Chapter 2704: Chapter 1829: Search (This Weather Really Sucks)
Passing through the corridor into the Holy Shrine’s interior, Duanmu Huai arrived at the control room. The technology priests and mecha servants were busy working, and the entire hall was silent except for the occasional knocking sounds. Not even a single person looked up at Duanmu Huai, as if they hadn’t noticed the uninvited guests, and the noise from the combat at the gate seemed nonexistent.
"Teacher, can I cut these too?"
Mianmu Zuoniao curiously stared at the technology priests in front of her, her eyes scanning them with the intention of attacking if unsure, but Duanmu Huai merely glanced at the technology priests and looked away.
Then, he nodded slightly.
"Go ahead."
Before he finished speaking, Duanmu Huai grabbed a passing slave worker and threw it forward like a baseball. The slave crashed into several technology priests connected to the Contemplator and then slammed into the opposite wall, turning into a dismantled puppet.
"Yaha!"
With permission granted, Mianmu Zuoniao cheered and drew her weapon to strike at the technology priests in front of her. She skillfully swung her sharp blade, piercing the flesh-and-metal technology priest, rotating through like a master butcher, and with a flash of cold light, the priest was decapitated. Mianmu Zuoniao then gracefully propelled herself forward.
"???
Only Mary seemed unsure of what to do. Although she guessed the technology priests here were enemies, Mary thought at least some words should be exchanged to determine friend or foe before acting. But clearly, Duanmu Huai had no interest in that, and... he didn’t need any help.
Soon, the sounds of Duanmu Huai and Mianmu Zuoniao dismantling the technology priests and mecha servants echoed throughout the control room, but regardless of how they were dismantled, the others were indifferent. They stood silently before the Contemplator, seemingly engaged in some silent communication.
Truthfully, if this was some kind of thematic setting, Duanmu Huai would have preferred more excitement, but these mechanical priests, regardless of gender, had been clearly modified, replacing most of their bodies with machinery. Duanmu Huai was not an oil man and felt no excitement towards metal shells, so bashing them became his only interest.
"...Mr. Duanmu, I’m going inside to take a look."
Mary glanced at the other side of the control room, where the door was tightly shut with no one entering or leaving, but she felt she should investigate, possibly finding some clues.
"Go ahead."
Duanmu Huai waved dismissively, punching another oil man away. He wasn’t suddenly eager to deal with these guys; it seemed they might be controlled or corrupted. Duanmu Huai had encountered similar situations in games where NPCs stood like statues, immobile, until they turned into guards blocking escape routes after triggering mechanisms.
That kind of situation was annoying.
So typically, in such settings, players would smash anything that moves to ensure it doesn’t cause trouble later.
If it doesn’t resist, at least it won’t pose a threat later.
If it does, then players know precisely who they’re up against.
So even if these oil men stand around like statues, Duanmu Huai doesn’t want them to become fully armed obstacles when he tries to leave.
But since Mary wanted to investigate, Duanmu Huai didn’t stop her, trusting her abilities. If Mianmu Zuoniao had made such a request, he would have refused—who knows if the little girl would start a fight once out of sight.
"Bang!"
With the last oil man smashed into a pulp, leaving only Duanmu Huai and Mianmu Zuoniao standing, the rest in the control room lay destroyed.
"Zuo Niao wins!"
Simultaneously, Mianmu Zuoniao raised her hands high, cheering. There were twenty-five oil men and fifty mecha servants; Duanmu Huai took down a third, leaving two-thirds to Mianmu Zuoniao, who relished using her weapon to dismantle the robots.
"Hehe, Teacher, isn’t Zuo Niao amazing?"
"Yes, amazing, amazing."
Duanmu Huai nodded, looking at the other side of the control room where the door had opened. He remembered Mary had gone in there.
Just as Duanmu Huai was about to check with Mary for any findings, he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning, he saw Mianmu Zuoniao watching him excitedly.
"Teacher, isn’t Zuo Niao amazing?"
"Yes, amazing, amazing."
Duanmu Huai nodded again, and Zuo Niao giggled.
"Then Zuo Niao wants a reward."
