It Started With Devils & Artefacts

After eating, Marcus returned to his work. Atalanta sneaked away somewhere as she began to set things in motion and prepare for the trip.

The Lioness is walking on a thin line, and the moment she is away, Sirin sneaks into his lap.

The Herrscher doesn't care about points she can earn. She has everything she wants. If not, then she can ask Marcus to give it to her.

It's simple in her eyes. That cat girl still has some lingering independent thoughts. Something she shouldn't bother with when she lives under technocracy. 

After all, Marcus can do everything needed. If Atalanta had thought more about it, she could have easily gotten what she wanted.

'But then again, she is a lion. I have no idea how that kind of people should be operating.'

As she pondered about her competition, Marcus continued to work on Nanobots. He already has models, and synchronisation did; all left is programming, which he works through rapidly. 

The thing is, he already has many blueprints to work through. One of the perks of having a faction like this is that he has much knowledge to work with.

For inventors like him, raw resources are not a priority. What they need is a different kind of resource, and that is knowledge.

That is why he was done with nanites in just a few days. 

Though he was done, he couldn't improve his ship as they were midflight.

[Sir, we are approaching Phase Two.]

"Phase two? What does she mean?" Sirin snapped out from her plotting as she turned her head to his side and looked at him.

"To travel back in time in the most efficient way possible, as we are going very far, it is better to leave time altogether and reposition where we want.

It's like playing at the river. You don't struggle against the stream. You leave the river, walk where you want, and re-enter it." He explained to her as he slowly stood up. Sirin ended up standing as well.

"Let's go. Not every day can we see how reality looks without time." 

"...Wait…doesn't it mean that time flows differently in Confiscator?" Sirin realised that midway.

"Ha. So you noticed it. Yes. Time flows differently here. It flows how it is supposed to, regardless of where we are. It means it only passed two days for us regardless of where we are."

"...How did you even do that? Aren't we outside stream of time?" She asked with an uncertain tone.

"That's dear where Time Engine and Byfrost come into play.  My Confiscator has several different gravity wells. As you know, gravity wells can impact time. That is why we have several of them. The first one allows us to travel through time using the byfrost method.

Byfrost is a Norse term, as they came up with this first. First, they warp space around themselves and then create a bridge through which they can move fast. 

I use the same method; graviton projectors cast the bridge in front of us." Marcus even summoned a hologram of the ship and showed it to her.

"That is why my Confiscator has another extra Diamond core. That diamond core is what is powering Time Engine alone. The other core powers the Byfrost and Graviton Engines, and the last is used in day-to-day things."

"...You are using two perpetual motion machines just to power this journey?" 

Sirin realised just how absurd this journey was to make it happen.

"Precisely. It tells us how absurd the concept of time travel is not? Movies make it look so simple." He said with a snort as he dismissed the hologram and motioned to walk towards the closest window.

"Tell the crew how rare this this step is," Marcus told his AI.

[Understood, relaying this message.]

As he said, they arrived in front of the observation deck, just below the bridge.

Sirin's eyes widened as she saw greenish-blue clouds on her right side —more like a nebula… or something like that! But the more they moved, the more she understood what she saw… it was a river!

"...Beautiful, isn't it? What you are looking at is time. You know… this is like seeing Earth for the first time from space. 

For many years, people wondered how their world looked; for thousands of years, people speculated. From disc to being the centre of the universe. 

This is not different. We needed to move out of time to observe it."

Marcus smirked as he greedily looked at the time stream.

Sirin dumbly nodded as she looked at it.

Her eyes tried to comprehend what she saw, its scale! What she saw is simply… incomprehensible. 

'...wait… if I comprehend this… won't that mean I can manipulate time itself?'

The beauty bit her right thumb's nail as she tried to understand.

"...I know that look. This is the perfect opportunity for you, Sirin, but not everyone. For the next 28 days, we will travel outside the stream before reentering it. 

