Successful Sneak (2)

Dimensional Intelligence.

That's all the system showed when Dawei tried to inspect the strange, lumbering automatons. A full panel of question marks and that ominous two-word identifier.

He squinted at the mechanical puppet moving past him—its humanoid body cobbled from bronze plates, tubing, and what looked like synthetic sinew. It didn't even acknowledge him.

"Too high-level to scan," Dawei muttered, backing into the shadows of the pipe he had just crawled out from. "Their stats are locked behind a dimensional level gap. Which means…"

He let the sentence trail off. It meant they were leagues beyond him, and if they were combat units, he wouldn't last even a millisecond. But he watched carefully. They weren't bristling with weapons or moving aggressively. Just efficiently sorting, bottling, and rearranging scientific instruments and materials.

"Okay. Non-combatants," he whispered, exhaling. "Experimental assistants. Dumb as bricks."

The skills section confirmed it:

Scientific Research, Data Collection.No combat functions. No attack skills.

Dawei could finally unclench his jaw.

System Prompt:You have discovered: [Zhugutra's Destruction Pool].Description: A concentrated decomposition vat engineered by the scientist Zhugutra. Designed to melt, vaporize, or erase failed organic matter and materials. Extreme hazard!

Dawei blinked.

"That's the first time I've ever seen the system throw out 'EXTREME hazard' in red bold font without a boss fight."

He turned to glance behind him.

The drainpipe he had emerged from—foul, acidic, and corroded by years of chemical runoff—was directly adjacent to a vast, bubbling reaction pool that gave off waves of violet mist. If he had emerged just a few meters off…

"Yup. Instant disintegration. I'd be soup."

It was so dangerous the game wouldn't even let him fall into it by accident. That alone said everything.

Despite his entrance, none of the mechanical puppets responded. They just kept toiling in silence, arranging ingredients and transferring fluids through strange tubes connected to brass-etched vats.

"No response… perfect."

These constructs weren't sentries—they were tools. The absence of thought made them harmless to him… and more importantly, blind to his intrusion.

"No wonder Zhugutra called them all useless trash," Dawei said under his breath. "He probably built them without judgment logic so they wouldn't accidentally microwave a vampire embryo out of curiosity."

He shivered at his own imagery, then shook his head.

Focus.

Zhugutra wasn't expected back right away. He'd stormed off ranting like a high school teacher whose lab rats had failed a test. Dawei estimated he had a window—maybe five minutes.

That was all he needed.

Before him lay the most overwhelming collection of high-end loot he had ever seen.

Glowing vials of crimson flux. Bottles labeled with alchemical formulas that rearranged themselves when he looked away. Crates of ethereal minerals that shimmered with unstable particles. Stuff you'd normally see locked behind 10-star dungeons or post-event loot boxes.

He couldn't stop grinning.

"This isn't a lab," he murmured, eyes wide. "It's a god-tier grocery store. And I'm the only shopper."

The fact that his character attributes were a broken mess didn't matter anymore. In the Mercenary World, opportunities like this didn't come with balance. If he couldn't fight for loot, then he'd steal it.

Every second was a heartbeat of opportunity.Every bottle, every flask—potential power.

He crept forward, eyes scanning for the most promising item he could lift.

"One storage slot. One chance. What'll it be…"

He passed over a sealed canister humming with dimensional energy, but the label read:

[Classified – Phase Incomplete: Warning – Instability 89%]

No thanks.

Too many things here could accidentally erase him from the server.

He settled on a pale silver ampoule nestled in a velvet-lined case, with a soft, slow pulse of blue light. The label was handwritten in a flowing, ancient script.

[Alchemical Core Sample – Type Unknown]Residual resonance with Bloodborne Catalysts. Presumed proto-living base material.

That was it.

Dawei didn't know what it was—but he knew value when he saw it.

He slipped it into his one-slot inventory.

System Prompt:You have obtained [Zhugutra's Alchemical Core Sample].Warning: Unknown reactions may occur when leaving laboratory space with unstable prototype materials.

He froze.

"Oh. Crap."

Suddenly, a pulse of pressure vibrated through the floor—like an alarm waiting to be triggered.