Mechanical Alchemist

Seeing the monster’s form become increasingly grotesque, escaping had already become irreversible. Dean Mason’s already aged face seemed to lose even more of its vitality.

He muttered to himself, "Herbert was my close friend, I knew that his research direction was the genetic fusion of void mother worms, and that mutations would be extremely dangerous. Therefore, when I couldn’t kill his mutated form, I suspected an uncontrollable mutation might occur. That’s why I sealed off Laboratory Zero and allowed no one to enter. I also erased every trace of him in the academy, all to prevent anyone from accessing that information. Still, it leaked out..."

His words seemed like muttering to himself, but it seemed more like he was trying to explain the true situation to these imperial investigators.

Su Lun sensed the deep helplessness and regret in his words.

In the academy, his position as the dean enabled him to keep anyone away.

However, he couldn’t stop an investigative team that came with imperial orders.

He thought that bringing them himself could avoid those troubles, but someone had plotted against them in secret. From beginning to end, Major General Tatjana and her team never disclosed their true purpose, but directly and secretly activated the laboratory’s emergency system.

Listeing to Dean Mason’s words, at this moment, everything became completely clear.

It turned out this old man had never lied at all.

Su Lun furrowed his brows, feeling a pang of realization, "Indeed, once you pre-judge someone as a villain, all your logic helps to fortify that view. Seeing his kindness as a disguise, seeing his advice as hypocrisy..."

He also felt he had learned his lesson this time, fortunately, the problem wasn’t too big.

Now, things had come to this.

Or rather, the "Void Invasion" that was bound to happen had occurred.

Mafa and his team obtained that information and came directly to Laboratory Zero to release the monster, which essentially was no different from those NPCs releasing monsters.

Su Lun reorganized all the clues in his mind again and thought, "But at least, I wasn’t wrong, the ’main will’ of this cursed space is that Herbert. Although he has mutated into a monster, he still harbors good intentions. To ultimately break this cursed space, we still need to figure out something from this guy..."

This point of judgment, he still was certain.

The encryption method of the notebook he had seen on the fourth floor of the library was very peculiar, involving text and patterns together as a cipher. If it wasn’t the person himself, even someone who had read it might remember the text but definitely couldn’t recall all the details.

Moreover, having just identified it, that "Bivector Creature" held more information, clearly with details left to be further uncovered.

Thinking this, Su Lun felt that the "T11" area that Tatjana kept mentioning was also a key place.

However, he wasn’t familiar enough with the structure of the underground lab, and searching blindly was problematic.

Su Lun turned his gaze towards Mafa and his team.

In their hands, they had exactly the information he was missing.

....

The so-called "great disaster" was nothing more than triggering the Void Invasion.

But for outsiders like Su Lun, the problem wasn’t significant.

After all, this was a cursed space; it wasn’t like it would cause world destruction. So, whatever Mafa and his team wanted authority for, they couldn’t change some facts, such as the fact that the Void Invasion had already occurred, that "Tokster Void Royal Alchemy Academy" was already destroyed.

Su Lun didn’t know how the final outcome would be, but the spatial passage had been successfully sealed, meaning at least Dean Mason could handle it, at least holding off the creature to a draw.

That is, provided Mafa and his team didn’t interfere disastrously.

At this moment, witnessing the sudden appearance of the "Void Bivector Creature," Mafa and his team were clearly baffled as well.

Su Lun, observing their astonished expressions, obviously didn’t know that such a terrifying creature was here, nor did they anticipate that the "Void Invasion" had been triggered by their release of the creature.

Now that the real situation was clear, the information in the hands of the investigative team leader was misleading information deliberately leaked by "Herbert Hillbilly" after his grotesque transformation. It definitely contained some misleading clues, intended to make people deliberately avoid the academy’s side.

Similarly, these misleading clues would definitely need "bait."

That’s why Su Lun thought there must be something sufficiently tempting in that "T11 test area."

His mind was full of thoughts, but reality flashed by in an instant.

The sketch-like "Void Bivector Creature" solidified into the form of a mud monster, and "black lines" around its body also flowed on the ground.

Then, a bizarre scene occurred.

The lines that looked like black caterpillars touched anything, that thing would disintegrate as if it had fallen into strong acid, as if being "eaten" by the creature.

