Chapter 1187: The So-called Upgrade
“Technology…” Roland muttered, his brow creasing.
He had probed the demons’ memories once and seen how they upgraded — merging with magic stones, absorbing them into the body. Failure meant death, and not a clean one. In that way their method resembled witches’, but crueler: no guidance, no community, only the stone and the body’s verdict.
The demons worked from different technologies, but once they understood a principle, they built on it. They extended it. That was the thing that made Roland’s stomach tighten.
“Are you certain?” Anna asked. She understood the implications immediately.
“We’ll need to study the remains further, but —” Agatha broke off, turning to Celine.
Celine tapped her main tentacle and led everyone to a massive black stone scarred with scratch marks. “This is a fragment of a Giant Skeleton. From the initial autopsy, we believe it’s very likely a living organism.”
“Fair enough,” Roland said, running a hand over his chin. The military reports had noted that the Giant Skeletons howled after cannon shells struck them. “It’s similar to the armor of a deformed demon, isn’t it?”
“No, Your Majesty.” Celine hesitated, a trace of apology in her voice. “What I mean is — the stone itself is alive.”
The room erupted.
“Hang on. The stone is alive?”
“Is it also a demon?”
“I don’t follow — could you explain further?”
Celine lifted an iron hammer and struck the stone. The clank rang out. Through the cracks, something flinched — a slow, pained writhing. The stone didn’t stop quivering for half a minute, and the tremor had nothing to do with the blow.
“At the scene, we found a large organ hanging from the Giant Skeleton’s abdomen,” Agatha continued. “We assumed it was the main body of a deformed demon. The autopsy said otherwise. This puzzled both of us — if the Skeleton could move independently, why was a separate deformed demon attached beneath it? We didn’t understand until we saw what the Magic Slayer had made from the transformed Mad Demon.”
Anna reached the answer before anyone else. “A host?”
“Correct,” Celine said. “Both the original carriers and the devouring worms can live independently.” She turned to Roland. “Your Majesty — do you remember what Kabradhabi asked? Whether we also upgraded through a legacy shard.”
“And it said something else,” Roland agreed. “It nearly blurted that it was Tadalin. It asked whether our weapons were made from legacy shards.”
Tilly spoke quietly, thinking it through. “It seems the demons learned to create hosts from the legacy shards. That was why Kabradhabi asked. So both the Spider Demons and the Giant Skeletons are demon hybrids — a host paired with an operator.”
“Very likely. They share the same traits: extreme longevity in the carrier, activity even during dormancy, the ability to survive severe injury.”
“But I don’t think the underground civilization used what the demons call legacy shards,” someone ventured. “They transferred souls. That’s fundamentally different.”
“Perhaps the demons can’t create a magic core precisely, and that’s why soul transfer isn’t available to them,” Agatha replied. “Or perhaps they found a method better suited to their own nature — just as the Union found a way to build the God’s Punishment Army. The God’s Punishment Warriors are, in a sense, hosts as well.”
“Wait — that doesn’t follow.” Nightingale frowned. “I can’t track all your deductions, but I’m certain human beings never obtained any legacy shards. The First Army’s weapons came from His Majesty’s mind. The God’s Punishment Army was the Union’s own achievement. We learned to create a magic core and inherited the underground civilization’s ruins — without any so-called legacy shard.”
“That,” Agatha said, “is exactly the crux.”
Silence settled over the hall.
Then it struck him — a single clear flash. “Are you talking about learning?”
“Yes.” The Ice Witch exhaled. “We can upgrade through teaching and learning, even without what Kabradhabi calls legacy shards.”
No one spoke for a moment.
Celine broke it. “The demons have developed so many new weapons in four hundred years. Legacy shards probably allow them to absorb knowledge faster — perhaps to comprehend entirely new concepts in an instant. That is how their civilization evolves. How it ‘upgrades’.”
And there it was. Roland understood what Kabradhabi had really been asking. Human beings had upgraded — but not through an artifact of some ancient civilization. Through teaching. Through the oldest method that existed. As a man from another world, he had been the bridge between them, the thread connecting two entirely different streams of knowledge.
“If that’s true, doesn’t it mean the legacy shard is continuously recording every aspect of our lives?” Wendy glanced involuntarily at the sealed chamber on the far side of the hall where the demon was kept.
“We’d need to obtain a legacy shard to know for certain.” Agatha shook her head. “If the demons have learned to create hosts, we’ll face challenges we haven’t imagined.” She turned to Roland with something almost like apology in her expression. “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. The Union’s centuries of war experience may not serve you well in what’s coming.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Roland kept his voice steady. He couldn’t afford not to. “The third Battle of Divine Will will be entirely new for the demons too.” He let that sit a moment. “If technologies can be upgraded, we can also learn from civilizations that have already lost their legacy shards, can’t we?”
“Exactly,” Celine said, something warm entering her voice. “That is precisely what we members of the Quest Society are obligated to do.”
Chapter 1187: The So-called Upgrade Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“Technology…” Roland muttered while knitting his brows. He had probed into the demons’ memories once and seen how they upgraded. Basically, the demons upgraded through merging with various magic stones. Failure to merge with magic stones would result in a miserable death. In a way, their upgrade method was pretty similar to witches’, and probably even more cruel.
