Kraus walked over and crouched on the other side of the skeleton for a few seconds. The pupils were extinguished, the gears had stopped turning, and the core position inside the chest was indeed empty, as if some key component had been extracted from within. The metal skeleton was nothing but a shell.
Kraus straightened up, his expression darkening.
A rank 4 transcendent had died here. Regardless of what the Great Ascendant had done before, he was the representative sent by the Ascension Society and one of the core members of this joint operation.
How would the Ascension Society react once they received the news? Would they continue to cooperate? These questions were now piled up before him.
“Did The Man on the Wall do this?” Kraus’s voice carried a hint of gravity.
Lu Yuan nodded.
Kraus remained silent for a few seconds, saying nothing more.
After the initial shock, everyone went to confirm their respective responsibilities. Arthur walked quickly to the large ring, pressing his fingers against the inscriptions on the edge of the indentation and tracing along the flow of the patterns.
The inscriptions resumed their dim golden pulse, returning to the state they were in when they first entered the tower.
“The skull’s condition is normal. The inscription circuit is intact, with no residual pollution,” Arthur said, but his gaze swept to the skull’s left eye socket, and his footsteps faltered. “The seed is gone.”
The left eye socket was clean. The black seedling that had been rooted there previously had vanished, roots and all. Only a faint, circular grey mark remained at the bottom of the inscription indentation.
Kraus turned toward Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan pulled something from his coat. The small black sapling in his palm had completely withered, its buds drooping, its surface covered in a layer of cracked grey.
The suffocating dark aura from before had vanished completely; it felt like a piece of charred, dead wood in his hand.
“After The Man on the Wall awakened, He stripped the seed from the remains. It was already in this state when it was ejected.”
Kraus took it and glanced at it. It was light, dry, and rough, with no detectable transcendent fluctuations. He placed the withered seed into his leather pouch. “I’ll take it for now. We’ll hand it over to specialists for testing once we return.”
Lu Yuan didn't object. The seed had been siphoned dry by him; although it wasn't completely dead, it wouldn't be causing any trouble anytime soon. It didn't matter if Kraus held onto it for now.
The Dean walked to the small ring and crouched down, checking the inscriptions he had previously activated. A ghostly blue light pulsed faintly within the grooves, its intensity having returned to normal levels.
The Count hadn't come up; instead, an attendant had come up in his stead. After confirming it was safe, the attendant returned down the stairs.
The group began their retreat down the spiral staircase.
The Great Ascendant’s metal skeleton remained on the tower top. A rank 4 transcendent dying at the top of the Polymath Tower’s main tower was a matter that required careful handling from every angle.
Kraus ordered Arthur’s men to seal off the tower top. No one was allowed to approach until it was confirmed that no residual parasitic traces remained inside the skeleton.
Lu Yuan walked in the middle of the group. Kraus was half a step ahead of him; he didn't look back, but his pace was slightly slower than usual, accommodating Lu Yuan’s condition.
The inscriptions on both sides of the stairs flashed by in sections. The dark golden pulse had returned to normal. After The Man on the Wall had been unsealed, the atmosphere of the entire main tower was completely different from when they had first entered.
...
At the ground floor of the main tower, Glock was waiting by the entrance.
The moment he saw everyone emerge from the stairwell, the tension that had gripped his face for so long finally relaxed. His gaze swept quickly through the crowd, counting heads. Once he confirmed both Lu Yuan and Kraus were there, his hand moved away from his communication crystal.
“Glock,” Kraus said as he reached the entrance, his voice regaining its usual steadiness. “Report.”
Glock stood at attention.
“I’ve made contact with Lake. He went to find the Guardian, but the Guardian encountered someone on the way. That person told him it was already being handled, so the Guardian turned back.”
Kraus’s footsteps paused. “Who?”
“Unclear. Lake didn't see them either. The Guardian said it himself... ‘Someone is already handling it. There is no need to worry.’”
Kraus didn't press further, but his gaze darkened slightly. He couldn't think of anyone in Bronze City who could intercept the Guardian and make him turn back.
Where is the person handling it? Kraus suppressed the question.
“Also,” Glock continued, “I saw the anomaly above the Polymath Tower from outside. The Sea of Knowledge channel was pouring down in massive quantities. Later, a beam of silver-white light shot up from the tower top and pierced through the clouds.”
Lu Yuan listened from the side, his expression unchanged.
Arthur stepped forward from the back of the group and added, “When The Man on the Wall regained control over His remains, it caused a chain resonance with the harvesting channel. Since the Sea of Knowledge channel is established directly above the Polymath Tower, the fluctuations in His field directly affected the channel’s flow.”
He spoke naturally; as the person responsible for the construction and maintenance of the harvesting channel, his word was authoritative in this field.
Glock nodded, offering no challenge.
Kraus’s gaze lingered on Arthur’s face for a moment before shifting away.
Lu Yuan noticed that look. Kraus was gauging the credibility of Arthur’s words, but he didn't expose him or ask further questions.
The group walked out of the main tower, crossed the connecting corridor, and reached the outer area of the Polymath Tower. The night wind poured in through the gaps in the copper walls, carrying a cold, acrid scent of metal and earth.
