Chapter 278
The Third World seems to be hitting a new turning point, and the Fourth World is continuously undergoing changes too.
Now inside Jeber’s mansion, there are five pregnant women.
One is a person, and the other four are artificial humans. And those crazy creations are made to contain demons or gods.
It’s clear why Jeber was so confident after summoning me.
No one could resist.
Once they entered a body, they were completely dominated by the stimuli of that physical form. None could escape that and lost their minds.
And the artificial humans crafted by Jeber resemble harvesting machines, showing various parts.
So, there’s a lot to see.
The process, surprisingly, is quite scientific.
No, seriously. I thought they were made in a way like a thin book or something?
But nope.
First, the location. They conduct everything in a thoroughly sanitized clean area. The harvesting machines entering that area are also thoroughly disinfected.
Next, the method.
They use a technique similar to artificial insemination on livestock. And they keep an eye on the process, trying until a designated number of attempts has been made.
And sometimes, if too much time has passed, they stick a syringe into the ovary to extract the eggs for artificial fertilization, then put them back into the belly.
They dress them in pure white clothes instead of blue or green, but it all feels so much like it’s happening in a lab.
Now that I think about it, they tried similar methods when they attempted to impregnate my body.
The body I entered seemed fundamentally twisted. From outside it ravenously consumed everything, while what went inside was digested and absorbed.
Regardless, I also researched through the harvesting machine’s eyes.
For instance, where does the soul come from when a child is born?
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out where the light comes from. At some point, the body containing the demon just ended up with two lights inside.
The small light in the abdomen grows larger over time.
And correspondingly, the warmth grows as well.
Conversely, the warmth inside the artificial human’s body diminishes. Yet the light remains as it shows that the light certainly is a vessel containing warmth.
So, that artificial human is hanging on the wall like me, nurturing a baby inside its belly.
The difference is that they are under intensive care from harvesting machines, while I now operate almost like a mechanical part.
Actually, my current state is better.
My body has reverted to that of a normal human. The only differences are that I have a special device embedded in me and a valve that can replace food and blood.
And I still work like a vending machine that recites contract documents when signals come in.
Neferabda, who takes on my role, is also busily working. Well, strictly speaking, the real one is Neferabda, and I’m the mechanical device, right?
If I ever need to walk, I’m curious how our relationship will turn out, but at least for now, as long as this environment continues, I won’t have to stand up.
Just think about it.
They don’t suspect me at all and just help to increase the harvesting machines like a machine, right?
Moreover, they send the harvesting machines to the higher-ups.
Since the artificial humans all have pretty faces, most are used for nighttime work. And as you know, artificial humans can give birth.
That means contracts can be handed down to future generations.
Additionally, Neferabda is out meeting people.
Regular folks.
Those participating in rejuvenation events and those who came to watch.
She’s laying out the setup she learned all too well.
The character she plays is surprisingly a fussy priest.
I think it would be better to have her play a character reminiscent of a pure saint. That would be easier to deceive.
However, Jeber had a lot of troublesome demands and made her play a character that wouldn’t even talk properly if he wasn’t satisfied.
I wondered if that was acceptable, but surprisingly, people seemed to take it easily.
Even with only accepting ten people a day, during work she doesn’t properly show her face and only recites specific phrases; it’s all because they refuse to compromise their beliefs.
With her nasty personality, even though she’s providing rejuvenation, people tend to avoid her.
When I heard the praise for Jeber from the ears of a freshly made harvesting machine, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Neferabda, who dislikes conversing with people, said she was out here because of Jeber. So, the praise must have been planned.
But I can’t help but notice the subtly shabby parts. I feel like she could speak more eloquently to elevate Jeber, yet there’s not a hint of that at all.
Perhaps it’s not as meticulously planned as I thought.
It’s as if she simply created a picky and introverted character to make it less bothersome for the future creators of harvesting machines to find her.
In fact, from the day she first appeared, the number of people wanting to talk to Neferabda has been steadily decreasing.
And those citizens who engage with Neferabda.
They remain clueless, thinking Jeber has become a great wizard and their lives have improved.
What about the children who were kidnapped?
Oh, that’s genuinely amusing.
Jeber spun the tale that it was a plot from the remnants of the Lampivion royal family to take revenge. They kidnapped children to sacrifice them for their evil sorcery.
