Alchemy Basics

The moment he heard the gunshot, he knew it wasn't an ordinary sniper rifle. Judging by the force of the head exploding, he could also tell that the bullet was an Alchemical Bullet.

The purpose was probably to ensure the target died with a single shot.

Although the thunderous gunshot made Suren instinctively shudder, a moment later, his heart was no longer greatly disturbed.

Because he had already anticipated the whole sequence of events, he was certain that the sniper wouldn't fire a second shot.

After all, the gunman had come to silence someone. He definitely wouldn't waste a bullet killing minor gang members like them.

Besides, the convoy was now not far from the headquarters, the Blackwood Building, and the gang's experts could arrive in an instant. The longer the gunman delayed, the slimmer his chances of escaping became.

"Damn it, there's a sniper! Everyone, be careful!"

The sudden attack gave everyone from Green Street quite a scare.

The convoy stopped in an emergency, and everyone found cover to hide behind, avoiding the sniper hiding in some building and taking potshots at them.

Suren had already guessed the gunman's motive, so he had nothing to worry about.

He glanced at the corpse ten meters away on the motorcycle, then his eyes shifted. He made a very "heroic" leap over, rolled once, and happened to take cover beside the motorcycle bearing the corpse.

Suren had no interest in the higher-ups' schemes, nor did he care about any "mole."

There was only one thing in his eyes: the corpse on the motorcycle.

This was the corpse of at least a Tier 2 Professional. When could one normally hope to have such good luck and touch one?

In other people's eyes, it was just a pile of rotten flesh. In Suren's eyes, however, it was a priceless treasure glittering with golden light.

However, his "heroic act" left Captain Kai and the other veterans beside the vehicle somewhat surprised.

Were all the newcomers this courageous now?

Faced with a sniper whose position was unknown, he hadn't shown the slightest fear. Instead, he had taken the initiative to join the fight and share the pressure with the old gang members?

Suren also noticed that these people were looking at him strangely. Naturally, he couldn't say that he had come to harvest fragments, so he could only find an excuse. "The gunman is in a high-rise building 1,300 meters southwest of here!"

This wasn't a baseless claim. His current Basic Firearms Mastery allowed him to quickly determine the gunman's position from the bullet's trajectory.

The blood from the corpse on the motorcycle had sprayed and scattered toward the northeast, so the bullet had definitely come from the southwest. The Alchemical Bullet had tremendous penetrating power. It had blown apart the target's head, pierced through the motorcycle, and left a hole in the ground. The bullet's angle of entry could be determined from the angles of the two bullet holes in the ground and beneath the vehicle.

Of course, the most important factor was Suren's astonishing eyesight. When he had previously determined the gunman's firing position, he had spotted the figure on the distant high-rise at a glance.

"Southwest?"

When they heard Suren, Captain Kai and the other veterans were stunned at first, but soon reacted.

Having spent years on the battlefield, they naturally knew how to determine a gunman's position. They simply hadn't recovered from the shock of the ambush, and they hadn't expected a newcomer to have already figured it out.

At that moment, because the distance was close enough, Suren also successfully stripped the corpse's Memory Fragments.

"Obtained 3 Memory Fragments from 'Vincent Isakov'"

"You obtained some information: 'No matter what, they would never expect the manuscript to be hidden there.'"

"You mastered Guneed Language Basics."

"You acquired some occult knowledge. Alchemy experience +31"

"Mental Power +0.35"

This time, he hadn't stripped away any combat skills, which left Suren somewhat disappointed.

But after digesting the "occult knowledge" in his mind, he realized that its value was in no way inferior to that of a combat skill. It was even rarer.

This was a world filled with all kinds of bizarre forms of Alchemy. Alchemy was the foundation of everything.

Even Curse Mark Implant, the most important enhancement to a Professional's combat power, was merely a conventional application of Alchemy.

The mysteries of Alchemy went far beyond that: enchanting, transmutation, artifact forging, potions, implants, and spells. Nearly every field was connected to Alchemy.

It could be said that Alchemy Knowledge was combat power.

The law of Equivalent Exchange allowed Alchemy to exchange for anything!

This was also why the Old School alchemists of the Crow Gang looked down so completely on the mechanical technology of the other two gangs.

That was because, so far, the New School's steam machinery was far inferior to the Old School's arcane systems in terms of combat power.

The higher the tier, the greater the gap.

But if the Old School was stronger, why were Mechanical Arms and steam equipment found all over the streets?

Because they were cheap and had a low entry barrier.

In the field of low-tier Professionals, firearms and steam machinery were very useful. But in the realm of high-level combat, only Alchemy was the truth.

