DKIE CH59: Explosion

That’s right, I was born from a mother.

Luka, who had suddenly just remembered he had a mother, immediately distanced himself from the relationship. “Listen to me, they cut ties with me when I was a child.”

The Sage’s Sword stopped its ringing and lay there peacefully.

Luka: “It accepts reality so quickly.”

The Quill Pen: “Go check if it’s dead.”

“…”

The Sage’s Sword had been persecuted for too long. Now that its consciousness was being nourished by the power of faith and was gradually recovering, its mind was filled with conspiracy theories.

Luka could only give it time to calm down and turned to discuss important matters with the Quill Pen first.

“The history of the Tree of Life is all fabricated. In that case, the so-called Listeners cultivated to receive divine oracles must also be fake.”

The Holy Court had been trying to cultivate the most powerful and pure soul, definitely not with good intentions. Thinking about it now, his innate lack of magical aptitude had probably saved him from disaster.

Luka opted for desensitization therapy. He stopped telling chicken-soup-for-the-soul stories and began to use a negative-reinforces-negative approach, starting to read “My Demon King Father” to the Sage’s Sword.

Halfway through reading, the Sage’s Sword was still playing dead. He took a moment to say to the Quill Pen, “Regarding the troublesome matter of the Holy Court, why don’t you go and talk to the Saint later?”

His tone paused slightly, and Luka said with deep meaning, “Go in your true identity.”

The Quill Pen raised an eyebrow, and finally, the corners of his lips also curved up.

Now was indeed the most perfect time.

With internal and external troubles, the Saint couldn’t possibly attend to everything. With all the matters piling up, the impact of his identity would be greatly weakened.

At the very least, the other party would not do anything to break the balance at this juncture.

Whether it was dealing with the Demon King or the Holy Court, revealing his power was something that had to happen sooner or later. Being discovered or exposed later would easily sow seeds of doubt. More importantly, the terminal had now officially appeared before the public. An increase in faction members would be beneficial for enhancing Luka’s right to speak in the future.

The manuscript was placed on his lap. Luka looked out the window at the snow, which was starting to fall again. “I wonder if the Celebration Day ceremony is over by now.”

At this moment, the First Magic Academy was in an atmosphere of extreme fervor and suppression.

The higher-ups had sealed off the area. The sword’s gleam that had previously lit up half the sky was explained away as a premature test of a magical weapon to be displayed. Most of the uninformed students and teachers believed the school leadership’s explanation. Even the investigation was whitewashed as a theft of property.

Some of the visiting noble parents were half-convinced, while others had their attention captured by other things.

“That thing the Saint was using in the Revelation Hall earlier, have you seen it?”

They all asked privately in their own small circles, but the result was that no one had an answer.

This, in turn, piqued everyone’s curiosity even more.

The speech and weapon exhibition segments were already over. After the Saint left the stage, the remaining officials and nobles would inevitably have their own private gatherings.

“Returning to my alma mater, I must first go and visit my teacher.”

“Haha, me too! In the past, I was proud of my alma mater. Today, my alma mater is proud of me.”

They chatted and laughed, arranging a time for a dinner party later, and temporarily went their separate ways.

“Visit a teacher?” General Carol adjusted his military uniform and sneered.

When the sun-like brilliance lit up the sky, it contained a terrifying wisp of sword energy. If he wasn’t mistaken, some rising star had pulled out the Sage’s Sword.

Most of these colleagues were probably going to investigate.

General Carol had no intention of joining the fun. He called out to the generals of several other armies. “Let’s go.”

A general was surprised. “You’re not going to see…”

Carol interrupted, “It’s a rare holiday. Why are you running around?”

With such a big commotion, the reporters who came today would not possibly believe the academy’s lame excuse. He was on good terms with the chief editors of several newspapers in the Holy City. It would be more reliable to ask them later.

Several of his colleagues seemed to have thought of something as well and said with a smile, “Alright, then let’s go stroll around near the dinner party location first.”

