Mechanical Alchemist

A party of twenty entered the tube-shaped building with great swagger.

Several veterans had participated in many such events before, and before entering the dilapidated building, Sam loudly explained the operation precautions to all the newcomers.

"Check your ammo! Place your spare musket in a handy spot..."

"Be careful, aim properly before you shoot. Don't toss your grenades unless absolutely necessary. You don't want to bury yourself without even killing the monsters!"

"Also, point your gun barrel towards the ground, not at the person in front of you. And don't keep your finger on the trigger, if you get scared and accidentally discharge your weapon, you'll face club punishment!"

"After entering, don't speak loudly, the aberration monsters in the dark are very sensitive to sound."

"..."

Su Lun listened carefully, it was all very practical combat experience, and it was no wonder Kai had called the newcomers to gain experience.

His gaze swept over the tube-shaped building not far away, his brow slightly furrowed. The solitary ruined building looked like an ugly toad creature crouching there. Those black, hollow windows were like warts on its back.

He wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but Su Lun always felt as if something was watching their team.

"Is it a person, or perhaps a monster?"

Su Lun couldn't figure out the source of the trepidation in his heart.

He knew what this feeling meant, there were some clues in his mind that led to his uneasiness, but they were not clear enough to form a coherent thread, hence the intermittence of the feeling.

But he didn't say much, because even without his warning, everyone would be on high alert in such an environment.

Without further thought, the team had already entered the tube-shaped building.

....

The interior space of the building was very large, somewhat resembling a shopping mall from Su Lun's previous life.

The house completely blocked out all external light sources.

The gas lamps within the team provided sufficient light, but even so, everyone felt as if they had entered a world of darkness, with light only illuminating a small area.

Su Lun, however, felt it was alright, as his "night vision ability" had significantly improved after advancing to a professional.

Even without wearing those rudimentary night-vision goggles, he could clearly see the general outlines of distant objects.

However, the other newcomers seemed quite uneasy. The dark environment made them afraid of the unknown, apprehensive that something monstrous might suddenly emerge to devour them...

And just then, a gunshot suddenly exploded beside their ears.

"Bang"!

A flash of gunfire illuminated the moment, and everyone saw a black shadow fall from a beam not far away.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a large white-furred rat.

This sudden sound also made all the newcomers shudder. It was no wonder Sam had told them not to rest their hands on the trigger, for with that sudden scare, many guns might have been accidentally fired.

Up ahead, Sam's hearty laughter came through, "Yo... lucky us. This 'White Rat's Ear Bone' is a piece of curse material, worth three thousand rix-dollars. Didn't expect to get materials just by shooting randomly..."

Monsters living in aberrant environments had a chance of containing "curse materials" within their bodies, but the likelihood of producing materials from ordinary monsters was low, typically only elite monsters or beast kings had a higher probability.

Listening, a flicker of contemplation crossed through Su Lun's mind.

The first monster they encountered produced a curse material; was it just a coincidence, or something else?

The veterans, seeing the nervous looks on the newcomers' faces, chuckled, "Hey, everyone, don't be so tense. This 'White Giant Rat' is just the most common monster in the sewers, one shot to the head and it's dead. But be careful, they can jump and bite off your little bird..."

"Hahaha..."

The veterans seemed to be used to such scenarios, finding operations like this much safer than hunting in the wilderness.

After all, they were inside Old Lington City; there wouldn't be hordes of monsters, and even aberrated humans were just the occasional one or two.

With over twenty people, they had an absolute advantage in firepower, and there was no need to be overly cautious.

Kai casually rested the gun on his shoulder, looking very relaxed. At that moment, he also said, "Get ready, everyone, the monsters inside this building should be coming now."

After the gunshot, the noise immediately attracted the monsters from the dark.

But as the veterans had said, scattered monsters couldn't pose much of a threat to the team.

The rest of the journey turned from hunting monsters into a shooting game.

The sound of gunfire attracted the monsters from the darkness, saving the team the trouble of checking each room.

Before long, two aberrant humans possibly witnessed by the informants appeared from the dark and were shot to pulp by the team's collective fire.

Su Lun had seen this kind of monster twice outside the city; back then, he was alone and the surrounding environment was complicated, making it very difficult to deal with. However, isolated monsters were just live targets for the team.

Apart from one unlucky guy who stepped into thin air and broke his leg, everything went smoothly.

And the gains were good.

They discovered that the monsters in this tube-shaped building had a much higher chance of producing "curse materials" than those outside the city...

....

