Mechanical Alchemist

Watching the swarm of undead monsters approaching, Su Lun knew why the Red Robe Grand Magister had the confidence to trouble the Dawn Group alone.

Countless skeletons, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, burst forth from the sky of the undead like a mountain torrent.

Not to mention their combat power, the mere momentum of these hundreds of thousands of troops charging was enough to make the members of the Dawn swallow their saliva in secret.

Su Lun's gaze shifted slightly, the Puppet Master, who usually relied on superior numbers to overwhelm his enemies, was now on the receiving end of such tactics.

However, as he observed the glowing left eye of the undead skyline, he noticed something and muttered to himself, "This guy's storage space is actually a piece of dimensional fragment."

To hold so many monsters, it was obviously no ordinary storage space.

Su Lun distinctly sensed the spatial fluctuations within the undead skyline.

It was obviously a fragment of a dimension that had been crafted into a magical artifact.

What a treasure!

Although not a complete dimension like his own Mini-Void Realm, even a fragment was an invaluable rarity.

And it seemed that this fragment was not small, as it contained an endless number of undead monsters.

This, for Su Lun, was yet another excellent material for expanding his Mini-Void Realm!

As the tavern of the undead appeared, several dragons emitted bursts of frosty Dragon Breath, instantly freezing the sea surface. By freezing the Eternal Night as well, they provided a land base for the surrounding creatures.

Su Lun frowned as he watched, puzzled by the magic, "They're all reduced to skeletons and still can breathe fire, how is that possible? This guy's necromancy is probably quite high-grade…"

...

As the monster tide attacked, the cannons on the Eternal Night suddenly roared to life.

A massive amount of ammunition poured towards the swarm, initiating a covering barrage of intense firepower.

"Boom," "Boom," "Boom"...

"Tat," "Tat," "Tat"...

Bullets and shells fell densely onto the swarm, igniting flames everywhere.

Limbs and bone fragments flew about, and bone dust swirled like a sandstorm.

After all, the skeletal creatures had no flesh, and bullets could easily shatter their bones.

The Red Robe Grand Magister didn't seem to care at all, his face only showing a cold, mocking smile.

Such low-level creatures, his undead realm could produce as many as needed.

Even if truly depleted, he could simply slaughter a few cities to replenish.

For a necromancer of his level, materials were never an issue.

Intense firepower slowed the tide of monsters from overwhelming them.

But no one in the Dawn Group looked relieved, as there was no end in sight to the monster tide.

Although most of the skeletal creatures didn't even rank as first-level monsters, the problem was still massive. They were truly exploiting their numerical advantage to the extreme, akin to a zerg rush. It was fortunate that the Dawn Group was equipped with the most advanced firearms, using ammunition to save on physical exertion. Any ordinary melee army would be worn down to death by these little skeletons.

The main issue was the imbalance between effort and reward.

The skeletons had to be thoroughly smashed to completely kill a creature. Otherwise, those missing limbs and legs could still fight.

But the ammunition spent in this way, and the proceeds gained from the creatures they killed, were completely disproportionate.

Simply put, killing one skeletal creature wasn't even worth the cost of the bullets.

Continuing this way, the Dawn Group would be at a severe loss.

But they had no choice but to fight.

Without strong firepower, the monster tide would overwhelm the Dawn in a short time.

The Eternal Night, shining with lights on the icy sea, resembled a lonely lighthouse, and the Tide of the Undead seemed like an endless darkness wanting to devour this corner of light.

Apart from the low-level skeleton tide, a large number of undead gryphons and undead dragons had already attacked from the sky, keeping the high-level fighters of the Dawn busy too.

Although the strength of undead creatures inevitably decreased, creatures consisting only of skeletons, even if nourished by the spirit of death, would at least drop by one or two ranks. These skeleton dragons, Behemoth, and Gryphons, were only about sixth or seventh rank.

But the number was overwhelming!

Even if just three or five attacked the high fighters of the Dawn, the numbers were more than sufficient.

Bartolo, Number Nineteen, Mr. Hei, Voswas, Kit... everyone furiously fought, quickly engulfing themselves in fierce battles.

Earlier, knowing from Su Lun about that layer of phosphorescence that could burn souls on the Red Robe mage's body, no one dared to rashly approach him, only managing to keep the undead creatures from getting close to the ship.

And still, more continued to surge out from behind the Undead Disaster.

Among them, there were some special undead creatures.

"Like opposing that Skeleton Sword Deity!"

At the heart of the battlefield, a man and a monstrous creature were fiercely fighting amidst a pile of monsters.

