Mechanical Alchemist

"Hey, everyone, look—there's someone in the sea!"

"Pull him up and let's see."

"Well, look at that—a rich guy. His storage ring is so big... Hey, there are even a few 'rune treasure chests' inside!"

"Just the chests alone are worth over a hundred thousand rix-dollars, and the contents must be very valuable. Looks like we're about to make a fortune."

"But Captain, we can't open these treasure chests..."

"Let's keep the man for now. When he wakes up, we'll ask him for the chest passwords and his identity. We might just hit a bigger jackpot."

"Tests show he's a second-tier professional... Don't be careless, take him to the cell, and remember to apply the anti-magic locks."

"Yes, Captain Boone."

...

In a dazed state, Su Lun seemed to regain a sliver of consciousness.

He remembered some things, but they were fragmented.

It was like being in a nightmare; no matter what, he couldn't open his eyes.

He tried to gather his focus to wake up, but it felt like some force inexplicably scattered it...

The murmurs echoing in his brain became more severe, and he couldn't make out what the devilish whispers were trying to say. He only felt his consciousness growing heavier, like demon hands tearing at him, dragging him toward an endless abyss.

It was like that nightmare of drowning, unable to die, yet unable to break free.

Suddenly, he heard a woman's hysterical scream.

As if triggering some deep-seated reflex, Su Lun abruptly felt his consciousness return to his body.

He heard heavy panting and that lecherous laughter tinged with depravity.

"Hey, Pablo, don't you play too rough. It'd be bad if you killed the hostage. This one belongs to the 'Tulip Commerce Guild.' We have to keep her for the ransom when the captain gets back."

"Relax, I'm just having a bit of fun, not taking a chunk of flesh. We only promised to keep a live person, not that we couldn't touch. Besides, the vice-captain and the boys all had their turn; why shouldn't I taste the flavor of these rich ladies and misses. Hahaha..."

"..."

Su Lun couldn't open his eyes.

His mind still wasn't capable of thinking clearly, passively receiving all this information.

He heard the cries and anguished sobbing of women, as well as other voices.

"Pirate lords, please, let my wife go, I'll pay the ransom..."

"Please don't harm my daughter. I'll give you all my fortune, just please stop hurting her!!!"

"Please, I'm begging you, stop... please... stop..." Stay connected via empire

"..."

The pleas were futile, met only with scornful laughter.

And in that moment,

Su Lun felt waves of intense negative emotions so poignant that they pierced the softest parts of his heart, bleeding him dry.

Surrounded by the ugliness of humanity, the depraved laughter echoing with greed and desire unlocked the chains that suppressed the demon in the depths of his soul.

Suddenly!

Su Lun regained control over his body.

He opened his eyes.

But... his eyes were filled with brutality!

Those were terrifying eyes, burning with red fury.

It was as if the will residing within the body was no longer human, but a hidden demon.

....

Su Lun gasped for air, finding his world tinted through a thick red veil, warping reality itself.

It seemed he was in the cabin of a large ship where dim candlelight illuminated the layout of the chamber.

Wooden crates, iron bars, walls, lights, shadows... all appeared as if they had melted under extreme heat, twisted and contorted.

The main consciousness couldn't comprehend the information his eyes received, nor could it think rationally.

Memories, jumbled like a scattered puzzle, slowly began to piece together, rising to the surface of his mind.

I must have died, killed by that guy...

No, it seems I am still alive...

Weakness is the original sin, isn't it...

Is this hell...

What's happened to me...

I seem to have gained tremendous power...

I've also lost something...

My consciousness, it's as if I am going mad...

Damn it!

Why am I so irritable!!!

Listening to the wretched cries near him, Su Lun's gaze slowly focused.

His thoughts, mushy like paste, weighed him down like a giant mountain. The heavy breathing in his throat sounded like the roar of a wild beast.

Instinct took over his body as he tilted his head, trying to identify the source of his restlessness.

At that glance, his vision gradually converged to see several people still held in the adjacent cells separated by iron bars.

A middle-aged man with a fat face and big ears was clutching his head and sobbing bitterly as he begged for mercy...

In the corner cabin, the lewd grins on the faces of two pirates and the "heh heh" sounds coming from their mouths... were so grating on the ears.

A young girl, not very old, lay there on her back, tears of helplessness and humiliation streaming from the corners of her eyes.

That numb gaze happened to meet Su Lun's pair of blood-red eyes.

There was barely a ripple of emotion; the stare was as lifeless as a corpse's.

