Activation

The carriage continued onward. Ahead, a tall, sturdy castle loomed in the distance, its familiar banner flying high above it.

As they approached, a rider broke away from the group and headed for the castle first, apparently intending to notify those inside to come out and receive them.

Before long, led by the rider from earlier, a squad of Guard Army soldiers emerged from the castle and came to meet the convoy laden with wounded men.

"Lord Gralu!"

A dignified man in black armor rode forward from the front. His eyes were deep, his build sturdy, and a red cloak hung from his back, giving off an overwhelming air of power.

Upon seeing him, the leader beside Arthur hurried forward and spoke in a low, respectful voice.

Gralu nodded. Looking at the leader and the line of carriages behind him, he frowned slightly. "So many people. It seems the fighting on the front lines is quite intense."

After saying this, he conducted a brief inspection before directly ordering the group to enter the castle.

The long convoy moved forward slowly, with warriors guarding them on all sides and gradually escorting them inside.

Throughout the process, Arthur's consciousness remained in a dazed state.

This body had already sustained severe injuries on the battlefield and lost too much blood. Although it had received some treatment, the jolting journey naturally did not feel pleasant. As time passed, Arthur's consciousness sank into lethargy.

Yet as the castle ahead drew closer, he barely roused himself and forced his eyes open, wanting to observe this familiar yet unfamiliar environment.

When someone accustomed to one environment was suddenly placed in another, a sense of unease naturally arose.

Although he was a transmigrator, Arthur had not been a warrior in his original life. Having come here, he had actually remained tense the entire time, afraid that some danger might appear along the way.

But upon arriving here, though it was not his original home, the familiarity in his memories and the safety of his surroundings eased his heart. His tense mind abruptly relaxed, and his consciousness fell into darkness in an instant.

No one knew how much time had passed before Arthur opened his eyes, his consciousness awakening from a deep sleep.

Before him was a well-furnished room, with animal hides spread across the floor.

Arthur lay quietly on a wooden bed. The bloodstained clothes he had worn had already been changed, replaced by a loose white robe. The blood on his body had been completely cleaned away, and his wounds had been carefully bandaged.

If not for the pain still coming from several wounds on his body, Arthur might have believed he had returned to a peaceful world.

"Mm."

He struggled out of bed. The violent movement tugged at his wounds, making him let out a muffled groan.

The wound on his right leg was severe, making it nearly impossible for him to stand steadily.

He looked up, swiftly swept his gaze around the room, and noticed something that appeared to be a crutch beside the bed. He immediately took it to support himself.

After taking a few tentative steps, although his entire body still ached faintly, Arthur had begun to adapt and no longer found it as unbearable as before.

Before the wooden bed stood a somewhat cloudy mirror. Arthur walked over and saw what he looked like now.

He was very handsome. Though he was only thirteen, his refined features had already begun to show. Once grown, he would undoubtedly be a peerless beauty.

He wore a white robe, with bandages around the wounds on his left hand and thigh. His long black hair fell loosely around him, lending him a distinctive air.

But what caught Arthur's attention most were his somewhat pointed ears, which left him momentarily stunned.

Bang! Bang!

At that moment, a series of violent knocks suddenly sounded from outside, as though someone was pounding fiercely on the door.

Perhaps seeing that Arthur did not respond, the person outside directly pushed open the door and walked in.

"Arthur, you're awake?" A voice filled with surprise and delight suddenly rang out as it saw Arthur standing there with a crutch in hand.

It was a youth dressed in a red robe, around sixteen or seventeen years old. His right hand still rested on the door, while his left held a large silver bowl that steamed continuously.

Seeing him like this, Arthur froze for a moment before recalling who the youth was.

Count Polia's second son, seventeen-year-old Edward, and one of the few friends in Arthur's memories.

"Arthur, how are you feeling?" Seeing Arthur struggle to stand, Edward glanced at him with concern and could not help asking.

"I think I'm doing quite well." Arthur took a deep breath, gripping the crutch with difficulty in his right hand to support himself as he answered with a gentle smile.

Seeing his smile, Edward suppressed his earlier worry, and a smile appeared on his own face as well. "It's good that you're all right. Being able to return from the battlefield this time means you were quite lucky."

"What happened?" Arthur looked at Edward in confusion.

"News just came from the front lines. Two viscounts leading troops to reinforce the front were attacked by Orcs in the wilds. Their entire armies, along with the two viscounts themselves, were wiped out."

