Chapter 83 Mercury
boom!
Amidst the loud bang, the mutilated corpse fell to the sky, and blood splattered everywhere.

With the continuous loss of personnel, the fight and competition between the two teams was about to come to an end. The scarred man with bronze complexion was surrounded by lightning and looked at the last resistance with cold eyes: "Hand over your things and I will spare your lives."

"Dream on!"

The seriously injured captain sneered, hugged the backpack tightly in his arms, and raised the explosives in his other hand: "One more step forward, and we will all be on the road together!"

"Really?" The scarred man looked at him coldly and took a step forward without hesitation: "I don't believe it."

The captain's eyes showed a trace of hesitation, which was keenly caught by him, and his smile became more and more mischievous: "Don't worry, I keep my word, hand over the things--"

boom! ! !
There was another loud noise, and right above their heads, it sounded like something was rushing past.

It flew out from the crack that suddenly opened, moving against gravity on the ceiling, whizzing away, leaving behind an excited cry: "Woohoo takeoff!!!"

Disappeared behind another sudden crack.

The rift closed.

Only dead silence remained.

The captain and Scarface were stunned for a moment, and the members looked at each other, unable to hide their confusion.

Did something just pass by?

But then, the roar of the engine sounded again, as if it had taken the wrong path, and flew out from the crack in the ceiling in another direction, down along the wall, rushed to the floor, and drilled into a rapidly opening crack: "Woo, I'm flying again!"

Disappear.

"..."

In a moment of trance, everyone was stunned.

In the dead silence, the captain holding the explosives felt a lightness in his arms, and seemed to vaguely see a rope flying from somewhere, hooking his bag and pulling it away.

There was only an awkward silence.

"Uh, that what..."

The captain swallowed and said, "Since everything is fine, shall we... leave first?"

……

In the distance, there seemed to be a faint sound of an explosion.

But I can't hear it clearly.

While the car was speeding, Ji Jue heard Xiao An cheering from the back seat: "Brother Ji Jue, I got something!"

Ji Jue turned around blankly, and when he saw the open backpack in Xiao An's hand and the shiny glitter inside, he couldn't help but stare: "I'm so surprised!"

Time sand crystallization oh shit!
Have you ever seen sand crystals as big as a human head?!

He saw it today!
No, it really is a human head... I can vaguely make out a carved portrait, and it seems to be Mercury's face?

After all, he is a saint, but he has to use millions of ounces of sand to make a statue of himself, and it is a whole piece this big? ! The craftsmen of the Ashes Department who are out there will be beaten to death for grabbing it?

"What do you mean by robbing?"

He patted Xiao An on the head and said solemnly, "I picked this up, you know?"

"Ah?" Xiao An was at a loss.

"No one must have wanted it, so it was left on the ground and we found it." Ji Jue stuffed the Time Sand Crystal back into the bag and asked Xiao An to hang it up: "Let's put it in our pockets and keep it for others. If no one comes to ask for it, can't we keep it for ourselves?"

"Yes!"

Xiao An nodded as if he understood. Although he didn't understand what was going on, he knew that what Ji Jue said was definitely right.

“I picked this up!”

Ji Jue nodded with satisfaction, this boy is teachable!

The things 'picked up' along the way had filled up the calf-horse cart and were sticking out. Fortunately, Xiao An used the rope skillfully and packed things up quickly, otherwise many good things would have been thrown away.

After all, it is the workshop of sages, and any corners that can be picked up can be good things.

Occasionally, if you come across something you don’t recognize, the prophet will remind you not to forget to take it.

You can learn, eat and get local specialties. If this place wasn’t in the Rift World, Ji Jue would think this trip is so pleasant!

There was another roar, and a faint light appeared at the end of the rapidly changing narrow passage. They had passed through the wall again and appeared in the huge hall.

In the huge space, there was only the rustling of dust, but no one was there.

It's so desolate.

