Mechanical Alchemist

The void is always connected with astronomy.

In the corridor on the fourth floor of the library, there were incredibly luxurious decorative pieces, such as the complex alchemy astronomical telescope, the "Antikythera mechanism" made of pure golden gears, the intricate and artistic "Edmonds planetarium," and some gold-crafted instruments whose functions were obscure.

Many of these are classic astronomical devices still in use today, and their designs have hardly changed over the countless years.

As Su Lun walked down the corridor, he could see the treasures displayed in the glass cabinets that one would feel the urge to pilfer.

Apart from those "ancient scrolls" and "manuscripts" treasured like antiques, the vast majority of the books were carefully engraved collector’s editions. The gold-embossed covers were neatly arranged on the shelves, matching the ornate carvings on the surrounding walls, exuding a profound sense of knowledge while also reflecting the luxuriousness characteristic of a royal academy.

Perhaps it was because Su Lun carried a chessboard, but he managed to enter every room on this floor without obstruction.

Worried about triggering some unpleasant event, he refrained from taking any of the books into his bag for the time being.

At last, he found the academy’s archive room and walked in.

The archive room was much larger than it appeared from the outside, roughly three or four hundred square meters, clearly having employed spatial folding techniques to expand the original space two or three times.

At first glance, he saw densely packed archives in leather bags piled up into more than ten bookshelves as high as three-story buildings. To facilitate access to the higher archives, there were even specially provided movable redwood ladders.

Each bookshelf had its classification details, and the archives were tagged accordingly.

Here, one could investigate the complete list of academy personnel, personnel movements, and records of significant events.

He aimed to find that "Herbert Hillbilly" in the investigative archives; this was the place where it was possible.

Looking at the dense archives, Su Lun smacked his lips, "So many files, this is going to be some laborious work."

And there was a limited amount of time.

Under normal circumstances, he only had about five hours; afterward, the "void invasion" would commence.

Even with his multitasking abilities, there was no way he could read through all the archives here in just a few hours.

With this in mind, Su Lun clasped his hands to form the sorcerer’s seals, "Spatial Alchemy - Void Whale Swallow."

A hexagram array in shades of cyan and black lit up beneath his feet, and he watched the spatial black hole rapidly condensing in his hands, muttering to himself, "As expected, the fluctuation of spatial energy in this academy is dozens of times stronger than the outside world, and the efficiency of casting spells is also many times faster."

This was a significant advantage for those who worked with space.

It was also one of the main reasons Su Lun felt that the cursed space posed a relatively low danger to himself.

In here, his spatial abilities would be several times stronger than outside.

In the blink of an eye, the black hole in his hand became an elliptical void about the height of a person, and figures began to emerge rapidly.

His two disciples, Kama and Abek, Tanni, Lalota who came for the excitement and to see the world, and many of Dawn’s crew who had the talent for "speed-reading," altogether more than a hundred people.

The arrival of these people almost filled the entire archive room to bursting.

"Teacher!"

"Mr. Su Lun!"

"Hmm, you all have worked hard."

Previously, Su Lun had communicated with them through consciousness, so after greeting him, the people wasted no time and immediately immersed themselves in the task of flipping through the archives on the shelves.

Su Lun himself unleashed his Octopus Spear, reading ten lines in a single glance through the archives.

His objective was clear; he locked his target on some of the more ancient files.

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He deduced that "Herbert Hillbilly," who warned of issues with the spatial passage, must have held no ordinary status.

Moreover, the fact was that the "void invasion" indeed occurred.

So the question arose: why did he discover it when others did not? This indicated that he either possessed stronger abilities than others, or his status was extraordinary, allowing him access to secrets that others could not reach.

Therefore, Su Lun focused his search on the archives of some "senior teaching staff."

...

Su Lun was aware that his entry into this library could not possibly go unnoticed.

At the very least, some NPC administrators were certainly aware of his activities. Yet no one had appeared to stop him, which gave Su Lun the confidence to dare summon his fellow Dawn members to assist.

In a monarchic society, the King’s authority is supreme.

With the [Stanitz’s Chessboard] in hand, and being a bona fide Investigator, Su Lun considered that even if the academy’s senior officials knew he was investigating the archives, they likely would not stop him or dare to interfere.

He didn’t notify anyone at the academy before coming straight to the fourth floor for investigation. The NPCs, not particularly intelligent, would probably assume he was some "secret Investigator," triggering no complex responses.

Of course, doing so did come with some risks.

