Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun scrambled onto the warehouse rooftop, his eight spider legs displaying their superior ability to traverse any terrain.

Crawling sideways, moving vertically, jumping...

The men in black were more skilled than expected; the moment he got onto the roof, the guards outside spotted him, and bullets rained down in chaos.

Su Lun manipulated the spider legs to sprint madly across the warehouse roof, never touching the ground, but instead climbed over via the pipeline connecting the warehouse to another building.

It was lucky that the eight legs could grab onto the pipeline, enabling him to leap into the floor of the building opposite via the mechanical gloves' steel cables, finally shaking off the men in black on the ground.

He kept running, daring not to stop.

Fortunately, the buildings in the inner city were very crowded; he used his spider legs' excellent wall-climbing abilities and had escaped to another street within moments.

Then, he finally stopped in a secluded alleyway.

....

Su Lun retracted his prosthetic gear, then quickly treated the gunshot wound on his calf with hemostatic powder.

Although he had tried to dodge, the men in black had still managed to shoot him in the leg while he was navigating the iron pillars in the warehouse.

He swiftly took off his blood-stained clothes, bandaged the wound, then changed into a high-end suit similar to those worn by the inner city residents, washed off the smoky makeup from his face, put on a wig and a hat, pressing the brim low. He then sprayed his entire body with odor-eliminating medicinal water.

Having done all this, Su Lun quickly stored the clothes he had taken off into the Storage Ring.

Then, he looked at the thick book in his hand named "Precious New Pearl" with a somewhat complex expression.

He had tucked it into his chest with his spider spear as he was escaping.

Naturally, the book cover was a disguise. Even without looking at the content, he knew it had to be the "Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript."

On the black market, a single page of the manuscript could fetch up to three hundred million Riso, and this book had at least five hundred pages.

However, it wasn't that he coveted the manuscript for its value.

Whether he took it or not, his situation couldn't get any worse.

The intentions of the other party were already clear—they came to kill and silence him.

Moreover, escaping from the hands of a second-grade professional and city gangster, if he had been the Ice Mage from before, he definitely wouldn't let himself go either.

What's more important... he had definitively set himself on an irreversible path when he killed those men in black!

After all, those men in black had no ordinary background.

They weren't just any enforcers employed by some financial tycoon, but members of the "Umbrella Organization"!

....

During the battle earlier, Su Lun was puzzled.

Although it's common to have many professionals in the inner city, it was unlikely for a second-grade professional and a full team to intercept a minor gang squad from the outer city just like that.

After harvesting the memories of the two men killed by the spider spear, Su Lun finally understood the true identity of the robbers.

At that moment, Su Lun no longer harbored any hope for luck.

The Umbrella Organization was a massive entity in Old Lington, not to be trifled with. He had heard about it during his gang days; anyone could be killed, except for people from this organization.

Killing one meant they would relentlessly pursue you until death.

Now that he had killed so many, they would definitely seek revenge to the bitter end.

Moreover, even though others might not know his real identity, the Umbrella Organization, Old Lington's largest intelligence agency, definitely would.

If caught, there was only one outcome – death.

Oh, and they would extract all secrets before letting him die.

....

Su Lun knew that his involvement in this convoy was no coincidence. In a way, he was "implicated" by Kai.

It was likely that the official responsible for arranging this transport, was of Taiwan origin.

That guy, planning to send Kai into the inner city on the sly...

So, was he trying to get Kai into the umbrella organization?

At this point, Su Lun was also very puzzled.

Since he was an insider, it was highly probable that he had also leaked the transport information.

But how could he be a secret line for the umbrella organization?

Su Lun felt there was something wrong with this relationship chain.

He had once speculated that the mole within the Cross Society should be someone from an opposing conglomerate about the same "level" as Lady Philo, and it definitely shouldn't be someone from official departments.

Now, thinking about it, there were more and more doubts.

Could it be that he was a double agent?

Or, were there some elements within the Cross Society that even the umbrella organization dreaded?

Also, why did the people from the umbrella organization necessarily have to kill to silence? Wouldn't just quietly taking away the manuscripts do? Was it merely because taking Kai away was hard to explain, or did he not want to blow his cover? Or did he feel that those involved with the manuscript incident had to be completely cleaned up for some special reason?

Too many illogical points.

....

The notes couldn't be stored in the Storage Ring either, but fortunately, they weren't large, and Su Lun could tuck them inside the inner pocket of his coat.

