Mechanical Alchemist

Chapter 183: The Secret of the Dungeon

Qian was bathing.

Su'en lay on the bed with nothing to do, so he took out an alchemical tome and began to flip through it.

Now, he spent almost all his free time digesting knowledge.

This was a habit he had developed even before he crossed over to this world; reading always stabilized his emotions.

Before long, the sound of water from the bathroom abruptly ceased.

Qian emerged wearing a loose bathrobe, naturally leaving nothing underneath. A glance upward revealed the deep V of her chest, a swath of pale skin. It must be said that close-combat professionals indeed had impressive physiques.

"Huff~"

She walked over to the dressing mirror, letting out a long, contented sigh, "Finally feeling relaxed..."

Her soft, aqua hair was unbound, making her look less fierce and more approachable.

Qian pulled a towel from the rack and, tilting her head, began to dry her damp hair. With each lift of her hand, the wide sleeves and neckline gaped open, revealing generous glimpses of skin.

However, the two people in the room remained composed.

Su'en glanced at his book, only sparing her a brief look before refocusing.

The shower had masked their conversation with its noise, but now that it was quiet, Qian continued the earlier topic, "Hey, Su'en, I heard you have a puppet that's immune to the 'Night Scythe of Hypnos'? Mr. Black's plan is to take your puppet along if possible."

"Mm, it's a type of reanimated corpse."

This information was already on the wanted posters, so there was nothing against lending it out.

Moreover, after Su'en had used the abomination so many times, Mr. Black, being the scholar he was, had likely already guessed the origin of the reanimated corpse.

As he spoke, something else occurred to him, "But controlling that corpse is a bit tricky. If you're not a puppeteer, it would be quite difficult. And to precisely control the scythe's slashes requires a lot of practice..."

Although Su'en believed Mr. Black and his group were strong, he doubted they could efficiently use a sealant they were unfamiliar with.

Hearing this, Qian glanced over from the mirror.

She met Su'en's inquiring gaze and added, "Mr. Black said you might be interested in seeing it for yourself. So... actually, I'm here to borrow you."

.......

"Borrow me???"

Upon hearing this, an instinctive voice within Su'en responded.

No, I'm not interested!

Although he didn't know why Mr. Black and his group wanted to intercept the young princess of the ducal mansion, that battle would surely be extremely dangerous. Even the leader of the Umbrella Organization had come secretly to scout ahead, which suggested that the princess was likely surrounded by top-notch experts.

Moreover, the Black Tower was a very special place.

Even the top financial tycoons of the Inner City had their limits, no matter how strong they were.

But now that Su'en knew the Black Tower was a gateway to the upper world, he understood that the ducal mansion's resources were unfathomably deep, far beyond his imagination.

Otherwise, with the strength of Mr. Black's group, which family in the Inner City couldn't they bulldoze through?

Their caution and secrecy were undoubtedly due to their wariness of the Black Tower.

This battle would surely be a fierce clash between top professionals.

Su'en was well aware of his own limitations.

As a newcomer to the second tier, although he had some tricks up his sleeve, he wasn't someone who could show off in such a situation.

The battle between top professionals could be overwhelming even from the sidelines.

Lending the scythe was one thing...

Lending himself...

Wait, what did Mr. Black say?

A thought flashed through Su'en's mind, but he didn't rush to express his stance.

He looked at Qian, puzzled, "Mr. Black said?"

"Mm. Although I think you probably wouldn't want to go, Mr. Black said that once you hear our plan, you would want to..."

Qian glanced at him.

After a pause, she revealed something that would shock anyone, "After all, this time we're aiming to take down a true transcendent powerhouse. According to ancient terms, that person would be... a fifth-tier professional!"

......

"Fifth-tier?!"

Upon hearing this, Su'en was first stunned, then he realized the significance of her words.

This was indeed unexpected.

The strongest known expert in Old Lingdun was at the third tier, like the bosses of the three major gangs in the Outer City, the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the major guilds, the top experts of the Inner City... all were third-tier.

What was the situation with the fifth tier?

According to the tomes unearthed from the ruins, ancient alchemists were certainly not limited to the third tier.

After all, Sir Isaac of the Dawn Ruins, a thousand years ago, was hailed as a "demi-god."

Hearing Qian's words, Su'en was first surprised, but his actual first thought was: how many alchemical fragments could be harvested from a fifth-tier professional?

This piqued his immediate interest!

It wasn't just about the volume of knowledge, but the depth of understanding at the level of laws.

It also meant... a broader perspective!

"The quadratic equation" is difficult for elementary school students, but for middle and high school students, isn't it just an introductory problem?

This principle applies in the field of alchemy as well.

Without crossing certain tier thresholds, many transcendent pieces of knowledge are incomprehensible.

