Chapter 106: The Fanatical Devotee
Dr. Mirror's gaze returned to the blueprint, landing on the engine section.
"Perhaps the engine could be modified." Her voice grew steadily more excited. "Since utilizing petroleum energy still requires an accompanying refining and storage system, why not skip an entire stage altogether? Use soul power as the power source and design a soul-power-driven engine."
"In that case, we would need an accompanying soul power storage device... The existing Milk Bottle soul tools have far too little capacity, and their duration is too short. They must be redesigned."
She swiftly pulled out a blank sheet of paper and began sketching. The tip of her pen flew across the page, drawing one exquisite gear after another, pipes, and soul power circuits. A soul power engine—if successful—would be a revolutionary breakthrough. There would be no need to rely on external fuel. Soul masters could directly drive vehicles with their own soul power. Ordinary people could use pre-charged soul power storage units...
But her train of thought quickly jumped to another direction.
"Still—compared to automobiles, weapons are more important." Dr. Mirror set down her pen, her eyes sharpening.
She rose and walked toward the work area on the other side of the room. The tabletop there was arrayed with all manner of metal creations: pistols, rifles, submachine guns, sniper rifles, along with several rough, rugged rocket launcher prototypes. Every piece gleamed with cold, metallic luster. Some were even inlaid with soul tool cores, radiating faint pulses of energy.
"If war is to come in the future..." Dr. Mirror picked up an improved model of a soul-conduction rifle and expertly checked the bolt and the soul power conduction groove. "These firearms we mass-produce—and the new-model soul tools built from their templates—will change the very shape of warfare."
Her voice carried a conviction that bordered on cold ruthlessness. "Her Holiness's ambitions are not confined to a single Star Luo Empire. Although high-ranked soul masters will remain irreplaceable on the front lines of direct confrontation, with these new-model soul tools, we can seize decisive advantages in skirmishes, guerrilla warfare, and urban combat."
She set down the rifle and walked to the window, gazing into the distance. "Imagine: a rank-thirty soul master, wielding a fully charged soul-conduction sniper rifle, could threaten a Soul Sage or even a Soul Douluo–level opponent from over a thousand meters away. Ten ordinary soldiers, equipped with fully automatic soul-conduction rifles, could suppress—even eliminate—a Soul Sage."
She turned around, and a blazing, incandescent light burned in her eyes. "Ten thousand years ago, the Sea God Tang San's Tang Sect hidden weapons could kill Soul Douluo and even Titled Douluo–level powerhouses."
"Today, we have even more precise mechanical structures, even more powerful soul tool technology, and these design blueprints Her Holiness has provided—designs that transcend the era itself..."
She spread her arms wide, as if to embrace the entire future. "We are fully capable of producing new-model weapons and equipment that far surpass the current level of the Sun Moon Empire. No—not just surpass. Overwhelm."
The other scholars in the research lab had all stopped their work and were listening in silence. They had heard these ideas countless times before. Yet every time they heard them, they still felt their blood surge.
Dr. Mirror walked to the wall, where an enormous map of the Douluo Continent hung.
"With Her Holiness's natural talent, and using the Star Luo Empire as a springboard—conquering the entire continent is no problem at all." Her voice was low and powerful, as if proclaiming a prophecy. "The Douluo Continent belongs to our Church of the Water God. Those decaying empires, those rigid sects, those hypocritical nobles... They will become the foundation stones of the new world. And the filthy evil soul masters—"
Her eyes turned abruptly, absolutely frigid. "—will be slaughtered by us to the very last. Not a single one will remain."
She paused, then suddenly laughed. That laughter was brimming with reverence and zeal. "As expected of Her Holiness. Her thinking is so thoroughly comprehensive. From the people's livelihood to military affairs, from technology to ideology... And our objective—is to help Her Holiness realize this ideal. With our own hands, we will forge the tools she needs. With our wisdom, we will bring to life the blueprint she has painted."
She grew ever more impassioned as she spoke, her voice resonating through the research lab. "And those things Her Holiness has spoken of—the 'airplane,' a flying soul tool capable of transporting large numbers of people at once; the 'rocket,' which can pierce through the clouds, break through the sky, and even land upon the moon... These are ideas that span across eras! They are grand undertakings that ordinary mortals wouldn't even dare to dream of!"
Dr. Mirror spun around sharply to face all the researchers. Her face was flushed with excitement, her eyes alarmingly bright. "I imagine not even the Sun Moon Empire could achieve such things, could they? While they're still puffing up with pride over their sixth-tier soul tools, we are already standing at a far higher starting point."
Her voice shot up sharply, carrying an almost crazed piety. "So beautiful. So brilliant. Only a god could conceive of such things. Only a god could achieve them! And only our Church of the Water God's Pope—Lady Furina—can lead us toward such a future!"
She spread her arms wide once more, as if to embrace the entire research lab, embrace those silent machines, embrace that new world yet to descend.
The scholars around her watched in silence. No one was surprised. No one tried to dissuade her.
They had long since grown accustomed to this. In ordinary times, Dr. Mirror was calm, rational, and precise—like a finely tuned soul-conduction computer. But whenever the conversation turned to Pope Furina's vision, to those ideas that transcended the era, she would transform into this: fanatical, obsessed, as if filled with some sacred mission.
She was no different from those three Doctors—Dayou, Damu, and X—whom she so often spoke of. But this was a sentence no one dared to utter aloud.
After several seconds, Dr. Mirror slowly lowered her arms and drew a deep breath.
The flush on her face gradually receded. The clarity returned to her eyes. She straightened her somewhat disheveled white lab coat collar, walked back to her workstation, and picked up her pen once more.
"Let's continue working," she said, her voice already restored to its usual calm. "The chassis welding for the first automobile must be completed this afternoon. I want to see the revised plans for the third-version design of the soul power engine before dinner."
The sounds of metal clinking, blueprints rustling, and low, murmured discussion resumed throughout the research lab. Everything returned to normal.
Only—in the gaps between bending over her sketches—the corner of Dr. Mirror's lips would unconsciously curve upward. It was a smile that mingled longing, loyalty, and boundless ambition.
And far away, Neuvillette had just finished reviewing a report on the construction of the new research building.
The Research Department seemed to have quieted down.
He had no way of knowing what currents of thought were surging beneath that temporary silence, what creations were being nurtured, what blazing faith was burning.
But perhaps—not knowing was also a blessing.
At least tonight, he could get a peaceful night's sleep.
On the other side, Furina sneezed out of nowhere. "Ah-choo! Is someone thinking about me?"
After all, even she herself had no idea that she had somehow acquired a fanatical devotee—and one created entirely because of her own actions.