Mechanical Alchemist

"We've got to hurry up and get out of here; the noise might bring the Steam Faction's cadres over."

"Hmm."

Kai helped Su Lun clean up the battlefield, and they prepared to leave.

Just then, Su Lun cocked his ear, noticed something, and grabbed Kai, who was about to head downstairs.

Kai looked at him in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Su Lun shook his head, "Someone's coming from downstairs."

Hearing this, Kai perked up his ears to listen, but apparently, he couldn't hear anything.

"Let's go to the rooftop!"

Su Lun didn't explain further, he set a few cunning mines among the corpses and took the lead upstairs.

Kai, without thinking twice, followed him up.

This decrepit building was familiar territory; Su Lun had already scouted the escape routes during previous visits.

At a distance of fifteen or sixteen meters from the rotten building lay a slightly shorter black building. Reaching it would allow them to avoid an encounter with the Steam Faction members downstairs.

Going from high to low, the two buildings were far apart, making the steel cables in the mechanical gloves less useful; fortunately, there were several rusty iron pipes connecting the buildings.

Originally, Su Lun planned to disengage his mechanical limbs and use spider legs to climb across using the pipes as support. The rusted pipes couldn't support a person's weight, but with the weight distributed over eight spider limbs, it would be easy to cross. Then, with the help of the mechanical augmentation, moving between buildings would be simple, making a safe retreat no big deal.

But now, with Kai there, Su Lun chose not to show off his mechanical enhancements.

Although Kai hadn't mentioned it, Su Lun guessed that the guy had come up here to rescue him.

...

Kai looked at the rooftop across from them and then at Su Lun, asking worriedly, "I can probably make the jump, but you...?"

Being an assassin had granted him extraordinary jumping abilities.

But he believed... for Su Lun, a gunman, the gap might be too wide.

Su Lun shrugged his shoulders without giving much explanation, "Jump."

It definitely was a bit challenging, but not altogether impossible.

Saying this, Su Lun took a deep breath and then, accelerating into a run, he leapt off the edge of the rooftop without hesitation, his body tracing a parabolic arc downward like Big Bird.

With a "puff," he tumbled upon landing.

Though it was somewhat embarrassing, he managed a safe landing.

Su Lun stood up and dusted himself off.

This was also thanks to the intense training sessions over the past month, which had greatly enhanced his physical condition. With the help of alchemical potions and high-tech devices, one month's training had equated to the effects of one or two years of regular training. Now his muscles were in top condition.

Seconds later, Kai jumped across as well.

He looked at Su Lun with an even stranger expression.

"Su Lun, what profession did you actually advance to?"

"Gunslinger."

"..."

Kai rolled his eyes, listening.

In his memory, weren't professional gunmen all about "visual enhancement," "perception enhancement," — typically weaker in physical combat?

Who else among gunmen could jump over ten meters?

But thinking about the corpses scattered from the gunfight below, Su Lun's expertise as a "firearms specialist" seemed legitimate enough.

Kai fell into deep self-doubt...

Maybe he was just not used to the unexpected.

......

Probably because their leap from the roof had made quite a noise, during that moment of flight, they were spotted by people below.

And not just seen, but recognized.

"That's Crossblade Kai from the Association, chase him, kill him!"

"Whoever takes his head, a reward of three hundred thousand!"

"..."

Listening to the Steam Faction members roaring below, Su Lun glanced helplessly at Kai, his look almost speaking for itself.

See, fame is splendid, but it makes you known everywhere on the battlefield, making it hard to avoid being targeted.

Being anonymous has its advantages, at least you're not constantly on everyone's mind.

Kai responded with an innocent expression, muttering, "Hey, buddy, why do I feel like you're looking at me as if I'm a drag?"

Su Lun: "Please remove the questioning tone."

Kai: "..."

The two, having shared hardship on numerous occasions, knew each other were joking and just laughed it off.

After leaping from the black building, they didn't dare to land but continued to jump across several more buildings.

Probably because the corpses of the Parker Squad in the rotten building were discovered, the Steam Faction crazily started to encircle them from all directions.

It was like a closing net; more and more people surrounded them, shrinking the space Su Lun and Kai had to escape.

Bullets and rockets exploded next to their ears; their tracks were already locked on.

To avoid exposure, they didn't move erratically on rooftops but entered a shorter building. Just one more dash across the street opposite, and they could make it to the more complex terrain of the Honeycomb Building area. Once inside, no amount of enemies could block them.

....

The intense running left them both gasping for breath.

During the escape, Kai became even more astonished by Su Lun's stamina.

Most of the gang members was squander their strength on women, fighting initially with fervor but lacking endurance in prolonged engagement.

