Chapter 1 The Calm After the Storm

The warships left the harbor, the Knights returned to the castle, and the beautiful coastal city quickly returned to peace.

The battle had destroyed a large number of houses, and casualties were not small.

After Mr. Mirror and the others retreated, Earl Osaka, the lord, seemed to wake up from his anger, realizing how foolish he had been.

Because of a good-for-nothing son who caused trouble everywhere, he had offended an old friend, provoked a mysterious super powerhouse, and almost brought a catastrophic disaster to his Ackerman family and the city...

The key was that no matter what the woman's background was, the matter of abducting women would spread, and he would not be justified in the slightest!

Having calmed down, Earl Osaka did not pursue, nor did he order a search for any remnants in the city, as if nothing had happened.

Therefore, Suren walked on the street without any city guards bothering him.

On the other hand,

The shocking news of Viscount Primo's death spread throughout the entire port of Gadrant at a rapid pace.

In taverns, squares, and streets, residents spread the story of the battle in the commercial street by word of mouth.

No one resented the destruction of order in the city, and no one grieved over the death of the lord's son.

On the contrary, there was rejoicing everywhere.

The common people secretly praised the hero who eliminated harm for the people.

With that scourge dead, merchants, tourists, residents... everyone finally dared to let their beautiful wives and daughters walk on the streets.

No one dared to say why they were happy, but celebrations were everywhere.

......

The auction was still early, so Suren went to the Adventurers' Guild to inquire about the information on the main materials he needed for his advancement.

But he didn't get the desired results.

Mental-type magical beasts were already very rare. Although the materials were expensive, few adventurers would pay attention to that kind of magical beast. For ordinary adventurers, the mental type was a very deadly existence, capable of killing people silently. Usually, they would choose to avoid them. Moreover, it was a Tier 3 magical beast. If they really encountered one, even Tier 4 professionals might not be able to return alive.

Not getting any information, Suren posted a reward.

Soon, a professional intelligence merchant contacted him.

He got a few pieces of information that he didn't know if they were outdated.

Suren chose two slightly more reliable ones to write down.

One was that a year ago, someone discovered a sea monster with sucker tentacles near the "Lomen Strait" in the north, which could emit mental power to bewilder sailors, suspected to be a Nightmare Octopus.

Another piece of information was that in a certain part of the "Silent Forest," an adventurer had heard of a spider that could kill people in nightmares, suspected to be a Nightmare Spider.

The information was a bit vague, but having news was better than nothing.

Anyway, it would take some time to advance to Tier 3.

Moreover, to create the Tier 3 [Mental Tentacle] implant, he needed the brain tissue of a living magical beast, so he had to go there himself.

So he wrote down the two coordinates and took the opportunity to travel to the legendary Arctic Icefield.

In case he couldn't find it, there was also a "Blizzard City" on the icefield, where adventurers mixed in the icefield, and perhaps there would be more detailed information.

.......

The evening slave auction was on Oak Street in the South City, near the South City Fish Market by the sea, which happened to be on the toe of Gadrant's "boot" shape.

Suren came out of the Adventurers' Guild, asked about the route in the city, and took a water steam train along the coastline through most of the city.

It is said that when the train tracks were built, the tracks were still on the sea.

But in recent years, the sea level has risen, and the train tracks have gradually been submerged in the sea.

However, it does not affect the normal operation of the train, and it has become a landmark of Gadrant - a steam train running on the sea.

It was already night, and the sky was full of bright and shining stars.

The boundless starry sky was reflected in the sea, and the train seemed to be traveling in the galaxy.

The water steam train ran along the seaside, the front of the train pushed the sea, stirring up the galaxy and rippling, like a sea blue dress inlaid with brilliant diamonds.

Suren leaned against the window, watching the beautiful scenery in front of him, slightly fascinated.

The starry sky was in the sky, reflected in the sea, and reflected in his eyes...

At this moment, it seemed that a brilliant galaxy was hidden in his eyes.

Before long, the train arrived at the station and came to Oak Street.

Suren looked at the dazzling red and green signs in the night, and realized that Tavern Street was also here.

