Mechanical Alchemist-Chapter 362 - 361: Contract

This was a draft to be reviewed later. Su Lun had never dared to release "Pandora" before, because he knew that doing so would definitely cause big trouble.

Although he still hadn’t figured out exactly what the renamed "Princess of the Night" had been up to in Mountain Hermit, it was certain that the current "Moon Emperor" of Mountain Hermit, Takeda Nobuyasu, was her puppet. Moreover, she had special ways to communicate with the "Great God of Moon Reading."

This woman had countless secrets, the kind that you would know are bound to cause endless trouble, even if you thought with your toes.

If it hadn’t been for his urgent effort to save people at the beginning, and if Su Lun were to consider it now, even with several more guts, he would not dare to provoke her.

However, also because of his decisiveness back then, he had now managed to bring her out, but was troubled about how to handle her.

In Pirate City Hastelin, there were many from Mountain Hermit, and previously Su Lun did not dare to release her. But now, in this deserted sea area, he felt that perhaps it was worth a try.

...

As Su Lun thought of this, he put down the mechanical octopus he had been tinkering with and stepped out of the captain’s cabin.

On the deck, Qian Tiao and the crew were having a heated exchange.

They were wrestling, as was routine for Dawn Group.

Sailing days could be dull, and everyone found enjoyment in combat.

Among the trio of giant brothers, the constant wrestling champion faced his opponent "The Butcher" Banner, as if they were trying to distinguish a winner between mechanical and physical power.

The nearby crew cheered and shouted, creating a harmonious atmosphere.

In these past few days, Tanni and the former members of Squad 19 had fully integrated into the new "Dawn Group," enjoying themselves immensely.

Seeing Su Lun approach the deck, everyone greeted him, "Mr. Su Lun, you’ve come."

Even those who were unfamiliar with him from before had come to fully recognize this Mr. Su Lun during the battle a few days ago.

Whether it was his ability to control dozens of mechanical octopuses or conjure a large ship out of thin air, everyone was deeply impressed.

Though Qian Tiao was the captain of Dawn Group, no one felt excluded.

Because they all knew that Mr. Su Lun had a special relationship with their captain.

After all, both of them stayed in the captain’s cabin at night.

Qian Tiao, seeing Su Lun emerge, joked, "Yo... you decided to come out and get some air?"

After responding to everyone and making some small talk, Su Lun finally got to the point, "I need your help with something."

"Oh?"

Qian Tiao was curious, not understanding the complexity of research, nor did she know what Su Lun might need her help with.

Su Lun did not explain further, "Come on, let’s talk in the cabin."

He led Qian Tiao to the lab where Dr. Banks had been waiting for a while.

Seeing the elaborate setup of multiple alchemy arrays, Qian Tiao became even more puzzled, "What are you trying to do, setting up such an extravagant isolation formation?"

Su Lun said, "Haven’t I told you before? I have also captured that ’Princess of the Night.’

Listening, an irksome glance flickered in Qian Tiao’s eyes as she asked, "The ’First Beauty’ of the world?"

Su Lun rolled his eyes, was that the point?

He continued, "This time, I plan to let her out. If I can control her, that would be best. If not, I’ll need to talk with her. Of course, the worst-case scenario could lead to some undesirable incidents. So every three seconds, I’ll pull a string. If I get controlled or any other abnormal situation occurs, please, Qian Tiao and Dr. Banks, handle it immediately..."

Su Lun knew that Pandora’s mental enchantments wouldn’t affect him, but since his own outbreak had been quite sudden last time, she had been caught off guard. Now that she had been confined for so long, releasing her inevitably might cause problems.

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After all, she was a "Human-Shaped Sealed Artifact."

Dr. Banks, listening nearby, nodded, "Hmm."

Qian Tiao, having clashed with that synthetic human before, knew her prowess. Listening to Su Lun, she asked, "Are you confident?"

Su Lun replied indifferently, "It has to be handled eventually. If handled well, it could bring us much help later on."

Listening to Su Lun having considered everything thoroughly, both Qian Tiao and Dr. Banks did not say more.

After giving his instructions, Su Lun then entered a small room that had been arranged with various enchantments.

...

