Mystery: A Spark

"Speaking of which, what would be the effects of long-term direct contact with psionic energy?" Bonova asked curiously.

"If we were to draw an analogy, it would be similar to a symptom of anemia," the man explained in detail. "In other words, after a long period of exposure to psychic energy, living beings will gradually adapt to the existence of this energy, and may even develop a craving for psychic energy as a result."

“A thirst for…” Bonova frowned.

"Yes, after this happens, the life form must stay in an environment where the concentration of psionic energy reaches a certain level, otherwise it will be like a vampire not being able to get blood, or an addict not being able to get drugs."

"Of course, these conclusions were drawn from experiments on mice. The situation might be better on humans," the man stated his conclusions in detail.

“I see. Thank you for your help. You’ve worked hard these past few days.” Bonova turned around and nodded to the researcher from the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess beside her.

“You’re too kind. We also obtained a lot of valuable data during the experiments, which gave us a deeper understanding of psionic energy.” The man nodded in return.

Bonova hesitated for a moment, then asked:

"By the way, does anyone in your Earth Church conduct research related to human modification?"

"Huh?" The man next to him was clearly stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted, "No, absolutely not, we are all legitimate researchers, we would never do anything crooked."

Bonova felt that the man had misunderstood him, but after thinking about it, he ultimately didn't explain.

Bonova asked the question because he suddenly remembered something his father, Rosell, had once told him.

When he was very young, his father, Emperor Roselle, would often tell him some very wonderful stories.

His father loved him very much at that time.

However, due to the rapid advancement of the Bonova sequence, his very immature humanity was quickly overwhelmed by the divinity brought by the extraordinary sequence, and Roselle's temperament began to become unpredictable.

As a result, the relationship between the father and son deteriorated.

However, although Bonova was overwhelmed by divinity, his memory remained intact.

He clearly remembered that among the amazing things his father had told him, there was a concept called "human mechanization".

Or, to be more precise, in his father's words, it should be called "the flesh and blood are weak, while the machinery ascends."

Frankly speaking, this concept is no longer considered novel within the current Steam Church.

Because many high-ranking members in the church are actually trying to do this.

For example, Horamik used his alchemical abilities to create many mechanical dolls for himself, which shows that he has already shown signs of this.

They haven't yet started to modify the human body.

However, in Bonova's view, these attempts by high-sequence individuals did not actually grasp the essence of the concept of "mechanical ascension".

Because they are all simply using their individual strength to create miracles that belong to them alone.

In his father Russell's original account, however, "mechanical ascension" was a concept involving the entire race, and it pursued the evolution of the human race.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on the high-ranking members of the church.

The main reason why mechanization could not be widely attempted in the past was the lack of energy.

Now that he has psionic powers, Bonova naturally had the idea of ​​trying to turn the concept his father had mentioned into reality.

Perhaps, psionic energy is the key to unlocking the mystery of "mechanical ascension." I wonder what kind of results will be born after mechanization and psionic energy are combined... Bonova suddenly felt a strong sense of curiosity.

He bid farewell to the Earth Church researcher beside him and turned to leave.

After he left, the researcher wiped the white sweat from his forehead and muttered very quietly:

"Why did you suddenly bring up such a sensitive topic as human modification? Wait, it seems that Frank has joined the Star Pirates, and the leader of the Star Pirates, Cattleya, is said to have once followed the Mysterious Queen."

"The mysterious Queen Bernadette and this gentleman are family... could it be..."

……

Bonova had no idea what the Earth Church researcher was thinking.

He returned to his laboratory, found a piece of white paper and a pen, and began to write.

When he asked about human modification earlier, he noticed that the researcher's reaction seemed a bit strange, so he knew that this topic was probably not something he could discuss with these professional researchers.

So what Bonova is trying to do now is to find a less formal researcher to discuss issues related to human modification.

Therefore, the person he is writing to now is his sister Bernadette.

Bonova wanted to borrow the man named Frank from her.

More than a month ago, his sister Bernadette had already left Backlund and returned to the sea.

After all, her primary job was to be the leader of the Dawn of Elements, the king of pirates on the high seas, so she couldn't possibly stay in Backlund every day with her "little lover".

Well, "little lover" was a nickname Bonova secretly gave Arthur because he noticed that his sister seemed to have a rather strange relationship with this guy.

Although Bonova was a super single man who had been single for over a hundred years, he still had a considerable talent for relationships, which he inherited from his father.

