Gike had become much more composed.

Although Suren had only met him once before, he had a good impression of this little boy who was enthusiastic, cheerful, polite, intelligent, and eager to learn.

But now, Gike was as still as a wooden puppet.

He leaned on his crutches and silently followed behind Suren, without saying a word.

After walking a few steps, leaving the central square, Gike couldn't help but ask, "Are you Mr. Nicholas?"

His voice trembled with cold.

Suren said calmly, "Yes."

"It really is you..."

Gike's heart was filled with mixed emotions.

He had no relatives or friends in Blizzard City, and now that his father was dead, the people in the Chamber of Commerce had all become subordinates of that wicked woman, and no one would come to save him.

He never expected that the gentleman he had saved at sea would come to save him.

But then, Gike thought of something and said worriedly, "Mr. Nicholas, thank you for saving me. But... you shouldn't have come to save me. If I'm not dead, those two dogs will definitely send people to hunt me down. You will be implicated too."

"Hehe... it doesn't matter."

Suren smiled nonchalantly.

He had naturally sensed the two sneaky fellows following behind him.

Their tracking skills were very amateurish, far worse than those last night. They looked like Blizzard City thugs.

Gike's eyes were still filled with worry when he heard this.

Although he knew that this Mr. Nicholas was a powerful rune master,

But... Raman was a very strong Tier 3 professional!

Suren didn't explain much, and casually asked, "What exactly happened? How did you end up like this?"

When Gike heard this, grief and indignation surged into his heart. "Those two dogs murdered my father at sea. An old servant risked his life to stop them, and I jumped into the sea to escape. Thanks to the inflatable raft you gave me, I managed to survive... Later, I came to Blizzard City, wanting to expose the vicious faces of those two dogs, but I didn't expect that woman to be prepared. I was almost caught as soon as I showed up... Fortunately, I made a bomb and broke a leg, and that's how I escaped with my life..."

The plot was similar to what Suren had guessed.

That Captain Raman and Gike's stepmother, Marian, had long been in cahoots. In fact, the two were originally a pair of thieves who disguised their identities and specialized in seducing rich people, then creating accidents to seize their family property.

Originally, Benson didn't plan to bring his son Gike on the voyage, but he couldn't resist Marian's sweet words, so he brought him along.

Only by killing off the heir could she, as the widow, inherit the Benson family's property.

But now, there was a slight accident: Gike wasn't dead.

Which meant that if they didn't kill him, those two dogs wouldn't be able to get Benson's family property.

That Raman was just an ordinary Tier 3 professional, and Suren didn't care about him. He was more interested in Gike's affairs and asked, "The bomb you used in the hotel earlier, did you make it yourself?"

Gike nodded, "Yes."

Suren remembered the liquid bomb from before, which was much more powerful than conventional explosives, and asked, "The special nitro compound used in the bomb, did you mix it yourself too?"

Although Gike didn't know why Suren was asking these questions, he instinctively nodded, and added, "Yes. I found a damaged ancient goblin explosive formula in the academy library. I experimented many times later, and then I made it."

Suren found it very interesting. It seemed that this guy's talent in tinkering with explosives was really not low. "Didn't you want to be a designer? Why do you like tinkering with explosives?"

"I..."

Hearing this, Gike fell silent.

As if thinking of something, sadness appeared in his eyes, and he sighed before saying, "No, that's actually my father's expectation. He wanted me to become an architectural designer in the future. You know, even in the imperial upper class, designers are very respectable professions. My father didn't want me to tinker with those dangerous explosives, I..."

Speaking of this, Gike's eyes were already filled with tears.

His most beloved father was already gone.

Grief came from his heart, and his face was full of contradictions and ferocity. "But in fact, my real ideal is to become a 'demolition expert'. My dream is to create the most powerful bomb in the world. I like the moment when gunpowder burns and blooms, I..."

As he spoke, his expression dimmed, and his voice suddenly weakened, "If I could make more powerful bombs, my father wouldn't have..."

Suren listened expressionlessly.

Hatred was often the greatest motivation to drive people to progress, and what Gike was experiencing now might not be a bad thing for his future.

Speaking of this, Gike looked at Suren again and asked, "Mr. Nicholas, do you know... was that vicious woman blown to death?"

"No. She only had one leg blown off."

Suren shook his head, sensed something, and added, "Otherwise, she wouldn't have sent people to watch you."

Hearing this, Gike understood something, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

At this time, Suren had already led him into a small alley between red brick houses.

He turned his head and also discovered the two amateur trackers. Before he could say anything, he watched the two people who were closely following them into the alley suddenly stop there.

