The Master of the Strange Realm

It was impossible to tell whether it was the talent of the vampire itself or the means left over from the transformation of the Difference Engine.

In short, when Jenkins saw the ugly creature in the sterling silver container at the bottom of the lake on the west side of the Evergreen Forest, he was nailed to the cross with twelve holy silver nails engraved with twelve different holy symbols.

"How much silver was used here?"

Jenkins asked while using flames to evaporate the water on his body. For safety, the sterling silver cage was fixed to the bottom of the water by chains, and there were other safety measures on the lake. No matter whether it is from the inside out or the outside in, no one can enter or exit without permission.

"To the church, the value of alien demigods far exceeds this silver. Besides..."

Mr. Gilbert scratched his nose and looked at his shoes:

"The offerings from the believers are quite generous."

Jenkins was aware of the church's financial problems. When he returned from Loen and stayed in Belduran, he heard about it while chatting with the contemporary Pope Saint Ponteff, so he knew how much wealth the church had accumulated.

Contributions made by believers to the church are of course “unearned” in a sense, but the reality is that no church will refuse.

He nodded clearly, then stretched out his hand to feel the vampire's vitality:

"Still alive."

Accompanying Jenkins into this cell that looked like an underwater sterling silver coffin, in addition to Mr. Gilbert from the Church of the Sages, there were also two demigods from the Church of the Sun and Justice, and the Church of Night and Hiddenness. Partly as a witness to a possible conversation, and partly to protect Jenkins.

Although Jenkins does not need any protection now, it is always safe to be safe.

The vampire who was nailed to the cross had a shriveled body, as if he had lost all the moisture in his body. He looked more like a mummy than alive, and his ugliness was even higher. After getting permission, Jenkins lightly patted the other person's skin, and through this pat, he learned about the mechanical structure of the other person's body.

Coupled with the information on the flesh and blood obtained by sensing the vitality of the World Tree seedlings, the secrets within the vampire species have basically been clarified.

"Probably here."

He pointed to the left chest of the opponent, which is the heart of most humanoid creatures, and naturally also the heart of vampires:

"I feel there is something very strange here. It is a piece of metal about the size of a fingernail. Although it has metal all over its body, the metal here is very unusual. This metal is imprisoning the vampire and transforming it into a metal form. We were right not to force it to wake up, I could feel it, it was like a triggered steam bomb... No, maybe not just triggered, but also timed... ..”

He frowned in thought, and stretched out his hand, wanting to "suck" the piece of metal out directly through his sensitivity to metal and control of flesh and blood, but he suddenly retracted his hand.

"Do we need to ask the Mechanicus Church to send people down to find a way to take out that thing?"

Mr. Gilbert asked.

"Of course we need it, as soon as possible. I don't know what will happen to that piece of metal, but it must be the final insurance to prevent us from learning the secret. Yes, after all, I don't know anything about mechanical things. I can only say that this is a guess. But it still requires professional Mechanic Church believers to take that thing out.”

"Meow~"

Chocolate barked.

"Yeah, I don't know anything about that."

He patted his cat and added:

"Also, do we have that kind of magic potion that can make people tell the truth? Maybe we can actually wake it up after a while, which will be useful."

"I can ask, but for alien demigods, potions may not have a very good effect."

Jenkins was able to directly draw the specific structure inside the vampire's chest using reading and writing, which made it easier for the demigods from the Mechanicus Church to use a near-surgical method to remove the metal piece he found with minimal trauma.

The metal piece that was taken out was as thin as a fingernail, and the whole piece was in the shape of a long and thin strip. The black aura flickered in Jenkins' eyes uncontrollably. This is probably part of some kind of magic, or of course it may be an unknown creation concocted by the difference engine.

"Look, there are some runes here."

Jenkins found some ancient writing on the smoother side, but it seemed invisible to anyone but him. So Jenkins wrote down the words to decipher them, and while the metal pieces were brought back to the surface, everyone under the water began to formally interrogate the vampires.

The animal's blood was splashed on its body, and its shriveled body swelled like a sponge. The whole process was so disgusting that it tested people's sanity, so much so that Jenkins had to cover his cat's eyes to prevent it from seeing things that it shouldn't at its age. See things.

As expected, the vampire who successfully woke up struggled and wailed desperately. After it almost ran out of energy, Jenkins stepped forward with a small bottle.

The church did not believe that a simple inquiry would be useful, so it had no intention of communicating with the other party. The potion that Jenkins is holding was made by Old Jack. Old Jack believes that if this one is useless, then other potions will definitely not be effective.

After forcing the other party to drink it, Jenkins tried to ask the first question:

"what your name?"

The vampire said his name when he appeared on the weekend. At this moment, he drooped his head exhaustedly and gave the correct answer after hearing the question:

"Bruch Gangro Nofele."