Lightly dressed girls enthusiastically greeted passers-by.

"Handsome guy, want to drink? Come to our Giant Tavern..."

"Come to our Windmill Tavern, we have the best rum from the Imperial Capital..."

"..."

The auction house was not far away, and there was still a while before the opening, so Suren was not in a hurry to enter. Thinking about it, he stepped into a tavern with the sign "Dolphin Tavern".

He remembered the name of this tavern from those Sea Serpent Gang thugs.

He walked into the tavern, and the scene in front of him overlapped with those fragmented memories.

This seems to be a "black market for information" in Gadrant.

There are two signs on the bar, one with the price of drinks.

[Sailor Beer ￡100/mug]

[King's Guillotine ￡188/glass]

[Golden Rum ￡3000/bottle]

[...]

Suren snapped his fingers at the bartender and greeted, "Give me a glass of 'King's Guillotine'."

There was also a sign with pirate wanted orders with portraits hanging on it.

There was a dense mass of them, the highest was naturally Oleg J. Popov, the "King of the North Sea", with a reward of 8.477 billion.

But this was just a number, and no bounty hunter would dare to go after that top powerhouse.

Then there were some pirates who frequented the nearby sea areas marked in red.

"'One-Eyed Dragon' Saiyam Ula, leader of the 'One-Eyed Pirate Group', Tier 5 professional, reward 136 million Liso; the crimes are as follows: looting the 'Thorn Bird Chamber of Commerce' transport team, massacring more than two hundred people..."

"'Drunkard' Zelko Jones, leader of the 'Black Shark Pirate Group', Tier 4, reward 74 million Liso. The crimes are as follows..."

"'Anchor Man' Bryce Fleming, first mate of the 'Lazy Cat Pirate Group', Tier 4, reward 30 million Liso..."

"..."

Suren looked at the ones below and roughly saw some reward rules.

Those who were wanted were probably professionals above Tier 3, and Tier 4 was in the tens of millions.

The threshold for rewards over 100 million was probably Tier 5 sea pirates.

Tier 6 was around one billion.

Gar Popov, the "Frost Giant," and Greidis Olmedo, the "Sun Flame Lieutenant General," whom he had seen before, were also on the list.

After getting the wine, Suren sat alone at the bar, listening to the customers in the tavern bragging and chatting.

The most talked about was naturally the "assassination of Viscount Primo" during the day.

As the person involved, he naturally knew what was going on, and smiled from time to time as he listened to those demonized stories.

There were many sailors and fishmongers mixed in this tavern. They had been at sea all year round, and they all had a fishy smell that alcohol could not hide.

Suren did not underestimate these people.

After observing for a while, he also found that among these guys, some of them showed vigilant eyes from time to time. These guys were not ordinary people.

Ordinary people didn't have that kind of ruthlessness.

Probably pirate informants.

Gadrant Port did not welcome pirates on the surface, but in the face of huge profits, there would always be speculative merchants who would do those shady deals.

Pirates needed intelligence for looting, and the looted goods needed to be sold. If they kidnapped hostages, they also needed middlemen to trade the ransom...

Therefore, in seaport cities like Gadrant Port, there were many pirate informants, spies, and black market merchants who did "gray business."

Suren listened for a while and heard a lot of free information.

But not much was useful.

Thinking about it, he took out three silver coins and placed them next to the wine glass.

This was the "password" to communicate with information merchants, indicating that you were an expert.

Before long, a thin man wearing a black felt hat walked over, waved his hand, and quietly put the three silver coins into his sleeve.

He ordered himself a glass of wine and sat next to Suren: "Hey, buddy, what kind of information do you want to inquire about?"

Suren glanced at this guy and said lightly: "Who was the person who assassinated Viscount Primo during the day?"

"The attackers were two outsiders who seemed to know Antonio, the 'Blood Earl'."

Suren took a sip of wine and said coldly: "I want to know something useful, not this nonsense that everyone knows."

