Su Lun really felt like he'd struck gold.

Tani was not only one of the best navigators in the Pirate City, but his demonstrated talent for "listening to the voices of sea beasts" was also a great help to the Dawn Mercenary Group.

Otherwise, it would have taken Su Lun a long time to realize that they had been targeted without them even knowing.

The Mechanical Octopuses were very stealthy in the sea because they possessed the soul fluctuations and some of the life characteristics of normal octopuses. Unless you saw them with your own eyes, even a perception-type professional would find it difficult to distinguish them from ordinary octopuses.

These advantages made it easy for them to be overlooked in the deep-sea areas with dense ocean life.

But being followed was one thing...

After a little thought,

Su Lun knew that these octopuses weren't originally coming for them, but were most likely tracking the Frost Moon Princess, Skadi.

Mafa and the King of the North Sea's marriage had rapidly expanded the pirates' power. This had a huge impact on several great nobles whose territories were within the North Sea Fleet's raiding circle, with Duke Raphael bearing the brunt.

So, if there was an opportunity, Duke Raphael could definitely be considered one of the top people with the motive to assassinate the princess.

But now, the assassin wasn't following the Princess, but had turned to follow the Dawn Mercenary Group. Su Lun guessed that it was probably because the Mechanical Octopuses had appeared during the battle just now. The guy hiding in the sea wanted to figure out what was going on.

After all, there would be other opportunities to intercept the princess.

But Duke Raphael's unique technology could not fall into the hands of outsiders!

…

Now that they knew they were being followed, naturally they had to ferret out the person responsible.

Moreover, given the Dawn's current situation, they couldn't shake him off even if they wanted to.

"It's not going to be easy to lure that guy out..."

Su Lun listened to Tani's description of the location. The guy was hiding in the deep sea, far away, and very cautious.

Probably because he wasn't sure he could take down the entire ship, the guy didn't show his face.

Tani could communicate with schools of fish, so they could determine the location of some of the Mechanical Octopuses.

But because they were constantly moving, it was difficult to pinpoint them accurately.

Going into the sea rashly might not be effective.

Once you failed to kill the snake, the subsequent problems would be very troublesome.

The key was that they didn't know where the "controller" was.

As soon as Tani said this, many people on the ship paid attention.

Even Qian Tiao cast an inquiring look, her meaning obvious: were they going to make a move?

Su Lun shook his head, not planning to make a rash move.

He raised his hand to signal everyone to continue doing what they were doing.

The crew members understood his expression and didn't come to ask curiously.

And Su Lun was rapidly thinking of a plan in his mind.

He recalled all the scenes after leaving Pirate City, replaying the entire process from the beginning, thinking, "Since that guy has been able to tail us all along, he must have some special way to grasp the Princess's movements. Either there's an inside man, or some kind of special positioning ability, or maybe some kind of mystical ability like divination or prophecy..."

Su Lun eliminated each possibility one by one.

The Frost Moon Princess's royal guard was an elite force, and it would be difficult to follow without being noticed.

Besides, there were submarines in the water. Even with Mechanical Octopuses, it was unlikely to tail them closely all the time.

If the distance was far, what means did he have to keep from losing them?

Mystical divination ability?

That would require a rather high level of professional. After all, Mafa's royal princess must also have treasures to prevent divination.

Moreover, since he was using Mechanical Octopuses, he probably wasn't a traditional alchemist.

The possibility of an inside man existed, but... the chances were small.

For a moment, Su Lun wasn't sure what means the "controller" was using.

As he thought, his thoughts drifted away.

Just then, he inadvertently heard the crew members communicating on the communicator.

"First Mate Hayes, there's a distress signal three miles north. It seems like some brothers have fallen into the water. Should we go over and take a look?"

"Alright! Change course!"

"..."

The "buzzing" signal sound was inexplicably clear in Su Lun's ears at that moment.

