Death… And Me

Chapter 4400: We Will Find Out Soon

Rean looked inside the newly opened entrance. Beyond the gate, the interior was mostly dark, illuminated only by the faint glow of countless runes embedded throughout the walls.

”I mean...” he began while studying the passage. ”The warehouse refused to let the box leave after scanning it, so why would the Light Pillar Structure allow the same box to enter? The scan should have detected an error. If everything was working correctly, this gate shouldn’t have opened at all.”

Harksha frowned in confusion. ”Then why did you have me test every single box in hundreds of places? If it wasn’t supposed to work in the first place, wasn’t all of that a complete waste of time?”

”There was a reason,” Rean replied, shaking his head. ”My goal was never to make the structure open. I only wanted to locate the entrance.”

He pointed toward the enormous gateway. ”You saw the wall scanning the box before opening, didn’t you? That’s what I was after. Once I knew where the entrance was, we could think of another way inside by using it somehow.”

He paused before looking back at the gate itself. ”But this...” He scratched his head. ”This doesn’t make sense.”

Everyone waited for him to continue. ”The scan didn’t report any problems. A box that shouldn’t have been here was accepted without any errors.” He gestured toward the massive opening. ”And look at the size of this thing. My airplane can fly through without any difficulty. Why would the system create such an enormous gate for a tiny silver box? It is as small as Fohui’s core. You would expect that an entrance no bigger than the box would open instead. That feels like an unnecessary waste of energy.”

Kentucky stopped beside the entrance and glanced inside. ”So... you’re saying we’re being invited in?”

Rean shrugged. ”Maybe.” He honestly wasn’t sure. ”Or perhaps the ruins’ system simply doesn’t care whether the box belongs here. Maybe it only checks whether it has the necessary clearance to enter. I really can’t tell.”

Roan immediately contacted Sister Orb. ’Sister Orb, can you sense anything unusual?’

[Not really,] she answered without hesitation. [I can still feel the location of the central core, but that’s about it. It’s still far above us.]

Harksha examined the runes surrounding the entrance from the outside. The more she looked, the more similarities she found with the ones engraved throughout the Sacred Relic. ”So... what now?”

Rean couldn’t say much. ”Your decision. We can’t split up anyway. The disguise only covers twenty-seven meters, so leaving someone outside isn’t an option. Do you want to test our luck?”

So far, he had no proof that this was a trap. Being lured inside was nothing more than speculation. Still, considering how terrifying the guardian cores were, it wasn’t a possibility anyone could casually ignore.

Harksha looked toward the dark passage one last time before taking a deep breath. ”We’ve already come this far. Let’s do it.”

”Good enough for me.” Rean climbed back into the airplane, everyone else following right behind him. ”Then we’re going in.”

The Celestial Thrusters hummed to life as the airplane slowly crossed the threshold.

*Suunnnmmm...*

The instant the airplane entered the structure, the enormous gate behind them lit up once more. The glowing outline faded. The opening disappeared. A perfectly smooth wall stood there again as though no entrance had ever existed.

”Shit!” Harksha immediately turned around. Their escape route had vanished completely.

Senkiyu, Rico’the, Cantra, and the others instinctively tensed, their eyes sweeping across every corner of the gigantic room, expecting an attack at any second.

Surprisingly, Rean looked far calmer than everyone else. ”Relax,” he said. ”Look at the lower-right corner of where the gate used to be.”

Everyone focused their eyes.

Only then did they notice them.

Several silver boxes were still stacked neatly near the edge of the former entrance. Compared to the gigantic gateway that had existed moments ago, they were almost impossible to notice.

Harksha narrowed her eyes. ”The wall didn’t reform where the boxes are...”

”Exactly.” Rean nodded. ”I wasn’t about to fly in here without leaving myself an exit. I intentionally left those boxes there. Since they’re recognized as part of the ruins, I was fairly confident nothing would move them. Especially considering what these walls are actually made of.”

”What they’re made of?” Senkiyu asked.

