Chương 16: Chapter 16 Old Lington
"So, I wasn't gunned down by these guys straight away just because they recognized where this musket came from..."
Su Lun felt somewhat relieved, as death had brushed past him once again.
After interrogating for over an hour, he mercifully dealt with the last survivor of the 'Silver Hand Wild Hunt Group.'
Only then did he realize that the reason this gang hadn't attacked him was due to the runic musket slung at his waist—the famed gun "Triple Ghost."
It was Crow Gang's 'Ironhead' Ivan's paired gun capable of accommodating the energy fluctuations of powerful special alchemy bullets.
It turned out that Baldy was quite infamous in a city called 'Old Lington'—a veteran assassin of the Crow Gang, ruthless and vengeful, and seldom dared anyone provoke him...
Seeing Su Lun alone, those guys harbored thoughts of robbery and murder. But they were unclear about his relationship with Bald Ivan, so they decided to test the waters first.
....
Indeed, fortune does not come without risk.
Su Lun managed to get the supplies he desired, adding ten storage rings along with ample water and food.
He did not know the basic prices in this world, but seeing that the combined number of alchemy bullets on these eight corpses was not as many as Bald Ivan alone had, he guessed that the price he had paid was probably not a small one.
However, it was definitely a profitable venture.
He stripped two most valuable items from the corpse of 'Silver Mech Hand' Dick.
A peculiar blood vessel and a bone.
[Cursed Object: Trembling Witch's Blood Vessel]
Quality: Black Iron
Detail: A requisite material for Magicians of the 'Artillery Master' Mech Class, it offers a moderate skill boost and a slight reflex enhancement upon employment; while its cursed properties are relatively well-preserved, re-enchantment is required for optimal use.
Evaluation: Body compatibility 61%, an unremarkable employment material.
[Golden Humerus]
Detail: First-class alchemy augmentation, highly compatible with gunner classes; it can replace some of the host's bones; Toughness +6, Stability +153%, Bone Durability +175%.
Two items with intact cursed characteristics.
According to Lauen, either of these items could fetch at least 100,000 Riso each on the black market.
While an ordinary mechanical worker in this world would not make more than 3,000 Riso per month.
This was already a fortune that could make one rich overnight.
Su Lun was also glad about his judgment, eliminating the 'Silver Mech Hand' Dick immediately.
As Lauen put it, official "professionals" are very strong.
Dick had both his mechanical arms modified toward the Artillery Master direction. He had replaced his arms with firearms and cannon limbs; given the opportunity, he was absolutely a human Gatling.
The flexibility of this type of "limb" and the attached exoskeleton were completely different levels.
Even if his brain was controlled psychically, his mechanical arms would automatically activate a counterattack device, an ability that came with the augmentation.
And mechanics were not within the scope of psychic control.
If Su Lun had hesitated earlier, allowing the automatic counterattack device of the mechanical arms to activate, he would undoubtedly have been the one to die.
...
Days later, following the route on the map, Su Lun finally met with monsters several times and almost met his demise, but he arrived safely at the city known as "Old Lington."
This was also known from Lauen as the only human settlement place.
An underground city.
"It really is spectacular..."
Although Su Lun had heard about the high walls of 'Old Lington' through rumors, when he saw the dam-like, hundred-meter-tall cement wall with his own eyes, he was still deeply shocked.
A city with an area comparable to the main city area of a provincial capital in his previous life, completely enclosed by such a high wall. Just the scale of this engineering was an architectural marvel.
Moreover, there were many terrifying traces on the high wall—the claw marks of giant beasts, craters resembling meteor impacts, corrosive marks caused by spells...
It was hard to imagine what intense battles had happened in the past, what kind of "beings" had left so many terrifying marks on this wall.
Indeed, this city was also an ancient relic.
Long before these humans appeared here, it had already stood silently here for hundreds of years.
The All-knowing Eye confirmed this assertion.
Su Lun focused on the high wall as a string of words revealed itself.
[City Wall]
Details: An ancient city wall built over fourteen hundred years ago;
....