Thousands of domineering auras swirled around him, and the Rakshasa Golden Body behind him invoked countless thunder serpents in the sky, each slash accompanied by the power of startling thunder.

The Skeleton Sword Deity facing him was equally domineering. Although it lacked a physical body and its realm was greatly damaged, it had been a true Sword Deity in life. Moreover, the sword in its hand, both righteous and evil, named "Buddha Slaughter," was exceptionally overpowering. Each strike seemed like the descent of gods and Buddhas, the Sword Qi necessarily carrying an aura that seemed to transcend human souls into sanctity yet cast them down to hell with extreme ferocity.

Watching that sword, Su Lun, despite being at a distance, found it extremely eerie and couldn't understand what kind of understanding of the Sword Dao was necessary to master the two starkly opposing forces within that sword.

Fortunately, since it was reduced to mere bones, Qian Tiao did not fall behind.

The battle between two top-tier swordsmen reached a stalemate, with Sword Qi chaotically flying across hundreds of meters, slicing any skeleton monsters in its path into two.

...

Su Lun, on the ship, only occasionally used the Black Scythe to offer support by chopping off the wings of a few griffins and bone dragons, without fully engaging in battle.

He was well aware that necromancers and puppet masters had the same weakness.

Killing skeletons was futile, the key to break through was in killing that Red Robe Grand Magister.

But it wasn't easy to kill such a foe.

Su Lun calculated various plans in his mind, but none assured the death of his enemy.

There was still Plan C, which involved stuffing the Night Eternal back into the mini void realm and then teleporting away.

But his instinct told him that when facing such a strong enemy, even at some cost, it was best to eliminate them immediately.

Otherwise, if he escaped this time, the next encounter would surely involve targeted measures from the opponent.

Perhaps not even a next time. They might already have them!

Unless absolutely necessary, it's best not to think about escaping first.

At the moment, Su Lun also hadn't deployed the Gargoyle Legion.

One reason was that killing more minor skeletons wouldn't reverse the situation; the second was that he was sure the opponent must still hold some high-combat "puppets" akin to the Skeleton Sword Deity.

The opponent hadn't shown their trump cards; Su Lun felt that Dawn Corps shouldn't rashly lay all theirs out either.

Thus, the siege battle continued for nearly half an hour.

The Dawn Corps used Night Eternal as their fortress, resisting the undead army's assault from all directions.

It was also fortunate that the Night Eternal was equipped with some of the top experimental military mechanical technology from the Alchemy plane. Many were laboratory-level unique combat mechanisms, completely capable of handling various monsters. The firepower of a single battleship was unmatched by any other.

To put it bluntly, Night Eternal's firepower output now was unparalleled by any team of the same number.

Even by a ten-thousand-person Mage Corps from the Divine Plane!

Moreover, the artillery firing had an advantage over mages casting spells, as it costs money, not combat strength.

And the commander, Dora, herself was among the top students of the military academy and had fused with [Isaac Blasphemer], was well-versed in all sorts of tactics, with a clear command and unruffled by panic.

Under the relentless fire support of the Dawn Corps, not only did the skeleton army fail to achieve their objectives, but the mortal casualties were also heavy.

Just those dozens of undead griffins and dragons couldn't pose a real threat to the high-combat members of the Dawn Corps even momentarily.

The battle appeared intense, but the Dawn Corps bore almost no casualties.

It only used up some ammunition.

In those days, the war workshop production lines in the mini void realm had been working day and night, amassing a large stockpile.

At this rate of consumption, they could fight for three to five days without worrying about running out of ammunition.

Moreover, there were some mega-potent experimental "special bombs"!

In a worst-case scenario, they could resort to a destructive mutual downfall.

Seeing this, Su Lun was no longer in a rush.

Being a puppet master himself, he knew well that losing low-tier puppets was inconsequential. But high-tier puppets were a real loss once damaged, possibly irreplaceable once destroyed.

And sure enough.

Because of the fierce firepower of the Dawn Corps, while they weren't in a hurry, the enemy clearly was.

...

The Red-robed Archmage watched for a while, initially with a spectator's mindset.

After all, his undead army had been invincible everywhere. With Necromancy, a forbidden-level spell, he could decimate a city single-handedly with ease. Wherever he passed, no life could survive.

In some respects, his combat power alone was equivalent to that of several ten-thousand-person Mage Corps.

But gradually, his brows also furrowed.

Because he saw a battle situation that contradicted his expectations.

The Dawn Brigade did not know where the end of the Tide of the Undead was, and the Red Robe Grand Magister also didn't know the ammunition storage limit of the Eternal Night.