With Qian Tiao and Dr. Banks outside the room, Su Lun felt that if anything truly went wrong, it could still be managed in time.

Then he took a deep breath before starting to form the sorcerer’s seals.

The Hexagram Alchemy Array beneath his feet brightened, and a vortex black hole slowly appeared in the palm of his hand.

Su Lun closed his eyes, relying on Soul Perception to pull out Pandora, who was wrapped in a cocoon in the "Minor Void Realm."

Fearing she might have hidden something special on her, Su Lun had already stripped her clean before capturing her.

To prevent her from struggling, he had performed many counter-joint movements. Now, suspended on the thread, she probably assumed a quite embarrassing posture.

Nevertheless, Su Lun did not open his eyes to look.

He pushed some thread forward, exposing Pandora’s mouth.

It must have been the long confinement, but Pandora appeared very calm, so calm that, if not for her even breathing, one might think her a corpse hanging there.

For a long while, neither of them spoke.

Constantly monitoring his own panel, Su Lun saw no negative statuses and finally took the initiative to speak, "Do you not wish to talk?"

Hearing this, Pandora sneered coldly, "Hmph. What is there to talk about? You don’t want to kill me, but you covet my powers. Isn’t the only reason you’re letting me out to enslave me and make me serve you? No matter what I say, would you actually let me go?"

Su Lun was not surprised by this reaction.

After all, she was a synthetically created being who had existed for a thousand years; her mental acuity was not lacking. Moreover, considering the schemes she concocted with Mountain Hermit to change dynasties, her cunning was far from ordinary.

He abandoned the idea of verbal persuasion.

Su Lun was merely testing the waters.

Calmly, he stated, "Oh. That’s perfect then. I don’t need to beat around the bush anymore."

With that, he pulled out various enslavement contract scrolls, interrogation potions, mental distortion spell scrolls, memory-altering hypnotic crystals from his storage ring...

He had been holding these items in Hastelin, and although he had been too scared to let her out, Su Lun had certainly come prepared.

He had scavenged various mind-enslaving cursed items, scrolls, and techniques from the black market, gathering dozens of assorted types—almost everything available had been procured.

Just like when he had subdued Sabina in Old Lington, contracts were very effective against enemy factions.

Since Pandora had called out his intentions, Su Lun felt no more guilt.

Against his enemies, he never hesitated.

Su Lun immediately took out an enslavement scroll and tore it open, a beam of light shooting onto Pandora’s forehead.

This was a nefarious scroll from "Black Witchcraft," bought at a good price from the black market, usually used by traffickers to subdue people’s wills. This was the highest grade available, costing nearly a million leise.

However, when the scroll’s light fell on Pandora, there was absolutely no reaction.

Su Lun raised an eyebrow, unfazed, and picked up another object—a pink crystal skull.

This was a cursed item named "Ophelius’s Crystal Skull," capable of altering a person’s memories at a subconscious level.

Muttering the accompanying curse, the skull began to emit wisps of eerie pink light, resembling pale smoke...

But as soon as the pink light approached, it immediately dissipated, as if some mysterious force had thwarted the low-level spell.

"..."

Seeing this, Su Lun’s eyebrows slowly furrowed, hinting at a puzzle forming yet guessing at something.

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These attempts were not only tests of effectiveness but also to confirm some of his suspicions.

After several more failures, Su Lun continued patiently trying.

Following the eighth failure, he took out a scroll emitting sinister black smoke.

This was another "ancient artifact," a bargain picked up from the black market. A scroll used by a demon sorcerer of an ancient civilization to contract demons.

Su Lun took out the Black Scythe and gently waved it, unhesitatingly slicing across the exposed lips of Pandora, creating a cut.

Though the wound healed instantly, Su Lun had collected some of her blood and dripped it onto the scroll.

This time, however, the blood sizzled on the scroll like acid, erasing the entire black scroll in an instant.

Su Lun’s pupils shrank sharply, finally confirming something, a realization dawned on him: so that’s how it is...

But this act ultimately enraged Pandora. Although she was a synthetic being, no one had ever dared to cut her face. She scorned mercilessly, "Hmph! Stop wasting time on such foolish actions. If you knew what you were doing now, you’d find yourself ridiculous!"

Su Lun glanced at her, "You’re finally willing to talk?"