Only a lonely armchair stood in the dust, and the solemn white robe that was once full of glory was thrown on the ground and discarded like a worn-out shoe.

For a moment, Ji Jue seemed to see the figure with eyes lowered in thought again from his trance, but soon, everything disappeared and was left behind his mind.

Then, after passing through the wall and the tunnel, it seemed as if I had arrived at an unfamiliar boiler room. The huge furnaces were filled with ashes, and the warmth and bustle of the past could no longer be felt.

Huge pipes are spread across the ceiling and the floor.

Walking in it, we feel like ants and dust.

After passing through here, Ji Jue found that he seemed to have returned to the place he had been before. It was a mess, as if someone had been there, but he could not find anyone.

He felt as if he was lost, yet seemed to be on the right path.

In this way, I shuttled through the center, but I didn't know which direction I would go next.

He was getting closer and closer to the inner layer, but he would go astray if he was not careful.

Maybe this is what workshop exploration is like. Those who can't find the way just need to devote themselves to it and work hard to clear mines. But Ji Jue has a lot more things to consider.

For example, where the hell is Feigongte?
He just felt that the further inward he went, the harder it was to move forward, and if he wasn't careful, he would be thrown out by the fiercely operating workshop and return to an earlier position.

In fact, several times, if it weren't for the prophet's warning, he would have been mercilessly crushed to death by the running workshop because he went in the wrong direction...

At this moment, while walking, Ji Jue only felt his head buzzing.

It's like being cut apart!

One part belongs to Ji Jue's self-perception, but the other part seems to have really become a machine, turning into another form and appearance.

One part has its own joys, sorrows, anger and happiness, but the other part is indifferent and calm, without any fluctuations, like a machine. From the resonance of the ex machina, Ji Jue felt that as a part, he had participated in the operation of the entire center, constantly adjusting his own spiritual essence and controlling fluid alchemy, adapting to the changes of the center, and taking advantage of the wind to move closer to the center.

Sometimes close, sometimes far.

Now, he has truly become a part of the workshop, and can feel the operation of the entire rift and the magnificent fluctuations that fill the entire workshop through personal experience.

Vast, deep, and yet... so empty.

It's like, an empty shell.

It seems to be operating in a complicated manner, but there is nothing inside... Even the deus ex machina cannot give it spirit, and no records or traces can be felt.

So bizarre.

Obviously, those people who were created had their own reason, so why did the workshop itself seem like a vegetable, operating only based on the preset low-level instructions? Ji felt that there was no response.

He was too small.

Just the echo of the empty movement was enough to completely crush his soul.

Fortunately, he is not the only one.

There is also the master key left to him by the professor, and the professional door picker and lock picker - after all the analysis and exploration along the way, it has completely figured out the structure and changes of the workshop, providing him with key guidance.

The locations of [Central Furnace], [Blessing Room], [Warehouse], etc. have been marked within Ji Jue's sight.

In any workshop, these three places are crucial parts - the central furnace is the core of the workshop in the conventional sense, providing space for craftsmen to create, and all arrangements and furnishings must serve this purpose, just like the soul of the workshop.

The blessing room is where the blessings obtained by the craftsmen are stored and preserved, just like an organ, it is indispensable. The warehouse is much more straightforward, all the precious materials are stored in it...

But here comes the problem. All of these are scattered around the center.

So what's in the core?
Where on earth is he going?

Ji Jue couldn't help but lose his mind for a moment, and when he passed through the crack that suddenly closed, he was thrown into a mezzanine where countless machines were operating.

It was like walking into the inside of a machine. A huge module rose up from beside him, creating a hurricane.

"Ahead, turn left."

The prophet calmly advised: "Don't focus on the details. The key to 'looking down' is to look at the whole picture - even a momentary mistake is insignificant.

Fluid alchemy is like splashing ink in water or extracting marrow from stone. Once the charm is achieved, it will be purified. As long as the ideas and the overall situation are not problematic, the results will not be unexpected.

