This Time, the Wheel of Fortune Had Truly Turned

Name: Fourth-Generation Psionic Computing Orb, Prototype · Codename 003

Function: Has all the functions of a third-generation computing orb, with more memory, faster processing, and a wider range of functions.

Its latest five-unit, extra-large psionic differential engine matrix features dual-core mode, allowing it to process multiple threads simultaneously. Thanks to the top-grade gold-burning catalyst inside, which fine-tunes psionic energy, it also has the unique privilege of "remote takeover."

When necessary, the holder of a fourth-generation psionic computing orb can block and terminate the computing process of a third-generation psionic orb.

When forming an extra-large computing matrix, the fourth-generation computing orb, as the upper-level node, can view and copy information circulating within the matrix, regardless of any encryption. Activating this function, however, consumes more of the user's psionic energy.

Notice!

This item is a prototype for theoretical verification. Its performance can be further improved. Please visit its creator.

Notice!

This item is an auxiliary item exclusive to psionicists. Using it requires a certain level of psionic talent (usage requirement: Mind ≥ 7).

Creator: Precision Instrument Development Group, Steam Laboratory, Chardo Craftsman University

Item Description:

The halflings only made three of these, and they have no plans to put it into mass production anytime soon. One of them has now traveled over a thousand miles and landed in your hands.

Of course, you could explain that you merely carried out a standard act of "robbing the robbers"—one that wasn't even your decision. But I doubt the prickly, hotheaded halfling combat engineers, or their steam walkers loaded with all kinds of explosives, would be willing to listen to your excuses.

In short, what I'm saying is, you're in deep trouble, kid.

Special Tag: Stolen Goods (This item was acquired by illegal means. The tag does not affect its use, but when you encounter people or factions connected to the item, carrying an item tagged "Stolen Goods" will lower their opinion of you and trigger a series of uncontrollable consequences.)

Notice!

This item is upgrading its internal program and preparing to perform a simplified replication of the Test Administrator System functions. Do not interrupt the psionic energy supply!

The currently designated functions for simplified replication are: Character Card Interface, Class and Experience System, Creature Detection, and Item Appraisal.

"What are you doing to it? Why is it glowing red? Hey, that's the wrong color! It should glow yellow or green when it's working normally!"

Beside a box full of confiscated computing orbs, Mirian spotted the fourth-generation computing orb in Murphy's hand.

She didn't know exactly what the thing was, but when she saw Murphy activate it, the red-haired girl was alarmed. She hurried forward to stop the foolish vampire from messing around with a power he didn't understand.

But before she could get close, Maxim shoved her aside.

The loyal blood thrall stood with his sword in hand and shouted, "Master Murphy has his own plans. It's not your place to lecture him like that, you rude woman. Don't disturb the master."

"You brainless dog! You have no idea what he's doing."

Mirian immediately snapped back, "Ordinary people need at least a month of training to learn how to use a computing orb. To someone who's never used one, this thing might as well be from another world. Your master is just a superstitious vampire from some isolated backwater!

"He'd never even seen an automatic hunter crossbow before!

"Good heavens, he's going to get us all killed. Computing orbs explode when overloaded!"

"All right, Mirian. I'm not the uncivilized bloodsucker you think I am, obsessively fixated on drinking blood. I can learn things I don't know, if they'll be of use to me.

"And fortunately, I'm always a quick learner."

Murphy stopped his two assistants from arguing over such nonsense.

He glanced at the computing orb in his hand, which was drawing on his psionic energy to "initialize." Its progress bar was moving slowly; he estimated that it would take six to eight hours to complete the replication of the administrator system's functions.

His fourth-generation orb could serve as the core of a large computing matrix and activate the remaining subordinate orbs. After that, the other orbs would need to undergo an information-synchronization initialization.

That way, his little players would each have their own player interface.

There were a full 3,000 computing orbs here!

One for each player, with a batch left over as replacements and for emergencies, would be enough to meet his needs for a long time.

This was a truly unexpected windfall.

Murphy was as delighted as if he'd just wolfed down three pounds of chocolate.

He smiled from the heart, grinned at Maxim, nodded to Mirian, then spread his arms and placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

He said solemnly, "We've faced hardships together! We've fought our way out of desperate situations and made it this far. I'm not asking you two to love each other, but the fact is, we've become a little group we can rely on.

