chsdbacks 21 What kind of concept is a god? Industrial Cthulhu! [2-in-1]
21 What kind of concept is a god? Industrial Cthulhu! [2-in-1]
A gentle breeze blows through the paper, and the glow of the sunset illuminates the words.
Luo Ya carefully perused "The Guide to Extraordinary Awakening".
The book's content is simple and easy to understand, but not particularly in-depth.
Fortunately, it covers almost all the preparations before waking up, making it suitable for new babies.
There are three points that Roya is concerned about.
First, people who are over sixteen years old and whose average blood energy value over three days is below sixty are at extremely high risk of death if they forcibly awaken by swallowing burning crystals.
Three years ago, when Luo Ya transmigrated, he was just sixteen years old and his blood energy value was a pitiful one.
Fortunately, Luo Ya's blood gas level was 58 last year.
I haven't had it measured this year, but based on the rate of blood and qi development in the past, it should already be over sixty.
You can try to force an awakening!
Originally, Luo Ya planned to wait until his blood energy value gradually increased to over 80, and then, through dietary supplements, he hoped to awaken naturally.
But the current situation forces us to wake up ahead of time.
While reading, Luo Ya asked without looking up:
"Which of you can accurately measure my blood energy level?"
"Not even seventy."
Wendell's voice was as clear and crisp as a cold wind, carrying the aroma of tea.
"To be precise, it's sixty-nine."
Emil added that her voice was sweet, playful, and a rare, androgynous, childlike voice.
Luo Ya thought to himself, "As expected of a demon, its sensitivity to blood energy is accurate to single digits."
Sixty-nine is not low!
.
The second point that Luo Ya was concerned about: If a mortal were to forcibly awaken, he should prepare one or two fresh burning crystals, a large amount of blood-replenishing and healing potions, and common medical first-aid equipment in advance.
It is recommended to awaken in a professional hospital or extraordinary factory.
For preservation, dragon crystal is the best.
GG hit Roja right in the face...
At the same time, it did indeed frighten him, who always sought the best in everything.
"It seems that forcibly awakening carries considerable risks."
Beside her, Emile whispered a suggestion:
"How about we hide on some deserted island for a few years and wait until the captain's health exceeds eighty before giving it another try?"
Luo Ya sighed softly; of course he had thought about such a thing.
"Getting old is troublesome... Besides, I just developed my talent late, and my blood energy level can't be increased indefinitely."
Wendell, deep in thought, delivered a decisive blow.
"Integer numbers are also a bottleneck. There's a reason why your blood energy value is stuck at 69. Perhaps this is the limit of your talent."
Nonsense, otherwise why would I need to consume burning crystals?
Luo Ya waved his hand.
"It's alright, Emil will take care of replenishing my blood in an emergency. If something really goes wrong, just let Ishtar come out and turn me into a monster too. It's better than dying."
Wendell was still somewhat worried.
"For ordinary people, falling to demonic possession is like dying and being resurrected; there are many who cannot be resurrected. Do you really believe in Ishtar?"
"Do I have a choice...?"
Luo Ya doesn't like to overthink things.
Having gone through so much, his obsession has dissipated.
Risks can only be reduced, not completely eliminated.
In this world, there is only the optimal solution, not the perfect solution.
.
The third point that Luo Ya focused on was to remember the key to controlling blood and qi: choose a clear night, bathe and burn incense, and take fresh burning crystals on an empty stomach under the stars and moon to try to awaken blood and qi.
The size of the burning crystal cannot exceed the size of a fist, the grade cannot exceed the third grade, and there must be no damage.
You can only swallow one Burning Crystal. If you are short of blood after swallowing it, you can replenish your blood with beast blood or blood-replenishing potions.
If the awakening fails but you do not die, you can go to the Arden Extraordinary Factory to try a second awakening.
The book states that as long as the heart is not left with incurable serious damage during the first awakening, the success rate of the second awakening is still over 60% if one goes to the Arden Extraordinary Factory.
The awakened ability is unrelated to the type of burning crystal; the burning crystal is only responsible for rapidly increasing one's own blood energy.
The abilities of extraordinary individuals are usually highly correlated with talent, childhood experiences, and obsessions.
Luo Ya was very curious: Was a cheat code considered a talent? Was time travel considered an experience? Was being afraid of death considered an obsession?
After memorizing the breathing techniques, Luo Ya closed the book.
The key to controlling blood and qi is to continuously adjust breathing through breath-holding, meditation, and exhalation, so as to gather blood and qi, refine the essence, and stimulate the heart to awaken.
Roya took a hot bath and returned to the deck.
