Mechanical Alchemist

According to the original plot, the "pollution" would only happen at midnight, when everyone in the 1911 Hotel would turn eerie.

The Scavengers came for the materials precisely because they planned to take action after midnight when ordinary people mutated into the eerie and produced curse materials.

But Su Lun couldn't wait until then.

If the Magician were really about to mutate, Su Lun felt even less confident about killing him.

Moreover, now that the four "forbidden rooms" on the first floor had been opened, he felt that tonight's pollution event might involve other changes.

To solve the problem, it was better to act sooner rather than later.

...

Su Lun walked towards the stage and then entered backstage through the side door via the staff passage.

He planned to stop the Magician when he left the stage.

Because from the intelligence he heard, after the Magician stepped off the stage, no one ever saw him again.

Su Lun suspected he might use his Spatial Ability to teleport away, so he had no choice but to wait for him backstage.

Behind the stage was the dressing room, which was somewhat cramped.

The dancers of the "Swan Song and Dance Troupe" were changing costumes here.

With a staff member at the door, Su Lun took off his hat, revealing his face, and then flashed his police badge; he encountered no further obstacles and walked in.

The dancers were probably used to quick costume changes during performances and didn't mind not having private changing rooms. When Su Lun walked in, he saw a group of slender, young ladies with little clothing, changing into their performance costumes in the narrow dressing room.

On seeing a strange man enter, the ladies were initially startled like frightened deer, hurriedly covering their revealing bodies. But once they clearly saw Su Lun's handsome face, they immediately calmed down. Not only did nobody scream, but they also laughed and whispered among themselves. Some of the bolder ones even boldly threw him a coquettish glance.

"Handsome, who are you looking for~"

"I'm looking for Mr. Edward."

"Oh~ That's too bad, I thought you were here to invite our leader, Miss Barbara, to dinner..."

"..."

Continuing on his way, Su Lun responded with a very gentlemanly smile to these beautiful girls.

He wanted to get to the stage exit so he could wait for the Magician to prevent him from disappearing from his sight.

And after passing by, he saw that next to the dressing room, there was a small makeup area separated by a curtain. The lead singer Miss Barbara was inside, changing clothes and removing makeup.

The light was bright, and a large makeup mirror reflected the charming and seductive face.

Su Lun saw the woman with red, enchanting lips in the mirror, and the woman saw him too.

"What's the matter, handsome, did you lose your way?"

The voice was soft and cooing, making one feel as if their bones had turned soft.

Su Lun watched the woman turn around, his gaze involuntarily drawn to her rose-colored red lips.

Those red lips seemed to possess endless magic power, captivating one's gaze.

This was a psychological suggestion laced with mental power, a technique that could make people lower their guard without realizing it.

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Su Lun guessed that this woman was most likely a professional with a [succubus] talent or something similar.

He feared this woman might pull some sort of hypnotism on him, so he directly revealed his police badge, "I would like to wait for Mr. Edward, I have some matters to consult with him."

Barbara looked at the police badge, her eyebrows arching coyly, her tone even stickier, "Oh? A police officer... May I ask what business you have with Mr. Edward?"

Su Lun didn't sense any malice, nor was he careless, and he said indifferently, "Some official business."

Although Su Lun thought this woman must know the magician, he still wanted to wait and talk to Edward.

Hearing this, Barbara smiled seductively, pointed to the chair beside her, and said, "Handsome Officer, why don't you take a seat? Mr. Edward might still be a while before his performance is over..."

Su Lun glanced at her and didn't want to be too close to this practitioner of the psychic profession, declining what seemed an extremely enticing invitation, "I'm on official duty. I won't sit."

Because she was changing costumes, Barbara was also very scantily clad. As he spoke, however, his gaze inadvertently swept across the deep cleavage in front of her chest.

Seriously, did women with succubus talents all have such assets?

Barbara covered her mouth and giggled, catching that look. But far from minding, she brimmed with an inviting smile, generously showcasing her impressive figure, and boldly teased, "Handsome Officer, what are you looking at?"

"..."

Su Lun listened without changing his expression.

He figured that this was probably an occupational hazard of a succubus.

And in the few moments it took for that exchange, sudden footsteps came from the staircase backstage.

A man dressed in a tailcoat came down, and it was indeed the magician Edward.

The intimate atmosphere that had been building was instantly diluted, as Barbara said to Edward, "Mr. Edward, this officer says he has some business with you."

Edward, upon hearing "officer," seemed to be triggered by some keyword, only then did he turn his attention to Su Lun, who he had originally planned to ignore.

Su Lun directly displayed his police badge and said, "I am Joy, a patrol officer from Bell Tower Block, here to investigate some matters. I would ask Mr. Edward to please cooperate."

Edward seemed to recall something, "Bell Tower Block?"

When the other party responded, Su Lun immediately knew his guess was right: these two alchemists hidden among the crowd came for the old nun.

Edward eyed Su Lun for a moment, then continued, "May I ask, Officer, what matters are you here to investigate? And how... might I assist you?"

Su Lun did not feel any malice, which meant that the bodies in those four rooms were likely unrelated to the two people before him.

This gave him even greater confidence in how to use the plot to his advantage.

He stated directly, "Have you heard of the 'White Convent'?"

Upon hearing this, Edward's expression stalled and he frowned, "Oh, of course, I remember it's a convent in the eastern part of Bell Tower Street. But... could Officer Johnny elaborate a bit more, what does your search for me have to do with this convent?"

These people appeared to be living humans, but in reality, they were still high-level NPCs that would only react to certain specific plots.

Su Lun needed to trigger the storyline, so he spoke outright, "An old nun from the convent took something very dangerous with her that might contaminate others. According to the clues I've gathered, she came to this hotel. But in the process, I have discovered some other matters, that's why I need Mr. Edward's cooperation..."