The two of them took cover behind a "U-shaped" obstacle, seizing the rare chance to catch their breath.

The sounds of gunfire on the street were overwhelming, like the hand of Death periodically caressing trembling souls.

Even Kai, who was accustomed to life and death situations, couldn't help feeling uneasy in this dire moment.

He turned to look at Su Lun beside him, who was impassively checking his gun and ammunition, and felt a twitch in the corner of his eye. Overcome with curiosity, he asked, "Brother, how come you're not panicking at all? It was the same back in the caves; what if we don't get out of this? We could really die, and you seem totally unbothered?"

Su Lun didn't look at him as he continued fiddling with his gun, and countered, "Would being scared prevent us from being surrounded?"

"Well... it wouldn't..."

Kai pursed his lips, suddenly feeling quite dispirited.

I just wanted to find some camaraderie, but there you are looking impervious to life or death...

Forget it, if you're not scared, I, as the brave team leader, shouldn't be either.

Kai comforted himself this way.

....

In the brief moment that Su Lun and Kai caught their breath, suddenly two enemies discovered them from the rooftop opposite.

"They're here!"

A shout resounded through the alley, and almost simultaneously, Su Lun raised his gun and took them down.

The two quickly moved positions.

But after being exposed, wherever they hid, they were immediately met with a hail of bullets.

Eventually, they took shelter behind a corner and couldn't get out.

Da-da-da-da...

Bullets came from all directions, leaving them no chance to break out.

Kai used a signal mirror to peek outside, just caught a glimpse of numerous enemies, and then the mirror was shattered by random gunfire.

At that moment, the pressure of impending death made Kai's breathing heavy.

He glanced at Su Lun and said gravely, "Brother, we're in trouble now, only able to fight desperately now. The enemy's firepower is strong; I'll charge first to draw their attention, and you find a chance to pull back... whether or not we survive depends on our luck now."

Kai quickly uttered his battle plan.

Just like the last time in the Honeycomb Building, the two were once again driven into a desperate situation.

But...

Kai was still the same Kai.

Su Lun, on the other hand, was not the same Su Lun from the Honeycomb Building.

"Firepower strong?"

Su Lun glanced at him and said nothing.

He thought for a moment and silently took out a large iron box, strapping it onto his self-designed makeshift exoskeleton legs.

Kai watched Su Lun's inexplicable actions, baffled, "This isn't an ammo box, is it?"

Then, he watched as Su Lun ejected the magazine from his old pistol and connected it to the ammunition box with a feed chute.

"You..."

Kai was stunned.

An ammo box was typically used for heavy machine guns, not pistols.

This move of connecting an ammo box to a pistol looked... very odd.

Wait!

We are desperate now, so what was that dismissive look about?

Could it be...

Kai looked at Su Lun's still expressionless face and knew he was serious.

Then, Su Lun took out another pre-prepared, half-finished puppet dressed in the same outfit and revealed another battle plan, "I'll throw a flashbang shortly, then you drag this puppet and run out as fast as you can to draw their fire. Leave the rest to me."

"???"

Kai's face was full of question marks.

He examined the puppet in his hand, it was just an ordinary puppet.

It wasn't some terror-effect "Seal Item"; it couldn't block bullets or kill enemies, so what was the point?

Su Lun added, "We just need to make it across this street, and we'll be safe."

"Huh?"

Kai understood the plan to draw fire but seeing Su Lun's readiness, it seemed he was preparing to charge through.

He looked at the puppet in his hand and then at the ammo box, guessing something and exclaimed in shock, "You... you plan to clash with them directly?"

As soon as he said it, he found the plan he had thought of unbelievable and added, "But there are at least forty or fifty people over there!"

Su Lun didn't explain much, just cryptically asked another question, "Do you see any Tier 2 professionals?"

Kai couldn't follow his train of thought but answered, "No. But I saw two team leaders..."

Su Lun seemed to be more assured by something, his expression colder, "Oh."

He didn't talk anymore.

Feeling utterly puzzled, Kai suddenly felt inadequate and asked, "What do you mean by 'Oh'?"

Su Lun finally checked his pistol one last time, then took out a flashbang, casually replying, "'Oh' means it's not too bad."

"This isn't too bad?"

Kai felt like though they were facing life or death, this guy's deadpan face made it seem... like they really could turn the tables.

But the enemy's firepower was fierce, and even with a purely physical talent, venturing out would get them shot to pieces.

Before he could think further, Su Lun closed his eyes at that moment, his cochlea subtly vibrating and his fingers sketching on the ground. He pinpointed the enemy's approximate location, then didn't bother to explain.

"Get ready, I'm about to throw the flashbang!"

As soon as he spoke, Su Lun suddenly opened his eyes, his expression as fierce as a blade.