Previously, using low-tier skeletons in a swarm tactic was enough to exhaust the enemy's stamina and eventually kill their high-level combatants with ease.

But now, most of their opponents had little to no stamina usage other than pulling the trigger.

If this continued, it wasn't certain that the material reserves from the undead space could outlast the opponent's ammunition.

Moreover, the mages from the divine plane had never seen artillery firearms before their invasion. Seeing such powerful fire suppression now, the Grand Magister was deep in thought.

What he saw was that the Dawn Brigade had no casualties, using equipment that could be operated with low-tier spells and dealt damage comparable to top-tier magic.

Furthermore, he saw not only the present but also farther into the future.

That was the threat of the Alchemy Civilization to the Magic Civilization.

He himself, with unrivaled genius talents, had cultivated for decades to reach his current status as Grand Magister. And now he was being suppressed by a group of low-tier sorcerers relying on external objects?

If these equipments, these technologies became widespread, what would be the meaning of their existence as mages?

The faith would inevitably collapse.

As a servant of the gods, he would definitely not allow this to happen.

The Red Robe Grand Magister gradually had a myriad of complex thoughts, the only remaining thought being, "This civilization must be destroyed!"

...

Su Lun looked at the mage in the distance whose expression was gradually turning ugly—how could he not know that the fellow had been taught a lesson by the Dawn Brigade's firepower?

Seeing the gloom between his brows, he could even guess that this guy clearly had deep concerns about Mechanical Alchemy.

Just like traditional alchemists from Rueing were averse to Mechanical Alchemy—it changed too much, instilling panic among traditional professionals.

The traditional magic plane of the divine plane was even more so.

The opponent was faltering—this was an opportunity. At this moment, Su Lun asked through the communicator, "Senior Bartolo, have you discerned anything?"

On the other end of the communicator, Bartolo responded, "I've figured out some tricks. But I'm not absolutely sure. If that fellow exposes a few more moves, perhaps a fatal blow could be delivered."

"Hmm."

Su Lun went silent as he listened.

The methods of that Red Robe Grand Magister were too peculiar; under the current circumstances, no one in the Dawn Brigade was sure they could definitely kill him. The only hope lay with Bartolo, the Old Sword God.

But the best chance was nearly only the moment he exposed himself.

Otherwise, if the enemy was on guard, unforeseen changes could occur.

Letting the enemy make moves to reveal flaws?

Su Lun felt his brows tighten—he couldn't think of any way to make the Necromancer make a move.

Yet just then, another change occurred.

The battle situation with the undead legion on the ice in front of them was at a deadlock; Su Lun looked at the Red Robed Mage in the distance chanting a magic spell again.

Upon closer inspection, several towering figures had already appeared amid the undead canopy.

Looking closely, those were several gigantic skeletons about twenty to thirty meters tall, with bones of a faint golden lacquer color. They held axes, greatswords, shields, and various other equipment. Not only were their skeletal frames visible, but they were also enveloped in a layer of special power field.

Su Lun looked slightly surprised, "Giants from ancient myths?"

According to legends, certain divine bloodlines had bones of golden lacquer color; seeing the bone color of these gigantic skeletons, he immediately thought of the ancient giants. The power fields distorting the light around these skeletons could only belong to the terrifying power realms possessed by the giants from legends.

"Some troublesome fellows have shown up..."

Su Lun watched with a furrowed brow.

The opponent had clearly used his trump card.

Just when those monsters hadn't completely emerged from the undead calamity, several of the main cannons on the Eternal Night fired simultaneously; high explosive alchemy shells thundered towards them.

However, it was like bombing a towering mountain—sparks flew and debris fell, yet it did not shake the mountain. Though the bones had cracks, it did not stop these giant skeletons from advancing toward the Eternal Night.

Just from the way they resisted the bombardment, these eight giant skeletons were almost equivalent to the combat power of eight eighth-tier professionals.

Moreover, due to their enormous size and strength, they had an innate advantage in siege warfare. Should they get close to the ship, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although the giant skeletons moved heavily and slowly.

But after a brief estimation by Su Lun, these giant skeletons could likely get close before being destroyed by the cannon fire.

Commander Dora had also calculated this.

Therefore, she immediately commanded the mechanical warrior legion, who had been standing by on deck, to don special heavy armor resistant to strength-based power fields.

These giant skeleton monsters possessed the power of an eighth-tier warrior, and besides a few high-level fighters in the Dawn Squad, the others simply couldn't contend with them.

Only mechanical power could stand up to the skeleton giants.

