Mechanical Alchemist

"Offering bribes so blatantly?"

Su Lun suddenly felt that this fat man was quite "spiritual."

Among a group of proud lions, the emergence of a fox was undeniably interesting.

Moreover, the guy considerately added, "Bro, don't worry about the rest, this is within the rules. Just accept it with peace of mind, consider it my hiring fee. The academy's trial rules simply require using any available resources to pass, hiring guides isn't prohibited. If the teaching assistants weren't ignoring me, I'd have offered them something too..."

Hearing this, Su Lun suddenly felt that the fat man was quite to his liking.

A descendant of a business family, no wonder he knew the ropes.

Before coming here, Qian Tiao had mentioned that there might be astute students offering bribes to pass the trial and told him to just accept them peacefully. The thick stack of bills that the fat man handed over made Su Lun feel not the slightest guilt.

Seeing Su Lun accepting the money, the fat man also relaxed and casually started a conversation, "My father told me, we don't need to be very powerful ourselves, just finding the right career is enough. I'll be a great businessman in the future, understanding how to make money is what matters, fighting is for the bodyguards.

I won't lie to you, I came to the academy just for a diploma, to flaunt it in high society later..."

Su Lun listened and smiled slightly, he had to admit this candid fat man made some good points.

Not everyone needs to be able to fight, especially for those in high society who monopolize resources. Letting subordinates do the dangerous jobs is enough.

Charlie was very talkative. He then mysteriously added, "I have reliable information that the school intends to increase the difficulty of the trials this time, raising the casualty quota to ten percent. Although I know that Instructor August will be with us, in such a complex environment a teacher can't possibly take good care of everyone.

After all, there were casualties in the previous trials too..."

After pausing, the fat man continued, "And, don't laugh at me, but it's always us non-combatants who end up as casualties..."

"..."

Su Lun found it both funny and pathetic listening to him.

This guy really knew himself well; in a real combat trial, naturally, the weak are more likely to become part of that "casualty quota."

And while it was just dead weight, calling it "non-combat personnel" really showed how thick his skin was.

With that in mind, Su Lun specifically looked over at the fat man's group, which indeed seemed to consist of a bunch of lousy chickens who couldn't even hold their guns properly.

The capable students had all grouped together for better trial scores, leaving these laggards in the fat man's group.

At that moment, Charlie knew it wasn't good to be away from his group for too long and didn't say much more. He merely whispered in Su Lun's ear, "If we encounter danger, please take care of my team. Um...especially me!"

Su Lun looked at the fat man's strong survival instinct and, having accepted money from him, nodded, "Mm."

If necessary, he wouldn't mind taking care of Charlie.

But it seemed this trial of the level of a spring outing hardly necessitated it.

....

Although Fat Charlie tried to avoid public notice when seeking out Su Lun, some people still noticed his sneaky behavior.

One told another, and soon everyone knew.

They were still at the entrance to the dungeon and hadn't encountered any creatures yet, which led the students to start whispering amongst themselves.

"Hey, Charlie that guy is probably bribing again. Last time during the assessment, he bribed the examiner just to scrape through. He's using the same trick again, really disgracing our elite class..."

"Hmph, a guide worth spending money on? I've heard those guys from the outer city even treat the blueprints of Black Iron prosthetics as treasures, and some don't even understand the basic principles of Alchemy, how capable can they be? If a crisis really happens, we might have to protect him instead."

"Shh... that's a gangster! I heard from my mother, gangsters are ruthless killers. Their minds are filled with sinister and dirty scheming; their favorite targets to kidnap are us wealthy people from the inner city..."

"Let's not provoke the gangsters; my father also said those guys are like rats hiding in the shadows, stopping at nothing to achieve their goals..."

"..."

Su Lun could feel some faint glances aimed at him.

Although he couldn't hear exactly what those guys were whispering, it was definitely not compliments on his looks.

In the eyes of those pampered young masters and mistresses, he probably looked like a snarling, monstrous creature...

...

As the trial team moved deeper, some small groups of monsters began to appear around them.

Maybe because Su Lun and Kai had killed too many last time, those wall-crawling creatures only appeared sporadically. They hung from the ceiling like geckos, scurrying around.

At that time, the students gradually adapted to the dark environment and started to grow bolder.

They shot a few rats that took the wrong turn, and the sounds reached into the depths of the dungeon.

