Mechanical Alchemist

The sound of the Mecha warriors fighting was particularly unique; the noise from the steam boiler could be heard from afar.

From a distance, Su Lun watched the fires of battle and immediately guessed there was a problem at the auction house.

Moreover, as expected, he surmised it was the designs bought by those from the Mafa Empire that were being attacked.

After all, Bluul Turner, the regiment commander of the "Imperial Hammer," was representing a powerful empire at the auction. His bid was so high that no one but the Lurian royal family could afford it.

Upon further thought, Su Lun also wondered what exactly the people from Mafa had used as a bid to win those designs. He instantly guessed in his mind, "Could it be that the auction included some top-tier extraordinary materials, or perhaps... power?"

Winning those designs was definitely not just a matter of money.

The pirates wouldn't be satisfied with such a small appetite; otherwise, they would have directly sold the designs to some arms dealer, eliminating the need for an auction.

Especially since it was only money involved, those arms dealers certainly weren't lacking.

It must have been a special bid, such as a title or something.

Like how Liangshan's heroes were recruited under false pretenses, they could use this group of pirates to create some trouble behind the scenes for Lurian.

A flash of thought crossed Su Lun's mind, but he didn't dwell on it.

This had little to do with him.

The noise from the battle was terrifying; Mafa's technology in the realm of firearms had a crushing advantage over Lurian. The dense explosions were like carpet bombings, causing buildings on Oak Street in the distance to collapse in swathes.

The streets were filled with people fleeing in all directions, and screams and cries pierced the tranquility of the night at Gadronte Harbor amidst the fire.

Facing such intense battle, Su Lun had no intention of getting involved; he climbed atop a tall tower on the docks and observed the battle from a great distance.

...

The area around Oak Street, where the auction house was located, was lit up by flares and flames like broad daylight, making it possible to see clearly without any need for night vision.

Su Lun looked over and saw the Mafa's Mecha warriors being surrounded and attacked by various groups.

Count Osaca's "Flame Lion Legion" had also joined the fight, along with the city defense forces, navy, security forces, and various other professionals of unknown origins.

Corners and alleys were filled with fighting figures.

All the firepower was directed at the group of Mecha warriors.

Yet, those hundred warriors were pressing and retreating against a force ten times their size.

"These battle Mechas are so strong..."

Su Lun watched the heavily targeted battle Mechas, his eyes reflecting admiration.

He had speculated about some of the functions of these Mechas when he first saw them, but seeing them in actual combat impressed him even more.

No matter the spell or physical attack, if it couldn't breach the Mecha's defense, they simply couldn't hinder these iron clumps at all.

Even high-damage means like rocket launchers were neutralized by alloy shields with a mere pause in motion, causing no harm whatsoever.

The counterattacks from these Mecha warriors, however, were particularly sharp.

In terms of firepower alone, the two sides were simply not on the same level.

Su Lun watched as various parts of the Mecha armor that had been initially closed sprang open, revealing small missiles, flame throwers, electric arc guns, high-pressure air cannons, steam hinges, and six-barrel cannons emitting blue fire...

All kinds of technical and magical equipment were like a Poison Snake opening its wide jaws, showing off its sharp fangs.

Especially those steam-enchanted weapons designed for breaching fortresses and ships, these were truly lethal threats even to high-level professionals!

Knives, hammers, axes, saws...

An infused steam hammer charged with magic runes could collapse solid brick walls several meters thick with a single swing, leaving no one daring to face its sharp edge head-on...

A battle knife as long as two or three meters, with a trembling alloy blade that could easily slice off half a building...

An electrically charged chainsaw, whose high temperature could effortlessly melt steel...

Returning axes...

Each set of Mecha was like a mobile fortress, showcasing the cutting-edge military technology of Mafa.

Moreover, though there were not many of them—just over a hundred—they were all well-trained, with a coordinated elite of fighters.

Groups of three, lines of ten, in an organized offense and defense, their combat effectiveness multiplied several times.

....

Yet, despite the formidable prowess of Mafa's Mecha warriors, the "Lion Knight Squadron" charged again and again with flesh and blood against the mechanical armor.

It seemed they had been given a command at the risk of their lives, that they must keep this Mafa delegation at all costs.

In moments, the ground was littered with bodies.

The battle was brutally fierce.

....

Su Lun watched the debut of these battling weapons on the Mecha, and it was truly eye-opening.

The Mafa Empire had advanced far on the mechanical + alchemy dark tech path.

This was a pure weapon of war.

However, he had also made inquiries beforehand, and this batch of battle armors was not Mafa standard military equipment.