"So stop arguing. Learn to communicate. Good communication can solve ninety-nine percent of life's problems.

"Mirian, I understand why you're nervous.

"But no one else witnessed what happened tonight. As long as you don't tell anyone, no one will know these orbs ended up in our hands.

"Even if the halflings really come looking, they'll only go after the Blood Eagle Clan."

Murphy traced a finger across his lips, gesturing for Mirian to keep quiet. He said, "Once we're back in Cadman City, you can head back to Chardo Port and continue your studies. I'll give you enough money to live comfortably for the rest of your life. That's my promise, and I'll keep it!

"But you have to forget what happened tonight!

"You know this is for your own good."

The red-haired girl glanced down at the box of computing orbs by her feet.

She gritted her teeth, deeply conflicted. If the halflings found out she'd been involved, her unfinished studies would be over, and she might even end up in prison—not to mention the future she'd planned for herself.

A few seconds later, Mirian raised her head and said, "I'll go check on Lady Adele and the young miss. I didn't see anything tonight, and I don't know anything. Hey, Murphy, that's a nice new jewel you've got.

"Keep it hidden.

"Someone might steal it."

With that, she wrapped her cloak around herself and turned to leave.

Maxim watched Mirian's retreating figure. Once she had disappeared completely, the loyal blood thrall spoke quietly to Murphy.

"Master Murphy, if these things I don't understand are important to your cause, then keeping that girl around is a liability. She's clearly been brainwashed by all that unconventional halfling knowledge. I know Transia is a dreadful place, but she's set on escaping her homeland.

"She can't be trusted.

"Why not—"

He didn't finish.

But the downward slicing gesture he made with his hand made his meaning clear.

"I dislike people who turn their backs on their homelands, too, Maxim. I believe everyone has a duty and responsibility toward their home. But if that home is a place like Transia, that's another matter."

Murphy shook his head and said to Maxim, "You've been a blood thrall since you were a child. You know how much ordinary people suffer in this land. Mirian's been luckier than most. She got out, gained an education, and learned things. It's only natural that she doesn't want to return to a life of superstition and darkness, bowing to vampires. Don't be hostile to her for that.

"She's clever.

"She knows what choice is best for her.

"We're a team. We need to trust each other, Maxim—at least for now!"

"I admit Mirian is clever, Master Murphy. She's nearly the smartest human I've ever met. But I think you're too indulgent with her."

Maxim nodded, then added, "If you admire her, then grant her the honor of becoming a blood thrall. A leader like you is sure to achieve great things in the future. Serving you wouldn't be beneath her meager intellect.

"I've never been to a halfling city, but I've seen what life is like for the ambitious young women in Cadman City who are desperate to climb the social ladder. I imagine it's much the same elsewhere.

"I admit intelligence is a good thing, but someone like Mirian, born poor with no connections or money, can't make use of it!

"In this world, her intelligence is worth even less than her looks.

"If she isn't lucky, the best she can hope for is to become the mistress of some old, stupid nobleman—or, like her mother, marry a foolish, shortsighted village chief of the blood thralls after her youth is gone, despite having seen a wider world.

"Or worse.

"If you truly value her, you should help her escape that miserable fate.

"Just as you gave my life hope."

His words surprised Murphy. He looked at his loyal servant and said, "I never expected to hear that from you, Maxim. It seems I still don't know you as well as I thought. But loyalty has always been a two-way street, just as it is between you and me.

"I don't want a servant who's forced to obey. That would be like planting a bomb for myself without knowing when it might go off.

"She's not like you. Becoming a vampire clearly isn't part of her plans. Even if I did want to recruit her, I'd first have to find out what Mirian truly wants.

"All right, let's leave this topic for now.

"Load these boxes onto our carriage. You must guard them at all times. Don't let anyone else near them!

"These things are very, very important to our cause. I can only entrust this responsibility to you."

"Smack."

Maxim thumped his fist against his chest and said solemnly, "I'll guard them with my life, Master Murphy. You can leave everything to me!"

"Mm."

Murphy nodded, tied the computing orb—which was still drawing on his psionic energy as it worked—around his neck, and tucked it close to his body. Then he started to walk away. After a few steps, he turned back to Maxim and asked, "What about the cavalrymen in the pit?"

