Mechanical Alchemist

Duke Raphael personally arrived, and naturally, he was determined to retrieve the "Super Mechanical Warrior Blueprint."

Su Lun suspected that there was a spy from the Mafa Empire among the fleet, on board one of the ships.

As expected, when the steel behemoth emerged from the mist, a figure suddenly leaped from the deck of the "Santa Maria," a sailboat not far ahead, and dived into the water.

The response was extremely decisive!

It appeared to be a high-order professional with no small measure of strength.

But obviously, Duke Raphael's side was also well-prepared. Almost at the same instant, dozens of professionals dressed in white military uniforms also leaped from the steel behemoth.

There were those who flew with winged gear, those who dove into the water with aquatic gear, and even those who skimmed across the surface of the water...

Dozens of people chased after the Mafa spy, forming an encirclement.

In just a moment, the sound of intense fighting came from the mist not far away.

....

Seeing the cannons pointed towards their fleet, Su Lun knew that Duke Raphael was set on annihilating the entire convoy.

With the spy drawing fire, he had intended to use teleportation to sneak into the sea and quietly leave, perhaps going unnoticed.

But now, with those several piercing gazes fixed on him from the deck, Su Lun knew concealment was meaningless.

Compared to this gigantic warship, the folks from the Lei family were the real threat.

"Probably another divination based on bloodlines, the original owner's troubles are really not small..."

Su Lun was filled with solemnity.

The Lei family was a top force, only slightly inferior to the royal families of the two major empires, and if the problem wasn't completely resolved, troubles could continue indefinitely.

But he couldn't understand why they were so adamant on killing him. Wasn't the original owner's father back in power? Who would persist in wanting to kill the original owner?

Su Lun thought it might be some bloody conflict of interest, like inheritance rights?

But right now, there was no time to ponder such details; he needed to consider how to escape this death trap!

The killing intent in those gazes was as glaring as staring at the sun, and the sensation of walking barefoot on sharp blades overwhelmed him, leaving Su Lun without any false hopes.

Without Mr. Jing by his side, he had no helpers to call upon; everything had to be relied upon himself.

He had never experienced such a brush with death, feeling as if his entire body was immersed in ice water. Hormones secreted in large amounts due to the stress, and his thoughts whirred into action at high speed.

Unable to conceal himself, he decisively prepared to make an all-out run for it!

His hands formed magician's seals, and with a tug, a spatial channel opened before him. Without hesitating, he stepped through it and instantly appeared a hundred meters away on the sea's surface.

As he fell, the seals Su Lun formed in mid-air were ready, and he uttered softly, "Gear·Release!"

In the instant that the Hexagram Alchemy Array lit up, an eight-armed spear appeared behind him.

The eight-armed spear had the exceptional ability to move through barriers, which had resolved countless problems for him in the past.

What was even more remarkable was that after Su Lun landed on the sea's surface, he didn't sink!

The eight-armed spear stepped on the water as if it were land, the spear's legs moving rapidly, disregarding the rolling waves, and he surged forward at high speed.

Because of the extreme speed, he even kicked up a white mist in his wake.

This was the newly developed water-walking ability of his eight-armed spear gear!

Having considered the endless oceans of the surface world, Su Lun had felt the need for an ability to move across water.

He had carefully studied the structure of the "water spider" spears, realizing that such spiders could move on water because of the numerous fine hairs on the spears that provided sufficient surface tension when in contact with water.

This had given him great inspiration.

Su Lun had already researched the functionalities of the "Eight-Armed Spear" gear to its limits, and controlling the fine hairs was no issue for him. Although there were slight differences between the structure of spears used by land and water spiders, this was not an insurmountable problem for Su Lun, an Alchemist who was an expert in engineering.

Back in Old Lington, he had already precisely tested the water-walking abilities of the spears.

Now it was time for them to come into play.

Su Lun used the eight-armed spear to move swiftly across the sea's surface, occasionally interspersed with spatial teleportation, covering a hundred meters in an instant.

With this slick escape combination, a look again showed that he had moved several hundred meters away.

This speed made it difficult for even fourth or fifth-tier professionals to catch up.

After all, it was the sea, where the majority of moving capabilities were restricted. Even standard winged gear couldn't match Su Lun's spear speed in its flight through the sky.

Plus, with artillery aiming from behind and the "All-knowing Eye" combined with his ultra-high neural reaction speed, he could also dodge in advance.

It looked like he was gradually getting out of danger.

