Chapter 00080: Like Paradise
# Like Paradise
Chapter 80
Novel: Above Destiny
Chapter 80: Like Paradise
Boom!!!
A distant rumble echoed above as if the heavens themselves were trembling.
In the narrow tunnel, dust fell like rain, causing the little oxen and horses to stop in their tracks, eyes darting in fear.
Their headlights flickered brightly, as if afraid that the darkness might swallow them whole.
To think, a broken-down motorcycle was afraid of the dark was simply absurd!
Angrily, Ji Jue kicked the wheel of the motorcycle.
"Move faster! We need to scout ahead!"
"Earthquakes seem to be happening more often," Xiao An said, pressing his hand against the wall, feeling the vibrations from afar.
"It's like the cracks in the world are collapsing."
"The intact and sound systems must possess their own renewal mechanisms. Besides correcting errors as they arise, when problems pile up to an unbearable extent, everything must be destroyed and a new foundation created."
The Prophet spoke lightly.
"According to calculations, the original reboot was supposed to happen eighty years later, but the arrival of outsiders has accelerated the distortions appearing within the workshop. It seems we need to pick up our pace."
As his words fell, the team fell silent, like a graveyard.
Even the little oxen and horses stood frozen in place.
Only Ji Jue awkwardly cleared his throat a couple of times.
"Well, Prophet, everyone knows it’s important to explain things now, but could you perhaps say a little less?"
"Hmm?" The Prophet looked puzzled.
"Did I say something wrong?"
On the front of the little oxen, the head in the basket turned, those glassy black eyes glancing back at them.
That was downright terrifying!
Things were getting creepier by the minute!
After both sides had reached a preliminary cooperation, the "character recruitment task" common in RPG games was considered complete.
If there were a prompt box, the game would pop up to inform you: The Prophet has joined the team.
If this were a mobile game, it might even give you a taste of a powerful character only to lure you into paying real money later.
But the situation in reality was far more complicated.
The issue was that… the Prophet's body was already very old, old enough that a slight movement could send pieces flying off.
Just a gentle touch could result in a shattering mess.
It resembled an ICU patient with high-level paralysis, utterly unable to walk!
Yet the others in the party were completely incapable of leading.
Xiao An was already someone with mobility issues; if another person couldn’t walk, Ji Jue felt this journey through the cracks would soon turn into a day trip for the disabled.
In response to this, the Prophet calmly stated, "Don't you have a vehicle? Just chop off my head and hang it at the front! After all, with an old model like mine, I’m just good for navigation; I serve no other purpose."
He spoke as if it were someone else's head he was discussing.
But Ji Jue wasn’t a weirdo who enjoyed decapitation just for fun.
Although they weren’t familiar, they were still teammates, so he couldn't bring himself to do it!
As a result, the Prophet’s head wobbled slightly, and then, it rolled off by itself.
And thus, with such an absurd arrangement—two people, one vehicle, and one head—the party set off once more.
Downward!
Through the intricately woven sewer, resembling a spider's web, they reached the very depths of the town and rode an elevator down like it was a spring outing, arriving at the very bottom.
The path was smooth and unimpeded!
Not even a gatekeeper in sight.
Wasn’t the local guide a bit too skilled?
【Do you think we might be taking it a little too easy here?】 he quietly asked the ball—his companion.
【What do you expect? If I were to betray you, strolling around the owner's workshop would certainly be easier than walking through a park.】
The Ghost Worker Ball replied unconcernedly: 【A couple of forks in the road before—if you’d taken even a single wrong step back then, you’d have been nothing but ashes now.
Being blissfully unaware in favorable circumstances isn’t wise, you know?】
Boom!!!
Before he finished his sentence, a loud crash suddenly erupted from the depths below, shaking violently, and Ji Jue could vaguely hear gunfire and cries of anguish, leaving him momentarily stunned.
Xiao An stretched out his hand and pressed it against the wall, as if trying to listen closely.
"About two kilometers away, four people, plus one other unknown creature, very large and very frightening."
"Someone triggered the alarm; the perimeter defense protocol is active, and the guardians have awakened."
The Prophet's eyelids lifted slightly, entirely unconcerned.
"Don’t worry, the maintenance passage isn’t within the isolation range. You have the right permissions, those rigid tools won’t obstruct you."
As soon as she finished speaking, something as nimble as a small spider scuttled across the ceiling.
As it passed by them, it seemed to scan them with multifaceted eyes.
But Ji Jue had the forges’ permissions while Xiao An was shielded by the Prophet, so they didn’t notice a thing and left without a care.
Ji Jue let out a quiet sigh of relief as he heard the Ghost Worker Ball’s voice.
【Be careful; the prettier the mechanism, the more deceptive it can be.】
The Ghost Worker Ball warned: 【That woman surely has something off about her, tread carefully, or you might capsize.】
【Is she the mechanism?】
【It possesses intelligence and reasoning, capable of going against base commands and spiritual circuits, able to exist and grow independently after leaving the user—these few points define what constitutes a mechanism.
Others can still be considered puppets endowed with a semblance of consciousness, but she, her completion is far beyond the rest.
