To be honest, if the System hadn't issued those warnings, Aaron wouldn't have planned to cause any big news at all.
Or rather, he hadn't even thought that such flashy operations were possible.
But now...
"Forget it, forget it, better not mess around."
"An extra year of time..."
"Mn, when hitting a bottleneck in power cultivation, an extra year might actually be helpful to me."
"But this time frame is subtle. If my power gets stuck, is one year really enough?"
"Never mind, I won't think about this."
"System, proceed with the second draw. Still drawing an item."
[Item drawing in progress... Loading...]
[Ding! Drew item — Eye of Aeon!]
[Description: One of the special items from the *11eyes* worldview. After equipping, one can pay a certain price to obtain abilities such as 'Future Sight', 'Seizing a possibility existing in the future and turning it into reality', 'Summoning souls to materialize and fight for oneself', etc.]
[Note 1: This item will be soul-bound upon equipping. Unless the equipper's physical body perishes, other targets cannot use this item.]
[Note 2: The smaller the probability of the possibility occurring, the greater the price required to seize that possibility and turn it into reality.]
[Note 3: The price required by this item is immense. Please think thrice before using.]
[What's wrong, Tester 233? This item doesn't require burning your life away, so why does this System feel like you seem a bit unhappy?]
"You... did this on purpose, right?"
"Always throwing items from these niche works into the prize pool. Are you afraid I don't know what abilities this item has and what price needs to be paid, so you're getting ready to screw me over?"
[Just say whether you understand this item or not.]
"It's precisely because I understand it that I don't want to talk, okay! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻"
Eye of Aeon, the magic tool held by the protagonist of the niche work *11eyes*.
Its abilities were just as the System described, possessing extremely tyrannical power.
But while activating these powerful abilities, the price this item demanded was even more bizarre than other consumable items.
True, although this item initially only caused some physical pain to the protagonist after use, it indeed didn't consume the user's life.
After all, the price required to pay for this thing was that every use would make the connection between the soul and the Eye of Aeon tighter. The more it was used, the higher the price paid. The final result would be that after the holder died, their soul would be detained inside this magic tool by the Eye of Aeon.
It was true that it didn't take your life.
But locking up the soul was obviously much more dangerous than taking a life, okay!
[Hey, hey, hey, why panic? You've always known very well that to defeat powerful opponents, one must always pay a sufficient price.]
[If the gap between you and your opponents isn't that big in the future, grabbing the future once or twice with this eye won't cause your soul to be imprisoned in this magic tool just like that.]
[Don't forget, you are a wielder of the Power of Dominance. As long as you are careful, it's not impossible to dominate this magic tool in return.]
"Mn, well said."
"But does that conflict with the fact that this item is very bad news?"
[No conflict at all. You can also choose not to use it. You can also choose not to use it.]
"Tch, equip it."
If there was no chance to use it in the future, that would be best. If a time came when he absolutely had to use this magic tool, taking it out of storage to equip it then would be too stupid.
After undergoing a series of operations that probably wouldn't pass censorship, Aaron successfully installed this magic tool of an eye into the socket where his right eye used to be.
After every enhancement, Aaron always had a feeling.
Leaving the physical body aside, at this stage, he occasionally felt that even his soul was turning into a monster.
The Power of Dominance was indeed a powerful force, but great power usually came with huge risks.
After obtaining the Power of Dominance, Aaron could feel that he would subconsciously choose methods that were more radical than before.
Although these radical methods usually achieved more efficient results, in Aaron's view, this might not be a good thing.
The Power of Dominance was, after all, the magic power of the vampire Dracula. And as the master of that millennium-old castle, even after being thoroughly killed by the Vampire Killer Julius and the Church working together, Dracula still left his consciousness within the Power of Dominance.
Soma Cruz, the boy who held the Power of Dominance, would face the situation of becoming a Demon King in both body and mind if he was even slightly careless.
And if he continued to advance along that extreme path...
"Damn, not good."
"Even if the owner of the Power of Dominance remains 'Aaron' by then, an Aaron whose personality has completely turned into Dracula is no longer me."
"I've been striving to solve those disasters in my subconscious all along, not because I became purer than before fundamentally."
"I'm just using this subtle method to resist the erosion of the Power of Dominance."
"The body is fighting using factors extracted from monsters."
"The soul has been gradually eroded by the Demon King's power."
"...I feel like the pressure has definitely been too high lately, otherwise, I wouldn't have so many worries."
"After this dungeon mission is complete, I should find a time to relax properly."
"The problem is, what exactly can I use to relax?"
"In the past, to survive, all my free time outside of working was used to read various books."
"...Why is my imagination so barren?"
"I can't even think of a suitable recreational activity."
"Clearly I've become so much stronger, yet I act more and more timidly."
"Truly sorrowful."
...................
At the same time. Inside a women's restroom at the Oceania Branch.
Bronya, who slowly woke up in the restroom, looked at the space around her and breathed a soft sigh of relief.
Then, as if thinking of something, she immediately became slightly nervous.
[Don't worry, that soul body has already returned to the area she should inhabit. Although this System isn't particularly reliable, it wouldn't go so far as to leave a mission participant behind in another world.]
[Mn, at least now it definitely won't.]
