Mechanical Alchemist

Experiencing the storm for the first time and venturing into the vast sea—no one knew how to sail the boat...

In their rush to escape, the Chengfeng charged headlong into the chaotic wind belt.

Su Lun, watching the storm clouds flashing with lightning before him, could understand the helplessness of Mr. Hei and his group when they said, "We don't even know where we are, nor where the ship is heading."

Mr. Hei and his people had extraordinary abilities, so there was no need to worry too much about their safety.

However, the situation had brought great trouble to Su Lun and his group.

With no one to meet them, he and Mr. Jing were in an awkward position at sea.

In his memory, besides the nearby Black Reef, there were no other islands or lands to seek refuge.

And with thousands of pirates waiting at Black Reef, it was natural not to consider turning back.

The scope of the storm was still expanding, and the waves were getting bigger.

The night sky, once clear with moon and stars, had darkened under the cover of clouds.

Cold wind filled his ears and fine raindrops hit his face, gradually soaking his clothes...

The wind and rain grew denser.

...

As a genuine noble lady, being the daughter of Demigod Sir Isaac, Mr. Jing usually exhibited a bone-deep grace and elegance in every gesture.

Su Lun had never seen her behave rudely in front of others before.

Now, unable to hold back, she vomited a mouthful of dark blood in front of him, and Su Lun knew that her injuries were not minor.

As Mr. Jing herself said, her strength had only recovered to about level six.

The fight against two opponents had not been as easy and effortless as it appeared.

Su Lun asked, "Senior, are you injured?"

"Mmh."

Mr. Jing nodded, seeming to want to say something more but restraining the acrid taste in her throat, unable to speak out.

After a moment's pause, she glanced at Su Lun, whom she was gripping in her hand, and then asked a seemingly absurd question in a very calm tone, "Can you swim?"

Su Lun suddenly realized what she meant by that question and nodded, "Yes."

Having extracted many pirates' memories previously, it wasn't just knowing how to swim—he was proficient in it.

A faint smile appeared on the corner of Mr. Jing's eyes: "That's good..."

But before she could finish speaking, the curvature of her lips fell, her weakness no longer concealable, and she slowly closed her eyes. She could no longer maintain her transformed state, and the bat wings on her back disappeared instantly.

Su Lun immediately felt his body plummeting rapidly.

"Splash~" the two of them fell freely into the sea.

Upon entering the water, Su Lun moved like a nimble fish, quickly swam over, and found Mr. Jing, who had fainted and was sinking.

At that moment, with the injury no longer suppressed, Su Lun felt as though he was embracing not a living person, but a block of ice. The bone-chilling cold seemed to freeze the surrounding seawater, showing signs of turning into slush.

He quickly brought them back up to the surface of the water.

The waves were getting bigger and bigger, and in such a stormy environment, even the best swimming skills would eventually be overcome by the waves.

However, Su Lun was not completely unprepared.

Prior to storming the tower, knowing that the outside environment was the sea, he had taken the time to prepare an inflatable life raft just in case.

Now it came in handy.

Su Lun took out a handbag-sized compressed package from his Storage Space, pulled the rope, and the compressed gas cylinder "hissed" as it inflated, the shriveled skin rapidly expanding into an oval-shaped life raft.

He first tossed Mr. Jing onto the raft and then jumped on himself.

The life raft had no propulsion system. Su Lun had a steam-powered engine in his Storage Space, but it was useless in such severe weather. They could only drift with the waves.

The good news was that having identified the direction of the ocean currents, the waves were not taking them toward the unknown sea to the west, but toward the land to the east.

He didn't bother with it anymore.

When the waterproof fabric zipper was closed, the lifeboat became an independent space.

This design was modeled after the life rafts on cruise ships in his previous life, wrapped in waterproof fabric, resembling a tent, vastly preventing rainwater and seawater from pouring in.

By now, Su Lun was, after all, considered a master artisan skilled in mechanics, engineering, forging... various crafts, making such a small object was not very difficult.

....

Looking at Mr. Jing, who was unconscious, Su Lun frowned slightly.

At this moment, the interior of the life raft was as cold as an icehouse, and the sea water that had poured in earlier had already frozen into frost.

This was clearly the high-level cold ice Power of Laws from the "Frost Giant" Gal.

Without Mr. Jing's suppression, the cold energy inside her body leaked out. Just the remnants of the leakage made Su Lun feel bitterly cold, one could imagine the severity of the injury.

Without much hesitation, he removed Mr. Jing's Gold-Patterned Cloak.

Without the cloak's concealment, her exquisitely beautiful and cold face was revealed.

It was unclear whether it was due to her vampiric transformation that her face was naturally pale, or because of the injury, but her skin now had a deathly pale, jade-like quality.

Su Lun checked her condition; Mr. Jing's breathing was very faint, and her chest rose and fell slightly.

Do vampires naturally have weak breathing?

Su Lun recalled that he had never noticed Mr. Jing breathing before.

But upon closer inspection of the external wound on her chest, the clothes clearly had a blood hole from a Wolf Fang Club penetration, and from her sternum, cold air seeped out.

