Ascend to Godhood Through Grafting: Starting with a God's Arm

Fernandes tossed aside the newspaper in his hand and tiredly rubbed his temples.

"This newspaper really dares to write anything..."

The bishop in the room picked up the newspaper and glanced at it, chuckling softly. "It's just a power play. Has nothing to do with us. It's that warden's face being lost... What's really troublesome is the content they didn't write about."

The news printed in the paper was about the fallen hunter from the death prison—the Immortal, Montaigne—escaping.

What the bishop actually wanted to say was that they'd covered it up for over a month before exposing it—that was already pretty gracious...

What gave Fernandes a headache was that all the hunters the Order had sent to capture Montaigne had died.

They hadn't been able to catch the Immortal in a short time. That was the biggest problem.

"Master-level hunters aren't his match, and the stronger ones are almost all on the southwestern battlefield. At a time like this, they still want to give me trouble. So annoying."

The bishop shook his head, looking at Fernandes's gloomy face. "If it really doesn't work out, just ask those Hunter Earls to make a trip."

"The Order doesn't have the authority to command the Hunter Earl families..."

"Not command—request." The bishop shrugged. "Can't you lower your stance a bit?"

"You... make it sound easy! You're not the one who has to bow..."

Just as Fernandes was about to spray the bishop with a face full of spit, someone knocked on the door. The assistant who came in to announce the visitor made Fernandes show a puzzled expression.

"Who? A messenger from David Frank?"

...

Soon, Fernandes met Dorothy alone in another room. She was wearing a raincoat, her hair soaking wet and still dripping water.

The old man noticed Dorothy's red eyes and her snow-white, almost transparent long hair. Finding it quite rare, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Master David needs the other materials for the second-tier ritual. He says he's already obtained the glowing heart, but due to certain circumstances, he can't return to the imperial capital and needs to perform the ritual outside..."

Dorothy handed him a letter stamped with both the Church emblem and David's personal seal, then added, "As for the ritual fees, he says His Highness the Fourth Prince will cover everything."

"Where did that brat go? What's he doing?" Fernandes opened the letter and glanced at it. The content matched what the girl had said.

Dorothy shook her head. "I'm only responsible for relaying messages and helping him bring things back."

"Hmph!"

The old man huffed angrily. "Every single one of them thinks they're so great, huh? What do they take the Order for? A general store!?"

Despite his angry words, Fernandes still had someone fetch the items for Dorothy.

He could tell this pale-faced girl was in a hurry. He couldn't help but grumble internally: That bastard is really not human, making such a young girl deliver messages in the heavy rain? Looking at those thin arms and legs, by the time she gets the stuff back, it'll be way too late...

"Young lady, if you need help, the Church can lend you a carriage."

"No need."

With that, Dorothy strode out of the room.

Only then did Fernandes notice the metallic collision sounds she made when moving—crisp, heavy, swift...

He froze for a moment. When he looked back, he saw the girl had already run into the heavy rain, absurdly fast, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

At Dorothy's speed, running from the imperial capital back to Dark Valley town where David was would only take a little over two hours—several times faster than a steam locomotive.

But that wasn't why David had her make this trip. It was simply because he had no other choice.

...

Right now, in a room on the second floor of the inn at Dark Valley town's entrance, David was curled up in a corner, silently enduring the malice from deep in his heart.

Dark Valley town had already attracted the empire's law enforcement team because of the Monster Cage riot that night. They were investigating and arresting the criminals who'd destroyed the merchant guild.

As a hunter, David wasn't afraid of those law enforcement teams, but in his current state, he didn't dare go out at all.

He was afraid he couldn't stop himself from killing everyone!

Actually, David had been enduring for a long time now. He was working hard to restrain and suppress himself, desperately bearing all kinds of impulses. He'd endured for over three full days.

In another corner of the room squatted the messy-haired alchemical master Julius. However, he wasn't voluntarily squatting in the same room with David, who looked like he could lose control at any moment.

He was tied up and couldn't escape...

Right now, Julius's face was somewhat green. He warily watched David across from him and carefully offered a suggestion. "Um, actually you could tie me up in another room... That way we could both have some personal space."

"Shut up..."

David growled low. He was already having a really hard time enduring.

"Uh, you really gotta hang in there. That little girl will be back in a bit, if all goes smoothly... So, how long exactly are you planning to keep me tied up?"

David lifted his head and sneered. "Until Roland sends someone to take you away. If you don't want to die, just behave."

Julius sighed helplessly. "I helped you twice at least. Could you be a bit more polite... I haven't even complained about you dismantling all my constructs."

Actually, there was no way to complain. Good thing there were constructs for David to dismantle earlier, otherwise what he'd be dismantling would be Julius himself... After all, their positions were completely different. Running into this guy, he could only consider himself unlucky.

David Frank was someone the Fourth Prince sent to destroy the merchant guild.

But Julius had come to recover experimental results regarding steam knight technology for His Highness the First Prince, Charles.

The actual boss behind the Monster Cage merchant guild's underground laboratory was the First Prince.

Who knew Roland had even investigated that layer? Was this coincidence? Or was he really that well-connected?

But none of this had much to do with the old alchemist. The struggles between those princes—he didn't want to get involved. Originally, this was supposed to be his last job for the First Prince. After this, he was supposed to gain his freedom.

Now it looked like freedom probably wasn't happening...

David Frank hadn't killed him, but that Fourth Prince would definitely be very interested in the ancient construct technology the First Prince had researched. Now that this technology had fallen into his hands, the Fourth Prince definitely wouldn't let him go.

Whether it was the First Prince or any member of the Goliath Empire's royal family, they all hoped to reforge the glory of the steam knights. Those legendary creations were the Lion-Heart King's greatest asset in defeating the darkness and defending half the continent three hundred years ago!

Unfortunately, after the Lion-Heart King died, no one knew how to manufacture the knights anymore.

First Prince Charles had been obsessed with these legendary creations since childhood. Once he began wielding power, he built different laboratories in various places, researching ways to replicate steam knights from different angles.

Prince Charles had even given Julius the opportunity to research the soul furnace, letting him realize his wish...

Until recently, the First Prince seemed close to success.

But Julius knew he'd gone down a very twisted path. Many of the experiments in different places had already spiraled out of the First Prince's control. That's why he'd made this trip to Dark Valley.

"Not killing you is already pretty polite."

David clutched his head, veins bulging on his hands. To distract himself, he continued speaking:

"Her Highness's original order was to kill everyone. I'm sparing your life considering you helped Dorothy... If you're really as useful as you claim, you'll survive."

Julius pursed his lips. "Those idiots spent three whole years and barely managed to make a pair of legs, while I only needed three days of adjustments to make those legs run faster than void hounds. You tell me if I'm useful or not."

The alchemical master wasn't bragging. Compared to potion research, Julius's expertise in constructs was indeed superior.

Think positive—his old boss, Earl Kingsley, seemed to have defected to follow the Fourth Prince now too, and that guy seemed to be living pretty well.

Just as the alchemical master was engaging in self-consolation, David across from him seemed to be in such pain he was about to bang his head on the floor.

Cold sweat dripped down from Julius's forehead.

Bang!

Suddenly there was noise on the room's balcony, startling the old man. He whipped his head around to see Dorothy in her raincoat had appeared directly on the inn's second-floor balcony.

The window opened. Wind and rain from outside swept into the room, splashing the alchemical master's face. But he didn't care at all. Right now, in Julius's eyes, the girl was like an angel sent by the goddess to save him...

"You're finally back! That guy's about to lose it!"