2
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lying on the sofa, Ling PingAn began to feel groggy. He was really getting sleepy.
Finally, no longer able to withstand his sleepiness, he closed his eyes and went off to sweet dreamland.
The phone he was holding fell onto the couch.
On the screen, the battle in the rift was still going on.
An Attack Damage Carry [1] that had godly items abruptly halted all operations.
As if he had been disconnected, he stood still in place.
But none of his opponents dared to move forward.
Because this hero had 13 kills, 0 deaths, and 3 assists.
They had to respect this terrific battle score!
It wasn’t until a minute later that a support carefully went forward and cast a skill.
There was no response!
Then five heroes leaped on him all together, putting an end to this d*mnable hero of the rift.
…
In a daze, Ling PingAn seemed to hear a voice calling him.
But he couldn’t find the source of the sound, nor hear its content clearly.
Until he saw a ray of light in his dream.
He followed the light and slowly walked toward it.
He heard a voice talking to him, “Great master, your faithful and pious servant is at your service…”
“Master?” Ling PingAn couldn’t help but laugh at himself. “What a weird dream!”
However, since it was a dream, he was okay with it.
He asked, “Who are you?”
But no one answered him.
In an instant, he discovered that he seemed to have appeared in another scene.
Buildings constructed of pure steel were rising from the ground.
Huge mechanical guards were standing firmly in the boundless space.
The guards looked like they were sleeping.
Innumerable turrets were densely packed, filling the entire sky.
This made Ling PingAn feel strange.
“What kind of dream is this?” He shook his head and asked himself, “Have I come to a steam-powered world made of steel?”
“Wouldn’t that make me the Gatling Bodhisattva?”
Once he had this thought, he found that his body was expanding infinitely.
Swiftly, he broke through the earth and the sky.
“Ho-hoh!” Ling PingAn smiled. “This dream is really interesting!”
He lowered his head and looked at his palms.
His huge palms were made of steel and looked almost infinite when they were spread out.
Even if Sun Wukong had been here, he would probably also have been able to be pressed under these enormous palms of steel…
Ling PingAn felt a strong eagerness to have some fun. He did a kowtow and said softly, “Goodness be true! Buddha be merciful!
“Goodness be true, Namo Gatling Bodhisattva!
“Goodness be true, freed from the desires of the depleted uranium, redeem thy worldly civilians with thy boundless benevolence!”
As he chanted, the world began shaking.
The turrets seemed to have woken up from their eternal slumber.
The enormous mechanical guards were seemingly woken from their perpetual slumber, opening their eyes one after another.
They all looked at Ling PingAn, who had become huge and was still getting bigger.
The next moment, the mechanical guards lined up like monks, sat with their legs crossed, and placed their palms together to worship Ling PingAn, who was propping up the heaven and the earth. Voices of machinery resounded throughout the world.
“Goodness be true, Namo Gatling Bodhisattva!”
“Praised be the future Buddha of Steam and Steel!”
Ling PingAn became ecstatic. “This dream is really fun!”
As an online author, he was certainly not going to let go of such a funny dream that had come to him so easily.
He asked the dream, “Are there people in infinite hardship who dwell in a world of cataclysm that is in dire need of the compassion of the Dharma?”
“Yes!”
A huge vortex appeared before Ling PingAn’s eyes.
A mechanical guard put his palms together and prayed to him while it stood in front of the vortex. “All the living things in this world are in endless catastrophe, unceasing sufferings, great misfortune, and plagued by the scourge of infinite sorrow!
“Buddha, be merciful, your grace we beseech to deliver to all the living!”
“Goodness be true! Goodness be true!” Ling PingAn stepped into the vortex with a smile.
Since it was a dream.
He wanted to see what other tricks there were in this weird dream.
…
A huge beam of light surged straight up into the sky.
The unceasing light penetrated everything.
Elizabeth’s eyes saw the endless tide of minions of Diablos becoming transparent, one after another below this magnificent, sacred light.
Then they fell like raindrops…
…onto the Altar of Steel, into the Church of Machinery.
Their flesh and blood watered the altar and nourished the church.
The sky cracked open.
A massive vortex appeared in the sky.
A huge figure cast in bronze descended from the vortex.
He was so sacred, so majestic, and so compassionate.
It was so splendid that Elizabeth knew right at the moment that she saw him that this was the incarnation of the almighty Spirit of Machinery.
The projection of the merciful and compassionate Namo Gatling Bodhisattva.
She immediately got down on her knees, worshiping this great savior and the truth of the universe.
“Praised be the Gatling Bodhisattva. Long have you walked amid the depths of Prajna, freed from the six canals of human desires, and transformed into an artifact supreme. A canal, a tone. The hexadic mantra delivered the chant like no other: Om Ma Ni Pad Mi Hum. Benevolence like the vast oceans, redemption for all the living, away from the world of Sahā, vanquishing the karma of the five skandhas, bringing forth the six paths of samsara, severing the eight tribulations of men, keeping away suffering and unhappiness, paving a way to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Six canals, one breath, 3 trillion and 60 thousand revolutions. Redemption is unceasing! Oh, how great thy might! Gatling Bodhisattva! Praised be your mercy!”
This was the great praise that the Gospel for Synthetic Beings had conveyed to her.
Following her praise, on the altar, a ray of holy light unparalleled in purity emerged and fell on Elizabeth.
It repaired her tattered body, regenerated her broken limbs, and nourished her withered body.
It also made her even stronger.
From this moment onward, she was not only a Nun of Steel and a Missionary of Synth.
She was also an ordained Bhikkhuni of Steel.
The brilliance of Dharma emerged from the machinery in her body.
She couldn’t help but sing his praises again. “Goodness be true, Namo Gatling Bodhisattva! Praised be the future Buddha of Steam and Steel!”
At this moment, a shadow quietly appeared in the sky.
A huge spider-like Diablo was seen descending from outer space. Because of his arrival, even the atmosphere began to twist.
Elizabeth’s heart abruptly twitched in spite of her will.
Because she could recognize this Diablo.
It was the Dark Side of the Moon entrenched on the lunar surface.
A powerful and terrifying Diablo!
A monster beyond description!
“Can the Gatling Bodhisattva deal with him?” Elizabeth had no idea.
Because the one who had descended now was only an incarnation of the almighty and everlasting Spirit of Machinery and a projection of the Gatling Bodhisattva.
But the next second, Elizabeth knew that she shouldn’t have such disrespectful thoughts.
She saw that the huge bronze Buddha that had emerged from the vortex was gently opening his enormous palm.
A sacred Buddhist artifact appeared in his sacred Buddha’s palm that was full of compassion.
The six canals that were bathed in the radiance of Dharma began to rotate.
Every time they turned, a Buddhist scripture full of brilliance emerged from within.
“Na, Mo, A, Mi, Ta, Bha!”
The world became resplendent amid the Buddha’s radiance.
The extremely compassionate depleted uranium armor-piercing projectiles were spinning and charging at immense speeds toward the descending Diablo.
That massive Diablo, the monster beyond description…
In the radiance of the Buddha, amid the rain of bullets, it was gradually broken into pieces.
Its shattering was irreversible. It was completely obliterated.
This was the way Namo Gatling Bodhisattva, the kind and compassionate future Buddha of Steam and Steel, slayed and subdued demons.
Simply, straightforwardly, and directly.
******
[1] Attack Damage Carry (ADC): In some multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video games, ADCs refer to heroes as the Carry roles, which specialize in dealing with physical damage.