Su Lun, proficient in Space Law, could clearly sense the creature’s "black hole"-like space law fluctuations, even light was directly sucked into it. All objects didn’t disappear; rather, from a "three-dimensional" state, they were dimensionally reduced to "two-dimensional", becoming part of the creature’s body like a painting within the black lines.

The "Void Bivector Creature" appeared right in the remote part of the laboratory, where more than ten enslaved adventurers were scrambling for items. Before they could react, black lines unexpectedly appeared beneath their feet, and then their feet stuck to the spot, utterly unable to move. Then, the whole person swiftly shrank, starting from the legs, and "melted" away.

They were still alive, struggling desperately, but their feet, sunk into the mire, got deeper the more they struggled, helpless as they watched their bodies disappear.

Such a horrifying scene was unfamiliar to these people; although they felt no pain, they screamed and yelled in terror.

"Help, I don’t want to die!

"Major General, please, save me!"

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"Anyone, hurry and kill this monster, save..."

"..."

Before the words were out, those dozen people had already completely vanished.

The black lines continued to spread, and the slaves nearby hurriedly dropped what they were holding and retreated explosively while raising their guns towards the monster, showering it with a barrage of fire. Some even launched a single soldier rocket towards it.

Yet, a spine-chilling and horrifying scene unfolded.

The countless bullets and rockets flew towards it, but the moment they touched the monster’s body, they abruptly stopped.

Shooting into the water would at least cause some splashes, but firing at the monster did not even leave a trace of blood, apart from a few more black spots, it caused no damage whatsoever.

There was the sound of bullets being fired and bullet heads rubbing against the air, but no echo was heard, the monster’s ability was utterly eerie.

Upon seeing this, Su Lun discreetly hid far away, yet reassessed the risk in his mind, "This ’Void Bivector Force’ is truly unsolvable. Once infected, death is almost certain..."

The All-knowing Eye observed every detail of the monster and concluded that unless one’s Space Law was superior, any contact leading to dimensional reduction meant certain death.

Fortunately, the spread of the "black lines" was not too fast, which was somewhat of a weak point.

Yet, in this sealed space, wasn’t it precisely the monster’s killing field?

Su Lun wasn’t overly panicked, since he knew that Mafa and his fellows were likely in even greater disarray.

.....

The moment this eerie ability was demonstrated, Mafa’s group of mechanical warriors were dumbfounded. They had just used "Microparticle Energy Arc Guns" to disperse the energy particles in the lab to prevent the concentration of magical formations, thus maximizing the combat capabilities of the mechanical warriors.

Now, all physical attacks seemed useless against the monster.

However, it appeared that the monster took damage from magical attacks.

And yet, the doors of the laboratory had been locked shut by them.

These emergency doors locked quickly, but reopening them would take time.

Thankfully, Dean Mason was powerful enough.

Perhaps because he thought these were members from the imperial investigation team, even if they had made mistakes, now was not the time to hold them accountable.

He bore no grudges and did not scold Mafa’s group again. He formed a sorcerer’s seal, but his brow soon furrowed.

The formation that usually activated instantly now took a strenuous two seconds, clearly affected by the "Microparticle Guns."

However, he still managed to release it.

"Esoteric Art: Void Cube!"

The moment a nine-pointed star formation lit up beneath the old man’s feet, a translucent cubic spatial barrier appeared in his hand, enveloping the monster.

The sorcerer’s seal changed again, and he pushed forward with his hands crossed, exclaiming, "Secret Technique: Spatial Turbulence Strangulation Art!"

At a glance, the mud-like ’Void Bivector Worm’ was trapped on the spot, its body torn into pieces by numerous spatial rifts that appeared, falling to the ground like chunks of meat.

Was it killed?

No, obviously not.

The moment he acted, the old dean seemed to have already known the outcome and urgently shouted to the people of the investigation team, "This creature is more powerful than it was years ago, it can’t be killed, find a way to escape quickly! If you can get out, report the situation here to the empire truthfully!"

This old man, unambiguous in separating personal feelings from official duties, was truly admirable.

Su Lun watched these two spatial techniques, both seemingly of at least the eighth rank, and marveled inwardly, "So powerful!"