There were many things to purchase during each holiday. Things like magic combat boots and gloves were long overdue for a change.

The group of military officers took a beast-drawn carriage back to the core commercial district of the city-state first.

The best and most expensive goods were always at the Rhine Commerce Guild. After learning of their needs, the sales staff enthusiastically promoted several newly launched combat boots.

A group of military officers attracted attention wherever they went. Carol ignored the stares and listened nonchalantly. Suddenly, his footsteps stopped. “What is that?”

Several of his colleagues subconsciously looked over and were also stunned.

When new products arrived in the store, there would be a catalog recommendation. Among them was something that looked very similar to what the Saint had used earlier, with a staggering price.

“A portable mobile terminal. It was previously only for internal use by the elven race. We’ve only just received stock.”

Carol: “Let me see it.”

The salesperson first put on special white gloves before carefully taking out the box. “It can help you contact another terminal user from anywhere.”

Without emphasizing the functions, the salesperson first mentioned something very superficial. “If you buy it now, it also comes with a special waist pouch.”

The special waist pouch didn’t have much of a design. It didn’t even feel like it had a trace of magic. At most, it was worth a few silver coins.

Upon hearing this, the group couldn’t help but shake their heads. They didn’t care about the freebie at all, nor did they listen carefully to the salesperson’s introduction. They were purely pursuing the “same style as the Saint” and bought it on the spot.

The salesperson repeatedly and considerately reminded them, “Please try not to put the terminal into a storage ring. Different spaces will affect the communication signal.”

With that, he personally helped them put on the waist pouches.

The material of the waist pouch was also very economical. The semi-hollow design made the contents inside faintly visible.

The officers thought even less of this cheap item. After paying, they turned and left, completely unaware that for a long time to come, this waist pouch would leave a heavy and colorful mark on the entire Saint Demon Continent.

…

Soft advertising required a fermentation period.

Luka didn’t care about the first day’s sales and continued to read to the Sage’s Sword. As for the Quill Pen, estimating that the Celebration Day was about to end, he had already gone to the Holy Tower alone.

“…And just like that, the Demon King and the Saintess exchanged their tokens of love.”

Om!

The Sage’s Sword, in its half-blackened state and half-persecutory delusion, had indeed been listening to “My Demon King Father” as a horror novel.

Terrifying. Too terrifying!!

With parents like that, the child’s start in life was an absolute disaster. Leaving aside the content, the identity of a human-demon half-blood was also destined to make him disliked.

The Sage’s Sword stood up directly, its scabbard patting his head in a gesture of comfort.

Luka blinked. It accepted my family background so easily? He had been preparing to gaze at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle and deliver a long, sad rap.

What Luka didn’t know was that the Sage’s Sword actually had a natural affinity for him. That pure power of faith was something it had only ever felt from the Human Ancestor in the past.

After confirming that he was also a victim of the Holy Court, the Sage’s Sword took a little time and successfully managed not to let the sins of the parents be visited upon the child.

“Very good. In the future, we will be partners fighting side by side.”

Before he could finish his sentence, the sound of footsteps on snow was heard, and the door, which was already ajar, was pushed open.

The moment he entered the room, the Quill Pen happened to see Luka being patted on the head by a sword.

“…” He was gone for just one afternoon, and he’s already being doted on again.

“How did the talk go?” Luka hurriedly closed the book and asked.

The Quill Pen nodded lightly. “It went smoothly enough.”

As for whether the Saint had a smooth time, he didn’t know.

Within one day, he had first done soft advertising promotion, then encountered the Sage’s Sword being pulled out, then helped rescue people, then learned of the Holy Court’s betrayal, and finally heard his true identity, all while having to perform his official duties and give a speech.

The Quill Pen’s tone suddenly held a hint of curiosity. “If you were the Saint, faced with a pile of messes, what would you do first?”

Luka: “Of course, I’d go to the temple and pray.”