"age?"

There was no answer this time. Jenkins looked at the small bottle in his hand and drank the remaining half of the potion, but still got no response:

"It can only take effect once, right?"

He complained softly, and seeing that the potion had no effect, the church asked Jenkins to leave the cell temporarily. They planned to use some inconvenient methods to get the vampire to speak. The church is not a completely pure and benevolent organization.

Section 2015 Chapter 1985 Fragments of the Mechanical Heart (Additional update 5/6)

For his own mental health, Jenkins immediately took the cat out of the water.

On the ground, the origin of the slender metal sheet has been figured out:

"Obviously, this is a gift from the past, part of the [Machine Heart]."

Many years ago, a serious defection accident occurred in the Mechanicus Church. In the accident, the rebels stole three gifts. Among them, the clock was destroyed by Jenkins in the Cycle 31 accident last fall. The Wrath of Thor was recovered by Jenkins not long ago, and the [Mechanical Heart], which was contaminated into a strange object and can produce [Mechanical Germs], is still there. In the hands of the [Gear Craftsmen Guild].

"Isn't the Heart of Machinery in the hands of the Craftsmen's Guild? They gave that heart to the Difference Engine?"

Jenkins asked in surprise, and the information later interrogated from the vampire's mouth confirmed this guess.

The Difference Engine has been trapped underground, and the seal and damage problems have never been solved. In the months before and after Jenkins returned to Nolan from Belduran, he himself had encountered the Gearsmiths' various operations to aid the Difference Engine on several occasions.

Because most of the actions were somehow encountered by Jenkins, the plan to help the Difference Engine completely get rid of the seal and repair the broken body could not be completed. The Craftsmen Guild and Tree House finally came to an agreement and decided to take the plunge on something bold but at least theoretically possible.

Last week, Jenkins encountered half of the core of the Difference Engine appearing above the ground through the giant brass door. This itself proved that at least at this stage, there is a big problem with the seal that seals the Difference Engine. He thought that over time, the cultists finally found a way to tear the seal, but he didn't expect that it had something to do with the mechanical heart.

The Mechanical Heart itself is a top gift corresponding to mechanical power, and it contains definitely more secrets than Thor's Wrath.

The vampire demigods didn't know how the mechanical heart was used by the Difference Engine. They only knew that the day the heart went underground, all the people with Difference Engine technology in their bodies were briefly comatose for two hours, and after waking up Great improvement in strength.

And by fusing the mechanical heart of the strange thing, the Difference Engine has mastered a whole new power. These include those flocks of brass gear birds, as well as those black mist.

"Black fog is not an evolved version of gray fog. It is something more terrifying and elusive. We can understand those black fogs as things that can change the world. Yes, as long as the black fog exists, it will make things worse to a certain extent. The space and area where it is located have become more suitable for the use and evolution of mechanical power. This is similar to... the fog that rewrites the rules of the world, yes, rewrites the rules of the world and makes the world more friendly to mechanical power. "

These are the words of the vampire relayed by Mr. Gilbert. If this is true, it means that the Difference Engine has already planned to carry out the next operation of peeking at the ground. Otherwise, there is no need to release the fog in advance to alert the snake.

"This is really bad..."

Jenkins sighed and ended today's trip to the Evergreen Forest.

It was already very late when I got home, and the girls at home were all there. Hathaway also said that Jessica came in the afternoon and wanted to notify Jenkins to attend an evening drinking party, but unfortunately she couldn't find where he had gone.

"I'll go find her after dinner, too."

He put down the knife and fork in his hand and looked at the three girls at the same table:

"Have you ever considered living in a church for a while?"

"Is the situation already so dangerous?"

Hathaway asked sadly.

"No, it's not very dangerous. I'm just a little worried."

"Which church do you want us to move to? The Church of the Sages?"

Brienne also asked, and Jenkins thought for a while. In fact, the Church of the Sages was invaded by pagans more than once, so the Evergreen Forest was more suitable.

But he immediately thought that there had been many accidents in the Evergreen Forest, and the battle with the Skeleton Sword almost burned a fifth of the forest.

As for my own home, it seems that it has always been safe. Except for the ordinary serial murderer who sneaked in last winter, so far, only the monsters knocking on the door are the most dangerous. But that was because I accidentally opened my mouth to "actively" invite the other person into the yard. .

"Forget it, just stay at home."

He picked up the knife and fork again:

"But don't invite anyone into the home, even people we know, and don't make invitations lightly."

"We can be protected at home. Her Royal Highness is protected by Miss Miller. So what will Miss Windsor do?"

Julia asked too.

"Miss Magic and Miss Silver Flute are very reliable...I have my own way."

