In the middle of Helios, under layers of arcane seals, flames were burning in the narrow camp. The alchemists were expressionless around the bonfire, quietly staring at the flickering light.
In the thicker and thicker darkness, this was the only comfort.
The only beacon in countless nightmares.
But in the darkness beyond the firelight, footsteps suddenly sounded, like the cold rain beating against the window on a cold night. It was so low, so clear, and with a chill that made one feel uneasy, it gradually approached.
The people in front of the bonfire raised their eyes, and their expressions became gloomy. They pulled out their weapons and aimed at the direction of the footsteps.
They saw a little light flickering in the darkness.
It gradually approached, and the outline gradually became clear.
The appearance of the young man was revealed, smiling at them, waving his hand, and a wisp of smoke rose from the cigar at the corner of his mouth.
A familiar smell drifted over.
At that moment, there was a faint sound of relief.
Only one person was still holding a knife.
"Izzy, you're late."
"Ahaha, sorry, I met an old acquaintance on the way, so I stayed and chatted for a while. I accidentally forgot the time."
Izzy patted her head, looked at their expressions, and became more and more happy, "You all look good, congratulations!"
His footsteps stopped outside the boundary of the arcane seals, and he did not go any closer.
He just smiled and looked at those familiar faces.
The old Egyptian lady, Yima, the master of metal of the Russian Federation, Valery … and finally, the trembling Rachel!
"Hmm?" Izzy asked curiously, "Where's Huai Shi?"
Rachel's expression twisted, and he said coldly, "He's dead!"
"Is that so? What a pity."
He shrugged regretfully, and looked at Rachel meaningfully, "Then how did you escape?"
"…"
For a moment, Rachel's expression changed, as if he was trying hard to restrain his anger and resentment. His lips moved, but he finally withdrew his gaze, "It has nothing to do with you!"
He hid his slightly deformed body behind his robe, avoiding Izzy's scrutinizing gaze.
Izzy withdrew her gaze and smiled, "So, did you get anything?"
No one responded.
"Return empty-handed?"
He sighed sympathetically and stepped aside, happily showing the formation behind him in the dark. "But I'm different … I've brought Galandeon back!"
There was a sudden silence.
Everyone raised their heads in shock.
In the darkness, the leader of the alchemists lifted his helmet, revealing his aged face.
"The exploration base is ready."
The old man, who was as cold as stone, said faintly, "Please follow me."
In an instant, everyone's expression changed.
"Wait … wait a minute …" Rachel was in disbelief. "Grand, Grand … Grand Master, how …"
"Probably because he was worried, so he followed us from the beginning." Izzy shrugged and smoked a cigarette. "Aiya, to be honest, even I was shocked. How is it? Are you surprised? Are you surprised? "
"I … I …"
Rachel's expression twitched, and it was hard for him to say what was on his mind.
He saw with his own eyes that Garland had been beheaded by Publius!
But gradually, that twitching expression quickly twisted, and his muscles wriggled as if it had turned into another face.
A cold will entered his body, causing him to raise his head and smile at the "friend" he had not seen in a long time.
But there was no warmth in that smile.
It was so cold.
It was full of mockery.
"Didn't you look down on those thousand-layer cakes the most, Garland?"
Publius laughed strangely from a distance. "When did you start to study biology, a small trick that can only be used to prolong your feeble existence?"
"I'm different from you, Publius. We've never been the same."
Garland's reply was even colder. "Apart from the spirit, blood, and bones, how many copies of yourself can you split into? You'll only decay in vain. "
The cane struck the floor, and a sharp sound burst forth.
The link from afar was cut off.
"No, we're all the same. From the beginning …"
In the final moments, the cold smile on Rachel's face gradually disappeared, and only a vague whisper came from his convulsing throat. "This is all … part of fate …"
In the dead silence, he finally lay on the ground, gasping for breath with difficulty.
Tears and snot were already streaming down his face.
The alchemy array that had been inscribed on the back of his deformed body quietly dissipated, leaving only ugly scars that looked like burns.
"I don't know … I didn't say anything …" he cried out in defense. "I'm innocent, Great Grandmaster, believe me!"
"I know."
Garland did not care. "Get up, Rachel. There's still something I can use you for."
Rachel was stunned for a moment, and then he was overjoyed. A grateful smile appeared on his tear-streaked face, and he nodded vigorously.
"Great Grandmaster, I need an explanation."
In the silence, Valery said, "What's all this about?"
"It's unexpected," Garland said, "but my promise still stands."
He raised his eyes and stared at the alchemists who had gathered around the fire according to his instructions. "But, I need all of you to play a role."
Following his words, wisps of blood seeped out from the ceiling.
They extended, spread, and pulled into lines. Thousands of strands turned into rain.
