Chapter 0 Transition Chapter, Skip If You Don't Like It

When Suren returned to the camp, news of the attack on Miss Theresa's team had already spread.

Although no one knew what happened, the city gate had clearly increased its defenses. You could even see second-tier professionals guarding the city gate in person, checking suspicious people entering the city.

But this had no effect on Suren.

Because too many inner-city people had come to the wasteland reclamation camp recently, the city entry fee had skyrocketed, and hotel accommodations were already full. Ordinary wasteland reclaimers couldn't afford to live in the city, so many pitched tents near the camp's city walls.

This also made things easier for Suren.

He found a place near the tent area by the city walls that was out of people's sight and teleported into the city.

The patrols in the city were also unusually strict.

He returned to the Rose Inn, and before long, he encountered a door-knocking inspection.

Because he had an almost perfect forged identity, he easily got through it.

Suren didn't run around. He stayed in the inn, meditating and digesting the fifth-tier knowledge he had stripped away today.

...

Suren had harvested memories and learned that people in the surface world did not advance by absorbing dark spiritual energy, but by absorbing normal spiritual energy.

He also learned that there were many factions of ancient alchemists. The normal ones were called "Light Alchemists," and there were also "Dark Alchemists," "Necromantic Alchemists," "Shadow Alchemists," and "Poison Alchemists," each with different cultivation systems...

Apart from Light Alchemists, the others were niche factions.

This underground city belonged to the "Dark Alchemist" lineage.

For the next few days, Suren was almost completely immersed in digesting knowledge and sensing the super-tier laws that exceeded his current tier.

It was a wonderful and pleasant experience, as if he were gaining a lot every minute and every second.

Suren ate his fill like a whale.

After digesting it, he finally understood what the so-called "transcendent tier barriers" were.

It turned out that the scenery seen from a high place was really different.

What he once thought were difficult peaks to climb were just slightly shorter hilltops, which he could see at a glance.

...

One day.

Suren was in his room at the inn.

Threads suspended books all over the room, and the eight-armed spider spears, along with his hands, were quickly flipping through the books in the air.

This was the set of textbooks from the Black Tower Academy that Mr. Black had given him.

Although he had read them countless times, there was still a lot of content he couldn't understand.

Now, Suren was reading them at an extremely fast speed, finding the previously marked, difficult-to-understand content.

Especially those alchemical knowledge that he previously needed to sense and understand, he now understood almost at a glance.

After a long time,

he finally scanned through the books, and nine out of ten labels were removed.

Suren exhaled a long breath. "Hoo... I used to think the people at the Black Tower Academy had an amazing amount of knowledge. Those high-tier professionals in the outside world are truly eye-opening..."

Even in the surface world, fifth-tier professionals belonged to the category of experts.

That "Groot Lester," as the captain of Raphael Duke's guard, was still a graduate of the "Luying Empire War College."

His knowledge was very amazing.

Closing the books, Suren's face was radiant, and he murmured to himself, "I've almost completely mastered first-tier and second-tier alchemical knowledge. Now, I just need more proficiency, and I can directly start with third-tier runes and enchantments. My rune puppets can be enhanced again..."

He now deeply understood the meaning of the saying "knowledge is truly priceless."

He also deeply understood the heaven-defying nature of [Death Harvester] being designated as an S-talent.

Before, he didn't think much of this talent harvesting professionals of the same tier. Now, he was harvesting across three major tiers, and it was a massive gain.

The significance of the knowledge gained was definitely not comparable to obtaining a few forbidden items!

Every advancement after the third tier had a threshold. It wasn't just about meeting the dark spiritual energy value and finding the materials to advance. You also needed to have an understanding of the corresponding laws. This was the biggest constraint that truly trapped countless alchemists.

...

After Suren digested the knowledge in his mind, he suddenly thought of something and began to form an alchemist's seal with his hands.

The seven-pointed star mark was slowly lighting up, but Suren seemed to sense something, and his brow furrowed. The alchemist's seal changed again, and one corner of the seven-pointed star was missing, turning into a six-pointed star.

The spell was successfully condensed, and upon closer inspection, his skin suddenly became as if it were cast in pure gold, with a metal texture that was visibly indestructible.

This was naturally the Flesh Alchemy spell—[Vajra].

The original [Vajra] was a fifth-tier spell, and its complexity meant that a fourth-tier professional might be able to barely use it, but third-tier and second-tier professionals simply couldn't understand it.

