Mechanical Alchemist

Chapter 112: Laboratory explosion

Su'en and Kay followed the predetermined route on their motorcycles, and halfway through, they switched to another motorcycle and continued on.

The fact that no one had caught up with them for so long meant that their clean-up work had been done well.

There were no major flaws in the first stage of the robbery.

However, as they rode, Kay felt that the motorcycle was a bit unstable. He muttered, "Huh... Su'en, why do I feel like the motorcycle is swaying today? Did something heavy break it?"

Su'en had actually noticed the abnormality earlier. The feeling came very quickly, and before Kay finished speaking, Su'en's face changed instantly. "Get off quickly!"

Without explaining further, he took out a folding bulletproof board and they both held it up.

In the next instant, a thousand-meter-high mushroom cloud suddenly rose from the direction of the desolate park several kilometers behind them!

It felt like something was about to emerge from underground, rolling violently and making it difficult to stand.

After a moment, a thunderous explosion rang in their ears, deafening.

Boom boom boom~

The shockwave came crashing like a landslide and tidal wave, compressing the air and momentarily making it difficult to breathe. A tremendous force "bang" hit the bulletproof board, almost sending the two of them flying.

Fortunately, they were far enough away. After the shockwave passed, although they were a bit dusty, they were not injured.

Kay brushed off the dust on his body and looked at the direction of the explosion, his expression full of disbelief. "Could it be that the few incendiary bombs we lost set off an underground gas tank?"

There didn't seem to be a better explanation.

"It shouldn't be. The distance is too far..."

Su'en stared at the rising mushroom cloud and responded.

Suddenly, he realized something.

The transport team they had just encountered was heading towards the secret laboratory...

And the explosion happened to be in that direction...

Could it be...

The secret laboratory exploded?

.......

The explosion came suddenly.

The outer city was large in area, but usually only places with buildings had human gatherings.

This "desolate park" in the western city seemed to have been an ancient park, now desolate and rarely visited.

Now that he thought about it, wasn't this the best location for a secret laboratory?

Although it was uncertain whether it was deliberately detonated or an accidental explosion, Su'en's first reaction was, "Could it have been bombed by someone?"

Moreover, because of the explosion, a series of clues in his mind instantly connected, and a cold and beautiful face appeared in his mind. It was the S-class female wanted criminal with a three million reward!

"It couldn't really be her, right?"

Thoughts flashed through Su'en's mind, but the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed to be her.

When he went to the Knight District to save Danny's three friends, he encountered that woman.

At that time, Su'en hadn't figured out why she would commit crimes against the wind and cause trouble for a human trafficker.

Now that he intercepted this batch of goods, he also learned that the Steam Party would transport supplies to a certain laboratory. And this laboratory was researching the "X Serum" and was located in a certain position in the western city.

With this association, he immediately guessed why the Steam Party was capturing vagrants and orphans.

Because he had learned from Danny that the upper levels of the Black Tower had conducted a large number of live experiments for the "X Serum Project" in order to progress. And since the research was still ongoing, it made sense that they would need a large number of people for experiments.

Such a live experiment laboratory couldn't be set up in the inner city, so the outer city, where human life was cheap, was the most suitable.

And that woman going to find a human trafficker was very likely to be trying to lock down the location of the laboratory through the clue of human trafficking!

So, was it really her who caused the explosion?

.......

"That woman stole important items for extracting the 'X Potion'. If she really blew up the outer city laboratory now, the upper levels of the Black Tower would probably be furious..."

Su'en suddenly became interested in that woman.

A person with conviction, it would be a pity if they died.

Su'en guessed the reason for the explosion, but he wasn't interested in staying longer. After all, it wasn't his home that was blown up.

He called out to Kay, "Let's go, there will probably be a lot of people coming to watch the excitement later."

A relaxed smile appeared on Kay's face as well. "Heh, this explosion actually helped us a lot. The traces of the robbery scene should be almost destroyed now."

"Yeah, indeed."

Su'en also raised an eyebrow, feeling that they were lucky.

Since it was guessed to be deliberate, the timing of the explosion coinciding with the day of their robbery was probably not a coincidence.

That kind of secret laboratory couldn't be entered and exited like a market, so it was highly likely that today was a day of concentrated resupply.It's possible that Su'en and the others intercepted not only this batch of goods, but also other supply convoys, such as the ones used for experiments.

That woman probably infiltrated through other means.

However, they have nothing to do with it.

They are just ordinary small bandits.

.......

Su'en and the other person did not bring the goods back to their residence on Green Street. Instead, they searched for some dilapidated buildings and secluded places in the sewers along the way, and hid the items in batches.