The first formation was an advanced technique of ’Void Imprisonment’ that Su Lun was currently learning, nearly inescapable; and the second, Spatial Turbulence, could be akin to making a hundred and eighty consecutive cuts with a black scythe. One for control, one for killing, this combo of techniques could instantly annihilate most of the same rank practitioners.

The combat power of top-tier spatial ability practitioners indeed was terrifying.

The moment the old man said these words, they then saw the ’Void Bivector Worm,’ recently chopped into pieces, coagulate back into its mud-monster form. At the same time, the laboratory’s main door still hadn’t opened, and among the crowd, cries of alarm rose again, "Watch your feet, the monster is coming!"

Following this shout, everyone finally noticed that the black lines had unexpectedly appeared beneath their feet.

This time, dozens of slaves and more than ten mechanical warriors were stuck on the spot by the black lines.

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The strength of the mechanical exoskeleton was immense, yet it was still completely ineffective. They could only watch helplessly as they were dimensionally digested by the monster, with no one daring to pull on them, even if they had mechanical limbs to try and snatch them, it was futile.

The group of trapped mechanical warriors discharged their built-in guns and cannons at the monster to no avail.

No advantage of the mechanical exoskeleton was brought into play; the dimensional-reducing ability bypassed the thick armors and killed them effortlessly.

The sole survivor was a very decisive slave. He saw his feet trapped in the black lines, promptly drew his blade and cut off his legs at the knees, then using his winged prosthesis, he soared into the air, thus saving half of his life.

Su Lun watched with a grave expression. Although he had detected the spatial fluctuations at the last moment, he couldn’t deny that the attacks of the ’Bivector Worm’ were remarkably covert; if it had managed to cover the laboratory floor, everyone would have died.

Now, Mafa’s group also realized this; they stowed their guns and Ship-Cutters, activating the magic energy devices on their armor instead.

Instantly, flames, frost, lightning strikes... various elemental attacks greeted the monster, turning the laboratory into a boiling cauldron of magical elements, its colors flickering and dazzling.

Su Lun watched as the heavy emergency door of the laboratory slowly opened. He had been planning to teleport out with the crowd, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Major General Tatjana, fully armored, had not moved.

Even at this critical moment, she sternly called at the old dean, "Dean, please give me the authority; I have a plan to stop this disaster!"

Although she was much more polite than before, she still insistently focused on that "authority."

Su Lun, observing this, narrowed his eyes, unsure of her intentions.

But as far as he was concerned, whatever the enemy intended to do, he intended to stop.

The old dean listened to these words, a hint of thought flashing in his eyes, but he seemed to decide immediately.

He now had to hold off the "Bivector Worm," leaving him no hands free. Having people from the "investigative team" help was just right, so he resolutely agreed, "Okay, take it, but remember to first close the inward Void channel; absolutely don’t allow Void monsters to invade the plane!"

With that, the old man threw out an object.

[Void Channel Restriction Spring]

Detailed Explanation: A key to control the restrictions of the Void channel, requiring special authorization to use. By turning the alchemy spring, the space within range will be reinforced, unaffected by spatial fluctuations, immune to spatial rifts, instant close encounters, and can pass through various restrictions of the plane channels. The method of use is as follows: inject Spiritual Power and turn clockwise, requiring a large amount of Spiritual Power and time;

"A key? So that was the idea!"

Upon seeing his action, Su Lun’s pupils suddenly constricted.

He immediately identified what it was and shouted explosively, "Don’t give it to them!"

Although Su Lun did not wish to expose himself at this critical juncture, he decisively used Flash to move over.

Moreover, he knew that if he did not shout out, there was no possibility of snatching the item in front of these top-tier space professionals!

Sure enough, upon hearing Su Lun’s words, Dean Mason grabbed at the Void, and the thrown object reappeared in his hand.

The old man looked at the suddenly appearing Su Lun with a surprised gaze, clearly recognizing him as the secret investigator from the fourth floor of the library. Yet he was puzzled, wondering how there could be infighting among the investigative team members?

Major General Tatiana, seeing the object she had almost had in hand, felt a surge of joy—just having that object would not just save her life but might also give her a chance to break this cursed space.

Even if it didn’t work this time, it could next time!

But upon seeing a stranger suddenly intervening, Tatiana’s heart sank, her scolding voice trembling slightly, "Who are you?!"