Although the Dawn wasn't big, it wouldn't work if the communication between the cabins and the deck relied entirely on shouting. Especially in bad weather like before, the sound of the wind and waves could drown out people's voices, making communication very inefficient.

To accurately convey instructions, almost every ship was equipped with a mechanical communicator.

Hearing this, Su Lun suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"That's right, the communicator!"

He realized that he had ignored something because of his preconceived notions.

He had the Daggs Goblin Communicator, which could provide secure, long-distance communication regardless of obstacles.

This kind of communicator was good, but it wasn't suitable for mass production.

Therefore, if you wanted to equip it on a large scale in the military, you would still need a regular mechanical communicator.

And this kind of communicator had a fatal flaw, which was that all channels were common. Communication waves would spread indiscriminately within a certain range, which meant they could be captured and deciphered.

Even if the communication equipment of the Luyin and Mafa military was more advanced, they couldn't avoid this problem either.

Su Lun's eyes turned, and he guessed in his heart: "That guy should have some kind of ability to decipher and capture communication signals, which is how he located the Princess's position..."

Suddenly, he felt like he had a way to lure that guy out.

A plan formed in his mind in an instant.

Su Lun signaled Qian Tiao, then took out the ship's communicator and said, "Hey, Captain, I have to say, those six Mechanical Octopuses you got this time are really useful. We almost took down those Mafa submarines..."

A glimmer flashed in Qian Tiao's eyes, and she immediately understood, chiming in, "Of course."

Su Lun continued, "It would be great if Old Gui could get us a few more. We wouldn't have let that submarine escape before."

Now that he had said this, Qian Tiao had guessed what Su Lun was going to do, and continued, "Raphael's laboratory isn't that easy to get in and out of. It's already not easy to get these few Mechanical Octopuses out this time."

Su Lun: "Those Luyin royal guys have put up a reward on the black market to inquire about information, and they plan to spend a lot of money to buy these Mechanical Octopuses. Even if we sell them all off, we can make a lot of money. I heard that the design drawings of these Mechanical Octopuses in our hands can be exchanged for at least a hereditary marquis title, not to mention the three experimental-level latest products. I'm saying, this time when we go back, we'll talk to those Luyin military intelligence guys. Oh, right! Those Mafa guys must want them too. We can communicate with both sides at that time and sell them for a good price..."

Qian Tiao knew that Su Lun was trying to lure the enemy out and agreed, "Well, let's decide on that. After we rescue the people here, let's go back and sell the drawings. There's no point in keeping them anyway."

The two of them were clearly not far apart, but they used the communicator.

There was almost no difficulty in eavesdropping on this unencrypted channel.

If it was really as Su Lun speculated, then their conversation should have been eavesdropped on.

If that was the case, then the guy would probably take action.

…

Su Lun and Qian Tiao's conversation actually had some loopholes.

For example, why they fought with the people from Mafa, why the drawings, the mole... none of it could stand up to scrutiny.

But he was sure that the "controller" would probably take action.

Before, Dr. Banks was the director of experimental projects under Duke Raphael in Old Lindon. Therefore, they were very clear about the laboratory's strict confidentiality management system.

Duke Raphael had many secret laboratories, researching various projects.

But the laboratories were independent and confidential from each other.

It was a serious crime to inquire about them without authorization.

Moreover, for the sake of technical confidentiality, the biological department, the combat department, and the mechanical laboratory were completely separate departments. There was almost no communication between the members of each department.

And this "controller" came to the North Sea to carry out the assassination mission, probably someone from the combat department. Then he probably didn't know anything about the laboratory.

Therefore, he wouldn't know what the "mole" was up to.

But Su Lun's words would make people speculate and analyze!

Although three Mechanical Octopuses were lost in the Strait of Rokesman before, there were six in front of him. There were also three Mechanical Octopus.plus, which Su Lun emphasized in the communication as the latest laboratory products.

The controller definitely didn't know that there were other people who had mastered the "neuromechanical technology."

Under normal circumstances, if any force captured the Mechanical Octopus, even if it fell into the hands of the Mafa military headquarters, it would definitely not be cracked so quickly.

