Mechanical Alchemist

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PS. Slightly watered down.

The Alchemy Wind Sail and Steam Boiler-powered Eternal Night surged across the ocean like a swift shark.

From a far distance, everyone witnessed that terrifying creature's feast, each of them feeling a chill down their spine.

If they had been just a step slower and had gotten swallowed by that creature, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

However, when Su Lun teleported onto the deck, the heavy stone in the hearts of the Dawn group finally fell, and they all breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, they had escaped without harm.

Everyone exchanged glances, the smiles on their faces reflecting the joy of a narrow escape from death.

To adventurers, difficulties could be a rare experience, especially one as thrilling and hellish as this that probably nobody else could attempt.

With no casualties, everyone from the Dawn was in a good mood.

Seeing Su Lun return safely, the Sword Intent that had been gathered around Qian Tiao dissipated. She then lazily murmured, "Ah, what a pity. I was just getting into a combat state."

Hearing this, Lolo Tata, full of starry eyes, said, "Teacher, you just slashed a sixth-order undead dragon with one strike, super awesome!"

Qian Tiao looked at her disciple with a hint of irritation.

Su Lun also felt it was a pity, as her condition a moment ago was truly a rare opportunity.

Fortunately, in this environment rich with the energies of hell, Qian Tiao's condition seemed to be excellent all the time. That previous strike had almost solidified her new realm, and it might provide a new opportunity for consolidation.

Because they had already anticipated the dangers of the Dragon Country Waters, even after a battle that nearly wiped out their group, everyone's morale was still high.

The exploration of the unknown and adventure were, after all, also the greatest pleasures of sailing.

"Oh, I have never seen such a large creature in my life. Speaking of which, the beings from hell sure are strange."

"But, we got quite a harvest this time, four sixth-order pureblood undead dragons and one of the seventh order... You can't find such good materials easily outside."

"Hahaha, yes, I heard from Old Sword God Bartolo that there are many ancient relics in this space too."

"Tsk, tsk, a cursed space that no one has ever left alive, who knows how many treasures are hidden."

"..."

The atmosphere among the people chatting on the deck was relaxed. With the crisis behind them, they now had more anticipation for the route ahead.

The lights were out again on the ship, and the surroundings fell back into that dim, hellish gloom.

While chatting idly, the members of the Dawn also busily went about their duties, cleaning up the blood on the deck, collecting the tons of casings from the close defense cannons, restocking the ammunition... and so on.

After the battle ended, everyone knew that more fighting was bound to happen soon.

...

Su Lun walked onto the deck, and a few management and staff members of the Dawn group gathered around.

Barrett, having removed his heavy armor helmet, revealed his head and looked at the still tumultuous sea, laughing, "Hey, I've never seen such a big monster in my life. Tsk, tsk, what a marvelous adventure this has been."

Number Nineteen: "Yeah, where do the living get to come to hell. I also just found out hell is like this..."

'Duke of Blood' Wazhuaz chuckled, "Not just you, I've lived for nearly eight hundred years, and I've never seen anything like it either."

Dora: "But the harvest is truly bountiful. We've just arrived and already bagged five pureblood giant dragons. These materials are rare treasures indeed."

Old Sword God Bartolo also marveled, "Yes. In the outside world, you'd probably not encounter one in several years."

In his twenty years of dragon hunting, he had only encountered three pureblood giant dragons. Now, they had hunted five in one go—it was indeed a significant haul.

But what he marveled at even more was the vitality of the Dawn group.

Compared to the Black Sam group that had gradually despaired in this space, such peril became merely an exciting adventure for this young team.

There was some casual conversation among the group.

At this time, Su Lun took out a sea chart, getting down to the main topic, "You all saw the situation just now. I think we need to replan our sailing route..."

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Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze converged on the sea map.

The map on the paper meticulously marked various islands in the Dragon Country Waters, wind directions, ocean currents, and the scale was also extremely precise.

