novelraw Chapter 467: Michael
Chapter 467: Michael
"What... what's wrong with my head?"
After a brief silence, Mikhail didn't struggle to sit up. He merely glanced at the various tubes connected to his body, then refocused his attention on what was within his field of vision. Right now, he only had his left eye remaining, and like a webcam with a poor signal, it continuously streamed with unknown electrical currents and shaking.
He struggled to raise his right hand and stroked the eye socket that Lord Tao had struck. The microcomputer originally placed inside had been removed by Michael. The blasted skin around it had also all been meticulously stitched together, and even the growing peach blossom twigs had all been carefully cleaned out one by one. It was just that he always felt the texture of the skin on his face was somewhat different from before.
"...I replaced the damaged parts in your head, including the circuits and regenerating bone. But I couldn't restore the damaged skin, so I used some cultivated flesh to create a little substitute and stitched it on. I couldn't be bothered to cultivate human life factors, so I used some from other Demi-human Races."
In the distance, Michael's placid voice transmitted over. Only now did Mikhail realize he seemed to be lying in Michael's forging workshop, right next to all the Holy Artifacts he had forged previously.
Mikhail had witnessed him experimenting on various Holy Artifacts before. He felt that the weapons designed and researched by Novosibirsk Wind were more like toys in the eyes of this Archangel. The technology he brought had been completely understood by Michael in no time at all. This time, even Mikhail's most complex brain implant circuits could be easily repaired by him.
"Thank you."
Lying where he was, Mikhail thanked him, but Michael didn't respond. Thus, the atmosphere in the workshop fell silent again.
Perhaps Mikhail was reminded of his previous embarrassing actions and what he did when he was muddle-headed just now; he grew increasingly unnatural. His left eye darted around, looking in the silence at this pile of tubes connected to his body, and he asked.
"By the way, what are these tubes for?""Noisy."
Michael's placid voice transmitted over. Hearing this, Mikhail immediately shut his mouth and lay perfectly straight, speaking no more.
Right now, he suddenly wished he hadn't woken up; that way, he wouldn't have to suffer such torment.
But a second or two later, Michael's voice transmitted over again.
"During the checkup earlier, I found many unreasonable aspects in the implanted parts inside your body; there were too many redundancies. Simply put, it's these redundancies that are eroding your fragile human nerves and reason. I took the opportunity to modify them. Those tubes contain suppressants. You mentioned its efficacy before, and I tried to imitate a portion. I might as well test the effect on you."
In the distance, sitting on his throne with legs crossed and eyes closed to rest, Michael finally opened his eyes a fraction. He swept a glance at Mikhail's current state, then gave a light hum and spoke.
"It seems the experiment is very successful; you didn't break."
Mikhail stretched out his hand connected with tubes. He found that the parts whose nerves had previously been corrupted by the Prosthetic Body seemed to have regained sensitivity. What he never expected was that after he merely mentioned the efficacy of the suppressant once before, Michael was actually capable of replicating the thing.
He opened his mouth in surprise, feeling deep admiration for this serious and unsmiling Archangel.
"Truly amazing... if that Japanese girl were here, she would definitely call you Doraemon."
Hearing Mikhail's praise, Michael closed his eyes placidly as if entirely unresponsive. Yet upon hearing the sentence that followed, he suddenly opened his eyes again and looked at him, asking in puzzlement.
"Doraemon? What is that thing?"
"Um... it's a round robotic cat, probably an anime character from that era. We still had images of him in our time; quite adorable."
"...Are you seeking death?"
"..."
Mikhail stopped talking again, hastily closing his eyes and feigning death, wishing he could completely swallow the words he just said back into his stomach. If only they had never left his mouth.
Propping a hand against his cheek, Michael looked at him playing dead, the expression on his face dropping several degrees more. However, in Michael's eyes, there was no room for him to play dead. Tapping his cheek, he opened his mouth to inquire further.
"After you all went to the Tree Continent, the details of how you were injured, as well as what you discovered, tell me everything."
Playing dead, Mikhail sighed. He glanced at an uncompromising Michael and ultimately told him everything, including the circumstances of his injury.
As Michael listened, he began to sneer. Looking toward the outside direction, he mocked.
"Sariel, I know what she wants the Tear of the World Tree for... as a God's Emissary, she needs to relay the divine edicts, and an audience with God adults means she will see the deities that are together with the God adults. Yet apart from Demigods, any other existence that beholds the true deities or comes to know the secrets of these deities will, at best, suffer a curse, or, at worst, be reduced to ashes and smoke. She fell victim to a curse. She was stripped of her ability to see, and no Holy Artifact crafted from any Gospel can lift this curse to restore her sight..."
