640 Into the Furnace

[POV: Da Wei]

The moment I entered the well, I immediately understood the principles behind how it worked. More accurately, it was the familiarity that gave it away.

Jue Bu must have been incredibly busy if he managed to pull something like this off.

I couldn’t feel the presence of my companions, but I was certain they had come through with me. When I exited the tunnel, I found Hei Mei and Ru Qiu waiting on the other side.

I looked around.

The room was surprisingly spacious for a single person. There was a bed, a massive shelf, a desk, and several chests that appeared to be enchanted. A black-and-white picture of Hei Mei and Jue Bu rested among the belongings.

This was Hei Mei’s room.

It was rather outlandish, and frankly, quite brave of her to have a literal portal leading directly into her bedroom. Still, she had countermeasures in place. If I had read the formations surrounding the well correctly, anyone attempting to use it without authorization would have a very unpleasant experience.

Just behind me came Nongmin, Tao Long, and N’wa.

“Someone’s speechless,” I noted.

Nongmin stared around the room before admitting, “That was nothing like the warp or portal technology I know.”

“I don’t understand half of it, so I can’t say,” Hei Mei replied. “I helped Master with a lot of the formations in Simpson City and offered my assistance whenever I could in this facility. However, that was the limit of my abilities.”

“It follows the same principles as the applications used in the late Supreme Death’s burial grounds,” I explained. “The Laws were woven together so masterfully that a constant portal could be maintained while consuming remarkably little energy. Jue Bu has outdone himself.”

I already had an idea of how he managed it.

His accumulated memories most likely rivaled my own. I faintly remembered an alternate timeline from the era of Dark David. Wen Yuhan had briefly told me about the person who created the Arch Gate and constructed the Temple of the Four Pillars.

I had a strong feeling that person was Jue Bu. He probably didn’t remember that iteration of himself, though. It was an unexpected side of Jue Bu. To think that he had a craftsman’s hands was a pleasant discovery.

Tao Long stopped beside the shelf and sighed. “So, you have a hobby of collecting autobiographies.”

“I want to understand the people my brother surrounds himself with,” Hei Mei explained. “I obtained the complete Chronicles, along with various versions of autobiographies written about notable characters, including my brother’s fellow disciples. I also have various historical documents.”

She paused, her fingers brushing against the spine of one of the books.

“I’m not ignorant of the destruction I played a part in. These records remind me of the sins I have comitted. The sin of being weak. As they say, time heals all wounds. Forgetting, however, is not the cure. Taking responsibility is. I apologize, Lord Nongmin, for my harsh words earlier.”

I knew where she was coming from. During Yuan Shun’s rampage through her body, Hei Mei had remained fully conscious. She had experienced every moment of it and remembered everything she had done while under her control.

Still, there was something almost masochistic about the way she punished herself for it. Why couldn’t people just move on and be done with it? I had no answer. Honestly, I wished someone would tell me.

“There’s no need,” Nongmin said. “Just Nongmin is fine.”

Tao Long grimaced. “This is annoying. I’m surrounded by masochistic, self-punishing fools.”

“Hey, be more sensitive,” I cut in.

After hearing Hei Mei, I realized Tao Long might have been more right than he knew.

“I’ll lead the way to the center of the facility,” Ru Qiu said.

He walked out of the room, and we followed him into the hallway.

As we moved, Ru Qiu explained that the facility occupied roughly a tenth of the Tower’s circumference. The central section was where we would find the elevator, which had been designed to connect this side of the Tower with the Hollowed World.

The deeper we went, the more N’wa stared. “This place…” Her eyes wandered across the sleek corridors and strange mechanisms built into the walls. “It’s nothing like the world I knew.”

I could understand her reaction. The facility had an almost futuristic appearance. It had been built around a simple principle: it needed to survive independently, even outside the influence of the False Earth. In other words, this place had been designed almost like a semi-warship for outer space.