Seeing that gaze of despair, Su Lun not only felt no surge of emotion, but a cry of morbid delight rose on his lips, "Such delightful despair..."

The emotions of despair seemed to nourish some evil soil at the bottom of his heart, and he let out a sinister "kekeke" laugh from his throat.

In an instant, bizarre phenomena abruptly occurred!

It was as if some terrifying will had descended upon the cabin, suddenly overpowering everyone with a spine-chilling sensation.

The whole cabin suddenly fell silent.

The fat middle-aged man stopped his crying and pleading, turning his head to look over...

Even the two pirates suddenly felt a chill down their spines, and they froze and turned their heads to look over...

And then, they all watched in unison as behind the young man shackled in chains, an unbelievable scene appeared!

It was a phantom of Death holding a black scythe, ethereal and insubstantial!

Underneath the cloak was endless darkness.

The moment the phantom appeared, it was as if the gates of hell had opened; death hung heavy in the large cabin. That indescribable will of terror descended like thousands of poison snakes creeping up their spines, choking the life out of the people in the room...

Su Lun's blood-red eyes stared at the two pirates, his face sporting a demonic grin;

The two pirates also stared at him, frozen in shock.

This exchange of gazes, as if they had seen some "great terror," locked their eyes wide open in horror.

In an instant, their bodies seemed to have been drained of color, turning ashen.

A foul stench of urine and feces wafted through the air as the breath of life fled in an instant.

With just one look, the two pirates were literally scared to death on the spot!

.....

Having killed the two pirates, the restless emotion in Su Lun's heart was vented, and the red glow in his eyes faded somewhat.

His rationality also took a brief respite, and he suppressed the surging frenzy of thoughts, beginning to ponder the situation.

He was suddenly clear about his current condition.

This sensation was very familiar to him.

Like numerous times before, negative emotions had taken over his body.

But this time, it was worse.

Su Lun had the ability to control his emotions.

Before, he had used this method to suppress a multitude of negative emotions.

To put it in perspective, he had used ten parts of rationality to imprison ninety parts of negative emotion.

Later on, after learning mental secret techniques, those ninety parts of negative emotion had become nourishment for assaulting his brain.

But now...

He guessed that he still had ten parts rationality, while those "unknown emotions" in his brain totaled up to a thousand, ten thousand parts!

Each type of negative emotion was like an instinctual desire: murder, hatred, violence, lewdness, irritation, depression, fear...

Once, these emotions were like "negative personalities" confined deep within Su Lun.

And now, each one was as strong as a giant, each capable of easily tearing through the bars of their cage to break free!

Rationality was like a dam holding back an apocalyptic flood, feeble as paper, always on the verge of collapse.

....

"I have been resurrected?"

Su Lun finally understood what was happening to him.

He didn't know how long he had been unconscious, but his mind was currently filled with numerous violent emotions.

His thoughts shifted, and he remembered the aftermath of using the "Thanatos's Puppet."

Those extras in his mind were the whispers of demons, the powerful demonic secret techniques, and potentially the powers that induce humans to become slaves of strength...

That was information beyond his brain's current capacity for processing, in the realm of super cognition.

"So the cost of using that sealed item was this great..."

Su Lun didn't feel much relief at having survived the ordeal.

His current state was still crazily hovering on the edge of death.

It was also fortunate that he knew how to control emotions, as well as having these moments to think for himself. Otherwise, if were anyone else, they might have already become a "slave" to their desires upon resurrection.

I seemed to have stared two pirates to death just now...

What power was that?

...

Su Lun had no time to think in detail as he felt the violent emotions threatening to surge back. He quickly glanced at his attribute panel, wanting to see what had happened.

But before he saw anything else, he immediately noticed a glaring negative status: [Spiritual Power Aberration]!

"My spiritual power has become aberrant?"

Su Lun finally understood what that uncontrollable stream of thought was all about.

If he didn't find a solution, his rational mind would be dispersed by that flood of negative emotions.

Su Lun's emotional suppression method, "couldn't hold back" those negative emotions anymore!

However, this mutation in spiritual power wasn't all bad.

On the panel, Su Lun discovered that the number for his spiritual power had jumped from 200+ to 700+, more than tripling!

Under normal circumstances, even with a top-level secret technique like the "Starry Sky Visualization Technique," it would have taken him several years or even more than a decade to achieve such an exaggerated figure.

This was the mutation of the mind!

Su Lun found that the "willow-tree-like" spiritual power in his mind had also become very vigorous, with roots twisted and entwined, crazily growing into a monstrous tree...

That spiritual power was strong and... dangerous!

