Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 407 - 406: The Duel That Came Knocking

Su Lun sprinted madly, and after several instances of directed displacement, the pursuers behind him were no longer visible.

After advancing to the fifth level, his physical attributes had increased significantly, as had his spatial abilities. Darting across the ocean surface with the eight-armed spider spear and continuously teleporting, his speed was so fast it was as if he were flying.

If Su Lun were to jest, there were many professionals stronger than himself, but now, there were not many who could outrun him.

Su Lun reached a deserted area of the sea and once again took out the brass wind-up sphere.

This was the key to controlling the entire secret realm. With it, he no longer had to wait for the once-in-a-while ocean currents and winds; he could leave at any time.

With a pinch of the sorcerer’s seals in his hands, a black hole vortex that grew larger appeared before him, and the skull and black iron battering ram of a sea ship peeked out from the vortex, followed by the triangular foresails, mainmast, and the pitch-black hull.

Having successfully assimilated the "Voidwalker’s Portal" and the "Void Gene Potion Concentrate," Su Lun’s spatial abilities had leaped qualitatively, making it much smoother to summon and withdraw the colossal ship "Eternal Night Emperor" despite still needing the help of the Dawning team.

In a short time, the big ship "splash" hit the water, and cheers came from the crew of the Dawning team on deck.

Su Lun activated the sphere to unlock the permissions and restrictions, and suddenly, the starry galaxy above the sea reversed, a unique sea breeze blew the black sails taut, and the currents slowly sped up the ship.

"Wow~ we are setting sail!"

Everyone was happy, each leaning on the railings, watching the swiftly passing seascapes around them.

Soon, they would leave the Void Secret Realm, and the North Sea fleet pursuing them could not catch up anymore.

...

The speed of the Eternal Night was increasing.

On the deck, Su Lun took out the brass wind-up sphere. He looked at the tiny scale it bore, then gazed towards the distant direction of the academy, suddenly thinking of something.

The planar gateway in the academy ruins was still in place but sealed.

The void rifts he had observed were gaps that had naturally loosened in the seal, controllable by human effort.

Through these rifts, the North Sea fleet could still continuously capture some void creatures that strayed into the plane and could continue to cultivate a steady supply of professionals highly resistant to the void by utilizing the rich void energy leaking from the rifts.

Realizing this, Su Lun’s brow lifted slightly in contemplation.

Then he gently turned the wind-up sphere, resetting the scale to zero.

"Click," "click," "click"...

The sphere produced a crisp and pleasant metallic sound.

It was as if an invisible restraint had been triggered, the air in the secret realm trembling along with it.

This small act caused the dozens of rifts over the academy ruins ten miles away to merge completely. The continuously leaking void energy also vanished without a trace.

The group of North Sea fleet pirates left behind stood agape.

From that moment on, no one could obtain new void materials from this secret realm. For the North Sea fleet, it was undoubtedly like killing a goose that laid golden eggs.

Since they were enemies, Su Lun had no qualms about completely closing the passage. There was an even more important reason: the current alchemy plane had no capability to defend against invasions from alien planes, and those rifts could also become breakthrough points for void creatures from other planes to discover the alchemical plane. Keeping them might invite disasters of alien invasion at any point.

Better to close it.

....

Half a month later, in the Darenmite Sea Area.

This was a deserted sea on the seafarers’ map, located northwest of Romanus.

Today the weather was clear, the azure sky dotted with light clouds, and a cool sea breeze caused fish-scale-like ripples on the sea surface.

An intense sea battle was occurring over this uninhabited sea.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"..."

The cannon fire was deafening, with a considerable amount of wooden debris floating on the sea surface.

One side consisted of five three-masted sailing ships, flying the Wolf Fang Club skull flag of the North Sea fleet.

The other side was a gigantic black-sailed warship.

The firepower of the black-sailed warship was extremely fierce. Once the two sides entered range, a volley of over five hundred cannons unleashed a deluge of cannonballs that rained down, covering a vast swath of the sea, something a normal warship couldn’t withstand. Even the firepower of the five vessels couldn’t suppress the single black-sailed ship, which had an unusually sturdy body, limited damage from standard cannonballs, even if hit.