After setting up some warning devices, the two of them burned the clothes they wore during the crime and got rid of any traces that could be tracked, before returning to Green Street.

The news of the explosion in the West City District quickly spread throughout the entire Outer City. Even the higher-ups of the Cross Society sent people to inquire about what had happened.

But the rumor circulating among the ordinary members was that it was a methane explosion. It seemed that the Steam Party also deliberately controlled the information and there was no mention of the "laboratory".

As for the "robbery" that Su'en and the other person participated in, it is unknown whether the Steam Party intended to secretly investigate or if it was all considered part of the explosion. At least for now, there was no news of anyone looking for that batch of goods or the bandits.

But the calmer it was, the bigger the situation seemed to be.

Because Su'en discovered...the reward for that S-class wanted criminal in the black market had increased again.

This time, there was no specified price. It stated: "For those who provide valuable information, depending on the value of the information, they can obtain permanent residency in the Inner City, hereditary noble title, and any cursed materials currently recorded by the Alchemy Guild..."

It can be seen that the person offering the reward was already "desperate".

This unprecedented reward price was enough to tempt almost anyone.

Permanent residency in the Inner City, for almost anyone in the Outer City, was a welfare that they would fight for even if it meant breaking their heads;

Hereditary noble title, even the major families in the Inner City would probably dig three feet into the ground to find the person;

And the reward of any cursed materials, it was enough to tempt even the second and third-tier professionals who were not interested in fame and fortune.

And this was just the reward for providing information!

Moreover, this wanted notice not only included the original photo of the woman, but also various disguise photos, as well as detailed data on height, bone structure, dimensions, and more.

The pink-haired bunny girl outfit that Su'en had seen before was also among them.

In other words, even if she covered her head, anyone with a keen eye could recognize her through her figure!

Su'en felt that with such a reward, it would be difficult for the "walking treasure trove" to avoid being caught.

Thinking about the next gathering of high-level professionals in the black market, he planned to inquire about the news and also ask Mr. Black if he was interested in that batch of goods.

And at the moment, Su'en had another important task.

That was deciphering the "Zombie Research Diary"!

.......

Previously, Su'en didn't pay much attention to the "Zombie Research Diary" because he thought it was meaningless to study it.

At least for now, it was not useful.

Translating those ancient cryptograms would waste a lot of his time and energy, and the research content was too advanced to be of any use even if translated.

Most importantly, the key ingredient, the "X Serum," was missing, so it was impossible to successfully study the zombies.

But now, things were different. Su'en had a finished X Serum in his hands.

If he could successfully translate the diary and create a potion that suppressed distortions.

Not only could he attempt to create "zombies," but if the serum could be used on humans, it would be great to give himself an injection.

After returning from the robbery, Su'en didn't go around everywhere. He stayed in the basement and started researching the cryptograms in the "Zombie Diary".

The ancient alchemists' manuscripts were mostly encrypted.

The higher the level of content, the higher the encryption level.

It was almost impossible to decipher an unknown ancient cipher with just one's own strength.

But there was a shortcut for modern people to learn how to decipher codes, and that was "cryptography," which was now a fully developed discipline at the Black Tower Academy.

A bunch of cryptography experts and archaeologists studied it daily, deciphering the patterns of many ancient cryptograms and compiling various cryptography into textbooks.

This made it easier and easier for modern people to decipher ancient alchemy scrolls.

Most ordinary people had ready-made formulas to apply to the dazzling encryption methods.

As long as they knew the type of encryption and the key, many cryptograms could be cracked easily.

And Su'en had the most complete set of "Ancient Cryptography Deciphering Encyclopedia" in Old Lingdun.

The textbook recorded almost all the methods of encrypting and deciphering cryptograms on the market.

This greatly reduced the time and difficulty of deciphering.

And, Su'en had a shortcut within the shortcut, which was the "Eye of Omniscience".Before he had read "The Complete Guide to Ancient Cipher Decryption", when he saw those ciphers with specific patterns, the All-Knowing Eye might hint, "This is a text with a 'three-grid horizontal and vertical displacement encryption rule'...";

But after reading it, it has now directly become "A cipher text compiled by the 'R'lyeh encryption method'...".

This is also a pattern he gradually discovered after using the All-Knowing Eye for so long. That is, the information identified by the eye will appear in the form that is most easily understood and conforms to his cognition.

The more knowledge Su'en has, the easier it is to understand the content identified.

Now when it comes to deciphering codes, when Su'en reads the content in the diary, it will directly indicate the specific name of the encryption method.

Then he just needs to look it up like a dictionary, find the relevant cipher content in the textbook, directly apply the formula, and he can decipher it.

This has saved him a lot of time.