All commands...
Hearing this, Shen Mo felt a wave of familiarity, reminiscent of the first time he had experienced the appeal of that fictional character.
However, she had introduced herself as an entertainment-use artificial angel. Were her memories still sealed?
Shen Mo calmly assessed Ikaros.
"Master?" Ikaros moved closer, her tone seeking affirmation. "Do you have any commands? Anything that can entertain Master is fine, no matter what it is."
Her delicate features and innocent, pleading expression made her appear heartbreakingly vulnerable.
"I do have commands, but before that..." Shen Mo reached out and gently placed his palm on Ikaros's head. "Let me first remove your emotional and thought restrictions, Ikaros."
He noted, with slight astonishment, that despite being an artificial angel, her skin was warm and smooth to the touch—more real than human.
Shen Mo sighed, then used the necessary Transaction Points to lift Ikaros's internal seals.
In an instant, the floodgates opened. All her past memories, sealed knowledge, her true identity, and her strategic-level calculation abilities—everything resurfaced.
Her past deeds flashed through her mind: war, destruction, and terror.
"Master..."
Ikaros instinctively recoiled a few steps. Her wings flapped frantically, shedding a few pink feathers onto the floor.
"Do you remember?" Shen Mo looked at her with a calm, steady gaze. "Everything about the entity known as the Queen of the Sky."
Though it pained him slightly to witness her distress, Shen Mo was not the benign protagonist of Heaven's Lost Property. His surroundings were far from a peaceful daily routine.
Ikaros seemed to fully absorb the memories. Her hands clenched tightly, and she bowed her head to her chest. Even the magnificent pink wings drooped limply.
"Master... do you require a weapon?"
Ikaros asked, her voice barely a whisper, light as a floating feather.
"No," Shen Mo walked forward, reaching out to gently touch her head once more. "I do not require a weapon. I require an assistant. For me, physical force is merely a tool for self-preservation; it cannot acquire what I truly desire."
After all, wealth obtained through coercion was not recognized by the system. To acquire everything he wanted, he could only rely on the principle of mutually willing transactions.
"Assistant?"
Ikaros lifted her head, looking at her new master, a shimmering, analytical light flowing through her beautiful eyes.
"I know."
Shen Mo reached out his other hand, smoothing her slightly disheveled hair, then cupped her face. He looked directly into her eyes and spoke softly:
"You are inherently gentle. War, killing, and destruction cause you pain; that is why you sealed your memories and emotions, desperately seeking to be an entertainment-use angel. However, that version of Ikaros is also not the real you."
The desire to be an entertainment angel was a form of self-deception. Everything about Ikaros, save for the intrinsic gentleness she was born with, was designed for war and command.
She was a queen. The most powerful ruler of the sky.
Since Shen Mo had purchased her and become her master, he also accepted the responsibility of shaping her future.
Gentleness and strength were not mutually exclusive.
Ikaros stared blankly at her new master. Artificial angels were engineered for obedience, yet the man before her evoked strange, unfamiliar feelings: the warmth of his hand on her cheek, his steady, gentle gaze, his kind words...
"Commands... Master, please give Ikaros commands."
A near-muttering sound escaped her thin lips, her fingers nervously interlaced.
Only commands provided her with certainty and peace.
"Commands, then." Shen Mo mused for a moment, then smiled. "Let's start by familiarizing you with your future work tasks."
As he spoke, his eyes flashed with countless streams of data.
He converted all necessary information into data via the System and transmitted it directly into Ikaros's mind.
"Understood?" Shen Mo asked.
"Understood," Ikaros nodded, the prior look of uneasiness largely replaced by slight nervousness. "Master, I have no prior experience executing these kinds of commands..."
"It's fine. You are an all-purpose angel," Shen Mo said, ruffling the top of her head again. "I have transmitted detailed protocols for every situation you might encounter. They are comprehensive."
This was the core advantage of mechanical life. When confronted with a new occupation, they only required the corresponding data packet to achieve rapid, total assimilation.
"...Yes."
Ikaros felt the comforting pressure on her head, and her wings unconsciously lifted again, signaling a renewed purpose.
She looked ready for duty.
"Oh, one more thing," Shen Mo suddenly recalled, looking at Ikaros. "I purchased your Almighty Card along with you, correct?"
"That is correct."
Ikaros produced a card from within her armor that shimmered with intense light.
The Almighty Card—said to grant any wish, but in reality, a basic teleportation device with low-level matter-creation capabilities.
"The purchase covered the card itself, but not the advanced magical components crafted by the Synapse civilization," Shen Mo noted regretfully, taking the card. "So, its power is far from 'almighty.' However, let me apply some modifications. There. Done."
Shen Mo handed the card back.
The card now possessed the ability to send teleportation requests directly to Shen Mo's System. He had also added a function for remote, fixed-point item transmission.
In practice: with Shen Mo's authorization, Ikaros could use the card from any location to summon the required Jars from the System and teleport them to the transaction site. This allowed her to complete transactions entirely independently, even in Shen Mo's absence.
Combined with the existing automatic Jar generation program, an Assistant-Level Dealer was born.
"I will also redirect routine communication requests from existing customers to you," Shen Mo said, already envisioning his comfortable, semi-retired life. He gently stroked Ikaros's soft pink hair again, his eyes narrowed in a satisfied smile. "You must work diligently, understand? Learn quickly and try to independently acquire new customers as soon as possible. When you succeed, I will give you a large red envelope."
"Red envelope?" Ikaros tilted her small head, her wide, innocent eyes confused by the unfamiliar term.
"It's money you can use to purchase anything you desire," Shen Mo explained. "Even if you don't have desires now, you will develop them in the future."
"Something I desire..." Ikaros was still slightly bewildered.
However, she committed every word her master spoke while stroking her head to memory.