Chapter 00077: Ironization Disease
# Ironization Disease
Chapter 77
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 77: Ironization Disease
"Hey there, little brother, haven’t seen one quite like you before. You’re not human, are you? My waist hurts a bit; can you take a look for me?"
"Wait, wait! Don’t touch there! Ahhh! Huh? What? You really fixed it right up, brother! Thanks!"
"I’m good now!"
Through his own exploration and the enthusiastic introductions from various mechanical big brothers, Ji Jue finally had a reasonable understanding of the state of the camp.
This truly was an ordinary gathering place for survivors.
Each person here was a ‘resident’ of the Rift, or one could say, a ‘creation.’ Due to various faults and miscalculations, they sensed something was off about their lives and the problems they faced, leading them to flee from the outside world in fear to find warmth together here.
The prophet seldom made an appearance, yet the atmosphere within the gathering was rather friendly and harmonious, absent of the bullying and oppression often seen in apocalyptic stories.
Occasionally, families escaped from elsewhere and were quickly settled in.
Food came from two very old starch processing machines and automatic production equipment stored in the warehouse, while drinking water came from a protected pump located in the center of the camp.
Some maintained order voluntarily, while others would regularly team up to explore the entire Rift, although often with little success.
If it were the protagonist from an online novel, after six hours, he would have uncovered every detail, even knowing the color of the prophet’s underwear.
Yet here, Ji Jue spent most of his time doing good deeds.
After repairing air conditioners and refrigerators, he welded the car frames back together…
The joy was endless.
Little An diligently noted in her notebook: On the third day in the Rift, Brother Ji Jue returned to his old trade, looking very happy.
“Mommy! Mommy!!!”
A broken ‘child’ on a little cart excitedly pushed it back and forth, grabbing an old man and shouting, “The big brother from outside helped me fix the wheels, come look!”
“Okay!” The elderly man moved his snake-like body, gently ruffled the child’s hair like a kind smile, “But don’t run around, okay? Every time you go out, we have to find you.”
“Mmhm!” The child giggled, “I’m a good baby!”
With that, the child swiftly pushed the cart away to show off the new wheels to other mothers.
Ji Jue watched from a distance, holding a wrench as he focused on repairing the water filter in front of him.
“The filter’s clogged and foul. Do you have any charcoal? Get some wood to burn; we can fill this up and reinstall it.” Ji Jue stretched his old back and said, “The pump’s fine; it’s just the wiring is a bit frayed. You can handle it yourselves; I shouldn’t be needed for this.”
“Thanks.”
The middle-aged man who had been following him grunted and finally squeezed out a murky voice.
Even though he initially doubted Ji Jue’s intentions, seeing how quickly Ji Jue had repaired most of the broken tools in half a day made it hard for him to maintain his previous vigilance.
He hesitated for a moment and then went back for a bottle.
After Ji Jue dismantled two old vehicles and fused them into one, the man came over with a cup in hand. “Want some?”
Clear liquid poured into the paper cup, carrying a faintly pungent smell.
“What is this…” Ji Jue sniffed, unable to identify it.
“Alcohol.” The middle-aged man smiled bitterly, “Let me introduce myself; call me 97. Before I came here, I was a worker in a distillery, gathering materials for my own stuff. Made from starch; it doesn’t taste great, but it’s all I have. Don’t hold it against me.”
“To be honest, I don’t know if my stomach can handle local food,” Ji Jue said with a self-deprecating smile.
After taking a small sip, he set it down.
This little bit shouldn’t be too much to make him drunk.
Rather, 97 was taken aback, hard to believe, “You… aren’t afraid I poisoned it?”
Ji Jue simply smiled and said bluntly, “If it’s poisoned, I’ll take revenge on you.”
With the old man around, he truly wasn’t worried about that.
Not to mention toxins couldn’t outsmart his brother’s scanning; Little An was still there, and whatever was mixed in, he could smell it.
Moreover, with his capabilities, if there were any serious issues, he could easily make the entire camp collapse with a snap of his fingers.
“…”
97 fell silent.
After finishing his full cup, he sighed, “Looks like the prophet was right; you really are different from those outsiders in the rumors.”
“Hmm? What’s wrong with outsiders?”
“Previously, several outsiders had come through, yet each time they only caused destruction and harmed those who didn’t even know who they were. They’d do anything for treasures. But do we really not know if there are any treasures? There’s nothing here except hell. Yet it seems like they love this hell more than we do.”
“…” Ji Jue sighed, “That’s how ‘players’ are.”
It wasn’t just for Mercury’s relics and treasures; even with just a few regular drops, they would treat the entire Rift like a dungeon and stir up chaos.
