Chapter 253: with translation of chapter title

Aomo (profound and silent) -> glossary: Aomo

Aomo's dark thoughts ultimately never came to fruition, because after the brief explanation by the Star Merchant Manager, the three naturally entered the farewell segment.

However, this doesn't really matter, after all, being bad with electronics and being an electronics expert are two different levels, and there is also a gap among electronics experts.

Rin Tohsaka's level is also far from the exaggerated degree where Bourbon can make a coffee machine die shortly after just touching it.

It can't really serve as any kind of reference……

He isn't really regretful; he's just more concerned about another point.

That is, compared to Mengbei Lan and La Fu Xi Ni, who both greeted Aomo and Xing Jia Lai and then said farewell, Rin Tohsaka merely gave a slight nod and left with Mengbei Lan.

At this point, Aomo realized that this mage lady also did not belong to the 'most normal attitude' category.

The other party carried a sense of distance, not wanting too much involvement with him, making him feel somewhat like the saying 'heaven's way cycles' subtle.

Earlier, he was still wary of this really clever classmate, but upon turning around, he found himself being wary of Miss Tosaka Rin.

It's quite obvious that Miss Tosaka Rin's impression of him is not good.

Aomo thought to himself that his actions when he first arrived were indeed rather strange, but not to the point of warranting such wariness.

Seeing the wary look in Miss Tosaka Rin's eyes when she looked at him, he felt perhaps there was some misunderstanding.

For example, having seen exaggerated reports, or having heard discussions about incidents involving him……

Indeed, among the several possibilities Aomo listed in his mind, the most likely is undoubtedly the issue of news reports about past events he participated in.

Heavens, he has only been on the news a few times, but aside from the first time being a brief college entrance exam appearance interview, the others were all him participating in major events, even being a party to those major events.

This also makes it somewhat difficult for Aomo to now cultivate a friendly and amiable image.

Even during breakfast, Aomo heard Xin Tiao mention that the 'Annual Dark Villain Series Vote' had entered the top-100 qualifier stage, with Aomo Lindun surging forward.

Moreover, some protested that the voting event's rules were too rigid, saying things like 'The voting period hasn't even ended yet! Haipa Airei King, Asu Killer, Belial Godzilla Fusion Beast, Thunder Killer, and Garatron King should also be listed for voting registration!!'

Of course, this protest had no effect; the registration period had long passed, and the newly emerged strong contenders could only wait until next year, but!

Aomo, however, still saw his popularity surge in the top-100 qualifiers.

Although the news of the monster battle in Heaven's Gate City and the Border Gate Area's exotic region did not truly capture the maximum traffic under the biggest publicity, but the fan groups participating in this voting activity each have their own channels and methods, even actively seeking out such information.

So, lacking publicity power in this case, it's basically impossible to stump them!

The fan groups that like Asu Killer, Belial Godzilla Fusion Beast, and Thunder Killer aggregated their votes because the public owner is Aomo.

This is still the result that the public information channels don't yet know that the Garatron King Alliance is also in Aomo's hands.

What? You ask why the whole piece doesn't mention the ordinary Airei King, Jin Gu Qiao, and Garatron?

These three things are obviously not dark enough nor villainous enough.

The suggestion for Airei King is to early degenerate and roll into the cute pet zone; Garatron doesn't even need packaging, at first glance it looks like a righteous thing; as for Jin Gu Qiao……

Unless you paint it black, otherwise its impression is really hard to categorize.

«I have no interest in Jin Gu Qiao; it lacks creativity in the magic system, and the 'merchant' merely sees it as a useful tool and a suitable combination. » Xing Jia Lai expressed this view in a matter-of-fact tone, which could raise the blood pressure of any Pedan star person.

But Aomo is not a Pedan star person; he merely spoke in a flat, straightforward tone no less than the other's tone: «In terms of creativity, I think technology and magic are actually not that different. »

«Of course, this is precisely why the subsequent development of the Magic Staff can proceed, but in terms of functional development, the main design of Jin Gu Qiao is still too conservative. »

That's indeed… not a monster girl either.

Aomo thought that the clothing of the Jin Gu Qiao monster girl was indeed overly revealing, but this also wasn't really related to the topic, so he merely gave a slight nod, withholding comment.

If one had to say, he actually does not agree with that statement, after all Jin Gu Qiao is just like the Infinite Dragon Beast, belonging to a version discard.

In Seijin's work, the Jin Gu Qiao that appeared can be considered a strong enemy; its strength and positioning were aimed at the cosmic dinosaur Jetton, but later… everyone knows that both appeared as high-intensity labor models, but Jetton's performance is at least stable, and the 'clan' has even produced Haipa Jetton, as well as the final weapon Jetton used for celestial suppression, which has no relation to the 'cosmic dinosaur' setting.

And Jin Gu Qiao……

Although its strength indeed hasn't been reduced much, and it also has subsequent models, but how to put it……

In later Ultraman works, they all have a feeling of gradually becoming outdated versions.

Although not weak, it also doesn't have much oppressive feeling.

Because subsequent Ultraman and the other enemies they face have increased strength elasticity, while its purity is insufficient.

In Aomo's memory, the two most oppressive battles were: one, constructed by numbers—referring to the Jin Gu Qiao army; two, the giant Jin Gu Qiao in Mobile Ultraman—in the manga, it looked cool for just a few pages before being chopped by Seijin who had acquired new equipment.

Aomo felt that to evaluate Jin Gu Qiao, one must consider how to view the existence of the creator.

If you ignore her existence, then naturally it doesn't hinder criticizing Jin Gu Qiao, but if you consider her existence, then all manifestations of the work must be attributed to her decisions.