You can try to comprehend it." After saying that, he briefly looked at the stream before returning to his workshop.

~~~

"Our grandfather would sell his soul to see what we are looking at," Athena said with a knowing look at her half-sister.

"...Hah. Maybe, but he is too proud." Artemis shook her head before looking at the time stream with crossed arms.

"But do you realise how absurd this situation is? We are outside literal time. We are looking at it as some celestial object or phenomenon." The Goddess of Hunt said with a strained smile.

"I am no longer surprised. Instead, I am curious." As Athena said, she created a basic-looking magic circle and started adding Greek letters to it. 

The Goddess of Wisdom started to develop basic time-related spells.

She has a visual idea of how time looks and flows, so all she needs to do is layer it…

Marcus never considered the consequences of taking living beings out of time flow. 

Even mundane people are affected by it.

Erina Nakiri never considered that just by being on the ship, she would grasp fundamental laws of time…

"What are we looking at?" The cherry blonde looked at the greenish-blue nebula-like thing through the window. It looked like some sort of drawn-coloured wind.

[What you are looking at is the time outside of time flow.]

Erina wanted to say: 'Is that even possible?' but she controlled herself and gazed at it with a spacey look. There was something hypnotic about it.

The same was true with her assistant. Gazing at Earth from the Moon was like a fundamental reflection of how small one is compared to the Cosmos.

But this? This… was a fundamental reflection of how short is one's existence. 

However, gazing at this celestial phenomenon is something no living being should see as it can easily shatter one's mind and question the purpose of life itself.

"...Wow… well…"

Erina snapped out and refocused, shaking her head, trying to get over it. 

Once she recovered to some extent, she turned around and walked back to the kitchen. She has things to do.

But then she saw that Hisako was not following her.

"Hisako."

No answer.

"Hisako!"

No answer.

Erina frowned. She grabbed the girl's shoulder and shook her for a second.

It was enough for her to snap out.

"Erina-sama?"

The pink-haired girl looked confused for a second.

"You have spaced out for a second." The chef girl explained as she motioned to follow her back to the kitchen.

"...M-My apologies!" The girl chased after her.

As they returned to the kitchen, the AI closely observed their behaviour after seeing the time flow.

After doing some calculations, the AI notified her creator.

~~~

"Curious…" The inventor watched the video of Erina shaking Hisako.

[My consensus is that watching time allows biological beings to grasp fundamental laws of the space-time continuum.]

'In other words, they can develop time powers.' 

Marcus stroked his chin.

For Marcus, time manipulation is something he already grasped and almost shoved aside as he no longer finds much fascination.

But if others can develop powers just from gazing at it? Now that is interesting.

'However, this is a dangerous game. Their psyche can melt if they are not careful.'

"Prepare bio chambers. We are going to improve our chefs." 

[Understood.]

"...Hmm, are you going to improve them?" Sirin was confused by the video Marcus was watching. So, she was even more confused about why he wanted to alter those two humans.

"Yes. It's vital, as I don't want them to die at random encounters." The inventor motioned for her to stand up as the pair proceeded to walk to the kitchen.

"At the same time, we improve the psyche. While Erina has quite the willpower when it comes to cooking, she can channel that outside of it, but Hisako Arato is not so well."

As they walked to the lift, they were taken to the lower floor. 

After walking for a bit, they arrived at the kitchen.

The pair were cooking a storm once more. As the pair realised that it's not a joke to feed dragon girl, a literal dragon and selection of goddesses…

Instead of despairing, Erina rose to the challenge. Cooking for the gods was a badge of honour for her.

"...The dinner is still—"

Marcus raised his hand to stop her.

"I am here to discuss some side effects." He said while leaning against a table with crossed arms.

"Side effects?" Erina paled.

"Yes. I am preparing Bio-chambers for you two." 

"...B-Bio–"

"Bio-chambers are medical baths which improve your genes and remove genetic impurities. They put you at the peak of the human species. If you want, I can add extras like giving powers." 

Erina's eyes perked when she heard that.

"...But why now?" Hisako asked with a curious tone.

"...It's because of the dangers of such travel. As you might have noticed, observing time has already affected your psyche." The moment Marcus mentioned that the girls looked surprised and paled.

"Regardless, take a short break and follow me for now." He motioned for them to follow him.

"...Is there a price for such treatment?" Erina asked in a professional tone, as she knew that everything has a price.

"...price? Power, power always has a price. You will stand out from the rest of the people. As someone with God's Tongue, you already know what it means to stand out from normal people."

"...What about you?" The cherry blonde asked in an inquisitive tone.

