The Embers of King's Teyvat Journey

This was torture for Alex, who considered himself highly talented.

Fortunately, he has finally made it through the tough times and now has plenty of free time to do what he wants, instead of working day and night like those fresh graduates.

Ember carried Catherine, following behind Alex. They walked among the gray skyscrapers, with vehicles of various shapes hovering and flying in the air.

The wide road below was left entirely to pedestrians, who strolled along the street in twos and threes, or summoned an airship to head into the distance.

It's hard to imagine that such a nation exists in the same world as Mondstadt, Liyue, and Inazuma, which are still largely in the Middle Ages.

However, that's not entirely true. There are elemental forces, alchemy, and the Seven Gods here, which can somewhat bridge the gap.

“We’re here.” Alex stopped ahead. Ember looked up and saw a huge factory building in front of him.

This is simply not something a mechanical designer could have! And why would a mechanical design and manufacturing plant be built in a busy city center?

There are too many things to complain about; Ember doesn't know where to even begin. All he can say is that Alex is a thoughtful person.

"Come on, let me show you what the best machinery manufacturing plant in all of Kanria looks like!" Alex proudly led Ember into the factory.

The expected chaos did not materialize; the entire factory was orderly and efficient. Countless robots were moving among the machinery, performing their duties.

Looking around, Yu Jin saw many machines he had never seen before.

Among them are relic heavy machines and relic hunters. There are also mechanical behemoths, tens of meters in size, resembling dragons.

They are either finished and waiting to be shipped, or they are being manufactured, with complex internal circuitry that makes one's scalp crawl.

"What's that?" Yu Jin pointed to the mechanical dragon in the center of the factory, curious. Lately, he'd been encountering dragons constantly—first a long dragon, then a fat dragon, and now this mechanical dragon.

Alex waved his hand dismissively and said, "An improved version of the Trillion-Year Eternal Dragon Beast, but it's useless now."

"Why is it no longer useful?" Yu Jin asked. Such a big guy must be really capable.

After listening, Alex looked at the enormous machine and sighed, "The prototype designed by the Empire had many flaws. I'm thinking of improving it to fix those flaws."

"But now... it seems they've discussed something with the seven kingdoms on Earth, so they don't need these big guys anymore. All my work these past few days has been for nothing."

Although Alex said that, judging from his relieved expression, he was actually quite happy that his improved version hadn't been used.

"Tell me, how do you plan to change it?" Alex looked at Catherine next to Ember and asked her.

He could tell that the doll had begun to develop sentience. Therefore, she couldn't be simply viewed as a machine.

“I…” Catherine was a little flustered when the topic suddenly shifted to her.

Everything she had just experienced nearly crashed her already severely damaged processor, and now she had no idea what to do next.

Seeing this, Yu Jin took over the conversation and said to Alex, "Keep the appearance and consciousness unchanged, the rest is up to you. Also, it would be even better if you could increase the strength."

After speaking, Ember looked at Catherine, who nodded in agreement. As long as her appearance and consciousness remained unchanged, Catherine didn't care about anything else.

"Whoosh—" Ember suddenly felt a blinding light, and only then did he realize that Alex's eyes were shining like light bulbs.

Alex looked at Catherine, then at Ember, and felt that his long-held dream could finally come true.

Deep down, Alex harbored a delusion: he wanted to replace every part of his body with something stronger. If he did, would his life draw ever closer to that of a god?

Going a step further, perhaps even surpassing the gods?

However, these were just thoughts in his mind; his education and his conscience did not allow him to do so.

Kanria's current achievements are all due to the development of that forbidden power deep underground.

That power was dangerous and mysterious, which made Canria extremely cautious about any research, and this atmosphere also affected Alex.

He knew that the danger of his ideas was no less than that of researching that forbidden power, so he kept them buried deep in his heart.

Now, his idea had a chance to come true. And it even had volunteers, and the volunteers were almost worn out, which completely wiped away Alex's guilt.

All he wants now is to go through a crazy transformation of Catherine. Everything else can wait.

"Alright, alright! Going for more intensity, huh? No problem, I have to give this lady a really tough time!" Alex wiped his drool, grabbed Catherine's hand, and ran into the depths of the factory.

Looking at Alex's perverted expression, Yu Jin suddenly wondered if he had picked the wrong person.

Wait a minute? Alex is clearly the most mechanically skilled guy among the Kanriyans inside him, isn't he?

"Forget it, let's see. It's not going to be anything serious anyway." Yu Jin shook his head and jogged after him.

Alex led, or rather dragged, Catherine all the way to a circular control panel.

"Come on, Miss Catherine, just stand on it." Alex urged Catherine to stand on the control panel as if coaxing a child, afraid that she would run away.

"I'm warning you, don't mess around. If you turn Catherine into a monster, I'll beat you into one!" Ember came up from behind and swung his iron fist.

"Um... let me confirm again, as long as the appearance and consciousness remain unchanged, right?" Alex paused for a moment, then asked again as if still unsure.

Ember stroked his chin and looked at Catherine. Catherine sensed Ember's gaze, smiled and nodded at Alex, saying, "Mr. Alex, let's begin."

"Whoosh!" Alex yelled, then began manipulating the control panel to operate Catherine.

Suddenly, many robotic arms and high-sensitivity lasers appeared on the control panel, working together to modify Catherine.