There should also have been a considerable stockpile of supplies stored throughout the facility, from spirit stones to various pills and other necessities. I knew that because I was the one who had approved it. I might have hated paperwork, but I paid enough attention to know what I was actually approving.

As a ruler, I had started off knowing almost nothing. The least I could do was understand what I was responsible for and remember what I had authorized. If something went wrong, ignorance wouldn’t absolve me of responsibility.

Of course, there had been moments when I came dangerously close to throwing all that responsibility out the window. There had been so much paperwork. At one point, I was seriously tempted to just lose my mind and start stamping every document in sight until the pile disappeared.

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Thankfully, I had restrained myself. Hmmm, mostly.

I lagged behind the others, walking alongside N’wa. “So, what do you think?”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I know it’s not enough for you to make a proper judgment, but you’ve seen parts of me now. So, do you still think I’m an Evil God?”

She answered without hesitation. “Yes.”

Ouch.

“But I do think there’s more to you than meets the eye,” she added.

I wasn’t sure whether that made things better.

When we finally reached the center of the facility, we were greeted by a massive furnace-like structure. At its center stood a transparent elevator made of glass, surrounded by various mysterious components and mechanisms.

The chamber itself was enormous. The ceiling was so high that it opened directly toward the sky, and sunlight poured into the facility. Or, at least, that was what the place had been like before everything had been destroyed.

The rest of the central area was a complete mess.

Entire sections of the facility had been torn apart. Metal frameworks lay twisted across the floor, shattered machinery was scattered among heaps of debris, and broken components were piled against the walls. Some of the structures had collapsed entirely, leaving jagged gaps where functional equipment should have been. Whatever had happened here, it had not been a simple malfunction.

It looked as though someone had taken an industrial complex and decided to dismantle it with their bare hands. “Nongmin, just say the word and I’ll use my Ophanim to run some simulations for you,” I offered. “Almost like old times, right?”

Nongmin sighed. “It wasn’t that long ago, but I appreciate the offer. Hei Mei, if you don’t mind…”

Hei Mei smiled. “Of course. I’ll lend you a hand.”

The two of them immediately began rummaging through the debris, examining broken components and trying to determine what could still be salvaged.

Tao Long looked around. “I’ll go explore the place. Maybe I’ll look through the armory and supplies. If I’m being honest, I’m not optimistic that Nongmin can make this place work again. If your daughter truly intends to trap us here, then we don’t really have a choice but to stay.”

I nodded. “We’ll be fine. Be careful on your way, though. Especially if there happens to be an alien life form that managed to infiltrate the facility. Can’t have you getting killed, having your insides sucked out, and then having the alien plant its eggs inside you.”

Tao Long stared at me. "..."

I added. “Usually, separating yourself from the group is what gets you killed in horror movies.”

He sighed. “That’s oddly specific. I barely understood half of what you said. Whatever. See you when I see you.”

Ru Qiu criticized me as he walked past. “You watch too many movies.”

I exaggeratedly shrugged. “You gotta appreciate them, though. Right? We’re from the same place…”

He stopped and looked at me. “Are you Korean?”

“I could be Korean in spirit.”

“…”

Ru Qiu simply walked away, found a place to sit, and closed his eyes.

He was such a mood-killer.

“We’ve got a problem,” Nongmin suddenly said.

His voice came from inside the furnace.

“What is it?” Hei Mei asked.

I rushed forward and held out an arm to stop her.

“Stay right there.”

I entered the furnace and found Nongmin standing over a hole that led into a dark hallway. The material that had once formed the furnace wall had cracked wide open, revealing an entirely different section of the facility.

Nongmin stepped aside. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

I couldn’t agree more. The hallway beyond reminded me of a hospital on Earth. Specifically, an abandoned hospital. The walls were still recognizable, but the place had been left to decay. There was no sign of life, only darkness stretching deeper into the facility.