Sit cross-legged, close your eyes, silently recite the mantra, adjust your breathing, and try to control your blood and qi.
An hour later.
Luo Ya opened his eyes.
No blood-red glow appeared on her clean face.
The effect was not obvious.
"The incantation doesn't seem complicated, and it's not difficult to perform... so why isn't it working?"
Luo Ya refused to admit that his talent was limited, as his blood energy value was below 80, making it difficult for him to control his blood energy.
He opened the book again and turned all the way to the last page.
There was a folded page.
Turn to the page, and you'll see a line of small print:
"This diagram is a secret technique for forcibly gathering blood energy. Contemplating this diagram for a long time may damage the soul. It is recommended to try it when you are unable to gather blood energy."
"What kind of diagram is this? It can even be used to visualize and gather energy?"
Luo Ya's gaze swept across the page; it was a full-page painting.
At first glance, it only has red, black, and circular lines...
Upon closer inspection, they turned out to be crow eyes with blood-red pupils and pitch-black centers.
Some are large, some are small, nested together, like ripples, one ring after another, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, as if blinking, creating a strange dynamic visual illusion.
Luo Ya's blood and energy rapidly gathered and surged upwards.
It felt as if if you looked at it for even one more second, your soul would be completely captivated and unable to escape.
He quickly put the book away and handed it to Emil, who was standing nearby.
"This picture looks a bit strange, you guys take a look too."
Emil looked over curiously, and his blood pressure spiked instantly.
One moment her delicate, fair face was as white as jade, and the next it turned into a colorful blue.
She quickly withdrew her dazed gaze, her blood pressure dropped, and her youthful face returned.
"It's like an illusion, how strange... it's just a simple pattern."
After saying that, he handed the book to Wendell.
Golden eyes gazed calmly at the page.
Wendell frowned slightly, his demonic energy surging wildly against the Dragon Scale Valve.
But a holy light suddenly flashed in the golden eyes, forcibly suppressing the out-of-control demonic energy.
"Some sophisticated illusions only require patterns, and these patterns are not simple."
Roya glanced at Wendell and realized that after a good night's sleep and regaining his strength, Wendell wasn't as fragile as he seemed.
However, it is also possible that Wendell is susceptible to mental shocks related to demons and is not afraid of graphic illusions.
Luo Ya retrieved the book and looked at the illustrations.
Mechanical connection, start!
Upon delving into the images, I discovered that they were not simple at all; the information contained in a single image even exceeded that of the entire book's text and other illustrations.
However, he had been trapped in a visual illusion, his mind was still on the surface, and he could not go any further, so he did not discover it.
"Rings, fractals, curls, light and shadow interplay... Interesting. Anyway, as long as it works."
Luo Ya withdrew his intention to reach into the painting.
He sat cross-legged again, facing the sea of clouds, and tried to control and gather his blood and qi according to the techniques he had memorized.
In the distance, the Meilin Channel is shrouded in rolling clouds.
The sun rises and sets.
The night swallowed the sky.
The stars shone brightly, like the Milky Way hanging upside down.
Luo Ya breathed a sigh of relief.
I opened my eyes, and they were bloodshot...
He was finally able to gather some vital energy.
Midnight.
The starlight is like a woven tapestry, and the sea of clouds is like a carpet.
A gentle breeze was blowing, and the temperature was just right.
Luo Ya's breathing was calm, like a gentle breeze, but the blood and qi swirling within him were like stars shining brightly and a great river rolling on.
He was finally able to control the blood and qi in his body.
Although not yet proficient, according to the book, this level is sufficient for awakening.
In high spirits, Luo Ya took out a seashell from his pocket and a red dragon crystal the size of an infant's fist.
"You two will protect me. Your captain, I, Roya, am about to awaken!"
It was only when I was about to eat it that I began to examine the dragon crystal for the first time.
The oval-shaped tumor, about the size of an infant's fist, was entirely blood red, with its surface covered with transparent fascia and nerve endings, vaguely forming dragon patterns.
It was enveloped in a hazy, dissipating red aura, permeated with a fishy smell and a pungent phlogiston odor.
Luo Ya took a light sniff, which caused his blood to churn in his abdomen.
I'm not afraid of strong smells, I'm afraid of not being able to feel anything!
Luo Ya grabbed the dragon crystal and immediately stuffed it into his mouth.
As a result, the dragon crystal was too big; it was like a gag in Luo Ya's mouth, he couldn't swallow it no matter what, and he stammered for help:
"Hey, I can't swallow. Is there anyone who can help? Have you ever encountered this situation?"
Wendell and Emile looked at each other in bewilderment.
