Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 47 Future Plans

Inside the room, the dried-out pork looked even more eerie under the light. Suren looked at the pork, reached out his right hand and touched it, finding it to be very rough.

He took out his notebook, turned to a new page, and began to write notes with a dip pen, trying to deduce the necklace's abilities from the scene he had just witnessed.

The only sound in the room was the scratching of a pen tip across paper.

After an unknown amount of time, Suren closed her laptop, tapped her fingers on the table, and came to a conclusion—

Ellie's Tears' ability is healing, but this healing is irreversible; once activated, it will continue to heal indefinitely.

This treatment consumes the user's "source knowledge". If the supply of "source knowledge" is cut off, the treatment will not stop, but will instead begin to consume the recipient's life force until the life force is completely drained.

Suren was relatively satisfied with the abilities of "Ellie's Tear," although it was not quite what he had expected; it was more like an offensive item.

"This isn't healing at all; it's more like a curse. It's ironic that healing power is being used for attack," Suren muttered to himself.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang in Suren's mind: "Mr. Suren, since I have chosen this path, whatever happens is my own responsibility and has nothing to do with you."

The voice was soft and gentle, as if it came from a very far place, or as if it were right next to your ear.

That was Ellie's voice. Suren jumped up, the chair legs scraping against the floor with a screeching sound, but the voice still lingered softly in her mind.

"I'm just unwilling to accept it. Why couldn't I save my parents? Why didn't I succeed!"

The voice in his mind became distorted, but at this moment, a strange feeling welled up in Suren's heart. It was a strong feeling of resentment, which made him subconsciously want to grasp something, to salvage something, and to make amends for something.

Realizing something was wrong, Suren forced himself to calm down. He exhaled, and the whispers in his mind disappeared, along with the strange emotions.

He stood up and looked around but saw no one. He looked down at "Ellie's Tear," which was still lying quietly in his palm, the emerald green gem shimmering.

Suren sat back down in her chair, and another ten minutes passed without anything happening.

Suren looked at the table and frowned. Was this the side effect the professor was talking about?

"Is it an auditory hallucination? Or something else?" Suren whispered.

He shook his head, banishing the chaotic thoughts from his mind. The "Ring of Mandara" flashed, and the "Tears of Ellie" in his hand vanished into thin air.

No longer dwelling on the matter, Suren's mind stirred, and the Book of Secrets unfolded before him. Then, following Suren's will, a line of text appeared:

[Common Secret Knowledge: Mrs. Howard and the "Eternal Oath Knights" are engaged in a long-term secret deal → Secret Tier C]

This "secret knowledge" is actually graded C, which means that the content of the transaction between the two parties is quite important.

Besides the newly added "secret knowledge", Suren also recorded some trivial secret knowledge during this period, most of which were D-level.

Through frequent recording and use, Su Lun also summarized some techniques for recording "secret knowledge".

He recorded the "essence of extraordinary power" as a separate "secret knowledge," and as he did so, all the previous trivial "secret knowledge" related to extraordinary power disappeared, as if they had been merged into the largest secret knowledge.

Perhaps because the scope has broadened, the "essence of extraordinary power" only received a D rating. However, Suren knew that while some of his previously scattered "secret knowledge" had reached C level, there was basically no room for improvement. As he continued to uncover the truth of extraordinary power, its upper limit would definitely be S level.

However, this also brings a problem: this kind of secret knowledge is too abstract, and it is basically impossible to create secret techniques through [manifestation of secret knowledge].

Those trivial and specific events often have clear symbolic meanings, making it easier to create secret techniques. However, the upper limit of this type of "secret knowledge" is often not high.

Suren guessed that it was because his level was too low to fully develop his abilities, and perhaps the problem would be solved after he was promoted.

In addition, Suren also discovered that once a "secret knowledge" has been a "core secret knowledge," it will still retain the "core secret knowledge" label even if it is replaced later.

In light of this, Suren set a standard—he would only record information with great potential as "core secrets," since Suren was bound by the rules and could not voluntarily reveal the contents of "core secrets."

If he were to repeatedly change his "core secrets" in pursuit of temporary strength, it would have very serious consequences—the possibility of him suffering a backlash from the rules would greatly increase, and Suren did not want to become the next Cole.

After sorting out her thoughts, Suren leaned back in her chair, tilted her head, looked at the dim gas lamp on the wall, and sighed.

So many things have happened in just over ten days. Since he transmigrated here, Loren Town has become incredibly lively and fraught with danger, making Suren wonder if he has a cursed constitution.

He tapped the table and began to plan his next goals in his mind:

First, gather materials and clues about the promotion ceremony as soon as possible, and increase the "scale".

Second, try to establish good relations with some underground organizations as a way to escape from the Deathbird.

Third, explore the secrets hidden behind the church and uncover the truth about its extraordinary power.

Fourth, if possible, you can then go to "Libraton" to find clues about the ruins and investigate the mysterious man's purpose.

Fifth, search for clues related to the "Aksha Relics" to enhance your strength.

In addition, Suren had also devised a simple escape plan in his mind:

By weaving an identity web and disguising himself, he can evade potential pursuit. His information barrier is strong enough that as long as those tracking him aren't high-ranking figures like archbishops of the church, hiding shouldn't be a problem. His next step is to find an opportunity to leave Loren Town by joining a caravan or using other means.

However, this is only a rough plan and the details still need to be optimized.

Based on the existing abilities in the Book of Secrets, Suren speculates that the abilities gained after becoming an "Awakener" are likely similar, making it easier for him to escape.

The days that followed were spent in this tense atmosphere. Suren was taking on bounty missions almost every day. His image could be seen on the bulletin board at the duty station every day—finding cats, keeping watch, delivering messages, he took on all sorts of odd jobs.

Even so, including the previous £400 and deducting the expenses during this period, I have only saved about £760.

After all, missions like Professor Derwent's, which take you to the wilderness, are extremely rare, and the "Deathbird" is prohibited from going to the wilderness without a mission.

Fortunately, this period was not entirely fruitless. Due to the frequent use of his abilities, Suren's "scale" was also constantly increasing. His "source knowledge" limit and recovery speed had been significantly improved, and the release of his abilities was smoother and faster. He knew that he was not far from being promoted.

As for Karl, he has been almost nowhere to be seen lately. Others say he spends almost every day in the lab, seemingly trying to figure out the professor's advice.

The date was March 26th.

Early that morning, just as Su Lun finished washing up, there was a series of urgent knocks on the door. The pounding continued without stopping, as if someone was pounding on the door with their fists.

Suren opened the door and saw Karl standing there, his hair more disheveled than before, but his eyes shining brightly. He waved excitedly.

"Surren, I can clearly recognize all the nodes now!" His voice was slightly shrill with excitement, and his face was flushed with emotion. "I am a saint!"