Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun returned to the transport camp, and it wasn't time to break camp yet.

The night watchmen were listlessly smoking around the camp, their cigarettes glowing intermittently in the darkness.

He silently made his way back to his tent from the top of the rock wall without being noticed.

Having been busy for most of the night, Su Lun finally had a moment to himself to tally up his loot from the evening.

After all, that "Knight Order" was a peripheral member of the umbrella organization, and their equipment wasn't bad; it could be sold for a good price.

What concerned Su Lun the most was the diviner's storage ring.

Inside were some strange divining materials and the crystal necklace the diviner had used earlier.

Upon inspection, it was, as expected, an ancient cursed object.

[Seraya's Crystal Pendant]

Description: A crystal necklace engraved with "To my dear Seraya;"

Cursed Properties: When you face a difficult choice, it helps you make a decision; life span equivalent to the rank of the divination is exchanged as a cost;

Details: Although its crafting method is not very sophisticated, it is a crystal necklace filled with love; wearing it, you are highly likely to be shielded from divination spells up to the second order; it can be used as material for the appointment of "Pendulum Diviners";

Su Lun felt that the name "Seraya" seemed familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

But since it was a common female name, he didn't think too deeply about it.

By itself, it was a very practical necklace.

Su Lun had been somewhat worried that his whereabouts might be divined, and the pendant's "detection shield" attribute seemed like the perfect solution to this problem.

He could accept the cursed properties since only divination would reduce his lifespan.

Su Lun wasn't a professional diviner, although he had harvested some divining skills; he felt he was unlikely to force divination like the previous guy, risking his life to vomit blood.

Having it on as a passive attribute was sufficient.

The item was good, Su Lun wrapped the pendant around his wrist and concealed it, muttering to himself that indeed, robbing professionals was a "shortcut" to acquiring their exclusive items.

After checking his spoils of war, Su Lun lay in his sleeping bag, carefully recalling the events of the night.

Now that he had cleared up the identity of his predecessor, a great weight had been lifted off Su Lun's heart.

He had also figured out what the bounty at the black market was all about; it was definitely the work of the enemy forces "outside the tower".

Even though exiled to this subterranean world, they were relentless.

However, this was better; at least his enemies weren't from some major noble family inside the city.

What Su Lun had to face was merely an increasingly useless warrant for his arrest.

He hadn't been recognized before, and now after injecting the "X serum," who could connect him, with his blue skin and muscular build, to the original delicate noble youth?

....

Before long, the assembly call sounded throughout the camp.

The transport team started their new day's escort journey.

It had been heard that there would be monster attacks in sector D24, which kept everyone in the team apprehensive along the way. Yet for several days, their transport team had walked surprisingly smoothly.

D24, D25... Continuing their journey, aside from encountering a few minor aberrant monster attacks, they hadn't faced any battles that could be termed dangerous.

Along the way, they had seen many signs of battle, but the bodies had been cleared. It seemed like a powerful large team had come through earlier and cleared the way.

With no battles, the Scavengers in the team were happy to relax.

After several days, they finally reached the Dawn City Ruins.

...

Once again arriving at Dawn City, the "birthplace" he had just crossed into, Su Lun was quite sentimental.

In the past, this place resembled a chaotic burial ground, completely void of life.

But now, centering around "Storm Estate", constructions of various buildings covered the hills and fields.

From a great distance, one could see the bright lights of the camp. The towering steam boilers were puffing out white smoke, which provided a constant energy supply to the large workshops in the camp, accelerating construction...

In the estate, there were also two sets of large machinery made up of various tanks and pipes, resembling chemical plants - the "Air Filtration Device" and "Drinking Water Treatment Device". These were essential appliances to ensure that the Scavengers could survive underground in the wildly tumultuous spiritual darkness for a long time.

Although called a camp, it more closely resembled a war town.

The Scavengers had built a hunting camp capable of accommodating over a hundred thousand people using stones and steel frameworks. Caravans continued to transport various construction materials from Old Lington City. Perhaps soon, this place would become a bustling small city...

However, Su Lun's gaze grew distant when he saw the Storm Estate.

Revisiting the old grounds, he remembered Pestoya.

The ghostly little girl who had given him the materials to advance as a Puppeteer.

