Rich Spoils of War

Baldhead was dead, and Suren began gathering his spoils.

The Mechanical Arm on the man's right arm had already been damaged beyond recognition in the earlier fight. Its cannon barrel, valves, high-pressure pipes, and other parts had all been sliced apart.

Still, that did not hinder Suren's research into this kind of steam-powered black technology.

He had just stripped Baldhead's memories, gaining some basic "Mechanical Knowledge of steam machinery." After taking a look, he roughly understood the structure of the Mechanical Arm.

This world's tech tree seems to have gone off in a strange direction—a fusion of Alchemy and steam power.

Suren studied the runes engraved on the Mechanical Arm and fell into thought.

Metal alone could not support such a complex construction, especially that ultra-high-pressure steam cannon. Those mysterious alchemical runes were what played a crucial role in keeping the structure stable.

However, his mechanical knowledge was still limited, and he could not yet understand the principles behind those inscriptions and enchantments.

Without examining it further, Suren began looting Baldhead's other equipment.

Unfortunately, aside from the dagger from before, nearly everything on the corpse had been damaged. Even the firearm had been cut into several pieces, with only half a grip still left in its holster.

Suren could not help feeling disappointed. He had not found the supplies he wanted, and he wondered, That's it? Don't these people bring food when they go out?

Just as the question surfaced in his mind, he suddenly noticed the three black gemstone rings on Baldhead's hand.

If Suren remembered correctly, one of them had been stripped from the finger of that dead Rooster-Head Man.

With a focused look, the All-Seeing Eye immediately provided information.

Inferior Spatial Ring

Details: A Storage Ring containing 1/2 cubic meter of inferior storage space.

"Spatial equipment?"

Seeing that, Suren revealed an expression of realization.

In this barren underground world, water and food should have been more important than weapons. Yet these people did not even carry water flasks. That was abnormal.

He removed one Storage Ring and put it on his own finger. With a thought, he suddenly saw that the "black gemstone" on the ring was a Folded Space.

It was roughly half a cubic meter in size and packed densely with all kinds of bottles and jars.

Red and green, lined up in neat rows—they looked like potions.

Suren casually took out a red test-tube potion and identified it with the All-Seeing Eye.

Inferior Healing Potion (oral)

Details: Quickly stops bleeding and accelerates wound healing. Though it contains impurities, it fortunately has few side effects.

He then checked a blue one, which restored Dark Spiritual Energy.

There were also a few high-grade potions in test tubes inscribed with runes, though their numbers were small.

As expected, emergency medicine is essential for adventurers. I probably won't die now.

Suren was delighted.

Just moments ago, he had been worried that without essential potions, the wounds on his body would become infected and inflamed, posing an unpredictable and fatal threat.

Now that he had found these potions, he immediately opened an Intermediate Potion for healing and drank it. Then he used a topical disinfectant potion to clean his wounds.

Without the All-Seeing Eye, Suren felt that even if he had found these potions, he would never have known that the test tubes contained life-saving medicine.

Of course, there were poisons as well.

Now it seemed that this talent was truly the perfect match for a transmigrator like him.

Most amazingly, after taking the potion, Suren suddenly felt a tingling itch in the wounds on his palms. He knew full well that it was a sign of accelerated cell division and healing wound tissue.

Under normal circumstances, however, such a sensation of healing would only become apparent several days after an injury.

"What miraculous medicine. In my previous life, this would have been a lifesaving surgical drug."

Suren's current eyesight allowed him to clearly see his wounds healing at a visible rate.

It looked as though they would fully recover in less than half an hour.

Still, he muttered, "Using an 'Intermediate Potion' for injuries like this seems a little wasteful."

The powerful effects of an Intermediate Healing Potion seemed intended for more life-threatening wounds. For injuries to his palms, an inferior potion seemed sufficient.

But since he was using it on himself, Suren did not feel it was a waste.

In the second Storage Ring, Suren found the food and water he wanted, though both looked extremely unappetizing.

The food was black bread as hard as bricks, while the water was anything but clear and transparent.

If he had not identified it as inferior drinking water, Suren would never have believed that this faintly black, unidentified liquid was potable.

Without rushing to eat, Suren inspected the final Storage Ring. It was filled with weapons.

There were two punk-style pistols and a short-barreled shotgun.

Then there were densely packed bullets and replacement parts for a Mechanical Arm.

The guns were good, and the bullets were not all simple gunpowder rounds.

After identifying them, Suren discovered that among the ordinary bullets were several special rounds with magic patterns engraved on their tips: Alchemical Bullet (High Explosive), Alchemical Bullet (Armor-Piercing), and Alchemical Bullet (Magic-Breaking).

There were not many of them, but they all looked powerful.

