I want to just drift through life in Type-Moon.

Page 153

The reason Ling didn't want to pay attention to Dr. Roman was because he didn't want to get too involved with Dr. Roman. After all, Dr. Roman was an insurance policy that existed to protect the humanity of the Chaldea world line, and his future actions, as he anticipated, might be much more serious than what Goetia was going to do. Therefore, the two of them were very likely to be on opposing sides in the future.

In his previous life, although he was a graduate student in archaeology, he didn't travel around the world all the time. He spent most of his time in China researching or writing papers, and often had nothing to do, which is why he became an FGO player.

The Fate IP involves many historical figures and legends, especially the concept of Heroic Spirits, which is closely related to his major. That's why it has become a research archive for the game. Not to mention, as a hidden otaku, he actually likes anime very much. At least in junior high school, he used his winter and summer vacations to play Tsukihime, read the manga, and play the then 18+ Fate series.

Later, when he went to university, after FGO was released, he used the campus network to play the Japanese server directly. Therefore, he knew about this person's ending much earlier than most players in China. When the Japanese server reached the final chapter of the first part, he was one of those who cried their eyes out watching Dr. Roman disappear.

Originally, after arriving in the Type-Moon world and then by chance going to the Chaldea world line, Ling originally wanted to save Roman from his self-destruction fate. However, now that she and Roman were on opposite ends of the scale, Ling selfishly chose to save herself first.

This made Ling feel indebted to Roman and she didn't want to face him.

As an outsider, Ziyuan could see that Ling was uncomfortable with Roman.

“Um, Ling-jun,” Roman looked past Olga’s head at Ling behind her, “you—”

"By the way, Olga, did anyone come looking for me while I was asleep? Wasn't there supposed to be a dinner party?" However, before Dr. Roman could finish speaking, Ling quickly interrupted, pretending not to have heard at all.

Olga looked at Ling, puzzled, but finally answered his question: "The banquet has been cancelled. I heard that the chieftain is unwell, so it will be held another day. Someone will bring dinner over in a little while."

"Can't you just listen—" Roman interrupted again, unwilling to give up.

"Did you ask them to bring in the missing furniture? It's too shabby to have only one bed in the whole room." Ling looked around, feigning speechlessness. "For a noble German family like this, the furnishings are really shabby."

"Hey, don't ignore me!"

"Oh, by the way, Olga, as a magician, what rank have you reached? After all, if we participate in the Holy Grail War and there are any unforeseen circumstances, we might need you to take action. The ranks are Grand, Brand, Priest, Fes, Cause, Count, and Frame. El-Melloi I is a Brand, and as a fellow monarch, you shouldn't be any weaker than him, right?"

Even Leonardo da Vinci couldn't stand this abrupt way of changing the subject. She sighed, patted Roman on the shoulder, and said, "Let me do it."

Roman gave a wry smile. Even now, he still couldn't understand why Ling ignored him, even though they had talked several times back in Chaldea.

“Alright, Ling, stop for a moment and look over here.” Da Vinci spoke loudly into the window, “Why not just talk about the problem openly and let everyone find a solution? Why choose this method that makes everyone feel awkward?”

"Oh dear, Da Vinci, I know what you're talking about." Ling lowered her head, deliberately avoiding looking at the screen. "I don't have much to talk about with those harem guys."

"Alright, stop fooling around. You don't want me to get angry, do you?" Leonardo da Vinci said in a serious tone. "I understand your situation, but if you really want to control Chaldea, then you can't get around Roman, can you?"

Ling sighed. He didn't understand why Leonardo da Vinci could see through his thoughts. He had come to this world and realized his own problems before he planned to take over Chaldea through Olga. But now Leonardo da Vinci had exposed his plan. In that case, some things really needed to be clarified.

“To be clear, Da Vinci, all I need is the Heroic Spirit Summoning System. I don’t care about anything else at Chaldea.” He tried hard not to look at the doctor’s face, or even hear his voice.