"Reward?"
"Yeah."
Satori’s response was very straightforward. Duanmu Huai saw her leaning on the nearby altar, turning her head toward him while lifting that thin piece of fabric.
"Reward!"
"Uh........."
Under the dim lighting inside the Holy Shrine, Duanmu Huai could clearly see the liquid reflecting off Nemume Satori’s snow-white skin. It was obvious that while killing those oil men earlier, she was excited to the point of overflowing... And this was one of Satori’s quirks, her excitement peaked when killing non-human entities, and another aspect of her nature would swell afterward.
This little girl’s personality was indeed strange, but Duanmu Huai didn’t dislike it. Moreover, her ravenous desire to kill non-humans was exemplary for the Tribunal. Duanmu Huai thought everyone should learn from Nemume Satori’s fearless spirit of charging straight at non-humans. It would make the Tribunal’s work much easier.
And clearly, Satori had no intention of restraining herself. Her eyes burned with fire as she stared at Duanmu Huai, simultaneously extending her fingers to open the dark and deep entrance.
"Hmm......"
Faced with Nemume Satori before him, Duanmu Huai contemplated for a moment.
After all, there was still time, and... Mary most probably wouldn’t come back for a while.
Duanmu Huai looked up, glancing ahead. After all, this was the altar for the Mechanical God.
But what does that have to do with him? Even if the Mechanical God did exist, it couldn’t beat him anyway.
With that thought, Duanmu Huai made his decision.
As Duanmu Huai and Nemume Satori began further exploration of the deep cave, Mary also reached the depths of the Holy Shrine of the Mechanical Religion. However, to her surprise, there was nothing inside. No Mechanical Priests, not even slaves were in sight. The entire Holy Shrine seemed utterly abandoned.
This reminded Mary of one of those haunted house amusement rides she had seen at a carnival, with dummies outside for show, but the interior was completely empty. It was the same here; the entire Holy Shrine was deathly silent, no sound at all. Even with the Golden Pupil, she couldn’t see anything.
Something’s wrong.
Mary suddenly halted, staring at the wall beside her. At first glance, it seemed like a simple wall, always shrouded in shadow, and she hadn’t noticed anything unusual. But now, through the Golden Pupil, Mary could see the heavy dark shadows behind the wall. Clearly, something was there, but what exactly... Mary didn’t know.
The Golden Pupil wasn’t a see-through eye. All she could tell was that there was something behind the wall. As for what it was, Mary had no clue. That was Lumiaire’s expertise, not an area of focus for an archeology researcher like her...
Better let Mr. Duanmu take a look.
Mary decided, then turned and retraced her steps. She originally thought she’d encounter Duanmu Huai and Nemume Satori on her way, but to her surprise, she was nearly back to the start without spotting them.
Could they have been held up by something? There shouldn’t have been many enemies there...
"Ah...!"
Just as Mary was puzzling over this, her ears suddenly picked up a faint shout from deep in the corridor, startling her. It was clearly Nemume Satori’s voice, sounding quite pained. Did Mr. Duanmu and Miss Zuo Niao run into trouble?
Thinking this, Mary hurriedly quickened her pace, heading once more to the corridor’s end. As she got closer to the operation room, Nemume Satori’s voice grew louder, more urgent, even somewhat intense. This further worried Mary, and she soon reached the operation room door. Gripping her staff, she opened the door.
"Mr. Duanmu, Miss Zuo Niao, are you all right?"
"Ahhhhhhh---!"
Simultaneously, a high-pitched cry came her way. Mary fixed her gaze and froze on the spot—at that moment, Nemume Satori was clinging to Duanmu Huai, limbs wrapped tightly around him, head thrown back, body trembling uncontrollably. Finally, the exhausted young girl let go, leaning into Duanmu Huai’s embrace.
"What are you...?"
Looking at the scene before her, Mary was at a loss for words, whereas Nemume Satori noticed Mary’s presence and waved to her with a cheeky smile.
"Oh... Mary, want to join?"
"...Thanks, but no thanks."
Mary replied wordlessly to the pair, speaking softly.
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