The only ones in the adventuring team were people from the Northern Sea Fleet and slaves; there would absolutely be no one causing trouble at this crucial moment.

The only possibility was that he was a spy from a hostile force. And seeing that [Flash] ability, she immediately thought of an old foe whom she gritted her teeth at—the damned guy who had ambushed the submarine!

As she spoke, her red whip lashed out, snapping in the air.

If not for Su Lun’s quick reaction, that whip might have cost him half his life.

Some statements exceeding the NPC’s understanding of the cursed space were automatically blocked. Su Lun didn’t bother explaining further but instead shouted rapidly at Dean Mason, "They have ambushed Commander Markel, intent on sabotaging the plane channel!"

These words shattered the entire plan of the Mafa group.

Markel was indeed the NPC commander they had ambushed, and at this critical juncture, they couldn’t explain it away no matter what.

Moreover, the prior actions of releasing monsters had already made a bad impression on the old dean.

The Mafa group was disheartened, now having to face not only the monsters but also the old dean, with absolutely no chance of winning.

But now that the Void invasion had just begun, and the monsters were not too dense, they might find another opportunity to escape alive if they fought hard.

Major General Tatiana was also extremely decisive, cursing fiercely, "Dammit, let’s go!"

As long as they could survive, they could nearly decode this cursed space the next time they entered.

With that, this group of mechanical warriors filed out one by one.

Just as they left, a massive explosion erupted in the corridor, a blast wave tearing through the air, leaving no chance for anyone to follow them.

Even the laboratory door that had opened was immediately shut again.

Su Lun had anticipated this; these people would definitely not let him leave the laboratory easily.

But now that he was exposed, he also wouldn’t let these people live to see the outside.

Besides, he needed the data in their possession.

...

As the Void invasion began, a large amount of Void energy surged into the plane channel, like a flood exceeding the safety line of a reservoir, gradually destabilizing the spatial channel.

However, for those professionals with Spatial Ability, this was also seen as an opportunity.

At this moment, Dean Mason’s spell efficiency was significantly higher, consistently trapping and shredding the "Bivector Worm" into pieces, yet still unable to kill it.

Su Lun asked the same question, "Can you give me the key?"

Dean Mason’s face darkened with no response, as he had completely lost trust in the members of the imperial investigative team, merely saying, "I can’t re-seal it anymore. The disaster this time could be very dire."

Su Lun guessed his thoughts and knew the old man would no longer easily trust anyone. Without hesitation, he simply said, "Please take care, Your Excellency the Dean!"

Saying this, he placed the chessboard on the permission identification restriction he had identified a moment ago.

The next moment, the sealed laboratory door slowly began to open.

Taking advantage of the laboratory door not being fully open yet, Su Lun formed the Suren Sorcerer’s Seal with his hand, quickly conjuring a black hole, and shouted to the group of slaves who had not managed to escape earlier, "Those of you who want to live, get in!"

These war slaves were not evil people and had considerable strength—many in the Dawn Group had such identities.

Su Lun felt he could lend a hand, so he did.

Obviously, the slaves had little trust in a stranger, and sticking one’s hand into a black hole seemed too bizarre for any sensible person.

The three to five hundred living slaves scrambled to exit the laboratory door again, with only a few glancing at Su Lun and rushing into the small Void realm.

At least they realized that the person standing before them with the blade wasn’t someone from the North Sea Fleet purposely sending them to their deaths.

Having gathered these people, Su Lun didn’t hesitate any longer and charged towards the lab’s outer passageway.

He wasn’t in a hurry to negotiate with the old man.

According to the intelligence gathered from the North Sea Fleet’s previous explorations of other cursed spaces, this dean had held out for at least three days in the dimensional portal, and it was simply not possible for him to be defeated in a short time.

At this moment, the old man’s combat power was still at its peak, and the monster was the same.

Even if he wanted to join in, when it came to boss fights, it was best to wait until both sides were exhausted before swooping in to reap the benefits.

Before that, Su Lun decided to secure the "guaranteed gains" of this trip to the cursed space.

...

The group of slaves that had run out followed the same pathway they had come through, and explosions continued to echo through the channel.

When the Mafa people retreated, they had also set up mines, which caused severe casualties for those who followed them out.

