Mechanical Alchemist

Su Lun looked somewhat physically weak, but he couldn't hide the joy in his eyes.

Lords and monsters almost always dropped materials above the silver quality, and there was a high probability for gold.

He looked at the glowing corpse of the Spider Queen, as if he were looking at a mountain of gold, "Tsk tsk, truly, high-level cursed materials have appeared..."

This was the first time he personally killed a monster and obtained high-level materials.

The body of this lordly monster was emitting a special gleam from many places, the characteristic luster of cursed materials.

Silk, poison sacs, skin, heads, blood, bones... even those internal organs, though not usable as equipment materials, were very high-grade and rare alchemical materials.

What Su Lun cared about most, naturally, was the spider legs required for his "Eight-armed Spider God Lance."

Originally, he hoped to acquire eight silver-quality spider leg materials and assemble them together, and he would have been satisfied. Gold was elusive. Yet, unexpectedly, in front of him was a very complete set of spider legs!

"Eh... are those actually dark gold quality spider legs?"

The eight radiant, metallic dark-gleaming spider legs on the Spider Queen's corpse instantly captivated Su Lun's gaze.

"Dark gold level" materials were even more rare than gold materials by half a tier, so rare that not even the top auction houses in the inner city might see them once in several years.

These were truly priceless items.

Intact structure, sturdy, resilient, barbed, with hooks and scythes, innate magic patterns... almost every aspect met the requirements of the blueprint, and even more. At a glance, he felt that this was probably the most suitable material for the blueprint of the "Eight-armed Spider God Lance."

This journey into the cavern, though not without risks, was worth it just for the acquisition of these materials!

....

"What kind of mutation exactly happened to this lordly monster for it to actually have condensed such high-quality mutated limbs?"

While incredibly pleased with his find, Su Lun felt that something was amiss.

Within the first-order mutated monsters, the appearance of a lord that would only emerge within high-order mutated monster groups was already extremely rare. Now that the degree of mutation of this lord was so exaggerated, he could not help but wonder what on earth had happened underneath the surface?

At that moment, Su Lun looked at the grey fog on the Spider Queen's corpse and also absorbed it without a second thought.

Being a highly intelligent mutated creature, the queen's memory fragments separated out some information that humans could understand.

'You have obtained "memory fragment*2 of the mutated Ghost-faced Spider Queen"'

'You have gained some information: "Keep away from the terrifying existence in the water pit"...'

'You have comprehended "Intermediate Spider Climbing"...'

'Spiritual power +3.5'

The stuff in this Spider Queen's memory fragment wasn't much, but it was all very practical.

The skill "Intermediate Spider Climbing" suited Su Lun very well, and one might even say it was his exclusive skill.

Once he integrated the spider lance equipment, he could immediately make use of this technique. Ignoring obstacles, hanging climbing, rapid teleportation... it was an essential skill for escape and pursuit.

And a "3.5" increase in spiritual power was equivalent to reaping the spiritual power of nearly ten Assistant Rosas, those "quasi second-order" professionals.

After harvesting, he felt refreshed and his perception became much clearer in an instant.

The last piece of information, however, made Su Lun frown and he analyzed to himself, "There's a huge pool deep in the sewer... and in it, there's a 'terrifying existence' that even the lord monster is wary of? A predator with giant tentacles... could it be a mutated octopus creature?"

Although everyone knows that the underground of Old Lington is a paradise for mutated monsters, this information made Su Lun feel that things were probably worse.

The mutations caused by the environment must have bred numerous terrifying monsters.

However, he didn't give it much thought.

If he could make it out alive this time, he likely wouldn't want to come back to the dungeon voluntarily.

After gathering the cursed materials from the Spider Queen's body, Su Lun went to find the assassin's corpse, which was no longer in human shape, to scavenge for spoils of war.

Unfortunately, dealing with the monster had delayed him, and the spiritual power had dissipated quite a bit; apart from some experience points, he harvested nothing great.

The items carried on the body were worth a lot of money—second-rank armor, weapons, mechanical devices, potions... The stuff prepared for battle was quite complete.

However, although the spoils of war were tempting, most of them could not be easily converted into cash.

If these items were to appear on the black market and were recognized, it would immediately lead discerning individuals to infer a lot of useful information.

Su Lun definitely did not want everything he did in the dungeon to become common knowledge.

After scavenging the assassin, Su Lun went to collect a few pieces of spider monsters from the pile of corpses, gaining some experience points in "Spider Climbing."

Then, he turned over the pile of corpses and found Daniel's mangled body.

When he had killed the man before, he had quickly stripped away his soul, leaving items like the storage ring still on the body.

It must be said that after harvesting the Soul Shard from Assistant Rosa and then Daniel's, there was a lot of repeated "knowledge."

After all, both were assistants at the Black Tower Academy, and there was a lot of crossover in the fields of knowledge they had studied.

But the upside was that the two assistants' knowledge complemented each other, deepening Su Lun's understanding in certain areas.

Um... The spoils from Daniel's body were even more problematic, unable to be liquidated.

This was pretty annoying.

....

The process of looting bodies is always pleasurable.

Having done all this, Su Lun then turned his attention back to the troubles he was facing.

He hadn't forgotten that using the "Xiupunos's Night Scythe" came at a painful cost.

