Chapter 9: Activation

Kaios took the exquisite metal badge, which featured the clan crest as a base combined with a sword and Shield, and asked, "Activate it?"

Pete said, "My Lord, use your bracelet... Press the base on the back of the badge against the red bead on the bracelet, and then press it against the polygonal bead. That will do."

Kaios followed the instructions. When the badge was pressed into place, a warm current flowed from the wrist bracelet. He found that he could use his mind to control whether this current continued to connect. After the warm current connected for a moment, the badge was activated. It was a fascinating sensation.

He had noticed this bracelet as soon as he transmigrated, but at the time, he thought it was just an accessory. To his surprise, it was actually a magical item—one that seemed crucial to his identity as a Lord.

The Housekeeper, Pete, chimed in at the right moment. "My Lord, this bracelet doesn't just activate badges; it also controls our manor's Defense Array. The primary purpose of activating a Guard Badge is to allow the Guard wearing it to be recognized and buffed by the Array. Additionally... in the residence, some of your cabinets and chests can be opened using beads of the corresponding color and shape."

Yesterday, when Kaios told him that he had "forgotten a lot of things," Pete thought it was just an excuse—a tactic or rhetoric from the young Lord. But today, after observing him, it seemed Kaios had truly forgotten a great deal. However, to Pete, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. At the very least, the current Kaios acted much more like a Lord with a "future."

After Pete left, Kaios called Sharvella in to personally change her badge.

Today, Sharvella naturally wasn't wearing the robe she had on before, nor the lingerie-like silk-and-gauze bodysuit underneath. Instead, she wore a set of Light Armor distinct from that of the Silver Armor Guards. It only had a small amount of metal Armor on the chest, back, and thighs, with the rest connected by soft leather, making it look much easier to move in.

The chest piece had a dedicated slot designed to embed the badge. After removing the temporary badge and replacing it with the Personal Guard Badge, Kaios smiled and lightly tapped the chest Armor with his finger. "Was this Armor custom-made? Is it a bit too tight? Does it feel stuffy?"

But as soon as the words left his mouth, he saw Sharvella's face instantly turn beet red, and he realized his comment had been a bit frivolous. Fortunately, he glanced at the halo behind her head and saw it was still a shimmering blue, unchanged.

"Does My Lord not like this Armor? If My Lord doesn't like it, your servant won't wear this set tomorrow..." Sharvella said softly.

"Don't call yourself 'your servant' anymore," Kaios said.

"Ah? But..."

"Sharvella, you are my Personal Guard. Stop calling yourself a servant," Kaios repeated.

"Understood." Sharvella lowered her head in agreement. Though she couldn't quite understand why being a Personal Guard meant she shouldn't call herself a servant, Kaios's tone made her instinctively comply.

"As for the armor, just wear this set for now. I'll think about it later and get you a better one," Kaios said. When he was reading last night, he had seen introductions to some Enchanted Equipment and weapons, which had sparked his interest. Even if he were to pursue the Cultivation of Magic or Spiritual Qi, he wouldn't become very strong in a short time. Thus, if he wanted to play around with equipment, he would naturally have to rely on Sharvella, Harvey, and the others to test it out.

After issuing the badge to Sharvella, Kaios headed to the study.

He made a beeline for the chests and cabinets he had discovered the night before. After opening them with the beads of the corresponding colors and shapes, he inspected their contents.

In the first chest, he found a thick stack of physical copies of Soul Subordination Contracts. However, according to the books he had read last night, these were only useful to the Holy Protection Palace and the Lord himself, making it convenient to terminate or transfer the contracts. If anyone else got their hands on them, they would be useless. Even destroying the physical copies wouldn't affect the actual efficacy of the Soul Subordination Contracts. In fact, if a Lord lost their physical Soul Subordination Contracts, they could even request replacements from the Holy Protection Palace.

He opened three chests in a row, all filled to the brim with parchment contracts. Aside from the physical Soul Subordination Contracts, there were also various land deeds. He figured that most of the Li family's important items were stored here.

He didn't look closely, setting them aside for now as he proceeded to unlock the rest of the chests and cabinets one by one. Although there were many locks, most of them were of the same color and design. Unlocking all of them only required four beads.

Among all the items, what surprised Kaios the most were several picture-like objects that appeared to be at least thirty inches in size. Looking at the family portraits—which likely depicted generations of descendants of the Li family—and the incredibly lifelike faces staring back at him, Kaios was genuinely astounded. The level of detail was so perfect that it couldn't possibly be a painting. But did this world... actually have cameras?

Every time he managed to piece together an outline of this world, a new discovery would force him to tear it down and start over. Could another Transmigrator have arrived here before him?

Kaios didn't dwell too much on the massive family portraits. After skimming through the items, he returned to the desk in the study and began flipping through books and materials related to the Soul Subordination Contract.

He had previously read about some of the functions of the Soul Subordination Contract, such as controlling life and death or inflicting painful punishments. When chatting with Harvey, Pete, and the others, he had also heard them mention terms like "Spirit Burst-Devouring Body"—abilities that could be utilized by the owner of the Soul Subordination Contract. However, he hadn't planned to use it to punish or kill anyone, so he had never actually tried it out. After seeing the halos and experiencing his acute perception of others' emotions, he naturally assumed these were effects of the Soul Subordination Contract.

But today, after seeing the halos behind Dominic and the Punishment Knights, he suddenly realized that this perception wasn't a subsidiary ability granted by the Soul Subordination Contract. This naturally led him to wonder: How were the abilities of the Soul Subordination Contract actually invoked? If he wanted a Contracted Servant to die, did he just look at them and command them to die?

The books he had read last night only provided rough overviews without detailed explanations. Today, he piled all the relevant books and documents he could find onto his desk and flipped through them one by one. Finally, he found a specific description:

"...The master of a Soul Subordination Contract, when facing their Contracted Servant, can manifest several invisible chains within their consciousness. Pulling the corresponding chain will inflict the corresponding effect upon the Contracted Servant..."

"There aren't any chains at all!" he thought.

Whether it was Sharvella, Harvey, Pete, the other Guards and Servants in the manor, or Lu Hao and Juan whom he had met today, he hadn't seen any chains. He hadn't even seen a single thread.

Kaios carefully read through the related instructions and various detailed descriptions of the Soul Subordination Contract. The more he read, the more alarmed he became. He had to accept a distinct possibility: As a Transmigrator, he hadn't inherited the original owner's Soul Subordination Contracts. Or, at the very least, he hadn't fully acquired the corresponding permissions and functions of the Soul Subordination Contracts.