The blood that came out didn't flow down but instead congregated into bits of red ice.

That high-level cold ice Power of Laws was inhibiting the vampire's self-healing abilities.

Though Su Lun wasn't a professional medical practitioner, he had a good number of medical skills he had harvested.

Seeing the situation, he felt he should do something, help his Senior Sister treat the wound to prevent further worsening.

Mr. Jing was wearing a set of courtly equestrian attire under her robe, somewhat similar to the riding apparel of his previous life, with an upper body composed of a high-quality, tight dark aqua suit adorned with silver buttons that bore an ancient coat of arms; the lower body consisted of form-fitting white trousers and long black boots.

Without hesitation, Su Lun loosened her belt to allow her to breathe more easily.

Then he unfastened the buttons of her tight suit. Once again, he noticed his Senior Sister wore attire in the style of the court from a thousand years ago, including an ancient corset.

Su Lun didn't bother figuring out how to unlace the corset. A pale blue thread appeared in his hand, cutting it in half.

Since the underlying shirt had been soaked by the sea and made the close-fitting black lace bra clearly visible too, there was no hesitation in cutting that open, all in the quest to save a life.

The wound and a large area of skin were exposed to the air.

Having completed these emergency aid actions, Su Lun noticed that Mr. Jing's chest movements were noticeably smoother.

He carefully examined the wound; this type of injury from the Power of Laws was beyond his ability to handle. Thinking further, he could only set up a "Life Alchemy" Formation to speed up the healing of the wound and maintain life signs.

But as he was busy, to his surprise, Su Lun suddenly felt the cold air around him vanish instantly.

Turning his head, sure enough, he saw Mr. Jing had opened her eyes.

It was as if she had been napping and suddenly woke up.

He abruptly stopped his actions, "Senior Sister, you're awake?"

Mr. Jing sat up and, looking at her now bare chest, she instantly understood Su Lun was treating her wound, showed no embarrassment, and nodded lightly, "Mm."

The clothes now torn could not be worn; she took a new outfit from her Storage Ring, naturally put it on covering her exposed delicate skin, and casually explained, "That 'Frost Giant' Gal's weapon has chilly toxin damage, I was in a hurry and couldn't suppress it, the cold attacked my heart, causing you trouble."

...

Hearing this, Su Lun's expression became slightly awkward.

Speaking of causing trouble, it was actually him causing trouble for her.

Moreover, from her tone, it seemed as minor as getting a stitch from running, as if there hadn't been a need for his help at all earlier?

...

The storm assaulted them, and the life raft drifted with the waves, probably already in the center of the storm.

The waves grew larger and larger, tossing the raft around as if it were on a roller coaster.

Large drops of rain pattered loudly against the waterproof fabric.

Because of the exquisite design, seawater did not flood in.

Mr. Jing curiously examined the enclosed inflatable life raft and remarked, "Did you make this raft? It's rather good."

Listening to the praise, Su Lun replied, "I had thought about going out to sea before, so I prepared this raft just in case, but I didn't expect to actually use it."

In this world, lifeboats were mostly still made of solid wood, not due to a technical problem, but because the design concept had not yet moved in this direction.

He had also thought about creating a raft that could fit into a storage space for emergencies, which led him to think of this type of compressed leather boat.

Mr. Jing praised, "You are indeed meticulous."

After a pause, with a gentle curve on her lips, she looked at Su Lun, "Thank you for taking the risk to help me before. Mother has indeed taken in a formidable disciple."

When she spoke these words, a hint of admiration flashed in her eyes.

Listening to this tone, which was like a spring breeze caressing his face, Su Lun felt like he was seeing his teacher, Sereia.

Thinking about it, he couldn't help but smile and asked, "If I hadn't come, Sister, you could have escaped on your own, right?"

Before, he thought he was going to "rescue" someone, but now, recalling every detail, he also realized that his sister had remained composed the entire time.

Even when she took that hit from the 'Frost Giant' Gahr, it was because the enemy anticipated that she would come to save him, thus she got injured.

"I did have some ways to escape. The Vampire Clan is known as the 'Undying Clan,' and it's not that easy for us to die. At least, two tier-sixes wouldn't have put me in a dire situation."

Mr. Jing didn't treat Su Lun as an outsider and candidly admitted.

After a pause, her tone shifted as she continued, "If you hadn't come, I might have been forced to use some 'Divine Blood.' But that would have come at a great cost, probably requiring me to hibernate underground in Old Lington for several decades."

At this, Mr. Jing said with a tone of approval, "The courage and wit you displayed earlier... that was quite good."

Hearing this, Su Lun showed an expression that said, 'just as I thought.'

That is to say, the previous action appeared to be a matter of life and death.

But in fact, his sister had the ability to turn the situation around all along.

However, everything was now in the past.

The important thing was that they were both still alive, which was the best outcome.

As Mr. Jing reached this point in the conversation, she recalled something, pulled out a grey misty iron chain, and handed it to Su Lun, "Right, this is your spoils of war."

Su Lun accepted the iron chain, and at a glance, recognized it as the 'Tartaros's Soul Lantern Chain' from earlier, which could mark a person's soul.

