Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 554 - 50: The Truth About the Emperor in Black Robes (Part 2)
Long before, Mo had used the allegories of the "Yan Fu fruit tree," "fruit," and "insects" to analogize the relationship between the act of walking and the myriad strange and wonderful worlds of Yan Fu to Li Yan.
But he did not explain to Li Yan that the insects were odd and varied in thousands of ways, and the fruits were even more diverse in form.
Feather Stem-Bingzi 128, or rather, almost all fruits from the Bingzi axis, were, in the theory of the "fruit tree," already overripe and even starting to rot and deteriorate.
The lifespan of such fruits had reached its end, and in their prolonged development, the fruits even harbored terrifying beings that not even the Ten Masters would provoke easily. Yet, no matter how powerful these lives were, they would ultimately perish along with the rotting fruits.
This was the Wingless Worm mentioned in the exceedingly prevalent "fruit tree theory" in Yan Fu,
the beings from the Abyssal Mouth, and even all the rulers of the old era belonged to this category.
This is precisely why there were emperors waiting in the wings, each taking their turn.
Nonetheless, these matters had little to do with the current Li Yan.
Brilliant fireworks blossomed in the sky, Black Rose Theatre was situated on the wealthiest and liveliest street of San Francisco. It featured two massive squares to the north and south, where fireworks and various receptions were held almost every weekend. The most commonly seen were flower vendors, circus apprentices drumming up business, and the drivers of rail carriages.
Li Yan’s gaze wandered aimlessly across the street, and in no time, it fixed upon an outdoor steam pressing stand.
"Sir, do you have any clothes that need pressing?"
Next to the stand sat a little girl with freckles, timidly looking up at Li Yan.
Digging around in his pocket for a while, Li Yan pulled out a few banknotes of various denominations, adding up to a few dozen US Dollars.
"May I try this machine?"
The girl took the money, bowing joyfully to Li Yan, "Of course, no problem."
The girl pointed to a knob next to the stand, "Just press this, and the iron will start to..."
Before she finished speaking, Li Yan had already flipped open the bottom cover of the stand, and his hand was searching around inside for something.
"Sir, sir."
The girl stared in amazement, her mouth agape, as this man had just unscrewed by hand a nut that normally required a large pipe wrench to loosen.
With a click, Li Yan pulled a fist-sized part from underneath the stand.
"Sir, that thing is very expensive..."
The girl complained weakly.
Li Yan pretended not to hear, quietly observing the Tri-Orb Device in his hand.
In the fairy tale world of Giant Lake, Li Yan had dismantled countless precious steam suits.
In Chang Yu’s dorm, Li Yan had participated in the entire process of crafting a set of steam suits.
As for the Tri-Orb Device, Li Yan should say he was quite familiar with it.
It was fashioned into the shape of a hotpot, made from a relatively simple material. Most tri-orb devices on the market are made of iron or copper, and they don’t require any complex forging techniques. When activated, the inner ring of the tri-orb speeds up its rotation. With prolonged use, the internal structure oxidizes, turning the pathways red.
There aren’t any indications when A Fleeting Glimpse is deployed on the tri-orb. If you squeeze it with brute force, the components will deform; submerging it in water will cause it to rust. Even if you pry it open and crush it, aside from a mess of metal debris, you won’t discern anything significant.
The only thing that gave them pause was that, whether it was Li Yan or Cha Xiaodao, after staring at the tri-orb for long enough, they would both feel slightly dizzy. However, it wasn’t severe, and they could resist it by concentrating.
Who could have imagined that such an ordinary-looking little thing could create the entire metal and steam-powered Steam Age?
Originally, Li Yan had lost his patience in exploring the secrets of the tri-orb and pushed it to the back of his mind, but the words of the Cyclops reignited his interest in the tri-orb once again.
Li Yan pointed the tri-orb at the freckled girl and said, "Young lady, it’s been a while since you’ve maintained this ironing board, hasn’t it? This tri-orb should have been oiled a long time ago, don’t you think?"
The freckled girl craned her neck for a look, "It does seem so."
As she turned to find lubricant, a plump, golden droplet formed on top of Li Yan’s fingertip.
Soul-forgiving Water. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Li Yan flicked his hand, propelling the golden droplet onto the tri-orb.
This was merely an attempt. Even if it failed, Li Yan would only waste a bit of Soul-forgiving Water.
Approximately within the span of a single breath, the Soul-forgiving Water was actually absorbed by the tri-orb!
Suddenly, the red pathways on the inner ring of the tri-orb turned an intense crimson in an instant, and even pulsed and throbbed like blood vessels, giving off the feeling that one was holding a living organ!
A Fleeting Glimpse!
A torrent of text danced in front of Li Yan. He read the information quietly, and before he had even reached the halfway point, his face unconcealably showed a look of surprise. After reading everything, he felt like he had broken through the fog to see the bright moon, a sensation of exhilarating and unbridled joy lingering in his heart.
So this was the true face of the black-robed emperor, the master of the entire Steam Age!
Ambota Volcanic Fungus (The Black-Robed Emperor!)
Category: Exotic Species
Its ancestors were thermophilic bacteria born in the unstable volcanic craters at the end of the Abyssal Mouth. After continuous evolution and transformation, it finally became the emperor that swept through an era!
Characteristics:
[Emperor]: Cannot be domesticated.
[Supreme Power]: Can thermally decompose nearly all materials on Earth into corresponding steams and endow these steam currents with various powerful abilities, in which Ambota Volcanic Fungus proliferates.
[Immortal]: Ambota Volcanic Fungus can survive in temperatures of several thousand degrees as well as absolute zero, and has an extremely long lifespan.
[Ambota Major Pollution!]: When the activeness of Ambota Volcanic Fungus reaches a certain level (linked to the quantity of tri-orb devices exceeding twenty) or its numbers accumulate to a certain threshold, it will completely awaken from its usual anaerobic dormant state and degrade any material it can contact into steam. Only the cradle of old, Soul-forgiving Water, can calm the activated Ambota Volcanic Fungus.
Note 1: The term "Ambota Major Pollution" was named after the old R’lyeh City. In fact, R’lyeh City-State, once a mighty civilization, also perished due to the Ambota Major Pollution. The Ambota Volcanic Fungus is almost impossible to kill by any means and proliferates rapidly under the influence of steam. R’lyeh City-State produced a large amount of natural waste, which contained high concentrations of Ambota Volcanic Fungus, thus triggering various natural disasters, including tsunamis, earthquakes, droughts, floods...
Note 2: Most scholars from R’lyeh died during the Ambota Major Pollution, and a small group of humiliated scholars accepted the bloodline of the old gods. They grew tentacles and sharp teeth, turning into despicable monsters of the past and surviving pathetically in some corner of the world. The resentful scholars cursed all steam creations, and through fortuitous circumstances, descendants who occasionally obtained relics of R’lyeh scholars might be struck by this ancient grudge, losing their sanity and turning into mad anti-steam extremists.