The final Storage Ring contained no other food. Suren had no choice; his low blood sugar was already making him dizzy. He picked up the black bread and took a few bites, then gulped down several mouthfuls of the strangely flavored water.

As he ate, he found it rather odd.

Judging from Baldhead's equipment, the firearms and bullets were exquisitely made. Industry in this world should have been highly advanced. Yet the food was downright miserable.

"Could it be that their living conditions cannot even guarantee clean drinking water and basic food?"

As someone who had transmigrated here, Suren found it hard to understand why people could own such sophisticated equipment yet not have a flask of clean drinking water.

He vaguely guessed that survival conditions in this world might be extremely harsh.

Suren sat beside Baldhead's corpse and ate. He watched as the signs of life gradually faded from the body, its skin turning pale as its warmth slowly ebbed away.

While he was still taking stock of the items in the Storage Rings, he suddenly noticed two glowing objects appearing on Baldhead's corpse.

A palm-sized blue scale slowly condensed from the corpse's skin. The other was a dark red strip resembling a bundle of muscle fibers.

After identifying them, he found that they were two more special items.

Vajra Scales (Damaged)

Details: A damaged Alchemical Implant. Perhaps you can extract some useful Extraordinary Materials from it.

Cursed Item: Tough Demonic Muscle (Damaged)

Details: Job Advancement Material for the strength-type warlock class, 'Iron Golem.' Part of its curse properties is missing; the curse runes must be redrawn before it can be used.

"So these were the scales that made Baldhead impervious to blades and bullets? It was some kind of equipment."

Suren suddenly found it incredible. What exactly was this thing? It could turn into a tattoo and cover the body, be activated through a magic array to become tangible, and now, after death, be stripped away.

The "Alchemy" that kept appearing in the All-Seeing Eye made him increasingly curious.

After the "Demonic Muscle" was stripped from the corpse, Baldhead's body visibly shrank by a whole size.

Suren also understood something, suddenly realizing, So this is how Job Advancement Material is used—directly fused into the body to enhance physical attributes?

He immediately thought of the Job Advancement Material for an Abomination Puppeteer that he possessed, which could greatly increase agility and skill after advancement.

Now it seemed that Baldhead's "Demonic Muscle" was the fundamental reason behind his exaggerated strength!

However—

Even after learning the principle, Suren realized that he still did not know how to undergo a "job advancement."

Having barely filled his stomach, Suren had also finished taking stock of most of the supplies in Baldhead's Storage Rings.

It was not that he did not want to identify everything, but the All-Seeing Eye's item identification did not come without a cost.

Identification consumed Dark Spiritual Energy.

The higher the item's grade, the greater the consumption.

He only had a few dozen points of Dark Spiritual Energy left in reserve. Even after drinking a Healing Potion, it would take several hours to fully recover.

In any case, he had found the urgently needed medicine and water, so there was no need to rush to learn what the remaining items did.

Suren loaded both firearms with bullets.

One was loaded with ordinary rounds, the other with special Alchemical Bullets. Then he tucked them into his belt.

He planned to leave this place first, find a human city, and learn about this world.

Before leaving, Suren looked at Baldhead's corpse and the barren estate, and another question suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Logically, the original owner came looking for these ruins. Why did Baldhead kidnap him? Had they specifically tracked him here, or had his traveling companions suddenly turned malicious?"

Suren felt the former was more likely.

No matter how foolish the original owner had been, he probably would not have shared something as important as Baron Isaac's Treasure with others. And even if he had sought companions, he should not have chosen a "gang" like Baldhead's, one capable of murdering him for his wealth at any time.

Judging from the information left on his retina, the original owner's identity was probably quite sensitive. He seemed to have been an exiled descendant of some great family.

Taken together, those details were highly thought-provoking.

"First, the odds of encountering them by chance in such a remote place are low. And judging by the questions Baldhead asked during the interrogation, they had not known about the treasure or the original owner's true identity beforehand. Therefore, their purpose in following him was simple: to kill him and silence him!"

"And the reason they didn't strike immediately was perhaps because Baldhead was greedy and suspected the original owner was hiding secrets, so they tailed him all the way here."

"If they didn't know each other, there could be no old grudge. So it was most likely a hired murder."

Suren connected the limited information in his mind and roughly reconstructed the truth of what had happened.

He deduced, That means someone in the place the original owner came from wanted him dead? If I go back, I might be assassinated again?

At that thought, his brow furrowed. This was not good news.

It meant that even if he returned to the city the original owner had come from, he could not reveal his identity.

Otherwise, he might invite a fatal disaster.

"This is going to be a little troublesome."

Thinking of something, Suren muttered, "This face is too handsome. It's highly recognizable."

Thanks to Zijing Yuming and Guiye Zhiqi for your generous support, thank you~