The felt hat man's eyes flashed with shrewdness, and he listened and quickly explained: "No, sir, please don't doubt the intelligence capabilities of 'Know-It-All' Polly! This is the latest intelligence, and no one knows the identity of those two outsiders now! However, I do have a top-secret piece of information here..."

When Suren heard this tone, he knew he had to add money.

He generously took out a few silver coins and placed them on the bar, but pressed them down with his hand: "Then tell me some information that you think I would be interested in. I'll pay if I think it's worth it..."

Polly looked around sneakily before saying: "The woman who attacked is a high-level vampire. The 'King of the North Sea' Oleg has offered a high reward to find a group of guys wearing neck-striped cloaks, one of whom is a vampire. If you are confident, sir, you can consider accepting this reward..."

Wanted by pirates?

Suren's expression did not change when he heard this.

It was not surprising that he was wanted by pirates after killing a few squad leaders during the tower raid.

However, the good news was that neither the pirates nor the Earl's Mansion had too much specific information about him, Suren.

Mr. Mirror was too eye-catching, and the focus of all the information was on her.

"Anything else? Any other interesting information?"

"I got news that a batch of high-quality treasures from the black market will appear at this auction, including many ancient artifacts..."

"I don't know why, but many big arms dealers have come to the seaport in the past two days. I guess there may be some large arms deals recently, but the information is still very limited..."

"A very special ship has come to the harbor. Some people suspect that people from the Luyang Royal Intelligence Department have secretly come to Gadrant Port..."

"There is a batch of very valuable antiques in the 'Red Dolphin Chamber of Commerce's' goods. That batch of goods is worth at least hundreds of millions. The ship will set sail the day after tomorrow..."

"The great bounty hunter 'Fist of Justice' Hodge lives in the 'Moon Bay Hotel'..."

"..."

You get what you pay for.

This guy was well-informed and knew how to read people's expressions. Suren spent money and got a lot of interesting information.

After drinking most of a glass of wine, Suren had a general understanding of the situation in Gadrant Port.

Seeing that it was almost time for the auction, he prepared to finish his drink and leave the tavern.

At this time, the noise in the tavern suddenly became strangely quiet.

There was a sharp "puff", "puff"... "crack", "crack"... sound from outside the door.

Without looking, Suren's keen hearing could tell that it was the sound of a steam boiler and mechanical devices rubbing together.

Dense, in large numbers, at least a mechanical guard team.

Looking over, as expected, a team of well-organized steel guards was passing by the tavern door.

Everyone turned their heads, and the tavern suddenly became quiet.

Because the attire of this group of guys was too eye-catching!

They were wearing standard full-coverage combat mechs, and their mechanical bodies were unusually strong, like human bears. On the left shoulder of all the mechs was a three-dimensional silver eagle, and on the right was the national emblem of the Mafa steam and hammer pattern with a treasure blue background and gold. Enchanted armor covered all the joints, chains, rivets, mechanical power pipes... In terms of overall design, a strong dark industrial style came to the fore.

They also carried exaggerated giant steam warhammers, alloy shields, saws, broadswords... and even more exaggerated heavy-duty external firearms on their backs.

A single steam boiler provided power for the heavy armor, and white steam sprayed out from under their feet with every step they took.

It looked clumsy, but the movement was not slow at all.

The paint on the armor was mottled, which was obviously a sign of battle.

Just looking at the aura that was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe, one could tell that this was a group of real elites from the battlefield.

This was the core technology of the Mafa Empire, external full-body armor.

With a helmet on, one person was a mobile steel fortress!

.......

Amateurs watch the excitement, experts watch the doorway.

Others only thought that these armors were fierce and mighty, but Suren stared at the details and couldn't take his eyes away.

He looked at the armor on the burly, bald-headed man at the head, narrowed his eyes, and murmured in his heart: "Tier 6 composite Runic symbols... the Mafa Empire's military Runic skills are really high."

He himself was proficient in machinery and runes, and he could see the power of that set of armor at a glance.

After identifying it, he was even more shocked.

"Armand alloy, magical pattern brass, dragon blood black iron... these are all super rare metals. Not to mention the technological content, just the material cost of this set of general-level armor is probably worth a city..."