“Actually, according to the script, if the doctor had chosen to self-destruct, it might have been easier for me. I did want to save him, but I already have enough problems to deal with. It would be better for everyone if some people returned to Valhalla.” Ling reached out to stop Da Vinci. “I’ve been thinking, since Valhalla is an existence outside the timeline, how could any Heroic Spirit be able to escape that [Seat]? It’s a contradiction. If I use a certain ring to summon the Israeli King of Fighters in this world, I’m sure I can summon him.”

Ignoring Dr. Roman's drastically changed expression, Ling continued, "The existence of parallel worlds is far more complex than you imagine. When a Heroic Spirit leaves a [Seat], it's only in the [Seat] that caused the departure from that parallel world; it has absolutely no impact on other timelines."

"Hum, what evidence do you have to prove this?" As an alchemist from the Atlas Institute who could observe the existence of parallel worlds, Shion was extremely interested in Ling's theory.

"Because those who have the ability to modify the information of the [Seat] cannot do this with the [Holy Grail]. It is not the complete Third Law; at best, it merely grants the soul a physical body. Only the holder of the Fifth Law can challenge time and rewrite and manipulate the quantum record fixed tape."

Chapter 349 Summoning Talisman Design Blueprint (Part 1)

Olga looked completely bewildered. She couldn't understand why Ling was telling Da Vinci and the others this, and Ling didn't seem inclined to explain further. He clearly understood that Da Vinci and the doctor should have grasped his meaning by now.

"Magic and magic, huh?" The doctor shook his head and gave a bitter smile. He understood what Ling meant, of course. In the end, the former King Solomon was just the "Magic King." Although he could do many things that modern magicians could not, he knew that even his past self could not achieve what the five existing magics had. That was a power that had surpassed the concept of "miracle," a realm that even the "God" who gave him the Ten Commandments could not reach.

“For you who can only observe one line, you have no idea what is happening in parallel worlds. All you need to protect is your own worldline. As for those who know about multiple parallel worlds, their perspective is beyond your comprehension. I didn’t want to get too involved with others in the first place, so I can only apologize to you, Dr. Roman.” As Ling said this, she frowned several times, and her expression was not good.

“I know you have your reasons, and you have no reason to feel guilty.” Roman scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily. “But, Lingjun, if possible, I hope you can talk to Rafe and me when you come back. Let’s treat it as a men’s gathering. If we really can’t stop it then, I will be able to make up my mind to fulfill my duty.”

Ling nodded. He could understand the doctor's thoughts. The so-called "leveraging the world" was not such a simple matter. The world's corrective power was more terrifying than many people imagined.

"Well then, I wish you all the best." Roman clasped his hands together in prayer for Ling, then turned to look at Leonardo da Vinci beside him. "Ah, I almost forgot, Leonardo da Vinci, I'd like you to come with me to report to the Animusfia family. After all, you know I'm not good at dealing with them."

"Oh, so that's why you came to see me. Have you already received the news over there?" Da Vinci looked at the doctor in surprise.

"Lee immediately notified Animusfia. After all, Olga has been found and I have been appointed as the acting director. We must inform the Animusfia family first, otherwise Chaldea will be at a disadvantage if we are completely unprepared when facing the Mage's Association." Dr. Roman explained the situation, looking very tired after he finished speaking.

"Ah, Director, please come back quickly. I really don't think this position is suitable for me." The doctor looked at Olga listlessly and left the workshop before she could get angry.

Olga watched Roman's departing figure in silence, her eyes filled with conflict.

"By the way, Olga, Ling, I've actually invented something really interesting. I'll take this opportunity to give it to you. I believe that if you can make it before the Holy Grail War and use it successfully, you can win the Holy Grail War even if it doesn't go according to Ling's plan."

Da Vinci seemed to remember something and immediately took out a piece of paper with a dazzling array of data and Latin text. "If it were you and Olga, you should be able to copy this."

Having a photographic memory, Ling read the entire thing from beginning to end, his expression filled with surprise. He exclaimed excitedly, "A summoning talisman?!"

"Hmm? Ling, you know about this?" Da Vinci looked intently at Ling's genuine excitement. This was a design drawing she had just completed not long ago, and she was surprised that Ling knew about it.

