Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 83 Remnants of the Past

"The truth of the world has been buried by lies, and truth is the only knife that can give it new life."

"Truth?" Karl murmured to himself, recognizing the handwriting on the paper as that of Professor Derwent.

He silently memorized the sentence and the address with coordinates, then brought his index finger close to the paper, and a flame appeared at his fingertip.

Carl tossed the burning paper into the trash can, the flames flickering in his pupils.

However, his mind was far from calm. He didn't know what to do next, or whether he should go to that address.

Professor Devont's gentle smile inexplicably appeared in his mind.

With that thought in mind, he took a deep breath and decided to find out what was going on after midnight, away from everyone.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side, Suren finished her dinner alone and was walking back home.

He was still pondering Carl's strange question from earlier. However, Ellie's occasional whispers made it impossible for him to concentrate.

Having finally returned to her residence, Suren locked the door from the inside, turned on the gaslight, drew the curtains, and then went to the table.

No matter how dangerous it was to establish a soul bond with the "Aksha Relics", Suren decided to give it a try, after all, he would rather die than lose himself.

Suren took out her notebook, tore off a piece of white paper, then took out a dip pen, dipped it in the special ink she had bought earlier, and began to draw a magic circle belonging to "Secret Knowledge".

The main principle of the Soul Pact Ritual is to establish a soul connection between the superhuman and the corresponding item. Therefore, it does not require too many materials to stabilize the magic circle, and the amount of ink needed is also small. It is enough to draw a small magic circle.

If it's just a simple soul bond ritual with an ordinary object, it only takes a few minutes from start to finish. But the soul bond ritual for the "Aksha Relic" is completely different.

According to the book that Suren had read before, the author had seen three people attempt to upgrade the "Aksha Relic". Although all three successfully upgraded the "Aksha Relic" to the second stage, strictly speaking, only one person succeeded.

After the ritual, the two individuals' personalities became unrecognizable, and ultimately, driven by extreme emotions, they committed many extreme acts, leading to their demise.

Based on this record, Suren could roughly guess that this soul contract ritual was most likely a test of mental strength.

After some time, Suren had finished drawing the magic circle. He took out the "Tears of Ellie" and held it tightly in his right hand. He also took out the extraordinary material with the "sturdy" property that he had prepared in advance and placed it on the magic circle.

He sat in the chair, solemnly reciting the ritual incantation:

"Based on 'secret knowledge'—"

"It wields the power of secrecy, spying, keeping secrets, and recording."

"I will uphold the principle of secrecy for the rest of my life."

"With this ritual, I forge a soul pact between my soul and the object in my hand!"

As the last word fell, the magic circle emitted a purple light. As the light shone, Suren felt his consciousness being gradually stripped away, establishing a special connection with "Ellie's Tears".

A wave of exhaustion washed over him, and Suren felt his eyelids grow incredibly heavy. He tried to resist the feeling, but it felt as if he were being dragged into the depths of his consciousness by some force…

"Wake up! Captain Su Chen!"

After an unknown amount of time, a familiar voice rang out, and Suren slowly opened his eyes.

Before him, a dark-haired youth was looking at him with concern, but seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing Suren wake up.

The scene before him gradually became clear, and when Suren saw the person in front of him, he couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment, "Deming!?"

The man called Deming frowned, touched Suren's forehead, and asked with concern, "Captain, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost?"

Suren struggled to his feet, pressing his aching temples, feeling a fog in his mind.

A few seconds later, he remembered his identity—the captain of "Silent Chords." He was leading his team on a mission, and the young man in front of him was his teammate who had been through thick and thin with him for many years—Deming.

He looked around and found that he was in a relatively empty shopping mall, which was the location of the clearance operation. The mall's personnel had already been evacuated.

Behind Deming stood a girl with long brown hair, wearing the same style of uniform as Deming.

Suren searched her memory with difficulty and remembered that the girl's name was Ellie, and she was a newcomer who had just joined "Silent Chords".

"I'm fine, but my mind is a bit muddled, and I can't remember some things," he said with some difficulty, the pain in his head making it hard for him to concentrate.

"You were almost hit by the falling pillar just now. Although I pushed you out of the way in time, you might have hit your head." Dai Ming looked at Suren with concern, his face showing genuine worry. "You didn't get a concussion, did you?"

Suren nodded and waved his hand, saying, "Don't worry, the facilities in the Administration Bureau are sufficient for treatment after the mission is completed. Let's deal with the strange tales first."

Hearing Suren's words, Deming stopped trying to persuade him. He took out a compass-like object from the inner pocket of his uniform, examined it carefully for a moment, and then pointed in a direction: "The ghost story is in that direction."

"Let's move out." Suren nodded, said nothing more, and led the way carefully in that direction.

During the journey, Suren felt a strong sense of unease about everything around him, and he was also filled with a sense of unease, but he could not find the source of these strange feelings.

He could only forcefully suppress this strange emotion, after all, he was still in the midst of the ghost story elimination mission and could not afford to be distracted.

The three followed the "compass" forward. Whether it was due to years of disrepair or other reasons, pillars, shelves and other things would fall over from time to time. Fortunately, Suren and Deming were both well-trained B-level administrators, and with their help, Ellie only suffered some minor injuries.

Suren tried hard to recall information about this strange tale, but couldn't remember a single thing. She looked at Deming and asked, "What caused this strange tale to happen?"

The three of them were walking up the stairs to the third floor, but Suren did not hear Deming's reply, which made the strange feeling in his heart even stronger.

The moment he turned around, he felt dizzy and the scene before him changed instantly.

The scene before them was no longer the stairwell, but directly to the third floor. Deming, who had been pierced by steel bars, was stretching out his right hand, seemingly asking Suren for help, with a look of astonishment on his face.

Ellie was kneeling at Suren's feet, her face streaked with tears.

Suren stared wide-eyed at the scene before him, unable to comprehend what was happening, only feeling a powerful emotion welling up within him.

He seemed to have had the same dream countless times, in which Deming died before his eyes time and time again, yet he was powerless to stop it each time. A strong sense of resentment welled up in his heart, making him feel a little suffocated in his chest.

"Captain... I don't want to die... I don't want to die here..."

"Deming is dead... You'll protect me, right? You're the captain... You'll protect me, right?"

Ellie's voice rang in his ears, making it hard for Suren to breathe.

Tears of life.

The name of an item inexplicably appeared in Suren's mind.

Suren was stunned for a moment, then found himself holding a teardrop-shaped crystal. It was a special item that the Administration had given him before the mission. All he had to do was crush it to save another person at the cost of the user.

"Crush it!"

"Crushing it could save Deming!"

"You will have no regrets!"

Whispers exploded in Suren's mind, intertwining and leaving him with only one thought: "Crush it!"