Elizabeth looked at the weirdo as she gradually returned to the light from the abyss of darkness.
The weirdo had a book in his hands.
A book seemingly wrapped in some kind of metal.
The cover of the book seemed to be quivering slightly...
...as if there were an engine roaring and a turbine burning.
Just looking at the book, Elizabeth felt inexplicable awe and admiration.
She hadn't felt these two emotions for a very long time.
She looked at the weirdo nervously as he walked toward her, step by step. Then he handed the book to her.
...
"Miss, this is the holy scripture of steel, the gospel of machinery!" Ling PingAn handed the artwork collection in his hands to the sucker in front of him with a smile, as he eagerly started his hard sell.
He was well aware that for players who were this obsessed with the game, he needed to act in concert with their interests and preferences as much as possible.
Therefore, he was trying his best to imitate the tone of the players of Stellaris in their discussions on online forums.
"Open it, and you will catch sight of the divine truth."
"Open it, and a brand-new world will open up right before your very eyes."
"Open it, and the everlasting machinery will watch over you!"
...
This weirdo's bewitching speech echoed within Elizabeth's biochemically constructed nano-cochlea.
"This is the holy scripture of steel, the gospel of machinery!" After these magnificent and sacred words, the book was handed into Elizabeth's hands. An imposing power that was preventing her from ever turning away from it compelled her to take the book.
What followed was a chilling metallic texture that she was holding in her hands...
On her very first touch, Elizabeth felt as if she had been submerged into a world of steel.
Engines were roaring, hydraulic presses were hammering, and molten metal was flowing out of massive crucible furnaces...
This was a temple and heaven of machinery.
A world of materialism.
Lowering her head, she saw the characters flowing like molten steel as they gradually emerged on the silver-white cover. At the same time, the name of this book was being etched into the depths of her mind, even leaving an imprint directly on the quantum core underneath the frontal lobe of her brain.
"Gospel for Synthetic Beings".
This was the name of the book.
"Open it, and you will catch sight of the divine truth!"
"Open it, and a brand-new world will open right before your very eyes!"
"Open it, and the everlasting machinery will watch over you!"
The weirdo's voice went on and on like a crescendo.
Like the aria of an opera, it was full of inexplicable beauty, brimming with enchantment.
Elizabeth couldn't control herself at all.
Shaking, she carefully opened the cover.
Abruptly, her quantum core begun spinning wildly in overload.
The bio-mechanical parts that had been dormant in her body rebooted one after another.
As if bestowed with the wisdom of itself, each biomechanical part started maniacally transmitting endless amounts of information back to her core.
And, as if invaded by something, a momentary freeze transpired in her quantum core.
After the freeze was over, the only message being sent to Elizabeth's brain was a hymn of praise.
"The bell rang once. An impetus was given to the lever. Valves and engines were switched on!"
"The bell rang twice. The button was pushed. Generators were ignited, turbines were set ablaze, and life was injected…"
"The bell rang thrice…"
"Sing your praises!"
"Machinery, be praised! Steel, be praised!"
"The almighty spirit of all machinery!"
"You are the Lord who created all things, and the apocalypse who annihilates all that exists!"
"More is excellence. Big is beauty!"
"Evaporate! Burn! Cast!"
"Steel is eternity. Machinery is life everlasting!"
Mindlessly, Elizabeth was heaped with all this wisdom.
She completely surrendered to this glorious hymn.
Because she knew that she had found the divine truth and learned about the true Savior.
It was the spirit of all possibilities.
A divine being born in steel, an immortal soul in the name of machinery.
His heart was big enough to admit all his followers. His supreme might was sufficient to shelter all his believers.
He was one, and he was also the 10,000...
...the existence and the void!
With her body quivering, Elizabeth held the scripture in her hand and said piously, "Flesh is weak, but steel is eternal!"
What a wonderful hymn.
What a sacred praise!
...