After changing his clothes, he didn't linger in the alleyway and went straight out.

"It's definitely impossible to get out through the city gate, I need to think of another way..."

While walking, Su Lun was considering contingency plans in his mind.

His footsteps were brisk, showing no signs of agitation. Just like the ordinary residents of the inner city, he walked leisurely on the street, not at all like someone on the run.

What he needed to do now was to escape from the inner city as quickly as possible.

Originally, the Cross Society also had some channels for smuggling out of the city, but since he knew the enemy was the umbrella organization and he was an insider, those channels were no longer trustworthy.

After ruling out several escape plans, a feasible plan sprang to his mind.

"Danny used to stay at 'Facility No. 7' located on Queen Street in the Fourth City District. The sewers there connect to the ancient sewer network. This is currently the only safe way out of the city..."

Su Lun had previously asked Danny about detailed escape routes and also learned the exact location of that route leading to the outer city's sewers.

But while the plan was set, problems emerged again.

From the Fifth City District to the Fourth City District, he had to cross a large district, which was very risky.

Su Lun thought of Danny's super sensitive sense of smell.

He was certain that a security agency like "Umbrella Organization," even if it did not have someone with exactly the same abilities, would definitely have similar tracking methods.

For now, he had momentarily shaken off his pursuers, but it was most likely they would track him by scent.

After all, he had been shot and bloodied, and he had left his smell in the truck, leaving no room for luck.

Thinking all this, Su Lun walked towards the nearby bus station.

Upon arriving at the bus station, he paused in front of a map of bus routes, memorizing the general layout of roads in the Fifth City District.

Then he hailed a taxi and got in.

He had to escape before the enemy's hunting net tightened.

.....

Just a few minutes after Su Lun boarded the taxi, several men in trench coats hurriedly arrived at the bus station.

In their hands, they held a leash attached to a dog that seemed to have slight deformities.

The ugly dog sniffed around the bus route map where Su Lun had stood before and then started barking towards the eastern street.

Seeing this, the man holding the leash picked up the communicator and reported, "All units, please note, the target has taken public transport, moving from the west entrance of Merlin Road Station towards the east, heading towards District Six."

Not long after the report, a sedan arrived, and several people with the dog got into the car.

On the other hand.

Taking a taxi, Su Lun took the opportunity when the driver was not paying attention to stuff the blood-stained clothes he had changed out of into the backseat compartment of the taxi.

Then he only rode for two stops before getting off and heading to the street on the opposite side.

He switched to another taxi and headed in the opposite direction towards District Four.

He didn't think such small tricks could deceive anyone completely, but he hoped they would buy him some extra time.

However, evidently, those anti-tracking skills could mislead the enemy but could not stop another unstoppable method of the Umbrella Organization—roadblocks!

....

As Su Lun was about to leave District Five in this taxi, he saw a checkpoint for checking cars at an intersection up ahead.

The Umbrella Organization's men had obviously considered this and wanted to trap him in "District Five."

It was a one-way street, now even if Su Lun held a gun to the driver's head and ordered him to turn around, it would be pointless.

He saw the checkpoint, and naturally, the people in the checkpoint saw him too.

Turning around would only expose him faster.

Seeing the check, the taxi driver complained, "Oh, why would they suddenly block the road during the daytime? It's too early for a DUI check...and it's not the security guys but seems like some special municipal department. Maybe they are capturing a fugitive ..."

The driver muttered, suddenly thought of something, and then stealthily glanced at the passenger in the backseat through the rearview mirror. Seeing him calm as usual, he didn't dwell on it.

Su Lun naturally noticed the driver sizing him up but didn't speak or jump out of the car, sitting in the backseat as usual.

The car drove past and indeed was stopped.

A few men in trench coats knocked on the driver's window, "Sir, please show your ID card."

The driver pulled out his ID card, held it in his hand, and the card emitted green light.

The inspectors looked at it, compared it, and then handed it back, "Thank you for your cooperation."

Inner city ID cards' anti-forgery technology is extremely difficult to counterfeit.

Using someone else's is useless because the gadget is bound to biological information, and only glows when the holder squeezes it.

Su Lun naturally couldn't produce such a thing, and he had no intention of doing so.

His action naturally drew the attention of the inspection personnel, a few of them subtly closed in around him.

The situation was about to be exposed.

Yet even so, Su Lun didn't draw his gun but calmly rolled down the window and asked the person by the door in a cold tone, "Who here is in charge?"