Then I’d burn some joss sticks to the God of the Year and cry while comforting myself that extreme misfortune would be followed by good luck.

The Quill Pen gave him a deep look.

What ambition.

Seeing that it was getting late, Luka consolidated his knowledge of magic spells for a bit. The deficit from contracting the Sage’s Sword earlier hadn’t been replenished yet, so he went to bed early.

The Sage’s Sword was itching for a move. It had lost the dream-entering contest during the day, so now was undoubtedly a good opportunity.

The Quill Pen gave a “heh,” pretending not to see, and focused on giving the magical framework a facelift.

A quarter of an hour later, the Sage’s Sword let out a shriek.

Amidst the clear sword cry, Luka calmly turned over in his sleep, showing no signs of waking up.

In his dream today, he was still fighting his Demon King dad on the top lane.

The next day, the workaholic Luka woke up early as usual.

The Sage’s Sword was noticeably much more behaved today. Luka ate his breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Halfway through his meal, his ears twitched, and he stored it away. After contracting, the Sage’s Sword could be freely stored in his storage ring.

At almost the same time, Lilian’s voice came from outside. “Luka, are you there?”

The door opened, and Lilian came in, her face flushed with excitement.

When she saw his eyes, which had turned blood-red at some point, she was stunned for a moment.

Lilian first excitedly reported on the important matter. “My dad gathered thirty great magicians. The magical framework for the web novel platform has been worked out!”

Luka nodded. In fact, this had taken a little longer than he had thought.

Lilian was excited. “Are we going to do a public call for submissions?”

Luka thought for a moment. “First, pin a few incentive plans at the top. The rewards must be set high, and the quotas must be sufficient. The second part of my ‘Group Favorite’ will be published first on the platform. It will bring its own promotional hype.”

The platform was, after all, rooted in the network. You needed a terminal to use the network. The terminal had to become popular first.

He looked at Lilian. “You should know quite a few noble ladies. You should attend more gatherings recently.”

Lilian understood immediately. “And then at the gatherings, I deliberately bring the terminal?”

“Right, and you have to show it off nonchalantly,” Luka said. “You’ll be in charge of the young people’s circle. If it’s convenient, you can also have your esteemed father attend some events in the pharmacist circle.”

Cullen had sent a message earlier, informing him that the first batch of terminals had been sold to military officers. During the Celebration Day period, high-ranking officials also had many occasions, big and small, to attend. Once the main groups in these few areas were all covered, it would form an unbeatable trend of popularity.

“Alright!”

Lilian left in a flurry. She happened to have a tea party that afternoon.

Luka, braving the cold wind, stuffed the last breakfast bun into his mouth. “Finally, everything is ready.”

The Quill Pen got up to close the door. An east wind happened to blow across the sky.

For the next period of time, Luka stayed indoors again to avoid the limelight, but the outside world became more and more lively with each passing day.

Ever since purchasing the terminal, General Carol had attracted a lot of attention every time he attended a gathering.

The waist pouch he had originally disliked had, invisibly, become a golden signboard. Under the semi-hollow jacquard design, the faintly visible terminal had been asked about at least a thousand or eight hundred times.

“What is this? A new weapon?”

“Hey, I saw the Saint had one of these the other day!”

As soon as the topic of the Saint came up, a circle immediately formed around them. The crowd, boiling with enthusiasm, wanted him to take it out and show it off.

Once or twice was fine, but in the past two days, he had taken it out and shown it off countless times. General Carol was also getting a bit tired of it.

He finally understood why his other colleagues had started to decline banquet invitations for various reasons.

Starting from tomorrow, he would also decline all invitations. Anyway, the army’s funds for the coming year had already been raised.

“Immortal Fish?”

After Carol took out the terminal, an old general looked at the icon curiously.

The old general had spent most of his life stationed at the border. Out of respect, Carol opened the community.

