Mechanical Alchemist

Chapter 6: Bloody banquet

The brightly lit corridor gave Su'en a familiar feeling.

The sound of fighting in his ears was incessant, and when he looked again, he saw the bald man with a body covered in metallic scales. Wasn't this the same corridor as before?

"I'm back again?"

Su'en felt his eyelids twitch.

Did I crash through the glass and then crash back through another window?

When he turned around again, he found that the glass that had been shattered earlier had miraculously restored to its original state. If it weren't for the glass shards on the ground, he would have thought he had experienced an illusion.

There was something wrong with the space in this mansion!

"Illusion space? Or is it the ability of the 'phantom species'?"

Su'en felt that this world was getting stranger, but he quickly realized, "Indeed... if one can easily escape by jumping out of the window, those guys wouldn't have been killed by these eerie puppets."

With this jump, Su'en fell back into the corridor and crashed into a pile of puppets.

Now he's in a dangerous situation.

Although the puppets didn't pose much harm to the bald man, they were definitely lethal to Su'en, an ordinary person.

Su'en had already given up struggling and was about to lie down, but to his surprise... these puppets seemed to ignore him completely and floated past him, rushing towards the bald man.

"Huh... they didn't attack me?"

Su'en watched the puppets floating past him and felt a sense of relief, speculating secretly, "Could it be because they noticed the 'surveillance' earlier?"

He vaguely guessed that these puppets didn't kill him because the "phantom species" felt... that they had gained a new toy and didn't want to kill him so soon.

This was really frustrating.

......

And at this moment, without warning, there was suddenly a creepy sound of bones breaking, "crack, crack."

When he looked closely, he saw that Marcus's joints were breaking in the opposite direction.

Like a marionette, he was suspended in the air by invisible threads, his head hanging weakly.

Marcus was dead!

After he died, the knife-wielding puppets that were attacking Ivan also suddenly disappeared, as if they were receding like a tide, and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Not far away, Ivan, the bald man, looked at his subordinate's sudden and unexpected death, obviously confused and angrily cursed, "Damn it!"

How did Marcus die without any puppets around him?

He suddenly realized that the abilities of this "phantom species" were not just about controlling puppets.

Ivan naturally noticed Su'en, who had been spared by the puppets earlier, and guessed that he might know something.

But before he could ask, at this moment, a closed door not far away suddenly opened.

And at this moment, a kind old man in a tailcoat walked out from the door, speaking in an emotionless tone, "My master invites you both to the banquet hall for dinner."

Master, dinner?

Su'en raised an eyebrow as he listened, feeling that it didn't seem like a good thing.

As he heard these words, his gaze also fell on the butler-like old man.

He noticed that this guy's eyes didn't move at all while speaking, and upon closer inspection, his skin had a wax-like sheen.

Obviously, this butler was not a living person.

Su'en remained calm.

The key was that even if he wanted to do something, he wouldn't be able to win.

But Ivan couldn't control his temper.

He had just killed one of my brothers in front of me, and now he's inviting us to dinner?

"Go to hell!"

Ivan cursed angrily and raised his hand to attack.

The butler was shattered by the attack.

And at this moment, the low voice suddenly sounded again, ominously saying, "If you don't follow the rules of the game, you will be killed..."

"Hmph!"

Ivan sneered, not taking it seriously.

But suddenly, without warning, his whole body stiffened in place.

Just like when Marcus died.

Su'en, who was not far away, saw it clearly this time. Transparent threads, like fishing lines, bound Ivan, making him unable to move.

And as the threads tightened, the metallic scales on Ivan's skin cracked, and the threads cut into his flesh, oozing out crimson blood.

Su'en watched with wide eyes, "What a strange technique..."

Clearly, this mysterious power was far beyond his imagination.

In the next second, it seemed like Ivan was about to be dismembered into several pieces, but just before his body was torn apart, the bald man, who had been defiant just a moment ago, shouted, "Wait, I'm willing to go!"

.......

In this way, Su'en and Ivan, both with half of their bodies blown away, were invited into the banquet hall by the butler.

The decoration here was also extremely luxurious, and soothing music played from the phonograph.

There were already many people seated at the dining table, and it looked lively, with a harmonious dining atmosphere.

A maid puppet guided Su'en to an empty seat.

He glanced at the people at the table and had a rough idea in his mind.

Although these "people" were sitting in their respective positions, they had no expressions and stiff bodies...

Clearly, none of them were living beings.

They were either puppets or corpses fixed to their seats with threads, giving off a creepy and eerie feeling.

But Su'en wasn't surprised. He naturally didn't think that this "phantom species" would be so kind as to invite them to dinner.

Judging from the disgusted expression on Ivan's face, he probably recognized these corpses.

The two of them took their seats, and the maid puppet behind them placed napkins on them and uncovered the silver covers in front of them.

When Su'en sat down, he smelled a strong smell of blood and vaguely guessed what it was.

When the cover was lifted, the smell of blood became even stronger.

In front of him was a reddish-brown liver, still slightly oozing blood, looking like it had just been taken from a living creature.

There were probably no live animals in this mansion, so it was easy to guess what kind of liver it was...

Su'en raised an eyebrow, not surprised.

In this eerie mansion, it would be strange if it was normal food.

He had played many twisted horror games, and this kind of plot... wasn't too out of the ordinary.

With a glance, he realized that his dish was relatively tame.

In front of Ivan, there was a peeled human head. The eyeballs, still attached to the optic nerves, were placed in a small dish, seemingly a "dessert" after the meal.

Looking at the green hair beside it, this head seemed to belong to the cockade-haired guy that Su'en had killed in the study earlier.

And at this moment, that lingering voice sounded again, "The rule of the game is: you must finish your meal. Otherwise... you will die."

And at this moment, all the "people," whether puppets or corpses, turned their heads and stared at the two living people on the table with hollow eyes.

The butler on the side also urged with a warning tone, "So, esteemed guests, is the food not to your liking?"

.......

Su'en and Ivan definitely had no intention of voluntarily eating what was on the plate.

But obviously, whether they wanted to eat or not, it was not up to them.

At this moment, transparent threads silently dropped from the ceiling and bound their limbs.

Su'en noticed something, but he didn't feel any abnormalities in his body.

On the other hand, Ivan realized what was happening and his face turned ugly. He murmured in despair, "Mind control of the 'body,' at least a 'gold-level' phantom species. We're done for..."

He had already experienced the power of these threads earlier and thought that it was simply physical control. He thought that he might have a chance if he found an opportunity.

But he didn't expect that sitting in this chair would confirm that the "phantom species" was also adept at mental control.

This was an ability that could easily kill him.

"..."

Su'en listened carefully and heard what Ivan was muttering.

Soon, he also understood what "body control" meant.

At this moment, he found that his hands were involuntarily lifting up and picking up the knife and fork next to the plate, elegantly and gentlemanly cutting the liver on the plate...

This feeling was strange. It wasn't just a simple marionette, it was as if his brain had lost control of his body, and he could only watch as his hands cut the meat on the plate without his control.

One cut, another cut... the plate was filled with blood.

Meanwhile, Ivan, not far away, had already swallowed a burst eyeball with a crunch.

The sound of chewing in the quiet banquet hall was particularly eerie.