I looked back at Nongmin. “Can you still work on the elevator?”

He shook his head. “Unlikely. We’re trapped here, or…” He stopped himself. “Forget about it.”

I frowned. “What is it?”

Nongmin looked at me. “Please be honest with me, Da Wei. Is this what I think it is?”

I sighed. “If we’re thinking of the same thing, then it most likely is.”

The crack wasn’t simply another damaged section of the facility. Instead, it was a path leading directly inside the Tower. Considering where we were, I could only imagine that there were a lot of problems waiting for us ahead. The kind I'd rather run away from. Even the Holy Emperor could feel fear. I was not immune to it, especially after I've lost all of my plot armor.

“We’re probably fine,” I said. “Suggestions, Nongmin?”

He looked at me. “How do you want your alternative? We can do it the easy way or the hard way.”

I sighed. “Of course, the easy way.”

"We can just wait for your daughter to pick us up.”

I stared at him. I was disappointed in you, Nongmin. It was a surprisingly tempting and viable solution. Since this was Gu Jie’s plan, if we waited long enough, there was a good chance she would eventually come and pick us up.

Gu Jie wasn’t that bad, right? She wasn’t wicked enough to usurp her father and take the throne for herself, ruling the rest of the Hollowed World for all eternity. Right? Somehow, I was starting to doubt Gu Jie. I closed my eyes.

When I activated my Ophanim, I saw Gu Jie actually coming to pick us up. Warm blood trickled from my nose as I strained my eyes to maintain the vision. A moment later, the scene collapsed. My eyes could no longer withstand the Weight of Existence. Damn this suppression. When I opened my eyes again, I was met with nothing but darkness.

“This is shitty,” I cursed.

I cast Cure and Cleanse over my eyes, gradually restoring my vision.

“So, how did it go?” Nongmin asked.

“She definitely picked us up,” I answered, though my voice was almost doubtful. “But I don’t know…”

“What is it?” Nongmin pressed. “Out with it.”

“She looked unbearably sad, like something irreversibly bad had happened.”

My Supremacy Trait had once allowed me to empathically understand people. I could place myself in their shoes and share in their burdens. I no longer possessed that Trait, but I suspected traces of it still remained within me. Perhaps that was why I could sense something was wrong.

Nongmin nodded. “So, the hard way it is…”

I knew what he was implying. I stopped second-guessing myself.

The Tower had been designed to seal me the moment I became its owner. This was the reason why I was so reluctant of the idea jumping into this mysterious hallway. I activated my Ophanim again, but all I could see was darkness. The Tower’s Weight of Existence was simply too much for me. The False Earth certainly wasn’t helping.

“Not optimistic,” I admitted. “But I might have better chances seeing from the inside. I doubt we can leave the place once we enter it, though. We need to discuss this with the others first. Only then can we decide.”

Before anyone could answer, I heard a commotion outside. The entire floor suddenly vibrated violently. I rushed out.

Tao Long came leaping from the hallway, his spear already in his hands. “Arm yourselves! It’s an... alien!”

Alien what now?

Nongmin walked out behind him and summoned a dozen of his Dragoon puppets from his storage ring. At the same time, he casually tossed a sword toward me. I caught it. Ru Qiu conjured a dark, flaming sword. N’wa drew a pair of piercing daggers, while Hei Mei pulled a staff from her robes.

When the hallway shook again, something enormous came bursting through the darkness.

A massive Void Beast emerged, its body stretching to an incredible length. Its structure vaguely resembled a centipede, but its numerous legs were segmented with multiple joints, giving them the grotesque appearance of a spider's limbs.

This was an alien, all right. There was no other way to describe it. A creature like this could only belong somewhere in the depths of outer space. I immediately consulted my Ophanim, then I realized just how screwed we were. The vision was brutally simple. This thing would slaughter us ten times out of ten.

“RETREAT!” I shouted. “Everyone, get into the furnace! Move!”