I think that this participation in the central nervous system operation is also a valuable opportunity for you to refine your fluid alchemy."

Along the way, the prophet was never stingy with his advice. When Ji Jue was confused, he would often say a few words to the point and solve his confusion on the details, or give him guidance and suggestions in a concise manner.

Ji Jue couldn't help but sigh: "... Prophet, are you really not going to act anymore?"

"Where do you start talking about this?"

The prophet in the basket seemed to laugh: "I have made a promise, Mr. Ji Jue. I will tell you everything I know, and it will never be false."

She said: "I have told you that I am a prophet. I know everything within the Rift."

"and then?"

Ji Jue asked bluntly: "Are you mercury?"

"..."

The prophet was silent, and tried hard to turn around and glance at Ji Jue with a very complicated and helpless expression and eyes, which roughly translated to - do you want to see what stupid talk you are saying?
"I think I know what you are worried about, Mr. Ji Jue, please rest assured."

She answered bluntly: "I am not."

"Let me put it bluntly - if I'm Mercury and have some shady purpose, do I really need you?"

She paused and sighed mockingly: "Besides, isn't the stuff like 'mercury' everywhere here?"

At that moment, Ji Jue couldn't help but be stunned by the sound of the moving engine and the roar of the central processing unit.

I seemed to hear singing.

Coming from a distant place, looming.

"I miss my hometown... My hometown is so lovely... The sky is clear, the wind is cool, and I feel homesick..."

Such a familiar voice, as if he had heard it thousands of times in his dreams, but it was so hollow and hoarse that it made Ji Jue shudder.

When the crack opened again, he finally saw the scarlet blood everywhere.

It spread from the walls, from the ceiling, from the floor, dyeing everything in sight red.

The scattered limbs fell to the ground, and the flashes of blessing and spiritual essence slowly dissipated and rose, but Ji Jue no longer felt any pain.

There was only biting cold and fear.

It was torn and crushed between hands, and blood flowed in the singing.

Among the tragic corpses of the intruders, a strange figure with a five-legged deer head that was several meters long stood in a pool of blood and sang softly:
"I miss my hometown... I miss my hometown... How are the people in my hometown... I always miss them..."

The roar of the locomotive suddenly stopped.

Ji Jue instinctively wanted to reverse, but it was too late.

It's coming back...

On the broken face, there are distorted facial features, distributed in a random pattern, so messy and misplaced, but the eyes and eyebrows are so familiar, as if carrying eternal melancholy and loneliness.

Tears slowly fell from the corners of his eyes on his crooked forehead.

The moment Ji Jue came to his senses, the singing was already within reach!
He didn't even see when the figure appeared in front of him.

Overlooking.

Ji Jue held his breath and his pupils slowly dilated.

It just subconsciously reached out and held Xiao An tightly, not allowing him to move. Then, it used all its strength to maintain the connection and characteristics between itself and the center. It just hoped that it would treat them as the decorations that can be seen everywhere in the workshop and leave them aside.

There was a slender arm, winding out from under the tattered long clothes.

Caressing Ji Jue's face.

Slowly, so gently.

The fingertips brushed across the corner of his eye and then withdrew.

He seemed to be confused, but soon he looked away.

Between the long hair flowing down, the tearful eyes closed.

It slowly turned around, raising a breeze, stepped on the pool of blood, and walked into the darkness ahead, singing in a hoarse voice that seemed to never stop.

Only dead silence remained.

There was also Ji Jue, who almost had no strength to breathe in the silence, and sweated profusely.

Xiao An's tense body also relaxed. Noticing his abnormality, he took out a kettle and handed it to him, which finally allowed Ji Jue to breathe a sigh of relief.

Still unable to suppress the trembling.

"Prophet, what exactly is that?"

"That's mercury."

The prophet leaned against the basket and stared at the direction where she went. "One of the embers left after the furnace called mercury cooled down..."

Compared with the saints of the past, we are like a drop in the ocean.

Tiny and out of reach.

(End of this chapter)