Mechanical Alchemist

"Boss, the Cross Society's convoy escorting the goods has entered the city. They should arrive at the 'White Sail Warehouse' in about ten minutes."

"Has the list of escort personnel been confirmed?"

"It has been confirmed, three vehicles totalling twelve people. They are all old members of the Cross Society recorded on the list, no suspicious persons. The team is led by 'Blade' Kai, and there's another one on the list named Su Lun, not bad with a gun."

"Hmm, a gunman is just a gunman, no matter how strong, he's just a low-level threat. Stick to the plan. Once you confirm the item is in the cargo, immediately eliminate everyone who has come into contact with it."

"Yes!"

"Oh, and that 'Kai,' go and make contact with him. Give him an outer-perimeter evaluation; if he's capable, bring him in."

"Yes."

....

The Cross Society's convoy slowly entered the inner city through "Gate Number Five."

Once inside the city walls, it was like stepping into a forest of steel, a highly dimensional city. There were many buildings over three to five hundred meters high, resembling towering trees that formed the backbone of the city.

Supported by these skyscrapers, densely packed steel frame sky bridges, suspended urban train tracks, high-altitude pedestrian streets, and hanging steel layers were built... like layers of a multi-tiered cake.

These elevated structures connected the buildings, effectively dividing the entire city into upper, middle, and lower layers.

The architectural styles were clearly layered.

The lower buildings appeared elongated, with exposed brick walls and large stones, characterized by very evident Gothic styles with soaring spires, pointed arches, and large windows with colored stained glass, reminiscent of architecture from a thousand years ago; the middle layers with their steel frame structures, thick pipes, and steam boilers exuded a rough industrial steampunk vibe; and higher up, it transitioned into a cyber-world of futuristic technology with aerial gardens...

The city's designers had increased the residential capacity within the limited space several times over.

Though Su Lun's harvested memories were somewhat vague, he knew that the residents of the inner city also varied in social status.

The higher one lived, the more prestigious their status.

The lowest level was the inner city's civilian area.

The Cross Society's convoy traveled on the ground, similar to a light rail, as urban trains roared overhead. Next to the streets, flower stands blooming with bright flowers were visible, and people of all ages wore fitted, vibrant clothing.

"Wow... so many cars! Do all these guys in the inner city have so much money? It feels like every person can afford a luxury saloon..."

Kai had never been to the inner city before, and he kept exclaiming as he observed the starkly different scene from the outer city.

Each of these cars had a shiny finish and sleek lines, nothing like the old vehicles in the outer city cobbled together from scrap parts.

Seeing the cars on the highway suddenly made Kai think that the "cool modified motorcycles" in the gang seemed like naughty children covered in mud in front of these saloons.

Su Lun rested his chin on his hand, leaning against the car window, watching the bustling busy streets, yet his gaze seemed somewhat distracted.

Even though they had successfully transported the cargo to the inner city, where there should be no chance of encountering bandits, he still felt something was off.

...
Discover exclusive content at empire

The destination for the cargo escort was "White Sail Warehouse," an inconspicuous building beside the river at the bottom of District 5, with a glass roof resembling a white sail.

The space was vast, allowing the trucks to drive directly into the warehouse.

Kai called Su Lun to disembark, "Hey, bro, we've arrived. Once we hand over the goods, our mission will be complete."

Su Lun nodded, but he wasn't in a hurry to get off.

He deliberately observed the people receiving the goods in the warehouse, seven in total. They were staff from Lady Fino's subsidiary commerce association and seemed unproblematic.

Then he surveyed the layout of the warehouse. It was spacious, as large as a football field. Aside from a few vehicles, there were no places to hide, just a few thick, spray-painted steel columns supporting the glass roof overhead.

In that moment, Su Lun had instinctively thought of possible escape routes should danger arise.

Kai had already gone down and greeted the recipients.

He then went to the back of the trailer to open the password-protected door, and his crew started unloading the goods one by one based on the inventory list.

Having observed this, Su Lun didn't notice anything unusual and also descended from the vehicle.

"Butler Jackson, here is the inventory list of the goods. We checked it already before we left, and there are definitely no issues," Kai said.

"Sorry, but we still need to go through the process."

"Oh, inventory checking is quite a time-consuming task, that must be tough for you."

"Not at all. This is exactly why Lady Philo hired us."