They were all extraordinary beings who naturally awakened before they reached adulthood, and they had no experience of forcibly awakening by consuming dragon crystals.
Luo Ya felt as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat, and he was about to suffocate.
Seeing this, Emile tried to suggest:
"Captain, try pressing down hard in your mouth. Dragon Crystal is essentially a heart mutation, it's not very hard. If you really can't swallow it, just spit it out. We can buy new ones."
Luo Ya tried to use his oral muscles to forcefully compress the dragon crystal, managing to flatten it slightly, but it was still far from being swallowed...
Wendell frowned slightly and quickly reminded Emil.
"He's out of strength. Try using dragon's blood as lubricant."
"Oh, right... I almost forgot!"
Emil didn't have time to lubricate herself, so she directly reached into Roya's mouth and stuffed her hand in. It melted instantly upon entering his mouth, and he used his reverse force to spit out blood.
With his eyes wide open, Luo Ya used the invisible viscous liquid to swallow the dragon crystal whole.
"Phew, they're in..."
The dragon crystal entered the stomach and quickly dissolved, releasing a massive amount of pure blood energy that passed through the stomach wall and flowed into the blood vessels.
It surged through the blood vessels and bones of the body, as if every cell in the body was emitting a joyful howl.
Soon, the impact transformed into muscle tearing and cell remodeling...
In the blink of an eye, Luo Ya's face was covered in blood, and his whole body was shrouded in surging blood mist.
Luo Ya gritted his teeth and tried to control the blood and qi in his body.
The control was very effective.
In fact, it was too effective...
The tearing and rebuilding stopped quickly, leaving only a pleasant cellular tremor, like a music that had abruptly stopped echoing within the body.
The path to awakening is almost cut off!
Emile shook her head helplessly, and could not help but sigh:
"Awakening requires a bit of a loss of control. The captain's excessive control over his blood and qi is actually a bad thing."
Wendell's tone became serious:
"Roya, you're too calm. You need to let your emotions through. Think about your childhood obsessions, or things in your life that make you ecstatic or furious."
Luo Ya thought to himself that although he was not rich in his previous life, his family was stable, his academic performance was good, he did not like to bully others, nor was he bullied, which made him too emotionally stable.
I like math and physics, and I enjoy tinkering with machines, but I'm not ecstatic about it; I just feel a sense of inner peace.
At most, one can be patriotic, but patriotism should not lead to ecstatic joy.
As for what enraged him...
He hated a group of classmates who didn't study properly and ganged up to bully introverted boys and girls, but he was only angry. Since they didn't bully him, he wasn't furious.
And there's still an obsession...
Having just transmigrated to this world, he was obsessed with going home.
Later, realizing that it was impossible to go back, his obsession turned into living well, developing his abilities stealthily, until he awakened his extraordinary powers.
In Luo Ya's view, obsessions are all psychological illnesses.
But now, he needs an obsession, he needs emotions...
Having lived two lives, almost all his relatives and friends felt that his emotions were too stable.
He has always preferred studying objects to studying people.
In order to start a family, he tried to make himself more human, to appear less cold, and forced himself to talk more, communicate more with people, and become more humorous.
He regretted not watching more short dramas in his previous life; those things could get you hooked and cause your blood pressure to spike.
The blood energy that Luo Ya had just gathered was rapidly dissipating.
Emile grew a little anxious and started speaking without thinking:
"Captain, give it your all... Or think about Miss Wendell, how agonizing it must have been for her to be devoured by that man-eating demon king!"
Roya thought for a moment and said:
"But the demon king doesn't wear clothes in his dream."
"Then think about me. Many of my original bodies and clones have been subjected to electric shocks, dissections, and chemical fusions in the laboratory..."
"But you have infinite life, and you've even eaten dragons."
Emile's voice faltered:
"Okay, you're hopeless."
Wendell quickly reminded him:
"There's still hope! Quickly, try that Thousand-Eyed Painting!"
Luo Ya flipped through the Thousand Eyes Diagram again, forgetting the detailed analysis of the mechanical connections from before, returning to the state of mind from his first viewing, and quickly becoming immersed in it...
In the blink of an eye, her eyes reflected the crimson rings of her eyes.
Ripples spread, and the air is thick with the scent of blood.
The blood mist that had been enveloping him quickly seeped into his body.
Blood and energy rapidly condense throughout the body, impacting the heart.
Emil finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Excellent! This is a sign of awakening!"
Roya's eyes were wide open, bloodshot, and he could no longer hear Wendell and Emil's voices.
The hazy, blood-red aura before my eyes gradually brightened.
