Chapter 336: Her True Identity
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Sacred Relic of Origins was slowly and gently humming. It was performing a scheduled synthesis. The device operated in a way that was different from human technology, including regular Physics and Chemistry. It combined various elements into a new life in a magical way, and injected knowledge as well as power directly into the lifeform. This magical process made Hao Ren extremely curious. He stared at the Sacred Relic's front control panel, eager to see what it would eventually produce.
Something different eventually appeared on the control panel. Such a picture was never shown when the core of the Sacred Relic was missing: it was an outline of a human figure. There were a lot of parameters, symbols, formulas, and something like a progress bar around the contour map. Their speculation was correct; the Sacred Relic of Origins was used to synthesise humanoid creatures and it may have been a variety of humanoid creatures. As the device was running under its default settings, it was hard to say whether it could make something else.
Everyone gathered in front of the device and waited for the results. The four ascetics had no idea what these people were doing, but they confirmed that these people mastered technology far more advanced than those in The Plane of Dreams. These people also seemed to really have the ability to unlock the secrets of the two sacred objects. Therefore, the ascetics watched silently with excitement and anticipation. After a while, the young female ascetic suddenly whispered to Big Beardy, "Even though I do not question the intentions of the goddess, is this series of actions... a sacrilege?"
Big Beardy pondered about it for a while, then shook his head and said, "I do not feel the wrath of the goddess, do you?"
The other ascetics lowered their heads and thought to themselves. It was as if they were asking their own hearts, after which they shook their heads together. The older women whispered, "The power of the goddess is unusually calm. It has never been more peaceful since we left the country of those green creatures. It's even more peaceful than the time I was baptised in the Royal Cathedral. It seems that she not only acquiesces to today's events, but is also pleased with it."
Big Beardy closed his eyes and pressed his hand against his chest. "Thank the goddess for her mercy and carry on. Follow the goddess' cues and cooperate with these people. "
"But, we can't directly feel her decree here..." Another male ascetic was hesitant. "This world separates us from the goddess, and we're just following our conscience..."
Big Beardy closed his eyes and spoke, his voice was as steady as ever, "Don't waver. Even if we are isolated from the goddess, the power of the goddess remains as a seed in our bodies. We have to believe in the guidance of this seed."
The other three ascetics then nodded and stopped talking.
Hao Ren's speculation about the ascetics was absolutely right. They were indeed difficult to deal with. They only followed the instructions of their goddess and ignored any other mundane requests. Nonetheless, the four ascetics cooperated with them all the way. There was only one reason for that: they received the "goddess' decree" in their prayers.
No matter where the behest came from or whether it was real, they thought that they understood the goddess' intention. Hence, they chose to cooperate with the people of the Otherworld.
Vivian was the closest to these people. She vaguely overheard their conversation and she looked at them, feeling baffled as well as curious about what they meant.
At this point, the MDT detected that the Sacred Relic of Origins had completed the initial process of formation. It was starting on the next phase of integration and the "Perfusion of Life Ritual". As it checked out the relic's operation, the MDT reported the situation to Hao Ren, "Oh, the operation is moving on swimmingly. Let me see what's in the main container... Group A acidified synthetic products, appropriate amount of protein groups, odd macromolecular chains, cloud-like energy fields, a fish... A fish?!"
The MDT emitted a scream it had never emitted before, "There is a fish in the container! And it looks familiar!!!"
Everyone at the scene was petrified. Hao Ren felt his scalp going numb. He just realised that there was nothing on his arm and concluded that the mermaid girl must have put herself in danger again. He rushed to the back of the Sacred Relic and pounced on the cover of the device. He did not care if it was still connected to "electricity". He then shouted, "Lil Pea!"
The back cover of the Sacred Relic of Origins was pulled down by brute force, exposing its large inner components. Hao Ren's heart pounded wildly as he searched the muddy mixture to find the fish. His eyes were almost attached to the outer casing of the inner components. Vivian and the others reacted a little slower; they were all only coming up to him now. Countless pairs of frightened eyes stared at the transparent container and they saw a small figure, about a foot long floating upwards from the mixture, looking confused.