While speaking, his face showed no trace of fear typical of a fugitive; his expression was resolute and calm, even intentionally emitting some of the killing aura he had honed in real combat.

At this question, even the trench coat man who was ready to check his ID hesitated for a moment, shocked by his aura, his thoughts stumbled, and he instinctively responded, "It's... Captain Mokos."

Su Lun didn't give him a chance to counter-question and said in a calm yet undeniable tone, "Call him over."

The man hesitated, "Yes."

Turning his body, he spoke a few words to a square-faced man who was checking another car at the checkpoint.

Soon after, the square-faced man came over and asked, "Sir, you were looking for me?"

While speaking, he was also sizing up Su Lun, clearly intimidated by the aura as well. He instinctively felt this was a dignified, highly capable, and obviously high-ranking professional.

Su Lun didn't give him much time to think, and said something baffling, "Those eternally at rest are not the deceased; in the mysterious eternity, even death itself will dissipate." Your journey continues with empire

These words baffled the driver in front, but the square-faced man by the door suddenly changed his expression, suddenly becoming respectful and actually saluted on the spot, "Comrade Colonel!"

"Hmm."

Su Lun waved his hand, didn't say an extra word, and commanded the driver, "Drive!"

The driver, seeing people saluting outside the door, was also taken aback for a moment, realizing that there was a Big Shot on board.

Hearing the command to "Drive," he unconsciously started the vehicle.

Although the man in the trench coat felt that something was off, before he could react, the vehicle had already left the checkpoint.

....

Su Lun sat expressionlessly in the backseat, glancing through the rear-view mirror to ensure that no one from the checkpoint was chasing them, and then relaxed his hand that was on the gun.

If the move he tried just a moment ago hadn't worked, they would have been shooting it out by now.

This code phrase had been learned in the cursed space of a basement at 88 Ginkgo Street when he met the "Blind Detective" Bill.

Back then he hadn't matched it correctly, but now he hadn't expected it to be useful.

"So this is a colonel-exclusive code phrase of the Umbrella Organization?"

With some clarity in his mind, Su Lun remembered that the square-faced man had immediately reported a position upon hearing it, which obviously was the correct way to use the "code phrase."

But it probably wouldn't be that simple; there must be a follow-up part to it.

Su Lun didn't know the rest, so he didn't give those guys a chance to react and hurriedly urged the driver to drive on.

The deliberately leaked murderous aura was also to make the other person preemptively assume that he was a high-ranking official inside the system.

However, this method had many flaws, which might have managed to deceive on a regular day, but was bound to cause trouble at such a critical moment.

Seeing that the taxi had left the sight of the checkpoint, Su Lun got out of the car by the roadside.

Public transportation was no longer an option.

....

Meanwhile, at the command headquarters of the Umbrella Organization's No. 5 City District.

"Headquarters, the suspect has intercepted a taxi, and a set of bloody clothes was found. The information was incorrect, the suspect swapped to the opposite direction heading towards No. 4 City District."

"All units note, thoroughly inspect every passing vehicle at the related route checkpoints, especially public transportation. The target of the suspect is No. 4 City District, urgently retrieve the secret archives of smuggling channels..."

"Just received urgent intelligence, the suspect has impersonated an internal officer and used a Class A code phrase. Everyone, switch to Class B code phrases, communication to transfer to emergency channels."

"..."

One message after another was brought together at the command center by agents from all over the city, and the vast machine of the Umbrella Organization started to move, an invisible net gradually tightening.

....

Su Lun knew riding in a vehicle was no longer safe, but he thought since he had already entered No. 4 City District, he might try going on foot.

However, walking on the street, he soon encountered the patrol security team and members of the "Frost Giant's Armor" city guard squad. Being alone, he was once again asked for his identity papers.

Su Lun thought of employing the same trick that had just worked.

But this time, as soon as he started mentioning the "code phrase," the other party raised their guns.

After a fierce struggle, he barely escaped.

But his whereabouts had also been exposed.

Su Lun knew the Umbrella Organization had fully grasped his movements; it was impossible for him, a stranger in a strange land, to just head near the "No. 7 Research Institute."

For anyone, this situation would have seemed like a dead end, an individual against the entire inner city's defense system, and it was impressive that he had lasted this long.

But in this dire situation, Su Lun became even calmer.

He thought of the last desperate method to gamble on for escape: the Moonlight Inn!