Although the demons used different technologies, once they learned the principles, they would further develop and expand the technologies based on their needs. This was definitely not a good sign for the mankind.
“Are you sure?” asked Anna, who immediately understood what that meant.
“We need to conduct further research on the remains, but…” Agatha broke off and turned to Celine.
Celine tapped her main tentacle and led everyone to a giant black stone covered in scratch marks. “This is a part of the Giant Skeleton. From the initial autopsy, we judge it’s very likely a living being.”
“Fair enough. This is pretty much like the armor of a deformed demon, isn’t it? ” Roland commented while stroking his chin. In the report, the military officer mentioned that the Giant Skeletons had produced a bloodcurdling howl after being hit by the cannon shells.
“No, Your Majesty,” Celine denied, a little embarrassed. “What I was trying to say is that… the stone itself is alive.”
“What?”
Dumbstruck, everybody took a step backward involuntarily.
“Hang on. You mean the stone is alive?”
“Is the stone also a type of demon?”
“I don’t quite… follow you. Could you tell me more about it?”
The hall exploded with a rush of inquiries.
“To put it short, this stone is an independent system that operates on its own,” Celine said as she scooped up an iron hammer and gave the stone an almighty strike. With a clank, the stone trembled, and Roland could spy, through its numerous cracks, something wriggle with pain. The stone did not stop quivering until half a minute later, and Roland was positive that the quaver was not the offspring of the blow.
“At the scene, we found a huge organ hung below the Giant Skeleton’s abdomen. We thought it was the main body of the deformed demon, but the autopsy showed otherwise,” Agatha continued. “This finding puzzled me and Celine. As the Skeleton could move by itself, then why is there a separate deformed demon attached to its abdomen? We didn’t find out the reason until we saw the transformed Mad Demon created by the Magic Slayer.”
Anna, who was the first to realize the true nature of this peculiar Skeleton, blurted out, “Is it a host?”
“Correct,” Celine said approvingly. “Both the original carriers and the devouring worms could live on their own.” She then turned to Roland and asked, “Your Majesty, do you still remember what Kabradhabi said? It asked us whether we also upgraded through a legacy shard.”
“And it also said another thing,” Roland assented with a nod. “I remember that it almost blustered ‘I’m Tadalin’. It asked whether our weapons were made out of the legacy shards.”
Tilly responded meditatively, “It appears that the demons learned how to create hosts from the legacy shards. That was why Kabradhabi asked such
questions. In other words, both the Spider Demons and the Giant Skeletons were demon hybrids comprised of a host and a operator.”
“Very likely. They share many similarities, such as the extreme long lifespan of a carrier, the ability to remain in activity even in the state of dormancy, the ability to survive upon serious injuries, etc.”
“But I don’t think the underground civilization used what the demons called ‘legacy shards’ to complete their upgrade, because they controlled carriers by soul transfer. That’s quite different…”
“Perhaps, the demons don’t know how to create a magic core exactly, and that’s why they can’t transfer soul like the underground civilization,” Agatha returned. “Or perhaps they found a more suitable way for their kind, just as the Union found a way to create the God’s Punishment Army. The God’s Punishment Warriors, in a sense, are hosts as well.”
“Hold on, that doesn’t sound right,” Nightingale interposed in confusion. “Although I don’t quite follow your deduction, but I’m quite sure that human beings didn’t get any legacy shards whatsoever. The First Army’s weapons are solely His Majesty’s ideas, and the God’s Punishment Army is the Union’s achievement. Without the so-called legacy shards, we still learned how to create a magic core and inherited the ruin of the underground civilization.”
“That’s the key to the problem,” Agatha replied in a serious tone. “I think obtaining the ruin is only one of the many ways to inherit a civilization, which is exactly why we call it technology rather than an ability.
Roland felt his chest suddenly constrict, and the truth seemed to come to him in one shining piece. He said, “Are you referring to… learning?”
“Yes,” the Ice Witch replied on a sigh. “We could upgrade through teaching and learning, even if we don’t have what Kabradhabi describes as legacy shards.”
There was a brief silence in the hall.
At length, Celine spoke, “The demons have developed so many new weapons over the past 400 years. The legacy shards are probably something that helps them learn faster, or even something that enables them to comprehend new knowledge within a second. This is how their civilization evolves and ‘upgrades’.”
Hearing Celine’s explanation, Roland suddenly understood what Kabradhabi had meant. Human beings did upgrade, but it was not through an artifect of an old civilization but through teaching and learning, the most traditional means of communication. As a time traveler, Roland connected the two worlds.
“If that’s really the case, doesn’t it mean the legacy shard is continuously recording every arena of our life?” Wendy said as she glanced at the secret chamber on the other side of the hall apprehensively, where the demon was.
“We have to obtain a legacy shard to know if this is really the case,” Agatha replied while shaking her head. “If the demons did learn how to create hosts, we’ll face a lot of new challenges.” She then turned Roland apologetically and said, “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I’m afraid the years of war experience that the Union gained probably won’t help you much now.”
“Don’t mention it. The third Battle of Divine Will will be an entirely new experience for the demons,” comforted Roland. Although the future remained uncertain, he must stay resolute and continue to take the lead. “If technologies could be upgraded, we could also learn from those civilizations who lost their legacy shards, right?”
“Exactly,” Celine responded heartily. “This is we members of the Quest Society are obligated to do.”