Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun was closely watching the battle at sea to the west.

The fight was still intense, with shockwaves cresting higher and higher. This meant that the "Fist of Justice," Hozier, was still holding strong, showing no signs of defeat in the short term.

Even better news was that the three Rank 5 battlefields were drifting further apart.

Su Lun also set his mind at ease.

Without any Rank 5 professionals approaching, there was no need for him to rush away.

The slave ship was heading east at full speed, and the fog over the sea was getting thicker. If they could hold off for just a little while longer, those Dalu tribespeople would be able to completely escape the pirates' pursuit.

Of course, what mattered most to Su Lun was his interest in the Void Predation Outfit.

.....

It was when Su Lun was sabotaging the pirate ship that the dozen or so pirates previously headed for the slave ship unsurprisingly flew back.

He didn't hesitate to respond; the mechanical armor raised its hand, and the six-barreled Fire God Gun "tat-tat-tat" burst into blue flames.

This type of gun, exclusive to army mecha, whether in design, material choice, or spell enchantments, had very high technology content and could withstand the high-intensity continuous fire of alchemy bullets.

But Su Lun couldn't afford such luxury.

At best, he would mix one basic bullet with an alchemy blast bomb—a strike covering a small area was sufficient.

The theoretical maximum rate of fire for the six-barreled Fire God Gun reached 4000 rounds per minute, but to reduce the recoil and barrel load, the usual rate didn't exceed 2000 rounds per minute.

Still, it was purely an extravagant way to burn money.

One alchemy bullet was priced at nearly ten thousand Liso.

Which meant, at full firepower, the gun would consume ammunition worth tens of millions in a minute.

The power was great—higher Rank 4 and 5 professionals needed to avoid its intensity, but not everyone could afford to use it.

If you were poor, you shot accurately; if you were rich, you relied on overwhelming firepower.

This saying was a true reflection of the mechanical warriors.

This was also the biggest reason the militaristic imperialists of the Mafa Empire constantly waged wars and plundered; they needed to sustain the war with war, and they needed to plunder resources to develop.

The use of this suit of armor was expensive to manufacture and to operate!

One volley could deplete the wealth that a commoner might earn over several lifetimes.

However, the effect was immediate.

After a round of "tat-tat-tat," air ripples characteristic of blast bombs exploded in the distance.

The dozen or so pirates flying through the air were quickly scattered by the barrage, and those who couldn't dodge in time were turned into bloody sieves and fell into the sea.

Su Lun's pupils flickered rapidly, and through his helmet, he saw this scene and analyzed some useful information: "Using Void Displacement, the purple energy patterns on the outfit become visible... The greater the displacement distance, the more intense the purple light, and the longer the energy accumulation time needed. The displacement limit for a Rank 1 outfit is roughly between 20-30 meters, and Rank 2 will not exceed 70 meters..."

He recorded the data reflected by the pirates using the outfit in his mind.

No matter how you looked at it, the combat capability of this "Void Predation Outfit" was very strong, even more efficient than Su Lun's own method of tearing through the fabric of space.

"Quite a powerful outfit..."

Su Lun concluded.

As he fired, he watched the Rank 4 fellow, with a hint of subtle amusement in his eyes.

.....

The pirate ship, whose mast had been chopped down, had lost its propulsion and was drifting with the waves.

The deck was empty.

Not a single pirate dared to approach Su Lun's mecha.

Unassailable and deadly at close quarters—that was the unmatched terrifying power of the mechanical armor among low-ranked professionals!

A burst of gunfire from Su Lun took out most of the lower-ranked pirates.

But that Rank 4 guy was extremely agile.

Su Lun knew at a glance that killing him with the tactics available on his mecha was nearly impossible.

Moreover, the guy's talent was highly compatible with his profession.

"C-015-Light-absorber" was a talent that produced a special pigment in the body capable of absorbing light.

It was inherently an assassin-type talent.

Now, with the Void Predation Outfit, it could reduce the perceivable effects of displacement to next to nothing.

The capability and profession of the individual almost perfectly matched the outfit.

The guy flitted through the sky like a firefly, then completely vanished into the pitch-black night...

For normal people to perceive him with sight or hearing was nearly impossible.

