Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun emptied his savings to acquire the "Eight-Limbed Spider God Spear Equipment Blueprint."

But amid his relief, he found it rather strange.

This Alchemy Equipment Blueprint was almost like it was made specifically for his "Puppeteer" profession, whether it was the stringent usage requirements or the effects, it almost perfectly matched.

In this world, the notion of "Profession-Specific Equipment Blueprints" existed, which were the result of countless generations of Magicians' revisions and improvements, designed to achieve maximum compatibility between the gear and the profession.

But generally speaking, this idea of a professional plus specialized equipment is only really coveted by the major families within the inner city.

For those from the outer city, just being able to change professions was an achievement rare among the rare, and to find a somewhat fitting piece of alchemical gear was already good enough, without any luxury of expecting a customized blueprint.

Besides, it wasn't common to see a gold blueprint in the black market even over several months, yet he just happened to encounter one, wasn't that too coincidental?

However, it wasn't long before he learned it wasn't good luck, but rather because this black market auction had truly brought a large number of astonishing treasures.

The gold blueprint he acquired, which seemed rather useless to others, was merely an appetizer.

....

Su Lun was still aching over his 800,000 silver, when the next auction item had already been projected onto the cave wall.

It was a blackened bone of a hand.

The product description revealed it was an exceptional silver-quality cursed item, "Hand of the Flame Demon," a required material for the rare profession of "Dark Fire Sorcerer," and likewise a freshly unearthed ancient relic.

As soon as this item was brought out, it immediately sparked a fierce scrambling among the people in the black market, eventually selling for over 4 million silver to a mysterious buyer.

Yet, the climax did not stop there.

The next item was another gold-tier blueprint for close combat, "Diamond Skeleton Equipment Blueprint," going for 1.9 million silver...

The following item, an Alchemical Codex excavated from an ancient Ruins City. The content was still undeciphered but suspected to contain spells and glyphs for elemental conversion of the second order or higher. Selling price, 2.1 million silver...

Another item, an antique alchemical scroll made of beast hide. Similarly undeciphered, it was presumed to contain knowledge of high-order runes, with a final auction price of 1.3 million silver...

One after another, rare treasures continued to make an appearance, with prices climbing ever higher.

The atmosphere in the dimly lit underground black market auction house was heated to an extremely fervent level.

It seemed that some wealthy Big Shots had already received certain information in advance and had prepared ample cash to wait for these good finds. They spent lavishly, bidding without hesitation on items they fancied.

While Su Lun marveled that there were so many hidden wealthy individuals in the outer city, he also realized that the majority of these treasures were likely the products of Scavengers from the same Ruins City.

He immediately surmised that a new, large Ruins City must have been discovered.

Clearly, reality was just as he had guessed. He wasn't the only one to think this.

With so many ancient relics appearing at this black market auction, everyone speculated that a large Ruins City must have been found, and whispers of this spread down the streets of the black market.

"A large ancient Ruins City?"

For some reason, Su Lun suddenly thought of the city ruins shrouded in mist that he saw deep underground when he had traveled through time.

Upon further thought, could it be that city had been discovered? Although the auction didn't specify where these items came from, Su Lun had no way to confirm his hunch. However, there were no shortage of influential Big Shots in the outer city. Since they were ancient relics, they must have been brought back by Scavenger groups.

There are no walls in the world that don't have ears; after this auction, there would be a batch of people who made a fortune, and information would likely spread soon.

.....

This was an extraordinary auction, so much so that even the owners of the black market's shops were left in amazement.

Going out at this time would definitely lead to being followed by those wanderers lying in wait outside the black market, who would see one as an easy target.

Thus, after acquiring the blueprint, Su Lun didn't hurry to leave.

Black market shop owners often possess more informed channels of information than the average person.

Possibly because he had previously made a small fortune selling materials, the owner of Gesen's Alchemy Shop also gave Su Lun a piece of information for free.

The old man began, "There's an underground rumor that this batch of goods was brought out from ancient ruins discovered beneath 'D33 Wasteland' by the Inner City Red Gores Scavenger Group. However, the Scavenger Group was ambushed by a band of mysterious Plunderers before they even made it back into the city and were completely annihilated. The goods... naturally became illicit plunder.

That's why they didn't make it to the inner city auction house..."

"Plunderers" are essentially professional thieves who choose to lie in wait for Scavengers on their way back to the city.

But usually, those people could be mercenaries, gang members, or perhaps other Scavengers.

Upon hearing the old man's words, Su Lun's face also revealed a moment of realization.

Indeed, these items, which would clearly fetch a better price in the inner city, were now appearing in the outer city black market. Only contraband that couldn't see the light of day could explain this situation.

However, as Su Lun listened to the news, his eyebrows slightly furrowed as he thought, "D33 Wasteland? If it's near there, it could very well be goods originating from that Ruins City..."

When he heard this piece of information, he even felt that the [Eight-Limbed Spider God Lance Implant Blueprint] might actually be an Alchemical Implant diagram exclusive to his profession as a Puppeteer.

If his guess was right, then the place where this diagram was found could very likely be that former "Storm Manor".

Could it be that after he left, Scavengers had cleared out that "Cursed Space" in the Storm Manor?

No, that can't be right, Pestoya was very strong too.

In Su Lun's opinion, she possessed at least the combat strength of a cadre, and, as a troublesome "Ghost Breed", ordinary Scavenger teams wouldn't stand a chance against her.

As for the "Red Gores Scavenger Group", he recalled the owner mentioning them as just a few seasoned first-tier professionals without even a second-tier among them. Otherwise, they would not have been so easily ambushed and totally wiped out.

Maybe they found it somewhere else?

Did those fellows head to the city?

As Su Lun thought about it, his mind drifted even further, and it seemed even less likely.

He still vividly remembered the more terrifying abominations lurking within the dilapidated city ruins.

It was then that the shop owner spoke up again, "Although the precise location of that ruin hasn't spread yet, it probably won't be long before Old Lington experiences a Scavenger frenzy, and business will pick up for a while."

After making his point, the little old man added, seeming somewhat wistful, "But it's a pity though, many people will die..."

"..."

Listening to this, Su Lun's thoughts were racing.

The more he learned about this world, not only did it not make him feel as though he understood it, but it seemed to grow even more mysterious.

The ruins had left behind so many treasures, which meant that there must have been a very splendid civilization with very powerful Alchemists underground in the past.

If they had such a great civilization... how exactly did that city come to ruin?

The succession of civilizations always comes with great disasters.

Intuition told Su Lun that the ancient city ruins were anything but simple.

....

"Something doesn't seem right. It feels like someone deliberately spread the news of the ruins at the auction to attract people to search for them..."

An idea of a conspiracy theory naturally popped into Su Lun's mind.

But he didn't dwell on it much.

If someone really used such a deadly "bait", Scavengers would rush in, even if they knew the mortality rate was high.

In Old Lington, human life was not that valuable.