Chapter 969: Alternate Timeline: The Devil’s Hand

Shock completely erased her earlier disappointment.

Until now, the system had only provided ether weapons through the lottery. Thus, she naturally assumed this aircraft would also be some exclusive ether-tech machine. Never in her imagination had she expected an actual mass-produced military aircraft.

Excitement instantly surged through her body.

Every trace of frustration vanished.

At this moment, she felt like someone who dug a small hole expecting copper, only to accidentally uncover buried gold instead.

The only issue left now was finding someone capable of buying such an expensive weapon. However, she wasn’t worried that it wouldn’t receive customers. Air power is something needed for every empire and kingdom.

Still, that problem could wait.

For now, she simply enjoyed the thrill.

"Alright," she muttered happily. "Next reward."

Closing the lottery wheel, she immediately opened the Statue of Velkazar interface for her daily blessing.

Without much expectation, she pressed worship.

The dragon statue glowed brilliantly for several seconds.

Then...

[Ding! Congratulations, you received a random skill upgrade as a blessing from the statue of the Divine Dragon, Velkazar.]

[Ding! Dismantling has been upgraded to ’The Devil’s Hand’]

Kiara’s eyes widened again. "Is today my lucky day or what?"

*

The Devil’s Hand: Dismantle any object that you can touch and exchange in equivalent credits. And in case the object has an owner (bound to one’s soul), then you get 50% of equivalent credits as long as it is below Mythril grade (i.e., semi-divine and below).

Cost: 0 ether points

CD: 0 seconds.

*

For several moments, Kiara simply stared silently.

Then suddenly she clenched her fist tightly.

"Yes!"

Excitement exploded across her face.

"First the LCA... and now this overpowered skill."

A dangerous smile slowly formed upon her lips.

"Ten luck points truly did not disappoint me."

Her thoughts immediately began racing.

With this skill, she had gained an entirely new method of earning credits.

Then another dangerous thought surfaced.

"Hm..."

"I wonder if I can dismantle Zion’s divine sword. Even if it’s soul-bound, since it’s Celestial Grade, I should at least receive fifty million credits."

Almost instantly... the system responded without her asking.

[Ding! The host cannot dismantle items bound to the host, Androids, or the system.]

After a brief pause, another notification followed immediately.

[If the host is interested in earning credits, the host can sell Zion together with the divine sword Lux as a package for 100 million credits/meteor missiles.]

Kiara blinked once.

Then another notification appeared.

[Ding! Battle Tank-V will be returned. Do you wish to proceed with the exchange?]

Kiara immediately scoffed.

"Stop being ridiculous. There is no way I would trade Zion away."

Her expression turned slightly annoyed.

"I was just thinking aloud."

For some strange reason, she had a strong feeling this would not be the final time the system attempted to convince her to sell the android.

But why though?

Why would the system want the Android it gave to her as a beginner package gift?

Meanwhile...

System: "..."

*

After a while;

Inside the strange mental dimension known as Kiara’s factory, metallic echoes continuously rang through the vast enclosed space while heavy machines rested beneath pale artificial light like giant iron beasts waiting for commands from their master.

At present, the factory had already evolved considerably compared to its earlier state.

The space itself had expanded into something almost the size of a luxurious living room, and three complete sets of machinery stood arranged carefully in different sections.

Large drill presses.

Welders.

Milling machines.

Lathes.

Specialized presses for ammunition production.

And towering assistant robots nearly nine feet tall.

Cold.

Silent.

Precise.

Like loyal guardians carved from steel rather than born from flesh.

At the center of this mechanical domain, Kiara stood quietly while system notifications floated before her vision.

***

Kiara’s Factory

Level: 3 (EXP: 250/1000)

Available machines:

A drill press (3)

A welder (3)

A milling machine (3)

A lathe (3)

Cupping Press (1)

Draw Press (1)

Transfer Press (1)

Bullet Assembly Press (1)

Primer, loading and packaging (1)

Assistant Robots: 3

Available time: 29 minutes (max: 30 minutes)

Cooldown: 24 hours

Weapon Analysis

Testing Grounds

<<< Go >>>

***

[Ding! You have entered Kiara’s Factory.]

[Ding! All of your skills, along with Familiars’ inventory, are locked.]

The familiar robotic assistant immediately turned toward her the moment she entered.