With this ability, even against some Rank 5 professionals with weak perception, he stood a fair chance of success.

....

However, for Su Lun, all of this effort was futile.

No matter how skillfully one stealthed, the soul fire of the entity remained. It was like a candle in the endless darkness, impossible to ignore. Explore more stories at empire

In Su Lun's perception, the location of that guy had never been lost.

"Pity, had he not encountered me, perhaps he could've grown into a Great Pirate with a hefty bounty in the future..."

Su Lun hummed in his mind.

Now, with the high cerebral domain development and the ability to multitask, he had already devised a quick kill strategy the moment he assessed the guy's abilities.

But he did not act on it.

The battle raging in the west was intense, and there was plenty of time; he was in no hurry to evacuate.

He wanted to collect more data on the 'Void equipment'.

While Su Lun could kill the guy, he also didn't want others to see too much of his hand.

Just as in Old Lington—everyone knew he possessed the 'Reaper', making it difficult for him to surprise anyone with an ambush.

Now, in his hands, he held an artifact he had previously deemed quite useless, but it specifically countered Void abilities. It could be very useful in the future, and he did not want to reveal it so soon.

Thinking this, he raised his hand, and a black and white chessboard on his mechanical arm emitted a ray of light, instantly enveloping the figure fully merged into the darkness.

....

'Void Blade' Suleiman was startled as the surroundings abruptly changed into a space filled with black and white chess squares.

He did not know how his stealth had been discovered and thought it was some special capability of the magick-mechanical armor. After all, this was a custom-made suit of officer-grade armor, possessing some special functions was normal.

However, after his initial shock, Suleiman quickly steadied his heart.

Turns out, it was just a space limitation.

Assessing the space, he glanced at Su Lun not far off, a barely perceptible cold smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

It was as if a cat was toying with a mouse.

Su Lun caught that mocking microexpression, full of derision.

It was as though he himself, the first time he had been pulled into this chessboard space, immediately knew that this closed space could not contain anyone with Spatial Displacement abilities.

However, Su Lun's purpose in using the chessboard wasn't to trap the guy; it was merely to keep others from seeing how he killed.

Pretending to be oblivious, Su Lun controlled his mechanical armor to charge fiercely at the guy.

"Hiss," "hiss," two rapid venting sounds, the miniaturized steam power boiler in the legs provided the armor with powerful thrust. The charge was aggressive, like a locomotive ruthlessly barreling forward. The mechanical arm swung wide, and the Ship-Cutter slashed horizontally with such speed that the blade left behind a fan-shaped afterimage in the air.

If that slash had truly connected, even a fifth-tier professional would have been cleaved in two.

Unfortunately for the opponent, Suleiman merely showed a disdainful smile.

As the Ship-Cutter passed, the remaining afterimage at the original spot also dispersed.

Utilizing his Void Wings, the guy easily dodged it.

The mechanical armor's weakness was exposed: when facing those with incredible agility, all its brute strength was of no avail.

The hit rate was far too low...

The opponent wasn't about to clash head-on; if this dragged on, it was certain the mechanical armor would either exhaust its energy first or succumb to mechanical failure due to high-intensity combat.

From this point of view, the mechanical warrior was already at a disadvantage even before the fight began.

But if mechanical warriors had weaknesses, their advantages were also very pronounced.

Their strong defense allowed them to enter battle from an "undying" position.

Normally, when facing such opponents, the mechanical armor couldn't kill the other party, but they also couldn't hope to kill him.

The eventual outcome would be a stalemate where both sides retreat without having gained an advantage.

Suleiman saw through this and, knowing that this model of mechanical warrior couldn't kill him anyway, was not in a hurry to escape from the space.

The two sides exchanged blows in the chessboard space in the blink of an eye, for dozens of rounds.

Yet the clumsy mechanical warrior didn't land a single hit.

Suleiman's dodges were effortless.

But combat has its costs.

The movements of Su Lun's mechanical warrior, fierce as they were, gradually slowed down.

The steam boiler's valve began to emit a "whistle" of shrill cries, a high-temperature alert for an overload during combat.

