Anomalous Creatures

"I finally understand what Raven 12345 meant by 'having no time to deal with trivial matters on Earth,'" Kevin said with a mixture of amusement and frustration after hanging up the communication. "Her daily work is absolutely insane, living like a Hollywood blockbuster every day."

"Does she usually hold grudges?" Weilili, who had also witnessed the scene just now, felt a sense of foreboding. Although she might not understand what space warfare or mathematical rate weapons were, she instinctively sensed that Raven 12345 was someone not to be messed with. "Are you sure you haven't offended her?"

Kevin thought for a moment: "Does muttering to myself that she's a white-haired witch count?"

Weilili: "..."

Just as Kevin and Weilili were chatting casually, his data terminal suddenly lit up, and a message directly jumped into his mind: Raven 12345 had delivered the promised translation program.

Kevin opened the data terminal and quickly found the location of the translation program. In fact, there was no need to search; just by communicating with a thought command, the data terminal would display its current functional changes. Looking at the description of the translation program, Kevin instinctively licked his lips: "Wow, it's indeed a high-end product. If I had this back then, why would I have worried about failing my CET-4 three times..."

"How about it?" Lily eagerly peered at the data terminal, "Does it say how to use it?"

Kevin pointed to the holographic screen, which was very clear:

"Universal Adaptive Translation Script, usage permission f, applicable to grassroots inspectors or affiliated races. After activation, it can directly connect with the user's mind, performing synchronous translation within the brain. The user will not feel this translation process, and it also supports language assistance functions, which can take over some of the user's language abilities, fully enabling obstacle-free communication between the user and various foreign languages."

Although there were some specialized terms, Kevin picked out what he could understand and understood how to use it after reading through it once. He had to admit that this was a magical device. Just as the data terminal could directly connect with the user's mind, the auxiliary programs in the data terminal were also connected in this way. He had originally thought that this translator was something similar to a text-to-speech translation device (what can I do, that's all the knowledge I have, and there's nothing more advanced than this on Earth, right?). However, he didn't expect it to directly deliver the translation results of any language to his mind. Moreover, it also had a "language assistance function," which could take over some of the user's language abilities.

Kevin thought for a moment and believed that this meant he could pretend to be a local, and even put on a perfect London accent.

"Hey, we can try it out right here!" Kevin noticed another note in the translation program's annotations, stating that the program had built-in all the language libraries within the empire's jurisdiction, even including indigenous languages and extinct languages from uncivilized planets. He immediately wanted to test it out. He activated the translation function, confirmed in his mind that the data terminal had prepared the mental port, and then looked at Weilili, "Speak to me in Old English and see if this works. According to the manual, it can translate any form of communication on Earth."

Weilili blinked, "Is this thing really that magical?"

"Why don't you try it and see?" Kevin was excited, "Go ahead and say something."

Weilili hesitated for a moment, "I just spoke in Old English, and so did you in your reply."

Kevin stared in disbelief at the data terminal in his hand. After a long pause, he murmured to himself, "This really is barrier-free communication. I didn't even feel it... It even imitated your tone of speech."

Lily, who had been watching beside him with her knees tucked under her chin, couldn't suppress her curiosity any longer. She came over with a smile on her face, "Landlord, landlord, let me try it too~~"

However, as soon as Lily took the data terminal into her hands, the translation program immediately terminated.

"Although this machine is a low-permission civilian model, it still has rules!" A snarky line of text appeared on the data terminal, "Your selected functional module has failed permission authentication. Continuing to use the corresponding function may violate the ban. If you really want to use it, go buy an unlocked downgraded civilian version in Shadow City in the future."

Lily widened her eyes, "But why is it okay when I use you to listen to music normally?"

"That belongs to the unlocked functions, which can be opened according to relevant regulations," the data terminal typed out another line, "But please respect the machine's initial settings. This machine is for users to perform tasks, not for playing music! You can insult the machine's traditional appearance, but you cannot insult the machine's player. Looping 'Little Apple' in a 16-channel brain mode is a serious provocation to the machine!"

Kevin looked at Lily with a strange expression. She sheepishly handed the data terminal back, "I was bored, and that day you left this on the coffee table to help Bat cook, so I played around with it for a bit."

Kevin silently put the data terminal away. Seeing the disappointed look on Lily's face, he felt a little sorry for her and tried to distract her, "Alright, we just tried it with Weilili. Let's try it with you too. Pick any foreign dialect or something and see if it can translate."

Lily brightened up. Seeing Kevin ready, she cleared her throat and tentatively said, "Woof?"

Kevin: "..." Weilili: "..." Data Terminal: "..."

"This... The machine doesn't have the corresponding vocabulary library pre-installed," a line of text appeared on the data terminal, "But based on contextual analysis and your physical condition, did you just say 'food'?"

Lily turned around, hugging her knees, "Guessing doesn't count. This isn't fun. I'm going downstairs to eat."

After Lily ran out, Weilili turned her face around with a forced smile, "You see, she usually doesn't admit she's a big dog, but she revealed it as soon as she opened her mouth."

"You can't say it like that," Kevin still somewhat defended the foolish werewolf girl who usually cheered him up, "I asked her to say a few foreign languages. Maybe barking counts as a foreign language for werewolves... At least it's a dialect."

Kevin marveled at the new function of the data terminal, feeling like he could now conquer the world of languages. If he wasn't naturally lazy, he could probably pretend to be an expert at various foreign language academies with just this. But what he didn't know was that this thing was actually the most basic function of the most basic equipment in the Temporal Administration Bureau, and it was already becoming outdated: The problem of language barriers was something that grassroots clerks patrolling various timelines often had to face. Unlike the Hirelings of Xir'la, they couldn't comprehend all knowledge directly through the spiritual network. Mortal grassroots clerks (i.e., censors and various "Sons of God," "Bishops," etc.) often had to rely on various devices to solve the difficulties encountered in their tasks. However, the Temporal Administration Bureau was now working to improve this situation by integrating some functions of the data terminal directly into the body adjustment program for censors. The first project was to add a translation module to their brains, allowing them to communicate freely with all races without any devices, just like the Hirelings of Xir'la. Unfortunately, Kevin, this unlucky guy, didn't catch a good time. He would have to lie in that "coffin" again in a couple of days...

Leaving aside future troubles for now, Kevin and Weilili studied the data terminal thoroughly in the room. Don't think the wrong way. They were just studying whether this data terminal had any other functions. Kevin had experienced the unreliability of Raven 12345. That white-haired witch couldn't even understand the basic equipment of the Temporal Administration Bureau. Calling her a mechanical idiot was being polite. He didn't know if such a person was a special case or not. Anyway, to avoid being tricked again in similar situations in the future, Kevin had to carefully study whether his equipment had any other problems. As a result, he really found an issue during the inspection: There was a set of "Thirty-Seven Races' Guide to Prenatal Care and Calming the Spirit" installed in the data terminal, with a remark of "Weapon Classification"...

Kevin's expression was like this: o_o!!

Could that five-digit crazy goddess even do her job properly anymore! Imagine if, in the future, on the battlefield, when they were about to be killed, they requested support and two baby carriages were airlifted over. Whose fault would that be?