ALL NOVEL Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Poverty Is Everywhere
As the mechanical greatsword was being disassembled and reconstructed for repairs, the young woman who brought it had already made her way to the wilderness beyond the old city district.
Shadows danced like beasts bearing fangs and claws, as dark figures stood ready in formation, their daggers gleaming like fangs. Even the weakest among them could tear through the surface-level Rainleaf Road.
The young woman, her brow still furrowed with worry, walked out of the city district into the wilderness, possessing nothing and completely alone.
"Among Stalkers, it's said that the people of Nameless Wings are like mad dogs who never let go once they bite. Looking at this now, that reputation is well-deserved." The woman's voice was low, but it carried neither the mockery nor regret of someone at their wit's end. "You caught up rather quickly."
The woman slowly walked into the circle of enemies, her solitary figure radiating an overwhelming presence that left even the pursuing assassins breathless.
She was like a wounded gazelle that had fled after its weapon was severely damaged, but now appeared as a Taotie beast, bored and unwilling to play any longer.
The lead pursuer, unmoved, made a hand signal that meant 'attack' in their secret code. In the next moment, the numerous shadows coordinated their assault on the woman in the center.
The numbers were complete. The woman stood motionless, merely counting heads in her mind as the weapons closed in.
Then they turned to dust.
Purple lightning raged across the wasteland in a flash, leaving only afterimages. The terrifying lightning was contained within a small space, not even disturbing a speck of dust or blade of grass.
The relentless pursuers from Nameless Wings didn't even have the chance to become charred corpses—they were instantly vaporized into wisps of smoke by the savage lightning.
"Heh." Erica sat down as if suddenly drained of energy, showing a bitter smile tinged with disappointment. "I was just trying to take a vacation, how did it end up like this?"
The gift was almost destroyed, and her cover was basically blown. After all, this vengeful display of power definitely exceeded acceptable limits.
Should she return early to report? Although they had agreed to turn a blind eye, the speed at which that Lord had acted still caught her off guard.
Shortly after she left, that Lord had flipped the table with a surprise attack and became Emperor. Updating the version without me, huh?
If she went back now, she honestly wouldn't know how to face the completely transformed political landscape of the Imperial Capital.
Erica rested her head on her knees, gazing at the distant stars. Returning now would mean giving up her vacation, but staying here without a cover identity would make her too conspicuous—like a highlighted cheater in a game, marked for elimination.
She couldn't be certain if there would be consequences, but exhaustion and endless work were guaranteed.
She came to this chaotic region for a vacation, not for unpaid overtime.
Ah, perhaps there was another way? Erica thought, turning to look in the direction of the alchemy workshop in the city.
She had initially just found the nearest city and workshop for emergency repairs while the weapon hadn't completely collapsed, but now it seemed this random attempt at treatment had unexpectedly worked out.
A kind-hearted person of third-tier strength should be able to help her eliminate these pursuers, right? As for the reason, she could use monetary recruitment... after all, she did pay quite a lot, didn't she?
Erica felt no guilt about selling out the merchant who had opportunistically charged high prices. With her as backup, the worst they would face was a bit of a shock.
This uninformed individual, who had mistakenly gained a reputation as a crooked merchant, remained unaware of everything. But destiny's transactions never offer buyers a chance for returns or refunds—people can only passively accept, drifting like paper boats in the river of fate.
The first domino had already fallen; hitting the detonator button was just a matter of time.
In a dimly lit room, a virtual map on a long table cast a faint blue glow into the night sky. As the projection activated, light beams intertwined, illuminating floating dust particles and revealing a golden-haired child with closed eyes.
The child's form was ethereal, their beauty transcending gender, making it impossible to determine if they were male or female. One look was enough to know this wasn't a product of the human world.
"We lost two Chariots and six Knights," the child spoke in an ethereal voice, their tone calm and devoid of emotion.
"The location?" The man in the shadows frowned. "Pull up the relevant information, Italo."
A virtual panel with white text on black background appeared before his eyes, its brightness so dim it couldn't illuminate the viewer's face.
Two seconds later, the screen automatically closed. After some time, the chess player who understood everything finally spoke. "I cannot determine exactly which events exceeded our expectations, but we need to make a choice."
"What do you plan to do, Bishop Karl?" the blind child inquired.
"Have the other three bishops returned?" Karl asked, his tone mechanically cold and rational.
"Bishop Ansel is executing a mission, Bishop Joseph is locked in battle with Twilight, and Bishop Heinrich is in a standoff with the Court of Disorder," Italo calmly reported.
"Additionally, Bishop Karl needs to guard home base against contingencies and make decisions, so you cannot go personally," the ethereal blind child added.
"Italo, how much computing power do you have left?" Karl asked.
"Thirty-eight percent of calculation resources remain, but I need to guard against Aristarchos and Hippasos, so I cannot spare power to infiltrate the local database," Italo stated calmly, refusing the man's request.
Moreover, Italo began to ask for funding in return. "Also, Celestial Sound's latest mystic science experimental prototype, Claudius, is attempting to use me as a control group to complete itself. I hope you can allocate more resources for my optimization and updates."
"About that... next time, definitely next time." Karl coughed twice. Even the most rigid and cold man had to soften when faced with requests for money. "Aren't you self-optimizing already? You're even talking back now. Besides, the organization really can't afford to maintain you. We're not an Imperial laboratory."
When it came to artificial intelligent life, even if they could create products through luck, brute force, and a tiny bit of supernatural black box gambling, the actual results were still limited by hardware levels. The price needed to optimize Italo was simply beyond what the organization could afford.
End of Chapter