And he caught the culprits and executed them in the square.
Though they couldn’t find the bodies of all the missing children, they did return some to their families.
It’s all a staged performance.
Yet no one doubts it. Most of the artificial humans created by Jeber have purple hair and exceptionally white skin.
Even Jeber himself nowadays.
However, the people caught this time may have pale skin, but their hair colors vary, and their pale skin isn’t because they’re white, but because it lacks light. Their skin color was just fine.
Jeber has become a man of justice.
Furthermore, another incident helped elevate Jeber’s image.
As his territory began to resemble a new capital, people gathered from various locations, spreading news from other territories through those newcomers.
Yes.
Now, that wizard’s territory has ceased to follow the principles of human compassion.
As they hear tales of the territories exploited to death, the solidarity among citizens living in relatively better conditions keeps growing.
And when I observed that scene from afar, I felt something.
Jeber ibn Haideka.
This man. Clearly cares about how he appears.
Has he seen something different while becoming young and healthy again?
Has he realized something while conquering the royal family?
Did he think that maintaining a semblance of humanity outwardly would be an easier path to longevity?
Or does he even think at all?
Recently, he’s been calling artificial humans made by Bardrol to his bed, mixing them with other wizards. It makes me question if he’s truly thinking after all.
He’s filled his garden with all that live to serve him.
In a way, he seems to have obtained everything he can.
A massive mansion and land that gives everything without effort.
Time and power to do exactly what he wants.
And loyal subordinates who absolutely obey him along with powerful brainwashing techniques.
Plus, he’s made a princess his wife and even had a child. And with the harvesting machines now, he’s acquired a healthy body and long life too, right?
It’s a perfectly perfect life.
While that perfection rolls on, I am automatically harvesting warmth.
Hehe.
The war was somewhat disappointing, but looking ahead to the future and preparing in advance is quite pleasing to see.
In fact, the territory is managing well enough.
For example, a territory where a wizard lives who can attach rotten meat to a person, turning them into a half-living and half-dead corpse. That place has become a village of the dead, with no one daring to enter anymore.
It’s just like that undead race I saw in faded memories.
And the reason he creates such conditions is simple. The more his minions increase, the stronger his magic power becomes.
But do you know?
Those undead created by that wizard, while they are called undead, can’t be produced from just dead corpses. Living people are needed.
But living people don’t get born in his village anymore.
So what needs to be done?
Yes, that’s right.
He needs to invade other territories.
One of the achievements made by the Lampivion royal family until now has been creating a system where, if someone invades, the wizards around join forces to topple them.
Thus, it formed a mutual restraint, keeping each wizard in check, so they couldn’t easily act.
Meanwhile, humans below bought time to advance their technologies. In the process, they aimed to eliminate evil wizards and keep the good wizards instead.
Had this been sustained properly, inhumane wizards would have almost vanished, and ordinary people could have solidified their place as the masters of this world.
The era of gods and humans would end, and the era of wizards and humans would unfold.
But it all failed.
This system, that could’ve been termed a reform, was shattered by Jeber.
To be precise, it’s because of me.
If Jeber didn’t have me, he wouldn’t have gained that psychic ability to flip the situation.
But Jeber turned around in that situation.
And he brought about the downfall of the Lampivion royal family.
With their souls entirely ruined, the princess, who fawns over Jeber day by day, and the decor around her can only watch it happen.
The virtuous have become unfortunate, and the chains of peace woven by that virtue have been torn apart.
The improved system has collapsed, and we’ve returned to the mythological age.
The wizard, placed in the position of a god, freely expands his territory as he wishes.
The first wizard likely to invade another wizard is one that needs living people. He’s already finished preparing for war.
He even devised a strategy that, even if he were to lose, he wouldn’t suffer losses by sending out his undead minions.
It’s not just him who thinks of invading.
There are other wizards who take the brains of children and implant them into golems, gradually transforming citizens into golems. Here too, structurally, without living people, the population cannot grow.
It’s no different from a civilization based on plunder.
The value of life is dropping to mere parts.
Here, preparations for war aren’t officially underway yet, but they will inevitably happen.
The noble republic.
If we consider this a nation, civil war is about to explode.
By lucky chance, Jeber is the head of that wizard, right?
In other words, warmth will flow to me from the bodies used up in that war. I simply can’t wait to see how time unfolds here.