Chapter 30: Mental Energy: A System’s Eyes and Ears

"This is…?" The Queen, Ephemella frowned in shock as she read through the ten conditions Compass Carburettor had listed. Normally, if someone read through them, they would think the other party had gone senile.

But, as she was very well aware that Compass Carburettor was otherwise, she calmed down. And upon looking at it objectively, she discovered that Regriel matched five of the listed ten conditions. Moreover, to verify the rest, she had to observe him carefully for a longer time.

So, Ephemella was assured that Compass Carburettor knew of something way beyond her understanding. And, this something was capable of affecting her life the highest. And at the centre of this wave was Regriel, the prince that she had banished from the kingdom.

'This is turning out to be a greater headache than what I had bargained for.' Ephemella massaged her forehead, feeling that her skin may wrinkle soon at this rate. She thought things through, "One way or another, Regriel is going to cause trouble for my kingdom soon enough. Based on the report, he has lost significant weight in the past few days and has also begun to train. And, based on how long he was able to maintain the Armament activation, he already has around 20 Darlac."

"This is too fast to be kidding around," She muttered, for a moment feeling a sense of fear. She then closed her eyes, habitually synchronising her vision to the puppet hidden with Compass Carburettor's room, looking at his appearance.

For a moment, upon seeing that he was seated on the chair in all seriousness, having not trained for the past few hours, it was like smashing a rock on her heart. She could feel her heart accelerating as a sense of worry began to bud in her, 'Will he be able to do anything? Even though his growth has been exceptionally fast, it's nowhere enough to compare with Regriel.'

…

Seated in his room, Compass Carburettor was deep in thought, recalling information from the numerous System novels he had read about. 'Right, typically, quite a few System novels come equipped with the skill to appraise others. So, if Regriel casts his gaze on me, he might be able to see all my information. As his System is related to enslaving women, he should definitely have an appraisal ability.'

'And, it has been a week. Even if he's oblivious to the scouts keeping watch on his actions, General Artica should have definitely felt something is fishy. She's touted to be the strongest General of this kingdom, so she should have considerable experience with such things. She would prove to be the strongest opponent against him for the time being.' He thought, frowning as he scratched his chin.

He sniffed the scent of the herbs used to patch his wound, thinking, 'Any methods like poison wouldn't work on Regriel. Even the Money-Making System was capable of filtering out the poison. Any System is capable of weeding out all internal threats to a certain extent. Unless it is a poison of the highest calibre in this world, it wouldn't even put Regriel's life at risk.'

'Any plans involving more people would cause too many variables. A System thrives off Mental Energy. That means, when I am around Regriel and am thinking of harming him, would it be able to sense my animosity? No, it's guaranteed to do so, since it would be drinking it excitedly. Indeed, that's how it's able to generate Quests. Even at present, it might be receiving a lot of Mental Energy due to the scouts and the thoughts of everyone in this kingdom who are either worried about General Artica's betrayal or are mocking Regriel.' He tapped on the table, wincing in pain for a moment.

He had slammed his fists hard on the table, so he was feeling some pain. Thankfully though, the pain was slowly reducing.

Health—Level 10!

Natural Recovery—Level 6!

The two of them worked in conjunction, allowing him to heal from the injury at a faster pace than normal. Compass Carburettor frowned, deep in thought, 'Mental Energy…unless I think of a way to avoid that, no matter what I do, Regriel's System would sense me well in advance. I won't be able to rip off his body parts, much less kill him.'

He then thought of something, summoning his gun. He summoned it within his clothes so that it wouldn't be visible. It was just a layer of caution he exercised, just in case there was a monitoring device of this world that he hadn't known about.

Though, judging based on the report from the scouts, he was assured that there was a mode of surveillance that was being employed here. So, he wished to be cautious. And after arriving in this world, this was the first time he summoned the gun.

Once it formed, it began to suck in air through the nozzle, beginning to condense a bullet within it. 'Thankfully, this is a self-sufficient gun. Had I possessed a normal gun, it would have turned into a chunk of metal once the bullets run out, or I would have had to subsist with something else to keep it functional. The gun would be no different to a scrap metal then.'

As the gun continued to suck in the air, Compass Carburettor closed his eyes, focusing on its actions, synchronising himself with it on a deeper level. As it was derived from the Money-Making System, it meant his gun should also have a System's basic ability to detect Mental Energy.

While it was fused into his body, it must have been using his body to detect and absorb Mental Energy. That's why it needed a host in the first place. And now that he obtained all parts of its body related to the physique, he must have it in him too.

Hours passed in such a fashion as Compass Carburettor meditated, focusing on the gun as he sensed the energy related to the System swirling within, noticing faint flickers of what seemed to be starlight. As he focused on the starlight, he was able to grasp faint emotions through it.

And, there was a stream of starlight traversing towards him from a certain location in the wall.