Like a human body, machinery couldn't work endlessly; it too would fatigue from high-intensity battle. The burst of sprints and slashes put the power boiler, kinetic pipes, and pressure devices in an overloaded state. Accumulated heat would rise, and at a certain point, it could melt the runes and enchantments, or even cause the mecha to shut down completely.

But this was enough.

Su Lun had essentially ascertained the various characteristics of this 'Void equipment'.

....

Suleiman obviously noticed that the speed of the mech suit had slowed down.

He wouldn't give his enemy a chance to catch his breath, sneering, "Heh, done playing with you."

Assassin-class professionals are very fragile, especially when facing these advanced mechs, "a touch equals death" is not an exaggeration at all.

Previously, he had been cautious, not daring to get close, afraid the mech suit might have some special defense devices like "Thunder Net."

Now he had almost figured it out.

He was certain that this mech posed absolutely no threat to him.

Suleiman's battle experience was also formidable, he deftly dodged a volley of bullets at the right moment, and a feigned charge lured out the Ship-Cutter's strike. Both of the mechanical warrior's hands were in sight, leaving its back wide open.

"Perfect opportunity!"

A sneer flashed in Suleiman's eyes, and with a gleam of purple light from his wings, his figure disappeared in front of the combat mech.

A second look, and it was as if a curtain in the void had been lifted; with one thrust, he had already teleported behind the mech.

"It's over."

A triumphant smile spread across Suleiman's face.

His arms, transformed into the fourth-order silver prosthetic "Void Sickle", were specifically designed to counter heavily armored enemies!

The two Void Sickles, surrounded by a purple glow, thrust forward prematurely, and a bizarre scene ensued.

Any other blade, no matter how sharp, seemed almost impossible to pierce through the heavy defense armor of the "Colonel-level Ship-Cutter Mark IX Mech Suit."

But as soon as these two purple sickles struck, their sharp edges did not touch the mech suit, instead, they opened a black void crack in the air and went straight in.

With these two strikes, capitalizing on the Void prosthetic's ability to ignore obstacles, they directly bypassed the thick armor and stabbed the operator inside!

This odd move would certainly make anyone else's scalp tingle if they saw it.

Is it over?

Yes!

But the one who died was not Su Lun.

...

This supposed surefire "kill move" encountered an unexpected error!

As Suleiman landed what he believed was a successful strike, his face had not even had the chance to relax from battle when he suddenly transformed into shock.

As an assassin, how could he not realize that something was off about the feel of that stab?

That was definitely not flesh, but more like wood.

Alarm struck his heart, "It's not real? Damn, it's a puppet!"

Realizing the peril, Suleiman felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, a tidal wave of impending death washed over his heart.

It's not just because he missed, but because he could no longer understand the situation at hand.

How could a puppet be inside a mech suit?

Could it be that he had been fighting a puppet all this time?

An absurd thought flashed through his mind: all of his desperate fighting was just to cooperate with someone behind the scenes to play out a puppet show?!

His instincts screamed at Suleiman to immediately escape this space.

A flash of purple light from his wings and he tried to dive into the void.

But... it was already too late.

He horrifiedly discovered that his "Void Wings", which had never failed, were now useless!

His body was still in the same spot, not teleported away at all!

"Spatial Confinement?"

Suleiman immediately realized what it was, his face ashen.

Looking up, as if the chessboard space was like a theater stage, a shadowy figure with countless strings attached to its fingertips loomed above, manipulating everything from above.

And it was at that moment, he felt a slight chill on his neck.

A crack in the void?

He was all too familiar with these fluctuations of the laws.

However, that was his last thought.

...

The shroud fell, and Su Lun's figure appeared.

Looking down at the body, he arched an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "The blade bypassed the armor and stabbed the puppet, this Void prosthetic is really OP...

Thinking of this, Su Lun let out a slight sigh and muttered to himself, "But when you use that prosthetic's spatial ability to attack, your body stiffens for about 0.7 seconds. That must be the moment when you can't use the Void Teleportation while attacking with those sickle prosthetics. Huh... that's one of the few 'weaknesses', I guess."

The entire battle went without any unexpected incidents.

When Su Lun thought of the "Chronos's Spatial Gloves" in his hand, he knew that this result was destined.

The glove utterly restrained the void gear, making escape impossible.