"Me?" Marcus looked surprised and curious. It appeared Erina had finally developed enough backbone to ask some questions.

"Yes. But, if you want, you don't need to tell me anything." But then she quickly realised that she was jumping beyond her post.

"It's fine. I went through several sessions to develop a unique power meant for me."

'...Wait…' 

Erina, for a second, realised something absurd.

'He used biology to improve his genius, then used that genius to develop more tools to improve himself further!

It's like a never-ending cycle! The Chef girl swiftly realised how absurd this was!

It's like a… biological machine!

The group took the lift to the lower floors. It was on the same floor as the water park, only on the opposite side.

This was where his knights were on standby. 

In other words, the barracks.

But then went to the other side of the corridor. The double doors opened, revealing five bio-chambers.

The girls looked at this sight, the only thing which came to mind was 'sci-fi!'. 

"...Are these… clone vats?" Hisako asked him the very next second.

"...Hisako?" Erina was confused. How on earth does she know that?

"...Star Wars, Erina-sama."

"Ah, yes. Attack of Clones." He stroked his chin.

"I based my personal Genetic wing on Kamino." Marcus casually commented on that before motioning to walk deeper into the room.

"Now come in. We shall begin the process." As he said that, he motioned for hologram screens to pop up. With simple hand swings, he went through menus.

"For now, you girls need to undress."

"!!!"

"!!!"

"H-Hold on a second!"

The pair started to blush up a storm.

Marcus rolled his eyes when he saw them get embarrassed.

*Sigh*

"Fine. Send here a few maids and bring hospital-style clothes." 

The inventor asked his AI.

[Relaying orders.]

"Good. In the meantime, give me a single strand of your hair."

He mentioned the pair to give him.

The pair looked at him with uncertain looks.

"What? I only want one piece of hair." He once again eye-rolled at them.

"You two realise that I will get your DNA either way." Solomon's successor clarified that it was pointless.

After hearing that, Erina walked forward and elegantly pulled a strand from her ponytail.

Marcus used his psionic energy to make it flow over to him. He then placed it on a reader. 

Seconds later, the scanning bar rapidly filled up. With the built-in Quantum Computer, the concept of long-loading screens doesn't exist.

Before long, Marcus saw a naked picture of Erina…

"...!!!" The beauty blushed when she saw that.

"As I said, I will see your DNA. If I see DNA, I see your body in full glory.

"...P-Pervert!…" Erina stuttered.

"...Not the first time I have been named like that. But you do have to realise that I created five beauties already. A woman's body is not unknown to me." As he said that, he made the figure spin before switching to the actual DNA strand, and he quickly found what he had been looking for.

And that is God's Tongue.

"...Interesting, you have an extra atom next to the atom responsible for taste…" With hand motion, Marcus expanded on and started to figure out how this worked.

'My oh my. It's such a curious thing. It's an actual 'boaster'.' Gears started spinning in Marcus' head as he began to think about how to use them on other things, like boaster for mana sensitivity or specific traits of supernatural beings.

"...That's maybe my God's tongue." 

Erina slightly recovered as she realised that her naked picture was gone.

"Yes. I know. But this is a fantastic piece for my database. I will give you Technocracy points. You can use them to make things from Assembly lines for your personal use."

"...Wait… you paying me for having God's tongue?" The beauty was confused.

"Yes, as I have recorded it and now everyone in my faction can have it."

"!!!"

"!!!"

Both Erina and Hisako looked gobsmacked.

"But that's not all. I can reverse engineer the method and how it evolved and use it for other things like mana or nose sensitivity." He said with a shrug.

"Though I have data from animals like lions and dogs for noses, the actual human case of magnified sensitivity towards something is a far better example as it allows me to get a middle ground without even doing excessive testing," Marcus explained to her as he was cleaning up Erina's DNA.

Fixing certain negative traits and expanding on the limitations of the human body.

"So, in other words, you helped me, and I reward for that." He moved his head away from the strand and looked at her. She had slightly rosy cheeks as she still remembers that he saw her naked.

"...Can these points be used to improve Totsuki?" She asked after staying quiet for a while. Erina could easily use certain perks this faction produces. Like a perpetual motion engine, time manipulation allows products to remain fresh for longer periods.

Robots for maintenance and holograms for classes.