"Of course I know!" Ling excitedly leaned close to the projector, staring intently at the golden card pattern in the middle of the manuscript. "With this, I'll hold the future in my hands!"

“Well, since you know what this is, then I don’t need to explain.” Da Vinci picked up a small stand and clipped the A3 paper onto it for them to view.

"Hmm, this thing is really amazing! As expected of the omnipotent person! Even this kind of magic base used to summon Heroic Spirits has been miniaturized! If this thing were to leak out, the entire magic world would be shaken, right?" Shion only glanced at it once and knew what it was used for. It was a summoning base that improved upon the familiar summoning magic, surpassing all current magicians' methods, with the goal of summoning Servants.

However, this thing is very expensive to make and has a certain chance of failure, so it is a kind of tool that depends on luck. Moreover, it has a major drawback: even if it is successfully summoned by chance, the Servant summoned with this small spirit origin will definitely have extremely low ability values.

Unlike the Holy Grail War, most of the magical energy of a Servant's manifestation is provided by the Holy Grail, and only then does the Master need to provide the magical energy to maintain the manifestation. This magical foundation requires the summoner to provide all the magical energy from summoning the Servant to making the Servant appear, and finally to maintaining the Servant's existence. Unless the summoner can find a magical energy node in a ley line to help the Servant manifest, the magical energy required for the Servant's manifestation alone would be enough to drain the Master dry.

Moreover, if this were done, the Servant's activity range would be limited to this spiritual vein. If they left the spiritual vein's range, their abilities would be greatly reduced, making it a rather useless thing.

Most importantly, this summoning base has very little binding force on the servant; whether the servant listens to the summoner depends entirely on the servant's mood.

"By the way, Da Vinci, have you successfully summoned a Servant using a Summoning Ticket?" Ling turned to look at Da Vinci on the other side of the screen, her eyes shining.

"Well, that's a secret~" Leonardo da Vinci winked mischievously.

"So what's the drop rate of this thing—well, I mean, what's the chance of successfully summoning a Servant?" Ling didn't dwell on Da Vinci's secrecy and continued to ask excitedly.

"I don't know," Leonardo da Vinci replied, spreading his hands.

"Huh? How much did you say?" Ling patted her head, thinking she had misheard, so she asked again.

“I said I don’t know.” Da Vinci looked at Ling, who looked incredulous, with amusement and explained in a helpless tone.

It turns out that after Da Vinci completed this thing, she was never able to mass-produce it. After all, Chaldea's resources were all transported in from the outside. Even if she smuggled in her own stuff every time, she would never have enough materials to use. Moreover, since she made this thing by herself, the production capacity was a huge limitation. So even now, she doesn't have enough data to build a mathematical model.

Chapter 350 Summoning Talisman Design Blueprint (Part 2)

Even if someone were omnipotent and handled all the production processes themselves, Da Vinci could only produce fifteen sheets per month. Furthermore, this magic base plate was only fully mature enough for production six months ago, so the amount of data was completely insufficient.

"So, this thing still depends on luck, right?" Upon hearing Da Vinci's answer, Ling immediately deflated. He had originally thought that Da Vinci had given him a blueprint for a summoning talisman that was guaranteed to be a success. After all, it's normal for a shop to sell defective products; after all, no business is without its tricks. But he never expected that even the genuine products could be such rip-offs.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's there to be dissatisfied about?" Da Vinci rolled his eyes with amusement as he looked at Ling's dissatisfied face. "This is a miniaturized summoning base that I designed based on the Heroic Spirit Summoning System. Even if I'm a genius, I can't perfectly solve all the problems. Besides, even Chaldea's Heroic Spirit Summoning System can't summon Servants 100% of the time!"

"Well, that makes sense. I'm used to it anyway. But I'm just wondering, besides Servants, will this thing summon any other weird things?" As the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. After listening to Da Vinci's explanation, Ling's mood was like a rollercoaster ride, finally returning to the starting point. Then he remembered the huge amount of Mystic Codes in the gacha pool in the game, and suddenly he was filled with doubt about this thing.

"What strange thing?" Leonardo da Vinci looked at him with a puzzled expression. "This thing either succeeds or fails, and if it fails, of course nothing will appear."

