Chapter 257 - 221: Punisher Ship Technology and the Mercy of the Emperor’s Angels

The members of the Vengeance Angel Squad were no strangers to Wizard’s Secret Treasures.

However, this was the first time they had ever seen someone dig one out of a corpse right under their noses, just like a Wizard would.

Oil Girl Gwen’s left hand had slender fingers and fair skin. Of course, the black grease and grime packed under her nails completely ruined the aesthetic.

Her right arm, however, had been replaced with a metal prosthesis.

She held a bloody, fist-sized Wizard’s Secret Treasure that resembled a metal cube in both hands.

Her face, spattered with blood, was lit up with an excited smile.

A small piece of brain tissue dropped from between her fingers.

If those present hadn’t known she was an Artificial Creation Officer from the Mechanical Order, they would have mistaken her for some psychopathic Wandering Mage.

Still, for a low-ranking Technician Priest like Gwen, getting to touch an Extraordinary Creation from the God of All Machines with her own hands was a once-in-a-lifetime event. It was akin to a commoner from the dregs of a Stereoscopic City witnessing a divine appearance of the Emperor himself.

The fervent obsession in her eyes was impossible to miss.

"A Furnace Cast Holy Artifact... Its internal structure is unbelievable! If only I could..."

Reinhardt raised a hand, cutting off the long, rambling speech she was about to launch into, and took the Furnace Cast Holy Artifact from her.

Then, ethereal blue text from the system flashed across his vision.

[Phase Cube: A creation of Witchcraft Technology used by Ancient Wizards for long-range army recall. Incompatible with biological structures. Forcible implantation will cause the user’s lifespan to rapidly diminish.]

[You can use it to upgrade the Punisher Ship’s Imperial Technology Outfit.]

[This process requires a high-level Technician Priest to perform the upgrade. After the upgrade is complete, the Punisher Ship will unlock the Phase Recall Teleportation Gate technology.]

[Phase Recall: One-way teleportation technology that allows for a rapid return to the ship. It takes three minutes to activate and requires an environment free of any Spiritual Energy interference.]

’Ship technology?’

’Perhaps I can wait for Agate to return and let him handle it.’

Reinhardt ignored the desperate longing in Oil Girl Gwen’s eyes. He placed the Phase Cube into a storage compartment on the waist of his Power Armor and said coldly, "There are two more damaged Wizard’s Secret Treasures in her corpse. Get them."

Visibly disappointed, Gwen turned and squatted back down beside the cryogenic coffin, resuming her work dismembering the Red-haired Witch’s remains.

Manon asked thoughtfully, "Sir, can I see it?"

Through his Knight Perception, Reinhardt sensed that Manon’s Knightly Aura was at the peak for a Seven-star Military Rank Official Knight. If Manon could survive the brutal war to come, he would very likely be promoted to Earth Military Rank.

Reinhardt knew what he had in mind.

Reinhardt took out the Phase Cube and handed it to him. "Unless you have a death wish," he said, "I wouldn’t recommend using this as a vessel for a Knight’s Treasure."

Upon hearing this, Gwen snapped her head around, her expression one of utter shock. "Sir, you know its function?"

"The Phase Cube. It’s a piece of ship-borne Witchcraft Technology. The Ancient Wizards expressly forbade embedding it into living organisms. Aren’t you supposed to be a Technician Priest?"

Gwen’s face flushed. She looked like she was holding back a torrent of indignant rebuttals but didn’t dare voice them. Instead, she silently turned and continued with her work.

Manon also looked at Reinhardt, quite surprised. ’This is the kind of knowledge that only senior Technician Priests should have access to. How would an Imperial Knight like him know about it?’

"How did you know about this..."

Under the surprised gazes of Manon and the others, Reinhardt sat down beside him.

"Just a guess."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Gwen, who had been sulking just a moment before, visibly stiffened.

Reinhardt had always projected the image of a traditional Imperial Knight: taciturn and ruthless. For him to suddenly crack a joke at a time like this was so unexpected.

As a result, no one, except for Reinhardt, laughed.

Just as the ship’s atmosphere had grown awkward to the point of silence, thanks to someone’s dry joke...

The Radiant Beacon fixed to Raphael’s Power Backpack suddenly began to pulse with a faint, silver light. A moment later, a page of holy parchment fell into his hand.

Raphael read the contents of the parchment, his brow instantly furrowing. He then handed it to Reinhardt.

"Sir, Albert and his team are in trouble."

The words on the parchment were all handwritten; the script was clearly Sedon’s.

The message was short, but its meaning was clear.

After launching a boarding action against a Demon Mother Ship to protect Verne, the thirty members of the Steel Wings Mobile Combat Team led by Albert, along with an accompanying hundred-strong elite unit from the Emperor’s Shield, were dragged into a Void Realm portal by a spreading Void Storm—ship and all.

Sedon’s orders were for them to depart for Verne immediately. An Elite Formation from the Death Battle Group would be waiting there to rendezvous with them. Together, they were to break the blockade and enter the Void Realm portal.

Regardless.

As for the thirty Radiant Angels: they were to be brought back, dead or alive.

As Reinhardt finished reading the parchment, his heart sank and his brows knitted together.

’Dragged into the Void Realm along with a Demon Mother Ship.’

’This is no joke. Even if I believe Albert and the Radiant Angels are capable of breaking through, still...’

He handed the parchment to Manon, then rose and walked over to stand behind Oil Girl Gwen. "We’ve just received orders," Reinhardt said in a grave voice. "We must depart for the Verne Front Line immediately.

You’re not a combatant on the Administrative Region’s roster, so you have the right to refuse this order.

Therefore, I need your answer now, so I can plan our next steps."

Although Reinhardt had the authority to force the Technician Priest to fly them to the front line, he was as merciful to his own people as he was ruthless to his enemies.

’The Verne Front Line is not Hurst.’

’Even if this Technician Priest is just a low-level grease monkey, I will respect her decision. I am an Imperial Knight, not a brutal warlord or an Interstellar Pirate.’

’If Gwen refuses, I will immediately contact the Administrative Region and have them dispatch a Technician Soldier to meet us near Verne. I won’t lead this young woman to her death for no reason.’

Gwen was a native of a Forging World. She had spent her entire life in an academy since birth.

’Respect?’

’In the Mechanical Order, with its factions of academic tyrants, respect is the most worthless, most meaningless thing.’

’If you don’t do it, there are plenty of others who will.’

’An exalted Emperor’s Angel, a being who could stand on equal footing with a dynastic Overlord like Lady Catherine, was actually asking for the opinion of a low-level Mortal like her?’

For a moment, Gwen didn’t know how to answer.

Seeing her standing there in a daze, Raphael rose and said, "Time is short. Answer Lord Reinhardt’s question."

"I... I... I don’t know. The Verne Front Line? What kind of place is that?"

For a Mortal like her, information traveled through the Cosmos at an exceptionally slow pace. Events on the front line might not reach her ears for several years.

Let alone news of the Rebel Legions, which was currently known only to the high command of the major powers and deliberately concealed for the sake of stability.

Her answer wasn’t born of foolishness; she genuinely had no idea what the "Verne Front Line" truly signified.