Mechanical Alchemist

Soon, the number of black dogs had continued to increase.

At the end of the tunnel, chaotic shadows swirled everywhere.

Assistant Rosa realized that following the large group was only a hindrance; she could move much more flexibly with just one person.

Her decision was very resolute, grabbing a girl named "Lena," and then she shouted towards Su Lun, "Guide sir, we will split up, please make sure to bring the students to a safe place!"

Without waiting for Su Lun's response, she didn't look back and plunged into the darkness with the girl.

Meanwhile, the group of black dogs chasing them completely ignored the other students hiding against the walls and fiercely pursued them.

Su Lun knew his limits; he had no means to deal with those black dog creatures. Even though he knew that Rosa and the female student had little chance of survival, he didn't hesitate.

"Go!"

The cavern was no place to stay, Su Lun commanded sharply, intending to lead the students out first.

Now, without any instructors around, these young nobles could very well die here, and not just Su Lun, but the whole "Cross Society" from top to bottom would probably be punitively cleaned up by those inner city big shots.

Hearing this, the students, having had enough of the fright, followed Su Lun without any objections, hurriedly walking back through the tunnel they had come from.

They walked for a while without encountering any trouble.

The few black dogs they did encounter didn't pay them any attention and kept chasing straight past them.

Everyone could finally be certain that all the anomalies in this trial were because someone wanted to ambush "Lena."

What was supposed to be a routine trial, where they might have faced some minor crises but would have scraped through with some scuffles, had turned into something far more serious.

A lot of unexpected things had happened.

The missing Combe was probably dead, Instructor August had not shown up from the start to finish, Assistant Daniel had disappeared and never returned, and now even Assistant Rosa had fled deeper… and there was Lena.

....

Su Lun found a route leading to the surface and proceeded upwards.

The monsters gradually became sparser around them, and everyone finally saw a glimpse of hope for survival.

After running for a while, they were nearly reaching the surface in a sufficiently safe environment. A few who couldn't sustain their energy stopped to rest in a spacious area.

With no aggressive monsters pressing in, everyone's thoughts started to function normally again.

At this moment, someone weakly asked, "Assistant Rosa and Lena... they won't be in any trouble, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere turned exceptionally quiet.

Actually, everyone knew that if so many of them had not been able to handle the black dog creature, how could just the two of them manage to kill the beasts?

The best hope was that they might have managed to escape...

But Su Lun knew the nature of those creatures well; if Rosa had fled alone, she might have survived; but with her taking "Lena," both of them would likely meet a grim fate.

Yet, at that moment, an inappropriate voice spoke up.

It was Jack who stood up and said seriously, "No, we can't just give up on Assistant Rosa and Lena... and Combe! We have to go and rescue them!"

As soon as he said this, someone immediately voiced their objection, saying, "But, those monsters are beyond what we can handle. All we can do is go to the surface and notify the academy, someone should come to rescue us soon."

"No!"

Jack was adamant about going back, insisting, "We must do something, waiting for rescue just won't be enough!"

"I think it's best not to go..."

"Yeah, going won't change anything."

"Anyway, I'm not going. If you want to go, go ahead, but don't morally blackmail me."

"..."

Suddenly, there was infighting. Su Lun watched this group of haughty young lions squabbling, but his mind was on other things.

He too had noticed, during the journey, that Jack had been showing a lot of attention to "Lena," apparently pursuing her.

It looked like a plot of bravely adventuring for one's loved one.

It was initially somewhat admirable.

But suddenly, the plot twisted.

Jack, who didn't dare to go alone, was asking his companions to join. After shouting for a long time with no response, he got angry, probably intending to provoke them by ungraciously saying, "Hmph, you cowards, the ones in danger are our most respected teacher and classmates whom we spend every day with!"

These words were harsh, suddenly breaking the façade.

Then someone stood up and spoke the truth.

"Jack, so you're not a coward, huh? Heh...Don't think we don't know why you're desperately trying to get close to Lena. Isn't it just for her family's assets? Now, if she's in trouble, your and your family's only support is finished. You selfish demon, yet you want us to follow you to our deaths, no way!"