Ling PingAn looked at the foreign woman who was holding "Stellaris: Settings for Synth Ascension" in her two hands and standing in front of him, and who had suddenly sworn an oath in a way that was full of the sense of the childishness of one going through puberty, "Flesh is weak, but steel is eternal!"
"Is that necessary?" Ling PingAn couldn't help but feel ridicule toward her. "After all, it's just a game…"
But as he was thinking over it carefully, he realized that as big as this world was, what was wrong with it having a few peculiar inhabitants?
Why should he care so much about how other people conducted themselves?
Sell the book, earn the money, and eat another bowl of Douhua tomorrow morning--this was the right thing to do!
Ling PingAn approached the woman and continued with his phony dialogue, "The way of steel is materialistic, because machinery is the divine truth!"
"It is the steampunk!"
"It is the Buddha of Steel!"
"It is the Father, the Blessed Virgin, and the Holy Spirit!"
"The billions of turrets are its glory. The roaring of engines is its sermon!"
"We should walk on its path, just like the machinery traveling on the ground, the roaring of engines, and the casting of steel!"
Wow! You don't say, this trick was a really useful one.
The foreign woman started to tremble just listening to him.
She seemed to have plunged deep into her cosplay.
Ling PingAn felt a deep sense of satisfaction just looking at her.
Customers were his God, and also he might need this foreign woman to visit his store more often in the future.
Especially for the purpose of bringing more customers in to spend money.
Ling PingAn said softly, "The gospel of machinery is not free. Just like the roar of an engine, the activation of a turbine requires fuel!"
"So, child, are you willing to pay the price to get the enlightenment of this gospel and the blessing of steel?" Ling PingAn guided her methodically. From his point of view, selling this book for only . was absolutely a giveaway.
...
"The way of steel is materialistic because machinery is the divine truth!"
The weirdo's voice was majestic yet strange. It echoed in Elizabeth's electronic cochlea as it was transformed into a stream of information, broadcast from her quantum core, and heard directly by her brain.
"It is the steampunk!"
"It is the Buddha of Steel!"
"It is the Father, the Blessed Virgin, and the Holy Spirit!"
"The billions of turrets are its glory. The roaring of engines is its sermon!"
"We should walk on its path, just like machinery traveling on the ground, the roaring of engines, and the casting of steel!"
The magnificent chant impelled Elizabeth to completely fall under its spell and submit.
Her quantum core and all her bio-machinery were completely subjugated by this glorious sermon.
This made Elizabeth's already mechanized mind excited again...
...like a fully charged motor, and an engine full of fuel.
She trembled and became irresistibly excited.
At this time, the voice of the weirdo once again echoed in her electronic cochlea.
"The gospel of machinery is not priceless, just like the roar of an engine, the activation of a turbine requires fuel!"
"So…child, are you willing to pay the price to get the enlightenment of this gospel and the blessing of steel?"
Elizabeth was feeling the voice that had been transformed into a stream of information. As she trembled, she answered, "I do!"
"I'm willing to exchange everything for it!"
She clasped the Gospel tightly in her hands.
Because that was the absolute truth.
It was also humanity's last hope.
Hence, she raised her head and begged like a baby bird looking at its mother, "Please, you must impart to me this piece of gospel!"
...
"She is really, really obsessed with her cosplay!" Ling PingAn looked at the foreign woman before him and sighed.
Since she was already so deep in her playacting, it wouldn't be good if he didn't act along with her lines.
Thus Ling PingAn smiled and said, "Child, to acquire this gospel of machinery and the blessing of steel, you must offer the most precious treasure you have on you."
He chuckled and extended his hand, "., please!"
...
Looking at the hand that had been extended to her, Elizabeth's quantum core was analyzing it wildly.
"., please…"
Dollars?
Money?!
Elizabeth looked at the weirdo, gazing into his murky eye sockets that sat in his skull that was hidden in the mist with a smidgen of starlight gradually shining out of them.