Because of deviations in plot design, character settings, or even power settings, the situation of spraying criticism at the screenwriter and manga artist arises.

Rather than saying it's frequently seen, it's better to say it's everywhere.

But the current Jin Gu Qiao card is with Xin Tiao.

This is reality; that is not a one-time Jin Gu Qiao card, and it is certainly a creation closely related to the real Jin Gu Qiao.

Does the reality we stand in also have a so-called 'creator'?

Or rather, there surely must be one, right?

Think of the people from Rhodes Island, think of Fate/Grand Order in my mind, then think of what Bi Ze said about Umamusume Pretty Derby, and Aomo will realize that around him there are already too many existences that have been 'recorded' as virtual works.

Virtual works are not necessarily virtual; other worlds may exist that match the records.

Aomo doesn't care whether his choices are controlled by the 'creator'; he's merely torn over whether the designer of Jin Gu Qiao's strength is a Pedan star person or some high-dimensional 'hand'.

But this turmoil is just a passing fancy; after realizing it might go on endlessly, he also suppressed it.

Silently shifting his gaze, he looked toward the mechanical figure not far away in the display case.

«So, are those kinds of creations your target? »

After the three women left, it was Aomo and Xing Jia Lai who opened the discussion on monster cards.

This half-human dragon manager did not directly get to the point of asking him to bring out Garatron to look at; instead, he first exchanged pleasantries, asking him how he viewed this exhibition.

After receiving Aomo's honest answer that he hadn't wandered far here, he actually volunteered to act as a guide, leading him to continue touring the exhibition that occupies too much ground and has many corner corridors.

The two's topic thus unfolded, beginning with Xing Jia Lai's manager frankly bringing up monster cards.

Autonomous magic dolls, referencing many otherworldly sci‑fi humanoid mechanical puppets, are not intended to be given personalities; they are to exist purely as tools.

Following Aomo's gaze to the men and women standing in the showcase, in standby mode, Xing Jialai's expression grew complex: "Compared to whether they can defeat the Golden Ancient Bridge, our current internal voting issue is even more tangled."

How so? Is that a trade secret?

No, we were also planning to disclose it to the media.

The manager shook their head and led Aomo past the nearest one—inside stood a female magic doll with closed eyes.

She wore a skirt that covered her body, her slightly lowered head and closed eyes indistinguishable from a real person; the complex etching pattern that flickered on her surface in standby mode merely made her look like a mage of the Magic Pattern School, not a doll soldier.

Their reference prototypes are all humanoids that possess personalities.

Like the strategic omnipotent angels of the Divine Blessing Gospel Team, or the Youerha intelligent machines built for squad‑based combat, and the constructs behind the Gray Raven Agency—" he listed those mostly cold‑hearted partners, then trailed off.

Sorry, these are all otherworldly beings; you might find them hard to understand.

Not entirely; I've also heard of otherworldly beings.

He had even made direct contact… Aomo silently recalled the latter half, never expecting to hear the name of the Gray Raven Agency here.

"That would be best," the Jilong manager nodded, not at all surprised, and continued, "In terms of creativity, only beings with personality and soul can best display it, so the research team's current debate centers on whether to grant these tools 'life'."

"Once they are given a soul and spirit, they are no longer merely tools; setting aside the procedural hassles of the Wisdom Life Law, our original intention was simply to showcase more promising magic devices."

"If they are merely tools, then what is displayed is the creativity of artisans and researchers."

Aomo looked at those that were not just humanoids but also centaurs and beasts like tigers and leopards, not fixated on lifelike completion; most were still display stands of silver or gray metallic texture.

"But if life is granted, then the ensuing process belongs to their shared creativity with the artisans."

"Exactly," Xing Jialai nodded, then unexpectedly glanced at Aomo, seemingly not expecting him to follow the topic so smoothly.

Aomo himself was also somewhat surprised.

He had just been thinking about the topic, also pondering a stack of magic‑device design data that had surfaced in his mind, while still conversing with that manager—three threads running in parallel without lag, even able to spare some perception to confirm that the connection in his cartridge had been cut.

The scanning function of Jialatelong seemed to have left some lingering effect on his brain.

Let's just call it benign; Aomo also didn't show any signs of veering toward a Bopang condition.

"So, Mr. Lindon, do you have any suggestions, or lean more toward one side?"

"Naturally the former—just as a tool," Aomo replied immediately.

"Oh?"

"Although the topic of possibility is truly romantic, objects should still be kept pure."

He stopped and stood before a display stand.

"This is the last magic‑device display stand with a biological appearance on this road; beyond it are just magic devices, appearing to be mainly waist‑band and firearms‑style magic devices aimed at male users."

The Jilong manager likewise paused, looking at his earnest expression.

He said, "Tools should be tools, weapons should be weapons."

"Only those who lack confidence in their own judgment need to rely on others' interference; only those who crave warmth need the nourishment of other souls; magic devices endowed with life merely target the weak…"

"Or perhaps those who feel lonely," Xing Jialai shrugged.

"Yes," Aomo nodded, "the Magic Department wants to shake off industry discrimination; it needs to consider controlling the proportion of weak users in the customer base, rather than merely lowering the barrier to use."

"What sharp, solitary words," Mr. Lindon," the Jilong manager again extended claw‑like hands from his sleeves and lightly applauded.

"You make me somewhat unable to understand this generation of young people."

"How so?"

"You can also see that the Magic Staff has always been doing business with young people, regardless of gender."

"So we must always understand the trends and preferences of young mages in order to cater to them," Xing Jialai's emerald‑green vertical pupil stared at the silent Aomo.

"I actually considered the Magic Staff," Aomo, who had been silent for a few seconds, suddenly said.

"But you don't need it now?" the manager asked.

"Indeed, I don't need it."