Chapter 281
Chapter 281
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 281
Chapter Title: Technological Revolution (3)
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A massive room hung with an inexplicably heavy atmosphere.
Magnificent paintings adorned various spots along its vast walls.
Creatures prostrating themselves on the ground before a being gazing down from the heavens.
People fleeing storms and tidal waves, while a giant atop colossal waves laughed uproariously at the sight.
A woman enveloped in light, embracing the sick with a warm smile, and more...
Though the styles and techniques varied wildly, the theme each painting conveyed was one and the same.
All of them depicted the relationship between gods and humans.
Click—
In that space exuding an air of reverence, a discordant mouse click echoed softly, utterly out of place.
"Black Sorcerer Haweltal."
A low woman's voice followed soon after.
In one corner of the office, reachable only after passing the displayed paintings, a computer monitor flickered to life with a barrage of data and photos.
From CCTV captures to images of a massive bone dragon in Japan, and finally the wrecked interior of a certain Shanghai high-rise.
"Vampire Heinz."
Another click of the mouse, and records of another individual's exploits scrolled rapidly across the screen.
Conflicts with the Blood Alliance to peacekeeping operations under the name Phantom—all laid out in clear detail.
"Mysterious Holy Knight."
The next set of files was far sparser compared to the previous ones.
And they all pertained to a single incident.
The miraculous events during the large-scale hospital terrorist attack.
"Three new top-priority watch subjects emerging in one country in less than half a year. And we've failed to track every single one of them..."
As the woman's languid voice continued amid the accompanying mouse clicks, the files on the monitor flipped by rapidly.
Korean Returnee Association President, Seoul Southern Branch Chief Yoon Ji-yoon, secret agent of the Ability Management Bureau, and more...
Having reviewed the full list of identified Korean nationals under watch, she finally spat out a single remark.
"They deserve to die."
Her tone was utterly devoid of even a shred of pity.
No matter how many times she checked, the conclusion was nothing more or less than utter incompetence.
...Still, I should wrap up what I set out to do first. It's not entirely unrelated to us, after all.
One file that had briefly flashed by on the monitor screen reappeared.
A composite sketch of armor, drawn by an eyewitness and corroborated by numerous others.
She stared at it silently for a moment before smoothly rising from her seat.
Having comrades who share the same will is a good thing. Especially if they're capable.
A peculiar smile crept onto the lips of the gray-haired woman, the Scribe.
"...For the salvation of this world."
At the same time.
The investigation team dispatched from Pantheon's main headquarters in America arrived in Korea.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "If I do it... like this...!"
Howard, who had returned to Outerica after about ten days of study abroad on Earth.
The moment he got back, he holed up in his workshop.
And immediately set to work incorporating the new knowledge gained from Tech Revolution into this world.
He had already fully grasped the principles behind the necessary technologies.
He even understood exactly why they produced such results.
All he needed now were the intermediate steps to reach those conclusions.
Of course, he couldn't yet reproduce technology on the level of Mechanical An: Kallikas.
Naturally—even a dwarf couldn't fully comprehend such advanced tech in just a few days.
In truth, the most efficient way would be to try using it myself...
But he couldn't exactly pluck out a perfectly healthy eye just to save a little time, could he?
Though its objective specs might be inferior, a dwarf's eye was far superior when it came to crafting.
In fact, that's why he'd promptly handed over the artificial eye to Hesperon.
I've got the basic concepts down, so time will handle the rest. Once real usage data comes in, it shouldn't take long.
Born with innate genius, bolstered by all sorts of growth buffs, and perpetually enhanced by the precious Elixir of Growth, Howard was a walking irrationality.
By the standards of an ordinary human, calling him a genius would be an understatement.
And as always.
The transformation of the world was forever the domain of a tiny handful of geniuses.
"...It's done."
After holing up in the forge for days on end.
He gazed in awe at the small metal gauntlet before him.
Its sleek silver surface and elegant, near-futuristic curves caught the forge's firelight, exuding an otherworldly aura.
"Whew, alright then."
After staring at it entranced for a moment, Howard equipped it on his left hand without hesitation.
He'd made it to fit his arm perfectly from the start as a test piece, so the gauntlet sealed seamlessly from fingertips to elbow.
The fit feels good too.
With it on, Howard moved to the testing area in the corner of the workshop.
Various metal plates of different materials were securely fixed there for product performance tests.
Since it's the first try, let's go light.
Steel for the material, about a handspan thick...
Once preparations were complete, he took a light breath and clenched his left fist.
Griiind
Hiiiiss—
The screech of metal friction accompanied compressed energy jetting from the nozzles.
At the same instant, the magic stone embedded in his wrist glowed, sending threads of light racing across the gauntlet's circuits like a circuit board.
Here it comes!
Howard was a pure 100% artisan who'd never thrown a punch in his life, but that was no issue for an avatar sharing everyone's experiences.
The compact dwarf's body assumed a flawless stance, stomping the ground firmly as the impact rippled perfectly through his springy waist and shoulders to his fist.
"Hyaah!"
Fwoooosh—!
The moment his fist shot forward, a torrent of energy blasted from the elbow like a rocket.
And right after.
KABOOOM—!
A deafening roar shook the workshop as a fierce gust whipped through the interior.
"Cough! Cough!"
