"It’s such a bother!”

Qiantiao complained with undisguised annoyance.

But because it was Suren's doing, she didn't find it particularly unpleasant.

Ultimately, she couldn't give that detestable guy a break, or he'd definitely push his luck.

So Qiantiao kept a straight face, stood up naked from the bathtub, and stood under the shower, letting the water rush over her body.

Suren watched with interest, only replying to the complaint, "Ah, sorry, sorry~"

Though he apologized, his face wore a smug, punchable expression. He usually didn’t get this kind of opportunity, and the "special permission" earlier had allowed him to indulge for the first time.

Most importantly,

Qiantiao had taken the initiative to help earlier.

This made Suren feel really good.

"Hmph!"

Qiantiao caught a glimpse of his annoying smile and snorted coldly in displeasure.

She turned away directly, not letting him see any more.

Suren, however, wore an indifferent expression. The figure of the gambling addict was a sight to behold from any angle. Crystalline droplets slid down her back, and then over the gradually rising curves of her buttocks, a very pleasing sight.

But after a moment, he smiled and averted his gaze.

For Qiantiao to help him to this extent was already a rare act of intimacy.

It was just right as it was.

Qiantiao felt the gaze that had been roaming over her figure suddenly withdraw, and inexplicably felt relieved.

She looked down at her hand, as if thinking of something, a helpless curve appearing at the corner of her lips, which she then pursed lightly.

It wasn't quite a smile, but there was no hint of anger either.

…

Suren felt refreshed, as if he had resolved the "sequelae" of Pandora’s Enchantment.

After Qiantiao washed and put on her clothes, Suren didn't soak for long.

He washed, got dressed, and instead of hurrying back to the lab, he took out an alchemy tome and sat on the sofa to read.

Although no one spoke in the room,

Both of them enjoyed this time alone together.

But as they were reading, there was a "tap, tap, tap" knock on the door.

Qiantiao was maintaining her treasured swords. She recognized Mirror's footsteps, and called out, "Filo, the door’s not locked, just come in if you're back. Why are you knocking?"

As soon as she said this, the sound of the doorknob turning came.

Looking again, Mirror, in a fitted black satin dress, walked in. She looked at the two in the room and casually replied to Qiantiao's words, "I knocked because I was afraid of disturbing your time together."

Suren greeted Mirror as she came in, "Senior Apprentice-Sister."

Mirror smiled and nodded.

Qiantiao rolled her eyes at her, "What's there to disturb?"

They were friends who couldn't be more familiar. She knew what Mirror was teasing her about, and even smiled mischievously, "Filo, if you had come back sooner, you could have helped."

Hearing this, Suren on the sofa felt his eyelids twitch and quickly covered his face with the book, thinking that this gambling addict could really say anything.

Fortunately, Mirror was used to it and smiled without saying a word.

She casually closed the door, walked towards Suren, gracefully gathered her skirt, and sat on the sofa with her legs together.

Suren put down the alchemy tome in his hand and asked, "Senior Apprentice-Sister, is there information about yesterday's battle?"

That was probably the only reason she would come at this time.

"Yes."

Mirror nodded and said, "News of our battle in the Molos City-State yesterday has already spread. This morning, the Lu Ying side put it on the front page of the newspaper's special edition. It's basically the same as planned. But there are two... slightly special pieces of news."

"Oh?"

Suren became interested upon hearing this.

They were firsthand witnesses to yesterday's battle, and no matter how detailed the newspaper was, it couldn't possibly be as clear as they knew. But for his Senior Apprentice-Sister to call it special, it must be very special.

Mirror said directly, "The newspaper said that the thirteenth princess of Mafa, Princess Frost Moon, Skadi Harris, was killed."

Suren frowned sharply upon hearing this, "The Mafa princess is dead?"

Even Qiantiao "clicked" as she put down the knife she was wiping and looked over.

Mirror nodded, "Yes. The specific cause of death wasn't written in the newspaper. But it's probably true. News has already come from Mafa saying that the Mafa Emperor is furious and will definitely investigate to the end."

"..."

Suren fell into deep thought upon hearing this.

He also realized why those mechanical soldiers had suddenly withdrawn during the pursuit.

So, Stika had been assassinated.

He wasn't too surprised.

He just thought that this matter would have a big impact.

After all, the one who died was a princess of a country.

Suren knew very well that the Dawn Mercenary Group hadn't killed Princess Stika in yesterday's battle.

But she died.

That was very delicate.

There were only a few who dared to kill a princess, and who had the ability to do so.

And Yekaterina was in the city, and the Temple of Agrapanon was destroyed by the meteor she summoned.