However, Su Lun harbored no illusions.

Such a large ship surely had several high-order professionals specialized in pursuit.

....

On the deck of the gigantic warship, Lady Portia and William looked at the fleeing figure without any urgency on their faces.

However, Lady Portia squinted at the speed of Su Lun's escape and muttered with a sense of crisis, "Spatial Ability? That fellow actually found such rare advancement material underground… quite the luck."

As a Duchess, her insight was not low; Spatial Ability was a highly advanced and rare skill.

If he could develop this skill to a high level, the threat would not be small.

William raised an eyebrow, nonchalantly saying, "Just low-level use of Spatial Ability, far from a true understanding of Space Law."

Seeing that Su Lun had already run quite a distance, a family guard from the side spoke up, "Your Highness, Madam, shall I go capture the target?"

Listening to this, William shook his head, his gaze flashing sharply, "No! I'll go myself."

Once professionals ascended to the higher ranks, they would awaken some perceptive abilities beyond the five senses.

He had a feeling that if he didn't personally kill that guy, he would become a huge problem in the future.

He certainly didn't want to leave any threats for himself.

Lady Portia, standing beside him, also showed approval of her son upon hearing this, "Mhm. Go ahead, but be careful."

William looked at Su Lun, who had already submerged into the sea, and a mocking smile like a cat that had caught a mouse appeared on his face. He quickly formed forty-eight sorcerer's seals with both hands, his gaze intensifying, "Armor Dispel!"

As soon as the hand seals were completed, the deck suddenly filled with a dense concentration of wind elemental power.

Giant pale blue wings suddenly appeared behind William.

Upon closer inspection, the wings were not made of any physical substance, but were purely "elemental wings" formed from the condensation of wind elements!

As soon as the wings spread, the onlookers' cloaks on the ship fluttered in the sudden gust of wind, and William had already vanished from sight.

....

Su Lun had already been running for a while and was puzzled as to why no one was pursuing him.

Despite the absence of pursuers, those few strands of watchful eyes were still locked on him and had not shifted away.

The cloud of death continued to hang over his head, not dissipating but instead growing denser and heavier.

"Could it be... the opponent has an unbelievably fast professional among them?"

Even though Su Lun was perplexed, he dared not slow his movements.

Running on the surface of the sea was ordinarily suicidal.

Those who enjoyed fishing would understand how dangerous a high-speed target on the water could be. It is like lure fishing; such "high-speed targets" can easily attract the attentions of the big guys hiding beneath the water and be swallowed in an instant.

Besides, the seas of this world were not inhabited by merely large fish but various gigantic sea monsters!

But Su Lun had no choice.

Seeing that no one was chasing him, he once again teleported into the water and continued to swim stealthily, hoping to use the fog and the resistance of the sea water to shake off those few persistent threads.

Suddenly, his fears became reality.

Su Lun kept teleporting rapidly, his peripheral vision constantly alert to his rear.

Out of nowhere, he blurted out a curse, "F*ck!"

It was like a scene from a horror movie where, although Mr. Ghost was still far away, in the blink of an eye, he appeared right up close.

When the image of that teleporting figure with wings flashed before Su Lun's eyes, his heart skipped a beat with intense shock.

That astonishing speed was not achieved through spatial displacement, nor was it like Mr. Jing's special optical displacement technique, but purely a mastery of wind elements for hovering and rapid teleportation.

No wonder there was no hurry to chase; with this method, let Su Lun run forty-nine meters ahead, and on the fiftieth meter, he could be caught!

"This seems to be a young master from the Regalido noble family?"

Su Lun recognized the person's face, recalling a vague impression in his mind.

But whoever it was didn't matter; what was important was seeing his control over the elements, confirming he was a sixth-ranked professional.

Upon identifying the pale blue wings behind the man, Su Lun had an ominous feeling, "Legendary-quality flying armor[Wings of Wind God Bird]! The wings of a 'Wind God Bird' phantom beast...where did these guys find such an extinct elemental divine bird from countless eras ago?!"

Even as composed as he was, witnessing the winged figure surging hundreds of meters in an instant, he couldn't help but feel agitated.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had encountered fortune.

It was Su Lun's first time seeing "legendary-quality" alchemy armor.

He was currently equipped with two sets of dark gold-quality armor, so he naturally knew the monumental difference in effectiveness between grades of armor.

The person behind him being able to integrate a legendary-quality armor indicated that his own strength must also be incredibly strong.

