Mechanical Alchemist

A cadre, a captain, and a gang member, a strange combination started to drink heavily in the tavern.

Su Lun and his two companions were in the midst of their drinking when suddenly, Sam and several members of the Cross Society rushed into the bar in panic, carrying heavy firearms.

They scanned the bar and their eyes instantly caught Kai in the booth.

There was nobody else in Sam's eyes as he walked over quickly and said urgently, "Captain, things have gone south! Among those troublemakers we took out earlier, I heard one was a 'Steam Party' cadre's nephew. I got word that 'Red Hair' Kuntu is coming here with a crew, it seems they're out for trouble! Captain, we better gather our brothers…"

He spoke in one breath, seemingly almost out of breath.

Gang fights are nothing unusual, especially on territories where two factions intersect.

Normally, this would be a pressing matter.

The enemy was coming aggressively, and they of the Cross Society surely needed to assemble. They might not end up in gunfire, but at least they wouldn't be disadvantaged by numbers.

However, after Sam finished speaking, he realized the atmosphere at the table was somewhat strange.

Normally, shouldn't the captain be slamming the table and rallying the troops by now?

But… Kai seemed very calm.

He even picked up his drink and slowly took a sip before he scoffed, "Nephew? Haha… it looks like those 'Steam Party' guys are just looking for an excuse to start a fight."

Su Lun remained silent, glancing at the gambling-addicted woman beside him with the corner of his eye.

In other places, he might have worried about his own safety.

But now…

With their backs to the entrance, Sam and his men had rushed in looking for Kai, not noticing the woman at the table seemed somewhat familiar.

Now, sensing the strange atmosphere and taking a good look, they finally recognized the large tattooed arms as those of Qian Tiao.

"Sister Qian Tiao?"

The few from Sam were overjoyed.

Qian Tiao picked up her drink, took a sip in a laid-back manner, and lazily asked, "What's the trouble?"

"Well, the Steam Party…"

Sam was about to repeat the same story, but seeing Qian Tiao's bored expression, he quickly changed his tone flatteringly, "Ah, you're here, then it's no problem."

Everyone: "..."

Soon, the sound of motorcycles thundered outside, and the notorious 'Bikers' from the Steam Brotherhood arrived on Green Street.

Su Lun eyed the finely modified steam Harleys at the door with a bit of envy. No denying, in the outer city, the mechanical modification skills of the Steam Party were indeed a notch higher.

Two dozen men with mechanical prosthetics, carrying rifles and pistols, charged into the 'Big Elephant Tavern,' causing the bar's patrons to scatter in fear.

The mood made it clear they were here for revenge.

But then, a dramatic scene unfolded.

The farce had hardly started when it ended in a bizarre way.

The leader with red hair, seeing Kai at the table, fiercely raised his gun and shouted, "Kai, you…"

But before he could finish, his peripheral vision caught the tattooed woman at the table, and his expression drastically changed. The harsh words he was about to utter were forcefully swallowed back.

Red Hair was quick on his feet, not wasting another word, he holstered his raised gun and swiftly turned around to leave the tavern, as if he had walked into the wrong place.

This scene left the uninformed patrons of the tavern utterly confused.

But the people from the Cross Society burst into laughter, with continuous jeers, "Hahaha...."

Qian Tiao didn't bother with the departing Steam Party members. She, a Cross Society cadre, wasn't about to lose her dignity by quarreling with a minor captain from a rival gang.

The drinks were almost finished as she said to Kai, "Kid Kai, be careful these days, those Steam Party folks also have their eyes on Green Street, and there might be quite a few sneaky moves…"

Kai contemplated, "Got it, Sister Qian Tiao."

Gang life, always about fights and killings.

From the moment they joined, they were prepared for it.

....

Many unexpected events occurred on the first day of joining the gang, but the days that followed returned to normal.

Every night at seven o'clock, Kai would take his squad on patrol for half an hour, then they'd disband.

Life seemed very leisurely.

Even the Steam Party guys, since that incident at the Big Elephant Tavern, hadn't shown up again.

And the gambling-addicted woman made it a point to show up at the arena every night, dragging Su Lun to gamble with her.

But gambling really is all about luck.

Even though Su Lun often had good gambling luck, he couldn't always win.

Of course, he gambled little, so he could accept both wins and losses.

But Sister Qian Tiao, she fully embodied the gamblers' highs and lows.

When winning, she was all reason and advice, saying things like "You must cut losses timely" and "When winning, know when to stop"...

But once she started losing big, none of that mattered. If she lost once, she'd increase the bet, and if she lost again, she'd double the bet…

Impossible to persuade.

This kind of gambling led to her blowing through the two million she won on the first day in just a couple of days.

This was the common plight of gamblers: deliriously happy when winning, destitute when losing.

However, this gambling-addicted lady, though mediocre in her gambling skills, had a fairly decent character.

After losing everything, instead of borrowing money from Su Lun and Kai, she just mooched meals and drinks.