"Hmm? That's strange. With this level of damage, it should have been scrapped long ago. Why is it still intact?" A mechanical arm disassembled Catherine's head and took out a core of consciousness riddled with cracks.

He was puzzled. Given the extent of the damage, it was already a miracle that it wasn't completely destroyed on the spot. How could it have maintained operation for so long? He couldn't understand it.

“Have faith in life,” Ember added from the side. Alex nodded in agreement.

Indeed, Catherine could be considered a life in herself. And life is far more difficult to understand than taboo.

He carefully placed the core of consciousness into the repair chamber, and now he could act freely.

Sparks flew from the control panel. The clanging and clattering of the machinery cutting, splicing, and twisting filled the factory.

Ember looked at Catherine, whose face was completely disfigured, and then at Alex, whose face was flushed. He asked curiously, "You said to go all out with the intensity, what kind of intensity method?"

Alex looked up at this and smiled confidently, "Have you heard of the Eye of God?"

Yu Jin nodded.

"If you encounter someone who possesses the Eye of God, you must rip it off and slap them in the face!"

Chapter 97 Towards the Stars and the Abyss

2023-08-28

"Well……"

"You're awake. The surgery was a success."

When Catherine opened her eyes, she saw Ember and Alex staring intently at her.

"Okay... is it done?" Catherine stepped down from the control panel and tentatively turned around a few times.

Seeing Catherine come down, Ember produced a mirror from somewhere and placed it in front of her, reminding her:

"Look? I think your appearance hasn't changed much. If you feel there's anything you don't like, we can make some changes."

Catherine looked at herself in the mirror; she was still wearing the same green and white dress, and the scars on her body had disappeared. She looked as if she had just been manufactured in the Winter Solstice Factory.

No, it's even better than newly made ones.

Catherine stretched out her palm, which was still as fair and delicate as before. However, she sensed that something had changed about her.

Then, under the shocked gazes of Ember and the excited gazes of Alex, Catherine's forearm began to deform and reassemble.

After a series of mechanical friction sounds, the cannon, gleaming with a pale yellow light, appeared on Catherine's arm and was assembled.

"This is so cool!" Ember ran to Catherine's side and excitedly touched the gleaming muzzle of her cannon.

"Haha, right? I think so too!" Alex, who was engrossed in collecting data, laughed along when he heard Ember's words. Great minds think alike.

When Catherine saw Ember excitedly running to Alex's side and pointing at her reflection in the control panel, her unease suddenly vanished.

With Yu Jin around, I should be able to relax a little and not worry about so much.

A smile returned to Catherine's face, and with another "snap," her arm was back to normal.

Catherine jogged over to Alex and Ember, smiling as she said, "My body has undergone such a big change, you two have to tell me all about it so I can get used to it."

“Ask him, I don’t know anything about it anyway.” Yu Jin pointed at Alex, who was just an observer and Alex was the main person in charge.

However, Alex did not answer Catherine's question. Instead, he looked at Catherine and asked, "Do you have trouble concentrating or feel a lot of pressure?"

“No, I feel fine.” Catherine shook her head; she didn’t feel anything unusual. To be honest, it was as if a lot of special modules had suddenly appeared in her body.

Catherine briefly sensed these modules: "Element Absorption," "Laser Beam," "Type 5 Surface-to-Surface Missiles," and so on...

These were all words she had never heard of before. Alex, seeing the puzzled look on Catherine's face, explained, "It seems your consciousness is capable; it didn't break down because I installed so many modules. We've succeeded!"

Alex's last words were addressed to Ember, because Ember had contributed significantly to the transformation of Catherine.

"What has become?" Catherine had a bad feeling.

"Of course, it's about becoming someone who can beat up the executives!" Ember blurted out, even though Catherine only blinked her eyes for a moment.

However, Ember and Alex worked in this factory for almost a year, and the engine took the longest to complete.

Alex initially just wanted to modify the core of the Ruin Guardian and put it inside to see what would happen.

However, Ember rejected this plan because he had his eye on the core of the Trillion Dragon Beast.

Alex immediately lost his composure. The core of the Twenty-Year Eternal Calamity Beast was larger than the combined size of him and Ember.

Furthermore, if the core of the Eternal Calamity Dragon Beast were to be shrunk, it wouldn't have the same powerful propulsion. Forcing it might even have a worse effect.

However, these doubts were dispelled when Ember produced a large piece of pure black liquid.

Alex had never seen such a stable and peaceful abyssal mass; all taboos had been removed, leaving only pure energy.

That's why this transformation has taken so long. A lot of effort was put into the miniaturization design and manufacturing of the Twenty-Year Eternal Calamity Dragon Beast core.

Having said that, Alex didn't complain much. Rather, he wouldn't mind if it meant going bald, since it was something that truly interested him.

Ember looked at Alex. He wasn't bald, but he was close. He could already vaguely see the skin on the top of Alex's head.

This kid is really crazy. When he took out the vomit from the deep pool, his eyes lit up again, making Ember almost think he was a robot too.

Meanwhile, Alex was explaining the precautions, module functions, and maintenance methods of the machine to Catherine.

Yu Jin smiled as he looked at the woodenly nodding Catherine and the beaming Alex.

Did I just strike it rich? A mechanical scientist? And one who hasn't turned evil yet. Looks like I can let him have more contact with the scientist in the future.

Ember walked over to a somewhat bewildered Catherine, made a gesture of clenching his biceps, and joked, "How about that? You now possess the power of a dragon!"