A deadly foe!

"The Regalido family truly has profound resources..."

With a sigh in his heart, Su Lun felt even more bitter.

He had understood before that the Regalido royal bloodline had a high probability of awakening various "wind-related" talents.

It seemed this winged man possessed some sort of wind talent.

The compatibility with this armor must be very high.

"Could it be[A-003-Wind Speaker]?"

Su Lun looked at the liquid-like pale blue wind elements congregating around the man, and numerous thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

The talents ranked in the top four of the A grade were earth, wind, water, and fire, the four basic elements.

The chance of awakening such a talent was one in a hundred million.

This was an extremely rare and powerful top-tier talent!

Although under equal-level techniques, the[Wind Speaker]talent might not have the destructive power of[A-039-Thunder], nor the eerie effectiveness of light or dark elements.

However, elemental talents of the same rank could exhibit an almost invincible strength in combat, as they are nearly everywhere and inexhaustible.

They could easily manipulate elements in quantities a thousand or a million times greater than others!

Moreover, the four elements talent is the source of all elemental gifts, including control over some elemental variations.

Take "A-036-Flame Lady," for example, which is actually a hybrid talent between "A-001-Fire Thief" and the ability of the earth element. In a contest between the two, the latter would have an obvious innate advantage due to elemental suppression, especially when they are of the same tier.

But the more he deduced, the more Su Lun's heart trembled.

In an instant, his mind raced through countless possibilities,

but all pointed to one conclusion,

it seemed like... he was doomed to die this time?

....

The gap in rank was too vast, and whether it was the breeding gear "Wind God Bird's Feathers" or the wind element talent, both were factors that grossly exaggerated the enhancement of teleportation.

Even though Su Lun was running with all his might, in the blink of an eye, he was still caught up by that person.

Even through the water, he could feel the chilling killing intent, which was like an ice dagger to the bone.

At this moment, the winged man flying in the sky was not in a hurry to kill, seeming to want to get a good look at the "prey's" techniques.

Through the refraction of the light in the water, Su Lun could even clearly see the scorn on that person's face.

"The only chance is that the enemy underestimates me..."

Seeing this, Su Lun didn't hesitate at all, and formed the sorcerer's seals immediately, "Flesh Alchemy Technique: Third Stage Hormone Frenzy!"

Hormones surged into his limbs in large amounts, giving him the sensation of overwhelming power.

This was an amount sufficient to cause death.

This time, without Teacher Sereya watching over him, there was no one to pull him back at the crucial moment.

But without going all out, he was bound to die all the same.

After the hormone surge, Su Lun's speed increased several-fold. He was no longer swimming underwater; he was running wildly on the sea surface, his figure as fast as a white rainbow.

Seeing this, William flying above not only wasn't surprised but instead let out a disdainful chuckle upon seeing the "scene" he was hoping for, "Huh... This secret technique is quite high-level, actually allowing for such a huge physical amplification. It's not even recorded in the intelligence. It seems this guy has quite a few secrets..."

He also knew from the intelligence that this "Brother Fick" had a banned weapon-level black scythe. Although the chance of the other party hitting him was minuscule, he wasn't careless.

He wanted to wait.

After all, spatial storage is different from a storage ring. Should the target die, the spatial storage could collapse, and the contents could scatter just about anywhere.

But just then, before Su Lun's black scythe struck, he watched him pull out a pocket watch and press it.

"Watkins' Pocket Watch" could provide a 2-5 times speed boost for a short time!

Though it consumed life randomly, Su Lun couldn't care less about that now.

If he couldn't escape now, he wouldn't have a chance later.

He knew the gap in ranks was too large to choose battle.

Even if he took out the black scythe, he had no chance whatsoever.

Now he saw a pitch-black sea cave on the ocean floor, bottomless and dark, and immediately thought of last night's prophecy by the Druid of the Dalu tribe: "The prophecy tells me that you will go through a death ordeal in the future. But... the ocean will protect you."

This was his "death ordeal"!

If the prophecy was coming true, was the second half of it also true?

The ocean?

This was the only chance he could think of now.

The moment he pressed the pocket watch, Su Lun's speed surged again.

He gambled on the maximum five times speed!

With this increased speed, he dove into the deep sea, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

....

Seeing this, William's calm demeanor shattered, and his brows finally furrowed as he wondered, "Does he have some other means of escape?"

The unequivocal rush towards the sea left one doubting.

Luckily, he came in person.