Such an excellent sea map naturally came from the hands of the professional chart maker Tanni.

Su Lun had had a "Map of the Dragon Country Waters" before, but the ancient cartography skills were far from as accurate as modern ones, so he had Tanni redraw a new one.

Moreover, this new sea map not only included all the annotations of the previous map but also the route of Black Sam's crew, as told by Bartolo, and various other documents found in the treasury of the Silver Dragon Country. It already contained all the information known by the Dawn crew.

Compared to when Black Sam's crew set out with just a fragment of a treasure map, this map was already improved a countless number of times.

Su Lun pointed and said, "Our current situation has changed from our original plan, so I wanted to discuss with everyone about which course to take next..."

The location they entered the cursed space was more than ten days' sailing less than where Black Sam's crew had, which brought a lot more variables into the future.

The others understood Su Lun's point and began to discuss openly.

"Since this cursed space's navigation is pretty much the same as the outside world, I think we should continue sailing according to the original planned route. After all, every part of this unfamiliar sea carries risks..."

"Agreed."

"..."

The efficiency of the discussion was high, and they directly came up with a plan for the subsequent voyage.

Su Lun had already considered everything thoroughly, so the purpose of the discussion was mainly to inform everyone.

At this time, Su Lun added, "There's another issue... We have to deal with more than just the monsters in this cursed space. I believe those gods from the divine plane will probably be looking for us too."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression became gravely serious.

In comparison to monsters, the threat of the mages from the divine plane was equally significant.

Especially in such an environment, if a significant battle broke out, it was hard to say who would have the upper hand.

However, Qiantiao seemed not only unbothered by this news but actually full of anticipation, and asked, "Su Lun, are you saying that the Red-robed Mage will actively seek us out?"

"Uh-huh. It's very likely he will come."

Su Lun nodded, then continued, "That guy is a Necromancer by nature, which makes this environment his home turf for battle. Most importantly, all the legacies of his and his necromancer line are with me. I think he would risk his life, if necessary, to try to take it back. And..."

"This is his only chance. Outside, he couldn't do anything to us even in his prime, and now that he's reduced to just a soul fire, it's even less likely."

After Su Lun had taken stock of the Red-robed Mage's spoils, he discovered the haul was even greater than it had seemed.

From those magic notes, Su Lun learned that the Red-robed Mage was named Yale Robbins, a member of the 'Holy Soul Fire' necromancy faction, and also a high-ranking cleric of the Holy Army.

The books and such were the secret techniques passed down through the "Robbins lineage" for a thousand years.

In essence, those items represented the legacy of a divine-grade magic system.

This kind of complete legacy was a priceless treasure even in the divine plane.

And the undead space and the countless monsters inside it were also the accumulations of a millennium of necromancer inheritance from that 'Holy Soul Fire' line.

Having lost such important things, that guy surely had no face to return to the divine plane.

That's why Su Lun was sure he would take the initiative to come after them.

And indeed, only in this cursed space did he stand a slight chance in a fight.

With this analysis, the members of the Dawn crew nodded in agreement.

Barrett said, "We definitely need to be wary of that guy causing trouble, yeah. Though a mage just with his soul might not be much of a threat, if he attracts monsters to besiege us, that could be bad."

Officer Nineteen said, "Necromancers specialize in controlling all sorts of undead creatures, and this cursed space is, sadly, full of such creatures, so we have to be especially careful..."

Dora commented, "That guy was able to find us last time, he'll surely be able to this time too. Maybe he's already laying in ambush somewhere."

Mr. Hei speculated, "He probably used divination spells to pinpoint our location. After all, that guy is a servant of the gods, capable of exempting himself from death's consequences, naturally he could also avoid some of the costs of divination. But we have no way to determine his coordinates, which puts us at a disadvantage."

Huazuwas said, "..."

"..."

