บท 27: Chapter 27: Introduction to Alchemy
From the sound of the gun, it was clear this was no ordinary sniper rifle; judging by the explosion of the head, one could also guess the bullet was an alchemical one.
The purpose was probably to ensure the target could be taken out with a single shot.
Although the thunderous sound of the gunshot made Su Lun instinctively shiver, a moment later, he was hardly perturbed.
Since he had anticipated the whole situation's cause and effect, he was sure that the sniper would not fire a second shot.
After all, the gunman was there to kill and silence someone, he definitely wouldn't waste bullets on killing these "pawns" from the gang.
Moreover, the convoy was now near the gang's headquarters, the Hessen Building, where the gang's elite could arrive at any moment. The longer the sniper delayed, the slimmer his chances of escape were.
...
"Damn it, there's a sniper, everyone be careful!"
The sudden attack scared everyone on Green Street.
The convoy stopped urgently, and everyone took cover to avoid being shot by the sniper hidden in a building.
Su Lun had guessed the sniper's motive, so he was not worried.
He looked at the corpse ten meters away on the motorcycle, its head blown off, his eyes shifted, and very "bravely," he leaped over, rolled, and ended up right beside the corpse by the motorcycle.
Su Lun didn't care about the high-ups' conspiracies or any "moles."
All he saw was the corpse on the motorcycle.
This was a corpse of at least a second-level professional, where else could he be so lucky to touch something like this on an ordinary day?
In others' eyes, it might be a pile of rotten meat, but in Su Lun's eyes, it was a lump of gold shining with immense value.
However, his "heroic act" surprised the nearby Captain Kai and Sam, among other veterans.
Are the new recruits all this brave now?
Facing a sniper with an unknown position, not showing even a hint of fear, instead actively coming over to fight, and sharing the burden with the veteran gang members?
Su Lun noticed the strange looks from these people, he naturally wouldn't say that he was there to "reap" fragments, so he made up an excuse, "The shooter is on top of a high building southwest, thirteen hundred meters from here!"
This was no fabrication; his "Basic Firearms Proficiency" allowed him to quickly deduce the shooter's position through the trajectory of the bullet.
The fresh blood from the motorcycle's corpse spattered towards the northeast direction, hence, the bullet definitely came from the southwest. The alchemical bullet's penetrating power was so strong that it not only blew the target's head up but also tore through the motorcycle and created a hole in the ground. From the angles of the bullet holes in the ground and the underside of the motorcycle, one could determine the bullet's angle of entry.
Of course, the most important thing was Su Lun's exceptional eyesight; when he earlier estimated the shooter's position, he had immediately seen a figure on the distant building.
"Southwest?"
Hearing Su Lun's words, Captain Kai and the other veterans initially froze but then also reacted.
Being battle-hardened, they naturally knew how to determine a sniper's position, but they were still shocked by the surprise attack and hadn't come to their senses yet, not expecting a recruit to have already figured it out.
At that moment, as he was close enough, Su Lun successfully retrieved the memory fragments from the corpse.
'You obtained memory fragments of 'Vincent Isakov'*3'
'You gained some information: 'They would never expect the manuscript to be hidden there...''
'You have learned [Basic Guniethian]...'
'You obtained some esoteric knowledge, alchemy experience +31'
'Spiritual power +0.35'
This time, although he had not retrieved any combat skills, Su Lun still felt a little disappointed.
But once he had digested the "esoteric knowledge" in his mind, he realized its value was no less than that of a combat skill, if not even more rare.
This was a world filled with various bizarre alchemical skills, where alchemy was everything.
Even the "Cursed Engravings", which are most crucial for boosting a professional's combat prowess, are merely a routine application of alchemy.
But the mysteries of alchemy extend far beyond this, encompassing enchantment, metalworking, artifact refining, potions, engravings, spells... almost every field involves alchemy.
One could say that knowledge of alchemy equates to combat power.
The law of equivalent exchange allows alchemy to exchange everything!
This is why the "Crow Gang's" old-school magical alchemists disdain the other two factions' mechanical technologies.
Because up to the present, the combat power of "new style" steam mechanics far surpasses that of the "old style" magic.
The higher the rank, the greater the disparity.
But why is the old style strong, yet mechanical arms and steam equipment are found everywhere?
Because they're cheap and have a low barrier to entry.
In the realm of low-tier professionals, firearms and steam machinery are very useful. But in high-tier combat, only alchemy holds the truth.
Su Lun didn't dwell on which was stronger between steam technology and ancient alchemy, as he still lacked much knowledge about this world and was still exploring.
But knowledge, after all, is always beneficial.
As for [Basic Guniethian], Su Lun was no longer completely ignorant. He knew that this ancient language was essential for beginners in esoteric studies. Almost all old-school alchemical scrolls and books were written in this script...
Without pondering over it, seeing the two new skills [Basic Alchemy] and [Basic Guniethian] added to his character panel, he felt it was a good harvest.
Upon further inspection, he had also extracted a fragment of memory from the corpse.
"Manuscript? Could it be what those people were trying to steal by attacking the headquarters' treasury?"
Su Lun speculated in his mind.
This was a fragment of thought without any clear beginning or end, and he knew that the "manuscript" was hidden somewhere unexpected...
Exactly where it was, the fragments of memory did not specify.
"Unexpected? It's not going to be some 'the safest place is the most dangerous' cliché, is it..."
Su Lun muttered to himself, not dwelling on what sort of treasure the manuscript was or where it might be hidden.
.....
After a few seconds without a second shot, it finally dawned on Kai that the sniper was there to silence someone, not to target their group on Green Street.
"Damn, that sniper came to silence someone!"
Captain Kai's expression turned grim.
The task he had just been charged with by his superiors, and merely two streets away, the prisoner in front of them had been killed. How was he to report this?
"Sam, you, you, and you... come with me! We're going to catch that sniper!"
Kai selected a few people, and perhaps because of Su Lun's earlier performance, he chose him as well.
Su Lun didn't mind, since he figured they wouldn't catch up anyway.
The fact that the sniper didn't fire a second shot also meant that the guy was experienced and would have retreated after the kill.
Going there by foot, they would likely miss him completely.
Yet, they all hurriedly ran toward the large building in the southwest.
Soon enough, just as Su Lun had predicted, they returned empty-handed.
Kai, with a very dark expression, met the gang's executive "Night Angel" Goethe Amato already at the scene of the snipe.
"Boss Angel..."
Kai looked remorseful.
"It's okay. It's not your fault," Goethe said.
Looking at the body, his expression was calm, as if the death of this "important prisoner" didn't matter much.
He reassured Kai, "The boss said it's over, you guys should head back."
"I..."
Although Kai wanted to make up for his "mistake," nothing could be done at this point.
The people from Green Street began their journey back, disheartened.
The mood, previously festive, suddenly became very somber due to the unexpected incident.
On the motorcycle, everyone was silent, faces dark, like children who had done something wrong.
Su Lun's mood was actually good, but he did not show it on his face.
Despite the dangers of this trip, his gains were quite astonishing—a dozen bodies stripped, along with a second-rank professional, significantly improving his skill levels.
Oh, and there was the bonus of one hundred thousand dollars.
Yet looking at the continuously gloomy Kai, a thought suddenly flashed through Su Lun's mind, "Wait a minute, if I can suspect there's an insider, the top brass must have considered it too. If they thought about it, why would they be so careless as to let a bunch of rookies escort such an important captive?"
This thought struck him,
and it was not carelessness but intentional!
"Could it be that the gang's higher-ups wanted to lure someone in to silence the traitor and then catch that insider?"
Thinking this, Su Lun suddenly realized he might have guessed the truth.
This was the upper echelon's "overt conspiracy."'
The insider must have also guessed that his appearance was being deliberately provoked, yet he had no choice but to come and silence the victim. Otherwise, once the captive started talking, he could not escape death either.
But Su Lun also knew that snipers were hard to train; out of a hundred thousand marksmen, there might not be one qualified "sniper." The longer the distance, the more factors would affect the shot.
Therefore, being able to execute a headshot from this distance surely indicated remarkable marksmanship.
If it was someone from inside the gang, the sniper's identity wouldn't be hard to trace...
Thinking this, Su Lun glanced at Kai once more and shook his head slightly.
This poor squad leader was still placing all the blame on himself, deeply remorseful.
Little did he know, this was just a part of the higher-up's plan.
....
Su Lun rubbed his temples, pushing the tangled thoughts to the back of his mind.
Conspiracy or overt strategy, it was all none of his business.
The only thing on his mind was that he was going to buy materials and prepare to "appoint himself" as soon as he got back!
Who would have thought that on his first day joining the gang, he would encounter such an emergency?
Who would have known that the emergency would be so perilous?
Although he came out of this encounter unscathed, Su Lun was not confident that he could always turn danger into safety next time.
Thus, enhancing his strength was the most urgent goal!
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