Chapter 323: A Questionable Sense Of Caution.

Kael remained silent for a long moment.

Even after listening to Nora’s explanation, he still found the entire situation rather difficult to wrap his head around.

So, let me get this straight...

Somewhere out there existed a race of beings that were essentially robots with consciousness.

That alone was already a strange concept.

Of course, Kael had encountered all sorts of extraordinary existences since his regression. But still, the idea of an entire race of mechanical lifeforms possessing genuine consciousness was something he hadn’t expected to run into.

And apparently, this race had once possessed a powerful civilization of its own.

Unfortunately, they’d been attacked by an even more terrifying civilization and had been almost completely exterminated. Before their destruction, however, their leader had supposedly predicted that a certain individual would eventually appear and help the surviving members obtain revenge.

That individual would also somehow help restore their race to its former glory. And now, after years of searching, Nora had finally found the person her mother had spoken of.

Kael rubbed his forehead.

How does that even make sense?

Of course, he wasn’t doubting his own potential, that was far from the case. If there was one thing Kael had absolute confidence in, it was his ability to grow stronger.

With the Infinite Reward Multiplier, the Primordial Genesis Sutra, and the various opportunities he’d already obtained, he firmly believed his future achievements would surpass anything he could currently imagine. Given enough time and opportunities, reaching a level where he could contend with powerful civilizations wasn’t something he considered impossible.

In fact, he fully intended to become strong enough that no one could ever threaten the people he cared about again.

However, that was precisely what made the situation so strange. How could someone I’ve never met be so certain about my future?

Nora’s mother had supposedly made this prediction years ago, long before Kael had even been born, and yet, according to Nora, her mother had somehow calculated that he’d become the person capable of helping them.

As much as he wanted to doubt the whole situation, the way everything lined up made that doubt increasingly hard to hold onto. But if that was true, if Nora’s mother really had been right, Kael couldn’t help wondering just how terrifying an ability like that truly was.

After thinking about it for a while longer, he eventually decided to set the matter aside. There was no point dwelling on something he couldn’t currently verify. Whether Nora’s mother had truly predicted his future or not was something he could investigate later.

For now, there was another matter that interested him far more, something Nora had mentioned during her explanation. The Prime Ore, the exact, mysterious material she’d used to identify him.

Kael raised his head. "By the way, Nora."

"Yes, Great One?"

Kael’s lips twitched slightly, but he ignored it. "That Prime Ore you mentioned earlier..."

Nora looked at him attentively.

"What exactly is it?"

The question caused her to pause, and for the first time since their conversation began, Nora didn’t immediately answer. Instead, she lowered her gaze slightly, seemingly considering how best to explain it.

Kael noticed her hesitation. Is it something she can’t talk about?

He wouldn’t have been surprised. After all, she’d already explained that Prime Ore was an extremely important material to the Automaton race. It was apparently so valuable her people regarded it as a sacred treasure, and he figured something like that naturally wouldn’t be the kind of information shared casually with outsiders.

However, after remaining silent for several seconds, Nora finally spoke.

"To tell you the truth, Great One, even I don’t fully understand what Prime Ore actually is."

Kael blinked. "You don’t?"

Nora shook her head.

"No." She paused before continuing. "What I do know is that Prime Ore is the foundation of our race’s existence."

Kael leaned forward slightly.

"The foundation?"

"Yes." Nora nodded. "Prime Ore has always held extraordinary significance to the Automatons. Since the earliest days of our race, it’s been regarded as our most sacred treasure."

Her expression grew somewhat solemn.

"Our people protected it with everything we had. Its importance was something every Automaton understood, regardless of their position or status."

Kael listened quietly.

"However," Nora continued, "as for its true origin, or the full extent of its properties, I’m afraid I don’t possess that knowledge."

She lowered her gaze. "Mother understood far more about it than anyone else. Unfortunately, there were many things she never had the chance to explain to us."

Kael nodded slowly. "I see..."

That was rather unfortunate. He’d hoped Nora might be able to tell him something more concrete about the material. After all, an ore capable of serving as the foundation of an entire mechanical race couldn’t possibly be ordinary. And considering it had somehow reacted to his presence, Kael was naturally curious what made it so special.

But just as Kael was mulling over this, Nora suddenly spoke.

"Great One."

"Hm?"

"You seem rather interested in Prime Ore."

Kael looked at her.

Nora studied his expression for a moment before continuing.

"Would you like me to show it to you?"

Kael froze. "...Huh?"

For a moment, he wondered if he’d heard her correctly.

"Show it to me?"

"Yes." Nora nodded, perfectly natural about it.

Kael stared at her.

Seriously?

Hadn’t she just explained that Prime Ore was the sacred treasure of her entire race? Something so important the Automatons had guarded it throughout their entire existence? And now she was casually offering to show it to someone she’d only just met?

Kael couldn’t help feeling that something was off with her sense of caution. Of course, he wasn’t going to pretend he wasn’t interested. He was. Very interested, in fact. But that didn’t mean he was shameless enough to immediately demand she hand over something so precious.

He scratched his cheek.

"Well, I won’t lie. I’m definitely curious about it." He paused. "But are you sure that’s alright?"

Nora tilted her head slightly.

"What do you mean?"

Kael looked at her, a little strangely.

"I mean, you just told me Prime Ore is your race’s sacred treasure, and we’ve only just met." He spread his hands. "Are you really comfortable showing something that important to a stranger?"

Nora blinked. Then a small smile touched her face.

"That’s true. However, Great One, you’re not really a stranger to us."