted face of his could not hide the genuine joy that came from the bottom of his heart.

Su Lun nodded slightly, "Hmm."

Dr. Banks was a research fanatic and was not one for pleasantries. He went straight to the point, "You've come at just the right time, I have a project I'd like you to see."

Su Lun, guessing what it might be, asked, "That eye?"

"Yes,"

Dr. Banks smiled mysteriously, as if he wanted to surprise him, "You'll see when you come."

Following suit, Su Lun walked with him. They took an elevator and arrived at a tightly sealed secret laboratory. The surroundings were isolated with thick steel plates, sprayed with "D" runes, a symbol in alchemy that represents danger.

As the door opened, a huge glass culture vessel came into view.

And inside the glass container was a creature that made one's scalp tingle.

It looked like a giant tumor, and Su Lun recognized at a glance that this was a part of the corpse of the "Void Bilateral Worm" he had encountered before.

At this moment, however, the originally dead flesh was covered with eyes—human eyes. Upon closer inspection, there turned out to be hundreds of them.

This creature seemed alive, not just a piece of dead meat.

Yet it had no soul fluctuation.

Su Lun also realized that this was a special monster that lay somewhere between living and non-living beings.

Dr. Banks seemed quite satisfied with his creation as he introduced, "Remember the Eye of the Sky God we took for study before? And then there was the body of the Saint Heir Frank from the divine realm. After dissecting the bloodstream genes, I successfully extracted the 'Tri-Eye Mirage' gene sequence... Then I used it for various cultivation processes. And coincidentally, the genetic sequence of the matriarch worm has the special ability to devour everything to heal itself, and it can also duplicate itself... Once the two were combined, I was lucky to get this experiment result..."

Su Lun, understanding Dr. Banks' words, was actually surprised that it had been successfully cultivated and asked, "Does this mean that the 'S-009-Manifold True Solution' talent can now be artificially transplanted?"

Before, Mr. Hei had transplanted a Sky God Eye and obtained part of the abilities of the "Manifold True Solution". What about these hundred-plus eyes...?

"Exactly!"

Dr. Banks also nodded but corrected meticulously, "However, the second-generation Sky God Eyes are all a lot less potent than the first generation. To be precise, even after transplantation, they only amount to having a weakened 'Manifold True Solution' talent. We have already arranged for test subjects, and roughly deduced that the second-gen eyes have about 70% of the first-gen's efficiency..."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun's eyes lit up.

This was a tremendously game-changing S-grade talent, and even at 70% efficiency, it was still considered a top-tier talent.

Most importantly, it could be transplanted artificially, meaning the person who received the transplant would suddenly possess a nearly S-grade talent!

For alchemists, this would significantly lower the difficulty of advancing to the top tiers of seven, eight, and nine, potentially creating a multitude of top alchemists in the future!

Su Lun hadn't expected that the Sky God Eye he had invested in before would yield so many eyes.

This was truly a huge profit.

It was like randomly throwing a seed and in return, getting a forest that could be harvested sustainably.

...

Today, Su Lun's visit to Dr. Banks was originally just to gather materials and golems from the war workshop.

Now, looking at these Sky God Eyes, a new plan suddenly formed in his mind.

"Doctor, I have an idea..."

While speaking, Su Lun took out an alchemical homunculus that was not yet fully formed, "I want you to help me transplant a Sky God Eye onto this alchemically-created human."

This was one of the two "Flawless Divine Fetuses" he had obtained from the desert realm.

One piece was given to Pestoia for crafting a body.

Another, he originally intended to create an alchemical clone of himself for emergencies.

But now, he had a bolder plan.

The great decisive battle was imminent, and as long as Su Lun survived, he would definitely visit the God-like plane.

However, when the time came, whether it was to cause mischief or seek the secrets of divinity, faith was a big issue.

Su Lun had not yet thought of a good way to solve this vulnerability.

But now he had one.

How convenient would it be to have an alchemical homunculus with the talent "S-009-All Things Revealed" when the time arrived?

This alchemical homunculus, formed from divine power and possessing supreme elemental affinity, was the most suitable talent for a mage.

The "Chosen" within the Tares divine race also stemmed from this.

Now that he had deeply studied the Faith Stealing ability from Pandora, by the time he crafted the alchemical clone as a magical genius possessing the ability to steal faith, it might grow rapidly in a very short time.

And because of the Third Eye, his status in the God-like plane would be extremely high. As long as he was careful enough, by then... there would be a clone of himself as an "undercover agent" within the enemy's upper echelons.