Su'en was deeply aware of this.

When he was at the first tier, learning second-tier rune knowledge was extremely difficult, hard to understand, hard to comprehend. But after advancing, many of the previous difficulties became almost instantly understandable, and the learning difficulty was reduced by several times!

One could imagine, if the soul of a fifth-tier professional were stripped away and their knowledge of laws truly comprehended, how would Su'en's learning progress be?

Not to mention whether he could harvest complete knowledge fragments, Su'en felt that just the "perspective" alone would make understanding and learning other second-tier and third-tier alchemical knowledge a breeze, wouldn't it?

Transcendent knowledge was monopolized by the Black Tower, something that couldn't be obtained even by harvesting dozens of third-tier professionals!

If it were a group of third-tier enemies, he really wouldn't want to go.

After all, it would be strange if the young princess didn't have a dozen or so third-tier protectors by her side.

If Mr. Black couldn't cover for them and Su'en really faced one, he wasn't sure he could survive an encounter with a third-tier professional.

But now, hearing this,

It turned out,

They weren't after the young princess, but a fifth-tier guardian?

......

"How strong must Mr. Black and his group be..."

Upon hearing Qian reveal their plan, Su'en instantly felt he had underestimated the strength of the "Mirror Organization."

But as much as he was impressed, he was indeed very interested in this plan!

If Mr. Black and his group dared to make a move, they must be confident in their ability to succeed!

"It looks like you've decided to go."

Qian caught the change in Su'en's expression and commented lightly.

Su'en nodded, "Mm."

"Good that you've decided."

Hearing this, Qian didn't say much more.

At this moment, she had finished drying her hair and glanced at Su'en sprawled across the bed, complaining, "Hey, hey, hey~ Su'en, could you move over a bit? You're taking up the whole bed, can you leave some space for me?"

Su'en's thoughts had already drifted, his mind filled with the potential gains from harvesting a fifth-tier professional's fragments.

Hearing her, he glanced at the disheveled Qian.

This big shot seemed to really plan on squeezing in with him.

If the gambling widow didn't mind, he naturally had no objections either.

"Oh."

Su'en responded and shifted over, making room on half the bed. Then, just as he moved, he suddenly felt a chilling blade aura whisk past.

"Whoosh," the sound was light, like a sharp knife slicing through the air.

Looking again, the large bed was neatly split in two.

The blade was so swift that even the sheets and blankets on the bed remained undistorted, cleanly cut in half, leaving a wide gap in the middle.

"..."

Su'en looked on, his lips curling into a wry smile.

He had clearly seen Qian draw her blade, but he didn't dodge. Obviously, the big shot was just intimidating him, probably as payback for the teasing during her bath earlier.

Fortunately, the mattress was supported by numerous individual springs, so even cut in half, it didn't collapse.

"Alright, time to sleep."

Qian, seeing that Su'en wasn't scared, pouted, finding it dull.

She didn't consider herself an outsider at all and happily lay down on the other half of the bed.

Crossing her legs, her pale thighs were exposed.

.......

Since he was going to join the battle, Su'en naturally had to inquire about more details.

He turned his head towards the other half of the bed and asked, "Sister Qian, when are we likely to depart?"

"I don't know, waiting for notification."

Qian responded lazily without even opening her eyes, "The plan is for Mr. Black and the others to handle; I'm just responsible for the fighting."

She seemed completely unconcerned with the details of the plan, leaving the scheming and plotting to the likes of Mr. Black, the wise.

The two shared a room without any awkwardness in the atmosphere.

Thinking of their mission to surround and kill a fifth-tier professional, Su'en was indeed curious about many things, such as their strength.

Qian didn't consider herself an outsider, and neither did Su'en. He directly asked, "Sister Qian, what tier are you at now?"

After a moment's hesitation, Qian slowly uttered three words, "Hard to say."

Su'en: "Hard to say?"

Qian suddenly opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling in thought, not intending to hide anything from Su'en, "I broke through to the third tier half a year ago. But due to a second awakening of my talent and some special inheritance, my combat power is much stronger than that of an average third-tier. If I have to say... I'm barely at the fourth tier."

"Oh."

Listening, Su'en's expression showed a hint of surprise.

The conversation tonight had indeed refreshed his understanding of this world.

Su'en was still pondering what the fourth tier entailed when Qian spoke up again, "Aren't you curious why we're targeting that fifth-tier guard commander?"

Su'en had thought it might touch on some secret and hadn't wanted to pry.

But now that she brought it up, he asked, "Why?"