"I knew it." Hearing this answer, which he couldn't tell whether to disappoint or reassure him, he leaned back and fell straight onto the bed. Olga, who had been leaning against him, lost her balance and fell onto his stomach.

"However, for safety's sake, you should still pay attention to your own safety when using this thing. If the summoned thing is blurry and emits black smoke, remember to cut off the magic supply immediately." Da Vinci recalled a few times when he thought he had successfully summoned something, but what appeared was something like a shadow. He immediately added.

"Huh? You mean the Shadow of Heroes? The Shadow Follower?" Ling raised his hand, making the projection face him directly.

“Shadow Followers? Oh, yes, that’s a very fitting name.” Da Vinci picked up his pen and wrote down the name. “I never knew what to call them. I didn’t expect you to have known about them all along.”

"Hey, Da Vinci, are you sure this thing is okay? If it summons a Heroic Spirit, I'm not sure I can beat it. That thing has no rationality, no Noble Phantasm, but is still many times stronger than an ordinary person, right?"

"No, don't worry, those things are very weak. Even if you leave them alone, they will soon collapse and disappear because of the incompleteness of their spirit cores. And didn't I just say that if things don't look good, just cut off the magic supply? That way, there won't be any problem at all~" Da Vinci waved his hand dismissively, as if to tell Ling that there was really no need to worry.

"I'll trust you for now, but after those shadow followers disappeared, were there any dust-like things left behind?" Ling couldn't help but ask, remembering the items dropped by the shadow followers.

"Yes, you even know this. What is this thing called?" Da Vinci was no longer too surprised by Ling's encyclopedic knowledge; in fact, she was always delighted to receive new surprises from him.

"It's called Phantom Dust. As for its effects, it should be able to be used for Spirit Origin Ascension, right? Ugh, if that's really the case, it's starting to feel more and more like a game. What kind of world have I come to?!" Ling looked at the purplish-black dust that Da Vinci took out from under the table and put into a bottle, and complained helplessly.

"—I have a feeling you just revealed something incredible." Da Vinci held the small bottle in front of his left eye and shook it slightly, the dust reflecting a subtle light.

Ziyuan looked at the mysterious dust in Da Vinci's hand with great interest. "Darling Da Vinci, could I have some of that stuff?"

“No problem! I love trading!” Leonardo da Vinci replied cheerfully, clutching the bottle in his hand.

"Hum, a trade? That's fine, after all, we alchemists love trading. We can discuss the price later." Ziyuan originally wanted Da Vinci to give her some for free, but Da Vinci didn't seem to want to build a relationship with her. However, this didn't affect her impression of her, since equivalent exchange is the principle of alchemists.

"Well, let's not delay any longer, Olga, let's get started! Based on the drop rate of the gacha pool, we need to have a large number of summoning tickets to summon a usable Servant, after all, you and I are both unlucky!" Feeling that there was no time to lose, Ling pushed Olga, who was lying on top of him, to signal her to get up quickly.

"I'm not African!" Olga sat up and glared at him, then frowned slightly. Although she didn't want to discourage Ling, she felt it was better to bring up the issues she had just analyzed first.

"First of all, we don't have the materials. According to Da Vinci's design, the things used here are not easy to obtain. Several kinds of precious metals and magical materials are used. Moreover, let alone materials, we don't even have the money."

"Secondly, there's the need for a workshop. Even if we solve the material problem, what about the workshop? Having materials doesn't guarantee that we can make it. The supporting equipment is also very important. We can't handle the materials without any tools at hand."

"Thirdly, there's the technology. Although Da Vinci said that the two of us could make it, the success rate would definitely not be high. Although I don't know your level, I would say that my magic skills are barely enough to make this kind of thing, after all, I'm not a magician from the Department of Creation."

"Fourth is manpower. According to Da Vinci, even she could only produce fifteen sheets per month. We only have two people. If we don't guarantee the authenticity rate, I estimate that we can only produce three sheets per month at most."

"Finally, there's the success rate of this thing. Even if we can actually produce three finished products every month, we can only produce eighteen in six months. So what is the probability of successfully summoning a Servant from those eighteen?"

