Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 536 - 535: The Truth Behind the Annihilation of the Pirate King’s Crew

"Queen Charlotte became an empress? And then she opened a dimensional portal by herself?"

"Yes, the situation is very bad now. The dimensional portal is in the mountainous region of Zambula Ironfall Province in the south of Mafa. Although Mafa is concentrating its military forces to resist, the battle situation is not optimistic. After the dimensional portal stabilizes, the top experts from other dimensions will be able to arrive on a large scale, and we don’t have much time left on our Alchemy dimension..."

"..."

It had been thirty years since the Pirate King, Black Sam, and his crew left the Luying Empire for the waters of the Far West Dragon Kingdom.

The ’Dragon Hunter’ Bartolo had heard the name Charlotte, but back then, she was still the queen.

He listened intently to Su Lun’s narration of the events.

Although he was a wanted pirate, he did not wish to watch the Alchemy that had made his name be destroyed by an alien civilization.

However, the process had already passed, and the invasion from another dimension had irreversibly occurred.

After hearing it, Bartolo murmured to himself, "No wonder I’ve felt that the laws have become much more complete recently. I thought there was another problem at the Hell Volcano, but it turns out to be this..."

After Su Lun finished speaking, he added directly, "Now the mages from the Divine Dimension have established a teleportation camp near Rainbow Island to the south, which used to be the habitat of the Naga tribe. At least tens of thousands of them have already arrived. They are trying to find the ’Mimir’s Spring,’ and perhaps they have other goals as well. So, I thought perhaps you, senior Bartolo, could give us some information. If possible, we from the Dawn would do our best to prevent them from achieving their purpose."

Bartolo finally understood why he had spoken up and asked, "So, was it you guys fighting those people from the Divine Dimension before?"

He had also heard adventurers describe that strange noise, guessing it might have been the sound of cannon fire.

Later, when he met Su Lun in Atalan City, he confirmed this idea. He just hadn’t realized that the target of their shelling wasn’t sea monsters, but dimensional invaders.

Su Lun said, "Yes."

Bartolo listened, hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "What information do you want to know?"

Su Lun thought for a while, as there was too much information he wanted to know, but he first asked, "I heard from Tanni that about thirty-something years ago, Black Sam’s crew stole from Marquis Hays’s fleet and then obtained a creature from the Dalu tribe, the ’Chalice of Fhar’? I need to find that chalice."

Bartolo listened, recalled for a moment, clearly knowing, "Are you referring to that miraculous cup with Dalu tribal patterns engraved on it which can calm and stabilize the soul?"

Upon hearing this description, which was exactly as Yuta had described, Su Lun immediately said, "Yes!"

This was the most important thing to solve his mental disturbance and break through the divine wandering state.

Now, it seemed there might be a chance!

"Oh, I almost forgot about that cup. After all, there were so many strange things on that ship back then..."

Bartolo seemed to recall the adventurous experiences with his companions.

That cup was just one small spoil among countless loots.

Since it was useless to an alchemist, it was just an ordinary cup gathering dust in the treasury.

Like that, there were many.

His eyes showed a hint of confusion as he slightly sighed.

Memories emerged, the adventures with his companions were vivid in his mind, but they felt like they were from a previous life.

Once Su Lun confirmed the chalice was indeed on the Pirate King’s ship, he was even more eager to know where the ship was.

He asked, "Senior Bartolo, may I ask..."

Before he could finish, Bartolo interrupted him, his tone slightly apologetic, "I might have to disappoint you. That cup, I’m afraid, can’t be found by anyone now."

Su Lun’s expression immediately stiffened as he listened, "???"

Bartolo seemed to recall something, his gaze visibly dimmed, and he explained, "That cup is on the Saint Mary’s, but it has been swept into the endless undead hell along with the ship and the captain..."

Upon hearing this, Su Lun’s brow furrowed immediately, and he sensed something was very wrong.

...

Bartolo looked at him and asked, "Don’t you want to know what happened back then?"

Su Lun nodded, his face all ears for the rest of the story.

Bartolo’s brows slightly raised.

In his expression, Su Lun could see the resemblance to the heroic ’Sword Demon’ Saito Misaburo from the wanted posters over thirty years ago.