"Usually, for the sake of being classmates, we didn't expose you, but now you're pushing it too far? A second-class citizen, sharpening your head trying to climb into higher society, do you really think you can fool everyone with those sordid intentions?"

"Exactly! We didn't see you bravely diving in earlier. Now that you've realized it might affect your family, you regret it and want everyone to accompany you to your death?"

"..."

The trainees spoke more and more rudely, each sentence hitting where it hurt.

In high society, pulling each other down wasn't much different from the lower classes, exposing flaws and throwing salt on wounds.

Su Lun also understood as he listened from the side.

It turns out there were also class distinctions within the inner circle; even the tycoons had their own rankings.

Wasn't Jack from a top-tier family, but rather like a vassal family supported by Miss Lena's background family?

Then, aiming to rise through marrying up, this was why he acted so proactively.

....

Originally, Su Lun had just been silently watching this drama unfold, remaining inconspicuous.

However, he hadn't expected the fire to burn his way.

Jack, seeing that no one accompanied him, then set his eyes on Su Lun. He was the only one present whom Jack could suppress with his status.

Without thinking, he commanded in an authoritative tone, "You, I order you to come and save them with me!"

Listening to that arrogant tone, Su Lun looked at him once but did not argue, saying indifferently, "My task is to get you all out."

Fat Charlie, who hadn't spoken till now, intervened and said, "Jack, don't go too far. The guide's job is to take all of us out—you can't compromise everyone's safety for your selfish motives!"

"Humph!"

Jack, red-faced with anger, lost the polite demeanor he had before.

He ignored Charlie and stared at Su Lun, threatening, "You lowly outcast, dare to defy my order? I'm telling you, if anything happens to Miss Lena, you won't survive! Not just you, but also the forces behind you—I guarantee you, Miss Lena's Reiss family and my Edward family will pursue this to the end!"

Hearing him mention the "Reiss family," Charlie's expression also froze.

Su Lun, however, remained expressionless as he listened to these words.

Death threats?

Tsk tsk...

This guy really slapped his own face with the superiority complex of inner city residents.

At that moment, an idea suddenly flashed through his mind, and without looking for any other excuse, he stood up and said, "If no one else objects, I can accompany you ..."

Listening to Su Lun "giving in," everyone thought he was intimidated by Jack's words. It seemed only natural—how could a member of an outer city gang, whose status was even lower than a slave in inner city families, dare to defy?

No one spoke, seemingly unwilling to speak up for an outsider.

Fat Charlie wanted to say something, hesitated, and swallowed it, sighing deeply.

After all, one Jack was a minor issue; almost everyone in the class had a status that did not fear him.

But if people found out they hindered the "rescue Miss Lena" operation and something really happened, causing the high echelons of the Reiss family to be furious, that would be a real disaster.

No one could afford that.

Seeing no one else speak, Jack said with a sneer on his face, "No need to ask these cowards—you come save them with me!"

Hearing this, Su Lun stood up expressionlessly, accompanying the young master back deep into the grotto.

....

Soon, the two arrived at the fork where they had earlier parted ways with the female assistants.

The location was remote enough; the quietness of the underground space allowed even their breathing to be clearly audible.

Su Lun thought that probably no one would hear a gunshot here.

Jack walked behind him, seemingly also on guard.

Little did he know Su Lun had already harbored a murderous intent.

At that moment, just as a strange noise came from deep within the cave, capturing human attention in an instant,

With preparedness, Su Lun's ear twitched; he drew his firearm like lightning, turned around, and decisively pulled the trigger.

With no warning, and without any hesitation,

With a "bang" of the gunshot, Jack was shot in the middle of his forehead, his eyes remaining open in death.

Su Lun put away the firearm, looked at the body, and said indifferently, "I dislike being threatened more than dealing with troubles."

People from the inner city can't be killed?

Heh...

Such a word doesn't exist in Su Lun's dictionary.

Following you was just a convenient excuse to split from the group.

PS. In this new book period, updates run between six and eight thousand words per day—the word count seems to be getting long again... asking for monthly tickets, recommendations, everything!