Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 423 - 422: Biohazard

"Hey, I say, Kit, are you sure your plan won’t blow our cover?"

"Don’t worry about it, I’ve only had less than two hours of deep conversation with Ruth; she won’t be suspicious. Next time, I need to be more careful, though. These intelligence guys are now using seduction to catch people—it’s really despicable. Oh, my Ruth, to think that I was so in love with her..."

"..."

In the banquet hall restroom, Su Lun listened to the plan through the communicator, full of speechlessness.

That guy Kit was now squatting in the stall next door.

Somehow, he had just confirmed that the intelligence agent was the same "Ruth" from before.

Kit’s plan was to have Su Lun impersonate one of his aliases, "Jack," while he himself would steal the Taro cards as "Phantom Thief Kit."

This way, the two identities could completely disassociate from each other.

The auction for that Taro card was about to start, and there was no time to dawdle, so Su Lun opened the restroom door.

As he stepped out, the original black tailcoat transformed as if by magic into a luxurious white suit. With a swipe over his skin, synthetic skin adhered to his face. The magic of costume change turned him into a completely different person in an instant.

Su Lun pulled out a cane from his sleeve and, donning a bowler hat, stepped out of the restroom.

He was indeed the dashing "Jack."

As soon as he came out, Su Lun felt a vague gaze fixed upon him.

The tailing technique was very sophisticated, clearly that of a professional agent.

...

The auction continued, and the price of the [Hanged Man Card] kept climbing.

This auction also attracted quite a few Taro enthusiasts.

However, it seemed that the young master Alex was determined to win it, as each bid was very decisive and confident.

Su Lun paid no attention to the auction and walked out toward the banquet outside.

He reached the deck.

It was completely dark by now, and the sea breeze was gentle and refreshing.

Just then, a beautiful woman with tea-colored wavy hair approached and greeted affectionately, "Jack~ why are you here all alone?"

Su Lun knew this woman had been watching him, ever since he had gone to the washroom.

Having previously harvested the skills of "acting" and "diction" and even without the use of the voice changer hidden in his bow tie, he could imitate up to ninety percent similarity.

He mimicked Kit’s voice and cheesy tone, responding, "Ruth, I wanted to enjoy the sea breeze alone. The auction inside is just too noisy."

Although Kit had sworn that women wouldn’t catch on, Su Lun still immersed himself as much as possible into the role.

Ruth walked over and gave an intimate cheek kiss as a greeting.

And meanwhile very quietly, she sniffed, trying to identify the scent of the cologne.

Su Lun was proficient in various "spy efficiency" techniques, and he keenly noticed some of her unusual actions.

He immediately knew that this woman might also be suspicious that he was a stand-in and was trying to figure him out.

Su Lun understood Kit’s personality well; in this situation, the LSP (Licensed Sex Professional) would definitely get handsy. Keeping too much distance would certainly give away that something was off.

So in that instant, as Ruth came into his embrace, Su Lun’s hand naturally wrapped around her slender waist, and then, as if by accident, he caressed her well-endowed posterior.

Ruth exclaimed coyly, "Oh, dear, this is the deck~"

Even though she protested verbally, her body didn’t move away at all.

Su Lun felt these intelligence people were truly dedicated to their work.

But he could only play along with her act, engaging in a bit of flirtatious banter.

He thought that if it were actually Kit, with the atmosphere heating up like this, it was highly likely that it would end in a paid-for affair.

Fortunately, at that moment, there was movement inside the auction.

With a loud "boom," like the ignition of magnesium powder, a strong white light flashed through the venue.

Just then, someone shouted loudly, "Phantom Thief Kit has appeared!"

That shout shattered the tranquility of the night.

Su Lun felt the delicate body in his arms tremble fiercely.

Continue reading stories on novelbuddy

Although Ruth tried her best to hide it, her sparkling eyes were filled with disbelief.

And through the secret communicator in her ear, she received a message from her teammate: "Captain, it’s confirmed it’s ’Phantom Thief Kit’. He has appeared in the venue and stolen the Taro card!"

Ruth’s expression froze for an instant, and despite her professional poise, she couldn’t help but seem a bit unnatural.

Acting as if he noticed nothing amiss, Su Lun’s lips curled into a charming smile, inquiring, "Oh, what’s the matter, dear Ruth, you look a bit pale?"

