Hax checked his status window.
[Status]
Name: Hax
Race: Human
Access Point: 2040
Attributes: Strength 6, Dexterity 4, Endurance 5, Intelligence 12, Concentration: 10
Skills:
[Mathematics] Lv 1
[Mechanics]: Lv 1
[Physics]: Lv 2
[Mechanical Engineering]: Lv 1
Nothing changed except the access points. None of his attributes moved. He had to make advanced machinery that needed a lot of research to increase his intelligence and concentration. If he just created basic firearms such as rifles and pistols, his growth would be slow.
"I should get this mechanical arm. No, in fact, I should improve it. It's not enough to just use some basic mechanism in its feature."
But that could take a while. Taking this path was like taking a journey. He would never know where it would lead to or how long it would take. If he was lucky, the destination might be next door.
Hax shook his head. He should buy some knowledge first before he thought about it. If he wanted to make a mechanical arm, then he should get Mechanical Engineering. With two thousand access points, he could upgrade it to Lv 2 knowledge. Combined with his physics, his mechanical arm blueprint would improve a lot. He wouldn't need to use basic mechanisms anymore.
Or he could get electronic engineering. With that, he could make broadcast and communication devices. The device would let him communicate over long distances. This was a great dilemma for him. Making the mechanical arm would help his army in using bigger weapons, but long-range communication would help them coordinate with each other. The use of birds to deliver messages would be over.
Firepower or coordination?
All kinds of simulations ran through his head. Superior firepower would let him punch through any adversary. Long-range coordination would let him execute far and wide maneuver.
What should he pick?
Hax tapped the table as he think. He should go for firepower. Only with firepower could he move the masses to join him. At that time, starting a kingdom-wide rebellion would be easy. He could also use a kingdom-wide broadcast to start a rebellion, but without sufficient firepower, the people would not be moved as much.
"The thousands of people that join me is merely a small number of the norms. There are a lot more people that are unwilling to fight. If I have can destroy a sect in one strike, then every norm would join me."
Hax opened the skill shop menu. Scrolling down with his mind, Hax found the name Mechanical Engineering. He picked it and another panel appeared.
[Mechanical Engineering]
Cost: 500 access points
Hax took a deep breath. "I must not have any doubts. I must be sure of my choice."
Hax obtain the knowledge and his brain shook. He gripped the armrest as pain surged inside his mind. His body trembled. Saliva came out of his mouth. Blood flowed from his nose. The pain shook his body, like an earthquake. He was shaking uncontrollably.
Then came the next round.
He started sweating. It was not from heat but fear. Aliens, Xenos, vile creatures, demons, souls, and gods. All these beings slipped past his mind. Then he was in a dark room. Only tubes with transparent green liquids were floating around him. They were filled with creatures that he had just seen. Some of the creatures inside the tube looked like humans, but they were 25 meters tall.
Where is this place? He thought.
He approached one of the tubes. It had a giant human inside it. Its body was huge, with bulging muscles. Its skin looked like it was made of some kind of metallic substance.
What are you?
The giant opened its eyes. It stared at him with starry yellow eyes. it didn't see him like he was a fellow human. it saw him like he was prey.
Hax took a step back, but the giant punched a hole through the tube and grabbed him.
"How many of us need to die?" The giant asked.
Hax wanted to open his mouth, but he couldn't.
Then his mouth moved by itself. "As much as possible."
The giant looked down. Its stares seemed empty. Tears fell from its yellow eyes, and the giant released its grip on him. It pulled its hand inside and hugged its own knees. He looked like a boy who just lost his toy.
The hole that the giant punched closed itself. Not a drop of the liquid came out.
Hax's lips moved again. "Your father will be proud."
Then his vision blurred and he returned to reality. His body felt sticky, but there was no pain or discomfort.
He sighed. "Just what was that." Hax closed his eyes. He searched and analyzed his fragmented memories. Tubes. Liquid. Creatures.
Then he opened his eyes in realization. "They're trying to create super soldiers. That 25 meters tall giant must be a modified human."
When he was grabbed by the giant, he felt helpless and weak. Like there was nothing he could do to get out of his grip. Even though he felt no pain, he knew that the giant's arm held much more power than that. That man could have crushed him like an ant.