Killing the monster felt great, but he would have to endure 80% of the attack's backlash.

Su Lun let out a sigh of resignation, eyed the size of the wounds on the queen's body, and estimated, "According to calculations, the damage from that strike should backlash on me in about an hour. If it had hit the head or heart, it would almost certainly cause instant death. Based on the proportion of the body, this also means that there's at least a 10-30% chance of death? Hmm... not too bad."

He evaluated his chances of survival and was quite optimistic.

After all, to trade a certain-death situation for a 60-70% chance of survival was already a big win.

But then he faced another major problem, which was how to deal with the wounds that would appear in the future.

That kind of horrific laceration could appear randomly on his body, easily severing hands and feet... If it cut through an organ, that would be terrible.

If not handled properly, although he wouldn't die on the spot, he wouldn't live much longer either.

The actual mortality rate was higher than he had estimated.

Su Lun thought of the advanced Healing Medicines he brought, but then shook his head, "Such lacerations... Healing Medicine probably has limited effects. For wounds like a human fountain, surgery is the most direct treatment. If there were top-notch medical equipment, perhaps the chances of survival would be better.

Unfortunately, this is the sewer, and there's no way to get to the hospital within an hour..."

Besides, those shabby clinics in the outer city, those incompetent doctors, probably couldn't handle such serious injuries.

"Eh, didn't Assistant Rosa and Daniel have some medical equipment in their storage rings?!"

Suddenly, Su Lun thought of something and quickly checked the storage ring he had acquired as spoils of war.

Indeed, he saw several pieces of medical emergency equipment that looked very high-end. There were also surgical instrument kits, portable operating tables, blood transfusion, and oxygen supply equipment... all kinds of emergency equipment were available!

Apparently, the two assistants had brought the top-tier medical equipment from the inner city, prepared for emergency treatment of students injured during the trials.

But upon seeing these treasures, Su Lun's initial joy was followed by difficulty, as he muttered, "I do know some basic first aid, but... I can't suture myself, can I? What if the wounded area is very special and I can't move my hands at all? Wouldn't that just be waiting for death?"

At that thought, a spark of inspiration struck him.

"Isn't there still one person?"

At this moment, Miss Lena, who was being used as bait, had not heard any noise for a long time and could not help but cautiously ask, "Mr. Su Lun, are... are you still there?"

Hearing this, Su Lun's eyebrows slightly lifted.

....

Lena was finally allowed to take off her blindfold.

The sticky web was all over her, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she could not wait to free herself from the disgusting mucus.

But as soon as she looked around, she too was flabbergasted.

The mountain of spider monster corpses that met her eyes, limbs and severed body parts scattered everywhere, green blood forming a river...

Only the small area where she stood still had some space to set foot on.

Were all these monsters killed by Mr. Su Lun? The number was too exaggerated...

Although she had personally witnessed the fierce battle, the sight of such an exaggerated mountain of monster corpses rendered her speechless.

Lena was just about to ask what had happened, when she turned her head and met a pair of burning eyes staring at her.

The bait Miss's heart skipped a beat; she wasn't wrong, this was the first time the aloof guide had looked at her directly.

Could it be... Mr. Su Lun was affected?

Her mind filled with various strange scenarios, Lena couldn't help but panic.

But at that moment, Su Lun didn't give her the chance to overthink, directly asking, "Do you know how to use these emergency equipment?"

Lena looked at the devices on the ground, weren't those the academy's standard battlefield medical kits?

Although she didn't know what Su Lun was up to, she weakly answered, "I do."

Hearing this, Su Lun breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Can you handle tricky injuries? Like being cut in half or something..."

Lena felt somewhat guilty under his gaze, "Well... I think so."

"Think so?"

Su Lun didn't like the sound of that uncertainty.

This was a matter of life and death; he needed a definite answer.

Lena, discerning that Su Lun seemed to be in need of a doctor, explained further, "Actually... I'm not majoring in combat, I'm in the medical sector..."

She paused, then asked, "Mr. Su Lun, are you injured?"

But at a glance, Mr. Su Lun didn't seem to have any serious wounds on his body.

Hmm... If it's just those minor injuries, she should be able to handle them.

Lena thought to herself.

This girl was actually a main-study in medicine?

Upon hearing this, Su Lun felt as if he had found a pillow when he needed to sleep, "And... how good are your skills?"

"They're... decent."

Lena thought about it, and although it was something she was very proud of, she again spoke without much confidence, "I... I got full marks in my medical graduation assessment."

Oh, she's a top student?

Su Lun felt his chances of surviving just got better, "Have you ever actually saved someone?"

"I have..."

Su Lun was about to relax when Lena added the second half of her statement, "I've done it in the lab."

"Good, you're the one!"

Although Su Lun felt this silly girl came off as somewhat unreliable, in this cavern, to find someone who knew how to use these emergency medical devices was an incredible stroke of luck.

Having such a burden with him the whole way had finally come in handy.

"Ah...?"

Hearing a normal emotional fluctuation in the voice of the usually composed Mr. Su Lun, Lena was somewhat flattered and surprised.

In a weak voice, she asked, "Mr. Su Lun, what... what can I do for you?"

Su Lun said, "Save me!"