Chapter 1924: Chapter 1924

"When you think about it, it makes sense. How could ordinary metal possess the quality of pure knowledge? Since this sphere can merge with a physical body and communicate with its spirit to enact change, it should also be able to merge with the symbol of an ability, which is essentially a crystallization of spirit. Go on, give it a try. I'll be here watching."

Alexia encouraged him.

Jenkins had the strange feeling that Alexia was actually using him for an experiment. If he succeeded, she would undoubtedly try to fuse her own cube, which had already transformed into a blue魔方, with all sorts of strange things.

But he was curious too, so he hesitated no longer. He placed the cat on the table for a moment, held the book in his right hand, and pinched the hollow sphere with his left. He let go. The sphere dropped onto the book's surface and bounced twice from the impact, but instead of rolling off the tilted cover, it melted into the book like butter dropped into a hot pan.

The faint blue light spread across the book's surface but was quickly absorbed by the iron-gray cover.

This caused a slight change in the book's appearance. First, two gears appeared on the front and back covers, one spinning clockwise and the other counter-clockwise. A bronze one was on the front, and a brass one was on the back.

Second, a vertical line of characters appeared on the previously blank cover, formed by vine-like runes with a faint green glow entwined with gear-shaped runes that gave off a faint blue light.

But neither Jenkins nor Alexia could decipher the meaning of this string of characters.

"Well? Has your ability changed?"

"The ability's name is still the white, basic [Mechanist], but I can feel the ability itself has changed."

He said, opening the book to look at it closely.

To both Chocolate and Alexia, the pages were completely blank, yet Jenkins was studying them with great concentration.

"The data from that core... it's all recorded in here now."

He remarked, then waved his hand, summoning the bronze mechanical bird from the book.

Chocolate was annoyed by any pet that got close to Jenkins, but it didn't dis bird, because it knew the bird wasn't a living thing at all.

"Look, the mechanical bird has become more refined. See the runes on its wings?"

Jenkins said, making it fly up.

"I now have a degree of shared vision with it. It's not a complete link, just blurry fragments. Also, the [Mechanist] ability allows me to sense Difference Engine creations within a certain range. You know, even though they both use mechanical and gear technology, the Difference Engine's theories are very different from the principles of the Church of Machines."

"By merging with its discarded core, I can sense the traces of those unique creations."

He closed his eyes and let his mind spread outwards.

"At least around St. George Avenue, there are no spies from the Difference Engine."

"It was just severely wounded by the God of Lies this afternoon. How could it possibly rush back to probe so quickly?"

Besides the core, there was another unexpected gain today: the "treasure" that Hooded Man and his companions had found. It was this very treasure, which no one had initially thought much of, that had triggered the first direct confrontation between the God of Lies and the Difference Engine that afternoon.

Although the afternoon had been full of surprises, Hathaway eventually managed to bring the "treasure" back home to St. George Avenue, with Chocolate in tow.

After returning home, she had been so preoccupied with the question of Jenkins's identity that she had no mind to examine the contents of the bronze box. Thus, before Jenkins looked inside, no one knew what it held.

Jenkins called Hathaway over, and together with Alexia, they opened it. In the glow of the gas lamp, a single gear lay inside the box.

It was utterly plain, a direct reference to the foundation of this era's mechanical engineering. Only an item of this significance would capture Jenkins's attention while also tempting the Difference Engine to risk its core by surfacing.

By now, the treasure had lost the heart-stirring allure it possessed when Hathaway and the others first broke the small statue to find it. It lay unassumingly in the box, and only when Jenkins picked it up did he learn its function.

It was a remarkably simple, unadorned ability. This gear could replace any gear. No matter the machine, if a gear was missing, this one could take its place.

While it might not sound very useful, this function indicated that the gear could be considered the incarnation of the very concept of a "gear."

Perhaps to an ordinary person, what Jenkins now held was merely a "universal part," but to a being like the Difference Engine, which was itself a purely mechanical structure, incorporating this gear would be a conceptual sublimation. It would elevate the "gear" concept from an individual part to an integrated whole, and might even give the Difference Engine a chance to contest the divine domain of the god worshiped by the Gearsmiths' Guild.

