Xyrin Empire
Chapter 566: Maintenance Plan for Mercury Lamp

Chapter 566: Chapter 566: Maintenance Plan for Mercury Lamp

How did the Mercury Lamp come to life?

When Big Sister raised this question, I was taken aback for a moment, because it involved too many things, including mechanics, energy science, soul studies, material science, and bionics. It was only after revisiting dozens of disciplines in my mind like a carousel that I realized I had thought too much.

I didn’t know whether to cry or laugh at that moment... I usually think too little.

"Because of the Rose Mother?"

Though it was a question, my tone was very certain. There was nothing uncertain about it; the power source of the Mercury Lamp had nothing to do with the spring behind that girl—though I would idly wind it up when bored, that never unleashed a hundred thousand horsepower, which was solid proof. The spring was merely a key for her; what truly drove the doll’s body to move and enabled her to function like a living being was the Rose Mother hidden inside her.

That thing was essentially a fragment of the Wise Man’s Stone, a miraculous object that alchemists could spend their entire lives without glimpsing. In legends, it was the stone of reversed causality capable of creating life, its contained magic power and mystique enough to distort the source of all laws in the world. On the "Brilliant Stairs" in front of Dingdang Temple, every bit of it was made from that stuff... that shows you just how incredible it is.

Including that last sentence, it’s still incredible.

Of course, a fragment of the Wise Man’s Stone would be a bit weaker than the complete stone. They couldn’t just conjure up a real soul out of nothing, but with a medium, they could simulate artificial souls, which were the "hearts" of the Rose Maidens. The Rose Mother provided energy and souls for those active dolls, giving them the ability to mimic the functions of a "biological" organism—of course, these are all my own interpretations based on my understanding. Dingdang had provided me with related materials on such artificial soul technologies, weighing over thirty pounds without counting the illustrations. A single glance nearly all but killed me...

I could assert that as the Prototype, the Mercury Lamp too had utilized such an energy core—why do I feel I’ve come to regard that petite being as some kind of eerie entity?

"The Rose Mother is indeed the soul source of the Mercury Lamp, but Raven and Dingdang have both checked it, and that thing isn’t broken."

I was quite puzzled. Big Sister had mentioned this issue, which we had initially ruled out. Why bring it up now?

"The Rose Mother is normal, and there’s no damage to the body, but the Mercury Lamp still can’t move. The problem must be in the interaction between these two," Big Sister said, her index finger circling her chin as she thought, causing me to shudder with each circle—a pure reflex. "Actually, you should have guessed this earlier, even Sister who doesn’t watch anime figured it out.

"The body of the Mercury Lamp was inherently flawed; there was a missing part in the abdomen. I heard a Blood Elf Arcane Master mention that alchemy creatures are very precise systems, they could even collapse on themselves due to a misplaced symbol on their body. The fatal flaw in the Mercury Lamp means that even with a complete artificial soul, that body couldn’t possibly function..."

"I understand," Big Sister had hinted until a fool would comprehend, "It’s like a faulty computer that, even if we have a few hundred dollars’ worth of genuine systems at hand, can’t be used if the PCI slot isn’t fitted with a graphics card, right?"

"Integrated graphics can work." Big Sister corrected me quite seriously.

I staggered: "Sis, don’t worry about that anymore!"

However, I understood what Big Sister meant. The Mercury Lamp’s body was inherently flawed, a hardware issue preventing operation even with software. An artificial soul couldn’t provide energy for an incomplete carrier because the latter’s drivers might not install...

But why had Mercury Lamp previously been so lively, even having the strength to engage in "Eastern Bullet Hell" battles with Alaya?

The answer saddened me: it was because of her obsession with her father.

Obsessions are hard to explain and indescribeable. Three years ago, I always thought that obsessions could at most give a person the courage to be stubborn—a stubbornness that in the end drove Leader Hitler to commit suicide. But later, I discovered that obsessions could transform into tangible power—like Anwina.

Believe it or not, Anwina’s transformation into a Dead Soul was largely driven by her obsession, the kind of obsession where even after sudden death, life stubbornly believes it is still alive and stubbornly yearns to live forever. It is an instinctive force of the soul, one that even Anwina herself would not have been aware of. Most Dead Souls come about in this way; they don’t even know they are dead, just like Anwina initially was. But let’s leave that discussion for later when we venture into the supernatural...

Mercury Lamp also had an obsession, stemming from the day her consciousness was born. I don’t know if Luo Zhen pre-programmed something similar to "Three Laws" for all Rose Maidens, but having only glimpsed Luo Zhen’s last departing figure before he abandoned his project, Mercury Lamp became obsessed. To her, that incomplete body—lacking a drive system and missing several parts—became something irreplaceable. To me, it made no sense at all—Luo Zhen had barely given her a body, let alone a functioning one. I would have turned my back on him long ago, but for Mercury Lamp, that broken body and the vague silhouette Luo Zhen left behind before completely abandoning her made her fixate obsessively. Driven by the relentless belief in "finding Father," she literally rose from her broken state...

