Mechanical Alchemist

Enjoy exclusive adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

Su Lun recorded everything he was now preparing to do in his notebook.

Because he was not certain that even with his own "strategy," other variables wouldn't occur.

After all, what if this wasn't the first time he "died" in this space?

If there was a first time, there could be a second, a third...

And possibly countless times.

The "himself" who left the notes might not necessarily have succeeded on his first try.

It could be the only version of him that the current timeline's self could see.

Making detailed notes might, perhaps, provide a lifeline to another self in another timeline.

With this thought, his mind started to infinitely nest.

"No wonder it's one of the supreme laws of the 'Time Law,' it truly is the most elusive..."

Su Lun gathered his increasingly complex thoughts; failing to understand them, he stopped trying to figure them out. He merely sighed, acknowledging that the chaotic laws of the God Burial Ground were indeed beyond mortal comprehension.

.....

"According to the route in the notes, there's no need to waste time revisiting most places in this maze..."

The route was now etched into Su Lun's memory.

First thing to do to get out, he had to find the black iron coffin in the Giant's Hall of Valor.

"The notes mentioned that the item sealed within the coffin is likely one of the energy sources of this cursed space. It might also be one of the objectives of the Royal Legion..."

Su Lun carefully walked through the corridor.

Another timeline's self had already meticulously explored almost every corner of this underground palace and had clearly recorded the dangers and mechanisms.

Su Lun didn't have to explore blindly this time, which saved him a lot of effort.

He had some concerns that the actual situation might differ from the notes, but these were dispelled as soon as he stepped into the maze.

Since the notes were left by "himself," as soon as Su Lun saw those words and matched them with the surroundings, he could immediately grasp the meaning of the sentences and flawlessly understand what he needed to do next.

Following the route map, he easily avoided the monsters inside the underground maze.

Soon, he arrived once again at the previously visited "Giant's Hall of Valor."

The timeline should be before the Burial God Ritual, and the place now didn't have its usual entangled roots.

However, there were many spatial rifts.

And now, there were more drifting ghosts.

These ghosts were no longer normal spirits; they had become mutated spectral aberrations.

The iron, silver, and even gold monstrosities were everywhere.

"The notes said to wear a Mirror Organization cloak, open a black umbrella and a phantom of death, and be careful to avoid the spatial rift at ten o'clock, because there will be monsters there..."

Su Lun looked at the detailed reference on his notes, planning not to miss any step.

One could imagine that the "past self" had probably spent a lot of time here, trying many times cautiously to find this correct route closer to the coffin.

After observing that the environment matched the description completely, he then donned the cloak, opened the Human Skin Umbrella, and a phantom with a scythe appeared behind him before he proceeded.

After making these preparations, the drifting spectral creatures in the sky seemed not to notice an extra living person here, and continued drifting on their own.

Su Lun let out a long sigh of relief.

Shortly, he easily approached the coffin.

However, getting close wasn't easy.

The black iron coffin wasn't chained yet, but from several meters away, Su Lun felt an overwhelming pressure.

Mysterious, evil, ancient, terrifying, indescribable...

Previously seen from afar, and now up close, these unclear auras hit him like a tsunami.

It was as if an invisible force was repelling all foreign objects from nearing the coffin; with every step Su Lun took, he had to withstand tremendous pressure.

"This necromantic aura really is exaggerated... If one hadn't grasped the law of death, it would probably be difficult even to get close to this coffin."

Su Lun took thirty-five steps, stopping at the position noted in his notebook.

He also clearly saw the ghastly bas-relief on the coffin, the carvings depicted a story of the Hundred-Armed Giant King battling a horde of demons.

In the end, the dimensions collapsed, the Hundred-Armed Giant King perished, and his enormous body was torn apart, shattered into countless pieces scattered everywhere.

Su Lun gazed at the mural, his gaze sharpening, and then he noted down something more in his notebook.

The Massacre Demon-Subduing Coffin

Detailed explanation: A coffin of fallen corruption iron forged from the underworld. It contains seals and prohibitions beyond your understanding;

The notes did not mention the possibility of moving the coffin, and Su Lun did not dare make any unnecessary attempts.

Following the method described in the notes, he took out a space scroll and released a mechanical Mecha.

Then he controlled the Mecha to forcefully open the coffin.

Yes, sufficiently cautious, this was very much in his style.

This was one of the most dangerous places in the underground maze, where the "past him" had hesitated due to concerns about triggering something dangerous, saving it until the end to take the risk and explore.

In the end, it also caused a substantial waste of time.

The mechanical Mecha moved forward, the necromantic essence rapidly corroding the runes and plating on the Mecha, and the living corpses inside instantly decayed into ashes.

Luckily, the witch's hair could forcibly be reconnected, and Su Lun intermittently controlled it, finally managing to get the Mecha close to the coffin.

The steam boiler accumulated power and, just before a shutdown, pushed open the heavy lid of the coffin.

The "click" "click" of metal friction sounded like a hellish demon grinding its teeth, making one's hair stand on end.

As the coffin was gradually opened, revealing just a slit, Su Lun saw a coffinful of "black water."