The topic shifted, and everyone analyzed all sorts of possibilities from a tactical and strategic perspective.

Having used the tactic of luring the disaster east many times, Su Lun and the others were especially cautious.

But it was precisely the uncertainty of the enemy's location that made them feel passive.

The only one enthusiastic was Thousand Eyes with his bright and eager eyes, who muttered expectantly, "Ah...my 'Slaughter Buddha' is coming..."

Listening to him, Su Lun didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but then shared his own idea, saying, "What I mean is, since we can't pin down that guy's position, we can deduce where he's likely to set up an ambush, and then turn the tables."

"Oh?"

Everyone turned to look at him upon hearing this.

They knew all too well that Su Lun never disappointed, and whenever he spoke up, he certainly had a method in mind.

Su Lun went into detail, "I've studied all of the undead secret techniques of that guy's lineage in depth. Their lineage has weak physical combat power but specializes in soul secret techniques. Now that he only has his soul fire left, his ability to control ghost monsters is very limited. I estimate that he could at most command monsters around the eighth tier. Therefore, to pose a threat to our Dawn Group, he's unlikely to confront us head-on; he's more likely to choose a place dense with ghost-type monsters... And also, this place will be somewhere our route must pass through."

With that said, everyone remembered the scene of that guy's soul fleeing.

After a moment of thought, they immediately understood, and their expressions collectively brightened.

Yes, indeed...

From knowing the enemy's capabilities, they could deduce his intentions, and then easily infer the decisions the enemy would make, right?

As long as they could figure out what the enemy planned to do, wasn't that the same as indirectly determining the enemy's location?

Upon hearing this, Old Sword God Bartolo also looked at him with an approving gaze, saying, "Young Su Lun has a really good approach. There are indeed many ghost-type monsters in this cursed space, even more dangerous than ordinary monsters... Thinking about it this way, that guy has no other choice."

Everyone agreed with the plan after listening.

Su Lun shrugged as everyone agreed with his idea, then threw a damper on the enthusiasm, "However, there's one problem with this plan: there are many ghost-type monsters in the cursed space, and I'm not sure which place that guy will choose."

Hearing this, everyone felt it was indeed a problem.

The cursed space was never short of monsters.

Who could guarantee which monsters the enemy would command to attack them?

"This may not be a big issue."

But upon hearing this, Bartolo chuckled and shook his head.

Having been here before, he had a plan in mind, saying, "Although we can't be sure of where the enemy will ambush us, we can decide our own sailing direction! No matter by what means the enemy knows our whereabouts, they can only determine where we will go, not lead us there. The initiative is in our hands. We can simply find a place with many ghosts, making the enemy definitely choose to make a move there... and then get rid of that guy first."

Only by dealing with the enemy first could they sail with peace of mind.

Otherwise, endless dangers awaited.

Upon hearing this, Su Lun immediately knew that the Old Sword God must have an idea and asked, "Do you know of such a place, senior?"

"Hmm."

Bartolo thought and said, "When my Black Sam Group entered this space, we encountered a human kingdom's ruins where there were numerous ghost monsters. At that time, we had to flee to survive and didn't dare to look closely at the ruins. That place is very suitable for a necromancer's ambush."

He then pointed out the coordinates on the sea chart.

Seeing it, Su Lun immediately felt the plan was perfect!

Bartolo continued, "However, the only trouble is that ghost-type monsters have resistance to physical and magic attacks, which makes it tricky for those who have not mastered 'Haki'. Moreover, there might be many high-tier monsters in that ruin, and without a way to cope, that too would be a big problem."

Hearing this, Dora, the group's chief mechanic, butted in, "That's not too big of a problem. The Mafa military had previously developed special 'Purple Light Bullets' and 'Mithril Bullets' which are very effective against dark and ghost-type monsters. Although the ammunition reserves in our warehouse are not very plentiful, the war workshop could work overtime these next few days to produce some. As long as we have enough ammo, it should be enough to handle most situations."

