Chapter 189: Royal Pineapple

Staring at the corpse in front of him, Sizar remained silent for a long time… another huge trouble!

What in the world was this? Totally looking for trouble! He might not have enemies everywhere, but many were chasing him from behind. For example, the Blood Clan after Dorothy, or the Zero Ring obsessed with the Demonic Virus.

He’d successfully shaken off all those forces with clear conflicts of interest, hadn’t he? Didn’t he spend so much energy just to watch the Championship Tournament with his sister? He was almost there, even getting the VIP tickets for the preliminary rounds. Yet some annoying guy had to kill himself with a radish.

Couldn’t he just die off alone? Why drag him down? All he wanted was some peaceful daily life with his sister! Even the Blood Clan and Zero Ring hadn’t come knocking, what gave him the right?

Digging out a bronze medal and a sci-fi key made of special metal radiating unique energy from the corpse, Sizar sighed sadly. “Life really is like a play, full of surprises everywhere!”

“What should we do, Brother?” Dorothy asked timidly, looking at the wide-eyed, deceased Rogier.

Though both she and Sizar had blood on their hands, she still disliked this kind of senseless killing. Compared to Sizar’s rather indifferent view on good and evil, Dorothy was more normal – optimistic about life, standing firmly with humanity, and seeing herself as neutral good. Seeing this random guy suddenly stab himself with a radish right in front of her, breaking all common sense, she felt a bit guilty inside. Was this what big brother meant: ‘I didn’t kill the fool, but the fool died because of me’?

“Don’t worry, it wasn’t intentional!” Sensing his sister’s distress, Sizar ruffled Dorothy’s hair to comfort her. “Anyway, he was seriously injured and refused medical help; he’d have died sooner or later. Camilla hitting him was an accident, totally unrelated to you. Firing those three shots was also an accident – his moves genuinely looked suspicious; you were right to act first! Keep your guard up like this; mustn’t let yourself get hurt by hesitating! Even if there was blame here, it’s not yours. Blame whoever you like? All blame him for not warning us earlier and causing the misunderstanding. Bottom line: you didn’t kill him. The radish did! Otherwise, with my medical skills, couldn’t I save him?”

“Mhm! Got it!” Dorothy nodded vigorously, finally relaxing. Thinking carefully, it really had little to do with her.

With just a few words, Sizar dumped all the responsibility onto the dead-but-staring Rogier, successfully consoling Dorothy.

“So what now? Bury him?” The kindhearted Dorothy asked.

“We’re in a spot of trouble now. We need to get out fast. He was already injured, likely chased by enemies. Now he died to his own radish. That has nothing to do with us. If someone else is left holding the bag, no point sticking around.”

With that, Sizar forcibly pulled Dorothy away, hailed a car, and pocketed the pistol, medal, and key. The radish – potentially high-level magic – remained stuck where it was.

On the road, sitting in the back seat, Dorothy suddenly spoke up with worry. “Brother, what was that medal? And what he said about ‘Royal Pineapple’, is the Royal Pineapple actually real?”

“Probably not fake. This really is a Royal Pineapple medal.” Speaking, Sizar handed the shield-shaped bronze medal to Dorothy.

The shield-shaped badge looked ancient, more like an antique. On its surface was a pineapple-like carving, which is where ‘Royal Pineapple’ came from.

Royal Pineapple had a long history, meaning different things at different times. In ancient times, Royal Pineapple represented the absolute pinnacle of metal constructs. Only the super magical automations possessing souls could earn such a title. As time passed, it came to symbolize autonomous robots, eventually evolving into the name of a distinct mech martial art school.

There were two main power systems on Ceylon Planet: Ability Users and Deities. They were independent yet overlapped. Ability Users trained themselves, evolving step-by-step to grow stronger. Deities spawned from the World Veins. They were naturally powerful and long-lived but hard to advance. These systems coexisted peacefully. After entering the Affliction Level, Ability Users could touch the World Veins and ultimately decipher the truth to become True Gods. At the highest rank, Lesser Dieties also had ways to advance into True Gods capable of rivaling the strongest Ability Users.

In ancient times, Ability Users were seen as heroes, demigods – forces of power capable of altering wars, defeating enemies single-handedly. A single person could rival an army. Deities could affect natural environments, commanding winds and rains, moving mountains and oceans.

As technology progressed over time, the advantages of Supernatural Power weakened. Ordinary mortals acquired power rivaling Ability Users and Deities. Ceylon Planet gained a new system empowering mortals: the mech system. Nowadays, various mechas ran rampant – steam-powered, magic-powered, bio-powered, plus self-aware robots… Armor sizes varied too, from small suits like regular armor to giants comparable to mobile suits… As Sizar put it, Ceylon had Magic Transformers, Magic Iron Men, and Magic Mobile Suits.