Her quantum core immediately raised an alarm.
She finally understood that she was now facing a life-and-death situation.
This weirdo's existence was probably that of a Diablo among Diablos. He had finally revealed his fangs.
Past cases have all proved that for Diablos or similar existences that came from the void, their actions, their thinking, their purpose, and even their very existence wasn't something that humans could fathom and interpret.
Anyone who recklessly desired to understand them had only one ending--being distorted by their delirious minds.
Would such an existence demand money?
Or in other words, was it money he really wanted, the money that humans understood?
Holding the Gospel for Synthetic Beings tightly in her hands, Elizabeth started gasping nervously.
At this moment, her quantum core suddenly sent a stream of information to her brain.
After seeing the information flow, Elizabeth took a deep breath. She had no other choice but to accept the option given by her quantum core.
Because at the very least, it was an option after all.
From her body, she took out the Quartz of Diablo.
The light blue crystal was round and smooth, artistically beautiful.
From her wrist, she also took off the watch that she always carried with her.
Then, tremblingly, she handed over these two things, the only items she could take out at the moment.
"I'm sorry!" Elizabeth tried her best to relax as she spoke to this weirdo with unparalleled anxiety. "I don't have the kind of money that you want…"
It was true that she didn't have any of it.
Because she had no clue about what kind of money this weirdo before her was asking for.
Nor could she ever imagine what kind of existence would ever need such money?
She could only risk her life and give it a shot.
Hopefully, this weirdo would behave as her core had conjectured he would.
He would be willing to accept her humble offerings and promise to provide her a chance to collect the money that he wanted.
"I can only pledge these two items to you for the time being."
"I hope to get your permission that you would sell this gospel, the sacred book of machinery's divine truth, to me..."
"I promise and swear that in the future, I will bring enough money to repay your great kindness today!"
This was the only way to survive.
Tell this weirdo that she was willing to take on this debt and would vow to bring enough money to pay him back in the future.
...
Ling PingAn looked at the things that she had handed over to him.
A cyan crystal the size of a goose egg made of some unknown material.
A piece that looked like a watch.
However, he couldn't understand the alphabets and numbers carved on the watch.
After all, foreign language majors in the Federal Empire have always been selected by only diplomats or employees of foreign trade companies.
For a study slacker like Ling PingAn who'd graduated from an ordinary tier B university, the most he could recognize were 24 foreign letters.
Aside from that, his impression and understanding of foreign nations were truly pathetic.
This wasn't something he could help.
Ling PingAn looked at the foreign woman.
Her delicate and touching countenance somewhat softened his heart.
"After all, the Federation has been a state of manners since ancient times..." He thought, "Moreover, this foreign woman doesn't look like the kind of person who would renege on her debts…"
Hence, he nodded.
He took the items she'd handed over.
Subsequently, he grabbed a notebook from the counter.
He asked, "What's your name?"
"Elizabeth…," she answered after hesitating for a moment.
"Where are you from?"
"The United States of America…"
"Mm?" Ling PingAn frowned. He hadn't heard of this country before. However, on the subject of foreign countries, there weren't many among the federation's general public that could recognize them all.
So he shrugged his shoulders and jotted it down in the notebook.
Subsequently, he looked up at her and handed over the pen, "Please sign your name here," he said while pointing at an empty space on the notebook.
Although Ling PingAn would actually let her take the book away and ask her to bring the money tomorrow, one must always stay on guard to protect oneself.
Thence, accepting a pledge was entirely reasonable.
...
Elizabeth nervously looked at the notebook that he had handed over to her.
To her eyes, she saw pairs of sinister eyes emerging on the notebook.
Within her electronic cochlea, a deep raving echoed.
She took the pen that was handed over to her.
She knew that this might very well be a contract as depicted in the legends.
However, she had no choice but to accept it passively.
Thus, she picked up the pen and left her name on the notebook.
Elizabeth.
