Chapter 116: Contamination of the Mechanical Fragment

Listening to the ticking of the machinery, Han Su’s hair stood on end, thinking that “Flicker” had already arrived without notice.

Instinctively, he turned his head, only to find that the surrounding space showed no signs of “Flicker,” but a cold aura seeped into his entire body.

He could only feel that uncontrollable fragments of memory surged within his mind — memories of being kidnapped to the Ancient Castle time and again, and escaping from it again and again — at this moment, surfaced with startling clarity, as though they were bubbling up beyond his control.

Across from him, Wei Lan suddenly shuddered, her face turning noticeably pale.

Han Su saw the eyes beneath her Cat-Faced Mask, and within those eyes, the emotion of “fear” rapidly surfaced.

……

……

“Bang!”

At the same moment, a gunshot rang out in this secret chamber. In a certain luxurious yet dark room of the Lilac Courtyard, a man with a bulbous nose, gulping down whiskey straight from the bottle, suddenly raised his head, his gaze exceptionally sharp.

In this room were also the master of the Lilac Courtyard and the CEO of Magic Box Corporation.

They had gathered here with the intention of having a conversation. The main speaker was meant to be the CEO of Magic Box Corporation. He had come with great expectations for this discussion, but a few words exchanged with Han Su at the banquet had planted seeds of unease in his heart.

Now, he had become wary of this talk.

And that single gunshot interrupted each of their thoughts, stirring a trace of alertness in their hearts.

The bulbous-nosed man swept his gaze across everyone present, then suddenly chuckled and said, “Old man, the security measures in your Lilac Courtyard are rather average!”

The old man sitting in a wheelchair, leaning on a cane, didn’t even lift his eyelids as he replied blandly:

“Gotten used to it. Every year, a batch sneaks in.”

“Hmm?”

The bulbous-nosed man frowned. “You know who infiltrated the place?”

“Should be the Crystal Skull Organization.”

The old man said slowly, “They’ve been searching for a long time. The ones who’ve entered the underground chamber now should be six people. One of them is a former professor at Qinggang University. There are also four hiding at the banquet. As soon as you step out, they will immediately take all my guests hostage.”

“You know very well, those Crystal Skull people aren’t afraid of death.”

“……”

“Four people, huh?”

The bulbous-nosed man put down the bottle, stretched a bit, and his entire demeanor seemed to shift. He said, “I should be able to take care of them without alarming the other guests. But, old man, do you know what their target is?”

The old man chuckled and said, “Should be a mechanical fragment in my secret chamber, one that’s never been registered.”

“If the Disaster Management Bureau finds out, they’ll probably come search my house immediately!”

“……”

Upon hearing this, the others’ faces drastically changed: was this really something one could casually say?

Some instantly became alert: ‘Talking so casually about something like this, could it be the old man is planning to silence us at the slightest disagreement?’

“It’s precisely because it’s this timing that I can tell you.”

The old man laughed and said, “You’ll forget anyway. You’ll only remember at a critical moment. That’s also one of the characteristics of this mechanical fragment. In fact, even those rats sneaking in and dying from time to time are all due to its trait.”

“It’s because people occasionally talk about it, even formulate actions for it, and die for it, that it remains stably anchored in reality.”

“My discussing it with you is fine — you’ll forget. Even if you make records now, you won’t recall them later, until a certain frequency appears, and then you’ll suddenly remember.”

“But after a while, you’ll forget again.”

“Of course, theoretically, I’m not even its owner. It’s just staying here, waiting for its true master to show up…”

“……”

Everyone present had expressions that had become indescribably bizarre.

The bulbous-nosed man suddenly realized — the old man of Lilac Courtyard might be hiding something extraordinary.

And the CEO of Magic Box Corporation, who was stepping into this kind of circle for the first time, had sunk into deep shock:

Were they joking?

Why were they talking about something so bizarre with such serious faces?

Just as the group’s expressions turned grave, the old man suddenly smiled and said, “We may continue our discussion. No need to worry about them. Just check whether your people are still around. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee you’ll get to see them again.”

As he spoke, his pair of aged yet oppressively intense eyes slowly swept across everyone, both hands gripping the cane in his hands.

He raised it slightly and gently tapped it against the floor.

At the tip of the cane, there was a ring of bronze patterns engraved with intricate and bizarre encrypted text. Upon contact with the floor, it let out a faint tremor.

“Buzz!”

That tremor seemed like something alive, layer upon layer seeping downward through the floor and structure.

It transmitted, lingering for a long time, with no telling where it eventually reached.

After a brief pause, he tapped again, several times in succession, each either light or shallow, carrying a certain mysterious rhythm.

