Chapter 268: Those Days of the Year

Chapter 268: Those Days of the Year

In the end, the Magic Cycles prepared by Zheng Yichen were sold out. Half of the buyers were Alchemists or Auxiliary Profession Practitioners in Engineering. Zheng Yichen could basically guess their thoughts. However, he did not give them any extra warnings. All the necessary warnings had already been given: do not try to take this thing apart. For the most critical parts of the entire Magic Cycle, Zheng Yichen had pre-installed tight anti-spying measures.

Those parts were integrated. Minor deformation was not a big problem, but once a certain degree of damage occurred, the pre-installed measures inside would completely destroy the important core parts of the Magic Cycle.

As for magical probing, Zheng Yichen said a sufficiently thick layer of magic-insulating material was coated inside. If one wanted to probe, they would have to smash it open. Other ideas were out of the question!

Anyway, the cost of one Magic Cycle was very low for Zheng Yichen. The money earned from selling it was enough to buy materials to make over ten more…

On the third day, several eye-catching vehicles appeared in Kaja City. Their roaring sounds were like the roars of Magical Beasts, scaring many ordinary people who had never seen such a thing before. People in the Otherworld were not stupid. These Magic Cycles came with an Instruction Manual, and the cycles themselves were enhanced with Magic. Even if dropped, the paint would not chip, which was enough for beginners to handle.

As for mana charging, it could have been solved by simply embedding a Mana Gathering inside the internal Mana Source. The elemental power gathered by the Magic Rune Array was enough to sustain the Magic Cycle’s consumption. Moreover, Zheng Yichen used Irene’s improved version of Mana Gathering, which emitted even fainter magical fluctuations and was highly efficient.

However, Zheng Yichen felt doing so was too flashy. Even people who were not very curious about Magic Cycles would likely be tempted to take it apart and peek at its secrets upon discovering this. It should be noted that the Mana Gathering spell would also dissipate, as it only gathered free external energy and converted it into attribute-less mana. It would not be replenished by mana itself.

Irene’s improved Mana Gathering could ignore this drawback. Coupled with Zheng Yichen’s special ability, the Mana Gathering spell attached to the Mana Source became even more unique.

As long as there was sufficient free energy in the environment, that Mana Source could be considered a perpetual motion machine… In reality, though, equipment had wear and tear. Even if the magic was fine, the carrier would develop problems over time. It could not be called a true perpetual motion machine, and there was also the issue of output limits.

“This thing…” Deya looked at the ‘Magic Cycle’ in front of her and gently rubbed her forehead. This vehicle was sent over by the branch members in Kaja City. Since the transaction took place here, the Sanctuary Church, with its vast resources, bought the majority at once. Most were taken away for research, while a few were currently being used experimentally. Naturally, one was sent to Deya.

She opened the envelope and glanced at it. Her somewhat helpless expression immediately turned serious. The origin of this Magic Cycle seemed to be related to… That Dragon! Especially in terms of the production style. The Sanctuary Church had previously destroyed many of Zheng Yichen’s Alchemical Avatars. Although the core parts of those avatars were completely destroyed, certain production styles were identified.

These Magic Cycles also had that kind of stylistic characteristics.

“It seems things are happening one after another,” she sighed. The matter of the Undying Witch was not yet resolved, and now a new Witch had appeared. Those Magic Artifacts were all ‘real’, and within three days, at least two hundred similar Magic Artifacts appeared in Kaja City. The Sanctuary Church could not collect them fast enough. As for Oss and the others, who should have been caught in this whirlpool, after she intervened and took the Magic Artifact from him, they seemed to have no further connection to the matter. Up to now, not many people were paying attention to them. More attention was focused on those scattered key-like Magic Artifacts.

Now Zheng Yichen was making a new move. What was he planning by selling this strange ‘cycle’?

Since it was for experimental use, should she give it a try?

She reached out and gently touched the body of the Magic Cycle. The paint on the body was extremely smooth, with a soft and smooth texture. The streamlined body structure, along with those sharp lines, was indeed very attractive. After looking at it carefully for a while, she could not help but sit on it and read the Instruction Manual that was tucked inside the envelope.