Its glowing blue eyes flickered softly.

Meanwhile, Kiara began unloading wooden crates from her inventory one after another.

Heavy boxes landed upon the metallic floor with dull thuds.

Soon, piles began forming near the corner.

100kg of powdered brimstone.

150kg of charcoal powder.

1000kg of saltpeter.

The smell alone already carried the sharp, dry scent of chemicals and dust, causing the air itself to feel rough against the throat.

Kiara rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"Alright..."

"For black powder, the ratio should be 74.8% saltpeter, 13.3 % charcoal, and 11.9% sulfur."

Rather than personally handling the dangerous work, she simply wrote detailed instructions on a sheet of paper and handed it to one of the robots.

After all...

Machines did not make careless mistakes.

Unlike humans, they neither grew distracted nor tired.

The giant robot silently accepted the instructions and immediately began operating.

Massive mechanical arms moved with frightening precision while grinding sounds echoed across the factory.

Metal rubbed against metal.

Powders shifted.

Funnels rotated.

The process looked almost hypnotic.

Once satisfied that everything was functioning properly, Kiara returned to the real world.

Back downstairs, business remained painfully slow during the afternoon hours.

The store felt almost sleepy. Only the occasional footsteps of wandering customers disturbed the atmosphere.

Kiara naturally became bored very quickly.

And whenever Kiara became bored, everyone else suffered alongside her.

"Come on," she declared while dragging chairs toward the table. "Mahjong."

Arceus Silver sighed softly.

Alucard looked helpless.

Zion remained expressionless as always.

Yet none of them refused.

This time, there were no rewards involved.

No bets.

No gold coins.

Just a group of people wasting time together while the quiet store breathed lazily around them.

Surprisingly...

The atmosphere felt warm rather than oppressive.

Arceus genuinely enjoyed these peaceful moments because, for the first time in years, life no longer revolved entirely around clan politics and expectations.

Alucard remained grateful simply because he had food, shelter, and decent treatment.

Zion obeyed purely because Kiara wished it.

Thus, what should have looked like a tyrannical boss forcing employees into games somehow resembled close companions spending time together instead.

Eventually...

The golden light of sunset spread across the city.

And as usual, the evening finally brought customers.

The store became lively once more.

Conversations rose.

Coins clinked.

Weapon demonstrations resumed.

Although total earnings only amounted to 360 gold coins, Kiara remained satisfied because 12 entirely new customers had visited today. For her, expanding influence mattered more than immediate profit.

Night eventually descended over the Imperial City.

After dinner together, Alucard returned home with his usual grateful smile.

Meanwhile, Arceus headed toward his room for sleep.

Kiara also returned upstairs.

But unlike Arceus, she had no intention of sleeping.

Inside her room, moonlight poured faintly through the window while the city outside remained wrapped beneath quiet darkness.

Kiara sat cross-legged upon the floor.

Then slowly...

She took out a large scarlet ether ore.

Even before touching it closely, one could already sense the dense ether energy flowing inside like currents trapped within crystallized blood.

***

Ether Ore

Weight: 1542 carats

Quality: High

Description: An unpolished ether ore, which contains unrefined ether energy.

***

Kiara stared at it carefully.

"Alright... Let’s see how much EP I can gain from this. As long as I get more than thirty thousand, I’ll be satisfied."

She closed her eyes.

Then began absorbing.

Immediately, ether energy surged from the crystal into her body like rivers breaking through opened floodgates.

The scarlet ore gradually dimmed while waves of energy continuously poured into her ether core.

Hours passed silently.

The room remained still except for the faint hum of ether fluctuations surrounding her body.

Roughly six hours later...

The once crimson ore had turned completely white and lifeless.

Then the notification appeared.

[Ding! You absorbed high-quality ether ore (1542 carat). Ether energy has been increased by 44718 points.]

Kiara slowly opened her eyes.

A satisfied smile appeared across her lips.

"Good..."

"Now let’s continue."

Without wasting time, she immediately took out the medium-quality ether crystals paid earlier by Ares Frost.

Originally, there had been 106 crystals.

But after the system shamelessly took its portion...

Only 63 remained.

Each crystal granted fifty ether points.

Soon, another 1350 EP entered her reserves.

After finishing absorption, Kiara calmly spoke.

"System. Open character stats."

Immediately, a giant blue screen appeared before her.