Red rain.
In an instant, it covered the entire world.
Priestess Yima's eyes moved slightly, and she looked up in disbelief.
Countless wisps of blood gathered and overlapped, turning into a crimson curtain under their feet. From within it, countless vast and mighty phantoms appeared, and they vanished in a fleeting manner, transforming into countless mirages of mirages.
A terrifying loud noise suddenly burst out.
The blood that seeped out finally broke through the defenses and burst out with a roar, turning into a red sea.
In an instant, they were engulfed in it.
The whole of Helios was shaking violently.
The transmission of light signals was so slow. Five seconds later, under the observation of the Self-Discovery Mirror, the horrifying situation of the ferocious chariot that was hovering above the Eye of Jupiter was seen.
The sea of blood that the son of Leviathan had dissolved into was rising, gushing out from every crack. It spread, permeated, quickly contracted, and spread again.
It formed a hard and huge crystal cluster, moving rapidly. Countless sharp horns opened up like petals, collided, closed, reversed, and expanded their volume in an extremely illogical manner.
A faint glow flowed out from it, illuminating countless unfamiliar mountains and rivers.
They gathered together and took root on Helios's body like a lotus. Then, countless water colors appeared out of thin air. In the ocean-like blue, the edges of coral and the shadow of a huge fish appeared.
Those were the elements of destruction that had died long ago, the remains of the old Gaia that represented the past history.
Forbidden Mystic Instrument, Seed of Gaia!
Just like that, it was forcefully inserted into Helios's system.
At this moment, the attack from Garland began!
.
.
A loud roar sounded, and countless dust fell from the ceiling.
The skeleton on the three-wheeled motorcycle was startled. It subconsciously pulled out the vibrating rod-like object and waved it around.
It almost poked Huai Shi.
"Be careful, can't you change to something else?" The corner of Huai Shi's eyes twitched, and he snatched the object. Then, he rummaged through the skeleton's collection for a long time and found a pan and stuffed it into his hand.
"Big Brother, use this. This is a blunt weapon, and it's very powerful!"
"Is that so?"
The skeleton scratched his head as if he understood. Then, he pinned the pan on his ribs. Huai Shi was speechless.
They had been moving forward in the gloomy basement of Helios for a long time.
Under the command of Tongi.
"In front … Take a detour in front …" The skeleton suddenly reminded.
In his eye sockets, Fish Ball's tail twitched nervously. Then, he quickly raised half of his tail and pointed in another direction.
But there was only one way forward, and there was no other way to go.
Huai Shi hesitated for a moment and scratched his head.
He decided to trust Fish Ball's judgment.
Logically speaking, this kind of experimental lab rat should not be able to adapt to the outside environment at all. He did not know how the skeleton was raised, but he was still alive and kicking, and he was frighteningly sensitive to abnormal conditions.
Along the way, Huai Shi had seen many times, and they had avoided many dangers.
Sometimes, it was a patrolling descending spirit, sometimes it was a monster that had escaped from the workshop after losing control, and sometimes … it was simply other alchemists who had completely solidified into mutants.
Sometimes, Huai Shi simply could not see anything.
Only the belated premonition of death constantly reminded him not to make the wrong choice.
Thanks to its radar, they had not triggered a single battle even though they had been walking in Helios for so long in such a large tricycle.
Although the detour was at least seven or eight times longer, safety first!
"We haven't seen anything after walking for so long." Huai Shi scratched his head. "Tongi, are your directions reliable? I feel more and more panicked … "
What they saw along the way was simply a miserable state of an abandoned building.
It was unknown how many years it had not been maintained.
Even the lights on the wall were still stuck in the gas era …
"It's just ahead, not far."
Tongi withdrew her gaze and calmly said, "Even if there are changes in the back, the basic skeleton and internal structure of Helios cannot be changed unless it wants to fall apart. Otherwise, the cambium, outflow, creation, and active layers must be kept in balance. In order to maintain balance, the replacement of the abandoned furnace core structure can only sink and be thrown into the debris pile. "
Huai Shi suddenly understood. "In other words, we have to use the abandoned furnace core to restart the engine?"
"How is that possible?" Tongi was amused. "If it were me, before I wanted to do anything, I would first destroy all the backup things and take control of the key in my own hands. Publius has been brewing for so many years, it's impossible that he didn't think of this. "
"Isn't that a garbage dump?" Huai Shi asked. "Why are we picking up garbage?"
"Silly boy."
Tongi was helpless and said earnestly, "Can't you at least use your skills as an illegal organization? Think about it, garbage is useless, but what about the garbage box itself? Even if the furnace core and the like are definitely scrapped, there's no way to destroy the interface … "
It was just like the blood vessels of a human body.