"Unless that Holy Artifact possessed its own consciousness, being regarded by the world as a unique individual; that could bypass the curse and help her perceive all things. To achieve this, she did not hesitate to use the desires she saw from you all as bait, making you go behind my back to help her find the Tear of the World Tree..."
As he sneered, Michael's gaze suddenly landed onto Mikhail before him. He stood up, his smile withdrawing little by little, his tone also gradually turning unfriendly as he asked Mikhail.
"What about you? What desire did she see and promise you?"
Mikhail started crying foul loudly. Using his lone eye to look at Michael, he cried out his grievance.
"What does her discussing trades with others have to do with me? Even if she did, she merely told me a method to go home. But you told me beforehand that even you didn't know the method for me to return, so of course I didn't trust her entirely either. It was merely because that Japanese girl was very young and extremely homesick, so I never brought it up..."
Watching the innocent-looking appearance of Mikhail explaining himself before him, as if trying to distance his relationship with Sariel, none of this made Michael back down in the slightest. His gaze still firmly bit onto Mikhail as he asked.
"Then why did you run down with them?"
"..." Mikhail opened his mouth. Consequently, that weathered and mature face became even more innocent as he said softly, "Didn't you say I was free..."
"Of course you belong to yourself. Put this way, I also ought to respect your freedom and stop your treatment."
The smile on Michael's face grew increasingly dangerous. Lifting a hand, he stirred a force, as if intending to yank out the tubes linked to Mikhail's body.
"I—sigh, fine. I merely felt that even if hoping was slim, I wanted to find a path back, therefore it had nothing to do with Archangel Sariel. Also, honestly speaking, I also feel a bit lost. I'm very unfamiliar with this world; apart from your Fifth Heaven, I have no idea where else to go."
Michael still maintained a cold expression, yet the raised hand was withdrawn bit by bit. As such, the restlessly agitated tubes on Mikhail's body also quickly quieted down.
"Stop dreaming, you cannot return. Just obediently wait for death here."
Once again wearing a cold expression, Michael sat back on his throne, ruthlessly and without any intent of console saying this explicitly. It made a reclined Mikhail also stare somewhat blankly at the ceiling. A long while later did he finally open his mouth and say.
"If there really is no other way, I can only leave it at that. Then right now, regarding the Tear of the World Tree..."
"Just now, Sariel notified us via divine edict, telling all Angels not to interfere in the matters of the mortal world's Dragon Continent and the Elves. Even though Sariel is repulsive, she still wouldn't dare transmit a divine edict falsely; this is the intention of God adults. For those who disobey, I'm afraid there will be risks."
Michael naturally wanted the Tear of the World Tree. He also knew that while Sariel outwardly respected the divine edict, she definitely wouldn't stop in secret; her craving for her eyes was identical to Gabriel's craving for a child. Yet the problem lay here: Sariel dared to risk danger to regain the light, did he, Michael, have any need to brave danger for the Tear of the World Tree?
When risks and rewards are roughly equal, the moment of decision-making is the most agonizing.
Looking at his appearance of surging internal fire, Mikhail knew exactly what he was struggling with. He looked towards Michael and thus asked.
"So, what do you want the Tear of the World Tree for? Is it also for a conscious Holy Artifact?"
"Yes, and no. I'm more curious about its working principle, as well as a thirst to master this technique. According to reason, the Tear of the World Tree is a byproduct produced when the Loom of Fate and the World Tree interact, yet why does fusing it into a Holy Artifact produce consciousness? I have absolutely no clue."
"...Um, if you put it that way, I surprisingly seem to know of a piece of tech; perhaps it could help you research the key to producing consciousness."
"You?"
The red-haired beauty sitting on the throne quirked an eyebrow and looked at Mikhail on the bed, and he also nodded, saying.
"In my world, the Torch Dragon Company in the east possessed a brand new piece of [Artificial Intelligence] tech. They had exchanges with my company, and I just happened to be in charge of it for a period of time..."
"Get to the point."
Mikhail pursed his lips; being interrupted by Michael was something he was more familiar with than anything else. In fact, when seriously discussing work and principles, he and Michael were mostly aligned: neither liked speaking of extraneous irrelevant matters. But perhaps because he felt somewhat awkward in front of Michael, or perhaps because this Angel before him was someone from another world and he worried the other party wouldn't quite understand some concepts, that was why he deliberately explained in more detail...
In short, when in front of Michael, Mikhail's words would be a bit more numerous.
"Namely, I can borrow an embedded computer to calculate and simulate a conscious entity. I actually had this idea previously, but I never got around to implementing it; firstly because my brain's load wasn't enough, and secondly, I had no time. If you're interested, I can tell you the method, and we can research it together."
Hearing this, Michael tilted his head and frowned. He asked Mikhail.