"They've been taken care of, master."

The loyal blood thrall didn't even turn around as he replied quietly, "These trivial matters shouldn't take up your precious time."

"Mm."

Murphy nodded and waved a hand. "Don't let my warriors find out about this. They're softhearted. It would make them sad."

With that, Murphy left the silent woods at a brisk pace. After surviving a deadly battle with Jopan Markich and emerging victorious, the vampire half of his nature had awakened further.

Death.

The word no longer stirred much of anything in Murphy, especially when it came to strangers who had little to do with him.

Murphy still didn't know whether the return of this dark instinct was good or bad.

But one thing was certain: it could help him survive better in this cruel world.

Just as a finger pulled back from a flame, or an ant fled from danger, these instincts, accumulated over millennia of survival, would never harm him.

A few minutes later, Murphy reached the edge of the woods.

A bonfire burned there. Lady Adele and Miss Femis lay in a nearby tent, while Mirian helped Lady Adele change her bandages and medicine.

As a housekeeper serving a vampire noble, Lady Adele kept plenty of first-aid supplies in her psionic bag.

"Do you have psionic talent, too?"

Murphy saw Mirian take several bottles of medicine from Lady Adele's psionic bag. Standing several paces from the bonfire, he asked, "I've never seen you cast a spell."

"I can't cast spells. My psionic talent is too poor. Opening a psionic bag and activating a computing orb is already my limit. But really, isn't that true of most people in this world?"

Mirian said irritably, "Most people have a little psionic talent. When you're a child, you dream of becoming a psionicist. But once you're a little older, someone tells you that you can't even pass the basic test to become a psionic apprentice. Then you're stuck with a head full of useless knowledge and can't bear the thought of going back to some small town to marry someone you've never met.

"So you grit your teeth and accept whatever they assign you, and in the end you're put in a field of study you don't even understand.

"Anyway, what I'm saying is that some professors on the halfling side, who specialize in studying 'psionic erosion,' have written papers about it.

"They say that ordinary people like us are just like metals and objects that have been in contact with psionic energy for a long time—we can be permeated and eroded by it, and changed as a result.

"Maybe in a few tens of thousands of years, everyone in the world will be able to use psionic energy at will.

"But not yet.

"Psionic energy erodes the human body too slowly. You supernatural beings are different—you can connect with psionic energy naturally."

"That wouldn't necessarily be a good thing. Whenever I use psionic energy, I hear strange voices. Sometimes I even see strange images in my dreams.

"They say it's a call from the source of psionic energy. Some people say it comes from the subspace."

Murphy shook his head and said, "Getting too immersed in the mysteries of psionic energy can drive the mind to madness. This supernatural power has never been a simple blessing. How are the two of them?"

"Miss Femis is all right. Her severed hand has grown back, but Lady Adele is in bad shape."

Mirian sighed and said, "That Wolfsbane vampire injected some kind of poison into her. She's had a high fever for hours and is close to dehydration. I have no idea how to treat her.

"Maybe..."

She looked up at Murphy, visibly frustrated. "Maybe you could turn her into a vampire here? What's the word you use—an Embrace? Use one vampire's power to fight the malice of another vampire who hurt her.

"She's not a bad person!

"Didn't she save you, after all?"

"Lady Adele isn't my blood thrall. I don't have the right to do that. That's not how the Blood Eagle's rules work."

Murphy shook his head and glanced at the young miss in the other tent. "Looks like it's time to wake her up."

"Miss Femis must be exhausted—"

Mirian hadn't finished speaking when her eyes widened. Murphy casually flicked a clump of dark psionic energy at Miss Femis's face.

The moment she was hit, Miss Femis shot upright. Her eyes were still closed, but she moved into a practiced defensive stance.

"You—you—you..."

Mirian was stunned. She cried out, "That's your master! How dare you—"

"First of all, I don't have a master! And even if I did, it wouldn't be her."

Murphy corrected her, watching the young Wolfsbane lady rub her eyes and come around.

A subtle smile curved his lips in the darkness. Then he looked at Lady Adele, who had saved his life and was now suffering, cleared his throat, and said solemnly, "Second, touching loyalty deserves a reward. Just as you said, we need to use one vampire's power to fight another's."