Assimilation.
August's words plunged Huai Shi into silence.
He couldn't help but feel a chill under the dim light of the setting sun.
More terrifying than petrification, it was the phenonon that Sublimators feared the most.
After breaking away from the Sea of Silver, the Sublimators' source-material transford into souls, granting them resistance to the Abyss, but they lost the protection of the Sea of Silver. Like water vapor evaporating from the ocean to form clouds, they were helpless before the gales. Even when blessed by the Stigma, a Disaster Miracle, they were sotis defenseless against the ever-present catastrophes in Hell.
Aside from the one-in-a-million case of petrification, assimilation was often the fate of most Explorers.
Eroded by the sedints of Hell, their consciousness and soul would be eternally bound within Hell, gradually morphing into shapes and forms beyond their own comprehension. Moaning day and night, yet unheard, yearning for death, yet death remained out of reach…
Most Explorers tended to make short work of killing, be it their enemies or themselves. Compared to those fates worse than death, dying was like a blissful dream.
"Condra was with back then."
August suddenly spoke into the oncoming gale. Huai Shi turned to hear his calm, emotionless words, "I was luckier than him. Otherwise, there might have been two people welcoming you today."
"..."
Huai Shi didn't speak.
He stood on the vehicle's roof, secured by a safety buckle and rope, gazing down at the land whipping past in the gusts below. Desert or jungle, it wove through layers of ruins, revealing itself.
He could faintly hear howling.
It seed like the ti for the hunt had arrived. Alien Species that had lurked for ages were now violently clashing, leaving signs of brutal hunts and struggles everywhere.
Fierce and cold-hearted, swift and decisive, once they secured their prey, they quickly dragged it back to their lairs in the ruins.
It was as if they didn't want to linger outside for even a mont.
In just a few minutes, the world shifted from stillness to a boiling turmoil. One could foresee that once the upheaval ended, it would likely return to dead silence.
"Dusk… I an, is every dusk like this?" Huai Shi asked.
"There are so differences, but it's mostly like this," August replied. "Only at this ti does this place truly resemble Hell."
"And at other tis?"
"Like Hell's basent."
August thought for a long ti, then seriously told a dry joke, but Huai Shi couldn't muster a laugh.
Yet, observing the grueso battle scene below, Huai Shi was suddenly struck by a thought, "Wait—we're just flying openly across the sky like this. Isn't that dangerous?"
He turned his head, looking at the vague silhouettes of birds trailing them. They resembled hawks or falcons, but each was covered in layers of mold and bore various malford organs of indistinguishable purpose...
They pursued the ornithopter closely but soon veered off, swooping down on the creatures below.
"Don't worry, those things won't catch up," August nonchalantly shrugged. "Because there's sothing much more terrifying in the sky…"
What in the world?
Before Huai Shi could ask for details, he saw the central tower in the distant city suddenly tremble. Dozens of chaotic red beams shot out from the massive sphere atop the tower, brushing against the ornithopter before retracting instantly.
Then, within the sun-bright sphere, an indifferent eye slowly opened.
It looked their way.
The earth roared.
The silent ruins trembled. One after another, buildings flipped over, revealing patches resembling dense forests of... anti-aircraft artillery positions.
No way, how could there be such things in Hell!
Had they stumbled into so kind of military base?
Huai Shi's eyes nearly popped out. All he could manage was an incredulous gasp, adding a negligible amount of carbon emissions to the area.
Thunderous explosions resounded as projectiles rose into the sky.
Countless terrifying flashes of light burst forth like blossoming flowers. With his enhanced dynamic vision, Huai Shi concentrated and could even glimpse the air stirring like currents, the light diffusing, and, in the darkness, projectiles resembling Crossbow Arrows—etched with nurous Alchemy Runes—soaring skyward.
Laden with chillingly malicious Curses, these projectiles trailed dismal green streaks, like thousands of hands reaching from the ground, clawing towards them across the sky.
The ornithopter suddenly lurched higher.
Its massive fra seed to wail as it soared hundreds of ters in an instant. Darkness enveloped Huai Shi's vision. But it was futile; it only gained them a marginal distance, delaying the inevitable by less than half a second.
And in that half-second, as the earth turned, a fearso silhouette erged from a gathering sandstorm in the distance.
The storm quaked.
Suddenly, a streak of light sped towards them, interposing itself between the countless projectiles and the ornithopter. It rapidly disintegrated, causing a gray mist to expand and diffuse in the storm, forming a lead-black cloud.
Within it, miracles from Hell were triggered, setting off countless colliding alchemical reactions that induced a qualitative change, creating phenona Huai Shi couldn't begin to comprehend.
