Chapter 00251: Mission and Past
# Mission and Past
Chapter 251
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 251: Mission and Past
Just imagining such a scene made his mouth water.
Not to mention anything else, all the workshop's spiritual essence structures left behind by Mercury were stored in the warehouse's vault!
As long as Ji Jue could complete the restoration of the Doomsday Train, he would be able to invest resources for its reconstruction at any time—enough to stimulate the control needed to support the Rift Realm's reincarnation, and to power a furnace and equipment akin to that of a sage.
With the supply of the Multifaceted Engine and complemented by the mobility of the Doomsday Train...
At that time, what would Ji Jue have to fear?
Even if the sky fell and the earth cracked, he could always take his friends and family and run.
Even if he ran into Yan Yuan, that old Deng who always dragged the workshop everywhere, he could let him taste what it was like to face a workshop clash!
Though that day was still far off...
But there was no rush, he would take it slow.
The road lay beneath his feet, and one day, he would reach it.
Ka!
The layers of locked doors opened before him, and he directly entered the core, arriving at the power chamber.
Around him were pipelines that barely connected, still bearing the welding marks and patches Ji Jue had used for temporary emergency repairs, with even more hastily connected cables scattered on the ground.
At this moment, alongside the final unlocking, slowly rising from the darkness was the steel heart, taller than Ji Jue himself, the true core of the train.
—The Multifaceted Engine!
“Been a few days, how have you been?”
Ji Jue stretched out his hand, resting it on the engine's casing, able to feel the immense soul that lay dormant within, as well as the unreserved affinity and reliance directed toward him.
A distant resonance echoed from the engine, reverberating as if waking from a drowsy slumber.
Staring.
“I found something good for you.”
Ji Jue shook the Shoushan copper ingot in his hand and told it, “Finally, I can help you maintain those four reaction furnaces. In a bit, I will dismantle the outer parts, so don’t be afraid.”
The engine remained silent, a rubbing sound echoed as all the outer locks were released.
Then, beneath Ji Jue's jacket, a silver light surged forth, seeping out and enveloping his body, cascading down and reforming, resembling a steel long robe.
Behind him, mechanical arms emerged, forming and extending, each supporting his body as he moved above the engine.
Ji Jue did not even need to lift a finger; three remolded mercury structure arms extended out, their ends transforming like jacks, prying open the seams.
Then, a small dragon gate crane constructed itself, lifting the heavy shell to the side.
This revealed its intricate interior.
Ji Jue carefully navigated around those complex spiritual essence structures, avoiding damage while focusing on the physical operation.
Layer by layer, he dismantled it, finally exposing the four immense reaction chambers beyond the core.
The burning and transformation of fuel were completed here.
However, after so many years of abandonment and rough usage, the accumulated grime and wear had grown too severe and affected its operational efficiency.
Yet, even the ashes and oil stains left from incomplete combustion were good materials for Ji Jue now.
They were all stripped clean by flowing mercury and stored in another container.
After just a few minutes, the previously dark reaction chamber had been restored to cleanliness, as if it had been washed with water, not a speck of dust left behind.
Then, the terrible wear came into view.
Inside the reaction chamber, the original plating had nearly vanished without a trace, with even large areas showing signs of metal corrosion and indentation, countless tiny cracks, while uncontrolled high temperatures had nearly leaked out, threatening to burn through the entire engine.
Looking at the remaining traces, calculating the time...
As the culprit, Ji Jue's heart felt increasingly heavy.
The engine remained silent, a faint hum echoing, sounding like the distant song of a whale, indifferent.
“I know, no need to comfort me.”
Ji Jue sighed deeply, feeling a flicker of relief that he had prepared enough this time; otherwise, it would have been embarrassing again.
After testing the main structure of the reaction chamber, he found that everything except for the corroded and burned parts remained stable as a rock, needing no replacement.
As long as materials of adequate specifications were used to repair the damaged sections, it would suffice.
Ji Jue spent the entire afternoon going back and forth, transporting materials in and out of the train, even urgently summoning a last-minute delivery from the Balance Merchant Guild.
After hundreds of years, the development of materials science had undergone tremendous changes, and there were many new choices in terms of heat resistance and stability; it was only a matter of spending money, which was not difficult.
What Ji Jue needed to do was merely shape and repair, and relocate and dye the original spiritual essence structures to avoid conflict, much like a plasterer.
The most important aspect was the final plating formed by the Shoushan copper.
Extremely thin and stable, after Ji Jue's nine processes, its inherent stability was nearly perfect, with heat resistance and corrosion resistance being its primary functions.
Under non-aggressive processing, it experienced many steps of fluid alchemy and modern alchemy, now devoid of even a slight flaw.
Even so, during the trial startup, Ji Jue's heart couldn’t help but hang in suspense.
Until the deep whale song rose from faint to high-pitched.
Excited singing!
Amidst the harmony of countless metals, he wiped the sweat from his face, took a step back, and admired the sight before him.
After investing so much time and resources, this train could finally function at a minimal level.
If it failed, he wouldn't have enough spiritual essence reserves or fuel left to support the next test startup.
Unfortunately, the spirit of the train still remained weak and dim.
Having once fallen and been abandoned for hundreds of years, experiencing much torment and ravaging, even with its rebirth in Ji Jue's hands, it still bore too much consumption.
Healing and repair could only proceed slowly as Ji Jue's skills and abilities improved.
As the engine’s trial startup came to an end, that spirit would soon fall back into a long slumber.
Before that, Ji Jue finally couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know what the situation in the Sky Rail is like now?”