More than ten heavily armored mechanical warriors changed their equipment, and with a burst from the steam boilers at their feet, the sound of mechanical friction clanked loudly, and a squad shot up into the sky at high speed.

The mechanical warriors surrounded each giant skeleton by seven or eight in a well-coordinated manner. As soon as they reached the battlefield, various chains and shells were also fired.

The effect was good.

Under concentrated fire, they broke a leg bone of a skeleton giant in an instant.

With a "thud", a huge golden skeleton crashed to the ground, shattering many small skeletons.

However, even with a broken leg, the skeleton giant still swung its weapon, sending two entangled mechanical warriors flying heavily. One mech shut down on the spot, and another's mechanical arm twisted and deformed, emitting black smoke.

Even so, the remaining mechanical warriors kept attacking those few skeleton giants.

Su Lun watched this, his expression growing even calmer as his left eye, the All-Knowing Eye, continued to discern every detail on the battlefield.

In the sky, Mr. Hei shared his vision as well.

The All-Knowing Eye could distinguish any Spiritual Body, allowing Su Lun to see not only each skeleton but also clusters of green phosphorescence.

The powerful monsters were particularly bright with phosphorescence.

Like the Skeleton Sword Deity he was battling, as well as those skeleton dragons, Behemoth, giants, and so on... all had soul vibrations as distinguishable as torches in the darkness.

While the phosphorescence on the lesser skeletons was just bits and pieces like shattered glass—a barely perceptible soul vibration.

Because these giant skeletons were at the forefront blocking the majority of the shells, various lesser skeleton monsters also took the opportunity to surge out, not just skeletons, but also a variety of other bizarre necrotic creatures like flesh zombies, rotten flesh monsters, and so on.

Once the group of monsters dispersed, the effectiveness of the cannons was far less significant than when they were clustered.

At this moment, Dr. Banks suddenly issued a warning through the communication channel, "Everyone be careful of those 'Plague Zombies'; the air is carrying over plague. It's a troublesome plague that can only be filtered out with a Grade-A protective mask. Be careful of open wounds, this plague can also infect through cuts! If infected, immediately inject the 'C5 Type Potent Antivirus Potion'..."

Listening to this series of precautions, those in battle immediately became vigilant.

Fortunately, Dr. Banks was an expert on plagues, otherwise, they would not have noticed these invisible bacteria.

He said it was a troublesome plague, and naturally, it was not to be underestimated.

Luckily, Dawn Squad combat personnel were equipped with various emergency medical supplies, which did not affect the rhythm of the battle.

But the situation suddenly became much more complicated.

...

More and more monsters breached the covering fire and surged towards the Eternal Night, prompting the ship's various close-defense cannons to start firing intensely.

If this continued, the Eternal Night being overwhelmed by the tide of monsters was inevitable.

Su Lun watched the monsters approach, his eyes still steady, rapidly calculating in his mind, "These skeletons aren't under precise control, no connections, no strands of spiritual power... They have their own simple consciousness, acting on certain commands. In other words, they are separate entities..."

He felt that he had perhaps found a way to slow the situation.

Su Lun himself was a Puppet Master; he knew too well the difficulty of stepping into puppetry.

It was only a combination of various opportunities that he now had the ability to control a thousand puppets.

No one of his level could have more.

Even if the enemy in front of him was eighth-tier, their level was at most about the same. This army of hundreds of thousands of undead was obviously controlled differently.

Although he couldn't understand how the opponent's spells worked, those soul fires were clearly crucial.

At that moment, as the monster approached within a hundred meters, a thread released by Su Lun suddenly entered a small skeleton's soul fire.

Then, with a slight attempt, the monster stiffened on the spot.

"It really works!"

A flash of joy surged through Su Lun's eyes. He suddenly found a tactic to counter this Tide of the Undead!

The moment he discovered this detail, he pinched his sorcerer's seals, "Mystic Art: The Grand Puppet Theater!"

The light of the alchemy array lit up, and a huge cross slowly emerged in the sky, from which a thread also descended.

The Heart of Isaac Alchemy provided him with a vast amount of dark spiritual power, and the cross expanded rapidly, soon covering the entire battlefield.

That Red-robed Mage afar spotted the cross appearing in the sky, his gaze filled with confusion.

He didn't know what it was for, but seeing the dramatic surge of spiritual power, he furrowed his brow.

On the other hand, the morale of the Dawn Squad on the battlefield rose, "Mr. Su Lun has made his move!"

Because they knew very well, each time Su Lun acted, he would create miracles.

Based on past experience, the situation was sure to take a turn!