Since Su Lun had to harvest Soul Shards at the gladiator arena daily, he could only gamble with her. Thus, the two of them became quite familiar with each other.

Qiantiao didn't put on the airs of a gang leader, and they became sort of drinking and dining buddies.

No wonder she had a good relationship with the gang members in her organization.

Days later, having gambled away her last savings, Qiantiao reluctantly decided to head back. She planned to do some gang tasks to earn money and arranged with Su Lun to gamble again later.

Su Lun bid farewell to this gang leader, and his life returned to tranquility.

Every night he stayed at the gladiator arena until dawn, then found a guesthouse to meditate, practiced Puppeteer skills, and read alchemy books...

His days were organized and leisurely, harvesting souls and honing professional skills daily, his experience points soaring rapidly.

The arena had 8-10 corpses daily, and occasionally, there were professional gladiator matches.

During these days, he also harvested a bunch of bizarre abilities, like "Lip Reading Mastery," "Dart Arts," "Motorcycle Riding Techniques," "Gwent Skills"...

A hodgepodge of skills, everything you could think of.

However, he gradually discovered a problem.

That was, as his firearm and combat levels increased, the experience he stripped from corpses became less and less.

Later, he figured it out; approaching "Advanced Firearms Mastery," he naturally couldn't learn much from a corpse of "Beginner Mastery."

Though there were minor gains, they weren't much.

Fortunately, there were no risks, and he could accumulate experience steadily, the practical experience from one corpse at least equivalent to practicing for half a month on his own.

During this period, Su Lun went to the black market a few times but didn't find the implant blueprints he wanted. However, he heard that in a few days, there would be a monthly unregularly scheduled high-quality auction at the black market, a central selling point for Scavengers and thieves with many valuable items appearing.

He planned to try his luck there then.

....

On this day, inside the guesthouse.

A gunshot "bang" echoed, causing the wall's plaster to fall in chunks.

Who knows which unlucky soul got hit by the bullet.

Although used to such disturbances, Su Lun's arms still instinctively trembled at the noise.

The rune pen in his hand, dipped in blue paint, deviated from its intended path, leaving a glaring mark of failure on the puppet's body that resembled misapplied lipstick.

"Failed again..."

Su Lun looked at the puppet he had painted, now unrecognizable, with a sense of helpless bitterness.

Though he usually stayed focused and undisturbed by external factors, the frequent sudden brawls and gunshots made it hard.

The cheap guesthouse's hallway often had drunken tenants fighting. In this world where everyone had a gun, starting a fight almost always meant a shootout, always startling. Just yesterday, an incident above Su Lun's room involved a call girl who conspired with her accomplice to shoot an Escorter, leading to chaotic gunfire that nearly misfired through the floor and injured him below.

"Finding a suitable dwelling is really difficult..."

Su Lun sighed slightly, tired of the noisy environment.

He wanted to find a soundproof, quiet place with a shooting range.

Puppeteers were a rare profession, and he could hardly strip related skills from gladiators in the arena, so he had to practice hard. Enchanting and carving were much more challenging than anticipated, requiring a quiet environment and plenty of time.

Since he was already disrupted, Su Lun didn't dwell on the gunfire anymore.

He looked at the poorly painted puppet in front of him and suddenly twisted his fingers around something invisible, making the puppet eerily stand up.

It was only half a meter tall, resembling a waddling, bare-bottomed toddler, then it started moving around the room.

The wooden joints' "crack" and "crack" sounds were somewhat eerie.

Su Lun stood still; his fingers moved rapidly as if playing a piano, and the puppet performed many movements, though stiff, like punching, kicking, rolling, and stabbing with a knife...

After practicing the controls for a while, Su Lun's fingers felt stiff, so he stopped.

"Phew..."

He let out a long breath.

Looking at the steel wires tangled around his fingers, he slightly shook his head and muttered, "The wire isn't fine enough, nor tough enough, and the controllability is too low... Finding the right thread material really isn't easy."

This was already the best material he could find for controlling puppets, but it was still somewhat unsatisfactory.

He remembered seeing Pestoya in that manor's ruins, effortlessly controlling dozens of puppets with threads, easily restraining Bald Ivan.

The same wire manipulation, but the effects were worlds apart.

Half-finished puppets, unsuitable steel wire, and crude manipulation skills...

As a novice "Puppeteer" aiming to use puppets in combat, there was still a long way to go.

But Su Lun was in good spirits; considering he had reached this level in just a few days, he felt his progress was quite acceptable.

With several hours left before work, Su Lun had planned to continue practicing puppet manipulation.

Just then, his communicator suddenly received a call from Kai, "All newcomers, gather at the usual place, we have an aberration task."

Su Lun didn't delay, checked his equipment and ammunition, and left the room.

.....

Shortly after the assembly message, Red Hair from the Steam Gang quietly led a group of people near Green Street.

From the communicator, a mysterious voice spoke, "Captain Kuntu, it's confirmed, Kai is leading a group of about twenty newcomers to the tube houses."