However, Su Lun was unaffected. His spatial ability had significantly improved, allowing him to flash step his way out of Laboratory Zero.

By the time he reached the surface, a great battle had ensued.

Countless void monsters surged out from the depths of the dimensional gateway.

There were tiny void insects the size of mosquitoes and large void bats with wingspans of several hundred meters, as well as Great Eyes of the Void, Void...

Together, they gathered like locusts passing through, filling the view with billions upon billions.

It was Su Lun’s first time seeing such a terrifying wave of monsters; it made his scalp tingle.

Students and professors in the spatial passage had already started to obstruct the invasion; various defensive prohibitions were set up in the passage, and the laboratories had powerful alchemy towers and magi cannon turrets prepared in advance to prevent monster invasions.

At the first sign of the "void invasion," all sorts of powerful alchemical devices had been activated, and high-level spells were thrown into the void as if money was no object.

Boom, boom, boom...

Energy waves exploded among the hordes of monsters, with corpses raining down like a storm.

Yet, despite that, the number of void monsters didn’t decrease in the slightest; in fact, it kept increasing.

As soon as Su Lun emerged, a few hundred "Void Poison Sickle Mantids" swarmed around him. These half-meter-tall mantises might not even have the energy fluctuations of a first-tier magical beast, but they were incredibly numerous. These naturally "Flashing" void insects blinked in and out of existence in the void, their methods of attack were unpredictable and relentless.

Su Lun unleashed his Octopus Spear, his hand swinging the black sickle wildly; with a pull of a slashing thread, he could mow down large swaths of these bugs.

These lower-tier void creatures were very weak in defense, almost paper-like, making them easy to kill. Yet their attacks were equally sharp, and the tricky puppets Su Lun had set up around him were quickly cut into pieces by the sharp void scythes of the insects.

The monster tide had already struck, and there were increasingly more high-tier void monsters behind.

Su Lun couldn’t afford to delay, so he violently charged towards the small building with the spatial door on the fourth floor of the library.

Along the way, he saw Mafa’s group of mechanical warriors forming a charge formation, advancing towards the exit.

Their firepower was remarkably fierce, and their speed extremely fast.

Seeing this, Su Lun also understood why Princess Stika was willing to send her mechanical warriors as guards.

One reason was to punish combat failures;

Another more critical reason was that, compared to traditional professions, mechanical warriors have smaller fluctuations in their energy levels and are less likely to cause spatial rifts.

With the void invasion ongoing, the stability of the spatial passage was greatly compromised.

The large energy fluctuations from high-tier professionals fighting would more easily result in rifts.

Most of the mechanical warriors’ physical attacks were powered by steam boilers, with nearly insignificant physical energy, significantly reducing the probability of triggering law-level rifts; their cannon fire was ranged explosions, so even if an overload triggered a spatial rift, it wouldn’t harm the mech itself.

However, Su Lun didn’t think these fellows could escape.

Because the academy’s emergency plan was, once a void invasion occurred, the exits would be immediately sealed!

Thinking of this, Su Lun temporarily ignored those from Mafa.

The combat capability of Mafa Royal Legion’s mechanical warriors was not for show; originally, even Su Lun alone could hardly contend with them. Even if the Dawn Group mobilized all its members, a direct confrontation to take down this mechanical legion would be difficult, likely incurred significant losses.

Now with countless void monsters helping to deplete their forces, it saved Su Lun a lot of effort.

Once their ammunition was exhausted, it would be a good time to swoop in and pick up the rewards.

Su Lun charged forward, rapidly reaching the balcony of the building he had targeted earlier.

He took out the chessboard, easily opened the spatial door, and then stepped into the luxuriously decorated fourth floor of the library.

Looking over the dazzling array of precious tomes and treasures, Su Lun’s eyes flickered with a gleam.

He hadn’t dared to pocket them before, fearing someone might stop him. Now, with the dean trapped in Laboratory Zero and the administrators fighting outside, there probably was no one who could stop him anymore.

Thinking about it, he gestured with a wave of his hand, releasing several dozen Dawn Group members who had been prepared with storage rings. Together, they quickly began to sweep up the treasures of the library’s fourth floor.

With these items in hand, even if there were no other gains, this risky venture into the cursed space was worthwhile.