In the popular recommendations, there were many secret videos about the Holy Court and the elven race, which also involved the death of the High Priest. He himself was not interested in any secrets or gossip, and had even less desire to create topics under the public eye.

So as soon as he entered, Carol immediately jumped to his personal page.

His personal information, like the man himself, was filled out very standardly: Carol, General of the Ninth Military Region.

He had seen it. After perfunctorily dealing with the guests for a couple of sentences, Carol prepared to close it directly.

Just as he was about to exit, he noticed a red +1 on the message bar.

[Quiet Valley has followed you]

Who?

Seeing the unfamiliar title, Carol reflexively clicked on it.

The other party’s introduction column was completely empty, but there were two posts with pictures and text on his main page. One of them was from several days ago:

[Quiet Valley: Watching the snow from a high place. Has winter come without any trouble? Worldly affairs are like a game of chess. Today, I meet my match.]

“Wait, this angle…” The old general suddenly squinted, craning his neck to see.

What place could actually overlook the Armadillo Plaza?

The lady next to him had sharper eyes. She pointed with her nail. “Look, isn’t that the Saint’s pet ferret!”

In the vast expanse of white snow, there was an unnatural bulge, and next to it was a paw print.

When the two of them leaned over, they blocked some of the light. Carol hadn’t seen it clearly at first. Now, his pupils shrank slightly, his sharp gaze precisely scanning the spot the woman was pointing at.

The entire atmosphere at the banquet changed at once.

The guests, who had initially been scattered in various places, all came over one after another, trying to squeeze into the circle. Carol, at the center of the circle, swept his majestic gaze over the surroundings. Some of the nobles took a step back in fear.

Carol’s expression remained serious, seemingly without much change.

But when he was scrolling down, wanting to see more posts, he failed to slide the screen several times. At some point, a thin layer of sweat had formed on his fingertips.

“Is it working or not?” A young master from a nearby family became nervous and forgot to use honorifics.

Realizing what he had said, he quickly covered his mouth.

While scrolling down, Carol finally saw the second post.

The poster was complaining that his pet liked to dart around in multidimensional spaces, obsessed with playing hide-and-seek all day long.

“It’s the Saint! It must be the Saint!”

Only the Saint’s ferret would have this kind of ability.

The surroundings completely erupted.

It was already crowded. As the guests pushed further in, where did it look like a banquet anymore? It was even more exaggerated than a traffic-jammed street.

Carol’s terminal was almost knocked to the ground by the excited crowd.

“Everyone, step back.”

While snapping in a low voice, he immediately protected the terminal as if it were his own sword.

After confirming it was the Saint, reverence and emotion appeared on Carol’s perennially stern and serious face.

To the military, the Saint was like a spiritual totem.

During the great war between the human and demon races, the Saint had not only ordered the Holy Court to allocate funds, but had also personally visited the meat-grinder-like border, facing the Demon King and two great princes at the same time.

The old general next to him had even personally participated in that battle. His admiration for the Saint was unparalleled.

At this moment, he completely forgot about Carol’s past brilliant military achievements. There was only one thought in his mind: What has this kid done to deserve this!

The old general stared covetously at the terminal.

That’s right, it’s all because of this. If he had a terminal too, where would it be Carol’s turn!

Perhaps he would be the one being followed.

“I suddenly remembered I have something to do. I’ll take my leave first.”

A cunning noble was the first to slip away. If he remembered correctly, Carol had said he bought it at the Rhine Commerce Guild, and it was a limited edition.

Limited edition!

The host of the banquet had already run off, let alone the others. Some even went as far as to cut their reins and ride their precious beasts out.

During the holiday period, the law enforcement team was maintaining order on important roads. One moment they were feeling gratified by the lively and orderly atmosphere, the next they were suddenly stunned.

“!!!” What is that?

In the distance was a dense black mass. At the front of the crazy crowd were people in formal attire, followed by noble ladies in luxurious long dresses holding wine glasses. Gemstone hairpins and brooches had fallen to the ground. They just rushed over like that!

