Chapter 1398 - 1313: Begin the Test

Chapter 1398: Chapter 1313: Begin the Test

She had someone move the little bear to the bedroom, and Hilov removed the Golden Ears Crown from its head, placing it carefully in a small box.

"Let’s go, we’re heading to the Brass Commandment Bureau."

The Brass Commandment Bureau wasn’t far from the Mechanical Palace. Accompanied by guards and Secret Monks, Hilov and her party arrived quickly in a designated spring vehicle.

As soon as she stepped off the carriage, she found herself surrounded by a group of research monks eagerly handing her a document.

Hilov had witnessed such scenes numerous times before, where low-level research monks felt their work was underappreciated and would attempt to report directly up the chain.

Most of the time, the Wolf Woman would ignore them or instruct them to have her team review it first.

But today, given her good mood and recognizing several of the senior research monks, she decided to reluctantly read it.

"The New Celestial Kingdom Plan?" she said, eyeing them suspiciously and opening the file she held.

Hilov’s alert wolf ears gradually flattened as she read a few lines of the document, pressing against her scalp.

"Your Highness, what do you think...?"

"No! This is against the natural order!" Always open-minded and unflinching when using death row prisoners for experiments, Hilov staunchly refused this time.

Horn used to jest at Hilov for being an ’evil scientist’, and she even saw herself as such.

Yet in front of this group, she felt like a mere novice.

She already knew it was evil, but didn’t expect this level of malevolence.

The New Celestial Kingdom Plan sounded straightforward—essentially aiming to cover the entire Holy Alliance with applications of the ether clock.

This part seemed normal enough, but the next step involved Brass Commandment Bureau officials attempting to replace human body parts and organs with mechanical spring components, even going so far as to substitute the heart with a regulator.

A new kind of spring race, with everything except for reproductive organs and brains replaced by springs and machinery.

These Brass Commandment Bureau research monks somehow learned of the crown’s function and attempted to replicate it, proposing one crown per person.

In the new Spring Celestial Kingdom, everyone would become a Clockwork Angel, possessing endless life and power.

With such dreams, everyone could live happily, pursuing what they truly desired.

After all, there would be no more need for basic physiological needs like eating, drinking, or sleeping; everyone could purely chase spiritual pursuits.

What a perfect Spring New Celestial Kingdom Plan!

But this perfect plan was destined to be misunderstood by the secular world, even though Hilov herself was considered part of that secular world by the Brass Commandment Bureau’s research department.

They had initially thought that Hilov, raised among spring automata, would understand them.

But unfortunately...

Hilov started to get a headache looking at the hopeful expressions of the Brass Commandment Bureau research members.

The Brass Commandment Bureau’s research department was composed of individuals known as the Secretive Sect and the Sorrido Clan vampires.

Both were unique existences on the east and west continents, and under Horn’s mediation, they had successfully turned into a unique partnership.

"Alright." The researcher, with an expression indicating she didn’t understand divine miracles (technology), retrieved the document.

Hilov took a deep breath: "All these materials..."

She hesitated for a moment, intending to say ’destroy’, but what came out was: "...archive them."

Seeing Hilov’s resolute attitude, combined with her decision not to outright destroy these precious materials, the Commandment Bureau members did not resist much before handing over the documents.

Ignoring those radical researchers secretly hiding documents, Hilov directly sought out the project leader she focused on—Itulwus.

In a small meeting room on the second floor of the research institute, seven or eight research monks stood nervously by, with only Itulwus being allowed to sit.

At one end of the meeting room, a blackboard displayed a large illustration crafted from blueprints.

Propping her legs one over the other, Hilov curtly and sharply directed: "Flip back, keep flipping back, yes, stop there... Now, you explain it."

"...I..." The research monk was too anxious and could only cast a pleading look at Itulwus.

Itulwus sighed and stood up: "Your Highness, we’ve confirmed this restraint halo is reliable, but the risk is too great."

"Where’s the risk?"

"You’re the only test subject, requiring direct experimentation on you. What happens if your heart stops?"