In the eyes of any outsider, the only reasonable explanation was that something had gone wrong inside Duke Raphael's laboratory, and things had leaked out.

But none of this mattered.

What mattered was that now that the problem had indeed occurred, they had to find a way to stop the loss!

The controller didn't dare to let Su Lun and the others leave, and couldn't wait for support, so he could only risk intercepting them.

Otherwise, once they returned to Pirate City Hasterlin, he would have no chance to attack.

Moreover, that guy was probably very confident in his Mechanical Octopuses.

With dozens of Mechanical Octopuses attacking together, even top professionals would have to avoid them.

Even if they couldn't kill the enemy, they could destroy the ship, and in this uninhabited sea area, they could exhaust these people to death.

…

Sure enough.

Not long after the communication, Tani immediately confirmed through the fish in the sea that the group of Mechanical Octopuses was approaching underwater.

Su Lun unhurriedly took out some energy barriers and arranged them under his feet. As soon as the rune black umbrella opened, an invisible force of perception spread out.

Soul Perception, everything was clear.

Because the other party took the initiative to approach, Su Lun was able to perceive clusters of special soul flames. Those were the Mechanical Octopuses.

And among this group of soul flames, there was a very special existence.

The soul flame of a human was completely different from that of an octopus.

Su Lun scanned it and immediately confirmed that the guy was the controller!

He quietly told this news to Qian Tiao, Dr. Banks, Banna, and several of the strongest combatants on the ship.

Since they had decided to attack, the enemy was also very decisive.

At this time, the crew members on the side of the ship also saw the shadows rapidly approaching in the water and exclaimed.

"Captain, there are monsters coming towards us in the water! There are so many!"

"Damn it, those tentacle monsters are attacking our ship!"

"..."

Most people didn't understand what was happening, but they could clearly feel the ship shaking violently. There were also strange noises of "thud" and "crack" coming from the bottom of the cabin.

This was the sound of chiseling the ship.

Mechanical Octopuses were the strongest ship-breaking weapons. Under normal circumstances, two or three Mechanical Octopuses could dismantle a sailing ship into pieces in a short period of time, let alone dozens of them?

This one touch caused a three-masted ship to show signs of capsizing.

Su Lun looked at this, but he didn't panic at all. Instead, he was happy: "Thirty-eight? Tsk tsk, that's quite a number..."

Gu Yun That the controller hadn't taken action before meant that his strength was only so-so.

Otherwise, if he was really confident in taking them down, he would have attacked earlier.

There was no need to worry too much.

At this time, Su Lun also accurately captured the location of the controller's soul flame and shouted, "Thirty meters underwater, nine o'clock! Attack, grab that guy!"

"Alright!"

Hearing this, Qian Tiao, Dr. Banks, Banna, and several of the strongest combatants on the ship jumped into the sea, ignoring the Mechanical Octopuses and swimming towards the seabed.

At the same time, Su Lun pinched a warlock seal, and the energy crystals under his feet instantly burst out with dazzling light, and a huge cross instantly condensed in the sky.

"Puppet Mystery - Puppet Theater!"

The moment the cross in the sky lit up, the transparent filaments that had been arranged on the ship long ago also quickly condensed into实体.

Those Mechanical Octopuses were working hard to break the ship.

The sea surface was full of churning mechanical tentacles, and the sea looked like it was boiling, which was terrifying.

The crew members were still fighting hard.

However, swords and sabers could not cause any damage to those mechanical tentacles, except for a momentary flash of fire.

Firearm bullets, and even single-soldier artillery, could not leave much of a mark on those mechanical tentacles.

Faced with this clustered mechanical monster attack, the Dawn Mercenary Group looked like it was about to be wiped out.

The controller probably wanted to "one-shot" them, killing as many people on the ship as possible the moment the ship sank. Therefore, he gathered all the Mechanical Octopuses and rushed over together.

