Chapter 273: 118. Mysterious Connection_3

Translator: 549690339

Scouting Bell Beetles and attack type Alchemy Beetles responsible for stealth attacks were among the tools that the Blackbone Hermit had devised to guard against attacks.

As Noland Lee opened the sluice gate, the Alchemy Beetles lying in wait on the walls had already detected his presence.

These Alchemy Beetles should have sounded the alarm, but unfortunately, Noland was currently neither alive, an Alchemist, nor an Aberration.

He was now a “dead man.”

It was evident that the Blackbone Hermit had not issued any orders for his little treasures to watch the “dead.”

Therefore, Noland’s arrival did not alert the Alchemy Beetles.

Noland shut some of the doors, leaving only a barely visible crack.

His gaze penetrated the crack, staring intently at the corridor behind the door.

“Come on, just one patrolling Alchemy Slave is enough. Just don’t let the

Blackbone Hermit show up, or I’ll have to resort to my backup plan.”

Perhaps hearing his prayers, a faint sound of footsteps approached from the distance.

“Patter, patter…”

The person’s steps were erratic, his pace sometimes fast and sometimes slow.

He also drank alcohol while walking.

“Glug, glug. Ah- so refreshing- The Wheat Beer up on the ground level is so much better than the one in the Black City- Thankfully, I’m cunning enough to have seized the opportunity to patrol on Underground Layer 10, or else where would I find this treasure-I‘

“Glug, glug. *burp*”

An Alchemy Slave with mechanical arms implanted in his back and wearing round goggles came into view.

This guy was bald and had buckteeth jutting out.

He wore a dirty jacket without buttons, exposing his chest and stomach covered in scars and suture lines. Liquid-filled soft tubes were inserted into various parts of his body.

He swayed from side to side, unsteady on his feet, carrying a bottle of Wheat Beer in each hand and barely managing to control the mechanical arms on his back to steady himself against the wall.

As he walked, drank, and burped, he was completely oblivious to the gaze spying on him.

Noland gently closed the door and listened intently to the movements behind it.

The Alchemy Slave came to the metal sluice gate, using his mechanical arm to knock on the door panel, giving the closed gate a simple check.

Noland held the door latch, pushed against the door, and steadied the metal gate.

Once he confirmed that the door panel was completely still, the Alchemy Slave turned around and left with a burp, leaving his back exposed to the metal gate.

Noland silently opened the door, holding the Alchemical Hand Crossbow in his hand and aiming it at the Alchemy Slave’s back.

The Alchemy Slave’s mechanical arm was brutally implanted into his body, connecting directly to the spine. At the junction of the arm and skin, a patch of worm-like rotten flesh and large amounts of black, filthy blood were present. Ordinary people would have fainted long ago from such treatment.

But Alchemy Slaves wouldn’t.

The Black City Alchemists had stripped them of their pain perception, all of it.

“Shoo-”

In the faint sound of breaking wind, a cold light shot toward the nape of the Alchemy Slave’s neck.

“Huh? It itches-” The Alchemy Slave mumbled before reaching out to scratch his neck vigorously.

He felt his hand was wet.

Pulling it back, he saw a bright red stain.

“Am I hurt?”

The confused Alchemy Slave fell to the ground, soon succumbing to massive arterial blood loss.

Without pain, there were no cries of agony.

Without cries of agony, there was no alarm raised.

In complete silence, Noland used the Alchemical Hand Crossbow to fire short crossbow bolts, drawing first blood in this mission.

[System Message: You have killed “Alchemy SlaveGulja.”]

[Passive Deconstruction Activated! ]

[Since you have unlocked the standard panel for “Alchemy Slave,” this Passive

Deconstruction did not grant an Energy Point reward.]

[Deconstruction results are as follows:]

The individualized panel for “Alchemy Slave-Gulja.”]

The target’s recent significant memories.]

Noland didn’t look at the deconstruction content for now.

He had added a “Cleaning Rune” to the arrowhead of that arrow-shaped bullet, which was used to remove the blood.

From beginning to end, not a single drop of blood had been spilled in the corridor, saving the need for cleanup.

Noland stepped into the corridor of Sector 8, coming to Gulja’s side and inserting a “Pure Bone Card” into the wound at the back of his neck.

He smeared medical dressings to stop the bleeding, then wrapped the wound with a dirty cloth, disguising it as a scarf.

Noland completely concealed Gulja’s wounds.

He took out an Alchemical Potion for Dispelling Demonized Rats and poured it evenly over Gulja’s body.

The potion’s scent quickly evaporated, turning into a layer of odorless white frost adhering to Gulja’s skin, resembling inconspicuous wall dust as if it had been scraped from the wall.

Noland waved away the scent of the potion and took out several “Pure Bone Cards” from his “Blood Haven” to hide them in Gulja’s coat pocket.

Finally, he wiped away all his traces and retreated to the corridor of Sector 7.

Noland closed the metal gate, leaning against the door panel while casting the

“Enslavement of Deceased” on Alchemy Slave Gulja by means of a “Pure Bone Card.”

The existence of “Enslavement of Deceased” couldn’t stop corpse decay. Noland naturally didn’t apply any alchemical antiseptic potions with strong scents to Gulja to prevent decay.

Within at most half an hour, Gulja, who was truly dead, would emit a foul odor, alerting the Blackbone Hermit.

Noland had to act fast.

As he controlled the deceased Gulja to stand up from the ground, he searched through the latter’s memories.

From the memory fragments, Noland identified the other Alchemy Slaves and the Blackbone Hermits overseeing them.

One memory, in particular, caught Noland’s full attention..