Chapter 280
Chapter 280
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 280
Chapter Title: Technological Revolution (2)
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"I heard you requested a meeting."
In the director's office of the Azerion Imperial Hospital.
The room's occupant spoke with his usual impassive expression, and Hesperon, sitting across from him, nodded solemnly in response.
"Yes. About the prosthetic eye in my socket..."
As he spoke, he raised one hand to gently touch the eyepatch over his right eye.
After losing his eyeball during the Riley assault incident, the hospital had fitted a prosthetic into his right eye socket.
It was a necessary measure to prevent his face from losing symmetry with an empty socket, and being from the imperial hospital, it was a top-grade item that wasn't easily detectable.
It was a magic tool powered by a mana stone core, laden with all sorts of beneficial effects related to health—
"I want to replace this one."
That was why the director's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the milky white orb Hesperon presented.
A smooth, milky white sphere the size of an average adult's eyeball.
Even to someone as knowledgeable as him, its material was impossible to identify—it looked extraordinarily unusual, yet he sensed no special power emanating from it.
'No magic circles engraved, no enchantments. Not even a mana stone inside.'
To put it bluntly, it was nothing more than an ornament.
The director stared at it for a moment before turning his gaze back to the patient.
Regardless, as a doctor, he had a duty to do his best.
"The cultivation of your artificial eyeball is nearly complete. Of course, in your case, it won't restore your vision, but at least externally, it can look perfectly identical to before."
Including pupil movement and focus adjustment, of course.
The director calmly continued, noting that he wouldn't need the eyepatch anymore once that was done.
"Replacing the prosthetic isn't difficult, of course, but since we'll be implanting the artificial eyeball soon anyway, is there really any need?"
Hesperon nodded firmly despite that.
He wouldn't have before, but now there was a reason.
"Yes, please."
"Understood."
Seeing his resolve, the director acquiesced without further argument.
Such minor issues didn't significantly impact the treatment outcomes anyway, so he tended to defer to the patient's wishes.
'If he refuses the artificial eyeball transplant later, the reaction would be different.'
He felt a bit sorry for the pointless effort, but since it wouldn't restore vision anyway, it couldn't be helped.
After all, it was his eye—he should choose whatever was most efficient and helpful, right?
Immediately after the simple procedure to swap the prosthetic.
Hesperon returned to his private room in the hospital as if nothing had happened and quietly peered into the mirror.
'...Just as I thought. Even a grand magus can't detect it in this state.'
The milky white sphere now nestled in his right eye socket.
Its true nature, which even the director hadn't discerned, was the prosthetic eye seized from the Spirit Ruler—the so-called "Mechanical Eye of Callicas."
Having crossed dimensions, all its mysteries and functions were halted, making it look like nothing more than a peculiar material orb unless dissected.
'No need to keep it secret and go on about trips to Earth or whatever.'
After all, what mattered more than the implantation was how to activate it afterward.
In its current state, it was just a half-broken relic usable only on Earth.
'Better to dismantle it and use it as fodder for Howard. The best option is to create an environment for real-world data collection, regular checkups, and analysis.'
And Hesperon was the most ideal candidate for that.
He was already missing one eye, after all...
"Whew, alright then... Let's get started."
He had a trump card to bypass even dimensional restrictions.
After a deep breath, Hesperon closed his eyes and focused on the prosthetic in his right socket.
"......"
Magic tools from one world couldn't be used in another.
It was an absolute law beyond individual control.
But wasn't there a greater premise preceding that?
Awakened beings were exceptions even to dimensional laws.
'Then.'
What if he bound the magic tool and the Awakener as one?
If he could make it recognized not as a tool and user, but as an integral part of the body?
'Impossible for others.'
But he had the ability to make it possible.
Soon, that ability—"Chains of the Oath"—activated, beginning communion with the dormant prosthetic.
———!
A sharp pain raced from his eye socket to his brain.
He felt fiercer resistance than ever before.
He'd sensed it when sealing his right arm, but difficulty scaled with the target's level—right from the start, it was grueling.
Moreover, this prosthetic was completely inert.
Naturally, establishing rapport was even harder.
'But... I expected this much.'
That was why Howard's "Technological Revolution" was essential.
The ability to intervene in another dimension's item structure and modify parts of it.
'If differing dimensional laws are the issue, just tweak it for compatibility!'
Reconfigure the internals to enable some functions that shouldn't work here.
Of course, having just acquired the ability, full reactivation was impossible...
But he could manage something small—like gently breathing life into a silenced function.
Geerr—
The preset condition triggered, a faint vibration humming in his eye socket.
No external noise leaked; only he felt the subtle whir through his skull.
'Got it.'
In that instant.
The "Chains of the Oath" swiftly infiltrated and seized the opportunity.
Encounter, negotiation, adjustment, compromise, coercion, control...
And binding them as one—all proceeded seamlessly.
The moment the process completed, his pitch-black right field of view filled with green symbols scrolling upward rapidly.
At the center, one line:
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ System Rebooting. "...Success."