In less than an hour, the people of Green Street had cleared out the tube-shaped building, then arrived at the "Subterranean Chamber" entrance mentioned by the old man before.

This wasn't a natural sinkhole, but one with clear architectural traces.

It looked like a subway station entrance from Su Lun's previous life.

The clean-up operation was going so smoothly that it was almost boring. Perhaps sensing the lack of a challenge, on seeing the entrance, a veteran asked, "Captain, do we want to go down and take a look?"

Kai frowned slightly at the mouth of the cavern, "I remember the last major cleaning of these caverns was ten years ago. There were heavy casualties then. Who knows what the creatures down there look like now..."

He clearly seemed to recall some unpleasant memories and shook his head, "Entering caverns requires stronger equipment and more manpower. We're ill-prepared this time, no need to go down..."

Today's haul far exceeded expectations, which also gave Kai a bad hunch.

Su Lun blended in with the crowd, keeping a low profile.

Throughout the clean-up, he didn't get many chances to shoot. Often, as soon as a creature appeared, it would be taken down by a volley of gunfire from the team. No matter the skill with a gun, when dozens of barrels fire simultaneously, shots will hit; that's the advantage of having numbers.

Now, hearing Kai suggest going back, he thought it a good idea. A subtle sense of palpitation in his heart made him feel that plunging further might cause something unexpected to happen.

And just at that moment, it seemed like thinking of something somehow made it come true.

Suddenly, his gaze caught a humanoid shadow darting out from the subway station entrance.

Su Lun's pupils contracted sharply, and internally he exclaimed, "So fast!"

Deformed humans?

No, that was definitely not the speed of a normal "deformed human"!

Moreover, that thing could actually climb walls!

"Careful!"

Almost at the same time, Kai also raised a sharp cry of warning.

Clearly, he had also seen the shadow that darted out.

Before his words fell, a gunshot rang out, followed by a barrage of fire.

The creature, though swift, was hit in the leg by the scattered gunfire and then by another round of fire cover, immobilizing the wall-climbing beast.

But before the team could celebrate, a cry of horror echoed through the crowd, "Ahhh!"

Su Lun, hearing the scream behind him, turned and simultaneously, his flame gun spit fire, all in one fluid motion.

Bang!

The shotgun blast found its mark, hitting a long proboscis that had descended from the ceiling, causing the screaming gang member to fall from mid-air.

Everyone looked at Su Lun's smoking firearm with amazement in their eyes, probably surprised at his quick response. But their attention was quickly drawn to something else, staring at the half of the proboscis on the ground writhing like a severed snake, turning everyone's faces ashen.

The proboscis thick as a bowl was crimson, loaded with layers of dense, sharp teeth wriggling in the flesh, triggering trypophobia in onlookers.

Sam, steeling his nerves, approached it, prodding the still-twitching proboscis with his gun, and asked with a gulp, "What kind of monster is this?"

The veterans also looked puzzled, as no one recognized it.

"I haven't seen it before."

Kai, looking serious, glanced at the mangled corpse and the bisected proboscis, and frowned, "This creature is no simple matter; even a berserk professional wouldn't have such speed."

If it wasn't for Su Lun's quick shot, one of them would've been dragged away alive by that monster.

Kai looked grave as he glanced over at the "cavern entrance," then added, "Something's not right. We've never encountered such creatures in the city sewers before... I think it's best we leave here first."

But Su Lun's All-knowing Eye provided him with extraordinary eyesight; he had revealed the creature's name the moment he saw it.

"Mutation Deformed Monster"

Detailed Explanation: A deformed human affected by a special environment; its weaknesses are the same as a human's, aiming for the head or heart can kill it quickly.

But at this very moment, he had no interest in speculating what caused the mutation in the creature. The appearance of two of them here meant that...

There could be more inside the cavern!

"Let's go!"

Kai had also realized this was no place to linger and was about to urge everyone to leave.

But then, suddenly, a series of shrill screams erupted.

"Screech~", "Screech~", "Screech~"

The next moment, several flares lit up the surroundings.

The intense light flooded the entire building space, startling the creatures hiding in the shadows as they retreated into the various-sized holes.

The people from Green Street took a good look and saw a group of individuals with all kinds of mechanical prosthetic limbs had them surrounded.

Sam recognized the newcomers and bellowed, "Steam Faction! Dammit, we've been ambushed!"

Seeing this, Su Lun's expression turned cold; he now realized where his sense of crisis had come from.

It wasn't these monsters but these members of the Steam Faction!

He glanced at the "cavern" entrance and then at the blocked exit of the building, muttering to himself, "They chose quite a spot for an ambush..."