Unfortunately, Su Lun was on the ship!

Mechanical Octopuses needed a fulcrum to exert force, and those tentacles were also adsorbed on the hull, spreading to the deck, cabins, and masts...

It was this close contact that gave Su Lun the opportunity to wrap them with silk threads.

The moment dozens of Mechanical Octopuses appeared, the countless silk threads that had already spread throughout the ship also condensed into 实体. Like capturing prey caught in a spider web, those octopuses were firmly entangled without much struggle.

Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for Su Lun to use silk threads to control dozens of mechanical monsters with immense strength at the same time.

Even the strongest strongman couldn't do that kind of wrestling.

But after this period of research and production, Su Lun now knew the structure of the Mechanical Octopus like the back of his hand.

While the silk threads were entwined, the Mental Tentacles skillfully drilled into the gaps in the armor and found the octopus's nerve tissue. Without much effort, he easily stopped those dozens of Mechanical Octopuses from the source.

Although the Dawn was destroyed in an instant, those octopuses only showed their ferocity for a moment.

The next second, they seemed to have been pressed the pause button, and they were stunned on the spot.

The crew members, who had been in a mess before, were instantly stunned and turned to look at the figure standing on a piece of ship debris, their eyes shining.

Luo Lota and those old members of the Dawn who had seen Su Lun's methods looked at the sky full of silk threads.

The expression on their faces changed from shock to ecstasy.

"Mr. Su Lun is mighty!"

"Hahaha... Mr. Su Lun is indeed amazing!"

"..."

No one expected that what was just a desperate situation where they were about to be wiped out had been reversed in the blink of an eye?

…

This scene stunned even the controller.

The pirate ship did not deviate from the plan, and it was sunk in one encounter.

But what was going on in front of him?

He would never have thought that someone would use this method to crack the almost invincible Mechanical Octopus Legion.

How was that possible...

It was clear that even the Mafa Navy's organized fleet could be killed without any ability to fight back, so how could it be defeated so easily?

Before he could think too much, his surprise turned into horror, and a sword aura with the force of thunder struck straight at him.

He saw several figures rushing towards the place where he was hiding!

Every time, he hid in the sea to control the Mechanical Octopus Legion to intercept and kill. He had never been exposed. How did these guys determine his hiding place?

…

It was good that the enemy's trail hadn't been discovered. Once it was discovered, how could the target be allowed to escape?

Qian Tiao and the others were also extremely sharp, and it was impossible for him to escape, even in the sea.

Moreover, after Su Lun controlled those Mechanical Octopuses, he also turned around and "defected" those octopuses to surround the controller in the water.

Before long, the guy was chased into a dead end and killed by Qian Tiao with one strike.

This guy was a "super mechanical warrior." As expected, his combat power was only at the level of a fourth- or fifth-level professional.

However, his mechanical limbs were a bit special. His hands and feet had fins, and he was equipped with a cleverly designed mechanical aqualung, which allowed him to swim and hide in the sea for a long time. As expected, they also found a communicator decoder on this guy.

As for a live capture?

It was not needed.

Su Lun could peel off soul fragments.

He devoured the gray mist on the corpse and selected the information he was interested in.

You have peeled off the soul of Sid Haiwenter.

You have obtained relevant experience in the maintenance, upkeep, and repair of Mechanical Octopuses.

You have acquired a large amount of knowledge related to mechanical warriors, mechanical experience +554.

You have harvested part of the organizational structure, secret words, and strength distribution of Duke Raphael's special legion from your memory.

You have extracted some information: One of Duke Raphael's large secret bases is near Golden Digging Island, specializing in the manufacture of mechanical creatures...

Mental power +4.1

…

The base where Duke Raphael manufactures Mechanical Octopuses is near an island called Golden Digging Pirate, in the nameless wilderness sea to the west of the Black Tower?

After Su Lun harvested this guy's memory, he immediately became energetic.

It seemed that this time, he had not only gained dozens of Mechanical Octopuses, but also a bigger secret?