After a pause, as if reminding himself, he murmured, "Oh, did I just hear someone shout something? What’s with the chaos at the auction?"

Ruth gently touched her forehead and said, "Darling, I’m feeling a little unwell."

With an expression of urgent concern, Su Lun asked, "Shall I escort you back to your room to rest?"

At that moment, Ruth’s mind was in a whirl, and she felt dizzy, "Oh, no need, I just want to be alone for a while."

If "Phantom Thief Kit" had already appeared, what about the Jack in front of her?

They had painstakingly gathered so many clues, all pointing to this Jack, waiting to catch him in the act tonight, but now he wasn’t the one?

Had she just been played for free?

Of course, given such a handsome guy, whether being played for free mattered wasn’t really the point.

But still, would those above think their entire investigation team were fools?

And just then, the noise grew louder.

"Quick! Catch Kit!"

"Damn it, don’t let him get away with that Taro card!"

"..."

Shortly after the commotion, a man wearing a Zorro mask broke through the glass of the banquet hall and flew out.

The figure did a graceful roll in the air, and "bang," a pair of angelic pure white wings unfolded behind him. Amid a hail of bullets, he glided towards the enchanting night sea.

Watching from the corner of his eye, Su Lun’s eyebrow quirked slightly; the spectacle was indeed impressive!

No wonder he captured the hearts of young ladies and madams.

Ruth no longer had any interest in dalliances with "Jack" here; she had a Phantom Thief to catch.

He found an excuse and left.

...

Once Su Lun saw that no one was around, he took out a gold card. With a flick of his fingers, a "bang" released a wave of energy, and a guy in a white suit appeared out of thin air beside him.

The two identical "Jacks" looked at each other.

One was beaming with a brilliant smile, the other with a helpless one.

Su Lun reached out sharply, and with a magic trick, his attire instantly switched back to the black tailcoat from before, even tearing off the synthetic skin on his face.

Kit flaunted the Taro card in his hand and handed it over, "Oh, thanks, brother Su Lun, you’ve done me a big favor!"

As Su Lun reached out to take it, a black hole in his hand swiftly sucked the card into his own little void realm.

Now, even with tracking methods, it would be untraceable.

Kit’s card short-distance teleportation was not a Spatial Technique, but rather a special "Necromancy"—his profession as a necromancer magician.

Although not as convenient as Spatial Techniques, it was quite suitable in certain special scenarios, like the "reverse necromancy" just now.

Without planning to stay any longer, Su Lun said to Kit, "Now that communication has been cut off and the Taro card stolen, the people from the Titan’s Hidden Cult are likely to make their move. There might be some big upheaval on the ship, so be careful."

Kit smiled broadly, "Alright!"

Su Lun didn’t say more, forming a hand seal with one hand, as the space around him flickered.

The next moment, he reappeared beside the store room of the banquet hall.

And at this very moment, the banquet hall had descended into chaos.

Armed personnel, whether from the cruise security or from military intelligence, were searching for someone everywhere.

"That guy is still on board! Search! Find any suspicious individuals!"

"We absolutely cannot let him take the Taro away!"

"..."

In this vast sea, although "Phantom Thief Kit" seemed to have flown away just now,

Everyone knew that he must still be hiding on the ship.

And since Su Lun had earlier disguised himself as "Jack," now that guy had his alibi too.

Plus, with the stolen goods on Su Lun himself, they were certain to be unfound.

This case was destined to remain unsolved.

Su Lun straightened his clothes and quietly walked out of the corner.

At this time, his two disciples were still sitting in the corner on the sofa.

Abel was still practicing with the mechanical cube, utterly indifferent to the noise.

Karma, on the other hand, watched with great interest as people scurried to capture someone.

Su Lun walked over and sat down too, watching along.

He wasn’t so much interested in the commotion but wanted to see what the "Titan’s Hidden Cult" members had planned to do.

Up to this point, those people had not shown what exactly they wanted to do.

But it was certain that with a crucial "prop" like the [Hanged Man card] being stolen, their plans had been disrupted.

Su Lun even took a special look around, and that sixth-order Professor Virginia had disappeared.

Where she had gone was anyone’s guess.

However, he felt sure that as long as that young master Alexis was here, the followers of the outer gods would definitely come.

...

The auction could no longer proceed with this sudden incident.

