Chapter 124 - 42: [Artificial Undead and Divine Era Technology]

Chapter 124: Chapter 42: [Artificial Undead and Divine Era Technology]

"What Dwarf... I was a meter eighty-two in shoes when I was alive!" Samael grumbled. "And the soles were three centimeters at most!

"The technology in my homeland was just highly developed; we didn’t have anything like Spiritual Energy."

Yaki leaned over the other side of the blueprint, peering closely at the engraved groove patterns on the workpiece’s surface.

"Incised Spiritual Energy Circuits," he murmured.

"I’m not sure what the principles behind this Spiritual Energy are. My homeland didn’t have Spiritual Energy technology, so I only came across these blueprints by chance. Can you read them, my friend Yaki?" Samael asked.

"It looks like some kind of..." Yaki stared at the two ring-like structures on the blueprint. "Dual-loop feedback control."

"Huh?!" Samael jolted, nearly dropping his drafting pen. "You know about dual-loop feedback control?"

This was a term from his university courses in *Automatic Control Theory* and *Automation* when he was alive. Why would Yaki, a native Demon Race member of this alternate world, know it?!

He abruptly grabbed Yaki’s shoulders.

"My friend Yaki, do you know about PID control?" he asked, half-panicked and half-thrilled. "What about transfer functions and frequency-domain analysis?"

"No... I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about." Yaki froze, startled by the cold grip of the Nether Copper hands.

Disappointed, Samael released his Nether Copper Hand Armor.

He had thought this world also possessed a formidable level of technological advancement, enough to support a powerful civilization. But now, it seemed everything remained a mystery.

"Didn’t I tell you before? My former boss got his head chopped off by adventurers halfway through building his Underground City," Yaki said, spreading his hands. "He once excavated a set of incomprehensible Spiritual Power Machinery blueprints from the Divine Era Ruins. After barely deciphering a portion of them, he demanded we manufacture that Spiritual Power Machinery and design the Underground City’s architecture around its mechanical structure. It included Spiritual Energy Circuits just like this, and the annotated note for this circuit was ’dual-loop feedback control.’"

"What was... the thing on that blueprint meant to be used for?" Samael realized the voice from his vocal emitter was trembling slightly.

"I don’t know," Yaki said, shaking his head. "We never managed to finish it. The object on those blueprints was terrifyingly massive—roughly the size of a medium Underground City. In fact, when my former boss was killed by adventurers, less than a third of it had been constructed.

"The entire architectural structure of the Underground City served as its casing. The bridges had to follow its pipelines, and the forging and metallurgy districts were located right at its exhaust vents. Yet, there was still so much excess waste heat that it boiled half a river. The waste disposal outlet was connected to a massive lake inhabited by giant beasts. By the time we were halfway through construction, that lake had already mutated into a highly toxic, putrid swamp.

"Because its volume and scale were so colossal, manufacturing it required not only the skills of a Casting Technician but also the knowledge of an architect. That was exactly why my former boss was willing to recruit me—both of these disciplines are highly complex and profound, and there aren’t too many in the Demon Race who hold both titles."

Yaki raised a hand and tapped his chest, signaling just how important his dual expertise had been to his former boss.

"The number of parts required for that massive piece of Spiritual Power Machinery was also frighteningly high," Yaki continued. "Even with me and over thirty other Demon Race Casting Technicians and architects working day and night without rest, we still couldn’t finish it.

"Before the other Demon Race Casting Technicians and I could successfully manufacture the complete structure detailed on those blueprints, the adventurers broke in. They destroyed everything, including the unfinished machine."

Samael sat in stunned silence.

Was this some ultimate weapon, like a Giant Divine Soldier or an EVA? A giant piece of Spiritual Power Machinery capable of integrating with an entire Underground City? Did that mean the Underground City would literally stand up?

If Yaki’s former boss hadn’t been killed by adventurers, would he currently be driving a Gundam or a Knight Titan to crush the entire continent?

Just how many secrets did this world hold?

He shook his helmet, tossing these superfluous thoughts out of his head for now.

"All great endeavors begin with small steps forward." He placed a proportionally scaled-down blueprint of a Witch Gold Spiritual Energy structural workpiece on the table, sliding it in front of Talia and Yaki.

The blueprint was complex and delicate. Drawing upon Samael’s foundation in engineering graphics, it was drafted with clear, rigorous precision.

"Knowledge is power, and technology is controllable power. I’ll leave it in your hands," he said, offering a slight nod of acknowledgment.

Talia gripped the Witch Gold Long Curved Saber and thrust it into the roaring hearth of pale Demon Fire, gradually calcining it until it glowed red-hot. Tightening her grip on the iron hammer, the smooth, muscular lines of her arm tensed as she struck off a small shard of Witch Gold.

Amidst the CLANG CLANG CLANG of the hammer strikes, the shattered piece of Witch Gold was gradually molded into shape.

Yaki took the small, fully shaped piece of Witch Gold. Donning a tiny magnifying loupe commonly used by jewelers and goldsmiths, he took up a fine engraving chisel. With meticulous, tap-by-tap precision, he carved the corresponding Spiritual Energy Circuits into the metal.

"Sometimes, I also want to learn a bit of forging," Samael remarked as he drew the second workpiece blueprint, watching the way Talia swung her hammer to shape the metal.

"I can teach you," Talia smiled. "We’ll have plenty of time in the future. I can teach you slowly."

"Ah, why did I willingly stay here to interrupt you two?" Yaki wailed. "Oh right, it’s because my curiosity is too strong. I just *had* to see the structure of this Spiritual Power Machinery, and now I’ve landed myself in this miserable plight! I’m like a fly attracted to honey, trapped under a glass cup on a couple’s table, forced to watch this terrifying, incomprehensible spectacle without any way to escape anytime soon."

"By the way, Yaki, do you know who made this little doll hanging on my chest?" Samael asked.

"That is the fifth time you’ve ’accidentally’ brought it up today!" Yaki howled.