"... "

As Su Lun disembarked, he watched as the Cross Society's members started unloading the items from the truck, while the old butler named Jackson was in charge of inventory.

The folks from the inner city seemed very detached, apparently having little interest in interacting with the Cross Society members from the outer city, even with Kai, the transport leader.

Kai seemed quite bored.

Seeing Su Lun come down, he approached, "Su Lun, after we hand over the goods, how about we take a tour around the city?"

Seeing Kai upbeat, Su Lun nodded, "Hmm."

But just then, suddenly a large man with a goatee dressed in a suit came from outside the warehouse and called out to the group asking, "Who's Kai?"

Kai frowned at the arrogant tone. He initially didn't want to respond but seemed to recall something and eventually spoke up, "I am."

The man wasted no time and coldly said, "Follow me, someone wants to see you."

With that, he turned and left in the direction from which he had come.

Far from being skeptical, Kai was actually excited. He gave Su Lun a meaningful look, "Brother, I'll be gone for a moment; please keep an eye on things for me."

"Okay."

Su Lun nodded but said nothing.

He knew that this goatee was probably the contact that Kai mentioned Smoke Ghost had arranged for him to meet.

He had nothing much to say.

After all, Smoke Ghost was Kai's former captain and the one who had promoted him within the gang. Su Lun often heard Kai express admiration for Smoke Ghost that resembled a child's admiration for his father.

But...

What Su Lun found strange was that this goatee came directly to the warehouse to fetch someone?

This was Lady Philo's warehouse; if the financial backer introduced by Smoke Ghost was an acquaintance of Lady Philo, why so secretive?

And that almost imperceptible watchful gaze near the warehouse entrance—was it a sentry or something else?

...

The items on the truck had already been unloaded, large sculptures and metal utensils were piled everywhere.

Then there were the smaller items like ancient books, scrolls, and cursed materials.

Having doubts, Su Lun quietly observed. Gradually, he noticed something—this goatee butler seemed to be examining those books very carefully.

The invoice simply listed "one hundred ancient books" without any detailed names.

The pile comprised of hundreds, perhaps thousands of books; it would take a lot of time to inspect each one.

Yet the butler painstakingly reviewed each book, as if looking for something.

This unusual behavior immediately triggered Su Lun's alertness.

What was this old man looking for?

He showed no such detail towards other old artifacts; it seemed he was searching for a particular book?

In that instant, several keywords flashed through Su Lun's mind—goods, books... gang's warehouse?

No!

Something was wrong!

Suddenly, he connected memories with those keywords.

Those were from his first day joining the Cross Society during that warehouse attack at headquarters!

At that time, Qian Tiao had captured an intruder, but they were killed en route by a mole from the Cross Society.

Su Lun connected all the clues and suddenly frowned, guessing a possibility that sent chills down his spine, "This guy is looking for 'Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript'!"

...

The thought emerged suddenly, casting a tremendous sense of impending doom over Su Lun.

What he had thought was a simple escort mission secretly harbored a sinister threat!

Su Lun had already learned through various channels that what the Cross Society had lost was indeed a copy of "Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript."

He had thought its loss was none of his concern, being a lowly gang member with no relation to such a precious item.

Yet now, he found himself unexpectedly entangled in the matter.

He instantly thought, "The Captain Miller who had shot the captive back then definitely wasn't the mole, at least not the mastermind. This means there was another key figure involved in the heist within the Cross Society that hadn't been caught.

With President Chak and the executives suddenly returning to headquarters, the mole knew they couldn't safely take away the manuscript and instead chose to hide it..."

Moreover, this was not just conjecture; it was confirmed!

Su Lun immediately recalled the key information obtained from the soul of that second-level attacker: "They would never guess where the manuscript was hidden."

"So that's what happened..."

Su Lun connected all the dots in his mind, revealing a deeply laid, vast conspiracy.

Since the manuscript wasn't taken away at the time,

where could the manuscript be hidden that would be least expected?

The Cross Society's warehouse!

"The manuscript had never left the Hessen Building; it merely moved from the Cross Society's treasury to an ordinary warehouse outside!"

Piecing various clues together, Su Lun quickly concluded, "That mole knew very well that even as an executive, revisiting the warehouse would be suspicious for him. But by using this method, he wouldn't have to personally risk retrieving the manuscript because every so often, the Cross Society automatically packages and transports the goods to the inner city...

Just by ambushing the transport team, he could find the manuscript hidden among those books!"