Star Forge Titan

"It doesn't make any sense..."

Chapter 116: Snakes, Insects, Rats and Ants

The news of the success and failure of the Giant God Soldier experiment soon reached the royal capital Lutetia.

"Failed?" Conrad flicked the report in his hand, and then a look of dissatisfaction appeared on his face.

"Ahaha, if it weren't for that crazy old Prince Louis... ahem, the old prince said that since Elrond displayed a large arcane monster in the parade, we should also use correspondingly large weapons to overwhelm the enemy and dispel the panic in the hearts of our subjects. I suggested long ago that we hide that thing underground and let it gather dust to avoid provoking other countries and causing a lot of trouble."

Covering up the impolite address with a cough, the emperor immediately put on an exceptionally bright smile and continued:

"Oh right, since there's already a problem, how about replacing all the large weaponry in the year-end parade with a formation of all-beautiful female soldiers? I think it'll be a big hit!!!"

"..." After hearing this shameless speech, Mr. Armand Jean Plessy Richelieu, the Chief Cardinal and Minister of Finance, who was sitting opposite him, finally stopped reading the document and looked up at Conard who was suddenly excited.

Then he waved his fingers as if to shoo away an annoying fly or a mad monkey, and Conrad's lips became inseparable, as if someone had glued his upper and lower lips together with super-strong quick-drying glue.

What is even more shocking is the serious insult of launching a magical attack against the great guardian of Lind, the holder of all glory, and the current Emperor of Lind in the Central Empire.

Whether it was the guard captain Galar standing guard outside the study door, or Alfredo, who walked in with a cup of tea and read the name of the butler writing "Sword Saint", all of them looked on calmly and calmly as if they had no eyes at all.

As the teacher of His Majesty the Emperor, his status is equivalent to that of an imperial tutor in an Eastern country. He is also the chief cardinal minister and finance minister, and one of the few great wizards in the empire. Armand Jean is very familiar with Conrad's character.

In addition, he was quite old and no longer cared about the rules of the "game" such as aristocratic etiquette.

The old man, not wanting to listen to the other party's nonsense and expose his XP, directly used a low-level spell "Adhesion" to force Conrad to shut up on the physical level.

"Adhesion?" Alfredo put down the teapot and teacup, glanced at Conrad, who was sitting obediently, and asked casually with a suppressed laugh:

"Well, you've seen it before." Armand Jean said as he took the top-secret report from the New Era Institute:

"If I remember correctly, that was the one you used on the group of goblins when we first went out adventuring. Hmm, it seemed to have the additional feature of contact transmission. Even thinking about it now, the scene is quite interesting." Seeing his old friend, Alfredo, who was written as Sword Saint and read as Butler, became talkative uncharacteristically.

"Not bad, old friend. It seems that you are not so old that your memory has declined like old Ian. You can actually remember things that happened so long ago." Armand Jean's voice was a little teasing, which made the old butler smile.

"It's not easy to forget that incident. After all, it's rare to see a dozen goblins entangled with each other and stuck together into a stinky ball. Especially because someone wanted to show off, I had to push the ball back to the city with my own hands to hand in the task." The old butler Alfredo shrugged and glanced at Conrad who was pretending to be a good boy.

"The late emperor? As expected of a direct descendant of that fellow, this guy has the exact same personality as he did when he was young. He's very difficult to deal with in every sense of the word."

The Chief Cardinal also looked at Conrad, then sighed, revealing the look of an old man reminiscing about the past, mixed with dissatisfaction with the lazy younger generation.

"In short, I know that the prince's personality is not very pleasing."

After expressing his opinion of Prince Louis in a rather tactful manner with considerable emotional intelligence, the Chief Cardinal, Armand Jean, continued more objectively:

"But what he said does make some sense. We do need a parade that can adequately demonstrate the majesty of the Empire to offset the international impact of the Elrond parade at the beginning of the year."

As he spoke, he waved his fingers and removed the 'adhesion' that was applied to Conrad's broken mouth.

"Okay, I understand." The emperor let out a sigh, looking as if he was almost suffocated to death.

This makes one wonder if his nose is painted on? Why does he look like he can't breathe with his mouth sealed?

"That's it." Conrad waved his hand and said:

As for the prince they were talking about, Prince Louis, who was over a hundred years old and looked so old that he looked like a wrinkled corpse.

At this moment, he was sitting in a dark room as usual, with all the curtains drawn, leaving only a small gap for sunlight to shine in.

