Chapter 162: Iron Prayer
Chloe had heard of the Machine Soul for a long time.
Even for a fire-chasing moth like Chloe who was used to all kinds of weird technologies, this thing was considered bizarre. Awakening the soul of steel was something she had never tried before - no, she had never even thought about it.
Chloe could be considered a master at playing with souls, mainly because her extraordinary path naturally gave her a great advantage in this regard. Whether it was perception or various communication skills, she was more familiar with contacting souls than others.
However, these experiences and skills hit a wall with the Machine Soul.
The Type II machine in front of him was the first steam engine to produce a machine soul. Chloe was very interested in it when she first saw it, and studied it for a long time with other Fire Moths, but the result was... there was no progress.
Chloe and Monica, one of them is good at soul communication, and the other is even the creator of machine soul, but they both hit a wall here.
They were almost unable to communicate effectively with the Machine Soul - to put it simply, the Machine Soul didn't want to pay attention to them.
On the contrary, Xiusi, although a mortal, always wins the favor of the machine soul.
"So, you secretly came here to do experiments today. What did you find out?" Chloe asked tentatively.
Monica's face darkened: "Ah Nao still doesn't want to pay attention to me."
This was becoming a major concern for Monica. She had spent a lot of effort to successfully summon Ano, but it ignored her and responded to everything Zeus asked of it.
It's not that Monica hasn't tried before. Xius has told her many tips on how to get along with machine spirits, but for some reason, the results just haven't been good for the two of them.
In other words, only Zeus is good at getting along with the Machine Soul. Other Banshees and Fire Moths, and even many students in the advanced classes have tried, but they are almost unable to evoke a response from the Machine Soul.
People originally thought that this was because Zeus had a deeper understanding of the machine, but then the Fire Moth came and Chloe knew a lot about steam engines, but the machine spirit still didn't respond to her much.
Chloe was about to give up. The steam engine with organic soul might not be that much better. It just had the advantage of using pollution as fuel. But she had some different ideas today.
"Monica, have you heard of an organization called the Mechanical Temple?"
Monica shook her head: "Is it also a church?"
"Strictly speaking, it is not a church. At least it does not recruit civilian believers and has never preached publicly. It is somewhat similar to some kind of academic organization."
"Academic?"
"Yes, the Mechanical Temple does not have any extraordinary paths, and they are not interested in them. To be more precise, they are not interested in anything other than machinery."
Monica blinked and asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with our steam engine?"
"There are some. Those people in the Mechanical Temple seem to have some problems with their brains. They worship machines as sacred things and have a very complicated prayer ritual."
"Pray? Pray to the machines? Didn't they assemble those machines themselves?"
"That's why I said they were crazy. They were clearly something they assembled themselves, but they still worshipped it. But I suddenly wanted to try their rituals."
"?"
"So, if you want to perform this kind of ritual, why did you call me over?" Gaia said helplessly.
She had just been staying peacefully in the testing ground when Monica and Chloe suddenly rushed in and carried her over without saying a word.
She tried to resist, but the two men were incredibly strong, and before she could react, they were already placed next to the steam engine.
"Steam engine, um, Type II to be exact. You should have learned about it, right?"
Gaia nodded. "Although I majored in chemistry, I have also learned the basic principles of mechanics. You don't have to worry about cognitive interference. So why did you pull me here?"
Chloe and Monica looked away. "Well, it's required by the ritual. You are a very important part of it."
"Very important?" Gaia looked at the two people who seemed to be feeling guilty suspiciously. "Isn't it a sacrifice?"
"It's not that important." Chloe waved her hand quickly. "Don't worry. The Mechanical Temple has tested it and found that the effect of human sacrifice is not as good as using holy oil."
"There really is a living sacrifice?!"
"That's very outdated technology. They've recently switched to using holy oil and wrenches to hammer."
“.”
"Anyway, do you want to give it a try? You're here now."
"Is that what I wanted?!"
There was a lot of noise and fighting in the room, and outside the room, the two banshees on duty in the factory looked at each other and nodded.
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"Go and report to the Lord."
"Okay, I have the same idea. If the three of them get together, something bad will happen no matter how you think about it."
In the dim room, a bright candle barely illuminated a small area in the middle, while the walls further away were hidden in the darkness.
The girl closed her eyes and chanted a prayer softly. The steel machine cast a long shadow, making her look so small. Her hooded face flickered in the flickering firelight, giving her an eerie sense of sacredness.
On one side of the machine, Monica raised six hands with a serious face, holding holy objects such as gears, engine oil, wrenches, and pressure relief valves, posing in different postures, like a devout dancer, intoxicated.
At the other end of the steam engine, Gaia was holding a can of grease and applying it to the bearings of the flywheel in rhythm. She occasionally glanced at the door where the audience was gathering, and sweat was pouring down her face.
She was wrong. She shouldn't have been so confused as to not be able to resist Monica and Chloe's request and come here to perform the ritual of communicating with the machine spirit.
At first, it was just the Banshees, then the Fire Moths gradually came, and finally the students. Several of her friends came to watch and point fingers. The last straw that broke the camel's back was Hughes, who came with Connor. Shouldn't the lord be very busy? How could he have time to watch them play tricks here? Gaia felt her calves cramping. She was so embarrassed that she just wanted to cover her face and find a corner to hide in, but her serious personality prevented her from running away.
Chloe's voice suddenly rose as she chanted the prayer. Her original soft whisper turned into a high-pitched hymn:
Father of steam, spirit of steel, hear our roaring hymn! We are sons of the forge, faithful followers of gears and pipes.
Use the rhythm of the piston as your heartbeat and the roar of the boiler as your breathing.
Steam rushes through the veins of steel, and rivets secure the skeleton of truth.
Knowledge is hidden in the scale of the pressure gauge, and glory is cast in the welds of the boiler.
Chloe's eyes shot open, her orange-red hair rising like flames.
"Light the sacred boiler and awaken the soul in the steel!"
(End of this chapter)