The "Tokster Void Royal Alchemy Academy" may have once housed professionals of the ninth rank or even stronger. But at least from current intelligence, even the headmaster had only about seventh-rank combat power left.

But the Dawn Group was not without their own fighting strength.

After a try, the opponent still hadn’t emerged, so the risk was no longer a concern.

...

With a large number of people, over a hundred helping to go through those archives together, they quickly made a rough pass.

No one found any records with the name "Herbert Hillbilly."

Su Lun wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

Since no information could be found within the academy, it was normal for none to be found in the archives.

He was looking for some related clues.

He guessed there was a high possibility that this name was the real one.

If it wasn’t there now, it was likely "erased".

In a world beyond the ordinary, indeed there were some special methods that could erase all related texts directly, but that’s where the bug appeared.

Archives could be erased, but it’s impossible to completely erase "his" social relations and some activity tracks in this world.

As expected.

After roughly two or three hours of perusing, Su Lun was still carefully looking through the faculty archives. Just then, Aberc, who was browsing old archives in the corner, discovered something and exclaimed softly, "Teacher, please take a look at this, I’ve found something that might be what you’re looking for."

Su Lun walked over and asked, "What did you find?"

Pointing at a file, Aberc replied directly, "Teacher, this is the file of a person named ’Pedro Rona’. He was the second-ranked student in the academy’s comprehensive assessment in the year 3351 of the Tarkolu calendar. At the same time, according to the records, I found the files for the third to tenth places. However, after searching through all the files of that year, I found no information related to the first place. Moreover, I also looked at the records for that year’s assessment, and the second place had a score of 754, while the first place had 996. It was almost a crushing difference."

He paused for a moment then drew another file from behind him with his spidian spear, sharing his analysis, "Logically, such a ’genius’ would definitely not be an unknown person. Even if something unfortunate happened, there should have been some records. Plus, the field this person was researching is very special. The research topic for which they won the assessment was mentioned in the notes of the ninth place. It’s called ’On the Feasibility of Incorporating Void Genetics into the Human Body’. This seems to be the same thing as the ’Void Genetics Potion’ you mentioned earlier."

"..."

Listening to his disciple’s account, Su Lun’s eyes showed a look of approval.

Aberc’s talent, the "Exquisite Heart", afforded him exceptional observation and analysis skills, far surpassing others. The files others had overlooked and only briefly skimmed, he had immediately captured the crux with a single glance.

Su Lun took the file from Aberc’s hand and found that his disciple’s train of thought was spot on!

"The first place from thirty years ago should be that ’Herbert Hillbilly’."

Su Lun’s eyes flickered rapidly as he finally felt he had found the key to breaking the situation.

Having a super strong research ability met the condition.

Plus, it was now certain that this name had been erased by some special methods.

"You did very well, Aberc!"

Given the urgency of time, Su Lun didn’t dwell on it and instead turned to say, "There’s no need to worry about the archive room for now, everyone help to check the library for all the books related to the ’Void Genetics Project’!"

"Yes, Mr. Su Lun!"

Upon hearing this, everyone left the archive room.

...

This "Tokster Alchemy Academy" specialized in void studies.

Nearly everyone here was a Space Wizard.

But for an Alchemist to integrate into the void appendix, it was impossible to avoid the issue of "mutations."

Therefore, the academy researched various topics to prevent mutations and to enhance void affinity.

Many had also yielded results.

Previously, people from the Northern Sea Fleet had already discovered traces; they found a brief description of a ’Void Genetics Potion’ in a few words within certain books.

It was a ’mad project’ that could grant super powerful void affinity.

It wasn’t some kind of temporary enhancement potion but rather directly integrating humans into the void, permanently becoming a half-void bloodline creature.

But without concrete data.

It could be a speculated project or it could also be a research project that had achieved results.

But Su Lun, who had previously injected "X Serum", believed more in its feasibility.

This was also one of his most important goals for entering this cursed space; if the potion truly existed, he needed it himself. Qiantiao lacked some affinity for integrating a fifth-order appendix, and the other members of the Dawn Group needed it as well.

To dig deeply into this clue was an opportunity not to be missed.

Thus, upon seeing that file just now, Su Lun immediately connected the dots.

"That ’Herbert Hillbilly’ is very likely the ’first place’ student from the assessment thirty years ago."

And such a genius student, as long as they don’t leave, usually ends up in the higher echelons of the academy.

Su Lun flipped through the personnel files of the years following that annual assessment.

Only then did he discover that, while the Vice-Chancellor of the Void students typically had six members, between the years 3360-3365 there were only five.