"Storm Estate has been invaded, which means that the cursed space has been lifted..."

Su Lun looked on with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Quite the likable little girl, although not human.

Oh, almost forgot.

There's also a brooch she gave, buried somewhere.

...

Arriving in the relics beneath zone D33, the concentration of dark spiritual power was already several times that of Old Lington City.

For normal humans, this was a dangerous area where staying too long could easily cause physical deformities.

However, for Su Lun, it had no effect at all.

On the contrary, he felt that his pores relaxed in this environment.

The "X serum" amplified after his body found this high concentration of dark spiritual power very comfortable. He didn't even need to meditate, and now the value of the dark spiritual power inside him was nearly the same as it had been during past meditations.

Furthermore, there were no signs of deformities from absorbing too much of this dark energy too quickly.

This concentration was only on the slope, and in the distant ruins city, there was an area covered with black mist, a "specially dense area".

It was foreseeable that under such conditions, Su Lun's dark spiritual power would soar rapidly. Perhaps within the next month or two, he might reach the threshold of a second-tier professional.

If he found suitable advancement materials by then, he might even break through to the second tier.

...

"Well, our employment contract ends here, thank you all for your dedication. As per the contract, as there's no damage to the goods, an extra ten percent of the escort fee is paid..."

"Oh, praise the generous Mr. Abagon!"

"Our company will return to the city in ten days. If anyone is interested in continuing to take on the return escort mission, you can register at the camp office..."

"..."

Upon reaching their destination, the mission for Su Lun and the other Scavengers was also completed.

Mr. Abagon distributed the remaining employment balance and then went to deliver the goods.

As there were no fierce battles or additional combat subsidies, Su Lun only received the base commission, but it was nearly a hundred thousand reis.

High risk indeed came with high rewards.

Everyone took their money and dispersed.

From a distance, Su Lun gazed at the nearby camp but wasn't in a rush to go over.

The Despised Knight was his life-saving trump card, naturally kept close at hand.

However, its body was more than three meters tall, making it extremely bulky. Even with a shroud to conceal itself, it was easily noticed in crowded places.

Moreover, because the living corpse exhibited signs of life, it couldn't be placed inside a storage ring, which was truly the most troublesome aspect.

Su Lun felt that his priority for advancing to the second stage would definitely be to consider materials that could awaken "Spatial Ability."

Otherwise, when he controlled more puppets in the future, he would probably have to lead them around like ducklings, a long string of them following behind.

After a lot of hassle, Su Lun finally bought a steam dog from a merchant caravan returning to the city and disguised the living corpse as cargo, which the mechanical dog then carried, making it less conspicuous.

....

Su Lun led the mechanical dog towards the Scavenger camp.

At this moment, there was already a long line at the camp's entrance.

Before coming, Su Lun had thought the camp near the Dawn Relic would just be a casual campsite dotted with tents. He hadn't expected that in such a short time, it had developed into a town enclosed by high walls.

Heavy machine guns and cannons were mounted on the city walls, and some fully armed fellows were setting up checkpoints at the entrance.

He thought they were checking identities, but they were actually collecting an entrance fee.

Su Lun discreetly sized up the layout of the guards at the city gate and instinctively calculated whether they could fully retreat if a real conflict arose.

Then, he silently queued up at the back of the line.

Listening to the conversations ahead, he also figured out the general situation inside the city.

The high entrance fee also made the new Scavengers curse and swear.

"Damn it, staying one night in this camp actually costs three thousand risos to enter? I only earn a hundred thousand for a whole trip, and a month's stay would spend all of it?"

"A month? You wish! I heard from a guy who went in earlier that everything is expensive here. In Old Lington City, three to five hundred for an ordinary-looking woman, here it's five thousand. Drinking water is ten times what it is in Old Lington! And then there's food, medicine, ammunition supplies, all several times more..."

"That expensive? Are we just giving all our earnings to these unscrupulous businessmen?"

"It's not really that expensive. We're all here to scavenge, who is here to stay for long? At most, we rest and resupply a bit, can't stay in the city for many days. Besides, those big conglomerates have spent a fortune building this city and brought all this equipment, naturally they want to recoup their investment..."

"Fuck it, I haven't even started earning money, and I have to spend this unjust money..."

