Chapter 81: New Investment
Edgar thoughtfully began designing the building from his memories and the insight he had obtained in this world.
His current thinking moved along the lines of harnessing power from every source available.
And the one source that was ever-present and endless was the endless murky grey-black fog that surrounded everything.
’What if I could condense that fog into a more liquefied form?’ Edgar thought while working on his design. ’Will it be useful? Can it help me with my future plans?’
The more Edgar thought about the possibility of using the curse as a fuel...
He also had another reason. Edgar wanted to make a compressor to liquefy oxygen.
Unlike the woven "basket" being built outside, this machine was made almost entirely of metal.
Inside the cylinder, he drew a thick piston connected to a heavy flywheel.
On Earth, however, he knew it wasn’t that simple.
Compressing oxygen alone wouldn’t magically turn it into a liquid.
It also had to be cooled to an extremely low temperature—far colder than anything ordinary machinery could produce.
Without refrigeration or advanced heat exchangers, it simply wouldn’t happen.
’But still, a compressor could be used in more ways than one...’
Edgar kept working on it as his eyes shifted toward the door, which opened up.
Hera walked inside the house as her eyes fell on the boy sitting on the sofa.
She slowly walked closer and sat down beside him, as though it was normal.
The tension on her face quickly eased just by being by his side.
"...What are you doing?" she asked, glancing at what he was making.
"There to make things easier for my future self."
Her confused expression made him simplify his words.
"I am making a new building."
"You can do that?" she asked with a surprised look on her face. "Is that possible?"
"Who do you think made all those buildings outside?" Edgar asked with a chuckle.
"...I thought you obtained them from Nightmares," the lady grumbled softly.
She pulled up her legs and sat down cross-legged.
"We have a lot of Soul Crystals and Soul Ash," she said. "They are really useful for potions and incredibly rare to find."
"Do you know how to use them?" Edgar asked, pausing.
The Soul Crystals were all obtained by the ⟨Tower of Souls⟩. Edgar was surprised to hear that she knew about them.
’Looks like they are not entirely unknown.’
"In theory, I can," she replied. "But I have never used them. This is the first time I have seen them."
In fact, Hera was really impressed by the amount of soul-related items that were in the warehouse.
Every single one of them was valued at least a hundred Nightmare Stones because of the rare conditions needed to form them.
"You can experiment with them if you want," Edgar said, looking at her. "We have plenty."
The lady blinked her emerald eyes, unable to speak for a while.
"...I will." She lowered her head slightly. "...Thank you."
Edgar waved a hand dismissively before returning to his sketches.
"Don’t thank me. Just get good."
Hera only nodded her head and leaned to her side until her head rested on his shoulder.
She had found warmth in coldness, and she wanted to cling to it.
---
After working for a few hours on the blueprint, along with making an outline for a steam engine, Edgar shifted his focus.
He let Hera return to her room, and on the other hand, he began his "Cultivation."
He took ten Nightmare Stones and absorbed all of them in the span of a few minutes.
His Solar Heart pumped the gathered essence all over his body before diminishing.
Once he was done, Edgar clenched his fist, feeling the strength flowing through his body.
’I really do feel powerful,’ Edgar thought to himself. ’With my current strength, I think I can crush a skull with my bare hand.’
Edgar wanted to continue absorbing more, but he thought against it.
’It would be better to grow slowly with a solid foundation.’
The blond boy also feared he might kill someone accidentally if his strength spiked suddenly.
Edgar stood up from the sofa and slowly stretched his body.
A series of soft pops echoed from his shoulders and back.
He exhaled deeply before walking out of the house.
Once he was outside, Edgar quickly found Andrew, who was just roaming outside his house.
"Young Master!"
The boy beamed after having spent time together with Edgar.
Edgar was also happy to see how much the young boy had grown.
After taking the Three-Legged Raven’s Shard, the boy had undergone considerable changes.
Andrew’s once frail frame had filled out, and his shoulders had broadened.
The years of malnutrition were slowly disappearing from his body.
What had changed the most were his eyes, which had turned as deep as the ocean.
Even from several dozen meters away, Andrew could identify individual faces without the slightest difficulty.
Andrew stopped before him and instinctively stood at attention.
"Are you going to create more Towers of Souls, Young Master?"
Edgar walked and gestured for him to follow.
"Did something happen?"
"It’s just that we are wasting too much time using the tower only once every six hours," the boy replied thoughtfully. "I was thinking if we could fix that."
"....Yeah," Edgar replied, nodding his head. "I was thinking the same."
Since the blond had seen all three upgrade paths of the tower, he wanted all three of them.
’I should make one of them for defense...’
Edgar nodded to himself before his gaze shifted toward the warehouse.
’I also have the World Tree Seed that I haven’t planted.’
He hadn’t known where to plant something with the words World Tree attached to its name.
It sounded far too important to simply bury beside the road.
’If it really is what I think it is... its roots might spread throughout the entire Fortress.’
Edgar feared that the main trunk of the World Tree might be bigger than the whole area of the Fortress.
Just as he was debating whether to plant it right then or not, the slab gate of the Fortress opened up.
The young-looking Gordon, mounted on a horse, entered inside.
He had brought all the items that were needed to upgrade the ⟨Watch Tower⟩s.