He simply couldn't control it!

Su Lun temporarily managed to suppress those negative emotions, but he was aware that this would not last long.

To control this spiritual power, he had to become stronger.

He looked at his dark spiritual power value again, which had skyrocketed from 9 W+ to the physical saturation limit of 13 W.

During the time he was unconscious, that will had taken control of the "Heart of Isaac's Alchemy" and absorbed frantically. Probably because of the "X serum," it had not mutated.

"Terrible state... The price of resurrection is indeed not small. However, haven't I now met the conditions for integrating the 'Life Usurper's Tri-Color Mask'?"

Immediately, Su Lun decided that he must advance as soon as possible.

Only by advancing to the third tier could he possibly suppress the mutated spiritual power with his reason!

But just as he started to struggle, he suddenly heard a "clatter" of chains. Turning his head, he then discovered that both his hands were bound by runic chains, and he couldn't feel the dark spiritual power within his body at all.

"Anti-magic chains!"

Su Lun immediately realized what was happening, his gaze sharpening.

Such chains were forged from "anti-magic stone" and specifically used to bind professionals.

With his hands chained, unable to break free or form seals, he couldn't do anything at all!

....

Su Lun looked at his empty fingers. Several storage rings and "Sereia's Blessing" were nowhere to be found.

In an instant, he guessed what had happened.

He must have been floating at sea, saved by a group of pirates. Then... those fellows didn't kill him but imprisoned him in a cell instead.

"Probably because of the runic treasure boxes..."

Su Lun sneered.

He possessed Spatial Ability, and he had stored all his valuable items in a folded space.

But as a diversion, he also wore several storage rings.

Moreover, Su Lun had anticipated the possibility of falling unconscious and being "looted," so he had taken some precautions.

In the storage rings, he placed some valuable items, as well as several "runic treasure boxes" that required special passwords to open.

Those boxes were very sensitive; forcibly opening them would instantly destroy everything inside.

These were "bait."

Su Lun had imagined that if he were looted, the looters, in search of wealth, would likely kill him after taking the storage rings.

But if there were a few treasure boxes that looked obviously valuable, greed would make people more curious about their contents.

Just like now.

The pirates' greed gave Su Lun the chance to wake up.

....

"Advancing is urgent..."

Su Lun tested the chains tightly fastened around his wrists; they were very sturdy.

Without dark spiritual power, his strength was reduced by eighty percent, making escape impossible.

The pirates were cautious enough, probably to guard against such an eventuality.

Advancing required dark spiritual power, which meant he had to get rid of these anti-magic chains.

Now that he had already killed two pirates, there were probably more above. Delay could lead to more complications!

If the chains couldn't be broken, then something else had to be...

Seeing this, a ruthless glint flashed in Su Lun's eyes.

His body's strength had reached the standards of a third-tier muscle profession, and while twenty percent of his strength was insufficient to break the runic chains, it was enough to tear off his own arm!

Having made his decision, he relaxed the muscles in his left arm and then pulled hard. The next instant, a "crack" sound that made one's scalp tingle echoed through the cabin.

The intense pain turned Su Lun's complexion to a ghastly pale instantly, as sweat dropped from his forehead like soybeans.

But as the humerus dislocated from the joint cavity, and despite the sound of tissue tearing, it did not break!

"Not enough force!"

Su Lun did not back down; instead, his gaze revealed a fierce smile. In the next moment, he forcefully kicked against the cage and thrust his body in the opposite direction with all his might.

Then came a terrifying ripping sound, "tear," followed by a spray of blood.

There was a tear!

Yet some tissue still connected the arm and shoulder joint,

He gritted his teeth and pulled again,

Violently tearing his entire left arm off!

His extremely high agility gave him precise control over his muscles, so much so that when his arm tore, he compressed the blood vessels with his muscles, instantly stopping the heavy bleeding.

Having torn off one arm, Su Lun gasped for air, taking a few seconds to allow his body to adapt to the shock of the severe injury.

Then, without any hesitation, he used the same method as before.

With a fierce stamp of his foot, this time, his right arm was torn off in one go!

Having freed himself from the "anti-magic chains," Su Lun's face, albeit weak, uncontrollably produced a ghastly chuckle, "heh heh heh..."

The scent of blood excited his body even further.

Also, because he immediately felt the flow of dark spiritual power within him!

....

The fat overseer from the cell next door belonging to the "Tulip Commerce Guild" was completely flabbergasted.

He had not yet recovered from the shock of the grim reaper's shadow that loomed over the young man...