And of course, it was impossible to capture Phantom Thief Kidd.

Because Su Lun was watching that guy in the banquet hall, flirting with some rich ladies.

Normally, everyone would stay a bit longer, wait until those people confirmed that the stolen goods could not be found, and then they would all head back to their rooms to sleep.

But just then, Karma suddenly furrowed his brow as if he sensed something and said, "Teacher, it seems like something bad has happened."

Hearing this, Su Lun turned his head to look.

He hadn’t forgotten that this disciple’s talent was [B-098-Sixth Sense], with a special ability to sense omens of good and bad.

Remembering this, Su Lun took out a black umbrella from his hand, extending his perception, and indeed found that something had changed in the cabins below.

Some souls that clearly belonged to humans suddenly became distorted.

Abel, seeing the gravity on Su Lun’s face, also asked, "Teacher, is a battle coming?"

Su Lun nodded, "I’m afraid so."

The followers of the outer gods surely wouldn’t hinge all their plans on a single Taro card. Now that the card was stolen, certain plans still had to go ahead.

And not far away, that gangster big shot Caroline, who had come to flirt earlier, seemed to have sensed something as well and was looking in their direction.

Just then, suddenly, screams erupted outside.

Then, a barrage of gunfire rattled off at once.

"It’s bad! A bunch of deformed monsters have appeared in the hold, and they’re biting anyone they see, now they’re charging toward our upper decks!"

"Damn it, those who got bitten turned into monsters too, and there are more and more of them... Ah, help me!"

"Quick, block the passage! Monsters, lots of monsters are swarming up from the lower cabins!"

"Damn it, monsters are climbing up the outside of the ship!"

"..."

It only took less than a minute from the discovery of the monsters to the outbreak of intense gunfire.

The group of finely dressed nobles in the banquet hall hadn’t understood what was happening when they saw the ship’s security guards with guns firing wildly outside the ship.

At this moment, panic was the only thing on the faces of these nobles.

They didn’t know what to do, each one like a frightened headless fly, unable to sit still or stand at ease.

The students from the royal academy, however, reacted rather well. After all, most of them were second-order professionals, and they regularly participated in extracurricular activities hunting deformed monsters and magical beasts.

Now, listening to the unidentified monster surge breaking out on the ship, they each pulled out various luxurious equipment, readying themselves for a big battle.

The young master Alexis, however, glanced over at Su Lun.

Because of the card Kama had previously handed over, Su Lun was also extra cautious.

He guessed that this monster tide might be targeting him.

The footsteps outside grew more hurried, the sounds of guns and screams drawing closer.

From the lower cabins all the way up, it seemed they were quickly approaching the level of the banquet hall.

Su Lun was carefully sensing the movements downstairs, pondering to himself, "Not moving too fast, can climb walls, people will be infected after being bitten... a kind of blood-transmitted zombie variant?"

So far, it seems there’s no threat.

But he couldn’t make a move right now.

It was already known that there was a bishop of the Giant Hidden Society on board, a Sixth Order professor, and more than thirty believers who hadn’t shown up yet.

This monster tide was clearly just the beginning of the conspiracy.

And the ship’s defensive force wasn’t weak either, so there shouldn’t be big problems in the short term.

Su Lun thought about it and didn’t plan to just passively wait for the enemy to unfold their conspiracy; he had to actively gather some intelligence.

He said to the two disciples beside him, "Kama, Abek, the emerging monsters aren’t very strong, you two stay here, I’ll go down and take a look. Hmm... be careful, and act according to the situation."

Both of them nodded, "Okay, Teacher."

As Su Lun spoke, he found a corner out of the line of sight and teleported down.

...

Downstairs was the cabin area where Su Lun teleported to.

He knew that rooms V3011, A2066, and B1066 had special prohibitions, housing several waves of Outer God followers. He had previously refrained from entering the rooms for fear of startling the snake. Now that the event had erupted, it was a good time to check it out.

But not long after he arrived, as if they had sensed the breath of living people, several deformed monsters sprang out from around the corner of the corridor.

They looked somewhat like humans who had been skinned, their crimson muscle fibers writhing like living worms.

Su Lun assessed them at a glance; they seemed like ordinary people who had mutated into zombie variants, their strength not even reaching the first order.

No threat at all.

The only trouble was that the deforming factor was blood-transmitted, and one would be infected if bitten.