I can hardly imagine how she endured those initial days, isolated in a room filled with doll parts, slowly being covered with dust. How much effort did it take for her to move her body broken in two, to put on that black, elegant dress all by herself...

Luo Zhen, Luo Zhen, you defied the natural balance, practiced forbidden arts, showed no reverence for elements, allowed the Shadow to corrupt your soul, and still opposed the righteous paths of Martial Arts, eventually failing your transcendence in a Lightning Storm and vanishing into smoke—you truly got what you deserved... Anyway, according to Dingdang’s calculations, that old chap is long gone, and I guess no matter what we say, he can’t come back to protest, right?

Saying this is purely to vent on behalf of Mercury Lamp. After all, I should still thank that unprecedented king of abandoning projects; although he abandoned it, Mercury Lamp was after all born from him, and I know she does not like to be pitied...

With this, the whole truth becomes clear. Mercury Lamp’s damaged body could not function; she could not synchronize with a normal Rose Mother at 400%. But her obsession "to find Father" patched up her physical insufficiencies, it was like patching the body, this spiritual power allowed her to move like a normal doll, but now...

The patch had been deleted, and it could not be rebuilt.

In the moment she decided to come back, the doll’s obsession with "finding Father" was declared over.

At this point, I realized that the first person who needed to reflect on this was myself; I was the person who first made Mercury Lamp’s obsession with "finding Father’’ collapse. I told her that Luo Zhen might have been punished by the laws for peeking through the Gate of Truth, and I mentioned it more than once. Every time, it infuriated Mercury Lamp, but at the same time, each mention helped her accept reality more.

"What now? Unless Dingdang’s thorough search of World Law turns up a printing error, Luo Zhen is 10,000% dead, and Mercury Lamp has chosen to come back; she can no longer have the same obsession she once did. This situation is no longer something any scholar from any discipline can solve," I realized, and could only shrug in frustration to Big Sister, "Little Light’s dad really isn’t decent."

Luo Zhen was incredibly indecent. How had I never noticed how frustrating alchemists and engineers could be? You say you abandoned your project halfway, and that’s fine, I could’ve helped you look after it, continued the fan-made route and supported Mercury Lamp. And just when we were about to succeed, Luo Zhen, that old chap’s persistent spirit had to jump out to protect copyright... Remember when Cao Xueqin didn’t finish "Dream of the Red Chamber," and Gao E helped by writing a sequel? During the Jin Dynasty, Chen Shou completed "Three Kingdoms," and Luo Guanzhong in the Ming Dynasty wrote a fan version "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." None of these had any issues, thus proving Western alchemists just aren’t as generous as Eastern literary scholars...

Of course, all this chaotic thinking was of no help, but aside from these wild thoughts, there really wasn’t much a layman like myself could do at this critical juncture, and standing by my side was Sandora, who was just as clueless about Alchemy as I was...

"Your Majesty, there are three plans now, each feasible, but none guarantee success." A group of experts and scholars had been discussing around the doll girl for almost two hours, and finally, a representative came forward to report to me and Sandora.

It was then that I finally let out a sigh of relief, despite them taking over an hour to come up with a plan, once they opened their mouths, it was worth the three updates — right now, I really wanted to know if they held off publishing their ideas until now just to make it to the top of the charts...

"Start with the one with the highest chance of success." I hurriedly spoke before Sandora, who was accustomed to hearing bad news first to mentally prepare herself to face all difficulties. But I preferred to hear the good news first, to maintain a positive mindset to handle subsequent troubles and because if even this best news despairing, I could just sleep through the rest.

"The highest probability of success lies in body reshaping and soul reassembly," extracting the spiritual part of Miss Mercury Lamp entirely and separating it from the artificial soul carrier known as Rose Mother. The Dingdang Goddess will encapsulate these spiritual bodies into a new soul, then we will place this new soul into a healthy body. The success rate for this is almost one hundred percent; we have extensive experience in this area..."

"But in this process, the original body of Mercury Lamp and her Rose Mother would be discarded," I shook my head with some difficulty, "you can’t understand her feelings. Mercury Lamp would never accept this, even if Luo Zhen is already finished, she would never agree to this proposal."

After all, if even the Artificial Soul left by ’Father’ is destroyed, it’s not just about losing a tooth... Mercury Lamp would fight me desperately.

But if the remaining two options are unreliable, this would have to be the only choice.

"The second option is body repair," said a raven, all ravens look the same to me—they look the same to everyone, so no need to mention names—"Mercury Lamp is an alchemy creature, her physical defects have caused her artificial soul to be unable to bond with the carrier. If we can repair the missing part of her abdomen, perhaps she can recover in the form of an ordinary Rose Maiden."

"That sounds great!" I clapped my hands right away, "Such a simple method and it works, how come you all deliberated for so long? Just make a section of the body, wouldn’t that do it? Tell me, do you use porcelain or titanium alloy?"