“Hmm… Turn the key first? Is this it?” After confirming the position of the key, Deya twisted the ignition switch indicator to ‘On’. Then the needle on the dashboard in the front moved slightly. She continued reading the manual, glancing at the energy gauge. The needle touched the top, indicating full energy.

The larger dial at the very bottom was the speed indicator.

Zheng Yichen did not make the dial design very detailed. Speed calculations differed between the two worlds, so he could not simply reference Earth’s methods. As for the speed dial, Zheng Yichen did not put any specific numbers. He simply divided it into areas with black, red, yellow, and blue. The blue area represented ‘safe speed’, yellow meant ‘be careful’, red indicated ‘dangerous speed’, and black meant ‘extremely dangerous’. The other dial was for detecting the energy level of the Mana Source.

The activation intensity of the Mana Gathering spell corresponded to how much the throttle was used, but it always lagged slightly behind the Magic Cycle’s mana consumption. When the Mana Source’s mana fell below ten percent of the standard, the Mana Gathering spell would temporarily fail.

“Gear? What’s that? Huh? Using the gear precisely when starting can conserve energy? What’s a clutch?”

A manual that did not seem to have much content took Deya nearly half an hour to memorize. “It seems quite simple after understanding… Let’s give it a try.”

With an expectant mindset, she followed the manual’s instructions. After making preparations, she directly twisted the throttle. The wall in front of her collapsed with a loud crash…

“Cough, cough. Was the ‘gear’ set wrong?” She walked out of the cloud of dust, coughing lightly. She looked somewhat helplessly at the wall she had crashed through. She had protected the cycle, so it was undamaged. As for the wall… Well, someone would come to repair it. As for the two long skid marks on the ground, they were not caused by the wheels rubbing; instead, she had dragged her feet forcefully on the ground to stop, completely forgetting about the brake function.

“One more try.” She picked up the Magic Cycle that had fallen to the side, glanced back at the hole in the wall behind her, lifted the cycle with one hand, turned it around, and carefully adjusted again. This time, she did not dare to twist the throttle all the way. She turned it very slowly and gently. The cycle moved, but because the speed was too slow, the moment her feet slightly left the ground, the cycle tilted and fell to one side…

“Ah! This thing is so hard to use! What on earth was it made for?!”

Deya shouted in frustration. Learning Combat Techniques or Magic was easy for her, but this completely unfamiliar and novel thing… If she used too much force, she was afraid of crashing into things; if she used too little, it wouldn’t move!?

“Ah~ So bored.” Zheng Yichen lay lazily in his Laboratory. Perhaps because the Magic Arms matter weighed on his mind, after returning to his lair, he felt his state inexplicably fall into a low point. He had no motivation to do anything. Lazy and sluggish, he just wanted to lie here, pretty much like a useless dragon.

The enlarged Magic Weapon Summoning Book was spread open in front of Zheng Yichen. Why did those Magic Cycles only get delivered on the third day? The reason was simple: Zheng Yichen had spent over a day leaving a backdoor on them. It was not something like a remote control that could directly detonate them.

Instead, it was a backdoor linked to the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. Part of the mana injected into the Mana Source was used for charging, while the other part would flow into the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. This connection was not a complete Magic Weapon Contract. Making it was much easier than the summoning Ring used by Lily.

After all, driving required ‘fueling up’. This world had no official place to collect fuel fees, so he reluctantly took on this task himself… Tsk tsk tsk, thinking about it, in the future when countless people were driving Black Dragon branded cars, trucks, and even Buses, the mana income would be quite delightful.

Yawning, he idly looked through the content in the Magic Weapon Forum. He was currently watching a ‘video’. No need to doubt; the Image Retention Spell had this effect. However, the mana consumed by such things was roughly the difference between using mobile phone data to view pictures and videos on Earth.

Only those with abundant mana could do this. Currently, this function was being used for show-offs. The video showed a woman dressed in fiery red clothes riding a Magic Cycle with flame-themed paint, speeding along. The needle on the dashboard was clearly in the black ‘extremely dangerous’ zone!

“It’s only been a few days, and there are already speedsters!?” Zheng Yichen watched the video, stunned. He rubbed his eyes hard. This woman looked a bit familiar… Wait! Damn it, isn’t this Dan Marina?!