This was no different from his earlier prediction.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Su Lun raised his hand and rapidly fired three shots, and the three deformed monsters fell to the ground in response.

Having easily dealt with the three monsters, he intended to proceed. However, to his surprise, the shattered "Spiritual Bodies" inside these three deformed monsters hadn’t dissipated from his perception.

"Not dead?"

Su Lun noticed the anomaly and patiently stayed put to observe for a while longer.

Then, an eerie sight unfolded.

Under Su Lun’s gaze, out from the hollow corpses of those three monsters slowly emerged worms as red as blood vessels. They stood up like blood-thirsty leeches, making one’s scalp tingle.

"Are those the parasitic worms of that Outer God?"

Su Lun found them familiar because he had seen them twice before.

However, in the previous two instances, those worms died not long after their hosts did.

But now these worms were teeming with vitality, pouring out from the corpses’ wounds in ever greater numbers.

"Evolved? Or has the strength of that Outer God been enhanced?"

Su Lun considered various possibilities.

Without intervening, he watched patiently from the side.

Then, right before his eyes, those three corpses, with the help of those red worms, started to stitch themselves together. They fused into one, flesh merging into a three-faced, six-armed deformed monster.

A face on the head, a face on the chest, a face on the abdomen...

The more one looked, the more disgusting it became.

Upon sensing again, the energy fluctuation of this deformed monster was significantly stronger than before when they were separate entities.

"Not only can’t kill them, but also their corpses can merge, stacking their strength... now we have a big problem."

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

Su Lun, looking at the three-faced monster before him, finally understood the threat posed by those Outer God followers.

He had thought they were just low-level monsters that posed no threat.

But now, seeing them, he realized the problem was serious!

This three-faced monster posed no threat to Su Lun,

but what about a monster with three hundred faces?

Or three thousand faces?

Given the current situation, who knew how many passengers in the lower cabins had been contaminated.

The mere thought made it seem like it would turn into a living hell.

"Truly a cult! Not only are they targeting the young master Alexis, but they actually plan to sacrifice the whole ship?"

Su Lun, thinking of something, felt a surge of anger rising within him.

No wonder Mr. Jing always said that most Outer Gods are Evil Gods; they never considered humans, these "low-level creatures," to be life forms worthy of respect, at best they were just nourishment for faith.

Many ancient evil sacrificial activities involved living human sacrifices.

Su Lun watched the "Three-faced Monster" rise to its feet and cast his Flame Spell.

...

A few minutes later.

Su Lun, looking down at the deformed monster completely mashed into pulp at his feet, had a complex expression.

He switched on his communicator and spoke with seriousness, "Kama, Abek, be careful, if you can avoid killing those monsters, then don’t kill them, or it will be troublesome..."

He had just tried various methods and found that these monsters, with red line parasites inside, simply couldn’t be killed with physical damage from guns and swords; they’d instead merge into higher-level monsters after death.

Even magical damage was very limited.

Ultimately, to smash the creature to bits, Su Lun had to rely on "Haki," directly destroying its biological structure, which finally killed those worms completely.

But, not everyone can exude such an overbearing presence.

On a ship with five thousand people, Su Lun Jue figured that aside from himself and that sixth-level professor, it would be quite difficult to find a third person.

As soon as the situation erupted, it immediately reached an almost irreversible dire state.

These guys clearly had premeditated it!

Su Lun also suspected that followers of the Evil God probably had other plots in mind besides targeting that Young Master Alexis.

Seeing this, he didn’t dare to delay any further and went straight to the rooms of those Outer God followers according to the plan.

....

Meanwhile, in the banquet hall on the top deck, chaos reigned supreme, resembling the terrifying scenes of a biohazard disaster.

The screams were as piercing as fingernails scraping a blackboard, even overshadowing the sound of gunfire, sending shivers down everyone’s spine.

"Quick! Block all the stairway passages, we absolutely can’t let the infected get up here!"

"Hurry, open the door, save us, the monsters are coming! Please..."

"We can’t open the gate, they might already be infected!"

"Right, we must not open the door. It must be those dirty commoners who brought the mutants on board. Oh, damn it, I knew from the start that the cruise ship shouldn’t have sold low-priced tickets!"

"..."

After sealing the passageways, the sounds of pleas, screams, and monsters feasting were incessant.