They were the pathways hidden in every inch of Helios' physical body, the hidden branches of the matrix that were closest to the engine.
"Then how do you know?" Huai Shi keenly noticed that something was wrong.
In the silence, Tongi's expression gradually became more innocent.
She looked into the distance.
Then she whistled.
Huai Shi was about to ask when he saw something strange from the corner of his eye. He slowly turned his head.
Outside the narrow window beside him.
Amidst Tongi's whistle, a silvery white color was slowly rising …
Through the long and narrow window, they could see the solemn silhouette that was gradually emerging outside Helios.
It was an illusory … moon?!
At this moment, a waning moon was hanging high in the space outside Helios, shining above the Eye of Jupiter!
Was whistling so powerful?
When Huai Shi turned his head to look at Tongi, he heard her sigh helplessly.
"That has nothing to do with me … That's Publius, okay?"
At this moment, along with the appearance of the moon, the flames of the sun chariot suddenly rose.
When the waning "moon" appeared beside the chariot that represented the sun, the incredible sun and moon formed a huge secret ritual that could change the world!
As the light of the sun and moon mixed with each other, a boundless power burst forth from it.
It was using Garland's Seed of Gaia in reverse.
It followed the miracle passed down from the oldest geocentric theory. It operated brilliantly above Helios, turning into an inextinguishable forging fire.
Shockingly huge fluctuations appeared above Huai Shi's head.
Separated by countless layers of thick walls and planks, with Helios as the battlefield, the two grandmasters who stood at the peak of the entire realm began to fight.
The disasters and miracles of the Abyss constantly changed.
Even though it was just a slight shockwave, the heat generated by it was enough to burn the entire exterior of the chariot red.
Everything was gradually being placed into the furnace.
Extraction!
On the little three-wheeled motorcycle, some of the border relics that were slightly inferior in terms of craftsmanship actually cracked, the Origin Substance within silently dissipating, and was quickly pulled by an invisible force into the whirlpool.
Even the silent Young Master of Fate was stirred up, sending bursts of burning illusory heat to Huai Shi.
If he did not hurry, he was afraid that he would be burned to ashes as a leftover material!
Huai Shi did not have time to hesitate, swinging the Hatred Water and switching it to Blood Saw mode, following the guidance of Fishball's tail, cutting through the thick wall.
Behind the collapsed iron wall, the air that had been silent for countless years surged, filled with the smell of decay.
Ashes flew everywhere.
An even deeper darkness was right in front of them.
"What do we do next?" Huai Shi poked his head out of the hole, looking at the intricate path inside.
"I don't know."
Tongi helplessly flapped her wings, "It's already difficult to calculate the approximate location based on the structure of the outer layer, more detailed things are too difficult … …"
She paused for a moment, looking at Huai Shi's side, "But, isn't there a 'local' who is more familiar with the situation here?"
Huai Shi followed her gaze, looking at the skeleton with the same silly look, and finally, saw the trembling … … white mouse in its eye sockets?
On Huai Shi's shoulder, the phantom of the Crow flashed.
"Can you please lead the way?" She smiled, and said softly, "I'm in a hurry."
Her tone was very gentle.
The white mouse whimpered, and shrank into a ball in the skeleton's eye sockets, as if it wanted to play dead, but its skull was only so big, and there was no way to hide.
Soon, it gave up struggling.
Trembling, it crawled out, raised its tail, and pointed in a direction towards the right.
Then, it timidly looked back, extremely uneasy.
As if it was afraid that Huai Shi would eat it.
Tongi helplessly shook her head slightly, "Do you need me to explain to you the difference between 'lead the way' and 'show the way'?"
"Squeak!!!"
The white mouse screamed in horror again, and crawled in the tunnel on all fours. Its speed was very fast, and when it reached a fork in the road, it anxiously wagged its tail at them.
It wanted to find a flagpole and skin itself and hang it on it.
It was afraid that it was not attentive enough.
Sir，thisway!
"That's right!"
Tongi nodded with relief, then looked back, and urged in a brisk tone, "What are you waiting for, let's go, let's go!"
No, this mouse was so psychic!
It could even see Tongi … …
Huai Shi did not have time to ask again. After confirming the equipment on his body, he helped the skeleton hide the little three-wheeled motorcycle, and walked in.
At the back, the friendly puppy stopped in front of the crack for a long time.
It lowered its head and sniffed the air around it.
It looked into the distance in confusion, as if it smelled something, but it could not smell it clearly.
But soon, under Huai Shi's call, it turned around and walked into the darkness.
After a long, long time.
In the silence, the light of the entire corridor dimmed again.
An invisible shadow quietly approached.
As if it was chasing something, a line of pale footprints formed by ashes disappeared in it.
Only faint laughter echoed in the air.
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