Of course, it was just a possibility. The Difference Engine would not needlessly provoke another god to be its enemy at a time , especially when that god had shown no reaction to the cooperation between its believers and the Engine.

But regardless, this gear was of monumental importance to the Difference Engine, perhaps even more so than the wrench that could repair it.

As for Jenkins, both his soul and body had an extraordinary affinity for mechanical power. This gear, representing the essence of "gear," would also be a significant aid for him to advance further on his mechanical path.

Leaving this gear lying around would only invite another attempt by the Difference Engine to seize it. Therefore, Jenkins knew he had to either destroy it or "use" it as soon as possible.

"But why now? Why would something appear in Nolan so coincidentally? Is the world itself pushing for the end of this epoch? Otherwise, there's no reason for such a rare item to appear in the same area where both the Difference Engine and I are present."

"So, what are you going to do with it?"

Alexia asked. Her path was mathematics, and Hathaway was a Benefactor born from the system of music; neither had any need for this gear. As for Jessica, Dolores, and Sigrid, it went without saying. None of the young women around Jenkins needed it.

"I'm thinking about something..."

Jenkins pondered for a moment, then recounted the possibility world he had experienced with Jessica and Magic Miss. The two intelligent women immediately understood his thoughts.

"You want to create the pistol used by that wanted man, Williamette?"

In the world where the stranger had not arrived, Jenkins Williamette had twice become a member of the Gearsmiths' Guild, and both times he wielded the same pistol. The bullets fired from that gun could even briefly shatter the barrier of space upon impact.

The spatial barrier of the material world was incredibly sturdy. Aside from abilities like Unicorn Summoning, not even the cannon that had extended from the brass door that afternoon had been able to break it.

Jenkins had touched that gun twice. [Mechanist] had allowed him to fully comprehend its internal structure. At the same time, though that other self was different from him, the combination of life and mechanical power was something Jenkins could also achieve.

So, with this gear in hand, combined with the knowledge from the Difference Engine he had just acquired, and finally adding the alchemical data passed down through Carmel's family for several epochs, replicating that pistol was not entirely impossible.

"But you don't want to do that, do you?"

Alexia, quite familiar with Jenkins's way of thinking, voiced his thoughts.

"No, I don't. It might sound ridiculous, but I believe there's a significant difference between him and me. Since that difference exists, it's best not to let us have any more in common."

As Hathaway understood it, this meant Jenkins was worried about being tainted by the fate of the Jenkins who would never appear. But Chocolate understood on a deeper level: Jenkins simply wanted no connection whatsoever with the original Jenkins. He was always trying to maintain his own independence, yet ironically, he was already independent to begin with.

"Then what will you do with it?" Official source ıs novel·fiɾe·net

Hathaway asked again.

Jenkins thought for a moment, then raised his right hand and summoned the miner's lamp that represented [Mechanical Light]. Whether viewed up close or from afar, it was an exquisite work of art.

"I was thinking, since the core could be absorbed by my [Mechanist] ability, can this be absorbed by this lamp?"

He shook the gear in his left hand.

Alexia urged, and even the cat looked over, not having considered this possibility either.

"But the core you mentioned had a functional overlap with your ability; both recorded knowledge, so it was possible for them to merge. What's the connection between this gear and this lamp?"

Hathaway hadn't seen Jenkins use this ability in person and had only heard rumors about it. Therefore, even though the lamp's exterior was an assembly of countless tiny metal parts, she still didn't connect it with the gear.

Saying this, he directed the lamp's light at the pen holder on the desk. Before the eyes of the three people and one cat, the pen holder collapsed like a sand pile into a conical mound.

Only when Hathaway moved closer did she realize it wasn't sand, but minuscule gears.

"Theoretically, I can break down any object into gears ."

Jenkins nodded, then, under the watchful eyes of Hathaway and Alexia, he pressed the gear against the surface of the miner's lamp.

Chocolate stretched its front paws forward, arching its back in a long stretch.

"Sorry, I think it should be ."

He then very carefully opened the lamp's cover, something he had never done before, and placed the gear in the center of the light inside.