"Didn’t you experiment with the star-forged gear’s spring heart model?"

"But that’s a large model, nowhere near as precise as your heart."

Using Hilov for experiments wasn’t just Itulwus acting recklessly; she was the only one in the entire Holy Alliance with a gear heart.

Even though the restraint halo was constructed well, there was still leakage. What if it accidentally leaked out midway?

More terrifyingly, what if the Saintess’s heart interface detached from that invisible thing but couldn’t dock with the crown’s energy source?

If something they made ended up killing the Saintess, they’d have to apologize to all the Holy Alliance’s believers.

The Brass Commandment Bureau hosted several research institutes, each with multiple project teams.

Their research primarily focused on the combination of Divine Art, necromancy, and spring mechanisms, including spring prosthetics and spring robots.

Itulwus’s team was personally assembled by Saintess Hilov, comprised of experts in these related fields.

Their primary goal was singular: to use the Air Crown as a substitute for the mysterious energy source to power the Saintess.

Meanwhile, the Wolf Woman had a clear target; she intended to head to Black Snake Bay to face the Red Dragon Cynthia trapped beneath the Celestial Maiden City.

She wanted to know what really happened?

What was Serafe’s true objective? Why was Cynthia afraid to emerge? Where did her mechanical heart originate?

Most importantly, where did she come from?

Horn believed he could fool Hilov, thinking that he could defeat the Royal Court without her sacrifices.

But how could Hilov, with her intelligence, be so easily deceived by Horn?

It didn’t take long before she deduced the cause and effect herself and then turned to the vampires for information, quickly piecing together the entire situation.

Serafe’s body had been overtaken by Lilith, meaning her identity was Lilith’s vessel for a divine descent.

But then the question was, where did the consciousness within this vessel originate?

Who was she really?

Why was she unable to leave the vicinity of Daze Village? What was the source providing energy to her heart?

These facts were something Cynthia clearly knew; otherwise, she wouldn’t have laughed after hearing Hilov couldn’t come.

She even mentioned that Serafe’s intelligence was its own downfall, suggesting she knew Serafe’s plan thoroughly.

Unfortunately, the two of them—one confined within the Holy Mechanism Court, the other trapped in the Celestial Maiden City—were unable to meet.

Adding to the coincidence was that both locations had a ready-made weak point in the astral layer, capable of extracting ether!

Could this simply be coincidence?

Hilov thought not; despite Horn’s wishes for her not to investigate, she resolved to proceed.

This concerned not only her personal fate but also the destiny of the entire Holy Alliance.

In this matter, Hilov displayed unusual obstinacy: "No more words, I came today purely for this matter; let’s proceed with the test."

"Your Highness... even if the test succeeds, what if something goes wrong with the Air Crown midway, or if it suddenly stops producing ether?"

Hilov remained silent, merely taking out the Golden Ears Crown and placing it on the table: "I’ve applied for thirty days of research time. Two crowns should be secure enough, right? Thirty days is plenty for a round trip."

Seeing their hesitation, Hilov offered a concession: "Let’s do it this way; we’ll test today, and if today’s test fails, then we’ll wait for Horn to return before proceeding. How’s that?"

After exchanging glances and low discussions among themselves, the research monks and Itulwus ultimately conceded.

The Holy Council controlled a large number of academic resources, patents, and grants; offending Hilov would result in severe consequences.

After summoning Divine Art priests, miracle monks, physician pharmacists, and mechanics for safety, Itulwus initiated the experiment.

The device wasn’t large, about the size of a backpack, connected to the Air Crown via mithril thread, suspended above Hilov’s head.

From a distance, it looked as though Hilov had transformed into an angel with a halo or a spirit from the dead.

Inwardly, Itulwus could only silently pray that when the button was pressed, Hilov would turn out to be the former, not the latter.

"Three, two, one, commence testing!"

Itulwus personally pulled down the lever; as the dragon bone vibrated, the crown gradually emitted a glow, enveloping Hilov’s body.