Suren was filled with emotion, and after judging the runes and materials, he roughly estimated the combat power of this mechanical armor.

This set of armor maximized conventional elemental resistance and physical resistance.

It could be said that if he encountered a traditional professional whose damage output did not exceed the armor's defense limit, this guy could stand still and not be moved even if he was attacked.

Not to mention the output ability that the armor did not show, and the combat power of the burly man himself...

Suren judged in his heart: "This kind of mechanical warrior is at least equivalent to a Tier 6 professional. If he encounters someone whose ability restrains him, he can even be comparable to a Tier 7 professional!"

The technical content of this set of armor was so complex that he could only sigh with wonder at this stage.

However, this top-level armor was also an exception.

Enchantment and runes do not only require Runic technology, but also materials that can withstand high-level inscriptions.

At least the armor of the soldiers behind that burly man was much inferior, with two sets of Tier 5, and the rest were Tier 3 runes and Tier 4 armor.

When Suren saw this team of mechanical warriors, it was as if he saw a pile of mobile high-end mechanical technology.

While he was envious, his mind unconsciously reflected on how to deal with it and analyzed: "The physical and magic resistance is very high, the firepower is fierce, and there are not many weaknesses that can be exploited. Mental power defense is weak, and perception can also be used... It would be great if I could get a set to study in detail."

Thinking about it, Suren asked Polly, the "Know-It-All" next to him: "Who were those people just now?"

Polly said: "That is the commander of the 'Iron Hammer of the Empire' regiment, one of the four trump card legions of the Mafa Empire, Bluer Turner. Now that the two countries are at war, this guy was originally an ambassador for negotiations in the imperial capital, and no one knows why he ran to our north... It seems that he only arrived this morning."

Suren suddenly understood, and thought: So it was an ambassadorial delegation, no wonder the armor was so advanced.

He asked again: "Is there a way to get this kind of armor?"

Polly seemed to have heard an incredible question and smiled: "Hey, brother, I said don't think about it. There is a high reward for that kind of armor on the black market, but I have never heard of anyone getting it. Mafa's officer armor has a high technical content and is also equipped with a self-destruction system. If it is disassembled using incorrect methods, or if the warrior actively activates it, it will self-destruct and damage the core components. Even on the battlefield, very few complete armors are captured."

"..."

Suren listened and was not too surprised, it was a technical protection measure.

But he thought of some other things, and his eyes showed thought.

What are these guys doing here?

Looking at that direction, they are going to the auction?

Wait, those arms dealers and the Luyang Royal Intelligence Department all came to Gadrant Port intensively these two days?

Suren guessed that there might be something else in this batch of auction items.

........

Suren had only come to Gadrant Port and was attending this auction for the group of Daru slaves. He didn't know what items were in this auction at all.

Even the intelligence merchants didn't know, so Suren didn't guess too much.

It would be revealed soon.

The wine was finished, and it was almost time for the auction to start.

Suren didn't stay in the tavern for long and went straight to the auction venue.

The auction venue was converted from an old theater, and you needed to verify your assets to enter.

Suren showed off his million-worth assets and received a temporary auction catalog at the door.

As the opening approached, various gorgeously dressed gentlemen and ladies who looked very rich entered the venue one after another, talking about the upcoming auction items.

It seemed that the auction had already notified some information to other major customers, and people like him only now knew what would be auctioned.

And as soon as he looked at the product catalog, Suren immediately had a familiar feeling: "Huh... something from Old Lyden?"

The underground world was a line of dark warlocks, and many of the products, professional materials, and implants were different from those on the ground.

For example, those cursed crystal raw ores are dark energy gems unique to underground mines!

And finally, there was a "headliner item" marked with a question mark...

When Suren saw these things, he immediately guessed what the main source of goods for this auction was.

This was probably the batch of stolen goods that the Fourth Fleet of the King of the North Sea had intercepted from Old Lyden!

"That headliner auction item... could it be the drawings and materials for the [Super Mechanical Warrior]?"

Suren associated the various intelligence he had obtained and thought of this possibility.

The Mafa ambassador and the arms dealers...