Seeing this, Su Lun was almost certain that this Herbert was a Vice-Chancellor who had been erased!

...

With many hands making light work, it didn’t take long for nearly all the volumes on the "Void Gene" topic from the entire fourth floor to be gathered.

Not one bore that name.

Moreover, it seemed that there wasn’t a single volume that was about the same topic as that one.

But Su Lun did not give up and personally examined each one.

The more of a genius one is, the more they like to "show off."

When recording certain secrets, Great Alchemists of antiquity would often use special encryption methods, with the Dawn Era almost being the pinnacle of cryptography.

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But cryptography almost always has a period of effectiveness, and most encryption methods have now been deciphered.

Su Lun himself was proficient in at least several hundred types, covering nearly all known encryption methods of the current era.

"Blood Gene Analysis of the Void Devil Fish," "Dual Attribute Gene Inheritance of the Void Electric Eel," "Miraculous Gene"...

Su Lun checked each volume, moving at a very fast pace.

But for fear of missing key information, he almost always flipped to the very end of each.

His left eye, the All-knowing Eye, scanned the volumes line by line, and indeed, he spotted quite a few contents marked with "special encrypted information."

However, after close to an hour and flipping through a couple hundred volumes, he had nothing to show for it.

Su Lun wasn’t worried.

Even if the "Void Invasion" broke out, with this library on hand, he was essentially "covered." If all else failed, he would just think of another way to come back next time.

But it was then that he came across a volume titled "Research on the Void Insect Clan."

The author’s name didn’t matter; it certainly wasn’t "Herbert Hillbilly."

It was a manuscript, filled with densely packed writing upon opening, as well as a few finely detailed hand-drawn illustrations of Void insects.

In the Void plane, the Insect Clan was almost at the bottom of the food chain, and few people studied such low-level creatures. This volume recorded several hundred types of Void insects in great detail. Moreover, there were some interesting alchemy laboratory records at the end.

Originally, this was a very normal tome, but as Su Lun read on, "encrypted information" alerts began to appear in his eyes.

Then he deciphered it using the decoding method, and interesting content emerged.

The notes read as follows:

"Void insects are low-intelligence creatures? Most likely, but some are truly terrifying beings."

"Ants aren’t terrifying to an elephant, but they become so when they organize. I quite like this saying."

"I have studied the Void insect clan and discovered a problem; our previous understanding seems to be mistaken. Certain Void insects aren’t considered individuals simply as single entities, but rather when tens of thousands come together as a group to form one ’individual.’ They have a core ’brain’ that commands the swarm of insects to execute complex orders that they cannot accomplish alone. I have named it the ’Mother Bug.’

"Reproductive isolation between different species isn’t absolute, but rather is due to the lack of a suitable ’bridge.’ The more advanced the life form, the smaller the range of reproductive isolation, which is fundamentally due to the genetic chains being sufficiently complex and complete. So, what if I were to use a high-level life form as a carrier to establish a connection between two entirely unrelated lower-order species of creatures? For example, using some kind of supreme life form to bridge the genetic chains of humans and Void creatures..."

"I succeeded in the first phase. I tried various Void genetic materials and finally selected a type of ’spinal fluid from a Void Mother Bug,’ which is a rare god-tier material..."

"...."

When Su Lun saw these notes, he knew he had found the right thing.

A glint of fierceness flashed in his eyes, and he thought, "This must be that Herbert’s notes!"

It was another formidable method of encryption; the content of the notes was completely normal and readable, but it hid the message the author intended to leave.

Although the notes did not contain a detailed research report, they did record the true facts about the "Void Infestation."

Su Lun frowned deeply as he took in the information.

"I have calculated the odds that a ’Mother Bug’ will almost certainly emerge from any swarm of insects numbering in the billions. I notified the Academy Director, explaining that a ’high-level consciousness entity’ has appeared within the ’Caitz Void Insect Clan’ that recently showed up near the spatial portal, and it might even surpass god-tier. The planar portal must be closed, otherwise, it could bring about an unforeseen disaster. But my proposal did not attract the attention of the Empire’s high-ups. The Void plane is a major source of the Empire’s financial revenue; those councilors who became wealthy through this portal posed a strong resistance, as those greedy bastards wouldn’t easily give up the ’black gold’ tap. They deliberately downplayed the danger level of my report and dragged it out for years, with the Empire’s investigation team also yet to arrive. I know that by the time a parliamentary decision comes down, it might be too late to avoid the disaster. Ah, the greedy and foolish nobility..."