He slowly said, “So many came, yet you’re the only ones who made such a ruckus and disturbed my guests!”

Those present looked at one another, suddenly realizing that the remark wasn’t directed at them.

……

……

“Capture those two!”

In the previously tense and anxious secret chamber, a bizarre scene abruptly unfolded.

Members of the Crystal Skull Organization from behind were rapidly closing in on Han Su and Wei Lan. From the air came intermittent sounds of illusory glass shattering.

That was the mysterious power set by Wei Lan being forcibly shattered by the Crystal Skull members. Yet, at this very moment, Wei Lan seemed to have forgotten everything around her, merely gripping the edge of the Mechanical Fragment, standing dazed in place.

She looked like her soul had left her.

“She’s being affected by the Mechanical Fragment?”

Han Su had only been affected for a moment before snapping back to awareness. Seeing Wei Lan’s state, he immediately knew something was wrong.

The influence of the Mechanical Fragment was indeed formidable, having penetrated through his left hand and glove, affecting him. But the contamination effect wasn’t too severe — he had only briefly blanked out before regaining clarity, and the ticking sound in his ears was already fading.

By level, Wei Lan was far above himself, yet she now seemed completely drained?

“Let go of it!”

He didn’t want Wei Lan to get hurt, so he shouted a low command and forcefully snatched the Mechanical Fragment backward.

Wei Lan snapped out of her trance as if waking from a dream and released the Mechanical Fragment.

It was as if she had used all her strength. She lifted her head to look at Han Su, and her expression was actually filled with a deep sense of shock.

“It’s you… it’s you…”

“……”

But there was no time to say more. Members of the Crystal Skull Organization had already reached them.

At this moment, in their effort to shatter Wei Lan’s barrier, none of them held back. The overuse of crystal power caused the flesh on their faces to rot, and with their skeletal arm bones, they now resembled evil spirits.

Most importantly, they seemed enraged. Several of them had already drawn their guns.

Han Su grew more anxious. After snatching the Mechanical Fragment, he prepared to recite Fisherman’s Chant to escape.

But unexpectedly, after Wei Lan let go of the Mechanical Fragment, she swayed and became unsteady. That brief invasion of cold aura from the Mechanical Fragment had also drained a significant amount of his spiritual power.

In a rush, he could only pull Wei Lan toward him. He dodged behind a thick pillar within the secret chamber to avoid getting shot.

As she fell into his arms, the Wei Lan who had just been formidable beyond words now felt soft as noodles, merely leaning against his chest, trying her best to lift her head to look at Han Su, her eyes blood-red.

“You… what… you…”

Han Su held her while urging, “Weren’t you amazing just now? Come on, pull yourself together…”

Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but the situation had already become desperate.

Wei Lan had taken too much of the impact, and he could no longer rely on her. Having taken the Mechanical Fragment, he couldn’t even recite the spell.

Yet, to abandon the Mechanical Fragment and Wei Lan to flee alone — he was unwilling. Gritting his teeth slightly, he considered fighting it out with them.

It was then that a metallic clang sounded above them.

“Dong!”

The sound was like metal striking the floor, but with an eerie liveliness. Though it seemed far away, it still rang clearly in the secret chamber, startling enough to make one think the strike came from directly overhead.

He hurriedly looked up, but saw nothing.

Before he could react, a second clang followed, then more in succession, each one penetrating the chamber.

Everyone’s eardrums buzzed, giving rise to an unbearably uncomfortable sensation.

The clanging continued, flowing steadily into the secret chamber. It sounded like a sequence of rhythmic codes.

As the knocking was about to end, a cold voice suddenly echoed out:

“So many came, yet you’re the only ones who made such a ruckus and disturbed my guests!”

“In that case, stay.”

“……”

“Clank…”

Following that was an unusual metallic collision sound.

The Crystal Skull members hadn’t yet reacted, but Han Su’s heart suddenly trembled.

From behind the pillar, he looked toward the Snake-Headed Bronze Armor Statue resting in the corner.

At some point, the Bronze Armor Statue had lifted its head.

This time, Han Su was certain it wasn’t an illusion. The cobra-like head of the statue was rising slightly.

It slowly stretched its body. The upper and lower metal components seemed rusted and were gradually adapting.

The sound of metal twisting was strangely vivid, so vivid it drowned out all other noise in the secret chamber.

The Crystal Skull members, frantically searching for the source of the earlier voice, all froze in place.

One by one, expressions of disbelief appeared on their faces, as if an invisible chill gripped their scalps.

“Professor…”

One member of the Crystal Skull Organization suddenly staggered two steps back and trembled as he spoke, “This… isn’t this supposed to be a replica?”

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