He also felt that only this thing would attract so many people with sensitive identities to come.

Mechanical warriors are mainly used in large-scale wars, and they need a large base number to have combat power as a group. Those who are interested in that kind of drawing are either mechanical engineers or big forces. And Suren had stripped the soul fragments of a group of mechanical engineers in the research institute before, and also knew that the technical threshold for "super mechanical warriors" was extremely high. He felt that the pirates did not have the technology and resources to build a mechanical legion, and it was actually useless to get those drawings.

Keeping a copy in hand and selling it to a big force would maximize profits.

While Suren was thinking, he had already entered the venue.

The opera house was similar to a movie theater, with a stage in front and two floors of seating.

Under the guidance of a waitress, he sat in a corner.

Before long, the lights focused on the stage, and the auctioneer came on stage to start the show.

.......

After looking at the auction catalog, the slave auction was in the middle stage, and Suren still needed to wait slowly.

Soon, one auction item after another came on stage.

Breathing techniques, ancient spell scrolls, ancient books, advanced materials, mechanical drawings and finished products... all of them were rare and high-quality items on the market.

In the ground world, because the base number of professionals is large, the demand is large. In big cities like Gadrant, even "silver-level" implant materials are rare and popular items on weekdays.

But in Old Lyden, because of the excavation of ruins, there is no shortage of ancient relics, and there are many gold-quality materials and implants. The pirates have plundered too many treasures...

This batch of high-quality goods directly set off wave after wave of bidding frenzy among various bidders.

Suren frowned as he watched the auction items being auctioned off one by one.

He even knew the origin of some of these auction items...

.......

The auction was in full swing, and at this moment, in a private room on the second floor.

A purple-haired woman looked at the items in front of her with great interest.

This was Yekaterina Lance, the fourth daughter of Grand Duke Lance of the Northern Six Provinces.

She seemed to be very interested in auction items such as ancient books, and would bid for them almost every time she encountered one.

Before long, an old butler hurriedly walked into the room and reported: "Miss, it has been confirmed that the final headliner item of the auction is the complete drawings and some research data of the [Super Mechanical Warrior]. Are we going to prepare to bid?"

Hearing this, there was not much surprise on Yekaterina's face, but she shook her head and chuckled: "Bid? No. Those guys from the Mafa Empire are determined to get it, and we can't outbid them. We can't afford the price they offer..."

The old butler seemed to know his young lady's temperament very well and asked again: "Then shall I go for a trip?"

Yekaterina obviously had already made up her mind, and shook her head again and said: "The drawings must be obtained. But there is no need for us to take action first in the ambush. The 'Intelligence Department' has exposed many important pawns buried in the north this time, those guys will not let the drawings fall into the hands of the enemy. Let them fight first..."

"Yes."

The old butler pondered for a moment and then fell silent.

Yekaterina thought of something, and the playful smile on her face became more and more intense, "This is going to be lively, hehe... those pirates are also shrewd, putting these drawings up for auction is to make the war more intense so that they can fish in troubled waters."

After a pause, she said again: "Oleg, that pirate leader, is probably going to be 'crowned king' this time. By that time, the war will drag our Northern Six Provinces into it. Although it's not all bad... let's make some preparations in advance."

Old Butler: "Yes, Miss."

Yekaterina: "Oh, and one more thing. Send someone to keep an eye on that vampire woman, investigate who she is and what she wants to do. I always feel that she will be a big threat to us in the future."

Old Butler: "Yes!"

.......

The auction hall was bustling with activity, but outside the auction hall, a group of people wearing various professional attires were mysteriously meeting.

"Are you sure that the headliner item of this auction is the drawings of the [Super Mechanical Warrior]?"

"Yes, sir."

"Those damn arms dealers haven't revealed any information so far. To make huge profits, they really don't care about the safety of the empire!"

"The big arms dealers are all backed by the empire's top royal relatives, and they are not afraid of our Intelligence Department at all..."

"Forget it! Mobilize all available manpower. If we can't buy it, even if we ambush the Mafa delegation, we must never let the drawings leak out!"

"Yes, sir!"