The rich can never refuse a limited edition.

The noble at the very front regretted it so much his intestines were turning green. He had actually seen the new product catalog at the commerce guild before, but hadn’t inquired further, thinking that pursuing the same style too much would just be a poor imitation.

And just like that, he had lost an opportunity to gain the Saint’s attention, which would have been a huge benefit to his family.

“Clear the streets, strengthen the alert!”

The law enforcement captain gave the order, thinking there was a riot somewhere and these nobles were fleeing for their lives.

In the next moment, he saw the crowd all turn into the Rhine Commerce Guild.

“Don’t push.”

“Can’t you be a little more orderly?”

The people at the front frowned and reprimanded, acting as if they had been forcibly pushed forward, yet their arms were already stretched far ahead.

“I want one terminal!”

The salesperson was dumbfounded.

The surrounding customers looked at the sudden influx of a crowd of nobles, initially dazed. When they found out they were there to buy something, they subconsciously also got in line.

Things that need to be snatched are usually good things.

For a continuous week, the temptation of queuing played out every day outside. After the hype successfully spread from person to person, Luka sent a message to Cullen, asking him to come see him.

Cullen’s cuffs were a little wrinkled, and there were dark circles under his squinting eyes. He usually paid the most attention to his image, so it was clear that he had been extremely busy.

But when he saw Luka, his eyes were smiling.

The opportunity to enjoy the sense of accomplishment from promoting something new while making money was rare.

Especially since it had been a long time since anything had made him feel pressure.

The door wasn’t closed properly. Luka saw him and waved. “Come in quick. The Elf King and I have been waiting for you for a long time.”

Cullen, whose pressure was instantly overloaded: “…”

After coming in, Cullen was a little surprised to find that the other person who had been inseparable from Luka since he didn’t know when was not there.

As if he knew what he was thinking, Luka said, “He’s at the Saint’s place.”

After they had been open about their identities that day, the Saint had not pressed him for details, and would go directly to see the Quill Pen for anything.

This made Luka feel very comfortable, allowing him to focus more energy on his personal grand plan.

The Elf King was far overseas, so it was naturally impossible for him to come in person. The three of them used a channel created by the terminal for a voice and video chat.

The ordinary image quality did not detract from the Elf King’s beauty. Luka was approaching the age where he could weaponize his beauty. Squeezed between them, Cullen rubbed the large gemstone ring on his thumb and comforted himself: I have a good temperament.

“Let’s strike while the iron is hot. We can produce another batch of terminals.”

The limited-quantity hunger marketing strategy had been used enough. If they kept it tight, it would easily cause a backlash.

Luka nodded. “Of course, we need to mass-produce. But this time, we need to add a large-screen terminal.”

Cullen frowned slightly. “Wouldn’t that be inconvenient to carry around?”

The terminal had just been launched. Shouldn’t they be focusing on technological innovation, at least making it smaller and better, for example, finding a way to put it in a storage ring?

The continental people’s inertial thinking is that valuable and useful equipment must be stored away? For example, they could launch a hidden model and a regular model, accelerate product updates, and add more functions for a higher price.

Luka waved his hand. “If it’s stored away, it’s not easy to break, which affects making money.”

He returned to the previous question.

“It’s precisely so that it can’t be carried around.” Luka seriously gestured the size, which was even larger than they had imagined.

“I want to open a specialized commercial establishment to provide internet access for those who can’t afford a terminal for the time being.”

Internet cafes, it’s your time to shine!

Luka’s Diary Guide:
First day moving to the space-nest. Added a new footprint function, can see the footprints of every peeper.
Wait, isn’t it not open to the public? Why are there so many paw prints?
Men and women, old and young, different races. In one day, an endless stream of visitors.
Luka: …#￥%…@&
Better go back to a paper diary.
The First Magic Academy will randomly drop fifty small red packets, looking for clues about the culprit online.

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