Without warning, "clang" their heads fell to the ground.

"This..."

Gike didn't know how Suren did it, but he was stunned by the scene before him.

He had never thought that killing people would be so understated. He was also stunned when he saw the human body fountain in front of him, "You...?"

Suren walked over, very skillfully cleaned up the corpses, and calmly said, "Let's go."

Blizzard City indeed didn't allow violence, but the premise was that it had to be discovered by the security guards.

If you could kill people silently and dispose of the corpses properly, the murder case wouldn't be established.

Gike looked at the back of the person who calmly left after killing someone, and was deeply touched.

.......

Suren found a nearby hotel and settled Gike down.

His injuries weren't a big problem. He used a potion to treat the frostbite, and he would probably recover in a few days.

Gike, who had survived the disaster, was wrapped like a mummy, his face full of gratitude, "Thank you for saving me, Mr. Nicholas."

Suren took off the surgical rubber gloves and said lightly, "You're welcome. You and your father once saved me."

He looked at Gike, whose leg was broken, which was also a big trouble.

Thinking of helping someone to the end, Suren took out a steam-powered mechanical leg and said, "If you don't mind, I plan to install a mechanical prosthetic leg for you."

This was a fine product from the spoils seized in Old Lingdun. Although it wasn't neuro-mechanical technology, it was perfectly fine for daily life.

Gike's eyes widened immediately when he saw the mechanical leg.

He wasn't an ordinary commoner. There were specialized steam-mechanical courses in the preparatory academy.

Seeing this well-made mechanical leg, his eyes widened immediately: There was even a micro steam boiler? This was probably a military-grade high-end mechanical leg!

He wanted it, but then he thought of something and said hesitantly, "This... I... but Mr. Nicholas, I don't have the money to buy such a high-end mechanical leg right now."

Suren shook his head, "It's okay. It's a gift."

Saying that, he began to disassemble the mechanical leg's installation device.

Suren's mechanical knowledge reserve allowed him to easily disassemble this finished mechanical leg. He even took out some parts and temporarily modified it, making it more suitable for a small person to wear.

Before long, the mechanical leg was installed.

Gike immediately walked on the ground, running and jumping without hindrance. Apart from the slight mechanical sound, the movement was not much different from a real leg. There were also some charged sprint attack devices.

For the first time in so many days, a smile appeared on his face.

Suren felt that he had done everything he should do, and the favor had been repaid, so he didn't plan to stay any longer, and instructed, "Live a good life in the future. And don't think about dying together with that kind of person. It's not worth it."

Gike looked at Suren who was about to leave, and there were too many words of gratitude in his heart, but at this moment he felt that saying them was too much, "Wait, Mr. Nicholas!"

Suren looked back at him.

"Please you... please you..."

Gike stammered because of nervousness.

After hesitating for a moment, he suddenly bowed and cupped his hands, finally mustering the courage to say, "Please accept me as your disciple!"

How could he not have realized that this Mr. Nicholas in front of him was not only an excellent rune master, but also proficient in medical skills and very skilled mechanical technology.

There was no one more suitable to be a teacher than such a learned person!

Most importantly, the figure who had calmly killed people earlier had been firmly imprinted in Gike's heart. He finally knew what kind of person he wanted to become in the future.

"..."

When Suren heard this, he thought about many things in an instant.

He had good talent and a good temperament, he was just afraid that accepting a disciple would be troublesome.

There wasn't much surprise in his eyes, he said lightly, "My identity is a bit special. If you become my disciple, you may be involved in troubles countless times greater than now in the future. And even if I accept you as a disciple, I may not have much time to teach you. Have you thought about it?"

"I've thought about it!"

Gike said firmly, "My father is dead, and I have no relatives anymore. Please accept me as your disciple, sir!"

Saying that, he knelt on one knee, his hands stretched forward, this was the disciple's salute. It meant: Teacher, please grant me knowledge.

When Suren saw him perform this great salute, he pondered for a moment: "Okay! From now on, you are my disciple."

Gike respectfully called out, "Teacher!"

Suren was accepting a disciple for the first time, and he was a little confused, not knowing what to do. He thought of his teacher, Sereia, and asked, "What do you want to learn?"

Gike was also slightly surprised when he heard this. Shouldn't the teacher teach the disciple what he is good at?

He also responded obediently, "Whatever the teacher teaches, the disciple will learn."

Suren said, "What I have learned is very miscellaneous, alchemy, runes, medicine, machinery, various types of arts, occultism, pharmaceutics... I know a little bit of everything. An alchemist must be knowledgeable. But a person's energy is limited, and you need to choose your own path in the future."