This thing can lock a soul...

It doesn't seem to be of much use, though.

But since his sister gave it to him, he accepted it without any complaints.

At that moment, the storm outside grew stronger, causing the raft to sway even more violently in the wind and waves.

Fortunately, thanks to the choice of materials and enchantments during its construction, it had not been torn apart by the storm.

Su Lun struggled to stabilize himself, preventing himself from being thrown around.

Glancing at Mr. Jing across from him, he saw her calmly meditating and healing her wounds.

He asked, "Sister, what should we do now?"

They were now very far from the 'Windrider,' and since Mr. Hei and the others couldn't sail a ship, there was no hope of them coming to their aid.

"We wait for the storm to pass."

Mr. Jing was quite calm as she elaborated, "The weather in this sea area has been terrible for a thousand years. Storms can arrive at any moment and will also suddenly depart. The ocean current will carry us a distance."

Hearing her calm words, Su Lun wasn't too worried, "Oh."

Thinking of something, Mr. Jing added, "Conceal your aura. Although this is near the shore and there shouldn't be any powerful sea beasts, I'm not sure if, after a thousand years, a new Sea King or Sea Emperor monster has come here. If this raft is swallowed, we'll be in big trouble."

"Hmm."

Su Lun recalled some related memories from the pirates he had encountered before.

He knew that in this ocean, there were terrifying sea beasts that could swallow a whale whole, and giant octopuses whose tentacles could easily drag a large ship into the depths of the sea...

He was also curious about something else, "Senior sister, what's the highest tier of sea beasts in this ocean?"

Mr. Jing replied, "In this plane, creatures can only reach up to the ninth tier, as the laws are incomplete and prevent breaking through to the divine tier. However, sea creatures are special; they grow in the deep sea, some become incredibly large, and some are descendants of ancient divine beasts... so their combat power cannot be measured merely by tiers. My father once encountered a terrifying sea beast in the depths of the western sea that almost prevented his return..."

"Oh."

"What was the terrestrial world like a thousand years ago?"

"Back then, there was a powerful alchemic kingdom called 'Atlantea.' By that time, the nobility system had actually been abolished, and my father's title as a knight was merely honorary..."

"..."

Su Lun restrained his aura and began to meditate in a seated position.

He had the ability to multitask, meditating while conversing.

Mr. Jing could do so as well.

The two of them thus chatted intermittently.

....

As Mr. Jing had said, the storms in this sea region came and went suddenly.

Several hours later, it suddenly became calm outside.

The clouds dispersed, and Su Lun, meditating in the darkness, sensed some light and opened his eyes.

He opened the tarpaulin, and the fresh sea breeze blew in.

Looking at the distance, the sky had already turned a faint blue, signaling the arrival of dawn.

This was the first time Su Lun saw the sunlight of this world, his gaze drifting far away.

The feeling of oppression from staying in the underground world for too long vanished in an instant. Read new chapters at empire

In the moment of distraction, the clouds at the edge of the sky brightened, and the sun started to rise from the horizon. The sunlight refracted on the sea surface, and the breeze passed by, resembling thousands of golden scales shimmering in a dazzling sight.

In the distance, a few creatures that resembled dolphins were frolicking near the surface, occasionally leaping from the water, their tails lifting a splash of crystal clear droplets, a spectacular sight.

At this moment, rays of light, like threads of gold, also shone into the kayak, and Su Lun suddenly noticed Mr. Jing frowning across from him.

He then remembered, his senior sister was a vampire, sensitive to light.

He was about to pull the waterproof tarp back over.

But Mr. Jing opened her eyes and said softly, "It's alright. Letting in some sea breeze is quite nice."

After a pause, she explained further, "Sunlight only harms lower-tier vampires severely, it doesn't affect me much. It's just that I haven't been to the surface for a long time and am not very accustomed to it."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun remembered that his senior sister had mentioned before, she was from a highly ranked vampire lineage.

Surveying the vast ocean, Su Lun determined the current and direction, and figured out their location in his mind.

Originally, if they had sailed southeast from "Black Reef" for several days, they would have reached the nearest land, the territory of Duke Rafael.

But their current heading was northeast, which was quite off.

However, it was still acceptable, as their course was still approaching human territory, and they hadn't planned to visit Duke Rafael's lands anyway.

Mr. Jing sensed the position of their ship, "Riding Wind," already far away.

Expecting that group who didn't know how to sail to come back for them was quite a challenge for them.

Moreover, with Black Reef encountering a pirate attack, Duke Rafael's support fleet should be rushing over at sea, and they might even run into them.

Since Mr. Jing had injuries and was not in a hurry to travel, she informed Mr. Hei and their group to proceed and find a place to land first.

She and Su Lun continued to drift leisurely in the kayak, taking their time...

Finally, several days later,

They encountered a passing merchant ship, which rescued them.

PS. I'm having a flare-up of my sudden back pain, which hurts whenever I sit. I wrote this chapter standing and sitting intermittently, and I feel it's a bit shoddy. If you subscribed, I apologize.