The old man was wrapped in layers of blankets, and as usual, he was holding a cute purebred beagle in his arms.

For some reason, the puppy's nostrils flapped and its body trembled slightly, but it said nothing. It just curled up there, trembling and motionless.

Behind the prince stood a woman wearing a gorgeous long dress, with a mature and beautiful appearance like a ripe peach.

If Conrad was present, he would probably have immediately clasped his legs together in fear the moment he saw the other person. Although the newcomer was an old acquaintance of his, he was also a terrifying existence that left him with a serious psychological trauma, and almost even a physical trauma.

"Tiole, why are you here? I remember you were supposed to be dealing with those idiots who revealed their identities."

Although he was so old that his whole body seemed to be made up of wrinkles, and he looked like a Shar-Pei dog from a distance, Prince Louis's voice became clear at this moment, as if he had suddenly become ten years younger.

"Of course, everything has been taken care of. I even left a great, great toy for those lovely female knights. It's a great thing to accompany them to sleep every night."

Madame Thiolle, who once appeared at the Moulin Rouge, covered her mouth and chuckled, but her smile caused the corners of her mouth to split all the way to her ears, revealing two rows of triangular teeth as sharp as sharks. Even the feather fan that matched her ladylike outfit could not completely hide it.

"I don't care what fun you're looking for, just don't ruin our grand plan! Don't forget, that's the condition that the Majesties promised me. It's a divine contract!"

While speaking, Prince Louis' eyes were always looking at the setting sun outside through the gap in the curtains, but his voice suddenly became extremely cold and cruel, just like an ancient battlefield filled with blood at night, making people feel that the chill seeped out from the bones and could not be escaped.

"Don't worry, I have other collaborators who will do their best to help you achieve your goal. I mean, I'll do my best~ Hee."

Laughing, Tiole's beautiful head quietly appeared beside Prince Louis' shoulder, but her body was still standing in the shadow behind him. Only a strip of object with unclear outline was quietly twisting in the darkness, like a snake, insect or poisonous python.

"Collaborator, huh, is there any new news from Vulcan?" Prince Louis didn't even look at the other person's beautiful face, but continued to ask about matters related to the plan.

"No news, but he mentioned before that he was approaching the final stage. I guess even if there's no news, it doesn't necessarily mean it's bad news."

"But then again, Your Highness, are you really so unromantic? I'm very, very interested in you, the strong warrior who once held titles like 'Bloody Red Deer' and 'Butcher Prince'."

Tiole's tongue slowly stretched out from her mouth and licked the blood-red lips in an extremely seductive manner. Her remaining rationality prevented her from licking the other's earlobe as she would tease a strong young man, but she still couldn't help but extend an invitation to the decrepit old man slumped in the rocking chair.

"Get lost." Louis uttered the simple word indifferently.

"Rude." Tiole curled his lips, retracted his neck in boredom, and once again used the lady's feather fan to cover the lower half of his face.

As she spoke, a faint rustling sound similar to that of a poisonous snake could be heard.

When the lady with mature and beautiful appearance disappeared into the darkness, Louis finally loosened his tightly clenched fists.

As a member of the Carolingian royal family, he was also a playboy Linde nobleman in his youth, but now he is unable to do what he wants.

"Damn...it..." Like an old dog chewing a bone, a voice full of resentment came out of the mouth of the decrepit old prince.

"This old body... damned demon, damned Elrond, damned Gustav!"

"Kill him, kill his people, kill his descendants, let the filthy blood flow all over the earth, kill! Kill! Kill!!!"

The sound of heavy breathing like a broken bellows continued to echo in the dark room, accompanied by an almost inaudible dog whine.

"All the men of Elrond must die!"

Chapter 117: Lions, Tigers and Leopards

Overnight, the capital Lutetia was in a state of panic.

More than a dozen nobles were arrested, all on charges of colluding with the cult.

The person who directed the arrest was actually the Chief Cardinal Armand Jean himself.

This news even overshadowed the news about the entry of the Paladins from the Temple of Knowledge, attracting the attention of all newspapers and magazines and causing a lot of discussion among the people.

"Wow, that old man is really amazing." A girl with silver hair and crimson eyes exclaimed as she lay on the sofa in a very unladylike posture.

On her head, a pair of much smaller white horns stood upright without any cover, swaying like a silly deer.