"If you don't want to pay, you can camp outside the city. Only, the aberrant creatures near the relic attack frequently, not to mention Plunderers and thieves. Just fear that you might unexpectedly lose your life in your sleep..."

"Actually, there is a way to avoid paying the entrance fee."

"How so?"

"Join one of the big five conglomerate's Scavenger teams. Just obey their orders and participate in some collective scavenging missions and you're good."

"Big five conglomerate's Scavenger teams?"

"Yeah."

"You get a hiring salary for joining. You just have to sell the treasures you find to them first, no other restrictions. I've asked already, the prices are quite fair."

"..."

Su Lun had figured out the situation of the camp after just a few sentences.

Several big conglomerates in the inner city had gathered a massive amount of resources to build the camp, then made up this entrance fee thing.

If you don't want to pay, you have to join their Scavenger team, follow orders, and carry out some designated exploration missions.

Su Lun had no plans to join these conglomerates' Scavenger teams.

After all, he wasn't here to risk his life scavenging for money.

He was well aware that the conglomerates probably wanted to recruit explorers as "cannon fodder."

After all, nobody knew in advance the danger level of the "cursed space," which inevitably required risking lives to explore.

If one encountered an unsurvivable "T-level," it would be a pity if high-level professionals were lost inside. Sending in some cannon fodder to scout first would roughly clarify the danger level.

After a while, it was Su Lun's turn in the queue.

He paid the fee and got a colored tag to wear at a visible spot before he successfully entered the city.

....

Su Lun had no intentions of setting up a tent outside the city. Scavengers who couldn't even afford the city entrance fee probably didn't have much of value. He planned to check out the Scavengers Market in the city first; it would be better if he could find the materials he needed.

If not, he would visit the Scavengers Guild to gather some information before recklessly diving into those perilous ruins.

The scavenging camp did not house ordinary residents nor did it have any superfluous buildings.

Weapons shop, firearms shop, machinery shop, medicine shop...

After entering the city, both sides of the street were lined densely with various supply shops.

The signs all bore the names of major businesses from the inner city.

Walking a little further, one could see the familiar glitz and glamor.

Opportunistic merchants had opened taverns and pleasure houses in the camp as a priority.

Probably to avoid unnecessary explanations, the entrance had signs with price tags displayed.

"Girls from £3500"

"Rye whiskey from £400/bottle"

Though the prices were ten times those inside Old Lington City, the business seemed to be flourishing.

As Su Lun passed by, he could see Scavengers linking arms and laughing as they walked in.

It wasn't easy to bring such delicate and frail pleasure girls underground, hence the high prices were somewhat justifiable.

The day-to-day uncertainty added enormous mental stress to the Scavengers; they needed an outlet. The food and drink business thrived here for this reason. Moreover, Scavengers who made it out of the ruins alive usually had money in their pockets.

Su Lun walked on.

Previously, he had looked at the camp's layout map at the city gate and knew that there was a street on the east side specifically designed for Scavengers to sell their wares.

Leading his mechanical dog, he walked two streets over and heard a bustling noise similar to a market coming from that direction.

"Freshly obtained from the ruins yesterday, silver-grade crafting materials 'Owl Eyes'..."

"Come, come, freshly unearthed Ancient Alchemical Scrolls, limited quantity..."

"Ancient weapons, double-handed swords that can slice through iron like mud, alchemical crossbows, dwarf shields..."

"Freshly produced cursed materials, available in both iron and silver quality, attractive prices..."

"..."

Upon hearing the voices, Su Lun became interested.

Many rare material names popped up among the traders' calls.

In Old Lington City, one would never see silver materials simply laid out on a stall.

Even in the black markets of Shadow Alley, silver materials were hard to come by and highly sought after.

Yet here, they were casually displayed by Scavengers as common items for sale.

This was the advantage of being at the source of the goods.

Without actual shops, artifacts worth hundreds of thousands, even millions were carelessly laid out on scraps of fabric for sale.

There were many people coming and going on the streets.

There were polished opportunistic merchants and many more Scavengers dressed for adventure.

Ancient cursed objects were rare commodities, and even the iron materials were much better than those produced in this era.

Here, Scavengers looking to advance in their careers could find genuinely high-quality materials.

As Su Lun just stepped into the market district, the first stall immediately caught his attention.