Chapter 433: You're Really a Dog
Before Enma had even finished speaking, Steven saw her previously solid body suddenly wobble. Then, like an old-fashioned TV losing its signal, she jittered twice before collapsing back into the form of a long blade, clattering onto the ground with a crisp, ringing chime.
Puzzled, Steven stepped closer and picked it up. Only then did he notice that the strand of green thread on the hilt had somehow turned gray, as if it had been completely drained. However, the moment he tightened his grip on the blade, that faint green glow began to recover—slowly, but unmistakably.
"So that's why you didn't explain it clearly," Steven muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching. "You were planning to keep you in that previous state so I'd continuously recharge you, weren't you?"
At first, he'd been genuinely worried about what was wrong with Enma. But after seeing this, her little scheme became painfully obvious.
If he kept upgrading her sharpness, that meant constantly feeding her materials. And that, in turn, meant frequently summoning her out—allowing her to maintain that humanoid form and stick around his side more consistently.
But under normal circumstances, he'd just toss her into his inventory. Until he obtained enough power tied to the Law of this world, there was no real reason for him to use her that often.
After all, Steven knew perfectly well that his most frequently used weapon was his own fists. As for something like Yamato, it was mostly just for showing off.
After a quick calculation, Steven decided he wouldn't be needing this thing for the time being. Ignoring Yamato's dissatisfied sword hum, he decisively stuffed it back into his inventory. To prevent a repeat of her sneaking out on her own, he even went so far as to lock her inside an Ender Chest.
A chest completely bound to him like this wouldn't be something Enma could escape from so easily.
But Enma's value wasn't limited to simply separating the things attached to Gladiia and the other Abyssal Hunters. Once Steven realized that she could, to some extent, use Minecraft items just like he could, an idea had already begun to form in his mind.
Everyone knew that in Minecraft, only the areas around the player and the spawn point were constantly loaded. Once the player moved far enough away, the world would freeze in place until they returned.
That was why most production setups and AFK farms required the player to stay nearby to function. It was also the reason many modded players liked building their homes near the spawn point—so that even when they were off adventuring, their machines would keep running.
But this world clearly didn't have a spawn point that stayed permanently loaded. Steven had tested it himself: many mechanisms that worked perfectly when he was nearby would immediately shut down once he moved beyond a certain range.
Enma's arrival, however, solved this problem in a roundabout way.
As an item bound to him—essentially a part of himself—the world's loading rule should apply to her as well. And with that, his room for maneuver suddenly became much, much larger.
For example, things like mob farms of all kinds, or fully automated crop farms.
All he'd need to do later was stick this sword nearby, and he'd be free to wander off elsewhere without a care in the world.
The moment Steven realized this, the corner of his mouth curled into a smile befitting a true capitalist. As the proud developer who had just unlocked yet another hidden function of Enma, he felt he had every right to be smug about it.
Meanwhile, Enma—now stuffed inside an Ender Chest—probably had no idea that her master was far more inhuman than she had imagined.
That said, after communicating with Enma for a while, Steven at least had a rough solution in mind. For now, the only beings he knew who possessed fragments of this world's authority seemed to be Nian and that Sea God lurking in the ocean. Still, having a target was better than nothing.
And once there was a target, everything else was easy for him. At worst, it was just a matter of time.
"Then I should go ask Nian first," Steven muttered to himself. "If she's a so-called fragment of a god, then there should be others like her, right? And if that's the case, all I need to do is find them and skim off a bit of that so-called authority."
He slapped his fist into his palm, having made up his mind. Steven immediately got up and returned to his room. After washing up again, dawn had already arrived.
But before he could even head out, he was blocked at the door by the early-rising little white horse next door.
Centaurea grabbed his arm with both hands, pressing close as if she were about to interrogate him with her tablet.
"Why didn't I see you at all yesterday?" she demanded. "And why are you taking a shower so early in the morning? Did something happen? Are you feeling guilty about something?"
She frowned slightly and sniffed at him. Only the scent of body wash lingered on Steven, yet Centaurea stared straight into his eyes like a girlfriend doing a surprise inspection.
"You were sleeping so soundly yesterday that I didn't want to disturb you," Steven replied with a shrug, his gaze calm and clear. "I've got my own things to take care of, you know. As for the shower—well, I got splashed with blood earlier. Not washing up would've been unbearable."
Everything he said was true. He'd just… conveniently omitted a few details.
"Hmph."
Clearly unconvinced, Centaurea raised an eyebrow. "Then why have I been hearing rumors that you're planning to film some kind of weird little movie around here? What, are you entering the film industry now? And don't tell me it's not some shady production."
Steven opened his mouth, ready to explain that whatever he was planning had absolutely nothing to do with the kind of small movies she was imagining—
When suddenly—
"Hey, boss! I've got a great new idea! What do you think about adding a bit of bed scene fanservice as a selling point?"
A girl carrying a small video camera popped up at the doorway at the worst possible moment. She was wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words 'Miss Photographer, Class of '92'.
The atmosphere in the room instantly dropped.
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152281351?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/152281351?collection=55713
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed