On how PhDs become human evil

Page 57

"Who are you calling a lemon-headed bastard! Show some respect for the monarch, you idiot!" Kenneth felt he would be driven crazy by this guy sooner or later. He shouldn't have picked up Bai Jie from the roadside and brought him home six years ago!

Six years ago, on a stormy night, Kenneth, who had just finished an academic discussion and was on his way back to his mansion, found Bai Jie lying unconscious on the roadside. Whether it was a pang of conscience or something else, Kenneth was bewitched and took Bai Jie back to the Archibald family, even taking him in as his younger brother.

Before long, Bai Jie displayed extraordinary talent. Although his magic circuits were not excellent, Bai Jie had extraordinary comprehension and imagination. He could learn any magic trick and develop several new applications for it.

Most importantly, Bai Jie had never been exposed to magic before, and he reached the level of a Clock Tower magician through self-study.

Incidentally, Bai Jie was already a master magician, but he insisted on staying in the opening position.

Sitting back down at his desk, Kenneth said, "Never mind, I'm busy these next few days, so I won't argue with them anymore."

"That Holy Grail War in the Far East? I heard from Sora that you're going to participate in that ceremony, right?" Bai Jie said. "I think you're just using the excuse of participating in the ceremony to go on your honeymoon with Sora. Shameless."

Kenneth had developed an extraordinary tolerance for verbal provocations from Bai Jie over the past six years. Unless Bai Jie mocked his proud hairstyle and name, Kenneth remained completely unmoved and composed.

“I am Lord El-Melloi, and I will become a Grand Magician sooner or later. Although it is just a ritual in the Far East, it is enough to be included in my achievements.”

"Be careful not to capsize in the gutter. I'll have someone from Animusphia check your horoscope later. Maybe it'll be an omen of a great general falling from grace."

"Can't you wish for something better? All you ever think about is my death. What would you do if I died?"

"Need I say more? Of course, I'll take all your collections for myself and, incidentally, play the role of a monarch."

Looking at Bai Jie's smug grin, Kenneth's face was full of smiles, and then he cursed, "*Clock Tower profanity*, I, Kenneth, would rather die than give you the throne!"

"Tch~~~~"

With a slight smirk, Bai Jie casually tossed the precious magic book back onto the shelf, then skillfully dodged the spell bullets thrown by Kenneth, and dashed out of the office.

(Japan's Holy Grail War, huh? They should be able to gain quite a bit of benefits from it. I should probably get involved.)

————————————————————

"Melvin Weinz! We've finally found you!"

In the corridor of the clock tower, Bai Jie suddenly pounced on a boy's back.

Melvin Weinz was an interesting character among the students at the Clock Tower. He once openly flaunted a super-high-end gem in the classroom, and his family was extremely wealthy.

Bai Jie and he were fairly familiar with each other, but they were not friends. Instead, they were a borrower and a debtor. Because Bai Jie needed to conduct magic experiments, he often borrowed money from him to buy experimental props.

"Melvin, I want to go to Japan. Can you help me prepare the travel expenses?" Bai Jie asked directly.

"Japan? What are you going there for? I've heard there's a rather special ceremony there."

“Melvin, I remember you said something like that, right? You’d lend me any amount of money as long as it’s something interesting to hear,” Bai Jie laughed. “Kenneth will be attending that ceremony too. Don’t you want to see Kenneth’s frustrated, unspeakable expression?”

Melvin imagined Kenneth's frustrated expression for a moment and found it quite amusing!

"Alright, I'll lend you the money, but in exchange, you have to show me Lord El-Melloi's frustrated expression!"

"Of course, no one knows better than me how to annoy him."

Bai Jie knew exactly how to make Kenneth furious and enraged; all he had to do was call him a lemon-headed guy during the fight!

(The travel expenses issue is now resolved; next comes the artifacts...)

P.S.: Update

P.S.: The new volume is about the Fourth Holy Grail War, and its purpose is to give the protagonist a leap in magical power. Otherwise, the protagonist wouldn't be able to manually create the Moon Throne. As for the Servants, you can guess. I bet you can't guess!

P.S.: I said that readers whose reviews were deleted could DM me. I was planning to add an extra chapter for every review deleted, but so far no one has told me their reviews were deleted except for one reader in the review section. So I'll add an extra chapter today!

P.S.: Please recommend, vote with monthly tickets, and give me a reward!

Section 97, Part 2. Doctor: Otto, there is paradise here.

In an apartment in Japan, Bai Jie was lying in bed.

This is Bai Jie's eighth day in Japan. Ten days ago, Bai Jie borrowed money from Melvin and immediately flew to Japan. As for the courses at the Clock Tower, Bai Jie skipped them all. Anyway, he had already earned enough credits, so he could do whatever he wanted.

"I can't find any artifacts... Does this mean I can only summon them based on affinity?"

Bai Jie is currently troubled by the matter of the holy relic.

The Holy Grail War is not a ritual in which magicians personally participate. Instead, it is a war in which seven magicians summon seven heroic spirits to fight each other. In this war, the heroic spirits are the main force, and the magicians are at most an assistant.

Since Heroic Spirits are the main force, their strength becomes crucial. The stronger the Heroic Spirit summoned, the greater the chance of victory. However, powerful Heroic Spirits are not easy to summon. Without the corresponding artifacts, it is almost impossible to summon those heroes at the pinnacle of the Throne of Heroes.

"I remember that the relic Kenneth prepared was that of Alexander the Conqueror, right? As a Heroic Spirit, it is undoubtedly top-tier. If I want to make him suffer, I also need to summon a powerful Heroic Spirit, at least a king."

Throughout history, no ruler, especially one who established an empire in a chaotic era, has ever been weak. Examples include Qin Shi Huang and Emperor Wu of Han in China, and King Arthur and Charlemagne in the West.

Bai Jie originally intended to summon Charlemagne, but even after using all his connections, he couldn't find any of Charlemagne's relics. Bai Jie also considered going to the Palatine Chapel to use Charlemagne's remains there as relics for the summoning, but that would likely lead to criminal charges in France, so Bai Jie only considered it.

Aside from artifact summoning, the only other option is affinity summoning. In Bai Jie's eyes, this is similar to Rhodes Island's personnel department recruitment. Artifact summoning is specifically marked as "senior senior operator" or "senior operator," while affinity summoning is just randomly marked as such.

The first part is designated, the second part is based on luck. By the way, for some reason, Bai Jie often hears Zi Lan yelling "Don't repeatedly submit your resume to the HR department!" in the HR department.

"The summoning time is tonight, and I probably won't be able to get any artifacts. I'll just rely on affinity summoning. Maybe I can randomly summon an incredibly powerful Servant."

Despite saying that, Bai Jie was actually unsure, because his luck wasn't particularly good. He basically had no chance with Europeans, but he wasn't far off from Africans either; he was probably somewhere in the Middle East.

(I should have summoned it at the Clock Tower; it's full of Europeans there, I could have absorbed some of their good fortune.)

———————————The Crimson King! ———————————

The moon is bright and the stars are few; crows fly south. This isn't Cao Mengde... cough cough, wrong channel!

Time quickly passed to midnight. In the living room of the rented apartment, Bai Jie moved the coffee table aside and used chicken blood to draw a magic circle for summoning heroic spirits on the empty floor.

"This is a Command Seal... this shape... is it a door?"

Bai Jie stood beside the magic circle, looking at the red pattern on the back of his hand. He had just finished eating dinner when this so-called Command Seal appeared on the back of his hand. Indeed, he could feel a huge amount of magic power from the Command Seal.

"Alright, I've got the Command Seals. Even though I don't have any artifacts, I guess I'll just have to bite the bullet and go for it!"

Standing in the center of the magic circle, Bai Jie closed his eyes and activated the magic circuits within his body.

Just as Kenneth said, White's magic circuits are only average, with only 25, but for the first generation, that's not bad.

Magic flowed like water through the simulated nerves formed by the magic circuits, finally converging in Bai Jie's hand. Bai Jie slowly raised his magically powerful hand and chanted the summoning incantation.

"What was the incantation again... 'Your body is entrusted to my command, my destiny is bound to your sword...' What was the rest? Ah! Never mind! Whatever!"

It should be noted that although Bai Jie possesses a vast amount of knowledge, this also means that he selectively forgets some unimportant things, such as what he ate last night. As for the incantation for summoning heroic spirits, Bai Jie considers it as long and tedious as an old woman's foot binding cloth, and he unconsciously forgets it as well.

But that's okay, no one says you have to recite the spell completely when using magic.

"Any heroic spirit who wishes to come to the modern era and compete with heroes of the past and present, answer my call! The reward is the Holy Grail, the omnipotent wish-granting machine that can grant any wish—"

"Buzz—!!!"

Bai Jie had barely finished speaking when the magic circle beneath his feet burst forth with a dazzling red light, and then Bai Jie felt something jut out from under his feet.

Silently stepping out of the magic circle, a figure appeared in the magic circle as soon as Bai Jie left.

She was a majestic woman reminiscent of a queen, dressed in a form-fitting long dress that exuded a sensual yet noble air, with black stockings that drove people wild. Her long white hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Three javelins floated silently behind her on her right, while on her left were three orange wings of light. Her golden eyes radiated boundless pressure, causing even Bai Jie to feel a sudden chill in his heart.

"So it was you who summoned me, human?"

Unexpectedly, the queen's voice, though full of authority, was as melodious as a clear spring, as if the water was flowing through the mountains.

"You... are you my servant?"

"Servant? You've got the order wrong. Human, I am your master, you are merely my servant..."

The queen didn't finish her sentence because, in Bai Jie's eyes, her body shrank rapidly at a visible speed, transforming from a majestic queen into an adorable chibi-style figure that would kill any otaku in just a few seconds.

The magic circle, which had gone dark, lit up again, but this time it wasn't just one Servant... but three!

"Did you receive the advance notice of our romance?"

"Nighttime? That's when I have the most energy."

"I will not let you down, Captain."

Appearing in the magic circle were three people dressed in different clothes but looking exactly alike. Bai Jie couldn't help but recognize their faces, because he had once met someone who was madly obsessed with those faces.

“Karen...Kaslana.” Bai Jie looked at the three people in the magic circle and suddenly wanted to pull Otto over.

P.S.: Update

P.S.: Did I stipulate that all Servants must be from Fate? Did I stipulate that the protagonist can only have one Servant? Don't you guys understand what divergent thinking is? As for why there are three Kallens... check out the Honkai Impact 3rd summer event. Feel free to raise any objections; personally, I think it's pretty okay.

P.S.: Some people say that the world the protagonist goes to is too peaceful, and that the protagonist should go to a world with a higher level of danger. Where do you think it would be good?

P.S.: Please recommend, vote, and tip!

Section 98, Part 3. Author: I think Fu Qi should just get married.

Class: Assassin/Archer

Master: Bai Jie

Real name: Karen Kaslana

Attribute: Order/Good

Ability Values

Strength: B

Durability: C+

Agile: A++

Magic: D

Luck: B