However, the local factions weren't very friendly; things were too complicated.
If they went too far in their destruction, Mercury’s workshop might just wipe them out, taking care of all outsiders.
“Players?”
The middle-aged man didn’t understand this term, looking sullen. “The prophet said they are demons, just like Mercury, demons.”
Ji Jue had no words.
It felt so mocking.
As the creator, he should be viewed as a deity by the creations, just as the furnace remained loyal to Mercury until the very end.
Yet now, the creations of the Rift regarded her as a terrifying demon.
What did this represent?
Was it like out-of-control intelligence in a novel? AI rebellion?
Yet even in a state of rebellion, they couldn’t stop the operations of the workshop, only able to flee passively and endure.
“Do you trust the prophet so much?” Ji Jue asked curiously.
“Of course! If it weren't for the prophet, I might’ve been recycled back into tools by now. Without her, this camp wouldn’t exist either.”
97 answered straightforwardly, “I know what you want to ask: the prophet is the prophet; she knows everything—at least, that’s how it is in this ‘Rift.’ That’s what she told me. She was the first among us to awaken and understands everything more deeply than anyone else.”
“I don’t know what you outsiders think, but there’s no need for you to be so cautious. We’re just a bunch of poor souls huddling for warmth. Even our rewards are only this little.”
He raised his cup with a self-deprecating smile, “If you want to do something, just talk to the prophet. The time to reboot isn’t far off.”
“Reboot?”
Ji Jue was curious, about to ask further.
But suddenly, a scream pierced through the air, familiar and sharp, sounding like countless people keening in the same body, crying out, roaring in agony.
“Mommy! Mommy!!!”
The cart flew into the air and landed, shattering to pieces.
But the broken child was ensnared by a sharp tentacle, lifted into the sky, flailing wildly, with fragments raining down.
97’s expression changed drastically, dropping his cup and sprinting away.
“Ironization!”
From the panicking crowd, someone shouted in horror, “It’s Ironization Disease! 32 is having an episode again!”
In the midst of the chaos, a bloated man cried out, half his face weeping tears while the other half had transformed insect-like features.
Two tentacles emerged from a crack in his chest, sweeping blindly, wreaking havoc.
“You lie to me! You all have lied to me! It’s all fake—”
His face twisted in a cramp, wildly screaming, “I have a child! I have a child! He’s seven years old and waiting for me at home! He, he… he…”
The distorted face convulsed, revealing despair, his futile wailing:
“He’s dead.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
From the deep, muffled sounds, a net woven from iron wire covered the twisted, mutated figure.
Then, Ji Jue saw a massive firearm appear, aiming at the struggling shape swelling within the net, pulling the trigger.
A spear-like projectile shot out, propelled like a harpoon, its lethality incomparable to Ji Jue's rifle, yet they handled it with such proficiency.
Just like that, it pinned him to the ground.
“Kill him quickly! He’s out of control!” shouted someone in the terrified crowd. “He couldn’t hold back yesterday; he insisted on going out to find his wife and child; the inhibitors aren’t working anymore.”
97 hesitated, struggling painfully.
The trembling firearm slowly lifted.
But it was pressed down again.
“… So why should I hope for my damn luck?” Ji Jue sighed, rolling up his sleeves and stepping forward, “I’ll do it!”
Boom!
A tentacle writhed down toward him, but in midair, a flash of silver shone, cutting it in half.
It was Little An.
In the net, the out-of-control figure had swollen to three or four times its original size, with more and more mutated features appearing on his body.
Even his original face was nearly disappearing.
Only one eye, faintly still resembling a human's, was hollow and shedding tears.
Ji Jue hesitated a moment, his raised hand hovering in the air before he pressed down without hesitation.
“Just eat shit, then.”
He squeezed those words out through clenched teeth: “Brother Furnace, I’m returning your interest!”
Smack!
In that instant, machinery descended, activating!
Pain, despair, wailing, crying, madness, affection, hatred, kindness, joy, sorrow… all worldly emotions surged forth like a torrent, crashing into him.
It swallowed him whole.
Ji Jue’s face turned crimson in an instant, feeling the infinitely chaotic and turbulent essence eroding his soul, even lacking the time to worry about it since his cousin was around; he could always pull himself out later.
But for now…
He issued another command:
—— [Stop]!
In that moment, Ji Jue's vision darkened once more, yet that divine-like decree flowed down from within his power.
A formless ripple surged from him as if a giant bell had been rung, echoing everywhere from his hand, enveloping the entire camp.
Forcing everything to a standstill!
After the heat, his throat began to hurt… swollen and red…
(End of Chapter)