Mechanical Alchemist

"Welcome to my Puppet Slaughterhouse!"

A fierce smile crept into Su Lun's eyes.

For some reason, whenever he executed "Hundred Guile Nightwalk," there was an excitement in him that made his body violently restless.

The sensation of controlling countless puppets at his fingertips and also dictating the life and death of his enemies stirred an overwhelming urge to battle within him.

It also brought a kind of morbid pleasure to his body.

He had thought it was a disorder caused by a split in his emotions, and had tried to suppress that state continuously.

But it had no effect. Instead, it produced more negative emotions.

Later, when he visited the Dalu tribe and heard what the Deer Tribe Chief had to say, he realized it was part of human nature, a fundamental trait that even gods could not discard.

Afterwards, he learned from Mr. Jing that the thrill of "cleaving the injustices within the heart" through killing was also a part of consolidating his Qi.

Su Lun finally understood a bit more.

At this moment, as he looked at the enemies before him, an invisible aura that dominated the entire scene suddenly burst forth.

....

Space sealed, the sudden arrival of hundreds of puppets on the battlefield gave the enemies of the "Iron Crocodile Pirate Gang" an immense sense of oppression.

Behind Su Lun, the eight-armed spider spear vibrated at a high frequency, precisely controlling each puppet.

He had also extracted some Soul Shards from the knights of the Sacred Judgment Legion, acquiring quite a bit of knowledge about army charge formations.

Applied to the puppet legion, it maximized the advantage of their numbers.

"Blast-resistant Dolls" acted like shield warriors at the forefront, withstanding concentrated firepower, grinning, spitting fire, cutting, leaden, voodoo, healing... there was offense, control, and healing.

The variously functional dolls coordinated with each other, much like a well-trained army.

The ability to multi-task also allowed Su Lun to perfectly control the entire battle situation.

Not giving the enemies any time to react, those variously functional automatons charged into the crowd, bringing a storm of bloodshed.

Compared to the enemies he had encountered before, pirates were what Su Lun felt to be the weakest in group combat prowess.

Even with puppets joining the fray, the enemies' numbers were still around two to three times that of the Dawn Squad.

But the moment the fight began, the pirates, who had swarmed over just before, were scattered after one confrontation, with no formation to speak of.

This small pirate gang epitomized the term "rabble."

Most pirates were low-level professionals greedy for pleasure, lacking systematic training, good equipment, or much accumulated alchemy knowledge. They feared death and acted slyly, ready to flee at a moment's notice, with many such people present.

They were far inferior to the slave hunting teams they had encountered before.

Therefore, Su Lun's puppet legion dealt with them with ease, quickly dispersing their assault on the "Grey Dolphin" and turning the siege into a counter-slaughter.

Actually, if the pirate group had resisted forcefully, it would not have been so easy for Su Lun's puppet legion to break the situation.

After all, due to material and financial limitations, most of his puppets were only on the level of second-tier professionals.

If those seven or eight hundred people had fought fearlessly to the death, they would not have been without power.

At least, they wouldn't have been scattered at the first contact.

But now, their defeat was like a landslide, beyond redemption.

Of course, from beginning to end, Su Lun had never felt that these pirates had a numerical advantage.

After all.

If puppets were destroyed, it was of no consequence. Su Lun could simply tear open a space scroll and summon another hundred new ones.

Since leaving the Silent Forest, he had been busy using materials he had purchased to create a large number of automatons. He was not short of combat puppets at all.

As time passed, the numerical advantage of the pirates would only decrease.

After the first wave of pirates who rushed onto the "Grey Dolphin" were scattered, the remaining pirates began to flee and fight individually.

Even with fourth-tier combatants being tied up, Su Lun felt no pressure in dealing with them.

He stood on the deck, controlling his puppets to focus fire on those third-tier squad leaders who still had fighting capability, as well as those attempting to break through the "Cocoon World."

In this confined space, he controlled everything.

Even if the pirates hid in the cabins, it was futile.

In his Soul Perception, any cluster of soul fire in the ships was completely exposed.

....

This dramatic turn of events stupefied the people of the Dawn Squad.

They had all been prepared to fight to the death, but they didn't expect that the mysterious man the captain had brought would reverse the situation all by himself!

Although Puppet Masters were rare, they had seen some before.

But how could there be a Puppet Master who could control hundreds of puppets?

Moreover, this man also took the time to send out a few puppets emitting a greenish healing aura, providing urgent treatment to the recently injured crew members of the Dawn Squad. Having the chance to catch their breath, the crew members also began to counterattack. Following the puppet legion, they leaped across the deck, dived into the cabins, and pursued the fleeing enemies.

