A Slight Ripple of Fate

In Blood Port, a merchant had a streak of bad luck today; while walking through an alley, a pole fell and struck him on the head.

In a certain opulent mansion, a duke stared blankly at the red wine simmering in a pot, having completely forgotten about his guests.

On a battlefield in the west of the Empire, a general, in a fit of rage, threw his weapon straight up into the sky.

In Gem Bay within the Storm Ocean, that king of pirates was inexplicably playing with water in his bathtub for the entire day.

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The weather was clear today, and nothing happened.

Yet, somewhere beyond this peaceful world, inside a magnificent palace, a heavy and exquisite long table sat in the center.

On both sides of the long table were high-backed chairs, where several dark silhouettes sat, heads bowed toward the tabletop as if they were asleep.

At the very head of the long table stood a massive throne.

Gold and gemstones covered this throne, and the ancient figure sitting upon it slowly opened his eyes.

He stared blankly at one side of the long table.

A dark silhouette sat there, and the flickering candlelight illuminated his face.

Curly brown hair, clothes covered in mud, and a gruesome hole in his chest.

It was Theus, who had just died.

The person on the throne remained dazed for a moment, then his face suddenly twitched, and his entire being became animated, as if something were slowly entering this body.

The next moment, a voice filled with shock came from above.

"Dead? I died again? Just like that, killed for no reason!?"

"Damn it, why did he just go ahead and kill me—that makes no sense!? I displayed such mechanical talent; he should have at least tortured the knowledge out of me before acting, right? Was he not curious at all?"

The figure on the throne cursed and raised his head, looking at Theus, who sat motionless like a doll. The dead youth looked up and met his gaze, his eyes hollow.

"I remember that strange priest once said I was a lackey of an evil god?"

"Hmm... that should be a common tactic of the Church, to label others as followers of an evil god before attacking."

"Wait, the Church? Could it be that the Church is hindering technological development, so they must kill anyone capable of improving machinery? That doesn't make sense; that priest had many metal limbs himself, he should understand the importance of mechanical technology even more... something is wrong."

He frowned.

The priest who had suddenly appeared was full of mysteries; this was the first time he had encountered such a strange person since he transmigrated.

"What a pity, another shell gone. I can only initiate a new Descent."

He shifted his gaze, and the youth Theus slowly lowered his head, looking at the tabletop with no life, like a marionette.

And there were already four such lifeless puppets sitting on both sides of the long table. They looked different and wore different clothes, but the only thing they had in common was...

They were all "Theus."

Theus was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he lived on Blue Star. He fainted during a late-night overtime shift and woke up in this strange, magnificent palace, sitting high upon the throne.

This palace was decorated beautifully and filled with rare treasures, but unfortunately, Theus could not touch them—for some reason, he was firmly nailed to this throne and could not move even half a step.

Fortunately, he—Theus on the throne—did not seem to have any need for food, drink, or excretion.

But he was not just sitting here waiting for death. When he shifted his gaze toward the silhouettes on the long chairs, those puppet-like shadows would look up to meet his eyes, and then Theus could choose to [Descent].

The so-called Descent was like transmigrating into a new body to begin a new life. Theus scanned the chairs one by one; there were sturdy middle-aged men, old men with white hair, priests in white robes, and the young man who had just opened his heart.

Everyone was different, and every new shell that appeared was random.

Theus did not know what the point of these Descents was, but he tried them simply because he had no other choice.

But this time, he had some different thoughts.

"That Church priest from just now was truly too strange."

"He completed his strike in an instant, piercing my chest directly. I couldn't even see his movements clearly. Is this really something that can be achieved by machinery installed on a human body?"

Theus knew a little about mechanical prosthetics from his previous life on Blue Star, and there was absolutely no way they could reach that kind of speed and power. Yet, the mechanical structure on that priest was so crude; Theus still remembered those large gears.

"Priest... Church... this is getting interesting..."

"The Church possesses Transcendence. If I can make contact with it, perhaps I can break the shackles of this throne."

"No, perhaps it's not just the Church."

A look of annoyance appeared on Theus's face.

"What a pity, it was so hard to finally descend into the capital of the Empire this time. I don't know how long it will be before the next shell can get near a factory again."

This world had only just begun to sprout the seeds of industry, and a few scattered factories had just been established—this was already the most developed place.

As for most regions, they had barely bid farewell to the dark Middle Ages. In the places where Theus had descended a few times before, there were even remnants of the serfdom system.

Looking at it this way, workers with an average life expectancy of thirty were actually a pretty good background.

"So, what should I do next..."

He looked at the shells along the long table with some confusion. He had been in this world for some time now. At the beginning, he was full of enthusiasm for exploration, but now, he just wanted to go home.

There was no help for it; the randomly appearing shells seemed truly random—which meant there was a 99.9% chance they would be miserable people at the bottom of society.

At the bottom, no matter the era, it seemed one could only silently endure suffering. Theus had the scientific and technological knowledge of modern society in his head, but every time he tried to cash in on it, he only ended up with a shell that had lost its life.

This world did not seem to leave a path for those at the bottom.

Theus was almost completely disappointed in it, and Transcendence was his final hope for this world.

"Contact Transcendence, and if possible, find a way home." Theus's gaze became firm. "At least I must find a way to leave this Throne Event; I cannot be trapped here forever."

This world had neither mobile phones nor the internet; he still missed Blue Star.

"Prepare to begin the Descent."

He took a deep breath, made up his mind, and turned to look at an empty high-backed chair.

Mist rolled uncertainly, and a slight friction sound came from within. Then, a hand reached out from the mist and pressed onto the tabletop.

The mist quickly receded, and a thin, handsome young man appeared on the chair, smiling elegantly as he met the gaze of Theus on the throne.

Theus's eyes lit up; this was his new shell.

"Judging by the clothing, there's a high probability he's a noble. Finally, some good luck!"

"Soap, glass, gunpowder, building factories, letting the torrent of steel steamroll this fantasy world—I can't wait!"

"Let's witness the brilliance of science and truth!"

The next instant, Theus's vision went black.

A new shell, a new Descent, everything started over.

Theus departed, and the Throne Room fell silent.

I do not know how much time passed, but the discarded shell—the youth Theus with a large hole in his chest—suddenly twitched his lifeless, puppet-like eyes.