"Hmm…"
"You're awake. The operation was a success."
Katheryne opened her eyes to see Yu Jin and Alex staring intently at her.
"Is… is it done?" Katheryne stepped down from the operating table and tentatively spun around a few times.
When Yu Jin saw Katheryne step down, he pulled out a mirror from somewhere and placed it in front of her, reminding her:
"Take a look? I don't think your appearance has changed at all. If you feel anything is off, we can still adjust it."
Katheryne looked at herself in the mirror. She was still wearing the same green and white dress, and the scars on her body had disappeared. She looked as if she had just been newly manufactured from a Snezhnaya factory.
No, she was even better than newly manufactured.
Katheryne extended her hand; it was still as fair and delicate as before. However, she had a feeling that something had been added to her.
Then, under Yu Jin's shocked and Alex's excited gazes, Katheryne's forearm began to deform and reassemble.
After a series of mechanical grinding sounds, a cannon shining with a faint yellow glow appeared, fully assembled on Katheryne's arm.
"This is too cool!" Yu Jin ran to Katheryne's side, touching the cold muzzle of her cannon with excitement.
"Hahaha, right? I think so too!" Alex, who was engrossed in collecting data, heard Yu Jin's words and laughed along. Great minds really do think alike.
Katheryne saw Yu Jin excitedly run to Alex's side again, pointing and gesturing at herself on the control panel's light screen, and the unease in her heart suddenly dissipated.
With Yu Jin around, she could probably relax a little and not worry so much.
A smile reappeared on Katheryne's face, and with another "click," her arm transformed back to its original state.
Katheryne jogged over to Alex and Yu Jin, smiling as she said, "My body has undergone such a huge change; you two have to tell me all about it so I can adapt."
"Ask him; I don't understand any of it anyway." Yu Jin pointed at Alex. He was just an observer; Alex was the main person in charge.
However, Alex didn't answer Katheryne's question. He looked at her and asked, "Do you feel any difficulty concentrating or a great deal of pressure?"
"No, I feel great." Katheryne shook her head. She didn't feel any abnormalities. If anything, it felt as if many special modules had suddenly been added to her body.
Katheryne sensed these modules slightly: "element Absorption," "Laser Beam," "Type-5 Ground-to-Ground Missile"… all terms she had never heard of. Alex saw the confused expression on Katheryne's face and explained, "It seems your consciousness can handle it. It didn't get overloaded by all the modules I installed. We did it!"
Alex's last sentence was directed at Yu Jin because Yu Jin had contributed a lot to Katheryne's modification.
"Did what?" Katheryne had a bad premonition.
"Of course, it's to become an existence that can beat up Harbingers!" Yu Jin quickly interjected. Although it seemed like Katheryne just closed and opened her eyes,
Yu Jin and Alex had been busy in this factory for almost a year. The longest part of it was the engine.
Initially, Alex had only thought of simply miniaturizing the Ruin Guard's core and installing it to see what would happen.
However, this plan was rejected by Yu Jin because Yu Jin had his sights set on the core of Apep, the Dragon of Everlasting Calamity.
Alex couldn't hold back at that moment. The core of Apep, the Dragon of Everlasting Calamity, was larger than both him and Yu Jin combined. How could they possibly fit it?
Moreover, if the core of Apep, the Dragon of Everlasting Calamity, were to be miniaturized, it wouldn't have such powerful propulsion. Forcibly making it might even result in a worse effect.
However, these doubts were resolved when Yu Jin produced a large piece of pure dark matter.
Alex had never seen such a stable and peaceful Abyss clot. All taboos had been removed, leaving only pure energy.
Because of this, the modification took so long. The miniaturization design and manufacturing of Apep, the Dragon of Everlasting Calamity's core required a lot of effort.
That being said, Alex didn't have many complaints. Rather, he didn't care if he went bald, as long as he was working on something that truly interested him.
Yu Jin looked at Alex. He wasn't bald, but he was close. He could already faintly see Alex's scalp.
Speaking of which, this guy was truly insane. When he first brought out You Sui's vomit, his eyes glowed again, making Yu Jin almost think he was a robot too.
And at this moment, Alex was explaining the machine's precautions, module functions, and maintenance methods to Katheryne.
Yu Jin looked at the woodenly nodding Katheryne and the animated Alex, and couldn't help but smile.
Did he just strike gold? A mechanical-side doctor? And one that hasn't turned evil? It seems he can let him and the Doctor interact more in the future.
Yu Jin walked over to the somewhat bewildered Katheryne, made a gesture of flexing a bicep, and joked, "How about it? You now possess the power of a dragon!"
"Mr. Yu Jin, please don't tease me. What would I do with all these things?" Katheryne rubbed her forehead. Indeed, everything had changed except for her consciousness and appearance.
"Hahaha, you can't say that. Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?" Yu Jin asked, looking at Katheryne.
Katheryne fell silent. Her designation in Snezhnaya must have been erased. As Katheryne, she really couldn't find anywhere to go.
"Become an Adventurer!" Yu Jin said, looking at her.
"You were born for Adventure, yet none of you are true Adventurers. Don't you find that a bit comical?"
"You can grow faster through Adventure. Besides, the Adventurers' Guild has a guy similar to you." Yu Jin thought of Joseph. In some ways, he and Katheryne were quite alike.
Katheryne looked at the eloquently speaking Yu Jin, nodded, and said with a smile, "I agree. Then, pleasant cooperation in the future, Mr. Yu Jin!"
Yu Jin paused, then smiled and said, "Pleasant cooperation, Miss Katheryne."
"Towards the Stars and the Abyss!" X2.
"Clap!" Yu Jin and Katheryne high-fived each other. It seemed they had a good understanding.
"What riddles are you two speaking?" Alex leaned closer. He found that he couldn't understand Yu Jin and Katheryne's actions.
"Don't ask too much about matters on the surface." Yu Jin felt that Alex didn't understand how to read the atmosphere.
"Haha, actually, it's our unique way of greeting on the surface." Katheryne also noticed the anomaly of this space at this moment.
Advanced technology, omnipresent Ruin Guards, a kingdom built beneath the ground. All this information pointed to one place—Khaenri'ah, destroyed five hundred years ago.
Katheryne didn't know how she got here, nor did she want to know how she got here.
The only thing she was sure of was that Yu Jin brought her here and found a kind guy to fix her. But that was enough; nothing else mattered.
"Is that so? You surface dwellers are truly strange." Alex scratched his head. He had also visited the surface for inspections and exchanges a few times. How come he had never heard of such a strange greeting on the surface?
And what was an Adventurer? What was there to yearn for in the Abyss? Alex simply couldn't understand.
However, considering that Yu Jin and Katheryne both did it, Alex didn't pay attention to these details.
He imitated them and said to Katheryne and Yu Jin, "Towards the Stars and the Abyss."
Yu Jin and Katheryne were both clearly stunned for a moment. They hadn't expected that the people of Khaenri'ah five hundred years ago would also shout this slogan, which would become widely known in later generations.
But it's not bad, is it?
The three exchanged glances, then laughed and shouted:
"Towards the Stars and the Abyss!"
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Thank you for following the story this far.
If you want to read the later chapters in advance, I've uploaded more chapters to Patreon.
You can find them here: [patreon.com/Greyhounds]