I Hate Systems

Chapter 85: ‘Secret’ Society

‘This engineer is a true genius.’ Compass Carburettor thought, smiling as he asked, “How long would you need to make it?”

“How many do you need? And who would be the one using it? I’ll need to make them efficiently based on the weight of the person using them. So, the time I need might vary accordingly,” The engineer replied.

“Only the two of us,” Compass Carburettor pointed at himself and Duchess.

“Then, let’s measure your weights.” The engineer said, pointing them towards a contraption in the corner. Once their weights were measured, he concluded, “Give me three days, and it would be done.”

“T-Three days?” Everyone except the engineer and his assistants gasped in shock, unable to make sense of it. They wondered if the engineer was simply screwing around with them. Though, upon sensing the emotions in the Mental Energy stream trailing from the engineer towards him, Compass Carburettor shuddered, realising that the other party was calmly stating a fact.

‘He’s no mere genius.’ He understood it now. When he gave the design of the Spydragon to Ephemella, it had taken the engineers under her a month to finish it. And, that was the collective workforce of a kingdom. In contrast, it was a lone engineer with a small group of assistants here.

And, anyone that knew even a bit of information about the creation of Armaments and Puppets knew for a fact that even a month to create something like the Spydragon was amazing.

“Of course,” The engineer nodded as a matter of fact, “But if you don’t provide enough Darble, it won’t be possible for me to finish them. And, the efficiency of the final product would depend on the purity of Darble in it.”

Among Puppets, there were three varieties: Wood, Iron, and Darble. Darble was both heavy and ridiculously tough. It couldn’t even be damaged by normal means. So, the greater the purity of Darble in a Puppet, the stronger it was.

That was why Puppeteers with tremendous wealth would have a Puppet that was completely made from Darble. Though, it would need a kingdom’s worth of wealth to do so. Even for Ephemella, it was unknown if she had a Darble Puppet.

“Give me an estimate of the Darble quantity you need. We’ll provide that. Also,” Compass Carburettor took out his Spydragon, “Can you also make one of these entirely out of Darble?”

“This is…?” The engineer looked at it, asking after a couple of seconds of observation, “Can I dissect it? The design is pretty unique.”

“Please do so,” Compass Carburettor nodded, watching the engineer proceed towards a table where he used a bunch of tools to dissect the Spydragon into its respective parts in a matter of minutes.

He then observed their inner workings, using a magnifying glass to inspect the Darble Circuit powering it and making it function, nodding after a couple of minutes, “The work is pretty great, but the efficiency isn’t much. The Darlac losses can still be minimised. The flight speed and slithering speed too could be improved. It seems the one who created this isn’t completely well-versed with snakes or flight based insects. Using them as a point of reference would improve the design.”

“Actually, I gave them the base design. They just applied it with minor adjustments.” Compass Carburettor interjected.

“Makes sense,” The engineer nodded, “It seems you have applied the logic of basic combustion physics and gear mechanisms. But, the rules change when Darlac is put into the question. So, some flaws are created.”

“I’ll improve it,” The engineer casually commented. Though, his expression was akin to someone that had resigned himself to his fate, behaving as if he would be disposed of the moment this project was completed.

‘Anyone with a tenth of a brain cell wouldn’t ever think about disposing of someone as great as him.’ Compass Carburettor thought about the engineer, sighing as he turned around, instructing Dentle through telepathy, “When they are completed, send someone to transport them to us. We’ll be making our way towards the southern tip of the Heroica Empire until then.”

“Yes, Lord Spirit,” Dentle replied, continuing with assisting the engineer in his work. Moreover, it seemed he was genuinely interested in the craft, expressing zealous curiosity as he stuck to the engineer like a leech and observed all his actions.

‘Insatiable curiosity is what creates a genius.’ Smirking, Compass Carburettor accompanied Duchess as they exited the workshop, returning to their inn as they packed all their belongings.

A carriage was already waiting for them outside the inn. A Grogar that had taken on a human form acted as the driver. They had a tremendous wealth to use—having taken everything that belonged to the underground.

And that included numerous workshops, hotels, houses, etc. All the places were now used by the Grogars to manage various things. This way, Kettle City would truly become their base of operations. And, the wealth they had would also help them to go about with their tasks—to spread the symbol of Secret Society and get more people to pray for it.

Whenever someone would be troubled, they would pray to the symbol to seek help. And, Duchess would feel such pleas since Compass Carburettor made her the intermediary. She would sense Mental Energy streams full of trouble, sadness and other accompanying emotions.

She wasn’t naturally capable of sensing Mental Energy streams. After all, it was an ability exclusive to Systems and System Slayers. But, using Secret Society, Compass Carburettor made her act as a gateway that would also feel them. Though, all the Mental Energy streams would gush into him in the end.

He realised that him granting her Anthozoa allowed her to act as his representative. There was also the option to retract Anthozoa from her and Bestow her Secret Society instead. That would allow her to recruit more people into the fold.

After all, having sensed the pleas for help, Duchess would dispatch members of Secret Society to the spot and help the troubled victims. This way, their devotion towards the symbol would increase. And in the future, if their devotion crossed 10 units, they could then be recruited into Secret Society.

Though, Compass Carburettor had zero plans to recruit anyone that won’t play any role. He didn’t wish to expand his organisation without limit. After all, the title of it was Secret Society, with the word ‘Secret’ in it.

So, he realised that the moment it became mainstream is when it would lose its purpose. So, he could only disseminate it through select few channels. At present, his only goal was to create more sources of Mental Energy.