Old Lington had four huge city gates in the north, south, east, and west.
If Su Lun hadn't known about this "Old Lington" in advance, he might have naively entered through the main gate.
Because that seemed to be the only viable entry into this kind of city.
If so, he would have been checked at the city gate. Without a "legal identity," he would immediately be subjected to individual scrutiny. The worst-case scenario was that the original owner's identity would be exposed, and Su Lun would face assassination once again.
As for outside the high wall? Except for coming out to scavenge, no one would choose to live outside the city for long.
Because... they couldn't!
It was like being in a nuclear radiation area for a long time; even without encountering monsters, the intense, berserk dark spiritual power would highly likely cause "mutations."
And the most common monsters outside the city walls were the mutated humans roaming around.
However, there was actually another way to enter the city, which was "gang smuggling."
....
Su Lun had learned a lot of useful information from that Laon's mouth.
Old Lington was divided into the inner and outer cities.
The inner city was a gathering place for the rich and elite, while the outer city was a civilian area.
Although the entire Old Lington was managed by Duke Roberto of the "Black Tower" and the Rafael family behind him, in reality, the actual control of the vast majority of the outer city was in the hands of the three major gangs.
The outer city had three major gangs: the "Steam Brotherhood" in the eastern district, the "Steel Cross Society" in the southern district, and the "Crow Gang" in the western district.
They also represented the three mainstream branches of alchemy in this world: the Mechanical Sect, the Fusion Sect, and the Ancient Spell Sect.
The essence of alchemy is "equivalent exchange of matter," and the "Ancient Spell Sect" has capabilities like mages, able to cast various spells. They excel in potion crafting, enchanting, and occult studies.
Although they can cast spells, they do not worship any elemental gods, and they do not invoke magic laws to perform spells but use a pure fusion of energy and elements. They employ alchemy rules to exchange elements equivalently, either transforming the form of an element or altering its properties.
For example, standing on the ground, an alchemist would use alchemy to transform the earth element into the Earth Spike Technique; they could also, by consuming more energy, convert the earth element into the fire element and release the Fireball Technique;
Whereas the "Mechanical Sect" is also known as the new sect.
Their alchemical research direction is more about creating mechanical devices, firearms, mechas, steam devices... and mechanical curse implant equipment!
The suspicious "mechanical prosthetics" that had puzzled Su Lun before were, in essence, semi-technological products based on alchemy, not pure technology.
And the "Fusion Sect" is a combination of both sectors, featuring mechanics who specialize in mechanical modifications and ancient spell magicians who study spells, welcoming all comers.
....
Since Su Lun couldn't use the original owner's identity, he had no legal status to enter the city.
He could only choose to join one of the three gangs to smuggle himself in.
The Bald Ivan he had killed before was a big name in the "Crow Gang," and what's-his-name 'Silver Arm' Dick was from the "Steam Brotherhood." Although no one knew that it was Su Lun who had killed these people, he felt it was better to be cautious.
Especially since he still had some loot to dispose of, he didn't want to get into trouble over it, just like when someone recognized Bald Ivan's famous gun, the "Triple Demon," and nearly got killed for his money.
"It seems I only have the option to join the 'Steel Cross Society'..."
Su Lun avoided the city gates and walked to a section of the surrounding wall in the southern district.
Looking up, there was already a rudimentary iron cage elevator on the city wall, waiting to help people enter.
Having no other choice, Su Lun approached if he wanted to enter the city.
Joining a gang had good benefits and provided plenty of extraordinary resources...
But in reality, most people in Old Lington would rather be workers for their whole lives than join a gang.
Because... the casualty rate among gang members was extremely high, and their lives were short.
They replaced the city's security forces and would also handle mutant incidents, violent conflicts, and scavenging missions within their districts... These combat-related fields had very high mortality rates.
It was a bit like being a mercenary in a battlefield for money in Su Lun's previous life.
Allowing chaos in the slum area was also the most important reason the "Black Tower" inside the city tacitly allowed the existence of the three great gangs.
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