Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

Chapter 20 The Broken Silver Thread

The expected gunshot did not ring out. Professor De Went looked up in confusion, and the sight before him made him involuntarily gasp.

What Cole was holding in his hand was a revolver, which was clearly a metal kettle.

With a ferocious expression, he frantically pulled the non-existent trigger, seemingly unable to understand why his gun was misfiring.

Suddenly, as if realizing something, silver threads flashed in his eyes, but these threads, as if cut, all snapped...

Cole's pupils dilated, his breathing became more rapid, and he felt a shiver run through his soul. He staggered and tried to take a step to run, but involuntarily stretched out his right hand, and his whole body fell to the ground like an incongruous toy.

"No way! Why, why did I break the rules!" Cole roared hysterically.

Professor Devont watched Cole writhing wildly on the grass like a worm, and involuntarily licked his lips. A sense of eeriness, like an ice pick, pierced through Professor Devont's tailbone. He couldn't understand what was happening.

"That's because you haven't witnessed the future you're meant to see." A voice sounded behind him. Deventer turned around abruptly and found Suren standing there, slowly fiddling with his revolver: "The future where I kill the Dominator."

"Impossible! This isn't the future I see! You should be killed by it, and I'll be the one to end this causal chain!"

Cole had completely lost his mind; his eyes were unfocused, and he couldn't even tell which one was Suren in his vision.

Suren slowly raised his gun, aimed it at Cole's head, and uttered a single sentence: "Well then, goodbye, rookie."

"Bang!"

The bullet pierced Cole's skull, spraying out a brilliant burst of blood that left a bloodstain on the grass.

Professor Devont looked at Suren, who had raised his gun, and the words "This is the key to our victory" still echoed in his mind.

Just as Suren had predicted, Professor Derwent held off Cole, and they achieved victory.

But how did Suren manage that? Professor De Went couldn't understand. He looked up at the sky; the sun was still hanging high, but he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Ignoring the fearful professor, Suren rushed to Karl's side, checked his breathing, and confirmed that Karl was merely unconscious.

He rummaged through Karl's bag, and thankfully, only one of the three vials of potion was broken. He pried open Karl's mouth and roughly poured the potion into his mouth.

He then went to the professor's side and handed him the remaining bottle.

Professor Devont took the potion, gave Suren a deep look, took a deep breath, and swallowed it.

Suren walked to Cole's body, pulled the revolver from his waist, and felt a peculiar warmth in his hand as he touched the gun. The silver barrel gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

Upon closer inspection, Suren discovered an intricate magic circle engraved on the gun handle, indicating that the gun was likely the legendary enchanted weapon.

He crouched down and searched Cole's body, trying to find some useful clues while reviewing the whole incident.

While on duty, Suren deduced that this guy's abilities were related to his fate.

Through further probing, Suren also deduced that the so-called "foreseeing the future" could be altered for those who were unaware of it, and that Cole was overly confident in the future he saw.

Moreover, Cole's unusual behavior at the time—his excessive obsession with "seeing the Deathbird fall with his own eyes"—caught Suren's attention, allowing Suren to make an initial judgment about the direction of his rules.

After the giant wolf appeared, Cole could have left immediately, but he still took a huge risk and watched from the sidelines, which further confirmed Suren's conjecture: Cole's rule was to witness.

Witnessing the future he foresaw or the events he intervened in—even if this speculation isn't the final answer, it's infinitely close to the truth.

However, the consequences of the other party violating the rules were somewhat different from what Suren had expected. Perhaps the consequences of violating the rules were directly linked to their abilities, which is why they were clearly different from the people of the Libra Church. But what they had in common was that both of them paid an irreversible and bizarre price.

This made Suren realize more clearly the seriousness of violating the code of conduct; ultimately, reports are not as impactful as seeing things firsthand.

Suren regained his composure and focused his attention on examining Cole's body. Besides the spoils from the two previous encounters and some bullets, he also had a wallet on him.

Suren opened her wallet and found only two gold pounds, an IOU, and a strangely shaped badge inside.

Suren's lips twitched; this guy was even poorer than him.

What Suren couldn't understand about Cole's behavior was that this guy should have already planned to betray her from the very first time they talked. But if it was just for money, he had no reason to betray her at all.

"Perhaps he sees a future with enormous potential profits?" Suren had a guess in his mind.

As Suren pondered, he noticed a faint light emanating from Cole's shattered skull.

He forced himself to pull out the object, which was an irregularly shaped long crystal wrapped with ethereal silver threads.

Just as Suren was wondering, a voice came from beside him: "That is the Spirit Bridge."

Suren turned to look at Professor Deventer, who was speaking. Perhaps because of the recovery of "Source Knowledge", his breathing was much more stable, and he had returned to his usual calm scholarly demeanor.

Professor Deventer looked at the crystal in Suren's hand and said, word by word, "Transcendent beings above the 'Awakener' level leave behind this crystal after death due to the different structure of their 'Source Knowledge,' which is called the 'Bridge of the Deceased.'"

If it's another superhuman of the same type, then they can directly use it to increase their 'scale'.

Professor Derwent seemed to see Sulen's confusion and explained, "'Scale' is a popular term that refers to the requirements for advancement, which is the kind of change you perceive when using your abilities."

Suren nodded. He understood. The feedback he received each time he used his ability was an increase in "scale," a rather apt term.

"'Scale' can increase your 'Source Knowledge' limit and recovery speed, and it also brings stability and speed to the release of abilities. The Church should have told you all about this." The professor pushed up his glasses and added an important detail, "You should have also noticed that repetitive, mechanical, and purposeless use of abilities cannot increase 'Scale'."

Suren nodded, and just as he was about to ask further questions, the professor shook his head and interrupted him: "I know what you want to ask, but I don't know the essence behind the 'scale' either. I only know that the color of an ability will affect the acquisition of the 'scale'. The rest you will have to explore on your own."

Suren looked into the professor's eyes to make sure he wasn't lying, then returned to the original topic: "Then the 'Spirit Bridge' must have other uses, right?"

Instead of answering directly, Devonte changed the subject: "You know the function of the 'Demon Heart,' right? It can create 'blasphemous creations' with corresponding abilities."

Suren understood the professor's meaning. He looked at the crystal in his hand and asked doubtfully, "You mean it can also be used to make 'blasphemous creations'?"

The professor shook his head: "It can be used directly, and its effect is similar to 'Blasphemy of Creation.' It's important to note that 'Spirit Bridge' contains the emotions the deceased invested in using the ability during their lifetime, so using it requires strong willpower; otherwise, it can cause some psychological trauma."

At this point, the professor seemed to remember something and added, "Of course, there are special methods to erase the memories within the 'Spirit Bridge,' which would then be used to create a more powerful 'blasphemous creation,' but I don't know of any such methods."

The professor, observing the lost in thought, adjusted his glasses, composed himself, and, unable to contain his curiosity, asked, "Aren't members of the Deathbird Cult supposed to be forbidden from attacking each other? Why are you completely unaffected?"

Suren put the crystal in his pocket, glanced back at the curious professor, and instead of answering directly, asked casually, "How about we talk about your extraordinary abilities first?"