Bartolo said, "Back then, our Black Sam crew had already become what people called the ’Pirate King’s crew.’ Not to be overly modest, but on the high seas, no one was our match, not even the Emperor Luying Empire. We traveled farther than any royal adventure exploration team. We explored countless dangerous places, drafted that ’Black Sam World Sea Map’ you hold, and completed a great circling voyage route that even the greatest explorers of the time hadn’t completed. We went to the Northern Seas and fought the legendary Northern Sea giant, went to the Western Seas and salvaged the legendary ’Lolovensa’s Gold Sunken Ship,’ went to the Devil’s Sea in the southern seas and found the underwater city... At that time, we thought we owned the whole world, and sailing adventures brought us joy, lighting up the meaning of life..."

"..."

Su Lun silently listened.

These legendary stories were still circulated among pirates to this day.

That sea map also recorded the splendor of the Black Sam crew’s past.

But hearing it from a witness seemed like witnessing the glorious times of a legendary pirate crew.

Bartolo continued, "Later, we obtained some ancient nautical charts during our maritime adventures and learned about the possibility of ancient civilizations in the Far Western Seas, battleground relics of the gods, dragons, and other strange creatures from mythology... The captain said, ’Let’s go on an adventure!’ Everyone cheered enthusiastically. Then we took adequate supplies, headed westward across the Eternal Night Black Sea, and arrived in Dragon Country..."

Su Lun silently listened, filled with respect.

Pioneering unknown seas required courage because you never knew where the end was.

Mere unverified ancient sea maps might just be a one-way ticket with no return.

Black Sam’s team had successfully crossed the Eternal Night Sea and arrived in Dragon Country.

Bartholow’s tone did not lessen his pride in the slightest, as this was the pride of their Black Sam Pirate Team.

He said, "We were overjoyed to find that human civilization still existed here. Discovering a new continent, opening new sea routes, this is the most gratifying, history-making achievement for any maritime adventurer. We sailed around and explored, discovering many ancient ruins and finally confirmed the location of the ’Ancient Dragon Country’ ruins. We have the best Captain ’Marine Disaster’ Black Sam, the most excellent navigator ’Storm Follower’ Arik, the most skilled ship’s doctor ’Bloody Witch Doctor’ Miss Elsa, and the ill-tempered yet superbly delicious ’Wine Barrel’ Solomon... We have battled with dragons, slain Titan sea beasts, and have even been chased by Cyclopses... My comrades and I have overcome countless challenges..."

Su Lun, hearing those names that were legendary in pirate circles, also filled his eyes with respect for these pioneers.

What an outstanding and powerful pirate team it was.

If their experiences were written down, they would surely make a profound mark in the Alchemy plane’s maritime history!

Speaking of which, Bartholow’s tone suddenly shifted, and a dimming light appeared in his eyes, as he continued, "It was not until we found the Ancient Dragon Country and witnessed the ’Ancient Battlefield’ where legendary ancient gods fought and fell... that we realized how insignificant human power is. I still remember the saying from back then: Under Gods, all are ants."

Listening to the heaviness in his voice, Su Lun’s brows also slightly furrowed.

Senko glanced over as well.

The two of them were very curious about what had happened originally.

"Ah..."

Bartholow paused for a moment, then said, "There was a volcano that connected to hell, said to be where the two supreme gods fought and broke the plane, leaving behind a ’plane hole.’ That place had chaotic and disorderly laws, and countless formidable undead: seventh, eighth, ninth order, even unimaginably powerful ones. Hell Volcano erupted unexpectedly, covering millions of miles, utterly unavoidable. Undead creatures swept across the entire ancient battlefield. In front of those terrifying hell creatures, human power seemed utterly pale and powerless. We were drawn into the ancient battlefield, fought bitterly time and again, and although we repelled numerous undead, we were also tainted with the aura of hell. Before long, everyone mutated, and my companions stayed there forever..."

Saying this, the old swordsman paused, as if to calm the increasingly intense sorrow in his heart.

After a long while, he continued, "As for me, because I had merged with the ’Mouth of Hell’ implant and mastered the ’Destruction Domain,’ I had some resistance to the hellish aura, and my symptoms were the mildest. At that time, there was a space artifact on the ship that could break through the plane’s barriers, and the captain and my comrades left the only survival chance to me. I was teleported out, survived, and have been struggling to live on to this day."

"..."