After only a few rounds of cannon exchanges, three of the five three-masted pirate ships were sunk. The other two, seeing the situation grim, immediately attempted to escape. However, they hadn’t gone far before terrifying mechanical octopus tentacles suddenly surged from the sea, smashing the fleeing ships into fragments.

The black-sailed warship chased after them, brutally pummeling the pirates who fell into the water.

On the deck, Barrett waved his signature silver arm commanding the fight.

"Brothers, get ready to salvage the spoils!"

"Hahaha... are these the three squadrons of the North Sea’s Seventh Fleet? Tsk tsk, an elite group, and they’ve been routed just like that."

"I just saw they had a few large-caliber main cannons; ours are not bad either. Keep a close watch, don’t miss any."

"Quickly, don’t dawdle, reinforcements from the North Sea fleet are coming soon."

"..."

The members of the Dawning team were very excited and skillfully began the task of clearing the remaining pirates and salvaging the spoils.

This was already the fifth wave of pursuers they had thoroughly defeated recently. Read latest stories on novelbuddy

Since they emerged from the Void Secret Realm, the North Sea fleet had mobilized nearly all available pirate squadrons, adventurers, and bounty hunters in the nearby seas of Romanus to form an interception cordon, aiming to intercept the Dawning team.

But now, how easy was it to intercept the Dawn Brigade?

Su Lun had mechanical octopuses and thousands of Barrett’s exceptional combat powers; dealing with a couple of pirate squadrons was a breeze for them.

After several encounters, not only were those guys unable to stop them, but they also ended up providing the Dawn Brigade with massive supplies.

Initially, the Eternal Night didn’t have any modern cannons at all, but now, the ship was equipped with standard Mafar military naval artillery, all thanks to those interceptors. With all the cannons in place, sea battles became much less challenging. After a volley of cannon fire, there was often no need even to board the enemy ship since the enemy would likely sink.

This is why the sea king-class warship held dominion over the seas!

Intercepting the current Dawn Brigade head-on would be almost impossible unless King Oleg and a few other powerful deputy fleet captains personally arrived.

However, the reality was that the number of top-level experts is limited. The North Sea was so vast that even if several mature routes were blocked, dozens of fleets wouldn’t be able to stop everything.

Moreover, if the Dawn Brigade encountered a large force, could they not just run away if they weren’t able to fight off the attack?

The speed of the "Eternal Night Dawn" was among the fastest in the fleet ships, and with Tanni’s ability to control ocean currents and waves, they could easily break away from pursuit and interception.

Moreover, the Dawn Brigade had the most detailed sea charts of the North Sea, avoiding those complicated sea areas likely to be ambushed, making it nearly impossible to be blocked.

So far, their journey had been risky but safe.

The only trouble the Dawn Brigade now faced was being wanted by the North Sea fleet, which meant they couldn’t dock anywhere.

But under the current circumstances, with the enemy providing supplies, not docking for a short time was not problematic.

...

Su Lun roamed the sea for a while, harvested a bunch of Soul Shards, and then returned to the Eternal Night.

He had just killed two Pirate Squadron Captains and also gathered the latest intelligence.

He shouted to Barrett, "Captain Barrett, that group of pirates’ main fleet is now gathering to the southwest, and by the latest, they will complete the gathering by tomorrow noon. The third and seventh fleets are the main force, and they include a few pirates with bounties over a billion. They probably plan to use the war fog to move in during the night and encircle us. Oh and also, I heard that Princess Frostmoon has summoned some top experts to join the hunt, including the ’Pirate Emperor’ Carlo Melidis from the top ten bounty hunters. We need to be extra careful these days."

It was because of such intelligence that they could always anticipate the enemy’s movements.

Barrett responded loudly, "Okay."

Barrett and the other military professionals were responsible for combat matters, so Su Lun didn’t need to worry.