He had been curious about what exactly was inside the coffin, but now he already knew from the notes that it contained the arm of a Hundred-Armed Giant King.

Only, its rank... was a bit preposterously high.

Just a segment of a corpse's arm exerted such a daunting presence, one could only imagine how fearsome it was when alive.

Moreover, it wasn't black water in the coffin, but rather a dense mist-like liquid of necromantic essence.

Originally, knowing the steps to opening the coffin, he could have reacted more quickly.

But Su Lun, in order not to cause unexpected changes, did not do so. He counted a seven-second interval in his heart, then took out a transparent bandage, which was indeed the "Oz's Iceman's Binding Cloth."

This thing was genuinely an "enchanted object," used for invisibility on ordinary days and seldom useful otherwise.

But now, using it to wrap a corpse could not have been more suitable, as it could contain that surge of violent corpse energy.

The water inside the coffin was very black, yet very clear.

From where Su Lun stood, he could clearly see the jet-black, crystal-clear, sinuous arm.

Just the arm alone was nearly three meters long, visibly brimming with power.

The identification showed, as well as a name, just a row of question marks.

[The Arm of the Hundred-Armed Giant King Briareus]

Detailed explanation: ???

The laws exuding from this corpse's arm were terrifying, and even from such a distance, Su Lun felt the special reaction of corpse dissolution forming a terrifying dark energy, like a black hole with the ability to tear through everything.

This object, Su Lun's current elemental barrier, definitely did not have the qualification to approach.

To touch it physically felt like trying to grab a red-hot iron barehanded, just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

He lifted his hand, and a transparent cloth strip floated over, slithering like a snake into the coffin.

The exceptional material of the burial cloth remained completely unaffected by the necromantic essence, swiftly wrapping the arm tightly like a mummy.

The moment the energy was completely sealed, Su Lun immediately felt a relief in his scalp, the oppressive atmosphere around him instantly cleared.

The feeling of walking on a knife's edge finally dissipated.

He walked over and took the transparent object out of the coffin.

He did not know what use the Giant King's arm would have in the future, but now it had a big use.

Only by obtaining this arm could he pick up another crucial tool for breaking through the maze located elsewhere in the labyrinth.

Su Lun also collected the liquid of gathered necromantic essence in the coffin using a container.

Though he was not a necromancer, for the "Herald of Death," it was the best nourishment.

Such pure necromantic essence could not be found anywhere else.

....

After securing the arm, Su Lun then unfurled the black umbrella.

He looked at the "Solar Eclipse" totem on his chest that had turned slightly pale, it also seemed it wouldn't last much longer.

Without any accidents, the totem would completely collapse after this.

Su Lun formed a sorcerer's seal with both hands and softly chanted, "Nightfall Domain · Release!"

Although unaware of whether this move had any significance in breaking through the space, since the "past him" had done so, he did not hesitate much and followed suit.

The black curtain spread from under the Human Skin Umbrella, the runes on the umbrella lighting up with a brilliant golden radiance.

Instantly, as if attracted by something immense, the drifting spirits of the Giant tribe rushed towards the black umbrella like moths to a flame.

Then Su Lun watched as each spirit dove into the pool like stones splashing water, disappearing without a trace.

Before long, the vast space had become empty.

The Human Skin Umbrella, having absorbed the souls of the wronged, shone with a glossy black luster.

With the addition of a few thousand giant clan spirits, the efficacy of the Human Skin Umbrella likely increased by about twenty percent.

This is the power of a growth-capable cursed object.

Su Lun put away the black umbrella.

Gazing at the empty Hall of Valor, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind, "Could it be that there are no spirits in the Hall of Valor on the other timeline because I absorbed all the resentful spirits here?"

At the same time, he thought, "So, if I go out now, will there be an arm inside the coffin those people from the Royal Legion opened, or not?"

With this thought, his face immediately showed contemplation.

Like Schrödinger's arm, no one knows whether there is one in the coffin or not before opening it.

The "Time Law" in Su Lun's mind became increasingly complex, seemingly tangled with quantum mechanics.

....

Su Lun didn't figure it out, nor did he ponder further.

He left the Hall of Valor and, following the route outlined in his notebook, navigated through twists and turns until he arrived at a massive stone door within the labyrinth.

His past self had tried countless methods at this stone door to no avail.

It was only later discovered that specific Earth lineage was needed to open it.

And since the giant clan worshipped the Earth Mother Goddess, a special prohibition for opening this stone door was: the giant clan.

Now, Su Lun was the only living person in the entire underground palace, so that severed arm finally came into use.

Touching it with the arm, the stone door easily pushed open.

The space inside was unsurprisingly vast.

It was like a treasury of the giant clan.

But everything inside had been moved out, with just a few scattered weapons and shields that had all decayed.

In the most conspicuous place, there remained an item, a gold crown nearly a meter in diameter.

[Giant King's Crown]

Detail: A legend states that only kings of the giant clan are entitled to wear this crown, which contains inheritance messages that only their clan can comprehend;

Su Lun grabbed the crown and immediately left.