Hearing this story, Su Lun inadvertently exchanged a look with Senko.

Both felt that it was quite similar to their original entanglement in the Netherworld.

Both were worlds of the undead, tainted with the energy of the Netherworld, unable to leave, with the only difference being that the creatures of the "Ancient Battlefield of Dragon Country" were much higher in order.

For a top-tier team like the Black Sam Pirates to be completely wiped out, it was indeed extremely dangerous.

But the so-called hellish aura, the Netherworld aura, were essentially both a type of death-based Spiritual Power.

For the current Su Lun, this was not unfamiliar.

He suddenly thought of much more.

The present Dawn Team wasn’t weaker than the old Black Sam team at all; in fact, it was far stronger!

Not to mention the combat strength of the team members, within Su Lun’s mini void world there were almost top-of-the-era Alchemy technologies, personnel, and knowledge reserves—foundations that ordinary teams couldn’t compare with!

Moreover, having experienced the Netherworld, Su Lun was able to grasp the dangers described by Bartolo accurately.

He could also understand the situation of Hell’s qi corroding mutations accurately.

Su Lun himself had mutated after being corroded by the qi of the Netherworld. It was only after advancing to the sixth stage and merging with the Divine Artifact "Giant’s Strength" and acquiring the ability "Blood Devour" that he gradually resolved the mutation issue.

Moreover, just because others couldn’t leave the "ancient battlefield" didn’t mean that he, possessing the Divine King Divine Artifact "Urobolos Space-Time Ring," couldn’t.

If Bartolo could be teleported out, so could he, Su Lun!

Even if it was the entire team, Su Lun could gather them into the minor void realm and then lead them out together.

Fear stems from the unknown.

Now that he knew the "ancient battlefield" was very dangerous, Su Lun actually felt a sense of relief.

From the current intelligence, although those super-ordered monsters were unbeatable, as long as one was adequately prepared, it wasn’t necessarily a doomed situation.

...

After Bartolo finished recounting the experiences of their team Black Sam, he observed that Su Lun and his companion had serious expressions, but it seemed they had not dismissed the idea of taking the risk.

At that moment, he lifted his shirt, revealing his upper body.

Though elderly, his body showed no signs of decline.

His well-defined bronze muscles provided a strong visual impact, and his arms were covered with large red and green cherry blossom tattoos. His scar-ridden skin also bore testimony to a legendary swordsman’s journey through countless battles.

Suddenly, he turned his back to them.

Strangely enough, there was a horrific, blurred face on his back.

This ghostly face seemed alive, sensing the presence of living beings. The nose on that face even twitched and suddenly looked ferocious. It struggled as if it wanted to break free from the skin and lunge out to bite at Su Lun and his companion.

Su Lun and his companion looked slightly perturbed, but with a glance from the All-Knowing Eye, they roughly understood what was happening.

Indeed, mutations could be highly terrifying even for top professionals; it seemed as though Bartolo’s body was harboring a mutated monster that could seize his will at any time.

It was his Divine Artifact "Hell’s Mouth" that had absorbed too much of Hell’s qi and then mutated.

Bartolo gave a demonstration, then put his shirt back on and calmly said, "As you can see, my body has mutated, and I was fortunate to have encountered a mage in the Silver Dragon Country during my travels. He provided me with a Dragon Blood potion that has enabled me to hold off the mutation until now. Otherwise, I would have mutated long ago. But as you see, it has reached a stage where it’s nearly uncontrollable and could mutate at any moment."

For an alchemist, mutation is a term that induces fear.

But he had seen the end of his life and had accepted that outcome, speaking in an extremely calm tone, "Regrettably, I won’t live much longer. Otherwise, I could have contributed even a modest effort in the face of a plane invasion."

Su Lun listened and pondered for a moment, his mind contemplating something.

For others, such a degree of mutation was indeed irreversible.

But within the Dawn Group, this was not an unsolvable issue.

Dr. Banks had conducted deep research in this area, and typical mutations were not a problem for him.

At this moment, Bartol thought that the look of shock shown by Su Lun’s duo was due to the fear of the mutated monster in his own body, and he relaxed and smiled again, "You had hunted that blue dragon before, right? If possible, I would like to exchange some dragon blood, since pure-blood dragons are very rare, and I need dragon blood to suppress the mutation..."