Enjoying the rare sunshine, he wasn’t in a hurry to return to his cabin and instead leapt onto the mast and started meditating.

It was only during this meditation that the fierce black flames surrounding him receded.

This was a sign that the dark spiritual power inside him was leaking out uncontrollably.

Su Lun wasn’t wasting it intentionally; he couldn’t control the tsunami-like surge of dark spiritual power within him.

In the past half month, he had almost assimilated the fifth-tier Void materials, and he had successfully merged with the epic alchemical gear, Isaac’s Alchemical Heart—a true domain of a fifth-tier profession.

But because this piece of gear was of such a high grade, he couldn’t completely control it immediately after the initial fusion.

This turned him into an energy radiator, leaking energy everywhere.

And after the fusion, Su Lun truly realized the tremendous enhancement this alchemical gear offered practitioners!

This Isaac’s Alchemical Heart provided him with almost endless dark spiritual power; now he hardly needed to worry about spiritual power consumption and recovery when casting spells.

Whether it was Spatial Displacement, puppet manipulation, or various spells... every move was sufficiently amplified.

The Fallen Angel was a divine-being-level creature, and its heart resembled a nuclear power plant—small in size yet containing boundless energy.

Su Lun, being a fifth-tier professional, could not possibly deplete it, no matter how lavishly he used it.

Even if it was consumed too quickly, Sir Isaac had made it into alchemical gear, giving it high functionality in storage, conversion, and self-recovery abilities, all top-notch in the world.

This gear afforded Su Lun’s combat abilities a qualitative leap.

Just like the battle he had just fought, which was really effortless.

If it were before, because of his limited dark spiritual power, Su Lun had to calculate carefully when using his puppets in battle; but now, he could waste as much as he wanted, and in fact, he had so much dark spiritual power that he had to be careful not to get distracted by controlling too many puppets at once. When he attacked, it was an immediate overwhelming number advantage with the puppet legion, making the enemy powerless to fight back.

This was a scenario he couldn’t have imagined before.

Su Lun had just advanced to the fifth tier, and he couldn’t even accurately assess his own combat strength now.

One-on-one, it might not demonstrate a significant advantage.

But with Isaac’s Alchemical Heart, his puppet army tactic really came into form.

In a large-scale group battle, his strength would truly be terrifying.

One man, equivalent to an army of thousands!

Su Lun adjusted his internal breath, and the agitated dark spiritual power also calmed down.

At that moment, he took out Isaac’s Alchemical Manuscript III and started reading it.

His teacher Seraya had once said, "Only by fully understanding the structure of everything can one truly comprehend the ’equivalent exchange,’ the ultimate principle of alchemy." This manuscript meticulously recorded Sir Isaac’s hard work.

Isaac’s Alchemical Heart was a variant of the energy core, and seeing the detailed records and data parameters noted by the demigod before, Su Lun could now understand some of the principles behind the "Four-Color Elemental Heart."

The once incomprehensible notes now seemed fascinating to him.

Some things can only be understood when one’s knowledge reaches that level.

...

Su Lun was engrossed in his reading.

But just then, the communicator buzzed.

He answered and said, "Sister, are you coming to Roman?"

Mr. Jing’s calm response came from the communicator, "Yes. The situation on your side is complicated. I just received news that Mafa and the Temple of Aghaparnon have used mysterious means to prophesy some future events. The plan to rescue Kai is a trap. King Oleg will personally make a move to kill you. I have fully recovered my strength, so I’ll come and meet up with you. We ’Dawn’ should also show ourselves to the world now."

"..."

Su Lun’s expression suddenly brightened as he listened.

The main reason the Dawn Group still lingered in the North Sea was that they were looking for an opportunity to rescue Kai.

And to carry out the rescue, they needed to find a way to get the slave collar from Princess Frost Moon of Mafa.

This opportunity was not easy to come by.

Su Lun had actually guessed the first part of Mr. Jing’s statement.

The King of the North Sea and those guys should have already confirmed their relationship with Kai,

given the recognition of Rakshasa Woman’s talent and his own peculiar puppet had once been exposed when they stormed the Black Tower, making it not difficult for others to guess that they were all in it together.