At that, 'Blood Duke' Wazhawas twitched at the corner of his eye.

To his clan, that ammunition was all too familiar.

'Mithril Bullets' were anti-evil ammunition, which not only had killing power against ghost monsters but also inflicted massive damage on his blood clan.

Those Demon Hunters from the Bounty Guild had often used this type of ammunition to kill his blood kin.

But no one had heard of "Purple Light Bullets".

Dora explained that they were a type of ammunition that extracted divine elements from sunlight, and they were a product of secret research in magic.

Previously, these special types of ammunition hadn't been used much on the battlefields against the two great empires, so they were relatively unknown.

Su Lun, however, was aware of them, which is why he came up with this plan.

Moreover, he had powerful means of dealing with ghosts himself and said, "If we're talking about soul monsters, I can restrain them too. Plus, I've just repaired a soul curse item I obtained earlier, which can even handle high-tier spectral creatures."

With that said, no one had any more concerns.

The Dawn Team now consisted of some of the most elite experts from nearly every field in the alchemy plane: mechanics, biotechnology, traditional alchemy, legion command, sailing... So whenever a problem arose, they could almost immediately come up with a good solution.

Gathering around the map, everyone continued to discuss and finalize the details as they awaited the enemy's approach.

...

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

The "Eternal Night" continued its voyage on the Hellish Sea.

Their route remained the same as Black Sam's team's old route. Though equally fraught with danger and the unknown, at least that route avoided some particularly deep areas, where the monsters tended to be less powerful.

Nevertheless, in these past days, they had encountered many battles.

Fortunately, the Dawn Team was now much stronger than Black Sam's group had been and was well-prepared, so they managed to get through without any mishaps.

Though they encountered some hellish creatures of enormous size, thankfully, they did not come across anything insurmountable like the previous "Hellish Sea Anemones".

As for the mutative factors in this cursed space of Hell Dragon Country, which had brought despair to Black Sam's team regarding breathing, drinking water, food, and such, they posed only a limited threat to the Dawn Team. They had prepared ample supplies and could sustain themselves for quite some time without relying on external resources. Moreover, within Su Lun's pocket void, they already had their own farm and water recycling system. Even if they depleted their food reserves, they would be self-sufficient for countless years.

One day, the "Eternal Night" continued sailing forth.

On the deck, Su Lun and Tanni were meditating at the top of the mast.

Since entering this cursed space more than ten days ago, the danger alarms had almost never ceased.

Being on constant alert for battle all day was a torment for everyone's psyche. Normal people would break down in just a few days and be more prone to mutations.

Therefore, the senior warriors of the team took over most of the normal members' duties and assumed surveillance responsibilities, allowing others to rest in rotation.

Since the environment affected Su Lun and Tanni the least, both of them had been acting as lookouts atop the mast almost all the time.

Neither spoke, silently meditating.

Expanding their awareness, they watched over everything surrounding them.

Su Lun did not open his eyes, but that did not mean he was unaware of the changes happening to Tanni next to him.

Each breath sounded like thunder from within his chest.

On this voyage toward the heart of the ruins, he could clearly feel the laws of the world becoming more complete, given that this cursed space was connected to the actual hellish dimension.

In such an environment, Tanni blossomed, growing stronger and stronger.

She grew so strong that it seemed as if she and this hellish realm had become one.

Su Lun was pleased to see it.

However, during a moment of thoughts drifting by, suddenly!

Su Lun abruptly opened his eyes while meditating.

Mr. Crow at the top of the mast shared his vision, and he faintly saw traces of buildings in the extreme distance.

"Are we there?"

Seeing the majestic city with massive white columns, Su Lun immediately realized that it might be the ancient ruins mentioned by the Old Sword God Bartolo.

This could be a city from the Dawn Era, marked on the incomplete treasure map obtained by Black Sam's team as the Lost City—Atlantis.