When he witnessed two pirates inexplicably drop dead on the spot...

And then,

He saw the young man in front of him tear off his own arms in an extremely bloody manner!

My god, is this guy a devil?

Too many scenes that overturned the overseer's understanding appeared before him, leaving him incapable of thinking.

He would rather believe this was all a nightmare than accept what he saw as reality.

And when he saw the sinister spider lances emerging behind the young man in the cell next door, who had torn off his arms, he was no longer shocked, but just murmured numbly, "It really is a nightmare..."

....

Releasing the alchemy prosthetics required dark spiritual power to circulate in a specific way, the purpose of the sorcerer's seals was to shorten this process and form a specific conditioned reflex in the body.

Having no arms would work too, but the process would be very slow.

Su Lun, with both arms torn off, quickly drew a Hexagram Alchemy Array on the ground using his feet dipped in his own blood. After catching his breath for a good while, he finally formed the special circulation of dark spiritual power required to unlock the prosthetics.

The bloody array beneath his feet lit up, and the spider lances with eight arms manifested behind Su Lun.

It was at this moment that he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The eight-arm spider lances now acted as Su Lun's own hands, controllable at will. The sharp lance tips broke the rune chains, then picked up the severed arms. He took out wound-cleaning potions from his storage space and sewed them directly onto his shoulders.

Although Su Lun was not a medical practitioner, he was proficient in all kinds of surgery. Especially after assimilating the dissection notes of the forensic doctor Gerald, neural and vascular suturing was not a problem for him at all.

And there was another advantage.

The wounds were very fresh, and the activity of the "X Serum" would automatically connect a large amount of severed tissue.

The tiny hairs on the spider lances controlled the silver threads as they flew rapidly and precisely, stitching the wound. At this time, Su Lun took out two puppets covered in green runes.

These were "Healing Dolls," puppets solidified with a high-level life alchemy array, very costly.

They were for emergency use when it was inconvenient to set up an array.

As soon as the dolls were taken out, the green healing light enveloped Su Lun's entire body, and the wounds visibly healed.

His two severed limbs, which had already lost their color, now felt sensation in the fingers.

Not daring to delay, Su Lun, while the spider lances were still dealing with the wounds, had already taken out the materials needed to advance to the third tier and began setting up the advancement array...

Because he noticed that when he smelled blood, that violent wave of negative spiritual power stirred up again!

Purple crystals were placed at the feet of the Hexagram Star, and an ink made from a mixture of mercury and green ghost copper drew out the images of scales, ouroboros, and thorn flowers...

The materials prepared in advance allowed Su Lun to quickly set up the advancement array.

And just at this moment, his fingers had basically recovered their mobility. He formed the sorcerer's seal, and the array's purple light flared up, enveloping Su Lun within it.

He took out the "Life Usurper's Tri-color Mask" and placed it in the midst of the purple light, softly reciting a spell, "Adhering to the law of equivalent exchange, praise the glory of the original creator, witness the miracle of creation through alchemy..."

In an instant, the light shone brightly, and the mask slowly melted into the array.

....

His current mental state was like a bucket.

Before, the bucket was filled with gentle water, but now, it was brimming with a full bucket of fiery magma.

The seething magma would bubble out from time to time, always on the brink of burning through the bucket.

Unable to dispose of the magma, he could only reinforce the thickness of the bucket sides as a temporary solution.

Advancing to the third tier was the only choice.

But transcendent advancement was a process that required time, and while Su Lun's advancement ritual was still in progress, sudden rustling footsteps were heard above the sealed hold.

It seemed that the people above came down to check, thinking that the two dead pirates had been gone for too long.

However, Su Lun was not surprised at all.

He couldn't see them, but he had already sensed those clusters of "Soul Fires."

At the moment he had broken free from the anti-magic chains, he discovered he had acquired a new ability—[Soul Perception]!

Even with closed eyes, he could clearly sense things with souls within a certain range.

Combined with his own Spatial Ability, it was like using an X-ray device, instantly understanding the entire structure of the pirate ship and the arrangement of its crew.

There were three decks on the ship, with more than eighty pirates.

The hold contained him and the three captives.

In the middle cabin, there were over forty people, and more than thirty on the deck.

Judging from the strength of the souls, Su Lun guessed that the strongest practitioners on the ship were likely third-tiers.

Not just humans, but a parrot, two monkeys, three snakes, and hundreds of rats...

As long as it had a soul, it was crystal clear.

Su Lun glanced at his panel and confirmed that his [S-004-Reaper] talent had awakened for the second time!