Coughing amid the swirling dust, Howard subtly furrowed his brow.
Uh, this might be a bit much...
No need for further words.
Having gotten overly excited and accelerated wildly, he finally took stock of the situation and wore an awkward expression.
Too late, of course.
Bang!
"What was that? Who's there! An attack? Howard! You okay? Howard!"
Amid the pounding footsteps, Jaonik burst through the workshop door, hefting a massive hammer and glaring around wildly.
His vigilance held until his eyes met Howard's through the drifting dust.
"......?"
"...Well, this is awkward. Heh heh heh!"
Howard let out an embarrassed chuckle from his textbook-perfect stance—feet firmly planted, one arm thrust forward in an impeccable punch.
He struggled to extract his left arm, embedded deep after punching clean through a handspan-thick steel plate.
...It's not budging. This would be a problem in real combat too. Guess I need reverse thrust.
As the workshop guards began rushing in clamorously.
Howard averted his gaze from Jaonik, whose expression was slowly twisting, while pointedly thinking of other things.
It was an utterly ordinary and smooth development scene.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While Howard pursued his Earth studies and tech development, time in Outerica flowed swiftly onward.
The massive event that inevitably affected everyone on the continent—the Pope's funeral—passed without incident, followed by the smooth conclusion of the unofficial third Continental Summit.
"A summit, but it was just the usual predictable talk."
Sinking into a plush chair, Heinz 2nd closed his eyes and sank into thought.
Of course, he hadn't attended in person.
He had simply dispatched Duke Bright as Thalia Kingdom's representative.
No matter how amicable relations had become lately, it wouldn't look right for the Vampire King to personally attend the Pope's funeral, would it?
And I've been awfully busy running around everywhere lately anyway.
Until quite recently, he'd had to juggle both Outerica and Earth at once.
Only now, due to various circumstances leaving even Heinz without spare capacity for Earth, had Phantom activities naturally gone into hiatus...
No, actually, I'm not exactly idle even now.
No matter how capable the crew, a captain couldn't just sit back and do nothing.
Especially after absorbing even Obipo to claim the throne of Vampire King—now not just the nation's fate, but the entire race's destiny rested on his shoulders. The volume of work requiring his personal oversight was staggering.
Without the administrative perk Lord's Authority gained upon achieving Vampire King, he'd have been too swamped for idle thoughts.
Thanks to it, most affairs were progressing smoothly, it was true.
That said, there's one thing nagging at me...
Not everything went exactly as he'd planned.
The ongoing missing persons search taking far longer than expected, and the matter of Vice President Keila McClair's son.
The full investigation of Obipo's vampires, thought to wrap up quickly, had dragged on longer than anticipated.
There were valid reasons, of course.
Who would've thought the Revolutionary himself had directly intervened in that affair.
The tenacious pursuit had finally led to one being.
The leader of the now-defunct Oath of Reverse Heaven—the Revolutionary himself.
...What a useless bastard.
Naturally, even he—who controlled the continent's intelligence networks with an iron grip—couldn't pursue leads indefinitely in such circumstances.
The man had given even Hans trouble tracking him; chasing movements from over twenty years ago was absurd.
As frustrating as it was, he'd have to assume the target had been sacrificed in some ritual and move on.
I'll keep the search going for now, though. And since I personally avenged him by slaying his foe, Keila should have no complaints.
The giant who had appeared in Tulk Kingdom and attacked Tarac had been the Revolutionary in the flesh.
He'd ended up handling the revenge by proxy.
That should suffice to save face.
"Now then, next."
Muttering thus, Heinz clamped his mouth shut.
He could consider his initial goals of vampire unification and legitimization fully achieved.
Barring any special circumstances, things would roll along fine left as is.
So, what should Heinz 2nd aim for next?
What goal to set from here?
...It's about time, isn't it.
His business in Outerica was more or less wrapped up.
The next step was obvious!
"Earth."
Thinking about it, now was the perfect timing.
The Pantheon had just lost its branch overseeing the entire East Asia region.
They'd be on maximum alert there, nerves frayed to the limit.
Priority target Hans leaves Korea and stretches into China—their home turf. They won't stay quiet.
Plus, though unintended, the Holy Knight Heinrich—who had been a hot topic until Black Sorcerer Haweltal's reemergence—was also on their radar.
He'd gleaned from the Rule Commander's memory fragments that the North American branch chief, the Scribe, was coordinating with him.
If the memory loss hadn't been so severe, I'd know more for sure.
Regrettable, but unavoidable.
For now, he'd settle for knowing the Scribe held a key position in Pantheon ahead of time.
In any case, one certainty: with their eyes locked on Hans and Heinrich, drawn to East Asia, other areas would be slightly slacker than usual.
No telling how effective that would be given their scale, but when heading into the lion's den, better to grab every possible advantage.
That way, no matter what traps await, I can smash right through.
Heinz's eyes, sitting quietly, turned ice-cold.
An opportunity to surpass the limits blocking his path and take the next step forward.
But he couldn't keep running and hiding every time things got a bit risky!
Having finalized his thoughts, Heinz quietly rose from his seat.
Then, licking his lips, he whispered lowly to himself like a declaration.
"Alright then. Off to Europe."
The land where vampire influence reigned strongest on Earth.
The world's epicenter of fine cuisine.