Having said this much, Edward didn't continue to feign ignorance; he smiled, "Officer Johnny, your investigative skills astound me."

As he spoke, he directly took out a badge from his pocket that bore a gold ouroboros and a "§" symbol.

This action, however, took Su Lun by surprise.

He intended to ask Edward to assist in the investigation and lead him to take a look at those bodies, hoping to spark a conflict between him and the malevolent caster, and then find an opportunity...

But to take out a badge was to declare identity, wasn't it?

Su Lun guessed something and silently waited for the other party to take the initiative and introduce themselves.

Sure enough, Edward politely explained, "This incident has exceeded the scope of the police station's handling. Hence, now it is being dealt with by our special operations team. Please leave the matters here to us."

After a pause, he smiled and added, "Praise your dedication, Officer Johnny."

So that was it?

Hearing this, Su Lun immediately understood.

Both Edward and Barbara were officials from Dawn City handling anomalous events!

....

Having finished speaking, Edward looked as if he was about to leave.

But...

The fact that the hotel had become a cursed space meant that a thousand years ago, they had failed to prevent this incident.

The midnight contamination event was a reenactment of that year's tragedy.

If Su Lun left now, the situation would definitely revert to its original trajectory.

Although Su Lun had alchemy items he had acquired from the four corpses, he was likely to survive the midnight ordeal.

But he still needed spatial materials!

So, he certainly wouldn't let Edward just walk away.

Moreover, from the moment room 1021 was opened, it was destined that this Scavenger group might face annihilation.

Now with the presence of professional operatives from Dawn City, perhaps they could resolve the problem on the first floor in advance?

At that instant, Su Lun's thoughts raced, quickly weighing the pros and cons of this turn of events.

Would changing the plot too drastically trigger some kind of butterfly effect?

He did not know what would ultimately happen by altering the plot, but...

But recalling the tone of Mr. Hei's words last night, they seemed to be well-informed about this cursed space.

It implied that a certain powerhouse, still hidden amongst their team, had the capacity to handle all kinds of emergencies.

With that in mind, Su Lun no longer hesitated and directly said, "Um... Mr. Edward, since you are handling this matter, I'm relieved. However, I've come across some intelligence which I'm not sure if you are aware of..."

Listening, Edward turned his head to glance at him, "Oh?"

Su Lun said, "I examined the guest check-in records earlier and discovered that alongside Sister Elizabeth, there was an individual named 'Teague Carlson' who checked in. He booked four rooms and left four unusual corpses in them. They are the 'Faceless One', the 'Hanged Corpse', the 'Drowned Maiden', and the 'Big-headed Wailing Infant'...It seems like some sort of nefarious ritual is underway."

At these words, the two NPCs' expressions shifted dramatically; clearly, they understood what the four corpses signified.

Edward couldn't hide his shock, "The 'Quadrant of Fallen Spirits Ritual'! Damn it, she intends to unseal 'that object' here in this hotel!"

With that, Su Lun knew for certain that they didn't know about the existence of the corpses.

Edward's expression suddenly turned solemn, and he murmured to himself, "I hope we are still in time to prevent it..."

Su Lun, noticing the word "contaminated" above their heads, felt it was necessary to warn them, so he added, "Have you considered that you might already be contaminated?"

Hearing this, the two exchanged a grave look.

Barbara's seductive facade vanished as she suddenly formed sorcerer's seals as if to cast some sort of spiritual spell.

A few breaths later, she looked at Edward with a troubled face and said in a heavy tone, "Someone with high-level rules has clouded our perception; it must be the leaking essence from 'that sealed object'. If things are as Officer Johnny says... we, and possibly everyone in the hotel, have already been contaminated."

"..."

Edward fell silent.

However, a certain resoluteness appeared on his face.

He looked at Su Lun and said, "Officer Johnny, this matter is of great importance, and we may need your help."

Su Lun cast a puzzled look, aware that he might have changed the main storyline.

Edward, with a calm tone and firm resolve, said, "If we truly are contaminated, please, if you see any signs of an anomaly in us, make sure to kill us first."

As he spoke, he glanced over Su Lun's shoulder towards the area where the invisible zombie stood.

Indeed, this Spatial Ability user had long since noticed the presence of the invisible zombie.

"This..."

Su Lun heard the request and showed a look of difficulty, hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright!"

He could never have predicted that without racking his brains for a way to obtain materials, the other party would take the initiative to bring it up.

Given the circumstances tonight, all NPCs in the hotel were guaranteed to experience anomalies.

With their cooperation, there was simply no need for a sneak attack; the difficulty of carrying out the killings dropped a hundredfold.

But...

This also meant that he had to stick with them constantly. Otherwise, how would he know when they'd turn anomalous?

At that moment, Edward added, "Officer Johnny, the intelligence you've provided is vital. I need to gather my companions. Those four corpses must be destroyed first!"

....

Su Lun followed Edward out of the dressing room.

They were off to contact his teammates in the hotel rooms.

To avoid alarming anyone prematurely, they agreed to act in five minutes, starting with dealing with the corpses in the four rooms.

Su Lun knew that touching those corpses would immediately alert the Caster orchestrating the evil ritual.

A major confrontation might break out sooner than expected.

But now, things seemed hopeful; at least, no one in the hotel had changed yet.

Since Edward and his colleagues were investigating the case, they naturally possessed some strengths.

Su Lun didn't expect the outcome to be one-sided.

As he left the banquet hall, Su Lun intended to find a place to prepare for battle.

But unexpectedly, he was intercepted.

Gallup, the leader of the "Sand Scorpion" group, along with over ten of his team members, was already waiting in the corridor.