"I’ve mutated, both physically and mentally... I also thought of dying. But I’m more eager to leave behind my research findings. The facts have proven that my approach is correct; the ’Void Gene Potion’ can modify human bloodlines, significantly enhancing human affinity with the Void. If only that little bit of side effect could be resolved, I’ve already seen a glimmer of hope. Sadly, because of that bit of side effect, the academic factions opposed to closing the portal did not support me, as doing so would cause the academy to lose everything. They launched a ferocious media attack against me. I lost everything. But I don’t care about that. What I care about is the lack of time, as I wish to study the ultimate [Void Gene Potion]..."

"I later realized it wasn’t an accident. Someone had tampered with my experimental data, leading to my mutation. Who it was no longer matters, as anyone who could approach my lab was amongst those I trusted most. I really have no interest in power struggles, so why involve me in them..."

"I might be locked up and sent to ’Laboratory Zero.’ But I still informed the academy."

"Even if I’ve become a monster, I still love this world, I love alchemy,"

"..."

Su Lun finished reading the content on the notes.

All it contained were three sentences.

A genius had researched a "Void Gene Potion," then was killed by academic rivals, and his name and honors were all erased;

It was probably a "warning" sent out over a decade ago, indicating a problem with this spatial plane.

And now, the investigation team had only just arrived.

...

"So, the main consciousness of this cursed space is actually this person?"

After reading, Su Lun furrowed his brow and fell deep into thought.

The intelligence previously obtained by the North Sea Fleet had almost all pointed to the possibility that the dean might be the "main consciousness" of the cursed space.

However, now with this note, he found out that it was actually "Herbert Hillbilly."

Moreover, he now also had a new lead, the "Laboratory Zero."

It was highly likely that there he could obtain the Void Gene Potion, along with more spatial armaments, materials, and even the means to decipher the entire cursed space.

Good stuff, all in the research area...

But the problem was that the laboratory area was now a "T-level" region, and there had never been any survivors, which made Su Lun very conflicted.

With less than an hour before the "Void Invasion" would erupt, Su Lun considered for a moment and decided not to take the risk.

Now that he had these clues, he could go back and organize them properly, and next time he might think of a different approach.

After going through those documents, Su Lun put away the summoned individuals back into his small void realm.

He planned to wait for the great battle to begin, then take the entire fourth-floor collection in one go.

With one more hour to spare, Su Lun, having nothing better to do, started to wander around the fourth floor.

Previously focused on finding files, he hadn’t paid much attention to the items here. He now planned to have a thorough look to avoid missing any hidden treasures later during the looting.

From the crystal chandeliers, murals, sculptures down to door handles, teacups, he appraised each item one by one.

And indeed, he discovered several alchemical items with special effects.

He even found several hidden compartments.

However, after using the chessboard to open them, Su Lun found nothing inside.

But that was not incomprehensible.

He guessed that those hidden compartments were most likely only accessible by the dean. So, the vice dean knew of these secret compartments but could not open them, nor did he know what was inside.

This also confirmed whether the main consciousness of the cursed space was the dean’s or not.

Su Lun was still happily looking for "little surprises," thinking he would stay here until the battle started.

Suddenly, the All-knowing Eye identified another "spatial door" at the end of the corridor ceiling.

Just like when he came up from the third floor to the fourth floor, it required access privileges.

...

Above his head was a grand, dazzling, and mysterious starry ceiling. Upon closer inspection, one would find that those stars were made of gemstones and magic crystal cores.

Luxurious and enchanting, yet not unusual on this fourth floor.

Su Lun looked up at the information identified with a serious face, thinking to himself, "Could there be a fifth floor to this library? Might I encounter an old fellow if I open it?"

Thinking he was certainly already discovered, he felt no psychological burden and directly took out the chessboard again to activate the access.

The Nonagram Alchemy Formation lit up, and Su Lun watched as the starry ceiling’s lights twisted, then turned into an exit that seemed to lead into outer space.

In an instant, Su Lun felt weightless as he floated up.

Upon seeing the dense structures within the space, Su Lun’s pupils suddenly contracted, and he was shocked to think, "The T-level experimental area?!"

He could never have imagined that the fourth floor of the library would have an entrance directly connected to the experimental area within the spatial channel.

"Does that mean, even after the ’Void Invasion’ closed off the spatial channel, one could still enter and exit the fourth floor of the library through this spatial door?"

At that moment, the adventurous spirit in Su Lun’s heart, which had already been extinguished, suddenly blazed up again.