But Suren could understand it perfectly.

However, this was somewhat different from the dazzling golden lacquer external phenomenon of that previous fifth-tier professional. The golden lacquer on Suren's body also had a faint trace of black.

The spell driven by dark spiritual energy was slightly different.

However, the complete spell required a very large amount of energy, which Suren couldn't support with his current body and dark spiritual energy.

Because he understood this spell thoroughly, he also de-tiered it casually.

The essence of this spell was to condense gold elements into layers of highly condensed material on the body surface, like overlapping layers of gold leaf.

Reducing the number of layers would decrease the defensive power, but after all, Suren didn't need a defense that could withstand fifth-tier attacks.

De-tiering it was enough.

Suren felt his body.

He took out a dagger and poked it. There was a clear metallic feel, and the sharp dagger failed to leave any scratches on his skin.

Without thinking much, he directly drew his firearm and fired a shot at his palm.

"Bang!"

The gunshot echoed in the room.

With a soundproof barrier, he wasn't afraid of affecting his neighbors.

Suren looked at the deformed bullet in his hand, his eyes indifferent.

Then, he replaced it with an alchemical bullet.

Another shot.

This time, the alchemical bullet made a slight dent in his skin, but it recovered instantly.

After firing two shots to test it, Suren had a rough estimate of the defense of this spell. He pondered, "The physical and magical defense are both very high, and it can at least block the attacks of a third-tier professional for a short time. But the consumption is also very high. And the muscles are solidified, which obviously affects agility..."

That fifth-tier "Groot Lester" was so powerful not only because of the spell, but also because of his profession and alchemical implants.

Suren, as a puppeteer, was very satisfied with being able to use this kind of flesh alchemy spell to this extent.

At least it gave him the ability to protect his life in front of third-tier professionals.

And this time's stripping also gave Suren another complete skill: [Supreme Sky-Stepping Gait].

A technical movement technique that required high strength, high agility, and high skill to support it.

This had a very high degree of compatibility with him.

This was an advanced version of Kai's ghostly movement technique.

To put it simply, it was "stepping on air."

Suren had tried it a few days ago when he came back. He could leap into the air briefly, and it felt very good.

Within a short distance, it was several times faster than the eight-armed spider spear's displacement.

Agility and skill were just passive attributes. His own body had very high attributes before, and he almost met the minimum requirements for this skill.

But he couldn't use it.

Because the "muscle overload micro-control technique" was the key.

It required countless tempering to figure out that subtle sense of control.

It was like learning to ride a bicycle. It seemed like you just needed legs, but you had to find that balance point to master this skill.

One stripping allowed Suren to easily master this advanced movement technique that countless melee professionals couldn't master even after ten years of hard work.

One for defense and one for escape, greatly increasing his life-saving abilities.

...

Near dusk, Suren was tinkering with his new puppets in the room, but at this moment, a commotion suddenly came from outside the window.

"Go and see, Princess Theresa's team has arrived outside the camp!"

"Wow! I heard that it's difficult for those bigwigs in the inner city to see the little princess. I didn't expect her to come to wasteland reclamation. This is a rare opportunity. Let's go and see..."

"Hiss, what a big show. Those guards from the Duke's Mansion feel so strong..."

"..."

Whether it was because the large group was moving slowly or because they encountered an ambush, slowing down their progress, the young lady from the Duke's Mansion arrived at the camp a few days late.

Listening to the movement outside the window, Suren leaned against the window and looked in the direction of the sound.

He had chosen this room because it had a wide view, and he could see the camp's city gate and main street from the room.

Suren looked over.

The Duke's young lady had a grand entourage, with about hundreds of people accompanying her.

Everyone was surrounding a special steam-powered mechanical vehicle shaped like a carriage.

Some people in the team were holding flags embroidered with the harp and lion pattern that represented the Raphael family's exclusive noble crest. The guards wore uniform dark cyan uniforms, and the heavily armored soldiers with cross helmets held swords in the front. There were also dozens of people dressed as maids and servants, as well as a butler, a tutor, and a cook...

"So many experts..."

Suren narrowed his eyes and looked.

The standard configuration for such high-ranking nobles to travel allowed him to clearly distinguish the priorities at a glance.

Apart from Miss Theresa's personal maid, the closer they were to the vehicle, the stronger they were.