These mechanical warriors had an absolutely loyal ideological brand engraved in their minds from the time they left the factory. No matter how they were tortured or hypnotized, they would not leak secrets.

But Su Lun's soul stripping method directly bypassed those will barriers and stripped out this big secret.

Finally, he knew where Duke Raphael's secret factory was…

Su Lun's thoughts suddenly became active.

A large research base meant a large amount of materials, mature mechanical equipment, and countless research materials, finished products, and semi-finished products…

Damn it, after becoming a pirate, why did a thought pop into my head like a conditioned reflex, rob it?

In an instant, Su Lun even thought of some battle plans.

A completely isolated military base… meant that as few outsiders as possible should know about it, and the defensive force might not be particularly strong.

Like the Old Lindon Underground City before?

Although the intelligence within the base was not detailed enough, perhaps… he could operate on it?

Just as Su Lun's mind was racing, the group members in the distance were also clamoring.

Although the sudden raid ended with no casualties, it was not dangerous.

But the problem was that their warship had been turned into pieces by the Mechanical Octopuses in the battle just now.

Fragments were floating everywhere on the sea. Some crew members were on lifeboats, and some were floating with wooden barrels and masts, looking embarrassed and funny.

Captain Qian Tiao, our warship is destroyed. What should we do now?

Yes, this is an uninhabited wilderness sea, and almost no ships will pass by. It is probably impossible to return by relying on lifeboats. The signal range of the communicator is too far, and it is impossible to call for help…

Oh ~ This is terrible. Are we going to feed the sharks with our mighty captain?

…

The crew members were not pessimistic. Each of them learned Qian Tiao's big heart and was a little gloating.

Qian Tiao listened to the crew members' self-deprecating jokes and rolled her eyes.

She looked at Su Lun again and asked, "Su Lun boy, you should be prepared, right?"

She knew Su Lun's character very well. Since he had taken action, he probably expected this result.

Hearing this, Dr. Banks also cast an inquiring look.

It was a very bad situation to be without a ship on the sea.

Su Lun spread his hands and said, "I do have some preparations. But it will take some time."

Hearing this, everyone in the Dawn Mercenary Group breathed a sigh of relief.

This Mr. Su Lun could bring them big surprises every time they were in a desperate situation.

But at the same time, they were also very puzzled. Now that the ship was gone, what else could they do?

Even if they had space storage, they could only take out a few small lifeboats, which would not solve the problem at all.

Su Lun didn't explain much. He let out a long breath, pinched a warlock seal, and slowly condensed a black hole in his palm.

That's right, this was the warlock seal to unlock the fourth-order colonial equipment Endless Stomach of the Space-Swimming Whale.

Su Lun would naturally not waste such a large storage space.

He estimated that he might encounter all kinds of unexpected situations, and then he stuffed all kinds of strange things into the space, most of which were large objects that could not be stored in the storage space.

The largest one was… an entire three-masted sailing ship with a displacement of nearly a thousand tons!

However, it could be loaded.

But whether it was to put away the sailing ship or release it now, it was a very energy-consuming process.

Su Lun's current spatial ability was like an ant dragging an elephant. He had just opened the opening of the small void realm, and he felt that most of his dark spiritual power had been emptied.

He had no choice but to take out a pile of energy crystals, absorb them while continuing to pour in dark spiritual power to make the black hole opening bigger so that the ship could come out.

…

The crew members of the Dawn Mercenary Group watched the strange spatial black hole appear and didn't understand what Su Lun was going to do at first.

Everyone cleaned up and salvaged the floating objects in the sea while watching with great interest.

However, when a huge three-masted sailing ship slowly emerged from the black hole…

Everyone's eyes were sluggish.

No one thought that Su Lun would carry a warship with him!

Qian Tiao's eyes were shining, and she murmured to herself with joy, "This kid is really prepared…"

Even the steady Dr. Banks' expression became very strange, and his face was incredulous, "What… what an exaggerated preparation."