These were accompanying military officers in the delegation, representing Mafa's facade, equipped with "officer level" mecha. The materials and weapons used were tailored according to individual capabilities.

On the other hand, although technology was strong, alchemy was not weak either.

While the mechanical battle armors had amazing defense and fierce firepower,

they still had noticeable shortcomings — limited ammunition and energy.

It's like firearms needing to change magazines, the load that battle armors can carry is limited, making them incapable of sustaining high-intensity output. Their movement trajectory and speed could largely be predicted.

Since Ru Ying's side dared to make a move, they evidently came prepared.

Quicksand Technique, Swamp Technique, Slow Technique...

The high-level spells cast by magical magicians turned large swathes of the city outskirts into mud and sand. Even if those mechanical armors had short-range jet propulsion abilities, the escape routes were already blocked in advance. No matter how they dodged, they couldn't escape the overwhelming magic.

Apart from control spells, there were also various mysterious attacking techniques, such as various Curse Magics, Illusion Techniques, hypnosis, fear, weakness, mind control, and plague...

This was the most effective method of attack against mecha, capable of directly ignoring the armor's defense to target the soldiers themselves.

Even if the fully covered armors isolated most auditory and visual illusions, some special measures were still unforeseeable.

These mysterious techniques had been waiting for a long time, hidden and casting spells from the shadows. Once cast, they immediately caused most of the low-level battle armors to collapse on the spot.

The Mafa people were also very decisive. Seeing their companions "crashing," they did not hesitate to activate the self-destruct program, directly blowing up their mecha.

Su Lun watched as the mecha self-destructed, frowning slightly.

With them all self-destructing, the idea of scavenging was also shattered.

In an instant, he turned his attention to the more than ten high-level officer armors still fighting, his gaze landing on the runes that faintly glowed during battle, analyzing inwardly, "Composite rune scripts and shielding coatings, able to significantly weaken mysterious spells. These are unseen rune encodings, Mafa indeed innovated a lot on traditional runes to suit mecha..."

Su Lun sighed internally with only one real thought: I want it!

He immediately thought of his "Iron Man."

The ancient runes clearly did not suit the iron mecha, but Mafa's mechanical revolution over the past century had advanced far on this path.

Su Lun's gaze identified the materials of the armor once more, growing increasingly covetous, "No wonder it can resist, the helmets of fourth-tier and above officer armors are mixed to some extent with 'invigorating divine metal,' capable of blocking spiritual power to different extents. Not only materials and runes, but the energy systems are also filled with advanced technology. Ah... If only I could get a set to study."

With these more than ten armors surviving the first round of attacks, unless the enchanted runes or something similar were worn out, destroying them later wouldn't be easy.

The battle quickly became a fierce struggle for survival.

Both sides fought fiercely, with high-order magicians also entering close combat.

When they used their powerful abilities, the battle shifted from a high-tech weaponry conflict to a high-level spell duel.

Su Lun watched in amazement.

He looked at the distant sixth-tier mechanical warrior who raised his hands, a white alchemy formation lighting up beneath his feet. Upon a closer look, countless bullets shot towards him were blocked three meters in front of him, as if deterred by an invisible force. Then with a push, the bullets accelerated back the way they had come.

Swords, firearms, shields, iron fences... anything that was made of steel was manipulated at will, either as an offensive tool or a defensive measure...

One man, like a War God.

This guy was not only strong in his armor, but his personal combat power was also formidable.

Su Lun was somewhat surprised and realized it was a type of innate ability, "So the talent of Legion Commander Bluul is the control of magnetism, and he's a dual-power user?"

[B-071-Magnetic Field], this talent is strong.

But the reason it's still ranked lower in the B category is that this magnetic field almost exclusively affects "iron."

However, in this era of steel and steam, it's definitely one of the talents that can most effectively transform ability into combat power.

Thinking of this, he remarked, "It really is a talent with an extremely high compatibility with the mechanical warrior..."

Watching Bluul control the steel around him, covering his teammates as they withdrew and blocked the enemy, a man in a suit also unwilling to show weakness leapt down directly from a building.

In the midst of the fall, he pinched a sorcerer's seal, and flames immediately blazed up around him. In a blink, the drifting cold flames grew in length, and quickly coalesced into a massive blue flame armored giant. The giant of flame glared with angry brows, holding a fire spear, while behind it gathered six spheres of blue cold fire.

The suit-clad man, protected by cold flames, fearlessly engaged the battle mecha.