Dragon blood was the main ingredient in that magician’s secret formula, which was also one of the most important reasons why he kept hunting dragons.

"Of course, no problem,"

A little dragon blood was naturally not something Su Lun was unwilling to part with, and he agreed immediately.

Thinking further, he added, "Senior, if possible, I need a piece of flesh from your mutated area. My partner has done extensive research on mutations and might be able to completely reverse the mutation in your body, or perhaps develop an inhibitor."

Bartol looked startled, as if he had heard wrong, and asked back, "A mutation can be reversed?"

"Yes,"

Su Lun nodded and repeated a saying from Dr. Banks, "The essence of mutation is just the body’s inability to withstand foreign energy causing a variation. Understanding the essence actually allows us to address the root cause..."

He didn’t elaborate, knowing that people from Bartol’s era simply could not understand the concept of biotechnology.

But before being certain, Su Lun did not make any definite statements.

As he spoke, he took out several high-end mutation potions and said, "These are general mutation potions, they should be of some emergency use for you, Senior."

Having met only twice, Su Lun did not feel that the other party necessarily trusted him, even with Tanni’s relationship.

Being cautious made the interaction more comfortable for both parties.

Bartol looked at the several potions with a slightly skeptical gaze.

But he did not refuse and accepted the potions.

...

Since the conversation was flowing, Bartol was willing to provide information, and Su Lun didn’t hesitate to ask.

He took out the World Sea Map of the Dragon Country Waters and said, "Senior Bartol, you are familiar with the Dragon Country, could you help me mark the dangerous areas on this map?"

Bartol was certainly surprised for a moment by such a complete sea map, but what surprised him more was different, and he asked, "Do you still plan to venture to the east?"

Without confirming nor denying, Su Lun simply shrugged his shoulders and said, "Haven’t decided yet. But knowing more detailed information, if we are quite certain, we might still consider checking it out."

It’s not good to say right now.

He wanted to visit the Silver Dragon Kingdom again, and after getting more information, he would make a decision.

And there was another factor that would decide whether they set sail, the progress of those mages in the divine planes.

If those guys rushed in first, they of the Dawn Group would naturally have to go too.

If they ended up in a total wipeout, they wouldn’t be in a hurry either.

Seeing Su Lun’s attitude, Bartol slightly smiled, and did not try to persuade further.

Young adventurers needed this bit of courage, otherwise, they would not have made it this far.

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He did not hide anything and pointed at the sea map, marking all the dangerous places in his memory that he had not forgotten to this day.

"We once saw the Horseshoe Island from afar, that is the territory of the Cyclops. That sea area is very dangerous..."

"I remember there is a red dragon near this island, possibly an eighth tier. You must avoid it."

"This sea vortex harbors a group of sea monsters, which are tricky to deal with. If you encounter them elsewhere, remember to use oil..."

"..."

Su Lun listened as Bartol pointed at the sea map and described, making careful notes as he went along.

It wasn’t long before he had marked hundreds of danger zones on the map.

It could be said that the journey east by the Black Sam Group had hardly been smooth.

This was because there were too many powerful monsters in this sea area.

Apart from the top of the food chain like the dragons, other mid to low-end creatures in the chain were also lord-level monsters elsewhere.

Su Lun listened to the risks and exciting adventure stories as if they were right before his eyes.

After a while, the marking of the sea map was completed.

The habits, characteristics, combat strengths, and weaknesses of some dangerous marine monsters, whatever Bartol could remember, were all made very clear by him.

Su Lun received a lot of useful information.

This information was priceless, something that could not be bought with money, and might even save their lives at critical moments.

After putting away the sea map, Su Lun casually voiced a curiosity in his heart, "Senior, you have the title ’Dragon Hunter’ in the Dragon Country, you must have hunted many dragons, right?"

Bartol, with an expression that belittled the matter, said, "Mostly lesser dragons. Pure-blood dragons, I’ve only killed about three in all these years. Plus, quite a few dragons of relatively high blood purity, perhaps around dozens. Anyway, the further east you go, the more likely you are to encounter pure-blood dragons."

"..."

Listening to this, Su Lun’s eyes twitched.

Three wasn’t a lot?

The seven-tier blue dragon had previously eluded the Dawn Group, despite their best efforts. You killed three pureblood giants alone?

