Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun saw the city half submerged in seawater at the edge of his vision and issued a warning.

Before long, almost everyone on the ship had begun to move.

"Wow... to think there's such a magnificent city! It's almost on the same scale as Ruins City..."

"My God, all the buildings in the city are made of stone! What methods did the artisans of ancient times use to construct such tall houses from stone alone?"

"Hehe, this City of Atlantis is a relic from the Dawn Era, who knows what treasures are hidden inside..."

"..."

By the ship's rail and on the mast, members of the Dawn Group were peering through telescopes at the distant city.

The time and space within the cursed space are different from the outside world, thus preserving the ancient city that should have been lost in the river of time long ago.

The crew now appeared as though they were gradually turning a page already read in historical texts, crossing time to witness the remnants of that once-glorious civilization.

The crew also noticed a strange phenomenon; the surrounding seas were dim, but the seawater near the city exhibited a faint glowing blue.

As the ship drew nearer, the lookout immediately issued a warning, "There's something in the water! It looks like glowing jellyfish... Eh... no! They're ghosts!"

With that, everyone alert.

The sound of guns being cocked erupted in rapid succession.

Su Lun had actually noticed this much earlier; he was holding a rune umbrella, and many soul fluctuations had already appeared within his sensory range.

It's just that many ordinary people couldn't see them.

Old Sword God Bartolo had mentioned before that this ruins city was teeming with ghostly creatures, and they had planned to head in this direction.

Only the high-level warriors knew about the plan to ambush the celestial plane's necromancer which is why the crew were so astonished.

The Perpetual Night was slowly heading towards the Lost City, and more ghosts appeared near the ship, with some faint blue spiritual bodies visible to the naked eye.

Gradually, everyone realized that these ghosts weren't aggressive, and no one acted out.

At this moment, they finally understood that the faint glowing blue they had seen earlier was the light emitted by these ghosts.

These spiritual bodies were of a low rank, their features vague and expressionless, with no inclination to attack.

They were just drifting aimlessly on the surface and within the water.

Seeing the confusion of the crew, Mr. Hei explained, "According to texts from certain sects, after people die, their souls either go to heaven or to hell. Souls that linger on earth become ghosts, gradually forgetting everything about their lives, unable to find their way back or forward, forever lost in the mortal realm."

Listening to this, everyone nodded in understanding.

Su Lun was aware of this belief too.

But he saw something else.

His studies on souls were now profound, and he could clearly feel the condition of the soul bodies. He knew well that these were just ordinary remnants without any malevolent spirits, incapable of becoming malevolent ghosts.

However, the gathering of so many spiritual bodies in this City of Atlantis was quite unusual.

Su Lun narrowed his eyes at the distant city, and a guess emerged in his mind, "There's treasure..."

Souls also dissipate; the fact that so many spiritual bodies were gathered here without dissipating meant that something within the city was beneficial to soul bodies.

Nevertheless, it was normal for ancient ruins to contain treasures.

Su Lun's thoughts shifted again, wondering where exactly that necromancer would emerge from.

...

The journey was farther than it appeared.

After sailing for about half an hour, the Perpetual Night finally reached the outskirts of the city.

It was a huge city, half-drowned in seawater, with no visible end. But the buildings within looked like uneven rocks, and a large ship like the Perpetual Night couldn't enter.

Su Lun then called for everyone to prepare to disembark.

On hearing they were going to search for treasure in the ruins, the Dawn Group immediately became excited.

But as it was a dangerous place, they couldn't take too many people.

And with some going, some had to stay to watch the ship, and everyone hurried to volunteer.

Lolita, clutching at a thousand arms, didn't let go, clamoring, "Wow... Teacher, Teacher! I want to go!"

Tanni also looked at Su Lun excitedly, saying, "Mr. Su Lun, I want to go too, take me with you..."

The Naga Tatu also didn't want to fall behind, "This place is all seawater, our Naga race is more suited for finding treasures..."

Others: "Me too, me, me..."

Su Lun was well aware that he was the target of the enemy, and naturally, he had to go.

