Chapter 37: Limits
"Enough."
Jessica’s calm voice interrupted the situation.
She slowly opened her eyes before looking toward her younger brother.
Although the stone covering most of her body had almost completely disappeared, her complexion remained somewhat pale.
"Ethan, is this how you talk to our benefactor? Did you already forget how Mr. Cole risked his life to fight against the thunder tempest alone?"
"Now when he needs our help, instead of stepping forward, you are making fun of him."
"How low of you."
She spoke softly.
"If it weren’t for him, we would already be dead."
Hearing his elder sister’s stern words caused the smile to disappear from Ethan’s face.
Not caring about his reaction, Jessica continued.
"Never forget Mr. Cole saved both of our lives. This debt, I am afraid, neither of us will be able to repay in this lifetime."
"Sit inside the carriage."
Cole did not know what to say. Although they had interacted little, from his years of experience in dealing with all sorts of people, he could tell all the words this girl spoke came deeply from her heart.
She was genuinely grateful.
"Alright... fine."
Maybe convinced by her words, or unable to continue bearing the weight of his elder sister’s gaze, Ethan stepped aside.
Cole looked at this moment for a while. Not reacting much, he simply nodded before climbing inside.
The interior of the carriage was as spacious as ever. Even in this intense lightning storm, all the lightning-attracting rods looked completely intact, seemingly made from excellent material.
The pulsating formation on the ground worked continuously, converting the violent lightning absorbed by the rods into a slow, warm current of mana.
However, Cole was not here to enjoy this. There was a cold blade hanging above his throat like the sword of death; at any time, the Lightning Worm bloodline could go out of control.
Immediately, he sat down without any further hesitation.
"A.I. chip... begin simulation."
[Bloodline Fusion Potion refining simulation initiated.]
Instantly, countless lines of information flooded his brain, each one flaring within a transparent projection. The A.I. chip adjusted proportions, temperatures changed, refining order changed, mana injection order also changed.
First, it was thousands.
Then tens of thousands.
Then hundreds of thousands of different combinations rapidly flashed past his eyes.
From the outside, no observer could see any of this.
To Jessica and Ethan, Cole simply sat there with his eyes closed, completely motionless.
The two siblings exchanged glances. Both saw confusion in each other’s eyes.
Several minutes passed. Neither sibling spoke.
Finally, unable to control himself, Ethan leaned close to his sister.
"Sis..."
"Do you think some demon possessed him...?"
Ethan could not make any sense of Cole’s actions.
Jessica’s eyes were still on Cole’s figure. Observing his calm breathing, she sharply cut Ethan off.
"Are you out of your mind? God might have given you the ability to speak, but that doesn’t mean you can go around spouting nonsense."
"Elder Sister, I was just stating a possibility..."
Ethan looked slightly aggrieved, not expecting such a violent rebuke from his elder sister.
Witnessing her younger brother’s reaction, Jessica realized she might have gone overboard and let out a sigh.
"Don’t disturb him. From the looks of it, he is going over a recipe in his mind. When I was young, I had watched Mother go through this motion several times."
"This can’t be... Sister, are you trying to imply this honored guest of ours might be a potion master...?"
In his mind, Ethan could not bring himself to believe how an ungrateful and arrogant person like Cole could be a noble potion master.
In this world, the status of potions was high, even higher than some nobles and knights. After all, it was these potion makers that created the lifeline of the current hierarchy: mana potions and others.
Jessica paid no heed to her brother, but she continued staring at Cole’s figure.
Cole’s fingers occasionally twitched ever so slightly, as though he was personally going over the last steps of the refining process in his head, using his mental energy to refine the potion inside his mind.
A thoughtful look appeared on her face.
It certainly looked that way.
Very few people knew this.
True potion masters often spent countless hours mentally simulating refining before they ever touched a furnace.
Not everyone could begin the art of refining potions. Only those who had trained their minds since youth could even think about it.
If Cole truly possessed such ability, his value would increase several times over.
Meanwhile, Cole did not know Jessica had already guessed what he was doing, although her guess was slightly off.
Cole was not simply going over the potion refining steps just once, but hundreds of thousands of times.
Inside Cole’s mind, the simulation continued at frightening speed.
Millions of possibilities were calculated every second.
Just then, a sharp pain suddenly exploded inside his head, followed by searing heat.
"Ugh!"
Cole bent forward while clutching his head. His stomach churned loudly, and an eerie hunger washed over his body. It felt as if every thought inside him was being drained away. His vision blurred slightly.
Just as he was feeling confused as to what was going on, the A.I. chip displayed a warning.
[Warning!]
[Processing load exceeds optimal biological limits.]
[Host energy reserves rapidly depleting.]
Looking at the message, Cole’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The message was revealing.
The A.I. chip was indeed a tool of supreme capability, but operating it required energy. It was a highly advanced human creation, intensely efficient at what it was doing.
There was one more thing that confused him.
Why out of all times was he receiving this notice only now? There had been no such notification when he simulated a million times before.
Maybe it is only now that my body is reaching its limits.
Thinking of this, Cole ordered the A.I. chip to stop simulating. Then he studied his current state carefully. Sweat soaked his forehead.
"So..."
He slowly clenched his fist.
"The simulations were taking a toll on my body, but the effect was minor enough that I didn’t notice."
The A.I. chip was not some miraculous artifact that ignored the laws of nature. Every calculation, every analysis, every deduction consumed some amount of bodily energy.
The more complicated the task, the greater the cost.
And bloodline fusion—
One of the most complex forms of biological engineering imaginable—
Had nearly emptied his body’s energy reserves in just a few minutes.