"Chronos's Spatial Gloves"

Detailed Description: The gloves solidify the high-level spell "Titan's Grasp," which consumes energy to cast a spell that applies spatial solidification to a target area, confining any spatial fluctuations within that area that aren't higher than the spell's own level of spatial law;

Evaluation: This is a somewhat frivolous piece of alchemy, consuming ten times the energy to execute a spell that is not very practical; but in reality, it is a spatial magic tool, enhancing spatial affinity by 30%, and increasing the might of spatial spells by 7-16%;

Su Lun once thought of this alchemy item as quite frivolous, but now it comes in extremely handy against professionals who can move through void.

Without it, he wouldn't have been confident in stopping the guy who could teleport away at will.

The only downside is that the consumption pain is a bit much.

Casting "Titan's Grasp" once would consume a "Cursed Source Crystal."

This kind of energy baryte, in the mining area of Old Lington goes for a hundred million rixdollars each. In the surface world, it's even more expensive, and the resources are all in the hands of major nobles, making it impossible to purchase.

Looking at the body, Su Lun also felt somewhat emotional, "It seems that I can't rely too much on any single ability, otherwise against a counteracting force, I wouldn't even know how I died."

This battle was a classic case of ability suppression.

Void gear suppressed mecha warriors,

While Su Lun's gloves suppressed the spatial gear.

Facing an enemy with suppressing abilities, one's fighting power could plummet off a cliff.

...

He didn't think too much about it because at that moment, the soul mist began to emerge from the corpse.

Su Lun didn't hesitate; the shadow of the Reaper immediately condensed behind him.

Although using this ability came with some risks.

But rarely encountering a target that might understand fourth-tier spatial laws, it was worth taking some risks.

The harvest expected from this stripping was substantial.

'You have stripped the soul of "Suleiman K. Salgado," obtaining some "Fourth Order Space Law Fragments"'

'You have acquired some day-to-day information: "Some intelligence on the fleet of the King of the North Sea"'

'You have stripped lingering thoughts: "The boss's Void plan..."'

'You have obtained some impactful notions: "Some secrets within Pirate City..."'

'You have stripped a multitude of "Spatial Ability Combat Application Skills"'

'Spiritual power +3.3'

Su Lun chose a few fragments of interest to strip.

After assimilating those memories into his sea of consciousness, his eyes sparkled with eagerness, "Fourth-tier spatial laws, eh..."

Comprehension of space law is extremely difficult, and as alchemists lack the faith in a deity, it's almost impossible to comprehend spatial abilities without relying on job materials.

He himself had taken office with the "Magician's Conical Hat," mastering some rudimentary application of spatial laws.

But that was limited to usage only.

There was no real understanding.

"Space Law," this supreme law is powerful, but the difficulty of continuing to comprehend and improve it is N times that of other lower-tier laws, and the progress would be incredibly slow.

This fellow named Suleiman used the shortcut of "Void gear" to comprehend some fragments of spatial laws.

But those fragments were precious treasures to Su Lun.

Merely stripping the corpse's insights allowed him to directly understand things he might have taken years to comprehend.

It saved him a lot of effort.

And this might just be a "good start."

On ordinary days, encountering a person versed in spatial ability was like finding a needle in the sea; even wanting to strip was not possible because there were no targets.

But not anymore.

From the memories of the corpse, Su Lun also knew that King Oleg of the North Sea had indeed obtained a large amount of cursed materials from the void dimension through some secret channel.

Now that Pirate King's fleet had been turned into a force equipped with void gear!

This news might cause the Mechanical Holy Land of the Mafa Empire a great headache, but for Su Lun, it was excellent news!

If there are indeed many creatures born with mastery of spatial abilities, and he also possesses the abilities of the "Death Reaper" to strip them efficiently, should he fear not understanding high-tier spatial laws in the future?

He seemed to see a smooth path to comprehending the supreme "Space Law."

"Void dimension, huh..."

Thoughts flashed through Su Lun's mind as he pondered extensively, "Even the squadron captain is unaware, the confidentiality is quite impressive. It looks like that group of pirates found a passage to an unknown dimension buried in the dust of history. Hmm... Should I make a trip to 'Pirate City' to gather more information?"