...

Su Lun's pressure was diminishing, as he managed to fight with puppets and silken threads while still finding time to pay attention to another battlefield.

Thousand Blades Rakshasa fought five with one, not falling behind in the slightest.

Her six arms wielding six blades created a light so dense it appeared like ten thousand blades, and even from afar, the whirlwind of blade energy sent shivers down one's spine.

"Thousand Blades Rakshasa is so powerful..."

Watching, Su Lun couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

The strength of the few fourth-tier pirate captains was not bad, but they simply couldn't handle Thousand Blades Rakshasa at all.

"Cyclops" Sock had been able to trade blows with Thousand Blades Rakshasa when she only had two arms back at the gambling stand, but now he was completely overwhelmed. If it weren't for their numerical advantage, he would have been slain by now. Your journey continues at My Virtual Library Empire

Iron Wall Explosive Bear Horn was in the same boat—the veteran pirate with a bounty of over fifty million had a mechanical body that could withstand cannon fire, but now, before those sharp blade lights, he barely managed to protect himself.

"Gold Hook" Charles employed some impressive knightly swordsmanship, but he was far weaker than Thousand Blades Rakshasa and posed little threat...

Together with two other first mates, the five of them barely managed to defend themselves.

Thousand Blades Rakshasa was a pure swordsman, with no fancy spells or techniques, just slash after slash after slash.

But once her physical strength and swordsmanship reached a certain level, she became utterly unreasonable. (Note: Single-Edge Sword can be called both a sword and a blade.)

Like her current state, the Swordmaster realm.

The difference between a "Swordmaster" and an ordinary swordsman was most apparent in their Sword Qi.

At full status, her slashing Sword Qi could extend three to forty feet outward. Her Sword Qi was highly effective at breaking through qi, armor, and elemental barriers, posing a lethal threat to anything short of a fully armored Mecha.

And the second stage Rakshasa Woman also provided her with a massive increase in physical capabilities: nerve response, speed, agility, strength... all of it.

It was a complete domination over almost any fourth-tier opponent.

In this state, it was challenging for enemies to harm her, but one slash from her meant losing a limb.

...

Normally, if you can't defeat your enemy in an instant, you have to progress through the battle step by step.

Otherwise, if the enemy sees no hope of survival, they might resort to a mad act of mutual destruction.

Seeing Thousand Blades Rakshasa with the upper hand, Su Lun had no intention of using his scythe to launch a sneak attack. He planned to wait until after disposing of the underlings and securing the overall situation before revealing other methods.

But while he was enjoying the chaos, the pirate captains turned their gaze towards him.

Those guys knew they couldn't deal with Thousand Blades Rakshasa in a short time, but if they continued like this, their crew would be wiped out by Su Lun.

Anyone with half a brain knew that to deal with a Puppet Master, the puppeteer themselves had to be killed first.

And those third-tier squad leaders had no ability to kill him.

So, it was up to them to make a move.

It was during this fight that the five fourth-tiers suddenly erupted, and for a moment, Thousand Blades Rakshasa couldn't break free to intervene.

One of the fourth-tier assassins deftly left the battlefield and stealthily vanished into the air.

Su Lun, upon seeing this, was not the least bit panicked; he merely raised an eyebrow and muttered, "Tsk tsk... only one came, how underwhelming."

The assassin's stealth and movement were quite skillful, as he deftly blended into the shockwaves of the battle, making him hard to detect.

But to Soul Perception, that guy's movement trajectory was anything but hidden.

Su Lun sensed that the fellow was already within ten meters of him, apparently planning for a one-shot kill. Only then did he leisurely pick up the black umbrella beside him.

The cursed Human Skin Umbrella had previously been a worry due to the risk of backlash, but now with the Sacred Totem, Su Lun used it without any pressure. Whispered influences and such were negligible.

With a "thud," he opened the umbrella.

He formed a seal with one hand.

"Nightfall Domain: Open!"

Su Lun, as a Puppet Master, had guessed that they would send a master to kill him, hadn't he?

The moment he engaged, he knew that the underlings could not deal with him, and those captains would definitely look for an opportunity to attack.

He had prepared the cursed umbrella in advance, just waiting for this moment.

Not everyone had the All-knowing Eye to understand what the Human Skin Umbrella did immediately. The fourth-tier assassin, seeing Su Lun take out the umbrella, didn't realize he'd been discovered and kept charging ahead. But as soon as the umbrella opened, he found his senses stripped away in an instant, unable to perceive his body or anything around him, and his stealth was immediately nullified.