The terror weighed heavy on everyone’s chest like a boulder, making it hard for anyone to breathe.

Nearly all who were qualified to attend the auction dinner were from the wealthy class staying in first-class cabins or above; nearly all of the cruise liner "Queen Rodrica’s" security forces were concentrated here. The firepower was fierce, and although the monsters could climb the outer walls, they were being shot into the sea.

For the moment, it seemed they would not be able to climb up to this deck,

but for those in the lower deck economy cabins, there was no way out. The sounds of fighting indicated that some professionals mixed among the regular passengers were still desperately holding on.

They didn’t know that the monsters they killed were quietly merging into even more terrifying beings like "Ten-Faced Monsters" and "Hundred-Faced Monsters" in the lower cabin areas.

While everyone in the banquet hall was fraught with tension, two people in a corner sat calmly on a sofa, quietly observing everything around them.

Kama had just received a communication from Su Lun and asked, "Abel, should we share the intelligence given by the teacher with them?"

Abel, still with an expressionless and indifferent face, said, "We can’t tell them. There must still be followers of the Outer Gods among those people. If we speak up, we won’t gain the trust of others, and it will put us in jeopardy."

He exuded the same absolute calm as Su Lun. After a pause, he added, "Besides, it’s futile now. The focus of this incident is on the densely populated areas on the lower floors. If the teacher can’t control it, everyone in this banquet hall is doomed."

Kama sighed upon hearing this, "Oh."

She knew the situation was just that.

But, if they didn’t warn them, many innocent people would die.

Abel said nothing further, his gaze sweeping over the people in the banquet hall, and the Rubik’s cube in his hand continued to twist and turn.

Just then, a woman in a black dress with a solemn expression approached quickly.

This was none other than Caroline Worster, the mob boss from Lington we’d seen before.

Seeing the two siblings sitting on the sofa but not spotting Su Lun, she spoke up, "Young man, where is your teacher?"

Abel glanced at her, seemingly uninterested in talking more, and simply replied calmly, "The teacher went downstairs."

"Oh."

Caroline also let out a slight sigh of relief.

The disciples were still here, so the person must not have left.

The situation had already spiraled beyond her control, and she knew from the get-go that she couldn’t handle it.

She took a deep breath, praying in her heart, hoping that things wouldn’t get any worse.

But, the followers of the Outer Gods hadn’t made their move yet!

Caroline was already feeling suffocated by the immense pressure, her gaze fixed on the distant Young Master Alexis.

If this "Big Shot" really died, the consequences would be unthinkable.

However, quite unlike her anxiety, Abel and Kama remained seated calmly on the sofa.

As Caroline returned to her senses, she found their composure unbelievable.

Thinking about it, she asked, "Aren’t you two nervous?"

At this, Abel countered with a question, "Why should we be nervous?"

Caroline was taken aback, thinking he was too young to understand the severity of the situation and added, "All these mutant monsters, maybe they will break through any minute now..."

Yet, as soon as she said this, Abel retorted, "If we ’get nervous,’ will it stop the monsters from coming up?"

"..."

Hearing that and catching the look on the siblings’ faces as if they were gazing at idiots, Caroline’s eye twitched abruptly, and she turned her gaze to the siblings as if looking at monsters.

A second-level and a first-level... remaining calmer than her, a fourth-level?

Where did they get such confidence from?

But then, her gaze shifted to the mechanical puzzle cube in Abel’s hand, which he hadn’t stopped twisting even while speaking, as if she understood something.

This level of calm and composure almost made her see the shadow of that man from before.

Exactly the same!

Caroline thought Abel had a sharp tongue and despite his youthful face, he gave off the impression of being as unfazed as an old creature, with no secrets hidden under his bare skin.

She knew this kid was not easy to fool and turned to Kama, saying, "Oh, your teacher is the most gentlemanly man I’ve ever met. He must also be a powerful professional..."

She was trying to dig for more intelligence in case he was some top-tier professional so she could feel more confident.

But unexpectedly, Kama just gave her a look.

Then they locked eyes.

And there was no then.

Caroline: "..."

The atmosphere turned somewhat awkward for a moment.

The woman wanted to pry further, but just then, Abel noticed something, and his fingers playing with the cube abruptly stopped.

He suddenly said, "Sister, prepare for battle!"