Chapter 67: What Are You Staring at?
The resonant chimes rang out, echoing throughout the entire city.
The bell tower voraciously devoured all the scattered spirit matter in the rift in one gulp. Visible ripples of spirit matter spread outward from the tower in all directions. The ground shook and the heavens trembled!
Ji Jue gaped in shock, clinging to Horsey as he struggled to maintain balance. Around him, the shattered ruins were visibly restoring themselves stone by stone at a speed his eyes could follow. It was as if time was flowing backward. Dust danced upward, fragments of stone flew back into place, and the crumbling skylights reformed, even more intricate and ornate than before. Everything was changing at a staggering pace.
Typically, an outstanding workshop, besides maintaining control over its functions, possessed a complex instruction set composed of low-level commands covering all aspects of its operation. Over generations of craftsmen refining and adding to it, the system grew ever more intricate and adaptive, capable of handling increasingly complex situations and emergencies.
At times, it could even feel alive, responding flexibly and intuitively. Some workshops went even further, being directly imbued with a soul. Among the legendary workshops still in existence, each excelled in its own domain, and they sometimes consisted of multiple Divine Creations fused into a single creation.
Now, within this workshop that spanned the entire rift realm, weathered by four centuries of wind, frost, rain, and snow, the preset directive had been activated. The level of destruction was too severe, so it would repair itself. The workshop would extract scattered spirit matter, convert it all into backup energy, and restore its internal environment to its pre-defined state and specifications.
Rebuild!
Even so, the sheer scale of it was almost ridiculously excessive.
Through the strange glass before him, Ji Jue could see the entire city’s time seemingly flowing backward. Countless invisible hands manipulated everything, controlling all as they rebuilt the whole world. Collapsed skyscrapers rose from the ground once more. Bodies torn into pieces were reassembled. Withered, dead plants returned to life, and even the dark clouds above the sky vanished without a trace.
Disordered stars returned to their positions and disappeared along the night sky, while brilliant sunlight bathed everything. At the edge of the sky, the once-broken solemn tower appeared fully restored, radiating light. The streets were once again crowded with people, bustling as before. It was as if a god’s finger had touched everything, restoring the ruined world to its original state.
But everything seemed slightly off from the blueprint.
Over four centuries, countless reconstructions and repairs had layered mistake upon mistake, error upon error, magnifying over time. In the end, it created the scene before him. It was normal at first glance, yet utterly bizarre.
Buildings that should have been straight were now twisted; some lower parts still looked like structures, while upper sections turned into mountains, with waterfalls cascading down. On the streets, a graceful girl wandered, but she had four eyes, and a third leg jutted and twitched behind her. She held something wriggling like a dog in her arms.
Roads appeared orderly, but on closer inspection, there were far too many inexplicable designs and arrangements. It looked like those AI-generated maps that had gradually become popular over the years. At first glance, the world appeared serene, yet it hid countless unnerving details.
Beneath the collapsed bricks, shattered limbs reassembled. They rose again as a well-dressed man, scrutinising those who shouldn’t be in the mansion. “W-w-who are you? L-l-l-leave, or I’ll call the po-po-po—”
On his face, two mouths spoke in disjointed confusion, their words overlapping, before suddenly freezing in place as if lagging. Nonsensical phrases kept spilling out, impossible to understand, until at last he seemed to lose all spirit, lapsing into a blank stupor.
He stopped reacting.
“Mr. Ball, what is happening?” Ji Jue asked, lifting the devil’s work ball.
“Heh, it’s just a loss-of-control error. After hundreds of years without maintenance, you think it wouldn’t even have a single bug? Times have changed. In modern alchemy, any workshop repair has to reference correction values, blueprints, and preset schematics... who knows where it all went wrong.”
Then it said, “Move it, kid. Your chance is here!”
Even a blind person could feel the sudden shift. By now, the bell tower’s abnormality had likely drawn the attention of countless outsiders. Anyone who still had legs was running toward it, some even faster than Ji Jue.
Within moments, several figures had arrived around the tower. Seeing no one else intervening, one of them leapt forward, aiming straight for the bell tower, only to crash into an invisible wall. Instantly, the lightning fire that erupted from the barrier incinerated them to charred ash.
The agonized screams and shrieks fell with the dust, sending chills down the spines of countless onlookers.
The devil’s work ball sneered. “See that? That’s what happens to the stubborn ones. Even at home, people buy safes for their jewelry. You really think a workshop has no defenses? Learn a lesson, kid, don’t touch what you shouldn’t, and don’t meddle where you shouldn’t. Got it?”
When the first person to try their luck died in front of everyone, it brought a brief moment of shock, but it didn’t stop the resourceful Chosen Ones. Ji Jue and An Ran crouched by the window, watching the chaos at the bell tower unfold.
Some people even dragged stiff pedestrians from the street and hurled them at the barrier; the flames flickered and vanished. Upon realizing that anything approaching from above triggered defenses, some quick-thinking people worked up the courage to try moving along the ground instead, carefully, step by step.