"If I were you, I’d stop these foolish acts."

Pandora’s tone was full of indifference, seemingly conveying a special confidence that she could not be enslaved by any means and would not die.

She was created to be the most perfect life form in the world. How could her proud self ever submit to a human?

Listening, Su Lun retorted, "Are you suggesting that even if you were killed, you wouldn’t die?"

Pandora snorted coldly and did not respond.

But then, Su Lun added, "Or are you implying... that you are a deity?"

His tone was very calm yet conveyed a hint of mockery to Pandora.

Most importantly, he was right!

Upon hearing this, Pandora, though she said nothing, could not hide her shock.

Indeed, she would not die—she just couldn’t bear to part with her perfect body.

Without beating around the bush, Su Lun spoke directly, "I’ve always been puzzled why you could summon the great deity ’Tsukiyomi.’ After all, that’s the personified avatar of the faith gathered by the people of Mountain Hermit. You, a synthetic alchemist creation, should not possibly have received a response from them. Now I generally have confirmed one thing... It wasn’t Tsukiyomi who responded to you, but rather, you are ’Tsukiyomi’ yourself, aren’t you?!"

The previous scroll that burned away was an advanced level demon contract scroll already.

The material was made of demigod-level demon leather.

Theoretically, even eighth or ninth rank demons couldn’t break such a high-level contract.

"It’s not about whether the contract can succeed, at the very least it definitely wouldn’t burn the entire scroll due to a backlash from the contract."

"Since it was burned, it means that the goal of his contract was higher than the upper limit of the scroll!"

"In this realm, that is nearly impossible."

"The only explanation would be those ’Outer Gods’ or ’Pseudo-Gods’ or something like that."

"Thinking back to the situation with Mountain Hermit, Su Lun’s thoughts suddenly became clear."

He then said, "I’m very curious, how did you manage to have a god attach to your soul?"

....

Pandora had early on experienced the meticulousness of Su Lun’s mind during the battle when she was captured.

Now, hearing her greatest mystery being broken down by someone else, she suddenly became very calm, all arrogance swept away; she remained silent without speaking.

Su Lun continued, "Although I don’t know how you’ve done it, I think, I can guess what you really want to do."

"The more chips I hold in my hand, the more qualified I am to negotiate with this woman," he said. "My teacher and my master once had a project called ’Pandora,’ an alchemist’s artificial human project. Eventually, they wanted not only to create an artificial human but to create... a god! So, you used the stolen Power of Faith from Mountain Hermit and became a god through this method, right?"

Having finished, even Su Lun felt shocked.

To create a god?

My teachers were indeed incredibly powerful.

And, looking at it now, their plan had already succeeded halfway.

"Now the entire Mountain Hermit worships the ’Great God Tsukuyomi,’ and perhaps in the future, this Pandora might indeed ascend from a ’Pseudo-God’ to a ’True God.’

After all, as an alchemical artificial human, her life is extraordinarily long."

Hearing this, Pandora fell silent.

After pondering for quite a while, she suddenly asked, "Who is your teacher?"

Su Lun replied, "Miss Sereya."

Hearing that name, Pandora could no longer stay composed. "Heh, how is that possible?!"

That was the great person who created her, almost like a ’mother’ to her. Even hearing that name stirred uncontrollable nostalgia within her.

Back then, her consciousness had just begun to sprout, pure like that of a baby. For an alchemical puppet to develop its own consciousness was incredibly difficult; it required endless nurturing and love. With emotions, a soul could be born.

Back then, the entire world was her voice, her shadow...

How nostalgic.

Su Lun caught the change in her tone, finally feeling like there might be a chance, "I don’t know how to explain it to you, but it is a fact. I met Miss Sereya in the cursed space of the ruins in Dawn City, and I was fortunate to become her disciple."

He briefly explained what had happened, then added, "I think you can also see that I am a descendant of the ’Puppeteer’ lineage."

Pandora naturally wouldn’t believe such a thing just from a few words.

After all, that was a person from a thousand years ago.

But upon mentioning that name, her mindset gradually calmed down a lot, and she finally took the initiative to ask, "What are your terms?"

Su Lun said, "Obey me."