Then, waves of monsters began to attack in small groups.

After the initial panic, the students gradually regained their confidence. With overwhelming firepower, the monsters were quickly annihilated.

Su Lun found it somewhat boring.

Pure firepower suppression, without a hint of technique or tactics.

But he finally understood the pleasure of the wealthy in this world.

The equipment of these wealthy heirs was incredibly lavish; the way they used various Alchemy bullets was as if they cost nothing, each volley costing tens of thousands.

Poor shooting skills?

No worries, meet the high-explosive shells.

Hit the target and it explodes just like a spray, covering a wide area.

Too many monsters?

No worries either, get to know the automatic machine gun.

If one shot misses, just fire off a hundred more, one of them is bound to hit.

It's like a group of elite players raiding a low-level dungeon, where even if they are low level and inexperienced, it doesn't stop them from breezing through without damage.

Of course, such a scenario would never occur in any "serious" Scavenger team.

With such tactics, the value of the cursed materials they harvest is less than one-tenth of a percent of the ammo spent.

Su Lun looked on with complex emotions, thinking that if they had had such firepower back in the day, they might not have nearly died here.

Indeed, in any world, having money means you can do whatever you want.

....

However, equipment is only one aspect.

Su Lun had to admit that most of the knowledge possessed by these systematically trained students was of a truly elite level, crushing over 99% of the people outside the city.

Whether it was complex alchemical spells, mechanical armor, or medical skills, they were proficient in all... Though their operation was immature and reliant on equipment, it did not hide their halo of talent.

Many areas of knowledge were even profound realms that Su Lun had never heard of before.

He excelled in firearms and naturally took a greater interest in sharpshooters.

There was a student in the team whose shooting was decent, whom the others called "Jack." He seemed to be the only one from this term at the Black Tower Academy to have ever received the "Sharpshooter Medal."

Along the way, he had also killed the most mutated monsters.

Just speaking of skills, this Jack had probably also reached the standards of a "firearms expert."

But that was it.

These students still lacked real combat experience.

Very standard procedural attacks: draw the gun, aim, fire... Everywhere you could see the rigid traces of training.

It's not to say it was bad, just that such an evident trace in their shooting raised too many fixed patterns, lacking some flexibility.

Moreover, to measure whether a sharpshooter has reached the level of "firearms expert," apart from shooting scores, the most important aspect is the mental state in actual combat.

Su Lun was very confident, facing this Jack, the latter wouldn't even have a chance to draw his gun.

But they were just hypothetical enemies; they would never actually face each other.

After all, unlike those outside the city who wagered their lives for a living, these inner-city nobles, there was no need for them to risk their lives to gain that real combat experience. This sort of trial was the most dangerous experience in their lives.

....

"If the trial ends just like this, it seems a bit dull."

Su Lun followed behind the team, having not drawn his gun the whole time, feeling quite uninvolved.

The five teams were like playing a monster-slaying game, pushing ahead relentlessly.

They killed the monsters and collected some samples of mutated creatures and water sources.

But these sporadic monsters seemed not to satisfy their overflowing sense of achievement, still a long way off from completing their mission.

They needed a more thrilling sensory experience and more monsters.

At that moment, the team leader, the "Sharpshooter" Jack, suddenly remembered something and turned to Su Lun at the back of the team and asked, "Hey, guide, which way should we go now? Where are the most monsters in this cavern?"

His tone was quite impolite.

Su Lun looked at the two teaching assistants who didn't speak, which also implied their agreement with the students' choice.

After thinking for a moment, he pointed in the direction he remembered the scythe was in and said, "Last time we came, we saw the monsters running toward that side, I think that's their nest."

Since these guys weren't satisfied with their monster killing, they might as well use their overwhelming firepower to clear out this passage.

The two teaching assistants didn't take action, and the second-tier instructor hidden in the shadows didn't show up either.

With such a team setup, they were more than capable of sweeping through this area of the cave.

As soon as everyone heard this, they all got excited, "Alright, let's go there! This time we must take down the monsters' lair; we might even encounter some 'abnormalities,' haha... "

The students were still immersed in the excitement of exploration, unaware that the two teaching assistants exchanged mysterious smiles behind them.

PS. Tomorrow is the 1st; I'm asking for monthly tickets and recommendations in advance. Brothers, please help out~