A faint hum echoed again, a vague response came forth.
It represented a sense of confusion.
Then, what floated into his mind were images from the past.
Amidst the endless dark clouds, the Doomsday Train, on the brink of collapse, completely lost power, riddled with wounds, unable to continue.
It fell from the cracks and flames.
It exerted all its strength, letting out a final cry.
But in the distance, there was no one to answer.
An utter silence.
Thus, it broke through layer after layer of membranes, as countless streams of light faded away, leaving only desolation.
It fell alone, crashing into the narrow crack.
Falling apart.
This was the last sight of the former Doomsday Train.
“…”
Ji Jue felt the first-person perspective images in his mind, containing the condition and scenes inside the train, even the time displayed on the dashboard.
More than two hundred years ago...
It was only a few months apart from the date mentioned in "Multifaceted Knowledge" when the Sky Rail’s transportation collapsed!
Before that, the Doomsday Train had suffered heavy damage...
No, perhaps by that time, the condition of the Sky Rail could no longer be deemed optimistic.
“What on earth happened?”
He pressed on.
The drowsy soul struggled to operate; fragmented words floated in Ji Jue's mind from mechanical divine communication.
[Task, Duty, Mission] it said, [Must, Complete.]
Alongside the halting phrases, countless broken images and fragments surged into Ji Jue's mind, dragging him, and in an instant, he fell into the time of hundreds of years ago.
Those records and the past were simply too complex and vast to piece together.
Not just the Doomsday Train, but more perspectives, more gigantic objects revealed different sights.
For a moment, he saw the grand present beneath his feet, shining brilliantly, so dazzling.
But soon after, amidst countless shards, that clear and vast world became shrouded in gloom, with countless fissures appearing within it.
A maze of void trails intertwined like blood vessels, yet those blood vessels gradually shattered and broke, vanishing without a trace.
Endless darkness surged forth.
And in that darkness, brilliant lights emerged, like stars shining, including ‘himself’!
The grand whale song ebbed and flowed, filling the void and darkness, permeating everything!
Once again, it pulled on countless void trails to operate.
The scene changed again, revealing endless falling and breaking, images during repair, burning buildings, crumbling rifts, innumerable arguing figures, corpses, ruins, and desolate land, surging flames...
But no matter how it changed, that majestic whale song resounded endlessly.
Only gradually, it transformed from mightiness to drifting, descending from lofty heights to deep lows.
Responses from companions became fewer and farther away.
The last complete image that surfaced was of the Doomsday Train galloping through the void, as if racing through the cosmos, yet there were no stars to be seen.
Only eternal void.
Behind brilliant rays resembling stars, an eye-catching trajectory was traced, lingering for ages.
It was precisely because of this that the deepest recesses of darkness were outlined, revealing the immense creature that gradually ascended.
It radiated a furious flame-like glow, distorting the space around it.
Clearly so enchanting, yet devoid of any color, only a cold void remained.
That was a void purer than darkness itself.
Even sensing from memory made Ji Jue's soul tremble, unable to glimpse its true form.
What he could feel was an unprecedented fear...
It was right behind him, relentlessly pursuing!
A storm surged in the void, crashing and striking, causing the shell to cry out in unbearable strain, and breaking sounds echoed continuously.
The sounds of membrane ruptures and spatial annihilation roared and howled, spreading through the atmosphere.
Then Ji Jue realized...
It wasn't pursuing them from behind.
Instead, they were dragging it forward!
The Sky Rail was operating, countless beams of light trajectories ensnared like chains, tightly entangled with that indescribable dark star, much like countless moths trying to bind the giant, futilely fluttering towards the flame.
Explosive sounds erupted, endless and unceasing.
The sorrowful wails in the whale song reverberated.
And it continued to drag the chains, unfurling its formless wings time and again.
Within the intermittent whale song was the high-pitched operation of hundreds of trains, persistently singing.
Must go forward, cannot stop.
The mission... must be completed... the task... must be completed... the world... must be completed!!!
The Sky Rail must operate, even at the cost of everything!
Until the miracle arrives, until ash to dust!
Until everything is reshaped from ruin, the multifaceted will be reborn at the end of despair!
They flew from the darkness, dragging chains, never-ending.
Forward.
Until a massive fissure unfolded before them like a cage, gradually swallowing that endless dark star, slowly closing.
Its mission was finally coming to an end.
The lonely whale song echoed into the void, with no further response.
It watched as one star after another cast away itself, continuing toward eternal duty.
From exhaustion, the fall began...
The memories ended here.
Ji Jue opened his eyes, breathing heavily.
The engine's final gentle song lingered in his ears, gradually fading away.
No need to fear, no need to worry.
These were merely memories and obligations that used to belong to it.
Yet there remained too many questions that could not be clarified, too many problems with no answers.
“I just feel like future troubles are piling up...”
Ji Jue sighed, collapsing into his chair.
But with many problems, there was no panic; with too many lice, it does not itch.
Even if there were troubles, they felt too distant.
It felt unreal.
It was even scarier than the balance in his bank account...
He sighed, closed his eyes, and fell into a weary sleep.
Until the dawn of the next day arrived.
The phone screen lit up.
Incoming call.
“Have you finished your business?” Professor Ye asked straightforwardly.
“Um, nearly.”
Ji Jue got up and rubbed his face, “Just a little clean-up, but it’s no big deal now.”
Then he heard the voice from his teacher:
“Come to the workshop.”
The call ended.
Ji Jue instantly awoke.
Work was calling!
(The End of This Chapter)