In old times, undeveloped tech prevented mechas from forming their own system. They fell under the construct faction of alchemy. The very first construct king was an extremely ugly, simple steel guard. Acquiring Life for some reason, it became an independent entity – essentially the oldest magical robot.

This ugly hunk of metal started as a Royal Guard construct for the Isthar Ancient Empire, safeguarding the palace perimeter. Gaining life, its strength surged dramatically. It became a hero capable of threatening Deities but never betrayed. Obeying its duty, it continued serving the royal family.

The Emperor valued this formidable magical robot greatly and coveted the tech behind it. Though the Constructor King gained an independent soul, it stayed fiercely loyal to the Emperor. Unlocking its body, it showed the Emperor its core – an energy furnace remarkably resembling pineapple.

Designed by mages to burn magic crystals for motion, this high-end yet common energy furnace wasn’t mysterious originally. Combined with a certain energy, however, it transformed into something like the Transformers’ Allspark, granting constructs life. Every decade, when the Constructor King accumulated enough energy, it could grant life to another furnace, creating a new construct.

Over time, the Isthar Ancient Empire built a powerful army of constructs. To commemorate the Constructor King, the Emperor named it “Royal Pineapple”.

By modern times, the Federation possessed a mighty mecha legion using similar energy. Successfully defeating the Republic of Isthar’s construct legion, they inherited the title “Royal Pineapple”. Their mechs lacked independent consciousness, but once piloted by trained humans, gained the strength to fight high-level Ability Users.

Grooming a high-level Ability User required innate talent, vast resources, years of relentless training, plus some luck – astronomically high cost. Mech pilots, however, needed only sturdy bodies, well-trained piloting skills, and then inheriting a predecessor’s mecha. When they died in battle, the mech got retrieved, repaired, and assigned to a new pilot. In a week– another capable soldier!

Compared to the relatively scarce elite Ability Users, mecha pilots became the mortal world’s main fighting force – powerful, endlessly replaceable cannon fodder.

“It really is Royal Pineapple!” Stroking the ancient medal in her hand, Dorothy looked grim. The older the medal, the stronger the mech it represented. Unlike the newer models constantly upgraded, Royal Pineapple mechs drew strength from that unique energy – aging only increased their might.

The fool hadn’t lied – he truly was part of Royal Pineapple. She and Sizar were both incredibly gifted Ability Users; her brother was even at the Affliction Level, capable of handling a mech or two without problem. But that fool might be the Colonel’s son. What came for them wouldn’t be just one or two. Send even a squad after them? She and Sizar would face certain death.

Playing with the key, Sizar remarked, “Little sister sure picks her targets! This should be the activation key to some mech. Thanks to you, after your family, I’m now tangled with Royal Pineapple too.”

“How about returning it?” Dorothy stuck out her tongue tentatively.

“Return it? Apologize? Then turn the Colonel’s son into a High-level Undead with consciousness intact? Think the Colonel would ever let us go then? How does a living son turned into an Undead father children? Think he’d forgive us?” Sizar rubbed his temples.

“Tch. So then, what do we do?”

“Keep running! Real shame – got the key but no clue where the mech is parked. With his status, it couldn’t be just junk.” Sizar lamented.

“What could you even do with that? Mechs are for mortals. Ability Users wearing them just limits their strength. If buying anything, it’d be Magic Armor or soul-powered constructs!” Dorothy retorted. “Ah! Wait – you want to use the Soulfire then? To give a mech a soul?”

“Huh? Didn’t think of that. Little sister, you’re so smart! Me, simpler – just have the key, seems a waste; better to complete the set to sell.” Sizar mused. Elsa gifted him Soulfire ages ago but found no use. Animate a Royal Pineapple mech with Soulfire? Land a powerful Magic Transformer? Totally worth it!

“Enough digressions. What’s the plan? That guy mentioned something about him having some info-recording device? Think it’s real?” Dorothy pressed.

“Most likely. Destroy the body, and it activates – transmitting his death info. That’s why I left it alone. We need to put distance in fast. Mhm. Head straight for Central City. Pre-book the finals tickets.” Sizar tried comforting her with a smile.

“You liar!” Dorothy pouted. “Royal Pineapple is a Federation legion. Dare watch the finals right under their noses?”

“Ah… true. Exactly what to do? Really wanted to watch the finals together…” Sizar scratched his chin thoughtfully. Royal Pineapple did sound intimidating, but one son of a Colonel – with some shrewd maneuvering, dodging shouldn’t be impossible.