Bernadette looked up at Leyton, who had appeared in the captain's cabin, and had an invisible servant move a pre-prepared chair in front of the desk before speaking, "I remember you prefer coffee, but my ship only has Intisian style."
As she spoke, another invisible servant came up with a palm-sized metal box and placed it in front of Leyton.
Before Leyton opened the box, Bernadette explained, "This is a Sequence 4 Sealed Artifact from the Eternal Blazing Sun Church, a trophy I obtained during a conflict with Intis officials. It corresponds to the Cataclysmic Interrer of the Storm Pathway."
"I will find the remaining two Beyonder characteristics for you as soon as possible, or I will substitute them with the corresponding main ingredients for the potion. I happen to know the whereabouts of an adult Sun God Bird."
"No problem."
Leyton nodded slightly and took out the Mystical Item from the metal box. It was an anchor-shaped brooch covered with symbols of storms, lightning, and waves. It was golden-blue overall, cool to the touch, and heavy.
After examining the anchor brooch in his hand for a moment, he suddenly squeezed his right hand holding the brooch. As specks of starlight emerged, the brooch cracked inch by inch, turning into fragments that slipped through the gaps in his fingers, which were covered by a mechanical glove.
Tiny specks of cyan-blue light appeared around him, then were violently sucked into the large mouth that had opened on the palm of the mechanical glove.
In less than half a minute, the cyan-blue light specks that had precipitated around him disappeared completely, and on the back of the mechanical glove, a cyan-blue gem emerged, replacing the lost dark red gem.
Snap!
Leyton raised his hand and snapped his fingers. A wailing wind exploded in the captain's cabin, blowing open all the surrounding doors and windows. It intertwined with the howling gales from the sea, sweeping the docked Dawn forward.
A deep pale purple flashed in Bernadette's eyes. Her gaze fell on the mechanical glove on Leyton's right hand, and she asked in a calm voice, "Is this glove a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact of the Savant Pathway?"
"That's right." Leyton nodded slightly, then added, "Do you have materials on your ship? I can create a mechanical puppet to house this Earl of the Fallen characteristic, and transfer your father's consciousness. The madness inherent in the Beyonder characteristic is not friendly to his current state."
Bernadette nodded gently and said, "I have some. I'll have an invisible servant fetch them."
After the Dawn was pushed a distance by the howling wind, the surrounding wind gradually quieted down. Bernadette got up from the table and chair, summoned an invisible servant to retrieve the materials, then walked to the window and threw out a deck of cards.
The cards rapidly expanded and distorted in mid-air, turning into poker soldiers holding spears or straight swords. They landed in various parts of the Dawn, skillfully operating the huge sailing ship and beginning to return to port.
Leyton leaned back in his chair, watching Bernadette turn playing cards into poker soldiers. A thought suddenly popped into his mind, and he pondered, "You really like fairy tale-like Mystical Reenactment? Are you interested in becoming an angel who presides over fairy tales and mysteries?"
"I plan to use the authority of knowledge to forge a story world composed of countless stories and legends. It's somewhat similar to the Spirit World, formed by various pieces of information, both false and true."
Bernadette was silent for a moment, then said with great certainty, "You are preparing for a god-ascension ritual?"
"That's right." Leyton nodded slightly, not hiding anything.
Bernadette fell silent again.
Leyton leaned against the seat, smiling, "You can take your time to consider."
A few minutes later, the invisible servants brought materials from the Dawn's warehouse and piled them in front of Leyton.
Bernadette gestured with her eyes towards the materials piled on the floor and said, "These are the only materials on the ship. If it's not enough, I can have a messenger send some over."
"It's enough. It's just a mechanical puppet. Controlling its appearance and size will do." Leyton nodded in response while beginning to select various materials piled on the floor.
Bernadette watched Leyton, who had already started selecting materials, and had a faint premonition that something was not quite right.
After selecting the materials, Leyton gently rubbed his fingers together. The materials piled on the floor flew up one by one, landing on the neatly arranged desk beside him.
His right hand, wearing the mechanical glove, tapped on each material. They quickly shattered, turning into fragments that covered the entire tabletop.
Specks of starlight flickered into existence, and the fragmented materials spontaneously floated upwards, like fine grains of sand, rapidly moving and intertwining in mid-air, forming a mass, as if constructing intricate circuit structures.
Bernadette watched for a while before withdrawing her gaze. She had the invisible servants put the remaining materials back into the warehouse, then sat by the captain's cabin window, sipping coffee and looking out at the gradually gathering dark clouds and increasingly turbulent waves.
"The storm is coming soon..." she murmured to herself, as specks of brilliant starlight emanated from her.
The next moment, the Dawn, sailing on the sea, suddenly became transparent, then ethereal, turning into a pile of foam.