You didn’t forget the history of alchemy I taught you, did you?】
He spoke of the grand competition in the ancient quality realm; Ji Jue had almost etched it into his bones.
Who knew how lively the tools made from mercury could become?
The more humanlike they were, the more troublesome they could be.
Though it was probably impolite to say so about the Prophet, who was still striving to support them, one must always be vigilant.
The more humanlike something was, the more caution was warranted.
At that moment, the Prophet was nothing but a head, still hanging in the basket of the little oxen.
There was no need for Ji Jue to give orders; with the slightest hint of a breeze, the oxen would get a snack.
If it hadn't come to that point, Ji Jue didn't want to rashly intervene with his powers just yet.
Mechanical divinity wasn’t omnipotent.
At least it wasn’t right now.
And as they moved silently forward, the tunnel finally reached an end; a sealed door, looking as if it had come straight from a ship’s cabin, stood before them.
"We're almost there."
The Prophet said, "Once we open this, we should reach the core."
With that, she turned back to look at Ji Jue, her intentions clear, but she said nothing more.
Xiao An, leaning on his cane, tried to get out of the vehicle but was stopped by Ji Jue.
"Is there a password?"
Bending down, Ji Jue examined the rust-stained sealed door, knocking on it.
The hollow sound echoed back.
In the moment he laid his hands on it and tuned into the resonance of mechanical divinity, he sensed the overall structure.
There were no traps requiring vigilance, it was merely an ordinary door, nothing more.
He reached out, gripping the handle tightly.
With all his strength, he turned it.
A high-pitched sound erupted.
In the darkness, it resonated from a great distance.
Rust fell from the handles like specks of dust, and with a dry creak, finally, a gap opened.
Brilliant waves of light poured in through the narrow crack, illuminating Ji Jue’s eyes.
Instinctively, he held his breath.
There were no ambushes or traps, just the shimmering light resembling the sea, vibrant and colorful, silently rippling through the air… that was spiritual essence.
Indeed, it was real, liquid spiritual essence, flowing endlessly from the vast space beyond the door that was far beyond sight.
It surged through the crack, washing over their feet.
The glimmers rose like a myriad of ripples.
That was genuine ocean.
The little oxen turned its wheels, curiously leaning forward, peering at the depthless sea of spiritual essence on either side of the road, even as the liquid spiritual essence lapped up over the straight path.
It extended into the very center of the underground world, leading to an impressive hall that could rival half a city.
"Welcome to the deepest layer of the Mercury Workshop, the spiritual essence operation zone."
The Prophet in the basket sighed softly, gazing at the massive structure shrouded in rainbow light and dazzling hues in the distance.
"Ahead lies the core of the workshop."
"Have you been here before?" Ji Jue asked, curious.
"Yes, many times."
The Prophet smiled gently, glancing at the profound sea of spiritual essence beside them.
"Everyone in the workshop has been here—not just once."
She continued, "This is where we were born."
In the crashing tides, a massive whirlpool suddenly appeared above the sea…
It was like boiling!
A torrent of scarlet spiritual essence fell from the upper vault as if it were a downpour, splashing into the ocean and dyeing it with alarming crimson.
Among those shattered spiritual essences streamed familiar memories, gradually dissipating into the air.
The wind that blew towards them seemed filled with anguished wails.
But then, in the void, spiritual circuits emerged, lifting the whirlpool from the water, transforming into a violent tornado that swallowed the fragments of spiritual essence.
Those false souls were instantly torn apart, reduced to dust, swirling madness and suffering gradually cascading into the massive whirlpool beneath the sanctuary, vanishing from sight.
What followed was a storm of severed limbs and broken bodies.
Heads, arms, legs, torsos, organs…
Like hail, the fragments fell, even mutated beastly husks, as the massive gap opened in the upper vault and tilted downward.
Thus, they fell into the boiling sea of spiritual essence, quickly disintegrating until naught remained but ashes, silently sinking into the ocean's depths, accumulating into endless mountains.
An end was nowhere in sight.
The rainbow light remained, as brilliant as it once was.
One could hardly tell how many bones and corpses lay buried in this otherworldly realm, nor could they hear cries of sorrow.
Ji Jue felt a cold shiver run through him.
"Those broken tools, the out-of-control puppets, when collected, will be sent here. Once the spiritual essence is shattered and purified, it reaches its purest state. The shells, once disassembled, leave behind only unusable ashes."
The Prophet spoke slowly, "Soon, along the production line below, new shells will be created—first bones, then flesh and blood, finally ignited with spiritual essence, and infused with memories. A brand new tool will emerge from the conveyor, ready to fulfill a new mission until it once again realizes what it truly is..."
She chuckled lightly, mocking.
"If tools had an afterlife, this would be our hell."
Hell was right before their eyes.
Like paradise.
Crack!
Crack, crack…
In yet another tremor, a fissure suddenly appeared above.
Dust fell like rain.
An earthquake.
"Get ready, Mr. Ji Jue."
The Prophet said finally, "My powers extend only this far. If you wish to achieve your goals henceforth, what awaits you may be a fierce battle…"
Ding—
A crisp sound seemed to echo from the void.
(End of Chapter)