When Elysia bestowed upon Luo Lin the "Ego" Signet, the process felt entirely natural to the girl, deserving the title of "smooth and silent," as she effortlessly completed everything without realizing it.
However, the situation was entirely different on Vill-V's side.
The moment Vill-V's finger touched Luo Lin's head, the girl's spirit experienced a severe shock!
Something "heterogeneous" followed Vill-V's action and fell into Luo Lin's spiritual world, its presence extremely strong, causing the girl to feel almost burning pain that quickly spread throught her body.
And this was just the "prelude"; something even more intense was yet to come. Luo Lin felt like her consciousness was hit head-on by a speeding train, then plunged into a rapidly spinning washing machine while rotating like a spinning top whipped by a whip.
In a daze, Luo Lin even saw a system pop-up box.
[The host's mental stability has reached the threshold, initiating the Maze of Consciousness!]
The next moment, all the anomalies disappeared without a trace. In Vill-V's surprised gaze, Luo Lin's eyes regained clarity, and she even straightened her body.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, she asked, "Vill-V, what are you doing?"
"Helping you awaken the Signet of the 'Helix,' of course," the engineer replied matter-of-factly.
Did awakening a Signet need to be so exaggerated?! The Maze of Consciousness was even activated!
Vill-V could naturally see the doubt on Luo Lin's face. She spread her hands and explained, "Didn't I mention this to you before? Our 'Signets' and your 'Signets' are different; they mainly function in the spiritual domain."
"What I just did was to plant a seed of 'Helix' in your mind and apply a bit of... 'accelerating growth fertilizer' to watch it grow."
The engineer made a helpless gesture. "However, just as the seed started to sprout, your spirit threw it somewhere unknown..."
Luo Lin paused. "Uh... Maybe the movement of the seed was too intense, triggering the automatic defense mechanism in my consciousness area? Would there be any problem with doing this?"
"I don't know," Vill-V said with interest, staring at Luo Lin. "After all, I've never tried giving a Signet to someone with such high mental intensity before... It's really interesting; this data must be recorded!"
Then, the engineer started tinkering with the detection device next to the test site.
Obviously, Vill-V had no intention of further extending her help; she was only responsible for providing the seed of the 'Helix' Signet, and the rest depended on fate.
"It seems Vill-V's subtle reputation from the previous era is reasonable..."
Senti crossed her arms somewhat annoyed, tapping her arm with her finger. "Luo Lin, do you need my help? What she said about the seed, I could easily crush it with just a flick of my hand."
"No need, let me try it myself."
Luo Lin pursed her lips, moved a chair from the side, chose a comfortable posture to lie down, and waved to the perplexed Raven and Senti, "Good night!"
The mercenary hesitated before answering, "Good night?"
Senti frowned and said, "Be careful yourself, don't end up damaging your brain like the old timer..."
"Okay!"
Luo Lin heaved a sigh of relief and closed her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, her consciousness had already arrived in the Maze of Consciousness.
A giant tree occupied Luo Lin's entire field of vision, emitting a golden light that pierced the sky. The wind, of unknown origin, blew through its branches, causing the "leaves" to emit a slight friction sound.
Wait a minute, isn't the shape of this tree a bit strange...
Luo Lin focused and realized that this tree was not an ordinary tree at all. Its branches were made of pipelines, its leaves were made of iron sheets, and countless gears inside it meshed and rotated, turning the whole thing into a steampunk-style artificial tree.
It perfectly matched Vill-V's style...
"Is this the... seed she gave me? It's only been a short while, and it's already grown to this size?"
Luo Lin walked to the bottom of the metallic giant tree and reached out to touch it. However, she felt nothing solid; her fingertips sank into it, causing a ripple of golden light on the surface.
A strange sensation emanated from her fingertips; Luo Lin felt that this oddly-shaped tree was eager to grow, eager to merge with her, and eager for more spiritual power.
"Well, let's give it a try then..."
Luo Lin manipulated the Maze of Consciousness, releasing the restrictions on the metallic giant tree, allowing it to absorb the "nutrients" it needed from her.
The metallic creation emitted a loud rumbling sound as its branches and roots stretched out, eagerly absorbing the Valkyrie's spiritual power.
Luo Lin could feel that she was becoming somewhat different. Her thinking became sharper, her spatial imagination and computational abilities were enhanced, and even her physical coordination improved.
Moreover, some strange ideas almost uncontrollably emerged from Luo Lin's mind:
Like hiding maid outfits in Mobius and Vill-V's wardrobe;
Like making magical girl Teriri outfits for Theresa and painting "Oath of Judah" in shiny pink;
Like transforming into the appearance of "Miss Pink Elf" and greeting Kevin in the Sea of Quanta;
Since I've thought of these, why not flaunt a Kallen Kaslana's cos in front of Otto...
"Wait, wait, wait, what kind of suicidal thoughts are these!"
Luo Lin suddenly knocked on her own head. She realized what these thoughts were all about—they are clearly a weakened version of Vill-V's constant stream of whimsical ideas and psychic abilities!
Taking a deep breath, she struggled to control the chaotic thoughts in her mind, pushed them aside, and took a long time to barely calm down.
"It seems that the 'Helix' Signet awakening was a success?"
Luo Lin extended her hand, looking at the pattern of the 'Helix' Signet shining on the back of her hand, accompanied by the appearance of the 'Ego' crystal flower...
—When I collect the Signets of the Flamechasers, will there be a pattern similar to a certain golden watch layout on my hand?
The girl chuckled softly, feeling the familiar fatigue again.
It was the exhaustion caused by a large consumption of mental power. When studying the "Emotion Diffusion" skill before, Luo Lin often fell into this state; she knew very well what she should do now.
"That's going out and having a good sleep to replenish my energy."
"Yes, that's it...?!"
Luo Lin stiffly turned her head to the direction where the voice came from—another black-haired girl just like her was leaning against the metallic giant tree, smiling and waving at her.
"Hi, another me~"
She smiled and said, "The operation was very successful; you now have multiple personalities too! No need to envy those Herrschers anymore!"