"With such technology, why was it not mentioned in the scrolls you left behind before? You dare deceive me?"
"How could I dare? I merely found an entity possessing consciousness like the Tear of the World Tree so miraculous, therefore I didn't dare tell you this unpresentable tech... wait, didn't you say you never read my scrolls and threw them away?"
Mikhail's entire body didn't move, only his head strained to lift as he looked at Michael ahead.
"..."
The workshop suddenly plunged into silence. Only after several seconds passed did Michael say affirmatively.
"...Are you seeking death?"
"..."
The only raised head of Mikhail weakly lay back down too, completely motionless like a corpse.
And in a spot Mikhail couldn't see, Michael's finger unnaturally came down from his cheek and rested against the edge of the throne, as if propping himself up.
And Mikhail naturally hadn't entirely turned into a corpse. He merely breathed a sigh of relief and said.
"In this way, it's just fine so you won't need to brave danger to defy the divine edict to find any Tear of the World Tree, right?"
Michael was slightly stunned. He also leaned against the backrest behind him, allowing his long red hair to be squeezed by his body and scatter like a sea of flowers.
"...Hmph, we'll talk once you've recovered and can demonstrate it for me; I'll consider the feasibility."
"Ugh, can't I just write another scroll or something, and then you study it yourself first? Once Angel Helaire's injury recovers..."
"You still wish to enter the mortal world?"
"Ah, yep. I still want to give it a try. Even if the hope is slim, if there is a way to return..."
Michael leaned expressionlessly on his throne, a glint flickering twice in his eyes. Just as he was gritting his teeth wanting to say something, he seemed to sense something. Although his expression remained ugly, he spoke no more.
The room suddenly plunged into silence, yet Mikhail didn't dare speak up again, nor did he dare raise his head to look at the Archangel's expression at this moment. He simply blinked his lone eye and laid on his bed.
Only after a long while passed, when Mikhail truly couldn't hold back and wanted to raise his head to view Michael's expression right now, the sound of footsteps suddenly emerged from the door outside. Lifting his gaze to look, he saw the gradually opening workshop door, as well as Fisher, Gou Wen, and Asuka Karasawa standing outside it.
"Mr. Mikhail, are you alright?! Your head earlier..."
"Ah, I'm fine. Thanks to Archangel Michael, I'm almost fully recovered."
Fisher also walked into the room at the same time. Not knowing whether it was an illusion, he always felt that the atmosphere in the room was quite bizarre, causing him to involuntarily cast a glance at that red-haired Archangel sitting on the throne with a not-so-friendly expression.
"Archangel Michael."
Gou Wen and Fisher politely greeted Michael, and Asuka Karasawa afterwards also belatedly said hello to the other party, merely that Michael appeared somewhat disinterested, seemingly completely unconcerned with them.
Then, the entire room seemed to plunge into silence again.
Knowing how to read the room, Fisher and Gou Wen both seemed to realize something was wrong and didn't speak rashly. Even Asuka Karasawa, whose nose was reaching the sky from holding the ring she forged, also quieted down in front of Michael.
After all, this Archangel was the Archangel orchestrating the entire Sanctuary's most crucial matter—forging and war. If this little junk she made was seen by him, she would definitely be criticized into doubting her life, right?
Asuka Karasawa pursed her lips. Like an invisible person, she lowered her head and inched her feet slightly towards Fisher's back, only ceasing her steps when her figure gradually vanished behind Fisher entirely.
In the silence, Michael didn't look in any specific direction, rather he constantly tapped his cheek.
Not until several seconds passed did his tapping actions slowly stop, and his own gaze also regained focus. That unconsciously radiating pressure also gathered back bit by bit inside his body.
Subsequently, he slowly stood up, raising the stifling atmosphere within the entire room slightly. He also rubbed his wrist, whilst walking toward the outside of the workshop, and simultaneously opening his mouth to speak to Mikhail.
"Once the suppressant injection is completed, you'll be fully recovered. Before then, lie still and don't move."
Mikhail, having played dead for an extended period, finally dared to budge his head a little. Taking a glance, he bypassed the Fisher and others resting beside the bed, placing his gaze onto the departing Michael.
"Many... thanks, Archangel Michael."
And upon hearing his thanks, Michael's gaze also shifted little by little toward him. During the meeting of their gazes, he paused shortly, then merely let out a cold snort, and continued walking towards the outside.
His footsteps receded into the distance, yet his voice remained clear as he said this to Mikhail.
"Sariel's movements are swift; you all won't pause here for long. Tomorrow at the latest, you must leave, otherwise a delay might breed trouble. I mean, before tomorrow, properly prepare the scroll you promised..."
"I'll read it."