Suren knew that his path wasn't suitable for others, others didn't have the [Death Harbinger] talent.

Not everyone was an erudite Mr. Black.

"This..."

Gike immediately felt strange in his heart when he heard this.

How could anyone know everything?

If he didn't know that Suren had demonstrated his profound knowledge in mechanics and runes, he would definitely think that this was an unreliable teacher.

Thinking about it, he said, "Teacher, I want to learn about runes and mechanical blasting!"

"Yes."

Suren also nodded, thinking it was good, the future upper limit of mechanical hot weapons would be infinitely high, "Since I have accepted you as a disciple, then I will give you a small gift."

Explosives were actually a side branch of alchemy and pharmaceutics.

In the past, alchemists in ancient times discovered that certain materials mixed in proportion would cause explosions during the alchemy process, and later it slowly evolved into a specialized discipline.

Saying that, Suren took out more than a dozen thick books from his storage space, which were nearly half a person high when stacked up, and said, "These are the classics of Tier 1 runes and introductory mechanical knowledge, you can take a look first. The magical knowledge content of these classics may be different from the knowledge system you have learned before. If you encounter something you don't understand, you can ask me."

Speaking of this, he seemed to have thought of something again, and took out some mechanical blueprints that he had researched in the past, "There are also these introductory blueprints, you can take a look if you are interested..."

Gike was now a graduate of the preparatory academy, which was the level of a "mechanical apprentice", and these classics were enough for him to digest for a long time.

Teaching was the job of the teachers in the academy, which was very tedious.

Suren didn't plan to teach Gike hand by hand, nor did he have the time.

Therefore, he planned to "free range".

.......

Gike looked at the classics that Suren took out one after another, and the astonishment in his eyes grew stronger and stronger.

You must know that alchemy knowledge classics belonged exclusively to the aristocratic class in the Luying Empire.

Apart from the fact that various preparatory academies had some channels to obtain some introductory knowledge, subsequent advanced knowledge could only be obtained by going to the Royal Academy, or by being loyal to a certain aristocrat. They were also prohibited from circulating on the market.

He originally thought that what Suren took out were some "textbooks" with only empty theoretical knowledge, but he didn't expect to be stunned when he took a look.

Especially things like alchemy formulas and mechanical drawings, which were patented and would never be circulated outside.

At this moment, in front of him, they were thrown out by his teacher like selling waste paper.

Just the value of these drawings and formulas was priceless!

What Suren took out were indeed mostly "textbooks", but the textbooks in Old Lingdun were different from those outside.

In order to make Old Lingdun his secret research base, Grand Duke Raphael made a lot of textbook content that was "beyond the syllabus" and without "barriers". What's more, there was knowledge that was independently researched after excavating ancient ruins. Anyway, everything was in his own mine, and the knowledge wouldn't flow out, so there were almost no restrictions on textbooks, and there was a lot of knowledge that was rare outside.

This was also the most important reason why the technology level of the underground city was much higher than the Luying Empire as a whole.

However, Gike naturally didn't know all of this.

He was just getting more and more surprised, what was the origin of his teacher?

Gike had experienced great ups and downs in his life these days, and he felt that probably nothing would shock him anymore.

But looking at this "small gift", he vaguely felt that his teacher's background was a bit wild...

Moreover, the most terrifying thing was that his teacher could answer anything he asked in one breath!

"Teacher, the reason why my bomb didn't kill that person before, was it because there was too little medicine?"

"It's not a problem with the amount of medicine, but that you misjudged the crisis response ability of a Tier 3 professional. But a larger amount of medicine would indeed be better."

"But, that's already the limit I've tested. If there's more medicine, it will be very unstable, and the explosion will be out of control."

"Solving this problem can start with runes. On page 119 of [Introduction to Mechanics], there is a record of the 'Relationship between Runes and Directional Explosion Stability'..."

"Teacher, are you an [Erudite], or a [Know-it-all]?"

"No, I'm a [Puppet Master]."

"What kind of professional is that?"

"I'll tell you when I have the opportunity in the future..."

"..."

.......

After Suren gave those "gifts", Gike was immersed in the ocean of knowledge.

This guy indeed had a talent for learning, and he read those boring professional knowledge with relish.

Suren, as a teacher, also stayed in the hotel until noon, solving many of Gike's problems.

It wasn't that he was very free, but because at this time, the tavern area in the city would open.

He needed to inquire about some news, and he needed to go to a special tavern.