Qian Tiao was still keen on that Skeleton Sword Deity and the Famous Sword Fo Tu, so he also decided to go.

In the end, the two least affected by their surroundings, along with Mr. Hei, the scholar, led a group of excited Dawn Era youths in a small boat towards the ruins.

The Old Sword God Bartolo stayed on the ship, firstly to guard the vessel, and secondly to provide an opportunity for the Necromancer to make a move.

Otherwise, with such a presence capable of slaying his indestructible body, the Necromancer might not dare to show himself.

...

Su Lun and his group then rowed a small boat into the city.

Tens of meters high, most of the city walls were submerged in water, with only one or two meters exposed above the surface. There were signs of collapse everywhere, as if a tremendous force had pushed outwards from within.

The small boat navigated through a breach in the city walls.

Once inside, they found themselves in a residential area completely submerged under seawater.

The water was very clear, and under the blue light, the sharp angles of the buildings were distinctly visible; seaweed floated gently.

If it weren't for the many ugly, deformed marine creatures swimming around, this underwater ruins scene would definitely be considered stunningly beautiful.

Su Lun was now proficient in the architectural styles of various eras; the layout of the buildings in the City of Atlantis reminded him of the temple style in the northern four countries of Roman.

From the rooftops of the buildings in the city, he could roughly guess their functions.

Temples, concert halls, theaters, arenas, public baths... etc.

The city was too large, possibly accommodating tens of millions of residents; it was impossible for them to search every nook and cranny.

So Su Lun directly targeted the temple at the highest point of the city.

Typically, such places were where the most important treasures were stored.

He also noticed that the closer they got to the center of the ruins, the stronger the spirits became.

Su Lun felt that if he were the Necromancer, the best choice would be to ambush them after they delved deeper into the ruins.

He stood at the bow of the boat, silently holding an umbrella.

[Goddess Hel's Rune Soul Umbrella]had an effect of stunning and soothing spiritual entities.

With this black umbrella's protection, the spirits around them seemed not to have noticed their presence and floated by.

Su Lun also planned to avoid combat as much as possible.

The small boat thus moved steadily on the water, neither hurried nor slow, and they dared not move too fast.

Suddenly, Tanni saw something and pointed into the water, saying, "Look quickly, there are statues in that square!"

Lolota also spotted something, "Eh, those statues' weapons still emit a metallic sheen?"

Su Lun looked intently as well.

A hundred meters away on the seabed was a fountain square, surrounded by a group of seven to eight-meter-tall stone sculptures, clad in armor, wearing helmets, majestic and robust.

Most of the sculptures were shattered, with only two or three intact.

It was not unusual for such a large city to have statues, but what intrigued Su Lun was that those sculptures really had magical inscribed combat weapons.

Tanni called out, and a few of them had already picked up those weapons.

[Giant Spear (Silver)], [Giant Shield (Silver)], [Giant Two-Handed Sword (Gold)]...

The quality was still quite good!

Su Lun was also quite surprised.

But they were just too big.

A single weapon was three to five meters long, easily weighing hundreds of kilograms. They were clearly not equipment that could be used by humans, but rather weaponry for a race of giants.

"Wow... there are so many treasures just in this square, aren't there even more in the ruins?"

"There must be lots of treasures! Hahaha, Dawn Crew is probably going to strike it rich this time!"

"..."

Tanni and the others immediately became excited.

Su Lun, seeing this, also felt that there might be significant gains to be found in the ruins.

After all, even if these weapons were not usable, their value was considerable. Since they had not been taken by anyone else in such an obvious place, it meant that no living person had been to this city since its destruction. Thus, the city itself was probably unlooted.

With their excitement for treasure hunting, the small boat continued towards the deeper parts of the ruins.

Tanni, with his half Naga bloodline, had a strong ability to survive underwater, and Lolota and the others had also taken underwater breathing potions, swimming agilely like fish in search of treasure.

However, what was surprising was that they kept finding treasures along the way!

Although the ruins looked ancient and most things had decayed, most metal objects were still intact.

Along the way, Lolo and the others occasionally found various valuable items.