"The troops at the front have also suffered heavy losses. There are still no signs of the war ending anytime soon. It looks like it will continue for a long while."

Edward stepped forward, placing the steaming Silver Bowl on the table as he quickly explained to Arthur.

"All right, don't just stand there. Come and see what good thing I brought you."

Before Arthur could process the news, Edward spoke mysteriously and pointed at the large silver bowl on the table.

Arthur was somewhat puzzled and instinctively followed his gaze toward the silver bowl on the table.

Inside the large silver bowl was silvery soup, looking exceptionally pure without the slightest trace of cloudiness. Three Silver Fish swam through the soup, appearing almost as though they were still alive.

Billowing steam rose from the bowl, carrying an intensely rich meaty aroma that made Arthur's throat move slightly as he swallowed involuntarily.

"This is Silver Coast Thousand Fish. It is extremely beneficial for healing injuries. I only happened to get hold of these three, but they should help you recover sooner."

Edward patted Arthur's shoulder and smiled, looking rather pleased with himself.

"Thank you." Arthur thanked him directly, following the habits in his memories.

Edward nodded. "I still have some matters to attend to, so I'll be leaving first. Arthur, just rest here."

After saying that to Arthur, he hurried away.

Once Edward had left, Arthur made his way to the door with difficulty, closed it, and only then walked over to the wooden table.

Inside the Silver Bowl, the three Silver Fish swam and played as though still alive, chasing one another through the large bowl in a rather eerie manner.

And the silvery soup gave off a rich aroma of meat, yet it was as clear as ordinary purified water.

The sight suddenly stirred a desire to study it within Arthur.

"What a shame the Chip is gone. Otherwise, I could have properly examined its exact components."

Sitting beside the table, Arthur rubbed his forehead with a headache as he looked at the Silver Fish before him.

He reached out, picked up the large silver bowl before him, brought it to his lips, and drank.

The clear silvery soup was sweet and delicious, carrying a savory meaty flavor that made Arthur unable to stop himself from draining it in one go.

The three fish that had been constantly swimming about seemed to sense their fate. They continued swimming frantically, but in the end, they entered Arthur's mouth along with the soup in the bowl.

Arthur quietly set the now-empty silver bowl on the wooden table, and then his expression abruptly changed.

An incredibly nauseating sensation suddenly rose from within his body, accompanied by an intensely scorching feeling that spread through him bit by bit.

In that instant, Arthur felt as though he had been immersed in boiling water. The skin across his body began to redden, undergoing some unusual transformation.

When it finally ended, Arthur's body was soaked in sweat. Large patches of reddened skin throbbed with searing pain, while the strange sensation inside him made him feel extremely uncomfortable, as though some unknown substance were rampaging through his body.

"Large quantities of unidentified active matter detected within the body. Activate Chip analysis?"

A mechanical, rigid voice suddenly sounded in Arthur's mind.

"This..." Arthur's pupils abruptly contracted, disbelief flashing through his eyes. "What is going on? I clearly transmigrated. My original body was destroyed, so why can I still hear the Chip's notification?"

"No, that's not right. I remember the Fourth Generation Ultimate Chip was said to be capable of being implanted into one's consciousness. Could something have happened during that transmigration, causing the Chip to cross over alongside my soul? Or is my soul itself unusual, allowing me to transmigrate twice in succession and even bring along the Chip linked to my consciousness?"

Feeling the message in his mind and confirming that it was not an illusion, countless thoughts and speculations arose within Arthur in an instant.

He had not experienced transmigration only once, but twice.

At first, Arthur had merely been an ordinary person. After dying in an accident, he discovered that he had been reborn in another world.

It was a world of highly advanced technology, where humanity had accumulated enough strength to conquer the environment of space and establish colonies across one star after another.

In that world, relying on the self-discipline of an adult and the innate talent granted by the powerful soul of a transmigrator, Arthur became a biological scientist. He ultimately died in an accident and arrived in this world.

At that moment, the mechanical voice continued echoing in his mind, gradually breaking through Arthur's thoughts.

He came back to his senses and gave the voice in his mind an order. "Activate!"

"Ding!"

Following Arthur's command, a crisp sound echoed in his mind, and the world before his eyes began to change.

Streaks of green light appeared before him, and the entire world seemed to fall silent in an instant. Everything, whether matter or sound, was continuously analyzed into streams of information in Arthur's eyes.

This continued for some time, until the mechanical voice sounded in his mind again.

"Ding! Chip reboot complete. Beginning internal examination!"