Without thinking too much, Suren directly stated his guess, and said lightly, "It should be the Lance Family who did it."

"Yes. I think so too."

Mirror also nodded, her expression as calm as Suren's.

To outsiders, Princess Stika's death must be the work of the Dawn Mercenary Group. It seemed that their Dawn Mercenary Group was "taking the blame" for the Lance Family.

But in reality, both of them knew that it didn't really make any difference whether the Mafa princess died or not.

If Princess Stika didn't die, wouldn't the Northern Sea Fleet and Mafa still pursue them?

Obviously impossible.

The essence of the pursuit was not conflict, but profit.

The "Void Secret Realm" was destroyed, and the foundation of the alliance between Mafa and the Northern Sea no longer existed.

The purpose of the pursuit was still to obtain the treasures and keys of the Void Secret Realm, and the neuro-mechanical technology, from the Dawn Mercenary Group.

That was the most important reason.

As for the death of a princess, it was just an excuse to act.

A princess who married a pirate had already lost her most important function as a marriage alliance. Especially after coming to the Northern Sea, not only did she not have any achievements, but she also frequently caused huge losses to the empire. Even if this "waste" returned to the Mafa Empire, she would not be of any value to those in power.

It would be better if she could generate some residual heat.

It was foreseeable that in the near future, the Mafa Empire would definitely put pressure on Lu Ying and make trouble because of the death of the royal princess. Those politicians would find any excuse to send a large number of people to Lu Ying to muddy the waters.

Qiantiao became interested in this news.

She hung the knives on the knife rack and walked over, sitting on the sofa with her legs apart.

Right in the middle of Suren and Mirror.

She spoke much more directly, teasing, "Yo, Suren, that noble lady friend of yours, her methods and scheming are not weak."

Suren shrugged noncommittally.

Katyusha was his friend.

But this Yekaterina was very unfamiliar.

But what cannot be denied is that she secretly provided a great deal of assistance in the previous battle.

Whether it was destroying the temple, or Van Gogh taking action, clearing the snipers... all greatly weakened the threat of the Northern Sea Fleet.

Even the assassination of Princess Stika created conditions for Suren and the others to evacuate safely. This was also one of the important factors for the Dawn Mercenary Group's ability to evacuate without any casualties.

Cooperation is mutual reciprocity, not unilateral exploitation.

So, whether or not to take the "blame" doesn't matter.

…

Obviously, the first piece of information had no impact on the Dawn Mercenary Group, and none of the three took it seriously.

At this time, Mirror smiled slightly and said again, "The second piece of news is also related to this Miss 'Yekaterina'."

"???"

Suren looked over, feeling that her words were meaningful, as if she was saying it specifically for him.

Mirror said, "Today's newspaper also published an important news item on the front page: Duke Lance of the North and the Regarthy Family of the South have reached a marriage agreement. Three months later, a blessing wedding presided over by the Lu Ying Empress herself will be held in Lunden, the capital of Lu Ying."

Suren had already known this news for a long time.

Because he had personally agreed to it.

But he didn't expect that this kind of thing would actually be on the newspaper, making the whole world know?

Hearing this, the fire of gossip in Qiantiao's eyes burned fiercely. She hooked Suren's shoulder and pulled him into her arms, "Oh, Barrett said that the little princess of the Lance Duke's family is a great beauty, known as the 'Number One Beauty of the Royal Academy'..."

After a pause, she smiled wickedly, "What does that noble lady look like? Is she as good-looking as Filo?"

Suren felt his head sink into a sea of ​​tenderness.

Obviously, Qiantiao didn't bind her chest. She had just taken a shower, and there were no outsiders in the room, so she dressed very casually. As a result, the wide neckline revealed a glimpse of the scenery with such a big movement.

He didn't intend to look, but a glimpse of the corner of his eye involuntarily caught a glimpse of a patch of white, delicate and deep.

Suren replied, "She is indeed not bad. But I think she's far worse than Senior Apprentice-Sister. She's not as good-looking as Sister Qiantiao either."

Qiantiao was very satisfied with this answer, "Tsk tsk. You're really popular with women, kid."

As she spoke, she leaned almost her whole body on Suren, as usual, in a very intimate posture.

It used to be nothing, and Suren was used to it, but for some reason, he suddenly felt a burst of restlessness and immediately felt bad: "Here it comes again?"

He knew very well that this familiar feeling of his body being out of control meant that Pandora's Enchantment had not been resolved.

Qiantiao caught a hint of strangeness in his expression.

She looked at Suren's embarrassed state and said with a disgusted expression, "Ah... how unsightly."

Even if Suren's face was thick, he felt embarrassed at this moment.