In a daze, when I focused my gaze, it turned into a semi-transparent red panel.
There were even subtitles on the panel!
Congratulations, mortal! You are about to awaken an extraordinary ability: Mechanical Heart!
Please imagine the specific scene based on the following text!
"ha?"
Luo Ya was stunned.
The cheat system he had when he transmigrated didn't have a panel or subtitles, but the extraordinary abilities he awakened did have a panel and subtitles.
You've got it backwards...
Judging from the name of the ability, "Mechanical Heart" should be a deepening and expansion of the cheat ability "Mechanical Connection," so there shouldn't be any problem.
In other words, his cheat ability is considered a talent by default.
Continue reading the subtitles:
[You, who are about to awaken the power of the Mechanical Heart, will possess the following abilities—]
First, your thoughts can control mechanical objects through mechanical connections.
Second, your thoughts can control mechanical objects through the infusion of blood and qi.
Third, your thoughts can spread through your blood and qi, causing the machine to be imbued with a soul. After being imbued with a soul, the machine will awaken a mechanical heart. Even if the blood and qi are disconnected, it can still be permanently connected and controlled through your thoughts.
Note 1: Imbuing a machine with a soul may turn it into a monster, awakening a higher level of intelligence, especially if the machine's level far exceeds yours. It may be less obedient, but it is generally controllable.
Note 2: Extraordinary abilities are limited by blood energy level; if the difference between the blood energy level and the target's level is too large, the ability may fail.
Luo Ya glanced at it and analyzed it point by point.
The first one is a mechanical connection, unchanged, similar to a wired network.
The second feature is the blood-qi connection, which is equivalent to opening a local area network, enabling short-range wireless control.
The third is the connection of the soul, which is equivalent to imbuing a machine with a soul through one's own blood and energy, achieving permanent remote control, similar to a global satellite network.
Note 1: Imbuing high-level machinery with spirits carries some risk, but is generally manageable.
Note 2: You can skip levels, but not too much.
Luo Ya finally understood the true meaning of the Mechanical Heart!
"Doesn't this mean that I can control a swarm of machines and achieve drone army operations in the technologically backward steam age?"
Furthermore, after being imbued with a soul, these machines can possess the computing power for autonomous decision-making without needing to carry a bulky difference engine?
In an instant, a word came to Luo Ya's mind—
Industrial Cthulhu.
He doesn't need a nation; he alone is the Industrial Cthulhu.
Now that's great, the small three-person hunter team has the three calamities: Ghost Spirit, Ghost Demon, and Ghostly Creature.
Just as I was getting excited, the subtitles in front of me refreshed!
[No concrete awakening image has formed; blood and energy are insufficient; the awakening process is about to terminate...]
"Huh? Wait a minute, I'll imagine it now!"
Before I could even imagine it, the panel vanished.
Roya suddenly opened his eyes and saw Wendell and Emil looking shocked and disappointed.
Emile murmured to herself:
"Strange, everything went smoothly for the captain so far, he was already halfway through awakening, how come he suddenly failed?"
Wendell turned the pages:
"Look, there's another line of smaller print: If the awakening fails, please go to the Arden Extraordinary Factory as soon as possible to try a second awakening... This is just a lost cause."
As Luo Ya's bloodlust dissipated, his eyes quickly returned to calm.
How invincible is Industrial Cthulhu?
This time it wasn't just an accident; his blood energy was also clearly insufficient, making it impossible to support the awakening of such an overpowered ability.
Instead of being disappointed, he became even more excited!
Age is not a problem, innate talent is not a problem, and a blood energy level of 69 is not a problem either; one dragon crystal is simply not enough.
He was simply particularly curious about the subtitles guiding him during the awakening.
"When you awakened, was there a text panel in front of you?"
Emile was stunned for a while before she burst into laughter:
"What panel? This is called an awakening dream! Everyone's dream is different. As long as you can form a concrete impression of your ability and solidify it, you can awaken it and make it a reality... Captain, you're too calm. Even with enough talent and resources, it's difficult to awaken."
Wendell's silver eyebrows furrowed:
"You mean, your awakened dream is words..."
"What's wrong?"
"When a dream of awakening manifests in the form of text, it usually indicates the awakening of the highest level of extraordinary ability."
"Similar to a conceptual god?"
"Perhaps it wasn't because you were too calm that you failed, but because your talent is too high and your demand for blood energy is extremely high... In this case, even if you absorbed all of Emil's blood energy, it wouldn't be enough."
Luo Ya suddenly realized what was going on and became inexplicably excited.
"Looks like I'll have to go to the Extraordinary Factory!"