Book 16 Chapter 34
Science VS Superpowers,
Ain's Technology is the Best in the World (4)
- My name is Greta Veiser.
I simply wanted to interpret the foundation of the world… in other words, Providence, in a way that 'anyone can easily understand and accept.'
- She is a Meister officially recognized by the Three Kingdoms (三王國; the three main kingdoms of the Ain community that divide and rule Kinderlantz), active between Trident Point and the Demon World. Her current mercenary rank is Platinum 5.
Technology beyond the scope of understanding appears miraculous in worlds with lower civilization levels. Due to the limited knowledge of the world, people came to worship <Those Who Came> like gods.
- Nils Blantz, they say he was chosen as an apprentice to the chief tinkerer at the age of five, became a craftsman at seven, a master at ten, and the chief tinkerer of the Royal Armory at fifteen.
The day God's miracles are reproduced through science and technology, the world will truly become like paradise… and perhaps the heaven that humanity and fairies so desperately cry out for will descend upon this land.
- I research progress that will truly propel the world forward. For that research, the help of capable engineers like you is desperately needed.
Harboring such a dream, he followed Greta Veiser, who was lauded with the title 'Meister,' bestowed upon the best engineer in Ain of that era, and left Kinderlantz, the land of Ain.
- The light of <Those Who Came>, that is, their power source, is extremely rare, but the Abyss (深淵) is abundant everywhere.
However…
- The Abyss, though corrupted, possesses properties similar to light. This suggests the tremendous fact that the true nature of the Abyss was, in fact, light.
Greta Veiser's research method was utterly different from what Nils had dreamed of and expected.
- In other words, if the Abyss is refined and utilized, the artifacts and relics of <Those Who Came> can be activated, even if only to a limited extent.
The Abyss affected not only the devices but also the users.
Even setting aside the collapse of humanity, memory loss was a tremendous setback for an engineer. To prevent this, Greta Veiser used sacrificial offerings for atonement (代贖).
Accurately calculating the world observation cycles of the water dragons and light dragons, she kidnapped abandoned individuals such as vagrants, orphans, and widows from various parts of the continent, avoiding the eyes of the divine dragons, to fully dissect them and turn them into 'brains in a vat.'
- All side effects from using the Abyss are absorbed by these brains. The brains remain alive indefinitely through nutrients and electrical signals, until they rot away due to the Abyss.
The reason for creating brains in a vat was that using an entire person as a sacrificial offering for atonement was deemed impractical due to their volume and mass.
- Excellent, Nils. Thanks to you, Stage 1 of the research is complete. Now we move on to Stage 2, bio-weapon research.
The first objective of Stage 2 was the creation of combat weapons similar to Eldia warriors (the second objective being dragonkin).
For that purpose, they implanted the bodies or organs of monsters or demon races into the abducted individuals… and in the process of creating the so-called ultimate chimera, they died, died, and died again…
Blindly believing that this would elevate the world to a higher stage, they continued the abuse and slaughter. In the name of research (硏究).
- Uncle Nils, what's today's examination?
However…
- I want to be an engineer like Uncle Nils! The man who looks best with a spanner!
During the process of [Research Stage 2: Demon Slayer], there was a child who was particularly fond of him.
He tried not to get attached…
Even with just a fleeting encounter, the child would cling to him, asking all sorts of questions and quickly learning things, making him feel naturally invigorated just by watching.
- Meister, what exactly are you doing? Weren't all the previous test subjects sent back?
- Are you saying you'll quit the research?
- This… no matter how I think about it, it's not right. I agreed when we experimented on animals, but even if they are Manukis! How can you turn people with personalities into brains in vats or experiment on them as human weapons, how?! This research is insane! Meister, how many people do you have to kill before you're satisfied?
- What's hanging by your side right now, Nils?
- It's a spanner.
- To make that spanner, you need iron. But what if there's no iron ore in the world?
- You'd have to find useless scrap metal, melt it down, and make a spanner.
- That's what we're doing right now. You know that, so what's the problem? All the test subjects used in our experiments are just like scrap metal, worthless things in this world.
- The test subjects… they're not iron, they're living beings!
- I'll give you a vacation. Go clear your head and organize your thoughts for a month. If you say the same thing then, I won't cling to you any longer.
During that month-long absence, Greta subjected Link, the little boy who was so fond of Nils, to the chimera experiments.
- Look at this, Nils.
Link's experiment number was in the 2000s, and the current experiments were barely past the 100s, so he had been relieved…
- I told him if the experiment succeeded, you would come to see him, and he passed all 352 transplant surgeries that no one else could endure.
The Link he met again was not Link. There was only a monster with a truly deformed physique.
- Your contribution was significant this time too, Nils. You made this child fond of you for this purpose, didn't you?
No.
No, it's not.
- In future Demon Slayer research, we should standardize this method of showing affection to test subjects to increase emotional bonds.
That's not what it means…
No, is it…?
Is this judgment…? Is this judgment for what I've done until now…?
- Meister! Nils-nim woke up test subject #2641 and together they broke through the bulkhead and escaped!
- There's no need to worry. That one is like me. He's thirsty for the study of Providence. He'll come back someday. Come, let's begin the next research instead. Following the footsteps of progress that Nils and #2641 have delivered to us.
Having escaped that way, he gathered artifacts that would allow Link to unleash his full power… but it seemed insufficient.
Greta Veiser was too strong.
There's an immense difference in class between Diamond-grade mercenary groups and Platinum 1st-ranked mercenary groups…
“In one era, there are ten chief tinkerers, but only one Meister. No matter how hard I tried… Greta's decades of accumulated research, relics, and power weren't something I could catch up to in just a few years.”
“…”
“I know that the excuse of merely following orders, of simply helping, won't work. The only atonement for that deed would be for both Greta and me to be condemned to death. But I am also a living being, and I fear the pain of death. So… for experts like yourselves, a painless death would be no trouble at all, wouldn't it?”
Freide felt the particles of cigarette smoke passing through his lungs and airways to be rougher and more stifling than usual.
“Ah…”
But when did he regain consciousness? That guy who always excels at surprising people… wasn't Lysta standing behind him? Wiping away tears with his left arm.
“I'm sorry, but I can't keep that promise…”
Nils was surprised by that incredible regenerative power, but also flustered for another reason, and asked.
“Why? Aren't you a hero?”
A symbol of justice.
A blade of condemnation.
“The atonement you must make is to 'fix this world for the better' instead of those who died powerless… Only then will you have something to say, even if just a little, when you meet the victims again in heaven, won't you?”
“Ain doesn't believe in things like heaven. When you die, you return to nothingness, like other creatures.”
“Then I'll give you another reason. If Nils dies like that… Link will be alone again. They say he endured all those painful experiments, just looking forward to the day he'd meet Nils again. And they did meet again.”
Link's face and voice, speaking 'Link, Link' like a fool, were soon the depth of Nils's original sin.
That depth was bitter and painful.
And… the tears of the hero who recognized that depth and cried on his behalf were warm and poignant. Nils lowered his goggles, hiding his reddened, hot eyes.
“Yes, to remember those painful memories… until the day I die… to work tirelessly, endlessly… Indeed, for a wretch like me, that would be a more fitting punishment than a peaceful death…”