After dinner, he went out to find Jessica. Because he showed up in time, the cocktail party that was originally going to be cancelled went on smoothly. Jenkins and Jessica met several army generals who were originally in opposition at the cocktail party. When they talked with them, they learned that Fidictelli's army had already set out and was ready to attack Cheslan together with the army from Hampavo in the north.

The church was determined to let the second prince of the Aresio family ascend the throne in a real sense before the negotiations on Friday, so the decisive battle did not have to wait and start directly. The armies of the two countries will effectively defeat Cheslan's troops deployed on the western border. This is actually not difficult. After all, Cheslan has been in chaos because of the coup and the fire.

In addition to chatting, the generals of the army also expressed some uneasiness to Jenkins in a very subtle way. The source of the uneasiness is that Jenkins has an engagement with the daughter of the Marquis of the Navy, which will inevitably make the army worry about its future status.

This is actually a very serious problem. If you are not careful, it may cause confrontation between domestic military factions. Unfortunately, Jenkins had no time to deal with these issues. He just comforted them that in the short term, they would still follow Queen Isabella's policies. Jessica still needed to formulate long-term policies, but he would definitely be fair.

After these matters were dealt with, Jenkins proposed to talk to Miss Magic.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty."

In the empty corridor on the third floor of the manor, Miss Magic leaned on the windowsill and teased.

"Congratulations to you too, the royal mystic consultant. I think after I officially succeed to the throne in Beldiran, I can announce your and Miss Silver Flute's titles... Do you prefer medals or certificates?"

He said casually, and then talked about business:

"You have got the [Heart of the Ocean] for several months. Have you made any research progress recently?"

"No progress. I can only say that heart-related gifts are indeed very mysterious, but this is better. I think once there are results, it will be a huge gain for me... Why are you asking this?"

Chapter 2016 Chapter 1986 Nine Mysterious Realms (Additional Update 6/6)

Jenkins looked furtively at both sides of the corridor, and after confirming that no one was there, he whispered:

"It is reported that the underground differential machine has basically broken the seal by fusing the Mechanical Heart. Since there is a possibility of fusion between the Mechanical Heart and the Ocean Heart, I would like to ask, is it possible to rely on the 'Like Devouring Principle' to find the location of the Mechanical Heart?"

"Oh, this idea is really good. I have also had a project to rely on the 'Like Devouring Principle' to find numbered items, but that is... well, it is indeed feasible, but it is only feasible."

"It doesn't matter, I am willing to gamble on the possibility of a little bit. You don't have to worry about the funding... Just ask Jessica for money directly. I gave her all the financial certificates of the kingdom, including the private property of the royal family."

"You really trust Miss Windsor, but research takes a lot of time."

Miss Magic said again.

"Time? It doesn't matter, just do it. You don't seem to have anything else to do except protecting Jessica?"

"Of course, have you forgotten your commission?"

"What commission?"

Jenkins was stunned.

"Didn't you commission me and my friends to study the 'Rebellion of the Fateless'?"

"Rebellion of the Fateless? Oh~ yes, there is such a thing, there are too many things recently, I have forgotten a little. So is there any progress now?"

"Of course."

"It doesn't matter, this can be done slowly... What did you say?"

He tilted his head.

Miss Magic once complained that this would be a long and complicated task, and promised that she and her friends (church members) would study it seriously, but also let Jenkins be mentally prepared that there would be no results.

But it is clear that the strength and luck of this group of researchers are much better than Miss Magic's conservative estimate. They have made great progress in the study of rituals and the black tower, and this is the biggest progress Jenkins has made so far:

"We found that the black tower has a very unique spatial reaction inside. In connection with the abnormal spatial zone that has appeared recently around Nolan, we conducted research from this perspective and finally determined that the seven-story tower that has appeared now has a special space inside each floor. Moreover, the fluctuation reaction of the space and the feedback of the spirit are very similar to the strange world... Why are you not surprised at all?"

"Surprised? I already know about the strange world. Do you mean that there is a huge strange world inside the black tower?"

"No, I mean, there is a huge strange world in each floor. Weird Realm."

"One on each floor? You mean the nine weird realms are connected to each other?"

"Yes, they are not independent weird realms. You may know that the weird realms are essentially unique space fragments. Different weird realms remain independent, and only special entrances and exits can be entered and exited. But the space in this tower reacts differently. The seven-story tower that has appeared is not completely independent. At least there is a very obvious connection between adjacent floors. "

"Sorry, what does it mean specifically?"

Miss Magic did not answer immediately, as if she was trying to think of a suitable way to express it:

"That is to say, if the tower is regarded as a huge weird realm, then this weird realm is composed of several small-scale weird realms. I know this sounds incredible, but in fact, we already have evidence. "

"Evidence? Miss Magic, I can't express my admiration for you in words."

"No need to praise me... If you can't express it, you can write it in a letter. Ahem, okay, there are two points of evidence. First."