As soon as I finished speaking, I felt a murderous aura beside me, turning my face to see, Mercury Lamp, even half-unconscious, began grinding her teeth... What a fierce sixth sense.

"It’s not that simple," Magic Girl... Err, Raven something or other looked worried, "Compared to creating an alchemy creature, repairing one is more troublesome, because every alchemist incorporates many personal skills and habits into their work, and successors must thoroughly understand these peculiar aspects, after all, Rose Maidens aren’t exactly production line items..."

I understand this, a potter from the Song Dynasty probably earned just a few pancakes’ wages for making a furnace of plates, but now, if we break one, we have to spend tens of thousands in monthly salary to hire a specialist to glue them back...

"So you mean, even with your technology, you can’t guarantee the repairs on Mercury Lamp will achieve one hundred percent of the original effect?" I frowned, "Alchemy isn’t considered a high-end skill for you, is it?"

"We are not adept at alchemy..."

The raven, who looked exactly like Silvia, said embarrassedly, accustomed to the dim-witted version of a silver-haired lag, suddenly seeing a smart one threw me off.

"What?" I was immediately confused, "You can pull down Dalaran with one hand, yet you don’t know alchemy?"

The raven looked even more dejected: "Modern humans also hardly know how to make fire by rubbing wood, right?"

Me: "..."

How could this raven be so sharp-tongued?

"If you don’t know this ’inferior’ alchemy, then how are you going to repair Mercury Lamp’s body?"

"It’s not difficult to find a mage skilled in alchemy in the Azeroth, but Azeroth’s alchemy leans more towards manufacturing various mana potions and magic crystals. I’m not sure about the skill of their alchemists in item transmutation and can’t even guarantee that the alchemy principles of the two worlds are compatible. So the success rate of this second method is pending, but it’s arguably the safest one because the entire process does not involve Mercury Lamp’s soul. Even if the experiment fails, she won’t suffer any harm."

"The plan is feasible." I immediately gained confidence in the second plan, and judging by the expression on Sandora’s face, she thought so too.

The main thing is that it’s zero risk. We could try it numerous times without harming Mercury Lamp’s original body. If it doesn’t work, I can recruit a few alchemy experts from thousands of worlds. I can’t believe that such a powerful cross-plane empire couldn’t fix a Rose Maiden!

I’m just worried that after they fix her, Mercury Lamp might turn into something weird like a Mercury Mammoth, Mercury Godzilla, or Mercury Tyrant Tiger...

"The third option... uh, this is info that Bubbles just sent, it wasn’t initially in our consideration. Do you want to hear it?"

"Let’s hear it," I nodded, "That girl is always studying the second dimension. She might have some insights; it’s good to have an alternative."

"She suggests we go find the seven Dragon Balls..."

I should have guessed...

When I reached the platform in the middle of the "Throne of Kings," Mercury Lamp was there, sleeping groggily. She seemed to sense my arrival; her eyelashes fluttered twice, and the doll girl opened her eyes slightly, gazing vaguely in my direction.

Damn, this girl doesn’t recognize people anymore!

"Stupid human, your face is too close!"

I immediately coughed awkwardly and hastily retreated.

"The treatment plan is out," I hurriedly told her about Raven’s two plans—yes, just two plans! Mom can step back—Mercury Lamp listened intently, her facial expression impassive and revealing neither joy nor sadness.

I hesitantly added, "You might not like either approach, but if really necessary, I’ll have them come up with another solution. After all, we have plenty of talented people."

"No need," Mercury Lamp shook her head slightly, her eyes still closed, "I know, if it weren’t for my whims, with your power, this wouldn’t be so complicated, right? For you, even creating new life is just a moment’s effort, so let’s just go with this... I can guess what’s probably happened to my body... Stupid human, just fix me."

Looking at Chairman Mercury, who suddenly switched to a creepy, sickly sweet demeanor, a huge doubt surged in my mind: This girl, didn’t she pick up and eat something bizarre on her way back? This isn’t like you, hey!

When I expressed my doubts, it immediately triggered a strong grudge from the little doll: "If I had the strength now, I wouldn’t let you off!"

The treatment plan for Mercury Lamp ultimately chosen was the second one. Kaelthas and Jaina received our orders and started recruiting the best alchemy masters worldwide. Although the Vedis Empire also counted magic as one of its major forces, their world had not developed alchemy technology, so they couldn’t help. Lola might be able to provide some assistance since her world had alchemy, though not necessarily the masters, but the technical data she provided would definitely be useful. Moreover, from the farther New World, those newly appointed reviewers who had just established a "Macro World" network and were worried about not receiving tasks to enhance their reputation were now enthusiastic participants, feverishly gathering whatever alchemy knowledge their world held...

A little doll touched the hearts of countless people across numerous worlds, and I vaguely felt that this was no longer just an ordinary treatment...(To be continued. For more details, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)