Even in the small houses that seemed to be civilian dwellings, they could find some scattered gold and silver coins and ancient pottery.

Su Lun did not stop their enthusiastic treasure-hunting activity; he even felt that making some noise was quite good.

As they delved deeper, he became more and more certain that the Red Robe Archmage was laying an ambush here.

Because their journey had been too smooth.

If it had been another ruin, smooth progress could still be explained.

But this place was a T-level cursed space!

The absence of danger was the greatest anomaly.

It seemed like some hidden force was holding the monsters back, deliberately allowing them to approach the depths of the ruins smoothly.

And since the ruin was full of ghost-type monsters, the one with the ability to manipulate could only be the Necromancer, Yale Robbins.

Upon thinking of this, Su Lun glanced at Qian Tiao beside him.

This gambling-addicted woman already had a gleefully expectant look on her face.

It actually wasn't that the enemy was foolish, revealing such an obvious flaw to be discerned.

Su Lun could figure it out, simply by using the difference in information between them.

The enemy did not know that Black Sam's pirate crew had been to these ruins before and thought the Dawn group knew nothing.

Although there were many ghosts in the ruins now, it still fell a bit short of the dense population of high-level ghost monsters described by Old Sword God Bartolo.

If Su Lun didn't know, he might not have thought much of it and would have assumed the ruins were just like this.

But since he knew, he naturally sensed something was wrong right away.

...

The boat headed towards the temple, the tallest structure in the city, where the main sanctuary was above the water.

From a distance, one could see a dazzling golden light; the entire temple was constructed from gold, silver, ivory, and beautifully carved stone columns.

The boat docked next to the stone steps leading to the temple.

Su Lun stepped down onto the stone steps.

Having not stepped on solid ground for a long time, he found the sensation quite peculiar.

As soon as they disembarked, Lolo, with his sharp eyes, pointed and said, "Look, there's a shield on the platform!"

Just a few dozen steps away on the platform, a shield bearing the pattern of the War God was emitting a dark golden glow.

Su Lun's left eye shimmered, and he immediately identified it.

[War God Atenia's Golden Shield (Dark Gold)]

Description: Even as a Divine Artifact, this is an absolutely solid shield; weight 1221 kilograms, durability +999, comes with perfect blocking, absolute magic rebound, vital strike effects; a shield with a certain sentience, only usable by a hero with dominant aura;

"This..."

Su Lun uttered in surprise.

A dark gold heavy shield, which could be considered a top-tier equipment even in the two great empires of Luying and Ma.

Su Lun felt he had seen quite a few good shields before, but this one definitely ranked in the top three.

But such a tranquil shield, just casually placed on the steps?

Su Lun and the others walked over.

Lolo tried to lift it but struggled immensely just to raise a corner.

Tanni also gave it a try, with the same result.

The two of them then looked despondently over and said, "Teacher, Mr. Su Lun, we can't lift it..."

Qian Tiao also walked over curiously and tried it; she easily picked it up with one arm.

However, as a swordsman, it was awkward for her to use, so she merely said, "This shield is imbued with the aura of a heroic spirit. Without mastering an overwhelming aura, it cannot be controlled."

Upon hearing this, Lolo immediately lost heart and stuck out his tongue, "Oh. No wonder."

Qian Tiao glanced at her disciple and seized the opportunity to teach a lesson, "See the problem now? If you don't cultivate well, you won't be able to use good equipment. And you're always clamoring for a famous sword, with your skills?"

Lolota pouted, a look of grievance on her face after being scolded, "Teacher, I've been working really hard, okay? Plus, I feel I'm just a tiny bit away from mastering dominance..."

"Working hard?"

Qiantiao looked disdainful at that statement and said irritably, "Do you practice as much as Su Lun does? And you call that working hard?"

Lolota initially wanted to defend herself, but upon hearing the latter half of the sentence, she immediately wilted and muttered dejectedly, "Of course, I can't compare to Mr. Su Lun..."

Su Lun just smiled, already used to being considered the "training unit of measurement" by various teachers in the group.