But obviously, that wasn’t the point.

Su Lun listened to him and asked with anticipation, "May I ask if you have any Dragon Crystals? I mean, I could trade materials for them or buy them outright."

"Yes, I do."

Bartholomew casually pulled out two fist-sized glowing crystal cores from his storage ring, radiant and dazzling, emitting rich energy fluctuations.

One red and one green, like two oversized gemstones.

The light in Su Lun’s left eye intensified as he observed, identifying them as "Seventh Tier Red Dragon Sub-crystal" and "Eighth Tier Green Dragon Sub-crystal." His gaze remained steadfast.

Bartholomew handed them over quite nonchalantly, saying, "I have no need for wealth these days, and I have no use for these items. Since you need them, I’ll give you both."

Su Lun was impressed by the grandeur of his elder as he watched the precious Dragon Crystals being given away.

However, his expression slightly troubled, he spoke again, "Well, I have a rather presumptuous request… If possible, I need more Dragon Crystals."

He saw Bartholomew’s eyes widen in surprise, prompting him to explain, "I’m a Puppet Master. I need top-tier perfect crystals like Dragon Crystals to craft energy cores. The more, the better."

Hearing this, Bartholomew took another look at Su Lun as if surprised, exclaiming, "You are a Puppet Master?"

No matter how he looked, Su Lun seemed more fit for a close-combat profession.

He had not expected him to be a Puppet Master.

Indeed, Dragon Crystals were perfect for crafting high-tier puppet energy cores, but wouldn’t a few suffice for crafting puppets? Yet by his words, it seemed he wanted as many as possible.

How many puppets was he planning to create?

"Yes."

Su Lun nodded and casually summoned several stone gargoyles, then said rather helplessly, "I am an heir of the Puppeteer lineage, so I need a lot."

Bartholomew’s eyebrows twitched at the sight.

Being able to control dozens of puppets so casually, his skills were undoubtedly those of a Puppet Grandmaster.

This young man’s profession was indeed odd.

...

Su Lun indeed had a compelling reason to speak up.

Although he had enough "Activated Silver" to make stone gargoyles, and the war workshop had produced many basic puppets,

high-tier puppets required explosive spells that demanded energy support.

Normal energy cores simply could not sustain spells above the sixth tier.

Thus, while Su Lun had many stone gargoyle puppets, very few possessed the strength of sixth tier or above.

And now the war workshop had almost revived the mass production method for top-tier cores like "Heart of Four Elements," the only thing missing was a sufficient main material, the crystal cores.

And Dragon Crystals were the most perfect choice, bar none!

The more advanced the core, the higher level of spells it could support.

With ample Dragon Crystals, Su Lun’s puppet army would truly possess world-shattering force.

However, high-level materials were indeed hard to find.

Having finally encountered a "Dragon Hunter," it was only natural to ask.

Seeing the perfect form of the gargoyles, Bartholomew, though he had never seen such puppets before, could tell they were extraordinary and was full of praise, "Fine puppets!"

Su Lun added, "I currently have a significant shortfall in materials, so, if possible, I would like to obtain all the Dragon Crystals you have. And also those giant dragons, magical beast materials and such. Of course, I’ll provide sufficient trade items."

Dr. Banks’ laboratory needed a large number of biological samples to research the titan bloodline and dragon bloodline genetic sequences of this marine region.

Only with sufficient samples could the research progress faster and more accurately.

Depending on Dawn Group’s own hunting efforts, who knew when they would acquire them.

Giant dragons and such were rare and valuable.

Now that he had access to them, that was naturally best.

Considering all of Dragon Country, aside from the royal treasuries of the three major kingdoms, probably no one had more dragon-related materials than Bartholomew, this "Dragon Hunter."

Moreover, these materials were excellent for the war workshop’s research and manufacturing of armor and puppets, otherwise unavailable for purchase elsewhere.

"You want so many materials?"

Bartholomew, unaware of Su Lun’s capabilities, found his expression growing increasingly odd as he listened.

He thought he had understood Su Lun, seeing him as a highly capable young man.

But at this moment, he felt as though he truly did not know what kind of being he was dealing with.

How could an adventure group have the material needs of a kingdom-level entity?

He had a feeling that this Dawn Group was far more formidable than what he had seen or imagined.