Mechanical Alchemist

"Prepare for battle."

"Hmm."

Su Lun and Kai were not ones to easily resign to fate, even though they were now in such a desperate situation.

The narrow alley left them no room to retreat, so they planned to make a final charge as soon as the monster cleared the rubble blocking the door.

This charge would likely determine their life or death.

However, just as the monster was about to dig through the rubble, the gunfire, which had ceased outside, suddenly erupted again.

"Have the reinforcements arrived?"

Su Lun and Kai exchanged a look, both seeing disbelief in the other's eyes.

The only ones who could come to their rescue were the veterans from Green Street.

But with so many monsters, and not a single professional among them, how had they broken through?

Kai thought of something and said, "It must be a high-ranking professional who's arrived! I just hope it's not an enemy..."

Su Lun clenched his fire gun tightly, his eyes sharp as he said, "No matter who it is, the monsters outside are now distracted by the gunfire. This is our best chance to break out."

"Hmm."

Kai nodded, "Should I make the move now?"

Su Lun nodded.

Kai took a deep breath, his mantis blade flashing with a cold light, causing several cracks to appear on the rubble wall.

"Charge!"

Following a sharp cry, Kai was the first to smash through the stones, charging out.

Su Lun did not hesitate and followed him immediately.

Both were prepared to face a flood of monsters once they broke out, ready for a fierce battle. However, to their astonishment, upon bursting out, they found nothing there!

Upon closer inspection, apart from the corpses they had killed earlier, there were hardly any monsters in the tunnel.

Looking further, a group of people was fiercely exchanging fire with the monsters not far away.

The two leaders, one with four arms, each wielding a long knife with green hair looking stark and formidable; the other as sturdy as a bear, his muscles like rock, his entire body a striking red.

The first, swinging his four arms, carved through the monsters like slicing vegetables, limbs flying in disarray; the other, like a wild bull, charged headlong, his punches exploding the bodies of the monsters, brutally splattering blood and flesh.

Just these two alone left a trail of carcasses in their wake.

"This... is so powerful!"

Su Lun's gaze sharpened. Although he had never seen "a thousand stripes" in their unleashed alchemical suit form, recognizing those familiar four long knives, he identified the gambling-addicted lady.

The other towering red-skinned giant made a deep impression; it was Goron, the second-tier professional known as 'Red Demon' from the arena!

....

"Wasn't she supposed to have gone back to headquarters?"

And why would Goron come for the rescue, could it be he joined the Cross Society?

Su Lun and Kai never expected that these two would be the ones to come to their rescue.

Seeing Su Lun and Kai, the veterans from Green Street behind the two powerhouses exclaimed, "Captain, it's Captain Kai!"

The veterans rushed over, relieved to see their captain unharmed, each letting out a sigh of relief.

"Wow, Captain, you're so damn cool, killing so many monsters."

"Haha, I just knew it, the captain would be fine."

"Captain, mighty~"

"..."

The veterans made a raucous, feeling immensely lucky just to have the captain alive.

By then, the aberrant monsters in the tunnel had been nearly wiped out.

The few that remained fled back into the depths of the tunnel.

Observing Su Lun and Kai, "a thousand stripes" also relaxed.

She sheathed her knives, her contraption integrating back into the tattoo.

Approaching, she joked, "Yo, little Kai, you sure are lucky..."

Kai, in good spirits having just escaped danger, smiled and said, "Thanks to you guys arriving in time, Lady Thousand Stripes. Any later, and you'd have been collecting our corpses."

Pausing, he asked, "Eh... weren't you supposed to be back at headquarters, Lady Thousand Stripes? What are you doing here?"

Thousand Stripes explained, "Mr. Goron and I were discussing some matters just nearby in the Redwood District. Hearing you were ambushed by the Steam Faction, we hurried over..."

Looking at the pile of monster corpses like a mountain, a hint of surprise crossed her face.

The number of corpses was staggering.

And on closer inspection, there were two types of wounds on the ground: gunshot wounds and blade cuts.

The blade cuts were obviously from Kai's ability, but what about those gunshot wounds?

Thousand Stripes, with her discerning eye, could tell that most of the gunshot wounds on the aberrant corpses were fatal shots.

A couple could be luck, but each and every wound being like this indicated exceptional marksmanship.

Realizing this, Thousand Stripes seemed to guess something, her eyes glancing curiously at Su Lun.

Having become quite familiar during the time in the casino, she spoke casually to Su Lun, but she didn't mention the corpsеs on the ground, just asked, "Su Lun, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Thank you, Lady Thousand Stripes."

Su Lun didn't plan to elaborate, giving Thousand Stripes a polite smile.

Letting Kai handle the spotlight, he was content to remain quiet as his usual inconspicuous self.

Thousand Stripes didn't inquire further, but suggested, "It's good you're fine. Let's get out of here. There's something peculiar about this underground area. It might have special aberrant materials, best not to linger..."

She had also noticed that there were unusually many monsters in this den, and most of them were species she had never seen before.

There must be some potent mutation factors in the environment.

Not to mention, if people stayed too long, it wouldn't necessarily be safe.

Upon hearing this, the group didn't dare to delay, quickly cleaned up the battlefield, and then all exited the tube building.

...

Breathing the air from the outside, Su Lun felt his whole body relax. The high-intensity battle had also tired him out.