Just then, a sound echoed from the distance.
The meshing of gears, the turning of joints, and the heavy rhythm of metal treading on stone—the sound didn't come from a single source but a whole squad of footsteps, orderly and dense, approaching from the streets surrounding the tower.
Kraus’s hand immediately moved to his waist, and the attendant’s sword was drawn half an inch. Adrian’s gaze shot toward the source of the sound, the smile vanishing from his face.
A leading figure rounded the street corner.
Full-body mechanical modification. Silver-grey metal plates covered his torso and limbs, the interlocking structures at the joints precise and compact. He moved with a distinct mechanical resonance, his two complete arms hanging at his sides, all ten fingers intact.
It was a rank 4 aura.
Behind him followed dozens of figures in black robes. The outlines of metal structures were faintly visible beneath the robes, their strides perfectly synchronized, producing a rhythmic mechanical clatter.
But Lu Yuan was staring at the leader.
The aura of that body was too familiar. The texture of the silver-grey pupils, the resonance frequency of the sound from the metal chest, even the slight forward lean while walking—everything was identical to the empty metal skeleton left at the tower top.
Lu Yuan was stunned. Grey-white text jumped into the corner of his vision.
【Detection Target: Great Ascendant (Ascension Society) (Sanity Wear)】
【Utilized ingenious methods to transfer willpower, though there seems to be a certain degree of attrition.】
“What are you looking at me for?” he spoke. The voice came from within the metal chest, carrying that familiar resonance. “Are you surprised?”
Everyone present was stunned for a moment. Kraus’s hand remained on his waist; the attendant’s sword had not been sheathed.
“You’re not dead?” Kraus’s voice was level, but the question came out a beat faster than usual.
The Great Ascendant smiled, his silver-grey pupils glinting coldly under the moonlight. “Of course I’m not dead. Why did you think I was so reckless in grabbing that seed?”
His tone was relaxed as he paused, his silver-grey gaze sweeping over everyone present. “Because we in the Ascension Society have already achieved a new technological breakthrough. Theoretically, as long as one reaches rank 4 like me, one can possess near-infinite longevity.”
After he spoke, the air went silent for a short while. Lu Yuan looked at this brand-new metal body, the detection results from the grey-white text still hanging at the edge of his vision.
Willpower transfer, and only attrition? The Ascension Society could achieve this level of sophistication? Even if there was a price, it seemed far too small.
The Great Ascendant’s tone shifted, becoming somewhat playful. “So, you are all welcome to try and join us.”
No one replied. Kraus’s expression remained unchanged, Adrian was silent, and Arthur’s gaze moved from the Great Ascendant to the black-robed mechanical constructs behind him, scanning them slowly.
The Great Ascendant hadn't expected anyone to answer.
“Oh, right,” the Great Ascendant said as if suddenly remembering. “Where is my old body?”
Kraus stared at him for a second. “At the tower top. It’s been sealed off.”
“Much obliged,” the Great Ascendant smiled, his tone showing no concern for his own “death.” “I’ll be taking that shell with me, so don't worry about it.”
“Now, we head to the Abyss.”
The copper pillars were still emerging at an accelerated rate; the problems underground hadn't stopped for a single moment. With the Polymath Tower matter concluded, the real trouble lay below.
Kraus looked at the Great Ascendant for two seconds, then withdrew his hand from his waist.
The team began to reorganize. The Great Ascendant’s black-robed mechanical constructs fanned out to the perimeter, replacing the previous sentries. Glock was communicating with Lake, confirming the situation at the pipe network entrance. Arthur arranged for the Dean to stay behind at the Polymath Tower to handle the aftermath.
Lu Yuan stood in a corner of the corridor, leaning against the copper wall. Taking advantage of the lull, he pulled a Sanity potion from his inner pocket.
The liquid in the bottle emitted a faint blue shimmer. He unscrewed the cap and tilted his head back for a sip. As the medicine took effect, the persistent buzzing at the edge of his mind weakened slightly.
【Sanity: +8... 46/140】
Just as he was putting the bottle away, a shadow approached from the side.
The Great Ascendant had walked over to him at some unknown point. No one else was around; the closest person, Glock, was ten paces away talking to Lake with his back turned.
The Great Ascendant looked at Lu Yuan. His silver-grey pupils scanned Lu Yuan’s face. A brand-new metal face couldn't produce much expression, but the playfulness in those pupils was identical to what he had seen in the previous body.
“Nice trick.”
His voice was kept very low, audible only to the two of them.
Lu Yuan screwed the cap back on and stuffed the bottle into his waist pouch. He gave the Great Ascendant a look, didn't reply, and walked back to the middle of the group.
The Great Ascendant stood in place, watching Lu Yuan’s retreating back. The light in his silver-grey pupils flickered slightly, as if he had discovered something interesting. Then, he also turned around and walked back toward his squad of mechanical constructs.
Since the Great Ascendant was fine, the Polymath Tower incident was temporarily shelved. With the seed in hand and the skull back to normal, it was time to face the matter that had been hanging over everyone’s heads: the dive.
Rate on N.U.