Therefore, through his previous observations, he gradually noticed that his sister's attitude towards Arthur was not quite right.

Bonova initially only had some doubts.

However, one time he "accidentally" uttered the nickname "little lover," which immediately earned him a furious beating from Bernadette, which confirmed his suspicion.

Shortly after that, Bernadette left Backlund and returned to the sea.

In Bonova's view, this was clearly a sign of insecurity.

Of course, he wouldn't say that nickname out loud now; he only dared to think about it in his heart.

The main reason is that he can't beat his sister.

As the former Child of Machines and daughter of Emperor Roselle, Bernadette is arguably the person who understands this extraordinary path best, apart from those who are part of the Common Knowledge Path.

Bernadette knew all about the combat methods and weaknesses of the generalists.

In addition, the two-handed sword she wielded, "Frostmourne," made it impossible for Bonova to gain any advantage over his sister.

If you can't win, then you can only back down.

Bonova quickly wrote the letter, then set up a simple ritual to summon the messenger and recited the corresponding incantation.

"I!

"I summon in my name:"

"An invisible creature that roams the upper realms, a strange spirit friendly to humans, a messenger exclusively belonging to Bernadette Gustav."

……

It was nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, above the gray fog.

Klein looked at the pocket watch in his hand, and when the time was almost up, he put the pocket watch away, then controlled his spirituality and spread it towards those red stars.

Then, streaks of red light rose up and transformed into familiar figures.

Klein didn't speak first, because according to past practice, it was now Miss Justice's turn to greet everyone.

However, when Klein looked at Miss Justice, his gaze suddenly sharpened.

Because he noticed that Miss Justice's demeanor seemed to have changed somewhat.

She has become more somber, no longer as cheerful and lively as before.

What happened? Could it be that Miss Justice's family was affected by the smog? But I heard that the smog seemed to have been blown away before it even reached the noble areas... Klein pondered, trying to come up with the most reasonable guess.

Just then, he saw Miss Justice stand up, lifting her skirt, and greet the members of the Tarot Club as usual.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool, good afternoon, Mr. Chariot..."

The greetings were the same as before, but they lacked that lightheartedness.

Klein activated his spiritual vision to observe the righteous spirit and discovered that the other party's emotions consisted only of the color blue, which represented calmness.

"Tsk, no wonder he's a psychologist, his ability to control his emotions is really strong..." Klein thought with some regret.

The greetings were quickly completed, but Audrey did not sit down.

She first bowed to the Fool, who sat at the head of the long table, and said:

"Dear Mr. Fool, I would like to issue two commissions now, may I?"

Klein paused for a moment, then said:

"of course can."

He wanted to find out what had happened to Miss Justice, but it wasn't convenient to ask her directly. So, he figured he could glean some information from the request Miss Justice made.

After receiving Mr. Fool's permission, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief.

She glanced around at the Tarot Club members, all of whom were focused on her, composed herself, and calmly began to speak:

"My first request is to obtain a magical item with the ability to heal diseases and wounds. The negative effects cannot be too severe, and the price is negotiable."

Before the other members could react, she began to make her second request.

"My second request is to find out whether the Backlund smog incident was truly an accident. If not, then I want to know the truth about this incident."

“The whole truth.” Audrey emphasized.

After she finished speaking, she bowed to the head of the bronze table before sitting down.

After a moment of silence above the gray fog, Alger the Hanged Man spoke first, asking:

"Miss Justice, did something unexpected happen to you during this severe smog event?"

Even while adrift at sea, he received news of the Backlund smog and learned that a miracle had occurred during this event.

And it was originally an inconspicuous miracle of the Earth Mother Goddess in Rune.

This piqued Alger's interest in the hidden secrets and the truth behind it all, leading him to firmly believe that it definitely involved a battle between gods.

He just didn't expect that justice would be affected in this incident.

She has an aristocratic background, shouldn't she be within the church's priority protection scope?

As far as Alger knew, the miracles of Mother Earth saved many people during this event.

Even so, more than 50,000 people still lost their lives.

But most of these people who died were from the East End and the Factory District, and Alger felt that justice should not be affected.

Upon hearing his question, Audrey gave a calm smile and said:

“Mr. Hanged Man, I did not have any family members who died in this incident. I just felt how terrible this kind of thing is and wanted to take some precautions.”

“I see,” Alger nodded and said.