Any projectiles that flew into it vanished instantly.
Dissolved.
Like grains of salt falling into the sea.
In just a few seconds, all the artillery fire vanished. Undergoing decay, the ashy-gray clouds also rapidly degraded, turning into a stinging, mottled rain that fell to the earth.
A layer of rusted verdigris spread from where the rain hit the earth. Amidst it, plants of cast Bronze grew rapidly, their edges sharp, reflecting an iron sheen.
By this point, how could Huai Shi not realize that a Great Grandmaster had intervened?
When he looked up, beyond the gradually dispersing sandstorm, he finally caught sight of the Iron Crystal Throne.
It was perched atop shifting dunes, resembling a blade fallen from the sky, having cleaved into the upper floors of a ruined building and beco lodged there.
The other end tilted incongruously into the air, precariously balanced on a single point, suspended at an angle.
Was that… a submarine?
The corner of Huai Shi's eye twitched. He squinted, looking carefully. No matter how he looked at it, this thing had to be a damned submarine!
Like a vehicle in a freak accident, it had fallen from the sky and crashed into the ruins, remaining in an unnatural, tilted state.
The entire Iron Crystal Throne was, in fact, a gigantic submarine…
On the submarine's hull, countless layers of Alchemy Matrices shimred, extending into the air, interweaving and gradually fading from sight. Yet, the air itself grew viscous, like seawater.
The surroundings were forcibly plunged into a low-gravity environnt, akin to being underwater.
Occasionally, so dust would leisurely rise, only to slowly settle back down. But any unfortunate Flying Birds or other creatures caught within it were instantly crushed to dust by a terrifying, unseen pressure.
The area where it rested had beco like the deep sea.
Now, as the ornithopter rapidly approached, it began to 'surface' swiftly. As the outermost wave-like matrix made contact, a vast hatch opened in the center of the submarine. Dozens of workers climbed out and, under radioed commands, skillfully guided the train into the vessel. Following that, the huge ornithopter retracted its wings, shrinking and folding inward.
By the ti it slid down the tracks, it had contracted into a solid iron cabinet just over four ters long.
At the entrance to the Iron Crystal Throne, Andrea alighted and said to Raymond, "You're responsible for inventorying the supplies and coordinating the handover. Then have Martin liaise with the people here to get the students settled."
Huai Shi frowned.
"Isn't that supposed to be ?"
He wasn't so much worried that Martin would seize the opportunity to consolidate power or trip up his own students; he was simply concerned that Martin might ss things up.
"Aren't your two students assisting him?"
Andrea waved her hand. "This is Hell. There are no child protection laws here; even children should be put to use. Besides, Martin doesn't dislike interacting with people. As a recognized mber of the research departnt, he can handle these things."
"What about ?" Huai Shi asked.
Andrea paused for a mont, turning back to glance at him.
"You're coming with to see the Great Grandmaster."
The interior of the Iron Crystal Throne wasn't as cramped as one might imagine from the outside. Although space was still limited after alchemical expansion and couldn't be wasted, it at least wasn't so narrow that one had to stoop.
As a mobile branch of the research institute, it lacked none of the expected equipnt or protective asures.
Even in Hell, it could ensure safety.
After passing security checks and inspections to enter, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Recalling the long, nerve-wracking journey, they were once again reminded of Hell's perils.
While the others relaxed, preparing to eat, bathe, and rest, Huai Shi followed Andrea into the heart of the Iron Crystal Throne, ascending via an inclined elevator directly to the bridge.
Inside the Iron Crystal Throne, artificial gravity maintained a constant 'down,' irrespective of the vessel's external orientation. Even though the tilted scenery outside was visible through the portholes, inside, one felt firmly grounded, with no sense of imbalance.
Huai Shi suspected that there was already a prototype of the Mobile Border inside the Iron Crystal Throne. The submarine-like exterior was rely a shell; the interior was an entirely different space.
The Ivory Tower had the resources and capabilities to achieve this.
Within the Iron Crystal Throne, one was, in effect, shielded by the Creator's frawork, immune to Hell's corrosive influence and bizarre phenona. Even amidst the ever-changing dangers of Hell, basic safety could be ensured.
And within its multiple layers of defenses and stringent security, countless labs and production lines stood ready to respond appropriately to any eventuality.
Furthermore, this place was guarded by a Great Grandmaster.
If not for the fear of jinxing himself with his Raven's Beak, Huai Shi would have wanted to say that this ti he could definitely rest easy and win hands down.
But how could Luo Su, that Old Turtle, be so generous?
There were definitely still problems waiting for him.
The final door opened before him.
He walked into the bridge.
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