Chapter 103: The Machine Spirit Link Technology

When Eden arrived, he found the Mechanicus workshop torn apart by the explosion's shockwave.

Half of the mechanical structure had been reduced to rubble, billowing thick black smoke.

Debris and fragments were scattered everywhere, creating a scene of utter devastation.

Even more alarming, remnants of the structure were shrouded in thick Warp energy.

This energy seemed almost alive, snaking across the surfaces of the machinery, emitting an unsettling glow.

In the space above, faint spatial rifts could be seen, thin as hair but exuding a dangerous aura.

Beyond those rifts lay the terrifying Warp!

Eden's psychic senses were highly attuned, allowing him to detect the faint whispers of fear, pain, and despair emanating from the other side of the rifts.

Ordinary citizens exposed to such an environment would soon suffer severe mental effects.

The daemonic whispers would corrode their minds, inducing endless panic, gradually driving them insane or even into mutation.

"Damn it, Kaul, you've gone way too far!"

Eden felt a throbbing headache as he cursed.

"What the hell is he trying to do—blow up the entire Royal District?"

Suppressing his anger, Eden channeled his psychic energy, stored within his psychic core.

These energies flowed toward the small Warp rifts, like gentle hands smoothing them out, restoring the unstable space to calm.

He then used this power to purify the lingering Warp energy clinging to the machinery.

Soon, the residual Warp energy in the area was completely cleared.

The crisis was temporarily resolved.

This was the essence of Eden's Warp nature, symbolizing hope, stability, order, and purity.

It was incredibly effective, but the cost was high.

The power of hope was Eden's most precious resource.

He could clearly feel that this single act of restoration and purification had cost him a staggering 500,000 points of hope energy!

After amassing a total of 1.5 million hope energy points over a long time, this one incident had spent a third of it.

His heart ached at the expense.

After Eden had dealt with the issue, the rescue team from the Logistics Department arrived to extinguish the fires and clear the rubble.

The purification team stood by, waiting.

With the structure still burning, they could skip the incineration process. Soon, they would enter to recite prayers, sprinkle holy water, and perform the exorcisms.

"Where's Kaul? Find that lunatic and bring him here,"

Eden finally remembered the culprit of this disaster and ordered the rescue team to locate him.

He hoped Kaul was still alive.

After all, Kaul was one of only two tech-priests in the Royal District, and there was plenty of work waiting for him.

If he was dead, it would be a severe loss for Eden.

Shortly, the rescue team dragged out a battered Kaul, his mechanical arms twisted, his body charred black, and brought him before Eden.

He was alive… barely.

The rescue team performed emergency treatment, roughly jamming several healing potions into Kaul's body, which revived his breathing.

Kaul jolted upright, sparks flying from his body.

"Praise the Omnissiah! I did it! I really did it!"

He cheered with fervent excitement, clearly thrilled.

"Kaul, the first genius of the Salii family…"

Smack!

Kaul took a hard slap, sending another shower of sparks from his body.

"A genius, huh?"

Eden grabbed Kaul by the collar and pointed toward the smoldering ruins.

"Explain this… what exactly happened?"

"G-governor?" Meeting Eden's icy glare, Kaul became nervous and fearful.

"The experiment… had a small… hiccup, and, uh, exploded…"

Hearing this, Eden's temper flared.

"You call this a small hiccup?

If you don't give me a reasonable explanation, prepare for judgment!"

"I'll explain, please give me a moment!"

Kaul seemed to remember something, scrambling over to a part of the wreckage and began digging.

"Father!"

He dug out a servo-skull crafted from his father's remains.

The servo-skull was charred black, sparking erratically, and one of its mechanical arms swatted Kaul across the face.

Unbothered, Kaul was relieved to see the skull intact, hugging it close.

"I'm so glad you're okay…"

Watching this bizarrely touching scene of fatherly affection, Eden restrained his urge to strangle Kaul, repeating to himself,

"It's normal for technical geniuses to have quirks, normal to conduct little experiments… stay calm."

Despite the danger, Kaul's capabilities couldn't be denied.

He was currently responsible for weapon production lines and equipment optimization in the Royal District.

The energy cannons and standard laser rifles previously used were primarily developed under his lead.

In short, Kaul was one of the Royal District's key talents.

Eden suddenly realized that among the key figures in the Royal District, there seemed to be few "normal" individuals in the Imperial sense.

Sage Moss, a robot masquerading as a tech-priest.

Archbishop Doni, an outcast banished for heretical beliefs.

Defense Corps Commander Arye, blessed with extreme luck and rumored immortality.

Tech-Priest Kaul, a technical heretic whose family was exiled.

And Eden himself, the most abnormal of all.

A pureblooded human from the 3rd millennium, raised under compulsory nine-year education.

After a lengthy explanation from Kaul, with Moss interpreting here and there, Eden finally understood what Kaul was working on and how the explosion happened.

Kaul had been secretly experimenting with a bizarre machine spirit linking technology.

This was the culmination of generations of Salii family research, a universal machine spirit link capable of connecting countless machines.

If successful, it would surpass the Mechanicus' Cogitator series and the vat-grown bio-brains in both power and versatility.

Kaul had finally managed to produce a prototype.

Just as he was about to awaken the machine spirit, he realized the normal power supply couldn't sustain such massive energy consumption.

Then he had a "brilliant" idea.

Why not tap into Warp energy as the power source?

The idea quickly took shape. Fueled by a burst of inspiration, Kaul built a device to extract Warp energy.

Fortunately, Kaul retained some sense, recognizing the dangers involved.

He adjusted the power output of the Warp extractor, greatly reducing its capacity before testing it.

But the moment it was connected, it exploded.

Listening to Kaul's account, Eden's jaw twitched as he muttered internally,

"Damn 'inspiration,' probably a gift from Tzeentch himself, you heretic!"

Luckily, Kaul had limited the power output; otherwise, he'd likely have blown a rift to the Warp right in the Royal District.

A few brushes with Chaos seemed to be an unfortunate tradition on Urth.

After a deep self-reflection, Kaul promised Eden,

"My lord governor, I swear not to continue this experiment until I perfect the energy supply technology.

If I break this promise, I'm ready to face any judgment…"

"No, you must continue!"

(End of Chapter)

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