Olga gazed at Ling's face and laid out her analysis point by point, while Shion on the other side nodded in agreement, making Da Vinci a little embarrassed. After all, this was her proposed solution, and it was rather awkward to be criticized so thoroughly.

Chapter 351 Summoning Talisman Design Blueprint (Part 2)

“Actually, these problems are all easy to solve,” Ling said, looking at Olga who was seriously analyzing the pros and cons. He suddenly felt that she would be a good wife in the future. Although he was not sure if Olga would stand on his side in the future, at least for now, she would share his joys and sorrows.

Thinking of this, Ling felt that it was better not to be too demanding and to face the current situation calmly. "The Einzbern family is now asking me for help, so the first three points and even the fourth point you mentioned are not a big problem. I think the homunculus family, which is famous for its alchemists, must meet the requirements of the production process."

"You want to give this to Einzbern?" Olga frowned, her expression full of resistance. In her opinion, this was something that should not be known to anyone.

“No, of course I can’t hand over the method of making summoning talismans to the Einzbern, but we can break down the production process and do the last two core steps ourselves. Wouldn’t that save time and effort?” Ling said confidently. However, Olga poured cold water on her idea at that moment.

"Did you even read the production process carefully? The last two steps are the most time-consuming. They are the meticulous drawing magic circuit process that cannot tolerate the slightest mistake. I think the most time-consuming part of making this thing called a summoning charm is this step."

“Indeed, just as Olga said, the last step takes several times longer than the previous steps. If it were just the two of you doing it, it wouldn’t be much faster.” Da Vinci also acknowledged the problem Olga raised, even though for her, the last step took up 70% of the total time.

"Stop thinking about this. Instead of wasting time on this, it's more practical to find ways to strengthen your own abilities to deal with future events." Olga looked at Ling, who was gradually becoming dejected, and finally made a painful summary.

"There are shortcuts to be lazy, but we still have to rely on hard work? Honestly, there's nothing more painful than seeing hope only to have it turn into disappointment." Like a sulking child, Ling sighed, then suddenly broke into a smile. "Did you think I would say that!"

Olga was startled by this turn of events, and her eyes became a little irritated. Things never went exactly as she had imagined, and she had no idea what Ling would do. This uncontrollability made her vaguely uneasy.

Da Vinci instinctively put on her glasses. She had witnessed this several times before. Each time this happened, Ling's spirit origin would undergo a strange change, and this time was no exception. Through the specially made glasses, she saw Ling's spirit origin form transform from a state of chaos into a form similar to hers.

—Wait, a complete mess?

Just as Da Vinci was trying to get a clear look at Ling's previous spirit origin form, the transformation stopped. She couldn't help but ask Shion, "Miss Shion, do you have a record of Ling's previous spirit origin changes?"

She knew that Ziyuan had been monitoring all of Ling's data, and if she wanted to find out what had happened before, she could always find the right person to talk to.

“Yes, after all, everything is within my calculations, but I can’t give it to you.” Ziyuan looked at Da Vinci with an ambiguous gaze and said seriously, which was unusual for her.

Da Vinci unconsciously gripped the quill pen tightly in her hand. She knew clearly that the other person was not her companion, and that after the other person learned of Ling's existence, the two might even become rivals. Although this was just her guess, she had a premonition that she and this person might have a battle in the future.

"Hum, don't look like that. It ruins your precious beauty. I still prefer your mysterious smile." Ziyuan touched her braid with a bit of annoyance. She admired, even liked, Leonardo da Vinci, but she also had her own difficulties. After all, when her adoptive father learned that she was coming to Chaldea, he specifically instructed her not to have too much contact with Leonardo da Vinci. The reason was simple: Leonardo da Vinci's origin was omnipotence.

Omnipotence represents omnipotence. Human beings are mainly composed of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. Leonardo da Vinci, who descended to this world as a Servant, used her abilities to obtain a body that is different from that of ordinary Servants, while her spirit and soul were further strengthened. It can be said that the current Leonardo da Vinci is more perfect than she was in life.

