Mechanical Alchemist Chapter 98: Spider Bomb

 After the large forces of the Cross arrived, the fire between the two sides immediately escalated.

 In this old town where guns are cheaper than drinking water, the gangs fight to create a local war.

 Both sides have invested a large amount of personnel and equipment, competing for each other around the "Green Street Position", and you come and I go.

 In the subsequent battle, Kai did not participate due to injury, but Suellen was still active on the battlefield.

  He does not go to dangerous places, but he is often found in places where there are many corpses.

 But Su Lun did not perform too prominently on the battlefield. Just like ordinary gang members, he should fight and run. Because of his super perceptive ability, he can always predict some dangers in advance, but he is almost always safe.

 Writing a war is actually a waste of money.

 The conflict between the two big gangs has intensified. Not only have the financial backers behind them suffered heavy losses, but more and more big forces are involved. The game between high-ranking people is mostly acquaintances. The more involved, the greater the resistance. Finally, I heard that the major families in the inner city came together to mediate, and then it stopped.

 This conflict lasted for three days and three nights, with over 10,000 casualties and the entire Green Street in ruins.

 The two major gangs were severely weakened.

 Later Su Lun also heard about the cause of this inexplicable gang war, and it turned out that Young Master Martin was ambushed and killed. Among the people who did it, there was a guy who had awakened the talent of [Red Devil].

By coincidence, the "Red Devil" Gron of the Cross was also besieged and killed on the battlefield.

 Death without evidence.

There was also the "Mad Dog" Hogg of the Steam Party, the cadre who accompanied Young Master Martin to negotiate before. He was killed in full view of the public.

 As for the truth, ordinary members of the gang are not qualified to know.

Su Lun also feels that it is not important anymore.

 He even felt that when the "Red Devil" Goron was sent to the outer city for a duel, the foreshadowing of this battle might have been laid.

 But none of that matters anymore.

 The important thing is that Su Lun gained a lot of mechanical knowledge in this war, allowing him to go directly from [Advanced Mechanical Introduction] to [Intermediate Mechanical Mastery].

 …........

 Green Street was reduced to rubble, and according to the mediation contract, it was temporarily turned into neutral territory.

 No one dared to come and spend money, and the financial backers behind various pubs, gambling stalls, and **** clubs also withdrew. There is no profit, and no one from the two major gangs takes these bad neighborhoods seriously.

 But as the original "leader" of Green Street, Kai seemed a little lonely.

 As a captain, he has no territory and no manpower...

 In this firefight, except for him and Su Lun, everyone on Green Street was wiped out.

I have to say that the elimination rate of low-level gangsters is really high.

If Su Lun had not thought about becoming a professional after joining the Cross Society, but instead used his salary to go to taverns and have **** every day, he would probably have been cannon fodder in a certain war.

 After this battle, many legends spread among the underworld in the outer city.

 A group of rookies were born and a group of old people were killed.

 One of them is becoming more and more mysterious. Hawthorne, the "Scissorhands" of the Steam Party, personally admitted that there is a top gunman with mysterious origins in the Cross. That was a veteran firearms expert who knew [Secret Art: Stacked Fire]. He killed at least two entire squads, as well as company captains "Iron Lung" Durand and "Anchorman" Parker.

 But it has been rumored for a long time, and even the members of the Cross Society don’t know who it is.

 If Kai doesn’t say it, no one will know who it is.

 After all, everyone on Green Street has been wiped out, and very few people in the entire Cross Society know Su Lun.

Logically speaking, Su Lun killed so many enemies this time, and the reward for his military exploits is estimated to be in the millions.

 But he had no intention of being in the limelight, nor did he go to collect money.

 After all, this conflict has taught us a lesson. It is not good to be too famous. Kai almost died because of his reputation.

 But Senjou knew that Su Lun was a good marksman, so he came quietly to ask about the situation, and then sent him an objective bounty.

Su Lun’s life returned to normal, but because there was no entertainment venue on Green Street, he even lost his patrol mission at seven o’clock every night.

 The whole day is free time for free arrangement.

 He lives in the rented basement every day, training his physical fitness, tinkering with mechanical equipment, making puppets... Occasionally he goes to the shooting gallery next door to shoot targets, so as not to let his hands become raw.

 As for the struggle of the Cross Society, he, a small gang member, does not care.

 The only bad news is probably that there is no nearby arena to strip away souls. If you want to go to watch gladiatorial matches in other neighborhoods, you have to travel a long way. I heard that the sponsors behind the Cross Society are planning a "New Green Street", but it will take some time.

 The knowledge gained from this battle is enough for Su Lun to digest for a long time, and he is not in a hurry to find a new arena.

 In a blink of an eye, more than half a month has passed, and the situation has completely calmed down.

  .....

 This day, in the basement.