If not for his slippery escape tactics, others really might not be able to catch that guy.

Moreover...

At just the second tier, to display such an astonishing performance, one can only imagine how phenomenal he would be if he advanced to a higher tier?

For the first time, William truly felt "threatened" by someone of his generation.

He absolutely wouldn't allow, within the Regaldi royal household, the emergence of a genius even more exceptional than himself!

Moreover, that astonishing speed was heading towards a deep, bottomless sea cave. Even if he wanted to chase, it was too late.

Although he knew that such a temporary augmentation secret technique wouldn't last long, his instinct told William that he must not let this "Brother Fick" escape again!

The Regaldi royal treasury had many treasures, and though he was curious about the black scythe, it was still something he could do without.

Seeing this, William stood in the air, his eyes glinting fiercely as he formed the sorcerer's seals with his hands and uttered a light cry: "Condense!"

At a glance, following this spell, a colossal turquoise figure materialized behind him, a majestic entity with angry eyes, wielding an elemental bow and arrow.

This was the secret technique passed down through the Regaldi royal family, one of the four guardian spirits' ultimate mysteries—the Wind's "Phantom Guardian."

```

....

Su Lun's peripheral vision caught the scene as well.

But his heart held no surprise anymore, only charging fearlessly towards the pitch-black sea cavern.

William watched him flee and formed another sorcerer's seal, shouting out, "Wind Language Song: Rhombic Arrow!"

As the heptagram behind him lit up, he made a motion as if drawing a bow, and at the same time, the azure phantom also mimicked the action. The bow, made of wind elements, bent like a full moon, and with a "whoosh," an elemental arrow shot out towards the fleeing figure.

The arrow, silently formed from multiple secret techniques, hit the water without resistance. It crossed a kilometer in a blink and struck Su Lun's back instantly.

The next moment, the high-pressure wind elements within the elemental arrow exploded violently. The fierce wind pressed against the sea, pushing it to either side and instantly creating a giant whirlpool.

Within the storm, it was as if countless tiny blades were flying chaotically, a sight painfully sharp to behold.

Not only Su Lun's body but even the fish in the area were instantly shredded into tiny pieces by the ferocious wind elements, bursting into a mist of blood.

Su Lun was dead.

His body torn to pieces, utterly destroyed.

"Still too weak after all..."

As his consciousness faded, Su Lun truly felt what the experience of "Death" was.

This is death...

He felt as though he had grasped something.

Like sand through the fingers, he held on to it at that moment.

He held onto that indescribable, ineffable thing that Mr. Jing had told him about.

Without truly experiencing death, how could one understand the laws of death?

Now, Su Lun felt he was almost able to touch it.

...

Did Su Lun want to escape?

No.

He was gambling.

Gambling that the other party wouldn't find his body.
Enjoy new tales from empire

And wouldn't want to look for it.

Because he had a sealed item on him.

[Thanatos's Death Proxy]

Quality: Legendary

Description: A life borrowed from the god of death, dare you use it?

Cursed Feature: After a blood sacrifice, the proxy will take a lethal attack in place of the host; but after resurrection, you will hear whispers from the unknown for the next month, the seductive voice of demons; you may glean some high-level demonic secret techniques from it, but there's a high chance it will cause mental instability.

Detailed Explanation: An imitation Divine Artifact, trading souls with the god of death for a chance at rebirth;

He had found it previously at the Dawn Relic [Hotel 1911].

And now he used it.

Su Lun didn't know if the Death Proxy could resurrect him or in what form he would be resurrected.

But he thought of the Druid's words from last night, "The ocean will shelter you."

This was the best option Su Lun could come up with.

If he were on land, he might be relentlessly hunted down to death even after being revived.

The ocean?

That's probably what it meant.

.....

William in the sky watched the target explode into a cloud of blood, his face showing no emotion.

If this had been on land, he certainly would have taken an interest in seeing the body.

But now, it was probably hard to even find pieces of it.

Large chunks of the body sank into the sea, and the smell of blood attracted a school of fish. The fish darted towards it, muddling the water.

William glanced at the scene and then turned to leave.

He was certain that his strike had definitely killed "Brother Fick".

....

"Do you desire power...?"

Su Lun didn't know in what condition his consciousness was, as if he were half-asleep and half-awake.

But he heard a whisper coming from beyond.

He seemed to understand the meaning of death.

Too weak after all...

As his consciousness slipped away, he responded, "I do."

```