These bubbles, illuminated by the silver-white lightning, reflected a pale light. The bubbles dispersed and floated away, vanishing in an instant.
When the Dawn reappeared, it was already on the other side of the storm's center, sailing away towards the outer edge of the storm circle.
Leyton, who was making the mechanical puppet at the desk, suddenly spoke, "You can spread the name of Emperor Roselle more discreetly, preparing enough anchors for him in advance. This can help him resist corruption during the resurrection process."
Bernadette asked with some concern, "Won't overly strong faith forcibly trigger his resurrection process?"
"There's a possibility, but you'll likely find it difficult to gain him so many loyal followers in a short period. Most of the faith in this world isn't as devout as they imagine."
As Leyton spoke with a sigh, numerous metal fragments converged like a tide in his hands, quickly forming a black-and-white penguin with fine, soft fur.
"...This is?" Bernadette looked at the strange creature that appeared in Leyton's hand, unsure how to react.
"Materials are limited, so Emperor Roselle will have to make do for now. He won't mind. Later, you can find Bornova to re-forge a body for him."
As he spoke, Leyton embedded the dark red gem from the tabletop into the red bow tie at the penguin's neck.
Within the dark red gem, countless shadows seemed to flow and dissipate.
Soon, each of the penguin's eyes reflected an incongruous pattern composed of a distorted crown, a clock, and wings. Dark red light flowed in its deep black eyes.
Gradually, the mechanical penguin's eyes began to show human emotions, slowly coming to life.
After a brief moment of stunned silence and thought, it stood on the desk and burst out laughing, "Intis, your emperor has returned!"
"Hmm, no, why are you all so tall? No, why have I shrunk?"
The penguin Roselle quickly discovered the problem. He fumbled over his body with both hands. It felt fluffy, and he no longer had fingers.
"Damn it, what have you made me into?!"
The penguin Roselle shouted loudly while jumping to the full-length mirror positioned in the corner of the wall.
Seeing the penguin, which was only as tall as an adult's lower leg, in the mirror, Roselle's expression gradually froze, then his cheeks turned red, as if scorched by fire, and black smoke seemed to rise from his head.
"You scoundrel!" the penguin Roselle roared, quickly leaping from the floor and delivering a flying kick towards Leyton.
This small penguin's body erupted with unimaginable power. Its yellow feet, carrying the momentum to capsize the Dawn, slammed towards Leyton's face.
Leyton chuckled, and a faint blue light rippled like water in front of him. The penguin Roselle's figure passed directly through this "Door" and was teleported onto the sea outside the cabin.
Bernadette controlled her expression, looking out at the sea from the open bay window. Seeing that the strange mechanical puppet, occupied by her father's consciousness, had stabilized itself and was already leaping from the sea towards the Dawn's captain's cabin, she finally relaxed.
Then, she looked at Leyton with a complex expression. She was now certain that he had deliberately made the mechanical puppet look like this.
However, she was still somewhat puzzled. The two of them clearly didn't know each other, and weren't even from the same era, yet they got along like old friends.
The penguin Roselle flew angrily through the captain's cabin window. Its figure strangely froze in mid-air for a moment, and after adjusting its posture, it landed directly on the desk, hands on its hips, glaring furiously at Leyton, "You scoundrel, you actually turned my wise and mighty image into a clumsy penguin!"
Leyton spread his hands and explained softly, "Actually, I prefer pandas, but there weren't enough materials on the ship."
"Then you should have waited until you gathered enough materials to build it! No, pandas won't do either!"
"This clumsy mechanical puppet body is affecting my thinking."
The penguin Roselle pressed one hand to his chest and the other to his forehead, looking as if he had been greatly provoked.
Leyton raised his hand and tapped the penguin Roselle's head, saying, "First, you are not Roselle, merely a projection of his consciousness. The true Roselle is still stuck in a half-dead state."
"Secondly, there's nothing wrong with the puppet I made. Don't attribute intelligence issues to my work."
The penguin Roselle glared at Leyton in annoyance and roared, "Get lost! What if I'm just a consciousness projection? I'm just remotely controlling this account. Once I successfully resurrect, this memory and emotion will return to my main body."
Bernadette took a deep breath and walked to the desk, asking in as calm a voice as possible, "Father, do you need Bornova to re-forge a mechanical body for you?"
"He won't mind..." Leyton interjected.
"Who said I—" The penguin Roselle glared at Leyton. Before he could finish speaking, Leyton interrupted him:
"January 1, 1184, the grand New Year's Eve party, Madame Flornal—"
"Cough! Cough!"
The penguin Roselle stumbled, then jumped directly onto Leyton's shoulder, reaching out to cover his mouth, and at the same time said loudly, "You're right, I don't think this body is unacceptable. Occasionally experiencing something new can make me feel younger, which helps me stabilize my state."