It was fine when he was alone with Qiantiao, but now his Senior Apprentice-Sister was next to him.

He was just thinking of explaining.

But Mirror seemed to know something and was not surprised at all.

She glanced at him and smiled gently, "Pandora's Enchantment?"

Suren asked when he heard her speak, and the embarrassing atmosphere disappeared instantly, "Senior Apprentice-Sister, you know?"

Mirror said, "Yes. Pandora came to say goodbye to me before she left. She told me to tell you that the effect of this Enchantment will last for about three days, during which it will occur intermittently."

Pandora was an alchemical creation of the Isaac couple, half a daughter, and Mirror was Isaac's own daughter. Although they didn't seem to have much interaction before, their relationship was beyond the reach of outsiders.

Three days?

So it hasn't been resolved yet.

Suren was speechless when he heard this, and looked forward to it, "Senior Apprentice-Sister, is there any way to undo this technique?"

Mirror spread her hands with an expression that she couldn't help, "This is a divine secret technique, and if you want to solve it, Pandora has to do it herself. I can't do anything."

Suren felt that this was very bad news.

…

Fortunately, Suren rarely showed his face outside when he was fine. Apart from Mirror and Qiantiao who had seen his embarrassing state, there was no one else.

Three days passed in a flash.

Suren had been staying in the laboratory.

After all, he was really busy.

The battle in the Molos City-State was indeed majestic.

Suren also tried for the first time the limit of his current puppet technique, causing tens of thousands of casualties to the enemy.

But similarly, the battle damage was also very serious.

Almost all of the thousands of rune golems and mechanical armors were damaged to varying degrees, and the reserves of ammunition were exhausted.

The mechanical armor could still be repaired with the help of the war workshop in the small Void Realm, but Suren had to make and repair the rune golems one by one himself.

The most urgent problem now is to make high-level puppets to make up for the lost combat power.

That battle also made him aware of various shortcomings in his puppet formula.

In the previous battles, his golem army had a very good effect against low-level pirates, almost harvesting them in pieces with low battle damage.

But against fifth- and sixth-order high-level professionals, they would almost be harvested in pieces.

Thinking that if there were really a thousand fourth- and fifth-order high-level golems, Suren felt that he might be able to kill seventh-order professionals!

The manufacturing process of advanced puppets is very cumbersome, and it takes a lot of time to make a puppet by hand.

Even with the Eight-Armed Spider Spear, it takes several days to complete a fourth-order puppet.

Therefore, Suren has been working with the engineers in the war workshop on a new idea, to see if the mechanical can replace part of the production program of the rune golems.

For example, some basic material screening, carving, polishing, plating...

In theory, the mechanical can make complex mechanical armor, and it can also make general rune golems.

If a standardized assembly line can be manufactured by then, the output of rune golems will increase explosively.

Mass production is the basis of legion combat.

But now the problem has come again, making high-level puppets requires a lot of alchemy materials.

Suren has a lot of miscellaneous things in his hand now, but certain special materials controlled by the Lu Ying military are extremely scarce.

As a result, the production speed of both rune golems and mechanical armor is not fast.

Therefore, the engineers in the war workshop have been focusing on research and experiments these days, making "golem assembly lines", various tests of the "Titan Mechanical Octopus", modifying armor drawings for puppet control... and other research-oriented projects.

The only thing that is actually mass-produced is various alchemy ammunition.

In that battle, Suren deeply realized the concept of "firepower is truth".

As long as there is enough ammunition, top professionals have to retreat.

The materials for making alchemy bombs are relatively abundant, so they concentrated their production power and made a pile of them first.

Even if he can't use it by then, this kind of "hard currency" on the adventurer market can be sold for at least two or three times the profit.

Moreover, the war workshop is placed in the small Void Realm, which is much better than the conditions in the submarine before.

Suren also intends to expand production capacity. That would require purchasing some mechanical factory equipment, such as some large melting boilers, high-precision lathes, research instruments...

Unfortunately, those things are still controlled items.

Fortunately, Suren is not alone, but the "Dawn Organization".

Through prior communication, the White Whale Chamber of Commerce has collected a lot of materials, and has also found some black market channels to purchase those mechanical equipment from military factories.

All of that must be obtained in Lu Ying.

The Evernight has also been sailing south towards Lu Ying these days.

…

Before the "golem assembly line" was completed and the materials arrived, Suren was facing another problem.

That is the number of puppets that can be controlled.

The limit of the number of puppets that he can control with multiple minds is about a thousand, and it is very slow to increase this number.

Mainly limited by mental power.

There is no accurate level distinction for mental power, but Suren now obviously feels that he has reached a bottleneck, probably the realm of "Puppet Grand Master".

