Mechanical Alchemist

"This is a bit tricky now. Without this kid, we might end up explaining ourselves here..."

"Boss, you said that there is such a relic under the 'D33 Wasteland' that even the Hunter's Guild has no record of, and this run-down manor turns out to be a rare 'Cursed Space'. Who exactly is this kid, and what is he doing here?"

"To have those big shots from the inner city exile him and even offer a bounty to eliminate him completely, his identity must be no small matter. It's a pity. I thought we could get some secrets out of this kid before killing him, that's why we tracked him for so long. But I didn't expect to run into trouble..."

"Eh... looks like he's not dead yet."

.....

"Hah... heh..."

His chest heaved violently, as if he had just awakened from a drowning nightmare, and Su Lun suddenly opened his eyes.

He took deep, gasping breaths, and the intense feeling of asphyxiation gradually dissipated.

His gaze slowly focused, this was an unfamiliar room.

"Where is this..."

Su Lun tried to struggle to his feet, but when he looked down, he found himself securely tied to a wooden chair, unable to move.

A thick scent of blood rushed to his nostrils, and upon examining his situation, it was terrible.

His white linen shirt was stained with blood in multiple places, with wounds where flesh had burst open. More horrifying were his hands—each palm was impaled onto a chair arm by a sharp dagger, and bright red blood was flowing freely.

The pain from straining intensified, stabbing his nerves like a tidal wave...

"Was I kidnapped?"

Before he could ponder why he woke up to this scene, Su Lun's gaze caught sight of the two unfriendly-looking guys in the room.

One burly man with purple lips and dark circles around his eyes, wearing smoky makeup, the other a skinny man with green hair styled like a cock's comb and sporting a nose ring and an earring.

Their attire comprised black leather jackets full of studs and old leather pants, looking like avid fans of the punk style.

Of course, the most striking feature was the weapons they carried.

"Guns... could this be the mafia?"

Su Lun slightly shifted his gaze.

Both men had large revolvers tucked into their waist holsters, adorned with intricate, ancient inscriptions on the gun bodies. Although their appearance was somewhat exaggerated, they also felt vaguely familiar.

But what struck him even more was the strange mechanical arm mounted on the right arm of the bald strong man?

This mechanical arm carried a dense dark industrial vibe, with almost all of its parts exposed to the air. Brass gears, power transmission rods, mechanical joints, a gauge-equipped pressure valve, high-pressure tubes... The mechanical arm's front end had a fist-sized spiral-patterned muzzle and a crosshair.

It looked like a handheld cannon.

What puzzled Su Lun the most was the exhaust pipe on the mechanical arm, which was continuously emitting white steam.

"Is this... steampowered machinery?"

Su Lun's brows furrowed slightly, finding the sight unbelievable.

In this era, who still plays with steam machinery, these antiques?

He wasn't very frightened, more curious.

Shooting a movie?

No!

The excruciating pain in his palms told Su Lun, that he was indeed kidnapped!

....

"I remember clicking on a strange email earlier, everything went dark... and then, I woke up here?"

The unacquainted Su Lun, couldn't make heads or tails of the situation.

No matter how hard he tried to recall, his mind had no memory of the "kidnapping" process.

Something felt off everywhere to Su Lun.

He wanted to find more clues, his gaze returned to the room.

Sparkling crystal chandeliers, exquisitely carved solid wood furniture, gold-stamped books neatly arranged on shelves, and a signed black-and-white family portrait on the wall...

Su Lun quickly speculated that the homeowner must be a very particular aficionado of British retro style, or perhaps this was originally an ancient European castle.

But being so wealthy, why kidnap him?

The excruciating pain from the sharp daggers driven into his hands reminded him constantly that the two guys in front of him were absolutely ruthless kidnappers.

"These two guys... are they kidnappers?"

Su Lun's pupils focused, his gaze falling once more on the two people inside the room.

Whether it was their European faces, the retro gear on their bodies, or those steam-powered mechanical arms... everything seemed very strange.

Of course, even stranger was that Su Lun, looking up from the glossy, mirrored ceiling, saw his own reflection—a young man with blood-stained brown hair!

"Eh...why do I look different?!"

Su Lun vaguely guessed that something very strange had happened to him.

Moreover, when he had woken up and opened his eyes, he had also noticed some strange fluorescent text on his retina.

He blinked, confirming it was not an illusion.

...

Thoughts flashed through his mind when a loud shout snapped Su Lun back to reality.

"Hey! Kid, I know you're awake, stop playing dumb!"

The gaunt man with the Cock's Comb glared at him fiercely, and said viciously, "I'll give you one last chance, tell me honestly how you knew about this relic, and what you are doing here, otherwise..."

As he spoke, the man forcefully held down the handle of the dagger that had pierced Su Lun's left hand.

"Hiss~"

The agonizing pain, like ground meat, shot straight to his forehead, and a cold sweat instantly covered Su Lun's forehead; he sharply inhaled a breath of cold air.

He immediately understood, these two were "interrogating" him, seemingly wanting to know something from him.

Eh...

Interrogation?

Information?

The text on his retina!

In that instant, a flash of insight, the clues in his mind instantly connected together.

"These guys aren't here to kidnap me, but to kidnap the 'original host'!"

Su Lun suddenly realized.

Instantly, a bold thought surfaced in his mind: "Could it be... that I have traveled through time?"

Though this thought was outrageous, it was also the most plausible explanation.

Whether it was his own body of a brown-haired young man, the two punk-style kidnappers in front of him, or the dialogues he could understand but not recognize, all confirmed this was no longer his original world.

As a seasoned fan of online fiction, traveling through time was not something hard to accept.

After a moment of shock, Su Lun became even calmer.

Wait a minute...

Had these two already killed the original host once?

....

The original host was killed, and only then had Su Lun traveled here; he harbored no illusions of luck.

Facing the kidnappers who used disabling methods even during interrogation, he had no doubt, these men had no intention of leaving any survivors!

Thinking this, his brow slightly furrowed, he pondered, "Seems like whether I tell the truth or not, I'm doomed either way..."

A deadly start?

Su Lun's mindset adjusted very quickly.

Just like playing an immersive horror game, right from the start, he experienced that rush of adrenaline.

"If I want to survive, I must figure out a way to escape..."

The malice from the other side was almost tangible, stabbing at his nerves more painfully than the wounds on his hand. Yet, this did not instill fear or tremble in Su Lun, but rather triggered a specific stress response.

Owing to a particular captivity experience in his childhood, he possessed an extraordinary ability to control certain dangerous emotions.

This very moment.

Facing the threat of death, his body, tense from pain, completely relaxed, as though a hidden switch had been flipped—fear, panic, trembling... all sorts of negative emotions disappeared without a trace.

A nearly numb calmness surfaced in the depths of Su Lun's eyes.