Before the resentful spirits within the umbrella even attacked, a sharp silken thread appeared on the assassin's neck.

Having lost control of his body, his elemental barrier naturally dissipated as well.

Su Lun's fingertips flexed slightly, easily severing the fourth-tier assassin's head.

....

"Gulp," the head hit the ground.

The fourth-tier assassin hadn't reacted at all before he was decapitated.

This scene added an even more eerie atmosphere to an already bizarre battle.

Everyone was as if they had seen a ghost, looking at Su Lun holding the black umbrella.

He had just opened an umbrella and hooked his finger, and then a fourth-tier expert was so easily killed?

This method, unseen, was... indescribably eerie.

If just now the sight of the puppet legion had shocked everyone with their number,

then at this moment, they realized that the strength of the black umbrella man himself was also terrifyingly formidable!

The members of the Dawn Group were naturally ecstatic as they discovered that their captain's friend was indeed outrageously strong.

On the other hand, the sailors and leaders of the "Iron Crocodile Group," "Fire Phoenix," and "Hammer Group" pirate crews all had ashen faces, cursing inwardly.

Where did this monster come from...

Dammit, a "Thousand Blades Rakshasa" was already freakishly strong, and now there's this abnormal Puppet Master popping up?

Even up until this fourth-tier assassin died, they felt they still had a fighting chance.

Now, all hope was utterly extinguished.

Even Qian Dao, upon seeing Su Lun kill the enemy so effortlessly, revealed a momentary look of astonishment, unable to hide her shock, "This kid, he's not just cutting down third-tiers like vegetables, he even surpasses the ordinary fourth-tiers..."

With this thought, a deep sense of relief appeared on her face.

She then looked at the remaining four pirate captains with an extremely sharp gaze, and the power of her slashes suddenly increased by threefold.

....

The original plan to drag the battle out and slowly whittle them down was disrupted, making the fight suddenly much more intense.

With no way out, the pirates could only fight desperately.

"Enough, we must make it a quick battle..."

Seeing this, Su Lun exhaled softly and once again spread out two scrolls.

"Bang" "Bang" two sounds.

The scrolls exploded.

An animated corpse holding a black scythe and a combat mecha appeared on the deck.

With the arrival of these two major weapons, the balance of the battle once again heavily tipped in favor of the Dawn Group.

The outcome of the fight was now completely without suspense.

....

Soon after, two more fourth-tiers fell to Qian Dao's blade, and the battle was nearing its end.

Seeing no hope of survival, the badly wounded "Cyclops" Sock finally panicked.

In his repeated retreats, he begged pitifully.

"Wait! We can talk about this! Whatever you want, I can give it to you. I can even surrender to your Dawn Group..."

"You can't kill me, my dad is..."

"..."

The more arrogant this guy had been earlier, the more pathetic his pleas were now.

Qian Dao gave him no chance to live and with a slash ended his life.

Su Lun walked over and they exchanged a brief glance.

Looking at the corpses scattered everywhere, a shadow of the Grim Reaper rose behind him.

Although Qian Dao was already aware of his awakened abilities, seeing this shadow emerge, with the oppressive might of the laws of death looming, she narrowed her eyes slightly and murmured, "The talent of death law is very impressive."

Without lingering, she led the crew to clean up the enemies hiding in various parts of the ship.

....

Su Lun looked at the corpse of "Cyclops" Sock on the ground, traces of solidified runes evident in its skeletal remains and flesh.

It was because of these runes that even after "Iron Wall Explosive Bear" Horn, who had his body mechanized, was slain by Qian Dao, this guy survived until the end.

This alone showed that the secret techniques of this lineage had their unique aspects.

Without delay, Su Lun harvested "Cyclops" Sock's Soul Shard.

Unsurprisingly, he did not find the rune knowledge he needed.

'You have stripped the soul of "Sock Leonhart," gaining some fragments of the laws of "water, fire, and metal."'

'You have obtained some information about "Talin Archipelago Mountain Hidden Country."'

'You have learned some secret information about the Leonhart family: "Our family comes from Emperor Luying's imperial capital..."'

'You have obtained some low-tier legacy knowledge about "magicians".'

'Spiritual power +5.7'

This guy only knew a bit of the surface, and the amount of knowledge related to "Magicians" stripped from him was still far from enough to craft an "Imitation of the Original Rune."

Nevertheless, Su Lun gained some useful information from him.

"So, this lineage of magicians also comes from Emperor Luying's imperial capital?"

After digesting the information, Su Lun understood.

