"There's movement below," Yu Xie said. "Someone is down there."
Upon hearing this, Myrna also crouched down, pressing her ear to the ground.
"Though faint, there is definitely sound."
"It looks like we'll have to find a way down," Nabu said, scanning the surroundings again.
The area around them was empty, and there didn't seem to be any visible path leading down. Perhaps the way down was hidden within one of the passages.
At that moment, Yu Xie heard a deep rumbling sound that steadily grew louder.
Soon, he and Myrna both pinpointed the direction from which the sound was coming.
The two of them stood up, looking at the massive stone pillar.
They no longer needed to press their ears to the ground to hear the low, rumbling sound. It was coming from inside the stone pillar, like the sound of machinery operating.
"Could it be..." Yu Xie suddenly realized. "Nabu, Myrna, get ready. It looks like something's about to come out of the stone pillar."
As the deep rumble grew more distinct, the side of the stone pillar slowly opened.
A door appeared.
The stone pillar was hollow inside—it was a lift mechanism.
At that moment, a man emerged from the lift. His face was grim, and he wore a white lab coat with a special insignia, looking like a researcher.
"We need to hurry... What's going on here..."
He mumbled incomprehensible words as he stepped out.
Before he could react, a hand covered his mouth, and a knife was pressed to his throat. Myrna had taken control from behind him.
His face turned ashen.
Yu Xie walked around from behind the pillar, approaching the man. He spoke calmly:
"I'll ask questions, and you'll answer. Don't make any sudden moves, or that knife will slit your throat. Understand? Blink if you do."
The man's forehead was beaded with cold sweat. After a moment of hesitation, he blinked.
Myrna released her hand from his mouth, but the knife remained firmly against his neck.
The cold steel of the blade made him freeze in place.
"What's going on down below?" Yu Xie asked.
"Research," the man replied.
"What are you researching?"
"Weapons."
"What kind of weapons?"
"A weapon... that can kill gods."
Hearing this answer, Yu Xie and Nabu exchanged a glance.
"It looks like we're in the right place," Yu Xie said. Then, he asked, "It's noisy down there. What's happening?"
"There's been a problem with the weapon development. Everyone is working hard to fix it."
"You're a researcher, right?"
"Yes... Who... who are you people?"
"Don't say unnecessary things."
"..."
"Take us down."
"...What do you want to do?"
The researcher's eyes showed signs of fear.
"Get us three sets of those white lab coats you're wearing, and then take us down," Yu Xie emphasized again.
The researcher stopped speaking.
Myrna moved the knife away from the researcher's neck and instead pointed it at his back.
"I advise you not to play any trick, or my knife will run through your heart from your back."
"I understand ...," the researcher replied.
A few minutes later, the three of them had put on white lab coats identical to the researcher's.
Under the researcher's instructions, the door on the stone pillar opened again, and they walked in one by one.
Just as they were about to enter the elevator, Myrna swiftly knocked the researcher unconscious with a precise chop to the neck, and then quickly hid her knife under her lab coat.
As the door closed once more, the elevator began to descend.
After several seconds, the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened again, revealing a vast space.
What lay before them was a much larger area than above. Many people were busily working, some of them looking frantic and overwhelmed.
In the center of this enormous space, there was a large water tank surrounded by a fence.
The three of them stepped out of the elevator, and everyone around them was so absorbed in their tasks that they didn't even notice the new arrivals.
Perhaps these people believed that this place could never be discovered.
As the three of them observed their surroundings, they walked toward the center and saw the object in the water—a massive object submerged inside.
The object was roughly spherical in shape, with a fairly large round opening, though it was tightly sealed at that moment.
In addition, countless pipes were connected to the object underwater, extending down to the ground, linking up with strange, unnamed machines.
"Hey—what are you three doing? Everyone's busy, and you're just standing around? Get back to your stations, time is running out!" A reprimanding voice called out. The three of them turned to look in the direction of the voice.
A middle-aged man with a beard walked over, his expression clearly displeased.
Yu Xie noticed that the people around them immediately adopted respectful expressions upon seeing the bearded man. It was clear that this person held a significant position here.
"Apologies, but I think this issue might be hard to fix. After all, creating a weapon like that is never an easy task," Yu Xie said deliberately.
"What?" Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's expression grew even more agitated. He quickly walked up to Yu Xie and stared into his eyes. "What did you say? Are you questioning our great cause?"
"I'm not questioning it. I just... I don't see any hope left," Yu Xie replied calmly.
"…Hey, have you forgotten the first rule of entering here? Never question! We are the people of King Deshret, and King Deshret is merciful, unwilling to provoke conflict. Therefore, we must relieve King Deshret's burdens!"
"Of course, creating such a powerful weapon isn't easy. I don't need you to remind me of that, but the difficulty is no reason to give up. Now get back to work!" The middle-aged man's tone was sharp and commanding.
Nabu and Myrna, observing the situation, said nothing.
After hearing the man's words, Yu Xie didn't respond. Instead, he turned to look at the object submerged in the water.
"Even if we complete it in the end, will there really be enough energy to power such a weapon?"
"This is not something for you to worry about!" The middle-aged man snapped. "And when did you three arrive here? I don't think I've seen you before. Are you new?"
The three of them paused in unison.
"Never mind, there are new people coming in every day, I'm too lazy to remember every face. Now, get back to work and stop loitering around!"
With that, the middle-aged man turned and left.
However, Yu Xie and Nabu both grew cautious at once.
Would a place like this, involved in secret research, really have new people arriving every day? This might have just been a delay tactic from the middle-aged man.
As expected, alarms suddenly blared, echoing throughout the vast underground space.
Armored soldiers wielding swords appeared, surrounding the three of them.
"Goddess of Flowers, it's been a long time," the middle-aged man called out from a distance, his eyes fixed on Nabu.
End of chapter
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