Whatever he did would be greatly assisted!

Having harvested sufficient intelligence, Su Lun's mind was now racing with countless possibilities for the alchemical clone's path, such as first sending the alchemical clone to the Ascidon Imperial Royal Magic Academy as an apprentice, which was a very good plan.

When he had killed Princess Octavia J. Fielding before, he had acquired a royal secret: within the Royal Academy there lay a heretical faction's forbidden texts, which detailed the mysteries of ascending to divinity...

The secret of becoming a god?

This was exactly what Su Lun was looking for.

As the thought occurred, a myriad of ideas started to branch out.

"A homunculus?"

Dr. Banks looked at the humanoid figure before him, still blurry in its features, and expressed interest, "Of course, it's possible."

He had also seen the notes on alchemical homunculi found in the ruins of Old Lington, so he was very interested in this miraculous creation of alchemy.

The two discussed some details of crafting the homunculus and then began the creation process.

...

Two days later.

Su Lun left the ship island.

Once again teleporting, he arrived in Lingdun City, the capital.

It was evening by the time he arrived in Lingdun. Su Lun, looking at the super city which had nearly doubled in size since half a year ago, felt a great deal of emotion.

Everything in the United Empire now served warfare. With half a year's development, Lingdun City had evolved into a war beast armed to the teeth.

The sun had set, and the sky grew dark.

Yet the vast Lingdun City was a wonderland of lights, countless tall chimneys were still billowing with white smoke, various factories continued to operate day and night providing logistical support for the front line.

Under Su Lun's All-knowing Eye, the city was packed with enormous defensive enchantments; towering cannons stood proud, steam dirigibles patrolled the sky constantly, the Alchemy Academy's lighthouse was particularly conspicuous, and the steel soldiers patrolling the streets walked with an air of grandeur and rhythm...

Even at night, there were many people on the streets, most of whom were in work clothes - workers from the great factories of Lingdun.

The shops along the street were also bustling.

The whole city displayed a scene of flourishing prosperity.

There were no decadent nobles, but every commoner's face was filled with abundance.

It was exponentially better than a few years ago under the governance of the Bonaparte royal family, with streets full of green-faced vagrants.

The alchemical civilization was unprecedentedly strong.

Su Lun was back in Lingdun, of course, to visit some old acquaintances.

He was not in a rush to see Sabina and Rena, as he was already familiar with them.

First, he wanted to see another person.

Perceiving the crystal necklace he had sent out, Su Lun was slightly surprised, "Eh… it's not in the palace?"

As he spoke, he teleported straight to the old town of Lingdun, which used to be the noble's district.

Looking at the street signs, this was Rose Manor by the banks of the Lokwarren River.

It was also the residence that Young Master Fick of the Rega Land family and Miss Yekaterina of the Lans family shared after their marriage.

Many noble residences were damaged in the calamity of Lingdun, and Su Lun had not expected to see the Rose Manor in his memory intact.

The coordinates of the necklace he left were currently inside the manor.

With Su Lun's current perspective, how could he not notice the extremely complex warning enchantments here?

He had just teleported onto the street and had already been detected when he heard a mental transmission, "Sorry, please wait for me in the manor. I have some urgent matters to deal with in the palace. I will hurry back."

The transmission was from Yekaterina.

Su Lun was not surprised to be discovered.

What surprised him was that Yekaterina was actually in the palace?

Without much thought, he responded, "Mm."

Just as he finished, the gates to Rose Manor opened, and a demure maid hurried out, looking around as if searching for something.

When she saw Su Lun, joy crossed her face, and she quickly trotted over, "Your Highness, Prince!"

Su Lun recognized her immediately as one of Yekaterina's six personal maids, and he remembered her name.

She had even served him in bathing before.

With a gentleman's smile, Su Lun greeted, "Jessica, long time no see."

"Oh~ Your Highness, you actually remember this servant's name!"

Jessica covered her mouth with a shocked and flattered expression, both happy and surprised.

She did not fail in courtesy and gestured towards the manor gate, "Your Highness, please come inside. Miss said it would take her a while to return and asked you to rest first in the manor."

Su Lun felt the title "Your Highness" was strange to hear and corrected her, "Just call me Su Lun."

Jessica nodded understandingly, flashing a charming smile, "Mr. Su Lun, please come this way."

Su Lun said no more and stepped into the manor.

Looking at the brilliant flowers in the garden, familiar memories resurfaced.

Just like back then, exactly the same.