"Don't worry. You have impressed me enough to consider keeping Totsuki… If not the whole of Japan." Marcus remembers that Amaterasu wants to speak with him. She gave him Sunrise and Konami.

In other words, he has Gundam and Yu-Gi-Oh. 

Well… Konami and Sunrise have more intellectual properties, but he only cares about those two.

Not to mention, Japan has Nissan and Sony. Nissan is for Skyline R-34, and Sony is for Playstation. But most importantly, Japan is extremely small. Project Eden can easily ignore those islands.

"...I see…" She looked relieved as she took a deep breath.

"Yes. It's your point, so do whatever you want." 

A few minutes later, Artemis and Hippolyta walked in with hospital clothes in hand.

"We have the clothes." 

"Good." Marcus nodded at the two maids before looking at Hisako.

"Your hair."

The pink-haired girl blushed as she looked embarrassed. She was trying to play it down.

However, in the end, she handed it over. Seconds later, the Inventor was already inspecting her DNA.

As this happened, the pair walked away to change into these new clothes.

"It has been a while since I played with legitimate human DNA." Marcus offhandedly commented.

"And did you find anything particularly interesting?"

"Not groundbreaking. But interesting enough, do everything manually." 

He said that as he finished basics for Hisako as well.

Not long after, the pair returned in slippers and a single piece of white hospital dress.

"Good. Now, the first session will fix any sort of defects in your DNA. Those develop over thousands of years of breeding.

Regardless, once that is done, we can start discussing improvements," Marcus explained to the two. Meanwhile, the bio-chambers opened.

"Step inside and put on the breathing masks. You two will be in a liquid for a while."

The pair of chefs listened to his instructions.

'First, it was walking on the moon, then cooking like a dinner's chef for bottomless pits called dragons, then watching time outside time and now genetic alterations…'

Erina could only lament the craziness of her life. This whole thing wasn't how she imagined 'exiled from paradise'. Yes, for her, leaving Totsuki was like Eve and Adom's story of being exiled from paradise called Totsuki. 

No…this was not hell or even Earth. It was sci-fi. She was 'isekai'd' into a world where Marcus plays with concepts like a toddler playing with his plushy toys.

As Erina put the breathing mask on her face, the Biochamber closed, and she could see the hologram being displayed and the timer on it.

She will be doing this for several hours.

"Now relax and enjoy what Technocracy has to offer. You are the first human to experience this outside my immediate family circle." Marcus spoke over a hologram.

Slowly, Marcus felt like it was getting distant as their consciousness drifted away.

"...So… if they are away, who will cook for me?" Sirin asked as she realised that she wouldn't be getting their food!

"Well, you will have to suck it up. You can still use the current blueprints."

"...B-But! We have legitimate chefs from Japan!" The Herrscher started pouting at him.

"As I said, suck it up." He rolled his eyes at her.

"I can't believe I spoiled my girls like this." The Inventor pretended that he was dissapointed with her.

"Ugh!" 

'Calm down, Sirin! You are channelling Kiana Kaslana! It's unbecoming of you!'

~~~

As the pair were getting an alternation. Marcus swiftly returned to his designing.

With Nanobots finished, he started using them for the creation of exploration suits.

One of the first ideas was to use suits from games like Mass Effect, Crisis series, and even Halo.

These were not Armour like his Freedom but more flexible, similar to Iron Man's cutting-edge suit.

It's not thick or chunky but more like the second skin layer.

While Nanobots will create several layers, he needs more.

He needs a skin layer before the nanobots layer comes into play.

For that, he decided to add a complete man-made material created by hand at the atomic level. This layer is the key layer.

The layer will keep bacteria, electromagnetic pulse emitted by lifeforms, smell, and even sound at bay.

Though Marcus was done as he went on fire the moment he realised he didn't need to rush or be in a hurry.

The design he went for this material was based on hexagons and how bees build their honeycombs.

The design was quick, but he spent a while adding the joins and the support atoms to ensure certain things didn't pass through.

It took him a couple of hours to make this.

"Begin test rendering."

[Rendering, beginning assembly.]

Short minutes away, the floor moved and revealed a black mesh on a pedestal. It looked like skin-tight rubber used by divers.

Marcus walked over and inspected it. 

It was extremely thin. It looked like it was only a few inches.

But the inventor knew that those few inches were enough.

He focused some of his energy on his right index finger and tried to pierce it.

…

One second…

…Two seconds…

He tried harder…

Third second…

"...Impressive…"

Only a fifth second later did the whole mesh shatter out of existence.

[By my estimation, this specific formula could hold between 5 and 50 thousand of psionic force.]

"More than that. I am pretty sure the amount of energy I used was enough to kill a God." Marcus said with a snort.

[That makes the second revolutionary invention in a week.]

Aurora sounded proud.

"Well, I am limited in this small workshop. I can only focus on small things." Marcus shrugged at his AI.

"Regardless, the mesh still needs some tinkering. We need to add discharge of absorbed energy function." Marcus said to his AI as he walked back to his seat and summoned the design.

He was not done. He is considering adding time-distortion-based storage, which would allow the mesh at the atomic level to store around 300% more energy. That means the mesh can take more of a beating.

As he returned to the designing, he zoomed in and added more coding to the atom.

