"Well, since you have the power to harness the power of the True Goddess of Technology... I actually don't know the full extent of your potential! Considering that she's a True Deity, you have the power that could rival the gods that are in the mansion here"
Philip explained to Sheena
"If I have the power of the True Goddess of Technology, then that could mean that I can control all kinds of technology, right?"
Sheena asked
"That could be, but for now, I think you're limited to the abilities of a Peacesustainer, Peacebooster, and Peaceblender for now"
"It will change when I manage to actually awaken my powers as a True Goddess?"
"Yes, that's correct. But remember! You're still a human, you're in no way shape or form of a divine being! Once you've awaken even a sliver of your power, use it sparingly, little by little at a time until you get used to it"
"I understand"
"Your power on the other hand... Your Touch Upgrade ability has been enhanced and it can upgrade anything to its peak of maximum potential"
"Enhanced in what way?"
"To be accurate, you have the power of Total Upgrade. You can upgrade absolutely anything, from machines, to metals, to inorganic objects, even organic objects and beings with life"
"Wait what?!"
"Don't worry though, just casually touching anything won't allow you to upgrade it willy-nilly. Since your power has been awakened, you will have complete control on whatever you upgrade upon touch. So, hou don't need a special glove anymore to block your power to avoid upgrading unnecessary machines"
"Really?"
"Yes. Your upgrade ability also has different classifications based on upgrading something. I'll tell you everything"
"Okay"
Philip began to tell all 13 kinds of Peaceboosters and explained what each kind can do
"Total Upgrade is the combination of the other 12 Peaceboosters, meaning, you are capable of doing everything"
"I see... I had this kind of power..."
"Not only that, you also have a power of a Peacesustainer, specifically a State Perpetuation Peacesustainer"
"What does that mean?"
"Do you remember that whenever you upgrade or touch something, those objects retain their forms, body, and state?"
"Uh, yes? Shouldn't it be that way?"
"Not at all! Upgrading machines to their peak is the same as overloading them so that they could perform up to their limit, or possibly break its limits, wouldn't that be the case?"
"I guess you're right, so because of my second ability, nothing ever went wrong?"
"That's basically it. As a Peacesustainer also, you can upgrade anything to its limit without reaching self-destruction"
"I think I get it... I had the impression that my power doesn't have any consequences and I took it for granted. Turns out that it's due to my second power..."
"Exactly"
"So, what about the Peaceblender?"
"This, however, is more complicated. I know nothing about the Peaceblenders, but I know one thing..."
"What is that?"
"Remember during the mock battle that we had six months ago?"
"Yeah?"
"You created an electro-supermagnet out of an iron rod, copper wire, and a friction mechanism... You were able to fuse all those components to make that"
"..."
"In other words, you're capable of fusing objects into one! As to the limit of what you can fuse, I'm not too sure... Guess we have to find out, someday"
"..."
Sheena was stunned and speechless. She didn't know that she has that another kind of power and she has been doing it without knowing it. She was convinced that Philip knew everything because everything that he's been saying seems to match coincidentally with previous facts and events
Though, she is still confused as to how Philip knew about her past when only the military knows about it and it was wiped six months ago. Not even her squadron knows about the Azuma Assassins Clan
"I understand my power now... I will use this responsibly"
"Yes, you should... You will be one of my greatest asset and I need you"
"Y-you do?!"
"Yes, so, I'll help you when you need it. Just tell me, okay?"
"Y-yes!"
In this moment, Philip stood up and turned towards the door
"W-where are you going?"
Sheena asked in curiosity after seeing that Tenshi hasn't stood up also
"My job here is practically done... I have to leave"
"Huh? What about Tenshi?"
"Her job with you is not yet done"
"Hm?"
Sheena gazed towards Tenshi
"I want to catch up with you..."
Tenshi said shyly while twiddling her fingers
"Tenshi..."
Sheena smiled and looked at the shy Tenshi with warm eyes
"Haaah..."
Sheena let out a deep breath
"I guess we have a lot of catching up to do, huh?"
Sheena emphasized, especially after seeing a beautiful ring on Tenshi's left ring finger and a similar one on Philip's left finger earlier, when he snapped his fingers
"Waaah~!"
Tenshi's face beamed as she smiled widely. She quickly scooted over next to Sheena and hugged her to the side
They began talking to each other as Tenshi is laughing and Sheena is smiling wryly
"Heh..."
Philip gave a chuckle as he turned away and exited Sheena's room, after he wore his torn shoes. He then slowly closed the door behind him
"So, what do you feel about Philip?! I know you have some kind of feelings for him! Do you want him to be your lover?"
"....."
Philip finally closed the door and he looked at the wall with dead and empty eyes after he heard Tenshi's words before the door completely closed
The [Love Shard] followed and slipped past through the slit of the door before it closed completely. It then hid behind Philip
'Haaah...'
「 That... Went well? 」
'Yeah, could've been worse...'
「 ... 」
Philip started to walk along the hallway, towards his next destination
'Can we talk about what happened? Like the Tenth Negative Exception, all of those unlocks, and those records??'
「 I think, this time... It's better if we talk about it at the end of the day 」
'Hm... Is it because the Mobiüs Octingenity is inside the World of Absolute Nothingess?'
「 That's one of the reasons... 」
'What are the other ones?'
「 There's a lot to talk about and I mean a lot! At this point, it's better to collect everything before we start a new day 」
'Hm... You have a point. Very well then, this should be my last Visitation for now... It's dinner soon. The maids and butlers are working extra hard'
「 Then, we have to hurry... 」
'Do you have any idea what the surprise is for?'
