"I am a servant of God..."
Ebner smiled as he replied, then carefully studied the three senior members of Morning Star City who had surrounded him in a triangular formation.
Hmm, this black mecha man full of sci-fi flavor should be the strongest among the three. That much could be seen from the way the other two subtly treated him as the leader.
Also, that jeweled necklace on his neck, which completely clashed with the armor, must be a powerful Sealed Artifact. Its exact level, however, was impossible to judge.
The man on his left looked very familiar... a classic RoboCop Murphy appearance... could it be that his modification plan was something "I" designed?
And his nose and mouth were still intact, not modified... are they required for some special function?
Finally, the little girl on the right with bee-like wings looked at first glance like she had undergone a biological modification, and seemed to be the weakest of the three... but her aura felt off, somewhat similar to the "blood fairy" Lilith once casually created for Tyles...
All in all, they were strange and grotesque... but considering how long these people had persisted in this resource-starved nightmare, the fact that they could remain rational was already impressive!
While his thoughts turned, Ebner noticed the three demigods secretly communicating via encrypted shortwave signals—still within the scope of his "information extraction."
Yet, though he had captured the signals, he did not attempt to decode them. Even if it would not have been difficult for him with the "Pure White Eye" and his multitasking calculations, it was still too troublesome. Rather than bother, he might as well simulate the Manipulator's "virtual persona" ability and directly invade their minds.
Returning to the matter at hand, after a brief exchange among themselves, the black mecha man spoke again with his mechanical voice: "I do not know which god you serve as apostle? And from where you came?"
Though the electronic tone had almost no inflection, Ebner could still hear the cautious edge.
That makes sense. First, this city was not like Silver City or Moon City in the original novel, which had rarely seen outsiders. These people had spent two hundred years migrating from the far side of the Forsaken Land, along the way encountering many surviving city-states, as well as towns destroyed by evil gods. Naturally, they would be wary of someone like me who seemed intent on proselytizing.
Second, the fall of Morning Star City was inseparable from the followers of the True Creator. They would surely not want to repeat such a catastrophe. Even if trapped here with no hope, that was still better than total annihilation.
Turning these thoughts in his mind, Ebner did not reveal the divine names of his current patrons. After a moment of deliberation, inspiration flashed, and he answered in a tone of certainty:
"My Lord is the great 'Pure White Eye, Master of Destiny, Emperor of Knowledge and Machinery.' His avatar once descended into the 'Land of Curses,' the one you know as your 'Mechanical Emperor,' Lucien Evans."
This divine name was something Ebner had just improvised. The three parts of the title pointed respectively to the illusory "All-Knowing Eye" and "Pure White Angel" of the Unknown Land, as well as to the uniqueness of the "Wheel of Fortune" in which he had invested himself. The final phrase was a fusion of Ebner himself and Evans, deliberately the most ambiguous.
But since Ebner and Evans were one and the same, and he would eventually regain the memories of his life as Evans, in the end it still pointed back to him.
Although he was only Sequence 4 and his rank could not truly support a "divine name," with the Pure White Eye there, the problem was negligible.
The reason he spun such a tale was because these three demigods were not ignorant "native" demigods. They surely knew the Mechanical Emperor had already perished. After all, that energy core explosion had been cataclysmic. Poor Mr. Evans had not died peacefully like Ebner's other identities, leaving behind a body intact as if feigning death, without traits dissipating.
If he had only claimed to be the "Mechanical Emperor," they would surely have dismissed him as a fraud. But by declaring the Emperor to have been an avatar of the great "Pure White Eye, Master of Destiny, Emperor of Knowledge and Machinery," at worst they would be half-convinced, not entirely dismissive.
While his mind raced with schemes, Ebner noticed the three before him had not responded, seemingly stunned by his words. He quickly added: "As for me, naturally I come from the 'world of light' that the god once promised you."
On the other side, the black mecha man was about to voice disbelief, but suddenly remembered something. He jerked his head up to glance at the yellow gem imbued with extraordinary traits on the statue of the Mechanical Emperor, and swallowed the words he was about to say.
Meanwhile, Eleanor's little girl avatar had already begun muttering in a trance: "The world of light promised by God?
'When He returns, He will surely lead Morning Star out of the realm of darkness, into the world of light...
So this was not prophecy... but the promise of God?'"
Only Annick Splint, who resembled RoboCop Murphy, had his narrow eyes flashing with red light as he asked: "Honored Apostle, how can you prove this?"
He paused, then continued, "Forgive my rudeness, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Annick Splint, a current formal member of Morning Star City's Supreme Council."
Then he pointed to the black mecha man and the bee-winged girl. "These two are Olmos and Eleanor, also formal members of the Supreme Council... may I know how to address you?"
Annick Splint? That name must have been made up by Evans! What kind of stitched-together nonsense is that?
Suppressing his inner complaints, Ebner—using his true appearance—did not hide and smiled as he replied, "My name is Ebner."
As he spoke, he felt a little surprised. Judging by the three's attitude, they seemed to accept his story far too easily... Isn't this too gullible? And here I thought they were cautious.
Why do I suddenly feel like a teacher disappointed at unpromising students, hating iron for not becoming steel...
No, that's an illusion... Ebner mocked himself silently, then shook off the distracting thoughts and made the statue of the Mechanical Emperor raise its other arm, bending it toward its head...
He had originally intended for the statue to perform some simple action as "evidence" to gain their trust, but in the urgency of the moment, unable to think of a pose, he could only make it perform a military salute from his past life.
Who would have thought, as soon as the "Mechanical Emperor's" salute was completed, all around, every resident of Morning Star City—including the three councilors—immediately stood straight with solemn expressions, raised their arms, and returned the same salute.
—Even though their receivers and vocal systems were still disabled, and they had no idea what the four of them had been talking about.
What's going on? Stunned by this completely unexpected scene, Ebner froze.
"Ebner... no, honored Apostle! I believe what you said, that you are indeed the envoy of the Mechanical Emperor." The black mecha man Olmos, who had been skeptical, now trembled with excitement, even his electronic voice quivering. "Actually, from the moment you spoke in 'Morning Star Speech,' we already had little doubt.
"After all, we encountered many city-states along the way... but none used 'Morning Star Speech'... It was the language created by the Emperor to block supernatural powers.
"It is not Giant tongue, not Elven, not Draconic... but a true language belonging to us humans.
"Your pronunciation is so standard, beyond even most of the residents here, clearly not something learned in haste."
Morning Star Speech? What's that supposed to be? I was obviously speaking Loen...
Wait, they're speaking Loen too!
(End of Chapter)