Suren didn't dwell on whether steam technology or ancient Alchemy was stronger. After all, he lacked much of the knowledge needed to understand this world and was still exploring it himself.

But when it came to knowledge, the more, the better.

As for Guneed Language, Suren was no longer completely ignorant of it. He knew it was a basic ancient language that had to be mastered to enter the study of the occult. Nearly all Old School Alchemy texts, ancient scrolls, and classic books were written in it.

Without thinking too much about it, Suren looked at the two additional skills on his character panel—Elementary Alchemy and Guneed Language Basics—and felt that he had made a good haul.

Then he noticed that he had also stripped a fragment of incomplete memory from the corpse.

The manuscript? Could that be the thing those people attacked the headquarters' treasury to steal this time?

Suren made a guess.

It was a fragmentary thought without any beginning or end. All he knew was that the so-called "manuscript" was hidden somewhere unexpected to outsiders.

The Memory Fragment didn't mention the exact location.

Unexpected? Could it be one of those "the most dangerous place is the safest" tricks?

Suren complained inwardly, but he didn't dwell on what treasure the manuscript was or where it might be hidden.

After waiting several seconds without a second shot, Kai belatedly realized that the gunman had come to silence someone, not to target the people from Green Street.

"Damn it, that gunman came to silence someone!"

Captain Kai's expression turned somewhat ugly.

The officers had just handed him a mission. They had only gone two streets before the captive was killed right in front of him. How was he supposed to explain this?

"Sam, you, you, and you—come with me! We're going to catch that gunman!"

Kai picked out several people. Probably because of Suren's earlier performance, he picked Suren as well.

Suren didn't mind. He figured they wouldn't be able to catch the gunman anyway.

The shooter hadn't fired a second shot, which meant that he was highly experienced. After killing his target, he would retreat immediately.

They would most likely find nothing by the time they ran over.

The group still charged toward the building to the southwest in a great hurry.

Before long, they returned empty-handed, just as Suren had expected.

Kai wore a dark expression when he saw the gang officer who had already arrived at the assassination scene—"Night Angel" Goethe Amato.

"Boss Angel."

Kai's face was filled with guilt.

"It's fine. You can't be blamed for this."

Goethe looked at the corpse with a calm expression, as though the death of this "important captive" was of no consequence.

He even comforted Kai. "The president said to let it go. You can all head back first."

"I..."

Although Kai wanted to make up for his "mistake," what was done was done, and nothing could be changed.

The people from Green Street set off again, "with their tails between their legs."

The festive atmosphere from before suddenly grew gloomy because of this unexpected incident.

No one spoke on the motorcycle. Every one of them wore a dark expression, like children who had done something wrong.

Suren was in a good mood, though he didn't show it on his face.

Although this trip had been dangerous, his gains had been astonishing. He had stripped more than a dozen corpses, including a Tier 2 Professional, and had raised the proficiency of various skills by quite a lot.

Oh, and there was also a hundred thousand in prize money.

But as he watched Kai remain gloomy, a thought suddenly surfaced in Suren's mind. Wait, I could think of the existence of a mole. There's no way the higher-ups couldn't. If they could figure it out, how could they have been so careless as to let a group of rookies escort such an important captive?

As soon as this thought arose, Suren immediately realized it.

This wasn't carelessness at all. It was deliberate!

Could the gang's higher-ups have deliberately lured someone into silencing the captive so they could catch the mole?

At that thought, Suren suddenly realized that he had probably guessed the truth.

This was the Cross Society's higher-ups setting a trap in plain sight.

The mole had probably also guessed that this was deliberate bait to lure him out, but he had no choice except to come and silence the captive. Otherwise, if the captive's testimony were revealed, he would still be doomed.

But Suren also knew that snipers were difficult to train. Out of a hundred thousand shooters, there might not be a single qualified "sniper." Moreover, the farther the distance, the more factors affected the shot.

Therefore, anyone capable of blowing off a target's head with one shot from this distance definitely had exceptional marksmanship.

If someone from the Cross Society had done it, it wouldn't be difficult to investigate the gunman's identity.

At this thought, Suren glanced at Kai again and shook his head slightly.

This poor Squad Leader had blamed himself for everything and was deeply remorseful.

He had no idea that this was one part of the higher-ups' plan.

Suren rubbed his brow and pushed his tangled thoughts aside.

Conspiracy or overt scheme, either way, it had nothing to do with him.

There was only one thing he cared about: after returning this time, he would immediately buy the materials and prepare to change professions!

Who would have thought that he would encounter an emergency on his very first day after joining the gang?

Who would have thought that the danger level of this emergency would be so high?

Although he had escaped danger this time, Suren had no confidence that he would definitely survive the next accident.

Therefore, strengthening his power was the most urgent goal!

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