~~~~~~Hours Later~~~~~

Erina's eyes trembled as she opened them. What she saw was liquid and a timer at ten seconds.

'...What is this feeling?'

The first thing she noticed was that she was brimming with energy.

[...5…]

She looked around and saw that Hisako was in the same condition.

[...4…]

Her eyes returned to the hologram.

'Can I use it the same way as the armour I had on?'

She pondered and tried to use her intent.

Sure enough, the window expanded and saw the changes.

'Basic human package? Removal of all diseases, cancer cells, genetic defects like balding, immune system failure… and lastly, my lifespan is around 300 years…'

The girl was baffled to think that this was basic…

'I Shouldn't be surprised that he can fix all the diseases…'

[1…]

[Session over… removing chemicals…]

The liquid was rapidly drained, and before she realised, the girl was standing on her feet.

Yet, she felt that she could jump like some grasshopper! All she needs is to use her leg muscles, which are denser than ever!

The chef girl removed the breathing mask, and the bio chamber opened for her. The girl walked out around a second earlier than Hisako.

"...Erina-sama…"

"...Yes… This is absurd." 

Erina replied without even knowing the context. All she cared about was how light her limbs were.

"...We should get a shower. The smell is weird." Hisako said as she realised, they were wet and the damp robe highlighted their assets.

"...you are right."

The doors opened as they were about to leave, and Artemis walked in.

"The session is over. For the next couple of days, minimise your actions. Your bodies are at this moment hypersensitive to outside stimulus."

"...And cooking?"

Erina asked with a frown.

"You can do your cooking but only mild tastes. Otherwise, you can pass out. Worst case, your taste receptors will melt, and you will return to Bio-chamber."

"...I see…." The pair were too terrified to comment more.

"Good, my job is done." The Goddess turned around and left.

…

…

…

"WAIT! That was Goddess—"

"...Yes…I know."

The pair looked uncomfortable… a Goddess was acting like a maid and notifying them like any maid would do.

~~~~~~Later~~~~~~

Around three days later, Erina and Hisako were back at peak performances. They quickly noticed how stronger, faster, and clearer their thoughts were!

They were….just better!

Weirdly, Erina noticed some strange auras around things. So she went to see Marcus about that.

The moment she entered his workshop with his permission, her eyes wandered to a hologram of a black and dark grey suit, which looked a far slender version of the one she was wearing on the moon.

Something about this armour was sending chills through her body.

According to some maids, it has been a while since Marcus has worked on a single project for that long.

Considering how many tools and technology he has behind him…

Regardless, she was pulled out of her thoughts as Marcus started to explain to her.

"What you are seeing is time's flow. It's like understanding what the horizon is. Your mind knows that the horizon is the planet's curvature.

It's the same principle. After you see the time flow outside the time, you can't return to how you were before."

"...But aren't we flying outside time flow now as we speak?"

"Yes, but to keep the comfort level at optimum condition, I am emulating time flow inside my Confiscator," he clarified to her.

"...Then what does this mean?"

"It means that you want to or not. You are grasping how to interact with time itself." He said with a small smile.

Before he continued, he had a grand idea! he snapped his finger and spoke with his AI.

"Call my Fiance." 

[Notifying Goddess Athena.]

"In your free time, Athena will teach you two how to harness your new awakening powers and wield mana."

"!!!"

"!!!"

'Considering that they are jumping to literal Time manipulation without any sort of medium. This is…interesting.'

He noticed that his other girl had been testing some of the time powers like Sirin. The girl is still a genius with a high IQ toward practical actions. The same goes for his other maids…

Gu Yuena, who was born to manipulate time, is especially a being whose comprehension of time is rising by the minute.

"H-Hold… a second! You want us to learn from Goddess of Wisdom!?"

"Is there a problem?" 

A female voice said from behind. The pair stiffed and turned into a pair of deers who were caught in the car's headlights.

"...N-No! It's…just… too much!" 

*Snort*

"The infamous Japanese humbleness." Athena shook her head as she walked over. 

The pair saw her standing there with one hand on her hip and the other hand on her glasses.

"I am free now, so I suggest we start now. In the meantime, I will come up with a curriculum for you two." The Goddess ignored whatever excuses they could possibly have.

"Good. Then you can start. Remember to keep in mind that they need to have energy to cook."

"...I know. But since they are 'perfect human', they can take punishment better than Devilkin." Athena smiled as she was thinking of having some fun as well! It has been a while since they have had total war simulations.

"....Umm…"

"...Is… this negotiable?" 

Instead of saying anything, the pair were engulfed by the psionic fields of Athena and taken away.