Lil Pea was swaying in the muddy solution as if she was drunk. A few energy clouds, which looked like electric mounts were floating in the solution too. The mist was crackling all across the little mermaid and it even entered her body. Despite her strange state however, Lil Pea still looked good. She waved to the people outside the container and swam up excitedly, knocking on the crystal shell of the container.
The little one rubbed her head and continued to knock the crystal shell.
Hao Ren was really anxious and roared, "Shut it down, now!!!"
Needless to say, the MDT had already tried to stop it. However, the internal reaction of this synthetic device was like a chain. Even if the energy input was stopped, the reaction in the container would continue for quite a long time. Hao Ren noticed the crystalline device at the bottom of the Sacred Relic dimming, but the flashing mist in the container was still there. He immediately raised his fist, wanting to smash it. Vivian stopped him in the nick of time and said, "Don't be impetuous! If it explodes, it'll all be over!"
Hao Ren took a deep breath and put his hand down. He was sweating and waiting for the reaction in the container to stop completely. Now, the only thing that could comfort him was the fact that Lil Pea was still swimming in it leisurely (and, occassionally hitting the crystal shell in excitement). He felt relieved as long as the little kid's expression looked normal.
Finally, the reaction in the container subsided. Several compounds used for rapid termination of the reaction were injected into the mixture through a few pipes above the jar. This also dispelled the shimmering mist inside it. A few seconds later, a seam was opened in the centre of the inner components and the crystal shell parted while the mixture inside was all drained out.
Lil Pea also flowed out to the ground along with the liquid in the jar. The little kid did not realise what had just happened. She was lying on the ground, still swimming around. When she found that she was not moving, she looked at her surroundings and jumped towards Hao Ren excitedly as she shouted, "Dad!"
Hao Ren quickly grabbed the little kid to check for any injuries. Lil Pea wondered why Hao Ren kept inspecting her body and she laughed because it felt ticklish. Hao Ren found that the little kid seemed to be healthy and fine. Relieved, he said, "Phew... How did you jump in?"
"There's a pipe opens," Lil Pea was trying to explain it in a messy sentence that anyone could barely understand, "it smells good, jumps in, swims in a long place... Swim... Swim for a while... then come out!"
While the little kid was explaining the situation, she patted Hao Ren on the arm with her tail, and out of nowhere she had hiccup.
All of a sudden, the little mermaid disappeared from Hao Ren's hands and fell on the test bench not far away.
Hao Ren stared at his empty hands, clearly stunned. Then, he slowly turned around and saw Lil Pea on the test bench, looking at him naively.
Everyone had the same reaction. Nangong Wuyue exclaimed, "What was that... What's going on?!"
Lil Pea was still confused. She looked around, stretched her hand out to Hao Ren and said, "Hug…" And, she hiccuped again.
Hao Ren only saw a shadow, after which a fish tail slapped against his face. Lil Pea had "flown" back again.
After it happened twice, someone finally realised something. Y'zaks scratched his bald head and muttered, "Teleportation?"
Lil Pea looked at Y'zaks and hiccuped again. Her body disappeared only to reappear on his forehead.
Everyone was surprised. Now even a fool could see that the little mermaid had learned to teleport. It seemed to be triggered by "hiccups". Hao Ren's mind was a mess and he could not figure out what was happening. He just stood there for a long time, feeling bewildered. He slowly turned to the Sacred Relic of Origins and asked, "Is this related to what happened just now?"
Vivian looked at Lil Pea, who was jumping on Y'zaks head and said, "She's able to teleport without any help... Why do I feel like I've seen this before?"
At this point, the MDT was also reminded of something. It quickly drifted to the top of the Sacred Relic of Origins and connected itself to the Orb of the Holy Synod, extracting the last information from its database. It then exclaimed, "The heck... We've had it all wrong!"
A set of holographic images were projected from the bottom of the MDT. They were the final images of the synthetic organism stored in the Orb of the Holy Synod as well as the functional and "parametric" descriptions associated with the creature.
Vivian saw it and she was completely shocked. "...Demon hunter?"