Rean nodded. ”The entrance isn’t really physical. It’s more like the arrays are changing the state of the material itself. It’s not a completely unknown concept. Besgol already has a few phasing materials that can behave somewhat similarly when controlled with the proper arrays.”

He smiled while looking around. ”The difference is that whatever civilization built this place is operating on an entirely different level.”

Cantra still looked worried. ”What if someone removes those boxes?”

Rean shrugged. ”We’ve already carried those boxes outside the airplane dozens of times. Every single time they left the disguise range, nothing came to retrieve them. I doubt anything will suddenly happen now. Of course, there is a chance that since they are blocking the reformation of the wall, something might come to take the boxes away.”

He looked upward. ”In any case, we’re already inside. So, even if I’m wrong, we might as well keep moving.”

The interior of the Light Pillar Structure was even larger than anyone had imagined.

Each floor stretched thousands of meters high, while hundreds of identical levels seemed to extend endlessly above them before reaching the central core Sister Orb had detected.

Rean carefully guided the airplane upward.

Rather than flying quickly, he advanced slowly, searching for the large passages connecting each level. Fortunately, just like the outer entrance, every opening inside was large enough for the airplane to pass through without difficulty.

He simply had to make sure he didn’t accidentally scrape one of the countless ancient structures surrounding them.

As Roan had observed earlier, the interior wasn’t filled with corridors or rooms. Instead, it was an enormous open chamber divided into layer after layer of colossal platforms.

Worker cores floated everywhere.

Hundreds...

Perhaps thousands per floor.

Most remained completely idle, while a few quietly performed maintenance throughout the structure.

Curiously, not a single guardian core could be seen inside.

Only the star-shaped worker models remained active here.

As they climbed higher, everyone watched the countless runes embedded throughout the walls.

Every so often, the runes pulsed in unison.

The wave of light started somewhere below before rapidly climbing toward the upper floors.

Each pulse produced an enormous spike on the airplane’s monitoring systems.

[We’re getting close...] Sister Orb suddenly warned.

Since nobody else could hear her, Harksha only noticed Rean slowing the airplane even further.

”Why are you slowing down?” she asked. ”Did you notice something?”

Rean smiled while pointing toward one of the monitoring screens. ”Watch the energy readings every time those pulses happen. The closer we get, the stronger they become. I think we’re approaching the section where all this energy is being transferred.”

”I see...” That explanation was enough for Harksha.

Nobody objected as Rean continued climbing even more carefully.

Then...

Just as they approached the next level...

*ZZZUUUUuuuu...*

The Celestial Thrusters suddenly died!

Without any warning whatsoever!

The airplane immediately lost all propulsion and began dropping before it could reach the next platform.

’Shit!’ Rean instantly transmitted through his Godly Sense. ’Everyone who can fly, get outside and stop the airplane before it crashes on the ground!’

Only three people could respond.

Kentucky.

Fohui.

Harksha.

Kentucky and Fohui naturally possessed the ability to fly because of their races, while Harksha could do so thanks to her cultivation.

All three rushed toward the hatch.

Yet before anyone could even open it...

*Clanggang...*

The airplane abruptly stopped.

Not because the engines had restarted.

Something else had caught it.

Everyone hurried toward the windows.

Streams of white-and-golden energy wrapped around the airplane like countless glowing ribbons.

Following them upward, they saw a gigantic circular array engraved into the ceiling far above.

The streams originated from that array.

Moments later, the glowing strands flowed straight through the airplane’s hull as though it weren’t even there.

”Fuck!” Roan immediately reacted. ”Out! Now!”

Unfortunately... They were already too late.

The streams instantly formed a barrier around the airplane, one nearly identical to the barrier surrounding the ruins themselves.

Harksha immediately struck it with all her strength.

Nothing.

Not even a ripple.

They were completely trapped.

Then everyone felt it. The airplane moved again. Not under Rean’s control, though. It was being pulled upward, straight toward the enormous circular array in the ceiling.

”What is happening?!” Harksha demanded.

Nobody answered.

After watching the glowing streams for another moment, Rean finally sighed.

”I guess...”

He looked upward.

”...we’re about to find out.”