Yet, just as he surfaced, a chill appeared on the face of the rescued Kai, who immediately called out to his brothers, "Brothers, let's go, now it's our turn to find trouble with those sons of bitches from the Steam Gang!"

"Those bastards from the Steam Gang dared to mess around on our turf, this time we'll definitely break their dog's legs!"

"So many brothers died this time, they must give us an explanation!"

"Right, smash their mother!"

"..."

The old birds were all excited about going to fight on the Steam Gang's turf.

Chianti, standing by, didn't seem surprised by Kai's decision, nor did she persuade him otherwise, instead she stoked the fire with a look that didn't mind the upcoming trouble, "If we're going to fight, it should be soon. Otherwise, when the leaders from both sides come forward, they are most likely to end up at the negotiation table.

Not only would we suffer losses in vain, but we would definitely have to pay compensation. It's just not worth our brothers' lives."

But as much as fighting was on the agenda, there were still questions being raised, "Sister Chianti, are we just going to go there openly? Won't they just be waiting to ambush us? What if their leaders step in..."

Chianti, well-versed in such conflicts, assured them confidently, "Don't worry, as shameless as those guys from the Steam Gang are, this time they have to swallow this loss. Their leaders will definitely appear, but the rules of the street still apply. They surely can't fight upfront."

After a pause, she lazily added, "Besides, Mr. Goron and I are there. If there really is an incident, we, the leaders of the Cross Association, aren't pushovers either."

Hearing Chianti speak like this, the members of the Cross Association also gained confidence.

Chianti looked at the group eager for revenge and glanced at Su Lun, who had been silent, and probably explained specifically for the two survivors, "This time, the Steam Gang reached out so far, directly linked to the inner city financiers' infighting. But many matters are being negotiated by our chairman, involving high-level games, which I shouldn't talk about in detail..."

It meant that the high-level games and conflicts were expected and inevitable.

Green Street, located at the edge of Old Spiriton Outer City, was a significantly lucrative "fleshpot" right at the boundary between two gang territories. As the defenders, they couldn't strike first, but once attacked, they had to hit back.

Su Lun listened to this and instantly understood the meaning in Chianti's words.

This ambush was more than just a simple territorial conflict.

It was like international boundary disputes in his previous life. Conflicts were anticipated, but that didn't mean nuclear weapons should be used preemptively.

There were far too many vested interests behind it, a game among international powers.

The "Cross Association" and "Steam Gang" were the two biggest gangs in Old Spiriton Outer City, and they were tangled not only with countless gang members, several industries, many associated powers, but also with the interests of the financiers behind the inner city.

Bottom-up struggles for territory were the norm and a competition method tacitly approved by both sides' leadership.

Minor scuffles caused little loss and also settled pecking orders.

Gang turf wars were just like this; either you get knocked down, or you can't afford it and yield the territory acknowledging weakness.

The Steam Gang and the Cross Association had fought countless times over Green Street.

Captain Kai of Green Street was killed in a shootout between the two sides.

Everyone wants the lucrative territory, but adults can't always get involved in children's brawls.

Indeed, if every little issue escalated to high-level battles, it could eventually evolve into a full-blown war between the two gangs.

No one could bear the consequences of such a large-scale war.

Even if it involved the chairmen of both gangs!

Without a disobedient "Steam Gang", an inner-city financier could immediately support a new "Steam Party"... Interests are eternal, not dominance and victory.

As harsh as it sounds, in Old Lington, in the outer city, among gangs, the lives of the lower class are indeed so cheap.

The gang members were also long aware of this.

....

If today's ambush by the Steam Gang had been clean, killing Kai and his team entirely, there would have been no trouble.

This was also the norm in gang warfare.

Although everyone clearly knew who did it, without catching them in the act, nothing could be done. You could also send someone for a retaliation kill, provided you don't get caught.

But now, Kai and Su Lun had survived, and the bodies of the Steam Gang members still lay on the Green Street turf.

The nature of the incident had changed.

This was evidence.

The Steam Gang was at a disadvantage, and now as Kai and his team hit back, the opponents had to just endure it.

....

Kai handled things as decisively as ever.

After quickly treating his wounds, he rallied hundreds from the nearby streets and headed straight for the Steam Gang's turf.

They directly took down 'Red Hair' Kuntu's turf and wanted to flip Sis's area next but were stopped by the Steam Gang's leaders as expected.

Then, the leaders from both sides intervened, sitting down at the negotiation table, and the fight halted.

Money was paid, territories were ceded, temporary peace was made.

This was the old standard procedure.

Su Lun did not care about high-level negotiations but still harvested many scraps.

It must be said, the Steam Gang, as a "new school", indeed had a level of mechanical knowledge significantly higher than ordinary people. Almost every gang member had at least some mechanical skills. After picking a few sites, Su Lun extracted quite a few mechanical insights, transforming from a complete mechanical novice to a "beginner in intermediate mechanics."

After this battle, the Steam Gang would likely be quiet for a long time.

Su Lun also had time to safely improve himself.

However, after this fierce battle in the tube building, his desire for alchemical enhancements grew even more urgent. Without these enhancements, a professional was significantly weaker in combat than those equipped with them. Merely relying on gun skills wasn't enough for him to survive in the harsh environment of the outer city.

Finally, several days later, the monthly black market auction opened.