So there would inevitably be an ambush.

This was also something Su Lun found troubling.

Fortunately, the exposure of the information wasn’t entirely bad news; at least it provided more security for Kai’s life.

Su Lun felt that with enough patience, they could always wait for the right time to act.

Unexpectedly, Mr. Jing actually decided to come in person!

But after hearing the latter half of the bold statement, Su Lun immediately felt steadier.

He did not know how strong his older fellow apprentice was.

But at least, he was definitely no less formidable than King Oleg of the North Sea.

...

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The Dawn Group encountered the North Sea Fleet’s blockade in the Darenmite Sea Area and sank five pirate ships.

This news quickly spread throughout the entire North Sea Fleet, infuriating the pirates, who rapidly assembled all nearby ships and people, closing in on the area of the incident.

Meanwhile, a pirate ship flying the flag of the "Blue Knight Pirates" also received the news.

This pirate group was a somewhat famous old-brand in the North Sea, with its captain being the fifth-order professional Sword Exterminator, Jacob Ferdinand.

But in reality, nobody knew he was a sixth-order fighter.

Now, summoned by the King of the North Sea, they came to hunt down the Dawn Group.

On deck, Jacob, the billion-bounty great pirate, stood there respectfully instead of his usual arrogance, reporting to a burly man lounging on a deckchair in the sun.

"Duke, I just received intelligence that the seventh fleet’s third, fourth, and fifth squadrons of the North Sea were wiped out. They are supposed to have headed west," he said.

"Well, how many squadrons have been wiped out now? Tsk tsk, it’s getting busier," the man replied.

"It is said they managed to acquire an Emperor-class battleship, so they have a significant advantage in naval combat."

"Lucky? Haha..."

"Sir, do you really have to go there yourself? The situation in the North Sea is very complex right now, and if you are discovered here, it could bring unnecessary trouble. We could just wait until those North Sea Fleet guys capture the Dawn Group, then I can find a way to sneak them out," he added.

"Capture? As if it’s that easy to catch them. You guys are too isolated with your information. Do you know why they are causing such a big ruckus this time? Hehe, because they went and destroyed the Void Sanctuary, which really made Oleg and Mafa furious!"

"What… how is that possible! The ’Dawn Group’ is just a small team of a few hundred people; it’s said they don’t even have a seventh-order professional among them. How could they have the capability? Not to mention that the Void Sanctuary is top secret, unknown to outsiders. Moreover, as far as I know, Oleg still has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in the Sanctuary; it’s impossible to penetrate it without an army of a million. They…"

"Hehe, I also find it hard to believe. However, according to the reactions from all sides, it seems to be true," the man chuckled.

"..."

At this point, the man lying on the beach chair flipped the newspaper off his face and stood up, revealing a resolute visage.

His flashy, big floral shirt was unbuttoned, exposing a robust chest and thick brown chest hair, making him resemble a strong brown bear.

Upon closer inspection, there were hints of purple glints within his grizzled hair.

The man seemed completely unconcerned about any pursuit, grinning brazenly like a debauched old gentleman: "Besides… if she wasn’t extraordinary, she wouldn’t have caught that girl’s eye. Now that the commotion has grown so big, I have to come and see for myself if I don’t feel assured."

Hearing this, Jacob fell silent, sinking into deep thought.

Then, the robust man said, "Turn the course northward, there’s no need to go west anymore."

Jacob looked perplexed, "Ah… this? But sir, there is intelligence that they have already gone west."

The man in the floral shirt looked towards the distant sea, shaking his head with a smile, "I bet those guys won’t even see a ghost shadow if they go west. Do you believe that? It’s a very clever naval tactical maneuver, probably directed by that young Barrett. Bold yet meticulous, decisive in action, thorough in planning… just like when I taught him back in the academy! Besides, up to now you haven’t realized they are not actually fleeing, but constantly looking for opportunities to disperse and devour the pursuing troops, right..."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Jacob looked startled and grew respectful.