After entering this stage, it is very difficult to improve the quality of mental power.

Relying on the [Death Harvester] talent, he quickly reached his current state. But if he wants to improve to another level, to the extent of Pandora's "spiritual manifestation" and "Void Roaming", it is very difficult. It is even more difficult than before when he went from zero foundation to the present.

Unless he becomes a murderer, like the previous battle where he killed tens of thousands of people at once, maybe there will be hope after a few more times.

But that's just a possibility.

Suren has never considered this idea.

In the field of alchemy, all energy is balanced.

Killing for the sake of killing will be rejected by certain plane laws such as the "Will of the World".

In layman's terms, it is "bad luck" and "retribution".

This is not metaphysics.

But Sir Isaac, who had mastered the [Destiny] talent, warned Mirror himself.

Suren is not in a hurry.

After all, this is a super big threshold. It is estimated that the number of people in this plane whose mental power exceeds that threshold will not exceed the number of hands.

He has only advanced to the fifth level, and there is a long way to go.

There is also plenty of time.

What's more, Suren has another advantage over ordinary people.

That is the [Sun-Eating] Totem.

Suren had a mental distortion before, and listening to whispers brought him a lot of negative mental power growth.

Yutta has been using divine power to draw the [Sun-Eating] Totem to absorb these negative mental powers.

He used to think it was a burden, but now he is looking forward to the Totem being full and helping him break through the spiritual realm.

Moreover, not only mental power, but also the upper limit of the ability of "multiple minds" needs to be improved.

At least if you want to achieve the ultimate goal that Suren envisions, one person controlling tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of puppets, you need stronger control.

Fortunately, there is magical alchemy, and some alchemy colonizers and advanced materials have similar abilities.

As long as you look for it carefully, you may be able to meet it in the future.

…

The Evernight sailed through the waves at sea, and nearly a month passed in a flash.

During the voyage, I encountered many waves of sea ships, including merchant ships, pirate ships, and reconnaissance ships of unknown forces.

Fortunately, seeing the Evernight, a sea emperor-class warship, most of the ships automatically avoided it.

A few ships that wanted to hang up and track, and those that came with bad intentions and wanted to intercept, were directly chased and sunk by Suren and the others.

The Dawn Mercenary Group has the world's top sea ships, top powerhouses like Mirror, and the best navigators, so naturally they have not encountered any accidents.

Suren has been staying in the cabin for nearly a month.

During this period of busyness, he almost completed the things needed for the battle.

Lu Ying's Imperial Capital is a holy land of alchemy, gathering all kinds of strange people and strangers, and high-level professionals are as numerous as dogs.

Suren has to go to the Royal Academy to get that copy of "Isaac's Alchemy Manuscript", and he also has to keep Yekaterina's appointment. This trip will definitely cause some movement, so he must prepare in advance.

…

On this day, on a deserted island near the western coastline of Lu Ying.

Suren was leisurely grilling coconut crabs on the beach with his two disciples, Kama and Aberk.

They had been waiting here for half a day.

Half a day ago, Suren separated from Mirror and the others.

The other members of the Dawn Mercenary Group had to go to Senodia Province first. That is the territory that Mirror's blood relatives have run for hundreds of years, and it is also the foundation of the Dawn Organization.

A large organization has to deal with many diplomatic issues, such as wanted, alliances, recruitment, cooperation... and so on.

After the Dawn battle in the Molos City-State last time, a large number of people will definitely come here admiringly.

There are also many thorny issues.

Mirror is going to deal with those things.

Suren wants to go to Lu Ying first to get the materials, and he also has to keep his appointment, so he plans to change to a passing cruise ship to Lunden.

Today the weather is sunny and the sea breeze is gentle.

On the white sand beach, the waves crashed.

Suren was sitting in the shade of a tree, looking through the alchemy secrets he had harvested from the Void Secret Realm before.

The coconut crabs on the bonfire were smelling delicious, and the three masters and apprentices simply settled for lunch.

At this moment, Aberk, who was staying on top of the coconut tree, discovered something and excitedly said to Suren on the ground: "Teacher, the ship is coming! 'Empress Rodrika' is written on the hull!"

Suren stood up when he heard this, jumped onto a tree, and also saw clearly the giant steel steam-powered ship slowly approaching at the end of his vision.

A gleam flashed in his eyes.

This is exactly the ship he was waiting for.

This luxury cruise ship has circled most of Lu Ying and will arrive at the Imperial Capital of Lunden in half a month.

It just so happens to be Suren's destination.

Taking a ride is one thing.

More importantly, Mr. Black sent a message saying that there was top-secret information indicating that there was an important leader of the Hermetic Order of Giants on this ship!