"Senior Nokilu, if you're free, please come and help me with the report paperwork. Lady Celestine will check it immediately upon her return." Another paladin from the Temple of Knowledge sighed helplessly and said:

"Little Mary, don't be so serious. We just finished a hard-fought capture mission, and we even encountered an unexpected large demon in the process. We should at least take a good rest, right?" Nokilu said with a smile to the white-haired girl sitting behind the desk, swinging her fair legs.

"But the gods used ultra-ancient technology to grant us extra life that doesn't exist within the life map. Wasn't it so that we could work well?" Vanguard Paladin No. ⅢⅡ Heidemarie, affectionately known as 'Little Mary', said calmly.

Compared with the former, the white horns on her head are basically invisible, with only two slightly raised small areas that have not completely disappeared.

"Tsk." Nokilu curled her lips and raised her hand to touch the white corner on her forehead that had not completely disappeared.

"I never asked Him to let me be born in this form. Humph, compared to the cold glass and steel womb, I would rather be born from my mother's belly like an ordinary person, squishy and wrinkled."

"Be careful with your words, Senior Nokilu. This isn't the Great Library. Don't discuss the secrets of the Temple." Heidemarie pushed her glasses and said slowly.

As a Paladin of the Temple of Knowledge, her attitude was a bit strange. She didn't seem to mind that Nokilu spoke about the Ancient God of Wisdom in such a disrespectful way. Or perhaps it was because someone else would come soon to deal with this loudmouthed senior.

"The God wouldn't mind if the girl he created in a test tube using spices like sugar, laurel, rosemary, and all the beautiful feelings of the world spoke ill of him behind his back, but as his servant and 'old mother', I would be angry~."

A laughing voice sounded from behind Nochiru. The Grand Knight Commander Celestine, who had appeared out of nowhere, looked down at Nochiru, who was lying on the sofa and complaining, with a smile on her face.

"Ahahahaha, isn't that the bedtime story that old Mother Celestine told us? We're all mature, how come some people still believe that, ahahahaha - hiccup!"

The Commander Paladin, who was laughing when she heard the first half of the sentence, suddenly paused when she heard the second half, because she realized that the "old mother" she was talking about was the person who was speaking.

The shadow cast by the Grand Knight covered the latter's pretty face, which quickly broke out in beads of cold sweat. The two had a strange resemblance in appearance. To be more precise, most of the Paladins of the Temple of Knowledge had some similarities in appearance.

But no matter what, Nokilu's voice of begging for mercy, "Wuwuwu, I was wrong!", could be heard from the study room immediately afterwards.

The other paladins passing by were not surprised by this. They had long been familiar with the commander's unreliability when he was not on missions. Some even suspected that when the gods were making Commander Nokilu, they accidentally added a certain formula too much, or put something else in by mistake, so that they made such a, uh, weird thing?

A few minutes later, with her cheeks and ears pinched red, Nochilu stood at the door of the study with a dictionary on her head, repeating the old proverb "There is one thing more important than knowing yourself; it is governing yourself" in the awkward ancient Saga language, which made her feel like her tongue was about to get tied.

The only thing that comforted her was that as a palace temporarily lent by Emperor Lind to the Knights of the Secret-Keeping Angels, a subordinate of the Temple of Knowledge, there was no one here except the Paladin sisters, so she didn't have to worry about bringing shame to a foreign country for the time being.

Inside the house, Celestine's expression became more serious after reading the report written by Heidemarie.

"I originally thought that the trouble with the Linde bureaucrats was simply due to local characteristics, but the circumstances revealed by this whole incident are so abnormal that I suspect those twisted beings are up to something big."

As a Grand Knight Commander with hundreds of years of experience in exorcising demons, Celestine was very keen to discover some kind of internal connection beneath a series of confusing appearances, so she quickly made this judgment.

"I'll contact the librarians at the Great Library. You should also inform Emperor Lind immediately. Something is amiss!"

Though only a brief respite, under Celestine's command, the palace housing the Knights of the Secret-Keeping Angels immediately became bustling with activity. The paladins methodically began to tackle their respective tasks, as if they were not separate individuals but a connected whole.

Perhaps some ancient wisdom truly connects each of them.

However, Christina, who is far away in the underground of the steel city of Vulcan, now urgently needs the wisdom of others to solve the problem. Even if it is a witch doctor from the barbarian tribe, as long as he can help solve the problem, she will express her sincere gratitude.

"Okay, everyone, this is the problem we are facing now. The stability of the Colossus's operating system is very worrying!" The director of the research institute, who was floating in the air, slapped the whiteboard behind him and let out a deafening roar.