...

The Eternal Night Emperor sailed on the ocean surface, and half a day later, the lookout on the mast issued a warning, "Captain, a battleship has been spotted at nine o’clock! The flag is that of the ’Blue Knight Pirates’!"

Upon hearing this, everyone on deck got mobilized.

Encountering a pirate crew naturally meant facing enemies of the Dawn Group, and fighting was likely.

Barrett’s voice immediately came through the communicator, "Everyone, prepare for battle!"

Su Lun was also meditating on the mast, and he too opened his eyes and looked over.

But to his surprise, there was only one ship?

It seemed like a mere coincidence they had run into an unlucky pirate crew.

Under normal circumstances, a fight would not have broken out since the opposing side wasn’t blind; seeing the Emperor-class battleship of the Dawn Group, they definitely wouldn’t have come seeking death.

It was highly likely they would either turn around to escape at the first sight of discovery or maintain a distance from afar.

However, contrary to expectations,

to everyone’s surprise, the "Blue Knight Pirate Crew" didn’t flee but made a very outrageous decision instead!

They activated their alchemical sails and sped straight toward us!

"Captain Barrett, they’re still closing in at full speed,"

"Prepare the cannons, and sink them as soon as they come into range!"

"Yes, Sir!"

This action put everyone in the Dawn Crew on high alert.

This made Su Lun wonder, did the opposing ship have a top-tier professional on board that gave them such confidence?

He even released black crows into the sky to observe the surrounding sea area; with this visibility, it was not suitable for an ambush.

He was certain the enemy had only that one ship.

Strange occurrences always portend troubles.

Out of caution, Barrett immediately changed tactics.

"Change course, and shake them off!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"But... Mr. Su Lun, the other side is signaling us with flags to wait,"

"???"

The Dawn Crew found this flag signaling ridiculous.

If they were the enemy, why would we wait for anything!

The situation looked weird, and the Eternal Night didn’t slow down one bit, instead preparing to activate the alchemical sails to speed away.

Unexpectedly, the observer’s next words caught everyone off guard.

"The man on that ship is signaling with flags that their captain wants to challenge you to a one-on-one duel!"

"Challenge me?"

"Yes, Mr. Su Lun! The flag specifically named you!"

"..."

Su Lun was utterly baffled upon hearing this.

What does that mean?

A duel?

Before he could figure out what was happening, the opposing ship suddenly slowed down and launched a fast-moving object from its deck.

On closer inspection, it looked like a piece of broken mast shot over here, with a flamboyantly dressed man standing on it!

What was going on?

This fellow had broken his own ship’s mast just to make such a flashy entrance?

Everyone in the Dawn Crew was thoroughly confused.

One thing was certain, this had to be a powerful individual.

Barrett thought the man looked somewhat familiar, and fell into deep thought.

Su Lun furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, and then decided, "I’ll go have a look. You all keep sailing."

Qian tiao glanced at him and cautioned, "Be careful of treachery."

Su Lun nodded, "Hmm."

Without further discussion, he leaped down.

A sixth-tier professional was not to be feared. If not overpowerable, he could at least ensure his own safety.

Even if that flamboyantly dressed man was a seventh-tier professional, Su Lun thought it would be hard to detain him should he decide to leave.

If it were eighth-tier...

Whether he went or not, the Dawn Crew was bound to face a huge crisis.

Besides, among all known in the North Sea, only King Oleg was an eighth-tier, and this guy was clearly not him.

His instinct told Su Lun that the other party seemed to bear no ill will.

But why come looking for him?

At that moment, the crow overhead cawed, seemingly revealing the truth: "He wants to beat you up! He wants to beat you up!"

Su Lun twitched at the corner of his eye upon hearing this.

Although this foolish bird’s tone was annoyingly gleeful, it had to be said, its words directly confirmed Su Lun’s own judgment as correct.

The black crow had not sensed any mortal danger, which was virtually non-existent.

Yet, Su Lun racked his brains and couldn’t recall ever meeting or offending such a person.

Why would he want to duel me?