Because he had some stripped memory fragments, Suren found some of the people's faces familiar, but he couldn't recognize them.

With the death of a fifth-tier guard captain, there were obviously other fifth-tier professionals in the team. The fair-skinned man in military uniform, with his hat pulled down very low, was obviously one of them.

And near him, the dense elemental fluctuations surrounding those ten or so robe-clad alchemists, others might not understand what that meant, but Suren knew that it was the fourth-tier alchemists' signature defensive means: "Elemental Barrier."

Obviously, this was still the visible guard force, and who knows what was in the dark.

This team was ridiculously strong.

...

Dawn Camp was originally a war town built for wasteland reclamation, and it didn't have very wide streets.

The team drove in from the city gate and then stopped in front of the narrow street.

The knights knelt on one knee, and the maids opened the vehicle door. An old nanny reached out and led out a veiled girl. She wore a wide-brimmed hat with a pink bow, a floral short skirt, and simple leather boots. She wasn't dressed in grand attire, but as soon as she appeared, a noble aura swept over her, as if a splash of color had appeared in a black-and-white scene, attracting everyone's attention.

Suren glanced at her, restrained his gaze, and didn't intend to look.

Looking at this kind of young lady from a duke's family was just asking for trouble.

And just at this moment, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

Opening the door, he saw Chitiao, whom he hadn't seen for a few days.

Suren greeted, "Sister Chitiao."

"Mmm."

Chitiao responded weakly, with a tired expression as if she had been gambling for days and nights. She walked into the door and grumbled, "Aiya, I'm finally back..."

Saying that, she went straight into the bathroom, took off her dirty clothes, and threw them out. "Please hang them up for me."

"..."

Suren looked at her bare back, raised his eyebrows helplessly. This gambling addict was really becoming less and less reserved. Before, she would still cover up a bit, but now she even skipped the step of protecting her chest.

The sound of water in the bathroom was trickling,

Suren was focused on making puppets in the room.

Before long, Chitiao came out after taking a shower.

She was wiping her hair with a towel and said, "Are you free tonight?"

Suren continued to tinker with his puppets. "I don't have anything to do."

Chitiao asked in an inquiring tone, "Then change your clothes and accompany me to a party?"

"Party?"

Suren looked up at her, feeling that her tone was slightly different.

Chitiao replied, "Yeah. That young lady from the Duke's Mansion is here, so the major families in the inner city will naturally hold a welcome party. Also, there will be a lottery at the party to assign wasteland reclamation tasks. That little girl Reina is in a bad situation too... Well, and also, you should disguise yourself with a new identity and help me fend off some trouble..."

"..."

With this explanation, Suren understood.

Although Chitiao was a cadre of the Cross Society, she was originally the second young lady of the Evelyn family in the inner city. Although few people in the outer city knew this part of her identity, the major families in the inner circle were very clear about it.

This gambling addict also hated those high society social parties, but she had to consider her family.

She could ignore other parties, but the party to welcome the young lady from the Duke's Mansion was something that all families, anyone who was anyone, had to attend. No one dared to ignore the Duke's Mansion's authority.

Listening to her words, Suren understood that he was to act as her... male companion?

He didn't mind helping with this small favor, but he was also a little curious as it was the first time he heard Chitiao talk about her family affairs.

And as she spoke, he saw that this gambling addict actually took out a set of cyan-black court dress from her storage ring?

"Eh..."

Suren's eyes showed surprise.

In his impression, Chitiao had never worn any other style of clothing besides kimonos and battle armor.

Oh, there was also sleepwear, and the appearance of not wearing clothes.

But...

This kind of lady-like dress for upper-class socialites???

Chitiao obviously noticed the strange look and said angrily, "Hey... Suren, what's with that look? Did you think I wanted to wear this?"

If she wore a flamboyant kimono full of social flair to a high society party, she would probably attract more attention than that Princess Theresa.

Suren smiled. "Ah... I think it looks pretty good."

Chitiao ignored him, dried her hair, and started putting on the dress in front of the dressing mirror, complaining as she put it on, "Dresses are so troublesome to wear..."

Suren didn't want to stare at her changing clothes.

But after waiting for a while, hearing no sound, he turned his head and his eyes lit up.

He really had to say, the gambling addict with her hair up and wearing a courtly dress actually looked pretty good!