This Sock's father, known as "Rune Old Man," was actually a genius apprentice from the Imperial Rune Grandmaster's school thirty years ago. For reasons unknown, he fled with a very special cursed object. After years of being hunted, he hid in the Northern Continent and gradually became the lord of those natives.

"This plot is a bit outrageous... If Rune Old Man could advance to the sixth tier, calling him a genius is no overstatement. Why would he steal something and flee? Also, what cursed object was worth stealing?"

Su Lun looked at the corpse in front of him, and there were some things he couldn't figure out.

He lacked some essential information and couldn't make sense of many things at the moment.

But the good news was that he had confirmed that the "Rune Old Man" really did hold the inheritance of a rune magician.

"Looks like I really am going to make a trip..."

As Su Lun thought to that point, he murmured to himself, his voice fine as a thread.

But he also felt indifferent about it.

After all, the four countries of the Northern Continent weren't far from Pirate City, so it would be convenient to make a detour. Although the Rune Old Man was of the sixth order which was a bit troublesome, he should be able to find a breakthrough when the time came.

However, within Sock's memories, the "Mountain Hidden Country," one of the four countries of the Northern Continent, held many pieces of information with a strong scent of mystery.

The situation there was very complicated.

"Ten thousand eight hundred deities? Tsk, tsk... Another fragment of a brilliant ancient civilization."

At first glance, it was an area full of intrigue.

Su Lun was also very interested in taking a look for himself.

As he pondered, he had already extracted the Soul Shards of the other fourth order beings.

Now he could use Reaper's Wraith freely, reaping a full harvest in a single sweep.

...

Su Lun released the "Cocoon World," and the threads covering several ships receded like the tide.

The enemy forces from three pirate groups were almost entirely wiped out aboard their ships. Even if a few managed to jump overboard and escape, the likelihood of surviving in these cold waters with heavy winds and waves was next to nothing.

The Dawn Group had only minor casualties—so insignificant they were hardly worth considering.

Now that the battle was over, they were cheerfully collecting the spoils on the ships. They collected the corpses, equipment, alchemy materials, and then transferred the supplies from the "Gray Dolphin" and the other two ships onto the light warship previously belonging to the "Flamingo Pirates."

This was a new ship.

This model of warship was known to be one of the fastest among the smaller pirate ships.

For the Dawn Group, it was like trading a musket for a cannonball; in future encounters with strong enemies, the chances of being able to escape were now much higher.

Before long, Qian Tiao came over, covered in blood.

There were no wounds on her body; the blood belonged to the enemy.

"Eh, I tried to control my slashes, but I still ended up damaging the ship a bit. Repairing it is going to cost a lot of money..."

Though Qian Tiao complained, she seemed to be in a good mood.

Pirates didn't have much loot, but the spoils from the three ships were enough to cover their expenses for a good while.

She looked at Su Lun and asked, "Did you find what you were looking for?"

Su Lun shrugged and replied honestly, "No. But I got some information, and I need to make a trip to the four countries of the Northern Continent."

Qian Tiao added, "Oh. I was planning to check out Pirate City myself. Do you want to go together since it's on the way?"

"I have a better idea. I might need to go back to Blizzard City..."

Su Lun revealed his plan, "I'm thinking of infiltrating the fleet of the King of the North Sea to find out more about the sources of those void armaments. If I go to Pirate City, it'll be harder without a legitimate identity, and I'd be more susceptible to suspicion."

This was a plan he had already considered before.

"Oh."

Qian Tiao listened, her lips curving into a slight frown of regret, but she didn't seem too surprised and didn't say much.

She looked at Su Lun and smiled faintly, "Do you want me to give you a ride?"

Su Lun shook his head, "No need. We're not far from the coast. Just give me a boat, and I can make it back on my own."

It was as if Qian Tiao only then realized something, "Oh, right, I almost forgot. With your abilities, you can handle a boat alone."

Su Lun smiled.

After a pause, Qian Tiao spoke again, "Then take care. If anything happens, use the communicator to let me know. If I'm free, I'll come to help you."

Su Lun grinned, revealing neat white teeth, "Sure."

A tacit understanding was evident in their eyes.

It had not been long since they met, and their parting was marked by just a few simple words.

...

Before long, two ships full of corpses were consumed by fire.

The members of the Dawn Group set off northward, while a battered, empty ship headed south towards Blizzard City.

Su Lun stood on the deck,

Just in time to watch the increasingly distant ship where Qian Tiao lazily sat on the mast, letting the gentle breeze flutter her cloak and scatter her green hair.

Watching the slanting sun,

She was the epitome of solitary pride.