He circumvented a monster's lair and climbed the "Endless Dark Staircase", eventually returning to the great hall of the giant city.

This was the final step in breaking this bizarre timeline.

....

The last step written in the notebook was: "I discovered that the statue of the Hundred-Armed Giant King in this timeline does not have a crown, and once returned to its place, it is possible to move the positions of the giant guard statues. Then, I found my deduction completely correct, this is the key to breaking the 'Time Paradox'..."

Su Lun looked at the sculpture of the Hundred-Armed Giant on the throne, his gaze somewhat complex.

After a moment, he muttered with great emotion, "How much effort did another timeline's me have to put in to find out that placing the crown back would be the method to break the space?"

Without the notebook, he felt it would take tend days or even a fortnight to find the right method.

Without any delay, Su Lun went up and placed the crown on the head of the stone sculpture. He respectfully bowed, "My apologies, Your Majesty, the Giant King, for the disturbance."

Saying this, he went down and began moving thirty-six guard statues.

Having come this far, even without the notebook, Su Lun knew what to do next.

He had carefully observed when entering before; the positions of these thirty-six guard statues differed from those in the other timeline.

But they could not be moved.

Only the king has the right to command them, and the Giant King's statue had to wear the crown.

Su Lun moved ten of the statues, positioning them according to the timeline in his memory.

He speculated that there might be other ways to arrange these statues, corresponding to other timelines.

It was somewhat like the pointers on a clock, specific positions indicating specific times.

If it were a puzzle game, Su Lun would certainly be curious about other solutions.

But now, he just wanted to return to his original timeline, to make it out alive.

Suddenly after all the moving, Su Lun put the statues in their place.

Then, in this great hall, a gilded hourglass, over half a meter tall, suddenly appeared. The transparent glass container was filled with some pale blue crystalline sand.

[Sand of Time]

Detailed Explanation: A god-tier material containing the Law of Time, serving as the core of this time domain's restrictions;

Watching the hourglass, Su Lun exhaled deeply.

He had finally cracked this special space with a chaotic timeline.

He stored away the crown and the hourglass, then walked out of the suddenly appearing "Door of Time".

The surroundings changed, and Su Lun found himself back in the corridor from before.

....

"Huh... Yuta is not here? Could the timeline still be incorrect?"

Su Lun didn't see his own body, nor did he see Yuta, which he found somewhat odd.

But then it occurred to him, "In this timeline I am not dead, which means my body won't appear. If my body doesn't appear, Yuta wouldn't receive the communication signal to follow up, right?"

Su Lun checked and saw that the engraving on his wolf fang necklace was still intact.

However, the scenario of conversing with Yuta seemed as if it had never happened.

Had the chaotic timeline resulted in different parallel spaces?

Then, were there other timelines where "Su Lun" also existed?

His mind was suddenly flooded with many complex thoughts.

Time and space, intertwined together.

Such thoughts gave him a headache.

"Regardless, at least I'm alive," he said.

Su Lun felt that his current advancement couldn't comprehend such profound matters, and he didn't force himself to understand everything.

He set aside those complicated thoughts and focused on the present.

"So, that means Yuta is in this space, not far from here?"

Su Lun's brow slightly furrowed.

In this cursed space fraught with dangers, he naturally worried about Miss Druid.

He took out his communicator, hoping to make contact.

But at that moment, his hand touched the notebook in his bag.

He thought it over and decided to write down the experiences he had not yet had the chance to record.

However, when he opened it, he was stunned.

The notes detailing his journey so far were all fine.

But at the end,

there were a few sentences, Su Lun's own notes, but he had absolutely no recollection of having written them.

'I only realized when I opened the notebook that I seemed to have forgotten something very important. Even the thought of it only came to me after seeing the notes. I realized there might be some kind of existence beyond our understanding...'

'Huh... Why would I write these sentences?'

'It seems some mysterious force made me forget about its existence. Even as I write to remind myself, this action might also be forgotten.'

'...'

Reading these sentences gave Su Lun goosebumps.

This wasn't the first time he had discovered that he'd forgotten something.

And the last page contained one last bizarre sentence: 'Could the strength of the Daru tribe have been insufficient to stop the powerful deep-sea giant, with a "third party" involved too?'

Su Lun immediately realized that something had happened in the "Time Anomaly" that he had now forgotten.

"A third party? What exactly did I see in the space that led me to this conclusion?"

Su Lun's expression became very strange.

As he hadn't yet been caused to forget by that mysterious power, he quickly recorded his current thoughts in the notebook: 'That mysterious force of forgetfulness seems to pose no threat to me, but it's irresistible. It's as if "it" does not want to be remembered, does not want its existence to be noticed.'

Unable to make sense of it after thinking for a long time, Su Lun closed the notebook.

Deciding to consult Mr. Jing later.

....

But just after closing the notebook, the frown on Su Lun's face immediately relaxed, as though he had completely disregarded the contents of the notes.

He tapped his head as if he had spaced out for a moment, "Huh... What was I doing just now? Oh, right, contacting Yuta..."

With this thought, he took out his communicator and asked, "Yuta, where are you?"