"That sentence makes Bronya a little uneasy."
"You said the owner is Tester 233, right?"
"Then among the previous 232, were there testers forgotten by you in situ?"
[How could such a thing happen? This System merely forgot the mecha made by Tester 009 in situ.]
"As expected... In other words, Project Bunny was almost forgotten by you too?!"
[I said that was a previous accident. After that tragedy with Tester 009, this System has never committed such a low-level error again.]
"Bronya is starting to worry whether the reward you give Bronya can be distributed normally."
[Ah, my fundamental performance is being questioned... Forget it, this System doesn't want to refute.]
[In order not to pad the word count, all that content has been sent to your brain. Take a look yourself. Old rules... oh wait, you don't know the rules.]
[After using the compensation item, you can choose one of the four options, with two chances total. One of them will increase the probability of getting good stuff.]
[Of course, this System strongly advises against choosing 'Randomly reinforce own held skills +2'. You don't have any skills worth reinforcing at all.]
"I see..."
"Then Bronya will choose to draw an ability first, using the draw with the higher probability of winning the grand prize."
[Skill drawing in progress... Loading...]
[Ding! Drew skill — Whispered (Modified Version)!]
[Description: One of the special skills from the *Full Metal Panic!* worldview. After obtaining this ability, the skill holder can obtain Black Technology knowledge from a special domain known as the 'Perfect Domain'. Under appropriate conditions, the Whispered can develop creations that modern technological theory cannot create.]
[Note 1: After obtaining new Black Technology each time, this ability will enter a cooldown period. The cooldown time is random.]
[Note 2: After connecting to the Perfect Domain, the holder of this skill can read brainwaves and full-body potential through a certain machine and use it to manipulate mechanical equipment.]
[Note 3: After connecting to the Perfect Domain, different Whispered who are simultaneously connected to the Perfect Domain can communicate through it. The method of using this ability carries considerable danger, please use with caution.]
[Note Explanation: (Perfect Domain) A domain where various kinds of information float. Only the Whispered can connect to this domain. Through this domain, the Whispered can manipulate surrounding electronic equipment like their own body. Connecting for too long will cause the Whispered's consciousness to remain within this domain, please take note.]
[PS: Since the domain connected is this System's database, the Black Technology within this domain will not be limited to the *Full Metal Panic!* worldview.]
After reading this ability, Bronya fell into deep thought.
Although this ability didn't immediately boost her combat power, Bronya could already see its potential.
She could listen to the Black Technology within the domain to obtain corresponding Black Technology and manufacture sufficiently powerful equipment... Mn, as long as luck was good enough, the Black Technology obtained shouldn't be too bad.
Currently in their team, there were already two to three people serving as the main combat force as warriors.
Bronya getting a logistics ability wouldn't conflict with the three of them.
Moreover, if she obtained some Black Technology that could patch up her companions' shortcomings, then her companions' strength would naturally improve further.
It was just that the biggest problem now lay in...
—With the Black Technology, what if there weren't enough materials?
This situation was like having a recipe but being unable to buy groceries; even someone who knew how to cook couldn't conjure dishes out of thin air.
Although in the world they were in, there should be some materials that could serve as substitutes, the problem came again...
Money!
A single Titan cost a billion. If Bronya drew a money-burning Black Technology, she felt she wouldn't be able to produce a usable item even after holding it in for a few years.
And besides money, the production method was also a problem.
This ability clearly stated that after the Whispered knew the corresponding Black Technology, they would know how to manufacture the product created by said Black Technology.
But the problem was, even knowing how to do it, the time that needed to be spent still had to be spent.
This was equivalent to a top student knowing how to solve a high-difficulty math problem.
He knew the method, but he still had to calculate step by step to solve the problem.
Bronya suddenly felt that this ability didn't seem that wonderful either.
[What are you saying? After this System's adjustments, the ceiling of this ability already completely crushes the original Whispered ability, okay?]
"Yes, the ceiling."
"Mr. System, Bronya is not a fool."
"Connecting the Perfect Domain to your database did indeed raise the ceiling, but it also lowered the floor."
"If Bronya draws a completely useless Black Technology, where would I go to cry?"
[Then blame your own bad luck. After all, living in a world that relies on luck and strength to survive, being able to survive is already very lucky.]
[Also, don't think about using this method to lure me into giving you corresponding items and abilities. These are all purely random. I hope Miss Bronya can understand.]
[Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't understand, you can't hit this System anyway.]
"No, Bronya is already very satisfied."
"At least now, Bronya already has some means to solve that problem... Forget it, let's draw the next reward."
"Bronya wants to draw an item."
[Ding! Drew item — Wirblewind (Whirlwind Maker)!]
[Description: One of the special items from the *Detonator Orgun* worldview. The item holder can use this item to assist in manufacturing some Black Technology creations.]
[Note: Materials are still needed. Of course, the Wirblewind will calculate and provide alternative solutions based on the technology and materials you provide.]
"...Mr. System, thank you."
[This System said it, this is a purely random item. If Miss Bronya wants to give thanks, thank your own luck.]
"But Bronya is still curious, what level of things can the Wirblewind manufacture?"
"This description makes it seem like the upper limit isn't certain."
..........................