"To be precise, except for the last experiment, we are almost unable to start the machine and operate it smoothly. Although not all of you here are technicians, please give suggestions from different angles. We really need new perspectives right now." Christina patted the whiteboard behind her again, and then signaled that everyone could speak freely.

Ivan, who was sitting in the crowd, scratched his cheek. On his left was Diana, and on Diana's left was Catherine.

As for Khayon, since he wasn't selected as a Titan pilot, he's currently mostly attending classes outside with the other students. It's unclear what that traitorous guy is secretly doing. I just hope he doesn't lead Little Q astray. Before arriving at the Whale Fall Ruins, I temporarily entrusted him with the task of cultivating the awakened tower spirit.

Thinking about it now, maybe that was a wrong choice.

There was a lot of discussion around him, but Alvin suddenly realized that this was a very good opportunity, an opportunity to browse the detailed information of the Giant God Soldier.

In this way, Lind's first goal of hiding his identity and coming to the Central Empire can be achieved.

At the same time, he also glanced at Catherine, only to find that she was also secretly looking at him. After staring at each other for a moment, the latter snorted and turned her head away, while Ivan's eyes glided to a place on her body where a huge treasure was hidden.

That was his second goal in coming to Linde, the flawless gem - the Sea of ​​Miracles.

Chapter 118 A New Angle

It’s not easy, very difficult.

Whether it is the Giant God Soldier or the Flawless Gem, you have to put in a lot of effort to get these two things.

But now this opportunity is indeed worth a try, so Alvin raised his right hand and signaled Director Christina.

"Young man, do you have any ideas?" the floating director asked, waving the ornately decorated lady's feather fan in his hand.

"Perhaps we can change our thinking and try to let the pilot cooperate with the Colossus, rather than unilaterally changing the Colossus's existing structure." Alvin said slowly, carefully considering his words.

Since he had read some information about the Giant God Soldier before, he had gradually realized that there were completely different differences between the original three machines that were first manufactured and the Giant God Soldier that was manufactured later.

The most notable thing was that ordinary, low-level transcendents could also pilot the current Colossus, which was a bit strange to Ivan. Although the number of Colossus units that would be officially put into production would be far greater than the current three, they would still be special super weapons that could only be piloted by high-level transcendents.

Generally speaking, only a fifth-level Giant Spirit Rider can perfectly coordinate with the Giant God Soldier with his own characteristics, thereby completely and fully exerting the latter's full power.

"How is this possible? The power of the Giant God Soldier is not comparable to that of ordinary superhumans. We simply..." A researcher immediately retorted, but he was interrupted by Christina before he could finish his words.

"Wait, you mean... a new extraordinary job?" Christina looked at Ivan seriously.

"Yes, aren't the two current classes in the Magic Sequence new classes specifically tuned for use with Magic Vehicles? Similarly, using higher-level classes to complement the Colossus to fully unleash its power might be a path worth exploring," Ivan said casually, shrugging.

In fact, he kept the news about the 'Steel God Forging' meditation method. Compared to the new higher-level job that takes more time, the improvement of the meditation method may be faster and more effective.

Adding magic with the 'stable' properties of steel can more effectively counter the assimilation reaction, greatly enhancing the pilot's own safety and the overall duration of controlling the Giant God Soldier.

However, such a proposal was not something a young Transcendent who had just reached the Second Stage should make. After all, the vast majority of those who had truly begun to conceive of such improvements were already at the High or even Perfected Stages. In other words, if a Second Stage Transcendent were to make such a suggestion, it would likely draw unnecessary suspicion.

"Young man, do you know how difficult it is to invent a new job? It took decades of the Magic Revolution for us to confirm the standard promotion ceremonies for the two new lower-level jobs, and the higher-level jobs, which are countless times more complicated, still only exist in papers." Christina looked at him seriously, but her eyes revealed a thoughtful look.

"However, it's not completely impossible. If we reduce the requirements for operating the Colossus while improving the pilot's adaptability to the machine, and work on both fronts simultaneously, we might be able to speed up the process."

"If they specialize specifically in piloting the Colossus, then they would have to give up a lot in other areas, right? Could such a transcendent really obtain the power that a higher-level job would have?" Some researchers also expressed different opinions.

"...Friend, consider this question again after factoring in the power of the Giant God." His colleague looked at him like he was a fool, and at the same time, lowered his voice to save his face, he quietly reminded him:

"Ah!" The previous questioner immediately said "I understand".

As an elite who can enter the New Era Research Institute, even if he is not thoughtful enough at the moment, he can still react immediately with just a little reminder.