~~~

'W-What is going on!?' Erina was both excited and horrified! Being trained by a God means she is like the heroes from all those ancient stories!

But the issue with that is that their stories end with tragedies!

Something she doesn't want!

"Now then." Athena ended up sitting in a comfortable chair. 

The pair of chef girls looked around. They were in Athena's room! It was a big library! Not a room!

"How much do you two know how the magic of humans works?" 

The pair looked at each other.

"Fundamentals, as Nakiri, I have some awareness of what it is. But any practical experience I have is none." Erina explained truthfully as she knows that lying to a God is suicidal.

"Good enough. We will start with fundamentals. A crash course should be enough for you two to make magic crests of your own."

"...I-Isn't it dangerous?" 

"Not at all." Athena shook her head.

"Your two processing power is far superior to a normal human being. You two should have noticed that by now.

You two can recall things faster and absorb information as well." 

Athena mentioned that the two recalled this info in the 'package' section and that they already have experience with that.

They can recall food recipes on the fly!

"Good, now let's start."

…

…

…

However, the pair quickly realised that they were not learning anything related to time but instead pure magic. It makes them feel like some sort of witches or sorceresses…

It was not the issue!

"...Ummm…"

"Goddess Athena…"

The Goddess, who was heavy into theory, stopped in her tracks and looked at the pair.

Instead of saying anything, she pushed her glasses up.

"Listen. What I am teaching you two are tools. You need tools to understand higher mysteries like time." The Goddess of Wisdom pointed out.

"After all, you can't be a proper chef if you don't have a knife."

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

Marcus walked over to his Dragoness, who was kept in her training to Master control over time.

When Marcus entered her room, he saw her playing with a watermelon seed.

The silver-haired Dragoness waved her hand, and the seed turned into dust. Then she waived back, and it was back to normal.

"... Having fun?"

The inventor pulled her out of her heavy focus.

"...Not quite. I want to turn this into a proper watermelon but only turn it into dust or rot it away." The beauty complained to him with a pout.

"Well, you have to remember that the seed needs nutrition and a place to grow." He pointed his hand and used psionic energy to take the seed and make it flow into a pot prepared beforehand.

"What you are accelerating is the age, not growth. Those are two different things.

Remember that this is not different from ageing someone else. Just because you age, it doesn't mean you are growing. Grow needs a reaction."

As he explained, the seed erupted into a plant, and soon there was a juicy watermelon.

"...Wait! If that is the case, where did you get water and light!?"

The beauty asked with a heaver pout.

"I used my energy as a supplement for those two." He shrugged his reply.

The beauty's pout morphed into a pondering look before grabbing his hand and pulling him into deeper into her room.

"I see. In that case, you will teach me more! I want to use this in a proper fight later on!" She explained her reasons.

"Oh, and what will I get from this?" Marcus asked with a curious tone.

Gu Yuena simply smiled at him. Her smile was slightly lewd.

~~~

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