Su Lun is wearing stained work clothes and working on a new gadget - "Spider Bomb".

 This is the inspiration he found from his own eight-armed spider spear installation.

  He wants to design a mechanical bomb that can crawl on its own, equipped with displacement equipment and a delayed detonation device.

This kind of bomb can be used on various complex terrains, climbing walls, drilling holes, turning... and can crawl into blind spots that cannot be reached by bombs.

 The mechanical spider on the workbench has been roughly formed, and Su Lun concentrated on installing several brass accessories the size of melon seeds.

 This is the most critical step, requiring him to connect the explosive device to the mechanical timing system.

Su Lun felt that he had been careful enough, but suddenly, the mechanical spider on the workbench emitted white smoke. He secretly said something bad, then quickly took out the explosion-proof cover and put it on the workbench.

 Looking at this proficiency, it is obvious that this is not the first time an accident has occurred.

 “Bang!”

 A muffled sound.

 The high-power exhaust device on the workbench whirred, sucking out the large amount of smoke generated by the explosion.

Su Lun opened the explosion-proof cover, looked at his failed work helplessly, and muttered: "That's not right... Obviously the 'h2 quartz timer' is fine, but the 't3 explosion prototype' 'It's no problem... Why did it trigger an explosion? Could it be that the wall-climbing device I made conflicted?"

 Fortunately, it is just a test product and does not have much ammunition. Apart from making him a little embarrassed, it wasn't to the point of hurting anyone.

But after this explosion, Su Lun fell into self-reflection and doubt again.

 Failures for many unknown reasons allowed him to gradually discover the root of the problem.

 Although [Death Reaper]'s ability is strong, he can learn as much knowledge in a few months as others would take years, or even more than ten years.

 But there is also a very big problem, that is, the knowledge obtained is not systematic.

 Having not studied systematically, he simply couldn’t figure out where his problem lies.

 Just like this explosion, his "experience" told him that there was no problem, but if it actually exploded, there must be a problem with his "knowledge blind spot".

 All the machines he has now are just torn off various corpses, like Lego pieces, piece by piece.

 But these "knowledge puzzles" are missing a piece, just like building a high-rise building full of holes that may collapse at any time.

 Although his knowledge level has now reached [Intermediate Mechanical Proficiency], Su Lun is not even as good as a new apprentice in some basic knowledge.

 "Machines are just not systematic and are still a big trouble..."

 Su Lun looked at the failed spider bomb, frowned, and thought in his mind: "It seems that I need to systematically learn mechanical knowledge."

 Combat knowledge doesn't matter, after all, practice makes perfect, and you can master it with more practice.

 But theoretical knowledge is not enough. If there are gaps in knowledge, certain things cannot be connected.

 Having gone through nine years of compulsory education in his previous life, he clearly understands the importance of systematic learning. He desperately needed a thread to connect the fragments in his mind.

 With these thoughts in his mind, Su Lun instantly thought of a person.

 The defected former vice-president of Black Tower College, Nikolai J. Emirich!

 If we talk about systematic knowledge, who knows more than the vice-president of the top alchemy academy in Old Town?

  .....

 “That gentleman still owes me a favor...”

 Thinking of this, Su Lun was no longer in the mood to continue tinkering with spider bombs anyway, so he stopped dawdling in the basement and rode his motorcycle to the Shadow Alley black market.

  He wanted to leave a message at "Rosen's Alchemy Shop" and use that favor.

Although he had only met Mr. Emirich once, Suellen believed in his intuition.

 The man meant him no harm.

 The key point is that a person being hunted by an umbrella organization makes people feel more secure.

 If it was just for some basic basic alchemy knowledge, Su Lun felt that there was no need to use this favor.

 Looking for other channels in the black market, although it is more troublesome, you can still get it. For example, the Black Tower Academy's textbook, or the Alchemy Guild's apprentice manual.

Su Lun chose to contact that gentleman because he wanted to maximize the value of the favor.

 Because he knew that in addition to being a top professional who was suspected to be stronger than the president of the Cross Society, Emirich also had a deep relationship with the organizers of the black market.

 The background of the black market is very mysterious, and the organizer is said to be the real boss who makes the "Umbrella Organization" helpless.

 Although Suellen needs more information to understand the world.

 This mysterious alchemical world is like a stunning beauty covered with a veil. Mystery and weirdness give her endless charm and arouse people's desire for discovery. He had already lifted a corner of the veil and couldn't wait to get a glimpse of his true appearance.

 The gang structure is too small after all.

 He could see it from the previous gang war. In front of the plutocrats in the inner city, no matter how fierce the gangs were, they were still tame animals trapped in cages.

Suellen traveled through this fantasy world and wanted to see the scenery on the top floor.

 Another consideration is that he wants to know how he can advance to a second-level profession in the future.