However, it was precisely for this reason that her adoptive father, Tsbia, warned her not to get too close to Leonardo da Vinci. In his words, the present belongs only to the people of the present, and the spirits of the past should not interfere too much in the world, otherwise it would cause more disasters.

Previously, Shion did not understand the meaning of her adoptive father's words. However, after she looked through Akasha's records and heard the conversation between Rin and Leonardo da Vinci about the "burning of humanity," she finally understood what his words meant.

The "burning of humanity" was, in essence, a catastrophic consequence of people from the past being reborn. If the man named Romani Archaman, the man of King Solomon, had not wished for a second life and had not left the throne of heroes, the so-called "burning of humanity" would never have happened.

The more capable a person is, the more likely they are to cause upheaval in human history. Unfortunately, Leonardo da Vinci, who is even more omnipotent than he was in life, has become a new destabilizing factor. If I have too much contact with her, the sparks of our thinking might collide and lead to some incredible invention or some incredible plan.

More importantly, with a special being like Ling now present, Shion has calculated over two hundred possible catastrophic futures for humanity based solely on Ling's past records and previous discussions about the Holy Grail War. Her alchemical soul is itching to create something to prevent these things from happening. If an omnipotent being were to get involved, she is certain that the results she arrives at will far exceed her original purpose.

Just like the seven weapons of salvation from the Atlas Institute, they were originally intended to save the world, but in the end they became new factors that destroyed the world. The reason for this is that when these things were produced, in order to ensure their effectiveness, too many arguments and speculations were added, trying to make them into something that could deal with all problems in an all-round way. As a result, what was originally intended to deal with a disaster ended up becoming something that exceeded the capacity of the manufacturing target.

Shion is now waiting for Ling's return, and then she wants to take him away from Chaldea and go to the Wandering Sea with him, because she has already calculated and come to a definite conclusion, that is, as long as Ling is not provoked, Ling is a completely harmless existence.

Chapter 352 A Hopeless Answer (Part 1)

In order to prevent the timeline she was in from deviating to an unrecognizable degree, Shion felt it was better to keep the information about Rin sealed away. She had already regretted letting the people in the Chaldea Central Control Room hear those messages before, so she planned to handle all communications herself from now on.

As a result, when Ziyuan was implementing the first step of this plan, Leonardo da Vinci, who truly deserved the title of an omnipotent man, found a way to break into her communications in just an hour and a half, making her marvel at how prescient her adoptive father was.

"What's the reason?" Da Vinci didn't understand why Shion would refuse to hand over the data without even discussing it. After all, they had a pleasant conversation and were ready to do business together. Now that the other party's attitude had suddenly become so strange, even Da Vinci was a little at a loss.

"Hum, the reason is too embarrassing to talk about, so you'll have to find it yourself. Of course, our previous cooperation plan will not be affected. In fact, I will give you something of equal value in exchange for your summoning talisman design." Shion continued to comb her braids, and finally looked at Da Vinci's face, and couldn't help but sigh.

This person is clearly a rare genius in human history, and after descending as a Servant, she became someone I could touch and talk to. Yet, I have to avoid having too much contact with her. This situation is really uncomfortable!

"—I understand, but if I obtained those things through my own methods, would you be angry?" Although Da Vinci didn't understand the reason, it didn't mean she couldn't look at the problem from a different perspective. She wasn't a kind-hearted person, and it was certainly possible for her to use underhanded means to achieve her goals.

Although this might mean the end of their friendly relationship, Leonardo da Vinci felt the sacrifices were worthwhile in order to find out what was really going on with Ling.

“Hum, if you can do that, I would certainly welcome you! After all, in principle I really want to be friends with you, but that damned position is holding me back.” Shion smiled happily at Da Vinci’s answer. If Da Vinci really broke through her information blockade with his own strength, she would not only not be angry, but would even admire him more.

"Oh, I'm relieved to have your assurance." Da Vinci was also inspired by Ziyuan's frankness. She hadn't felt this motivated to do anything in a long time. Even though the other party possessed the Emerald Record, which was considered the crystallization of divine wisdom, Da Vinci didn't think she would fail!