If they didn't train as long as he did, they weren't considered hardworking.

This notion didn't cause the young folks on the ship to complain endlessly.

After all, Su Lun was recognized as a training fanatic, capable of staying in his cabin for ten days to half a month without stepping out, which wasn't something everyone could achieve.

However, being scolded didn't affect Lolota and the others' enthusiasm for treasure hunting.

They sprinted up the steps when suddenly Tanni discovered something and exclaimed, "Look at the temple, so many skeletons! So many weapons!"

Su Lun also walked up.

In fact, Mr. Crow, who had flown there earlier, had seen it already.

The temple's design was open on all sides, so one could see through it at a glance.

At that moment, there were several skeletons at the entrance of the temple, some with decayed weapons and others intact, with the gold shield that had earlier fallen on the steps being one of them.

And there were many more inside the temple.

All sorts of jade-colored and even gold skeletons lay scattered on the ground, seemingly having witnessed a great battle.

Knives, swords, spears, shields, axes, daggers, rings, wristlets...

Gold, dark gold, legendary, even epic-grade equipment were scattered all over the floor.

It was unclear what had happened here, but seeing such an array of high-tier treasures, Su Lun and his companions were utterly astonished.

It certainly was an era of dawn alchemy, that most splendid time; just these equipment pieces were proof of how fierce and high-standard that ancient battle had been!

This temple was like a giant treasure chest, revealing its cherished treasures to outsiders for the first time in countless years.

However, just as everyone was getting excited, Su Lun suddenly shouted, "Don't get close to the temple!"

His left eye gleamed brightly, picking up strong soul fluctuations within the temple.

Upon hearing this, the excitement on Lolota and others' faces immediately faded, and they became alert.

Qiantiao also squinted slightly, hand resting on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Su Lun, however, had already anticipated that the Necromancer Yale Robbins would make his move here, so his expression remained unchanged.

As expected, at that moment, the Skeleton Sword Deity, whom they had seen before, stood up from a pile of bones inside the temple.

It seemed that originally, this creature had intended to hide in the pile of bones and launch a surprise attack, but it hadn't worked.

However, this didn't seem to affect his plan.

The Skeleton Sword Deity stood up, the phosphorescent light blazing in its eye sockets, and its bony face seemingly conveyed a "I've finally waited for you" expression.

At the same time, a fierce ghostly wind started all around the temple, and countless spirits surged out like a massive swarm!

Su Lun's pupils slightly contracted.

He was not the slightest bit surprised at being ambushed by this creature.

Because this was the battlefield they had chosen.

But upon seeing the crystal skull beside the Skeleton Sword Deity, Su Lun's pupils contracted slightly again.

[Descartes' Crystal Skull]

Description: I think, therefore I am

Cursed Traits: The holder exerts 'Domination', 'Soul Capture', 'Soul Siphon', 'True Illusion' effects on nearby spiritual bodies, gaining a wide range of soul control abilities; immune to all soul attacks, stuns, hypnotics, curses, soul siphons, whisperings... and other negative effects not exceeding the spirit rating of this item itself; souls weaker than this item, when used, will suffer backlash, becoming a Soul Slave;

Explanation: An epic cursed item created by a Great Alchemist of the Dawn Era, copying a Divine Artifact. It is the skeleton of a soul after death, a treasure nurturing souls; can be used as a material for career advancement, requires dominating aura to merge, with a soul strength rating of S+ and a spiritual power rating of SS, mutation probability not exceeding 7%; after merging, acquires abilities 'Cognitive Presence', 'Capacity of Mind', 'Undying Soul Fire' (the soul remains intact even if a fatal attack is received, retention dependent on soul strength).

...

Seeing the information identified, Su Lun was both startled and delighted, his thoughts whirling, "An epic cursed item?! So that's why all the spirits in this relic are gathered around this treasure..."

This cursed item was truly a treasure for those specialized in soul-related careers!

Seeing this, Su Lun immediately determined what his material for eighth-tier career advancement would be.

This cursed item, he concluded, was the final piece in his ideal plan for advancing the Puppeteer career!