Hax shook his head and let out a breath. "If I want to make my own super-soldier, I would need a lot of advanced facilities. I don't have it today, but I will get it in the future.
Hax was about to continue his work on the mechanical arm, but someone knocked on the door.
"Sir, Hax. I'm here to bring your food."
"Come in," Hax replied. A small meal before work wouldn't be bad.
When the lady entered the room, what she brought was not small at all. It was a full course meal! Complete with appetizer, main course, and desserts.
"Who told you to bring all of this?"
The lady halted by the table. "It's sir Bodin, sir."
When Bodin told him that he would tell the chefs to cook something delicious, Hax didn't think that they would make a full course meal.
Hax pointed at the steel table where his blueprint and tools were. "Just put the food there."
The lady shook her head. "I can't do that to you, sir. As a dignified figure among the norms, you must eat with a class that suits you. I don't want to inconvenience you, this is why I tell Ratha to bring the chair and table."
"What? She's a child. How would she bring the table and chair here?"
"No need to worry, sir. Ratha, you can enter now."
Ratha peeked. The lady beckoned her to enter. She disappeared behind the wall then entered while pushing a cart that had a small elegant chair and table on it. The chair and table didn't seem heavy since Ratha pushed the cart with ease.
"What is this chair made of?" Hax asked.
"They are made from strong and light materials called plastic, sir. Unlike hard wood or metal, this chair is soft and comfortable. This furniture is so light that even a child could lift them with one hand. They are also tough and won't break if you throw them."
"That's nice," Hax said, watching Ratha pushing the cart next to him. "And I believe this plastic is expensive, correct?"
"Sadly, yes, sir. The process of making plastic is so complicated that only one man could produce it."
"No one except this one person can understand how to make it?" Hax asked.
"It's not that, sir. The man doesn't want to share his knowledge."
Smart. He would do the same thing if not for the mission telling him to share the knowledge.
Hax smiled. The norms should not be underestimated. Some of them were geniuses waiting to be picked and trained. If someone could make plastic in this backward world, then he was sure there were others with much more advanced inventions. Of course, their invention was not important to Hax. Making plastic was easy, but that would take his time from making weapons.
What should he do instead was to recruit these smart and creative norms into his group. If he succeed he could do so many things with much less time. Most of his firearms were heavy because their parts were made of metal. If he could tell someone to make the plastic parts, his weapon would be much lighter.
He rubbed Ratha's head. "Where is your cat?"
"Sleeping," she listlessly said.
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
Ratha shook her head. "I want to help dad."
"So you've been pushing carts to help him?"
Ratha shook her head again. "Making food and giving water to the builder."
The lady smiled. "She's a smart kid. She looked at the chef for an hour and she already knew how to cook."
Hax narrowed his eyes with a smile. "I see. Can you please put the food on the table and leave Ratha with me. I want to share a meal with her."
"As you wish, sir."
The lady put down the food on the table one by one. Its smelt permeated into his nose, but Hax only had his sight on Ratha. He didn't care about the glistening roasted chicken or the strawberry cakes lying in front of him. They might be tasty in the short term, but in his eyes, long-term potential was much better.
The lady left the room soon after.
"You can sit on the plastic chair," Hax said.
Ratha did so. She didn't even pretend to refuse or be grateful to be allowed to sit on an expensive chair.
Children. They were so pure. So innocent. And so easy to be trained.
Of course, Hax didn't put much hope in Ratha. The cognitive level needed to understand how to cook was much easier than how to calculate how much speed and deviation needed to achieve an elliptical orbit around a planet.
"Why do you want to help your dad, Ratha?"
Ratha grabbed a cake and took a bite off it. She didn't even ask if she could eat. That made Hax smile. A normal person would be nervous just by standing beside him. His status now was no different than the emperor.
After she chewed and swallowed, Ratha shrugged. "I like helping dad."
"How's that going for you?"
Ratha shook her head. "Not enough. Dad is too busy now. And I don't think I helped him much."
"You are right. There are thousands of people who can cook better than you. One pair of small hands on the frying pan doesn't do much."
Ratha seemed dejected to hear that. If somebody heard what Hax just said to the child, they would think badly of him.
"But there are better ways to help your dad. Would you be interested?"
Ratha looked towards him. "How?"
Hax pulled a rolled parchment and gave it to her. "Read this. If you understand how it works, then you can help your dad a lot more."