Hesperon stared blankly at the message before turning back to the mirror.
Symbols raced across the once-plain milky surface of the prosthetic.
Like a computer just starting to boot.
A mere few seconds later.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ System Online. Visual Assist Function Activated. Stereoscopic Augmentation Function Activated. Object Penetration Function Activated. Temperature Detection Function Activated. ... Welcome, new user Hesperon! His half-vision cleared instantly, taking in everything around him at once.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ The entity has been implanted with a new body part. You have acquired the skill 「Mechanical Eye: Callicas」. Come to think of it, the Spirit Ruler—who lost his soul fragment and thus his sight to Hans—and Hesperon—who sacrificed his eye to gain power—were in strikingly similar situations.
Not just physical trauma, but permanent vision loss due to something more spiritual.
In that sense, this special prosthetic was the perfect solution.
Its principle didn't rely on the optic nerve; it projected camera-captured images directly onto the brain, painting visuals in the mind.
"But... I didn't expect it to be this impressive."
As he slowly scanned his surroundings, an exclamation escaped his lips.
It wasn't just restoring his field of view to normal two-eyed levels.
It far exceeded human limits in focal angles and operational range.
'Oh? X-ray vision too?'
He could even swivel the eyeball to peer through his head at his own back.
Eyes in the back of his head, literally.
Needless to say, vision that could zoom like a microscope or telescope.
'I recall ostrich eyesight is rated at 25. Is this what that's like?'
Hesperon turned forward and looked in the mirror.
The once-smooth orb surface was gone, replaced by a mystical iris now naturally centered in the prosthetic.
A blue rim encircling the iris, filled with glowing geometric patterns.
"...Cool."
A purely objective assessment, devoid of bias.
What guy could resist the allure of such a sleek cyborg eye!
He felt newfound gratitude toward the Spirit Ruler for this parting gift.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Unidentified update detected. Base performance greatly enhanced for unknown reasons. Check details. He glanced at the message floating in the corner of his right vision.
The "Chains of the Oath" included not just synchronization but enhancement effects too.
Apparently, it interpreted those as updates.
However, that caused a slight issue...
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Location data check... Failed. Satellite connection attempt... Failed. Communication recovery attempt... Failed. ... 'Quit with the useless efforts. Stop.'
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Emergency response sequence terminated. Switching to normal mode. The prosthetic's auxiliary personality—its AI—had also been passively upgraded alongside the "Chains of the Oath."
Of course, fully subjugated by the chains, it posed no issue.
'Black Flame Dragon in my right arm, AI in my eye. Feels complicated.'
Still, the AI—nicknamed "Cali" after its home dimension—wouldn't rampage like the "Right Arm of Craving," so it wasn't all bad.
"Alright, now I want to properly test its performance."
Having gained a new power, testing it firsthand was only natural.
Hesperon started toward the door but paused...
'Hmm, better keep it hidden for now. Don't want unnecessary attention.'
After brief deliberation, he overlaid a black eyepatch over his right socket again.
Of course, he could easily see through eyelids and patch, so functionality was unimpaired.
"Alright, let's go! Start with a stroll around..."
And so, the newly evolved Hesperon strode out confidently.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hm?"
Having finished paperwork and rounds for the day, the director halted abruptly.
His gaze caught someone out the window.
His head tilted unconsciously.
The man Princess Riley had specially requested care for—Hesperon—was acting suspiciously near the walkway.
Staring blankly into the distance, then intently at flower beds.
Startling and averting eyes when passing others, grimacing ugly at the restroom wall as if disgusted.
Finally, squeezing shut his one eye before sighing and gazing vacantly at the sky.
"...Hmm."
Definitely unusual behavior, unseen before.
Watching intently, the director stroked his chin.
Earlier, he'd brought some unknown prosthetic and insisted on swapping it in.
Seeing this right after, he suspected mental issues.
'Makes sense. Hospitalized due to the perpetrator of his prior permanent injury. I'd relaxed seeing his stable demeanor till now.'
Plus, he was still under curse effects.
Odd he'd seemed fine so long.
'Need to schedule psychological counseling tomorrow. He wanted to go out, so figure a compromise... Hm?'
As the director scribbled on the chart in hand.
Glancing at Hesperon again, his gaze froze—specifically, on the black eyepatch still covering the right socket.
"...Strange."
The words slipped out unwittingly.
But upon second look, nothing seemed off.
That made it stranger.
'Mana flow is calm too...'
Instinct sensed unease, but reason found no anomaly.
'...Just my imagination?'
The doubt lingered until the odd actor vanished from sight.
The director frowned briefly, sighed, and resumed walking.
He was too busy to waste time on ambiguities.
Meanwhile, the subject of those doubts, Hesperon.
After finishing his stroll-cum-performance test and returning to his room, he issued his first command to AI Cali.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Command acknowledged. Disabling clothing penetration until risks are detected or further orders given. Auto-filtering filth in penetration paths. "Ahem."
Regardless of what anyone said, he was a proper gentleman.