Su Lun recognizing the familiar cold flames, immediately guessed that these were people from the Ru Ying royal family, and marveled, "Indeed, it's the culmination of the 'No Servant' Secret Technique congealing into a Servant God. Very strong!"

Not just that one, many masters showed up, emerging one after another...

This was a battle between old-school magicians and new-school magicians.

....

The distant battle grew more intense, varying masters, enhancements, and abilities collided in a never-ending sequence, profoundly opening Su Lun's eyes.

It finally gave him a clear understanding of the ground world's professionals' combat power.

The earth's professionals were not all as weak as those mixed up with the Poison Snake gang; nobles holding absolute social resources had cultivated professionals, each with rarer talents and more unique enhancements...

Intense as the fight was, it had little to do with Su Lun, who was merely watching the excitement.

Looking for a chance to scavenge, he found none.

Yet, as he watched, Su Lun eyed the mechanical warriors retreating towards the docks and suddenly harbored a doubt, "Mafa's mechanical warriors are strong, unlikely to be defeated quickly, but escaping will not be easy..."

That group of mechanical warriors seemed intent on breaking towards "Dock Number One."

There lay the private dock for nobility, occupied by a battleship from the Mafa delegation.

At this very moment, Dock One had also transformed into another battlefield.

Not only were people sabotaging the ship, but naval vessels from outside the harbor were closing in as well.

Once Ru Ying's forces took action, there seemed to be no intention of letting these individuals escape by boat.

No matter how one looked at it, there was no way that battleship was leaving the harbor.

Considering this, Su Lun watched the mechanical soldiers who were fighting while retreating ponder, "Something's off — why does it seem like they're deliberately stalling for time?"

Logically, having abandoned the lower-ranked mecha soldiers, now hitting the elite forces would be the perfect opportunity to break through.

But observing this conservative tactic of fighting while retreating, something was clearly amiss.

Moreover, since the Mafa people dared to seize that object, they must have confidence in taking it away.

Su Lun suddenly became intrigued, his thoughts rapidly turning, "They can't escape by land, and the harbor is blocked. There aren't many options left. To escape, it would have to be from the sky..."

He glanced at the clear, starlit night sky, then immediately shook his head.

If it were a steam airship, those slow-moving and large target flying objects would probably be shot to pieces by the city's artillery before even landing.

With that thought, Su Lun's gaze fell on the vast sea, and he suddenly guessed, "Or rather, it's... beneath the sea!"

....

Things not present in one's world are hard to envision existing.

But for Su Lun, a transmigrator, he naturally knew of the existence of submarines.

The technological level between Ru Ying and Mafa now resembled that between late Qing China and contemporary America in his previous life.

One already had modern submarines, while the other was still frowned upon by the old-fashioned rulers as "foreign techniques leading the country astray."

Land routes... were a dead end.

Sea routes... although the ironclad is strong, its speed is slower than sailing ships, making escape impossible.

Su Lun felt that, aside from "submarines," even if those from Mafa grew wings, they could not fly away today.

Even if he annihilated everyone present now, experts from other territories would continue arriving for reinforcement, certainly not allowing them to leave alive.

Although Su Lun wasn't entirely clear on the current extent of Mafa's technology, seeing their mechanical armors, he knew they definitely possessed the capability to construct submarines.

The technology wasn't a problem, and with the need in naval war, this direction of warfare product development, "submarines", was bound to emerge!

The more Su Lun analyzed, the more he felt his conjecture was correct, "They're dragging out time not to retreat, but to buy time for the submarine to enter the harbor!"

However, he guessed the beginning but failed to predict the process.

He thought of submarines as Mafa people's means of escape, yet he didn't expect that a submarine would emerge right in front of his eyes!

While the battle concentrated around the ironclad at Dock One of the noble district, nobody noticed that in the meantime, the water surface at Civilian Dock Seven suddenly surged quietly.

A dockworker suddenly shouted, "There's a monster coming up from underwater!"

As the massive object emerged, it caused the boats in the dock to bob violently.

Su Lun, staring at the dark object rising from the sea like a giant whale, his gaze sharp, "They really did develop it..."

Upon seeing the submarine surface, he did not hesitate and quickly withdrew.

Because the center of the battlefield was shifting in that direction!

Clearly prepared, the dozen Mafa mechanical soldiers upon seeing the submarine surface, with steam boilers building up pressure, obscured by a great deal of smoke underfoot, left a few to cover the rear, and then altogether rushed towards Dock Seven.

Ru Ying's encirclement was mainly around the route from the auction place to Dock One, and this move caught the encircling forces completely off guard!

....