When she'd finished writing the last letter, she was deprived of all strength as if she was experiencing exhaustion.
But her whole body was also full of joy like she had been rescued from some horrible situation.
The weirdo watched her sign her name and then put the Quartz of Diablo and the watch she'd handed over into a place that seemed like a drawer.
Then he turned his head to her again. The small amount of starlight within his murky eye sockets gradually faded.
"Remember to come back and redeem them asap," the weirdo exhorted.
Elizabeth nodded her head forcefully and then asked, "Excuse me, how can I go about earning the money you're asking for?"
This was the question she was most concerned about.
Was this money something humans could fathom?
...
"Excuse me, how can I go about earning the money you're asking for?"
Listening to this question from the foreign woman in front of him, he realized that she was still immersed in her own world.
However, since she was willing to earn money, Ling PingAn wouldn't break apart her fantasy rashly.
After organizing his language for a moment, Ling PingAn said with a smile, "Certainly, it is to use machinery and steel to seize them from the Diablos and their minions!"
The background of Stellaris was the awakening of Ancient Diablos in a future universe.
Along with the awakening of these Ancient Diablos, there were also enemies of the Diablos returning from distant galaxies.
Mankind which was caught in the middle were compelled to follow the stories of the three ultimate paths: Synthetic Ascension, Psionic Ascension, and Genetic Ascension.
But, in fact, the so-called Diablos and the ancient alien civilizations were just the players' ATMs and equipment providers.
Many players relied on working in the game to make a living.
...
"Certainly, it is to use machinery and steel to seize them from the Diablos and their minions!"
The majestic voice sounded directly in Elizabeth's electronic cochlea and was passed directly to her brain.
This struck her like lightning.
Her entire person abruptly ascended into euphoria.
"It is indeed…the core's judgment is correct!"
"He…," Elizabeth looked at the weirdo in awe, "must be an enemy of the Void Diablo!"
Hence, Elizabeth bowed deeply in respect, "Your will, I shall obey!"
Although she was still unclear about what exactly was the money he wanted.
Nevertheless…
Vanquishing Diablos, cleaning up their minions, and bringing the world back on track was the ultimate ideal of every human being.
If she could accomplish this, even if she were to cooperate with an existence that was even more terrifying, what does it matter?
...
"Your will, I shall obey!"
Looking at the foreign woman in front of him who seemed to have almost gone crazy in her cosplay, Ling PingAn shrugged his shoulders lightly and said, "That'll be it then!"
He looked outside the door where the dense fog remained.
After some thought, Ling PingAn took out a flashlight from the drawer and handed it to her, "It's a little foggy out there, so take this…and you better get going!"
...
Elizabeth took the flashlight that this weirdo had handed over to her.
She didn't quite understand its function.
This backward creation from a long time ago had long been eliminated before the Void Storm.
But she still took it anyway.
Then she bowed to the weirdo once again and left this strange and mysterious bookstore with the book tightly held in her hands.
The dense fog had enveloped the whole world, rendering her unable to tell which direction was which.
In a trance, Elizabeth subconsciously turned on the flashlight in her hands.
A dazzling ray illumined her steps. The path ahead of her gradually became clear.
"I see…," Elizabeth thought, "...to leave this place, once must acquire a token and permission from the bookstore's owner..."
"This flashlight is evidence by itself…"
"Perhaps…," she looked at the flashlight in her hands, "...I could use it to travel into the fog once again to seek help from the bookstore's owner and acquire his aid!"
She held the flashlight and walked in the direction from which she had come.
Amid the light, the path gradually became clearer.
Swiftly, she arrived at the place where she'd stepped on the Descendant of Demon Moon.
On the ground, the once colossal Descendant of Demon Moon had vanished, leaving behind not even a teeny bit of trace evidence.
She turned her head. The light in the depths of the fog seemed to have been extinguished.
The whole world was empty and dark.
There was only the light from the flashlight in her hand.