This woman truly was restless… Zheng Yichen muttered to himself, feeling a bit tempted. He had flown at super speeds before, but he had never experienced the feeling of speeding on a cycle. As for speed, Zheng Yichen said he had a Magic Cycle that could completely outpace the one in the video by double. Regarding the issue of speed being too high to increase further, he had long thought of a way to compensate.

A wind-pressure spell from the wind element would do. That cycle’s design meant the faster it went, the stronger the wind-pressure spell applied to it would become relative to the speed, always maintaining sufficient grip. As for the tires, they were enhanced with Earth Magic that reinforced the ground. When a certain speed was reached, it would trigger, strengthening the ground to prevent the wheels from spinning too fast for the ground to support such high rotation speed, allowing the speed to be fully utilized…

Only one cycle of this model existed, as it was too troublesome to make. Zheng Yichen currently had no good way to mass-produce it. After making that one, he put away the Blueprint and left it alone, as there was no chance to ride it!

“Sigh~ The more I look, the more envious I feel…” Zheng Yichen scratched his head, closed the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, shook his outstretched wings, and walked out. When he reached the door of the Underground Base, Loris’s voice came from behind him. “Where are you going?”

“Out to get some fresh air! I haven’t been out in a long time!” Zheng Yichen scratched his head. During this period, apart from controlling his Avatar to go out, his main body had been staying in the Underground Base. It had been a long time since he had seen sunlight on the surface.

Previously, engrossed in research, he did not feel it. Now, suddenly feeling bored, the effect of staying underground all the time became apparent. He felt an uncontrollable, inexplicable irritation in his heart. He had never experienced such a situation before. This thing seemed like those days women had every month, appearing intermittently!?

Once the feeling of irritation arose, it was like ignited gasoline, difficult to extinguish.

“I’ll go with you.” Loris looked at Zheng Yichen’s slightly trembling eyes and shook her head slightly. She walked to his side and spoke. Zheng Yichen was ultimately too ‘young’. Perhaps his usual mentality was good, but occasionally he would have such mental breakdowns. When she first became a Witch, in order to avoid outside pursuit, she had also stayed in a closed environment for a long time.

At that time, she also experienced intense feelings of irritation.

“Okay.” Zheng Yichen somewhat impatiently pulled open the door leading outside from the Underground Base. For the first time in a long while, his main body saw sunlight from the outside world. Feeling the gentle natural breeze, he let out a long sigh. The inexplicable irritation in his heart gradually lessened a bit.

But only a little. He lowered his head and looked at his claws, unconsciously clenching his teeth tightly. Previously, after mentally preparing himself for being non-Human, he did not think much of it. But when the inexplicable irritation appeared and his mentality shattered, he began to feel fed up. Why did he have to hide here?

He wanted to interact more with Human society, even if it was in the Otherworld!

Unconsciously, he forcefully knocked his own head. Zheng Yichen resisted the urge to let out a loud roar. His wings spread open completely, and a strong turbulence burst out from beneath him. The next moment, he shot straight into the sky. Loris, standing on the ground, looked up at Zheng Yichen gradually becoming a small black dot in the sky. She waved her hand backward, and the camouflage to the underground passage reappeared.

This was Zheng Yichen’s lair. It must not be exposed.

“Rooooaaaaaaar~!!”

Inside the clouds, after feeling he had flown far enough, Zheng Yichen took a deep breath and roared at the sky. This roar expelled not just air but also mana stirred by his emotions. The clouds around him, affected by the sound waves imbued with mana impact, were instantly blasted away, dispersing without a trace.

“…?”

Dan Marina, who had just returned to Kaja, looked towards the eastern direction with slight confusion. Even from afar, she could hear the continuous dragon roar in the distance. The source of the sound was far away, but because it contained mana, it still clearly reached here. Not just her, people in Kaja City also heard it. Some troops in the city were urgently mobilized to prevent any unexpected situations.

“Has the Little Dragon been abandoned? Why does it sound so miserable?” Dan Marina took off the mask she was wearing and gently pinched her chin with one hand. She felt she might have an opportunity to take advantage of the situation…