Su Lun watched the astonished looks of the pursuers, evidently having never seen a "submarine."

He had thought that with this clever tactic, the Mafa mechanical soldiers could successfully escape.

However, Ru Ying's intelligence department had plenty of tricks up its sleeve, knowing they were targeting mechanical soldiers, and were already prepared.

As the people began to flee, they finally released their contingency plan.

At this moment, on a distant high-rise, a person suddenly pulled out a long bow stored in a sealed box.

Holding the long bow up, he immediately performed a drawing motion.

Right then, a miraculous scene unfolded!

On the previously empty bowstring, an alchemy formation lit up briefly, swiftly condensing a milky white light arrow.

Su Lun curiously observed this movement and upon identifying it, realized it was yet another "sealed item."

And it was specifically designed to target mechanical soldiers.

[Chronos's Bow of Time Curse]

Quality: Legendary

Description: Time flies like an arrow, fleeting in a moment

Curse properties: An Arrow of Time shot at a target ignores obstacles that are not higher than the regulations of bow and arrow themselves, stealing the target's lifespan upon hitting; those who have not mastered the Time laws need to use their own lifespan to condense the arrows; the lifespan consumed from the target is related to fate;

Detailed explanation: If your fate is not as strong as the target's, you need to consume more of your lifespan;

"Ignoring obstacles," this attribute is specifically aimed at Mecha warriors.

Su Lun looked at the detailed explanation. This Cursed Bow was somewhat similar to his black scythe; both had the existence of killing a thousand enemies at the cost of self-damage of eight hundred.

However, this arrow's curse backlash was quite special.

It's not about reducing a hundred years of someone's lifespan and reducing a hundred years of your own.

There's an additional condition—fate.

"Fate" is a very special existence. Su Lun had seen its definition in ancient texts, but it was very vague.

It's roughly explained as "the quality of lifespan".

For example: a beggar's hundred years of lifespan is roughly equivalent to one month of an emperor's lifespan (no occupational discrimination intended, just an example).

The rough description is, the greater a person's influence in this world, the stronger their fate.

A person with strong fate, using this bow, might consume one year of lifespan and might take away all the lifespan of someone with weaker fate.

A person with weak fate, using this bow, might consume a hundred years and might only injure someone else's lifespan for a year.

Since fate and lifespan are both "uncertain factors," no one can clearly state whose fate is stronger.

This cursed item truly involves gambling with life!

....

Su Lun watched as Lu Ying's side brought out this bow and identified its attributes. His gaze also turned very strange, "This bow indeed counters Mecha warriors, but it's not easy to kill someone..."

Those from Mafa are all officers, who might become Grand Generals in the future, which means their fate is not comparable to ordinary people.

Using this bow to kill, the cost is not small.

However, Su Lun still underestimated the deterrence of imperial power.

These people clearly received a deadly order to keep those individuals.

He watched as the cursed longbow was taken out and the person drawing the bow shot an arrow without hesitation.

One arrow per second.

Pull once, change to another person.

"Whoosh" "Whoosh" "Whoosh"...

The arrows of light were shot out ceaselessly.

Those drawing the bow had just put down the longbow when their bodies visibly aged, transforming from their prime to decrepit old age in an instant, some even dying on the spot.

Watching this made bystander Su Lun's scalp tingle and his eyelids twitch, "There really are many sinister methods in this world..."

Not everyone is the main character doomed to survive till the end.

The fate of most ordinary people is roughly the same.

Besides, no matter how strong your fate, how many people's lifespans can it withstand?

If one isn't enough, then bring ten!

Is the Time Bow powerful?

Are the suicide soldiers strong?

No, Su Lun deeply felt the power of authority.

However, the effect was immediate.

Mecha warriors move fast, but their ability to change direction is a weakness, lacking agility, very easy to predict.

The royals from Lu Ying didn't bring out this curse bow to let some low-level soldiers shoot the arrows.

That would only waste the precious opportunity to pursue.

Su Lun noted that those who were shooting the arrows were all not weak in spirit, and highly aware, clearly being of officer rank.

This was truly exchanging life for life.

Both sides were sacrificing high-level talents in the fray!

And so, life for life, sometimes just two or three arrows were enough to take down a Mecha warrior.

When those dozen high-level Mecha warriors reached Pier No. 7, only five or six were left.

Su Lun wasn't concerned about who won or lost.

If he was not mistaken, that time arrow was only hitting the people controlling the Mechas, and the Mechas were unscathed?

Furthermore, just by chance, one ended up falling into the sea at Pier No. 5?

Seeing this, Su Lun quietly sneaked over.