「 Nope, not at all! 」
'Right... Anyways...'
Philip continued to walk through the hallways and go down one floor. The maids and butlers were proactively avoiding him so that he won't be able to ask them anything
'Haha... This feels like they're avoiding me because I'm a bad person or something'
~~~
A few minutes later, he arrived in front of a big door. He knows this room because it's literally in front of his own room. This room is the laboratory that Terra tasked Jude to prepare for him after he asked for laboratory instrument and equipments for his future experiments like the Mana Stones
This room was apparently given to Satou and Rue because of how big the room is. They are also known to sleep in their laboratories back in the military base, so this room is perfect for them
Philip didn't mind anyways, so they made themselves comfortable
He then looked behind him and into the wall of his room. He used [Clairvoyance] and peered inside
He could see Ariii sleeping and it seems like Tenshi put her down on his bed. He also checked the items and the two dead bodies inside his room and it seemed that it's still complete
Philip then advanced and gestured to knock on the door, but before he could knock, the door clicked and opened
"Ah! I've been expecting you!"
Satou welcomed Philip and widely opened the door. Philip saw that Rue is inside and she's fiddling with two test tubes
Her hair is tied in a messy ponytail, like usual, and she's still wearing a black eye patch on be right eye since after her magic eye popped from trying to diagnose him six months ago
She looked at him nonchalantly and returned her gaze back on the test tubes
"Expecting me?"
Philip asked in curiosity
"You've been visiting everyone in the mansion and checking up on them this whole day, aren't you? It was about time that you come to us..."
"How'd you know that? Is it because of your Observe ability?"
"Haha! Of course!"
"Hm... Is Observe actually your ability?"
Philip narrowed his eyes at Satou and Satou smirked at him
"Haha... What do you think?"
"Do you want to find out?"
Philip's eyes glowed with golden light while the outline of his pupil became red
"...!"
This gave Satou fear, but he composed himself and sustained his innocently sinister smile
"Why don't you come in and talk?"
"Don't mind if I do"
Philip stepped inside and walked in. Satou peeked outside and looked through the hallway
"..."
It was empty and he closed the door behind him
"..."
Philip looked around the laboratory and he was surprised that everything seemed to be neat and tidy
Considering that Satou looked like a mad scientist and Rue is that one assistant who does whatever she wants, one would think that the laboratory would be messy with a lot of used test tubes, beakers, and flasks scattered across the counters and tables littered research paper, and chemical contraptions of some sort, but the laboratory doesn't look like that at all
Philip is imagining what a laboratory would look like if it was given to capable researchers and scientist, like in anime and movies
"Are you thinking as to why the laboratory is unexpectedly tidy?"
"..."
Satou walked up next to Philip and he glanced to his side and looked at Satou. He thought that Satou would read his mind, but that wouldn't be possible. He also considered something similar to reading body language, which can be possible
"Well, we would like to keep everything tidy first and save everything until we do some kind of big experiment... Which I'm guessing is one of the reason you visted us? To confirm what you want us, particularly me, to do?"
"..."
Satou also glanced at Philip like some kind of mad genius
"Heh heh..."
Philip chuckled and looked straight in front of him
"That's right. I'm also here because of Rue. I want to do something to her"
"That sounds so bad out of context..."
Satou teased Philip and Rue heard them. She blushed slightly, but ignored it as she continued to identify the chemicals in her test tubes
"Well, alright, we can talk about what you need me to do later. You can speak with Rue"
"Alright"
"But are you sure you want to do this? Do you have time?"
"Hm?"
Philip stopped walking and looked at Satou suspiciously
"Haha, don't mind me... Continue on, I'll be waiting"
Satou waved his hand and turned around. He picked up a bundle of research papers and read it. This research bundle is a copy of Philip's research about his experimentation on Mana Stones about six months ago, [Taking Advantage of Mana, Spirit, Magic in the Mysticism to Develop the World]
"..."
Philip then ignored Satou and approached Rue
"Rue..."
"Hm?"
Rue went ahead and stopped observing the test tubes. She placed three of them on the test tube racks and faced Philip
"What's up?"
"Well, first of all... How are you?"
"Hmmm... I think it's fine. I've recovered from the fight yesterday..."
Rue then looked at Philip from head to feet and back upwards
"A more important question is how are you? I've seen your right arm get destroyed when you were enraged of Justine's disappearance..."
*Tok*
Rue knocked on Philip's right arm like a love tap
"How's your arm?"
"It's just perfect"
"Really? Hm... If only I still have my magic eye, I would see if it's really fine"
"That's one of the reason why I came here... I would like to give you compensation for indirectly destroying your magic eye"
"Ah, that? Don't worry, Sai has already given me a new one the moment I arrived here six months ago, from when you tasked me to go"
"Wait what?"
"What magic eye did she gave you?"
"Magic Eye of Corruption"
"What?!!!"
"Yeah, apparently she gave this to me so that it compliments my ability"
"Can I see it?"
"Absolutely not!"
Rue waved her right hand in front of her face
"The Magic Eye of Corruption is deadly to everything that's within my eyesight. That's why I'm covering it so that I don't accidentally ruin anything"
"Is that so?"
Philip lifted his left hand and gestured with her palm fcaing upwards
"Give me your hand"
"Eh?"
Rue hesitatingly lifted her right hand and place it on top of his hand. Philip just grabbed it to not waste any more time
"If you're that worried... Then..."
Philip didn't finish his sentence because Satou is inside the room. He doesn't want him to know any clues after all
He raised his right hand and touched Rue's forehead with his fingers. White light emanated from his fingers and Rue's vision was filled with bright white light