Upon hearing this, Pandora scoffed, not bothering to hide her disdain. "Impossible! Even if I abandon this body, you will not get your wish!"

Su Lun wasn’t surprised, but he did catch a piece of information—she could abandon her body, but she didn’t want to!

He then said, "Then let’s change the terms. I can give you your freedom, but you’ll need to help me with some things. In addition, you cannot do anything detrimental to me or to my friends."

He had just tried, and at the moment, he really had no way to deal with Pandora.

If he didn’t kill her, it would certainly cause problems sooner or later.

After all, he now knew she had stolen the Power of Faith and become a ’Pseudo-God’!

And luckily, he had isolated her in the ’Little Void Realm’; otherwise, keeping her by his side would indeed cause major trouble.

Oh no!

If he let her out, she might have already made contact with the people in Mountain Hermit!

Su Lun suddenly thought of something, his tone urgent as he shouted, "You have one minute to consider. I need a definite answer!"

He even felt that Pandora’s silence was just buying time.

If it dragged on, it could result in serious trouble!

Among smart people, once their intentions are seen through, there’s no need for pretense.

Pandora listened, and understanding what Su Lun was thinking, her tone grew more confident; besides a cold laugh, she said nothing.

Seeing this, Su Lun said coldly, "Don’t doubt my resolve. Even though you are my teacher’s creation, I will not hesitate to kill you. My teacher would understand why I did this."

Although Pandora’s alchemical body was a supreme treasure, Su Lun absolutely meant what he said!

He would not hesitate for a moment, even if it meant destroying a treasure under his control.

Pandora: "Are you threatening me?"

Su Lun: "You can think that."

Upon hearing this, Pandora no longer doubted his determination, but her tone became somewhat odd: "Are you truly a disciple of Seraya?"

Su Lun responded solemnly again: "Yes!"

Thinking of something, Pandora pondered for a moment.

Some people are too proud to lie.

She did not persist in her arrogance anymore and said, "You want to help the God Clan recover the divine rights of faith? Haha... I can tell you that it’s impossible. Moreover, I can tell you responsibly that what you are doing won’t change anything. Because ’Amaterasu’ was defeated by me during the Black Sun Grand Festival. You guessed correctly, the divine faith of Amaterasu has been stripped by me, or rather, the entire faith of Mountain Hermit country has now been centered on me. Even if I allowed the God Clan to ascend, ’Amaterasu’ would not descend again. Without a thousand years, do not even think about re-establishing the faith system of the Igahin Shrine. Moreover, doing so would cause the entire faith structure of Mountain Hermit to collapse..."

Her words were coherent and outlined the current religious predicament of Mountain Hermit.

Su Lun finally understood why Pandora had been so hostile and cautious.

To tamper with the divine rights of faith in Mountain Hermit was to shake her very foundation of godliness.

However, Su Lun originally had little regard for the faith in Mountain Hermit.

Although he very much wanted to help the Princess, the current circumstances, as Pandora described, were indeed factual.

Even if the God Clan rose to power again, it would not change anything.

This was a conclusion the Princess had already deduced herself.

Su Lun said, "Let’s not discuss Mountain Hermit for now. My previous offer stands. What I need your help with is something else. I need you to intervene at critical moments and help me solve some problems."

Pandora: "That’s all? Are you sure you won’t bring it up again later?"

She was somewhat moved.

The condition was not too harsh.

Su Lun said, "We can sign a contract."

A contract of equality could easily be signed, provided that both parties were willing.

Upon hearing about the contract, Pandora agreed without hesitation: "Alright!"

Su Lun, hearing her readily agree, also breathed a sigh of relief.

The special measures he had prepared earlier would no longer be necessary, which saved him a lot of trouble.

He took out a top-level alchemy contract and wrote down a series of clauses. He had considered everything and written it in the terms, leaving no loophole for her to exploit.

After writing, Su Lun loosened a few threads, revealing Pandora’s eyes.

He said, "There, you can look at the contract now. If there are no issues, we can proceed to sign."

After many days, Pandora finally saw light. She opened her eyes and saw the man before her with his eyes closed.

Thinking back on the humiliating days of her captivity, she couldn’t help but sneer: "What, you dare to strip my clothes but don’t have the courage to look at me directly?"