All the spectators instinctively held their breath. Only when the person reached the door did they exhale in relief. Then, the person was cut in two. Beyond the massive doors of the clock tower, a blade as thin as paper fell soundlessly, sweeping past in a flash, and cleaving the smile on that person’s face right in the middle. Blood burst forth in a spray.
Ji Jue sucked in a sharp breath. “Holy shit, that’s brutal as hell! Hey, these mustard-flavored shrimp crackers are actually pretty good. An Ran, wanna try?”
“The cucumber-flavored chips are awful... Can I throw them away?” An Ran asked.
“How does something like that even exist?” Ji Jue exclaimed in shock, finally recalling how Ye Chun had sneakily stuffed snacks into his bag before they left. Instantly, he flew into a rage.
You slacker, how dare you poison your junior like this? Once we’re out of the rift realm, I’m submitting that paper I just finished rewriting! This time, I won’t even write you down as the second author! Go cry over that pathetic assignment of yours with only three hundred words written...
Boom!
As bullets and explosives reduced the bell tower doors to rubble, a massive, imposing figure slowly emerged from the shadows. The dark silhouette sealed the doors behind it.
The hunched figure cloaked in black slowly unfolded four arms, drawing a variety of swords and knives. The blades were rusted and jagged, looking long neglected. Even the grotesque mask had cracked and faded, revealing glimpses of gears and mechanisms behind it.
Yet its movements were unbelievably fast, dashing like a shadow across the plaza. In an instant, all intruders lay dead where they stood, and not a single one was able to resist.
Silan, the Homecoming Knight Captain, drew in a sharp breath. “Boss, this one’s tough. Are you sure you want to go all-out?”
“For now, this is the only way.” Lou Feng forced the words out through clenched teeth. “I know this request is excessive, but we have no other choice.”
“The contract already includes relevant clauses. I have no objections.” Silan fell silent for a moment before adding, “Considering how troublesome the opponent is, I hope you can increase the compensation for this operation.”
“I’ll pay double,” Lou Feng answered without hesitation.
The two shook hands, sealing the agreement.
Outside the plaza, the assembled Homecoming Knights exchanged glances, then shed their loads and supplies and quickly donned heavy armor. Figures of spirits and deities from Central Lands mythology were engraved upon the thick plating, gradually enveloping every bit of their skin. Threads of crimson aura seeped from the gaps in the armor, drifting and gathering, gradually forming a dense, blood-red mist.
Struggle, slaughter, combat, killing, and war were the domains of the Swarm. To follow the Swarm Path was to transform oneself into a force of destruction. The knights loyal to the Red King had received the blessings of the Swarm. War spread like an unstoppable fungus. In this endless struggle, blood and life converged, inscribed upon the glory of the victor.
The several dozen Homecoming Knights were already enough to summon the favor of the Swarm.
After the horn sounded, a six-legged warhorse appeared from the void, obediently approaching the knights and allowing them to mount. In their hands, the knights wielded exaggerated spears over nine meters long.
The blood-banner of the Crimson Kingdom fluttered in the wind, and the Chosen Ones who had once destroyed the White Kingdom and the White King now displayed the power of the Swarm.
“This victory is dedicated to the Red King!” Silan yelled as he surged forward atop the giant horse. Behind him followed only a dozen or so riders, yet their charge was like a mighty flood of iron. Boldly, they challenged the guardians left by the sages.
Amid thunderous hoofbeats, the iron tide collided with the giant. Pure force crashed against pure force, and shadows quaked with bloodlust boiling. Under the knights’ ferocious assault, a fight to the death began!
Behind the window, Ji Jue stared in disbelief, lamenting the decline of morals and the corruption of the times. “Do they have to be this over the top?”
Guys, you can’t just gang up on someone like that!
When he saw the guardians emerging from the bell tower already seemed to be suppressed, he thought, Oh no, could Lou Feng’s group actually take them down? Should I... go all out? Attack when they’re off guard?
But the Homecoming Knights were far too experienced. Even facing a strong enemy, several knights circled around, watching for hidden threats. Lou Feng himself was protected flawlessly. It was as if they valued both loot and their employer equally, determined to secure both with absolute certainty. They were steady and methodical, never reckless.
For a moment, even with Ji Jue’s shallow experience in sneak attacks, he felt at a loss, and he could only sigh. “Looks like we’ll just have to wait until both sides are worn down.”
The devil's work ball didn’t understand. “Huh? Why not just go in directly?”
Ji Jue was confused. “Eh?”
“Just... go in! Why would anyone be foolish enough to fight the defense program head-on? You could just sneak in through the back. If I’m here, there’s no way the workshop’s detection programs can find you. Don’t tell me you need an invitation and have to wait for Mercury to wake up and politely open the door to ask you in for a cup of tea?”
A faint glow radiated out, enveloping the Ji Jue, An Ran, and Horsey. The ball projected a guiding map, showing the hidden entrance behind the lighthouse and a convoluted recognition circuit so intricate it made Ji Jue dizzy. It was a fake key disguised as normal permissions.
The key was right there, and the entrance had already been marked. All that was left was to grab Ji Jue by the legs and shove him straight inside.
“So why the hell are you still standing there? Move it!”