Qian explained, "To advance to the fourth tier, one needs a special item[Sun God Stone]. Such a special energy crystal won't form in the underground world without sunlight. Those transcendent professionals from outside the tower might carry it, and it can also accumulate from their corpses. If we want to break through the Black Tower's blockade, we must have enough power. Right now, we're far from it."

Her tone was calm.

But Su'en could hear a hint of heaviness.

Perhaps because he planned to join the battle, he felt that Qian's attitude towards him had clearly changed.

Maybe as allies?

Previously, they had laughed it off, but now she chose to reveal some top secrets to Su'en, secrets that only a few knew.

She asked again, "Do you want to hear some secrets that could cause trouble?"

Su'en sensed the seriousness in her voice and after a moment, replied, "Yes."

Qian looked at the ceiling, her gaze drifting as she began to speak.

"Remember when you left Old Lingdun, I told you to get stronger?"

"Mm, I remember."

"Actually, it was because I didn't want you to bear that pressure too soon... just like when I first encountered the truth, it was truly despairing."

"..."

"When you realize the world you live in is a giant prison, everything you pursue seems utterly meaningless. The Black Tower has the power to make people despair. No matter how hard you try, you can only ever struggle to survive in a dark dungeon. What's the point of such a life? Until I met 'Mirror'..."

At this point, the gambling widow suddenly turned towards him.

Propping her head with her hand, she looked at Su'en and smiled, "You've done well, I've always heard about you, and I know you've been getting stronger."

"..."

Su'en listened quietly.

He had never seen Qian so serious before.

Even though she was smiling.

Qian continued to speak.

"Do you know how Old Lingdun came to be?"

She answered her own question.

"About a hundred years ago, someone found the Black Tower using an ancient map. That person was Raphael I. The current Duke Raphael's grandfather. Back then, Old Lingdun was just ruins, devoid of humans. Then, they filled it with a large number of war slaves and prisoners from the outside world... The slaves had their memories of the outside world erased, and then they began to clear the land and multiply in the underground world, establishing a new order...""In reality, there's no fundamental difference between the tycoons of the inner city and the commoners of the outer city. At the end of the day, everyone is just a 'miner' under the Duke Raphael, generation after generation mining treasures from this ancient ruin that dates back a thousand years."

"Those inner city tycoons think the wealth is in their hands? Hah... Unable to escape this cage, everything they have belongs to the Black Tower."

"..."

This news was indeed heavy to hear.

But Su'en, as a transmigrator, didn't find it too hard to accept.

Ever since he learned from Number Nineteen that his predecessor was brought in from outside the Black Tower, he had guessed the existence of a surface world.

Hearing this, he asked, "Can't the truth of this matter be revealed?"

With so many people in Old Lingdun, if they were to revolt, it would be a formidable force.

Hearing this, Qiantiao shook her head.

"Fifty years ago, there was a rebellion. That time, the rebels even breached the Black Tower. Then, despair began. Without any warning, a group of super-class experts descended from the upper levels, effortlessly slaughtering the leading top-tier professionals... The rebel army stood no chance and was quickly wiped out. In the end, the turmoil resulted in the massacre of hundreds of thousands. Everyone connected to the rebellion was executed for 'treason.'"

So it had been tried before...

Hearing this, Su'en could already picture the scene.

A group of players around levels twenty to thirty storming the tower, then a bunch of level fifty to sixty bosses appearing.

With a swish of their blades, the group was annihilated.

It seemed this topic touched on some unpleasant memories for Qiantiao, her brows slightly furrowed as she continued, "Some old folks in Old Lingdun city might still remember this, but no one dares to speak of it. If even a word of this topic reaches the ears of the Umbrella Organization, it would mean the annihilation of their entire clan."

"If everyone in Old Lingdun knew the truth, the only consequence would be that the Black Tower would send top-tier experts to purge the entire 'prison.' Then they would send in another batch of people... To them, the lives of miners are worthless."

"So, you understand now why we have to do what we do, right?"

......

After listening to Qiantiao's story, Su'en also fell into deep thought.

For ordinary people, this was truly despairing.

Advancing to the fourth tier required the Sun God Stone, which could only be produced on the surface, meaning that the people in the caverns could only reach up to the third tier at most.

If there were fifth tiers, it was possible there were also sixth, seventh, and eighth tiers.

Su'en had completely lost any concept of what those levels of professionals could be like.

Thinking about it, was it like the difference between ants and elephants?

Ants in large numbers might be able to kill an elephant.

But in the world above the Black Tower, there were countless elephants, and perhaps even dinosaurs?

No wonder Mr. Hei and the others were planning to intercept that fifth-tier leader.

The lessons from the rebellion fifty years ago had taught them that numbers were useless; it was the top-tier experts who were the key to victory.

If Qiantiao and the others could advance to the fourth tier, perhaps they would have a chance to break their shackles.

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