Blizzard City's entertainment industry was very developed, and most of the people mixed in the city were adventurers and merchants, who were willing to spend money. And because it was a place of origin for slaves, the brothels here were also very famous.

In the East City, there was a lively entertainment district, and there was an inconspicuous tavern called "Sailor's Tavern" on the street.

Many sailors dressed up as customers mixed in this tavern, but in fact, they were all pirates!

This was the "secret meeting place" for large and small pirates in the North Sea to meet.

Suren wanted to inquire about when the batch of Daru slaves would be transported away, and this was the most suitable place.

Because it was noon, there didn't seem to be many people in the tavern when Suren came.

As soon as he entered the door, he went straight to the supply room behind the tavern.

There were two strong men wearing leather jackets and showing a lot of chest hair guarding there. Their eyes were very poisonous, and it was easy to distinguish the difference between pirates who had been at sea all year round and people on the shore.

Suren didn't give them time to doubt, he threw out two silver coins as a tip, and walked over as if he wasn't here for the first time.

After passing through a passage leading to the underground, there was a different world.

Suren came to a very spacious underground tavern.

There was no shortage of good wine in the pirate tavern.

There was also a wine table here, with a dazzling array of various wines. Looking at the labels on the wine bottles, some were even rare goods specially supplied to high-ranking nobles, or even the royal family, which were all stolen goods that the pirates had robbed.

Suren sensed it, and there were several secret passages leading in all directions in this basement. Under the wooden planks in the warehouse, behind the nude oil paintings on the wall, behind the wine barrels at the bar, there was space...

This also made Suren feel a lot more at ease.

Although there weren't many people in the pirate tavern, there were several weak soul fires. One Tier 4, several Tier 3. Not surprisingly, they were all pirates with bounties on the bounty list.

The lights here were very dim, and the limited number of people at each table were discussing things in their respective compartments. There were soundproof restrictions, and it was impossible to hear what they were talking about.

Suren took a seat and ordered expensive wine, which was considered a "ticket".

Before long, a skinny man with a red rooster head and tattoos all over his face came over.

"Hey, brother, where did you raise your sails?"

He opened his mouth with common slang words used among pirates, and Suren also responded fluently.

The rooster head didn't see anything unusual, so he got to the point.

"Brother wants to inquire about news, or move goods?"

"I want detailed information on the recent slave transport of the 'Sun Chamber of Commerce', cargo information, time, escort force, what ship..."

"Oh, the Sun Chamber of Commerce is not easy to mess with."

"Add 30% commission."

"Okay! Thank you for your patronage, 100,000 riso, pay half first."

"Yes."

"This news is indeed a bit difficult... but I will definitely reply to you today!"

"..."

Inquiring about this kind of information in a pirate tavern would be the fastest and wouldn't have any trouble.

The rooster head left, and Suren patiently stayed in the tavern waiting for news.

Looking at him alone, the bar girls who worked at the tavern also came over, each of them looked good and dressed very revealingly.

The rude pirates wouldn't just come here to drink in silence, Suren didn't act differently, he randomly picked two blonde girls, drinking and chatting.

"Are there any interesting news on the sea recently?"

"The Tulip Chamber of Commerce's meat ticket was killed, and it's causing a lot of trouble in the middleman circle..."

"I heard that the Red Shark Pirate Group was wiped out. It seems that they offended a big bounty hunter..."

"The bounty hunter "Hercules" August has recently come to the north..."

"I heard that "King of the North Sea" has been making big moves recently, and has gathered a lot of people..."

"..."

Suren, who was waiting for news, wasn't in a hurry. Those intelligence dealers said that they could get news today, and they naturally had their channels.

The two girls were also very good at warming up the atmosphere, and time passed quickly.

Gradually, the tavern became lively.

Pirates weren't just humans, there were also giants, trolls...

Suren sensed that there were many powerful soul auras.

Just scanning around, there were big pirates with bounties.

Brando Matic, the leader of the "Iron Cross Pirate Group" with a bounty of 63 million riso; Janick Bisley, the first mate of the "Snake Pirate Group" with a bounty of 33 million riso; and a bounty of 55 million...

Many of these big pirates didn't cover their faces after entering the tavern, as if being recognized was a kind of honor, and a high bounty was also a bragging capital.

They were simply a group of walking bounties.

Suren listened with interest to the pirates bragging about their achievements, and he also quickly gained some understanding of the things in the pirate circle.

But as he was drinking, suddenly, Suren raised his eyebrows and looked towards the stairs.

Although the guy with the mustache was disguising himself very well, Suren recognized her soul fire. Wasn't that the girl named Katyusha?

What was she doing running to a pirate tavern?