Chapter 76: Iron-Sickness

【Hey, new guy, little brother.】

【Haven't seen your model before. You aren't human, are you?】

【My waist is aching, come take a look.】

【No, no, no, don't touch there—ah, ah, ah, ah, eh? Holy crap? Hand-to-hand cure, brother! Thanks!】

【I'm fixed!】

Through personal visits and the enthusiastic introductions of various mechanical big brothers, Ji Jue had finally determined the state of the camp.

This was truly just an ordinary survivor gathering.

Everyone here was a "native" or "creation" of the Rift Realm.

Due to various loopholes and errors, they had all, to varying degrees, perceived the abnormalities in their lives and their own problems, which was why they feared the world above and fled here to huddle together for warmth.

The Prophet rarely showed herself, but the atmosphere within the gathering was quite friendly and harmonious; there was none of the bullying or exploitation common in post-apocalyptic stories. Occasionally, people would flee here with their families from other places, and they would always be settled properly.

Food came from two very old starch conversion machines and automated production equipment in the warehouse, while drinking water came from a pump protected in the center of the camp.

Some people spontaneously maintained order, while others would regularly venture out in groups, attempting to explore the Rift Realm, though their harvests were usually meager.

If this were a web novel protagonist, they would have figured out the color of the Prophet's underwear within six hours, but Ji Jue had spent the better part of the day just doing good deeds.

He fixed air conditioners, repaired refrigerators, and after welding the sheet metal of a car, he even did bodywork...

He was so happy he couldn't stop.

Xiao An recorded in his notebook, stroke by stroke: Third day of entering the Rift Realm, Brother Ji Jue has returned to his old trade; he seems very happy.

"Mom, Mom!!!"

The broken, fragmented "child" on the small cart spun around excitedly, grabbing an old man and shouting with joy: "The big brother from outside fixed my wheels! Look!"

"That's good." The old man, whose lower body slithered like a snake, stroked the child's hair and smiled gently: "Don't run around everywhere. Everyone has to go find you every time you go out."

"Mm-hmm!" The child laughed: "I'm a good baby!"

After saying that, the child zoomed away on the cart to show off the brand-new wheels to the other "moms."

Ji Jue watched the scene from afar, holding a wrench, focused on repairing the water purifier in front of him.

"The filter element is rotten and clogged. Do you have any charcoal? Burning some wood to make some will work too. Just open this up, fill it, and put it back on."

Ji Jue rubbed his aching lower back, stretched his body, and finally said: "The pump is fine; the wires are just a bit aged. Just replace them. You guys should be able to handle this yourselves; you shouldn't need me."

"Thanks."

The middle-aged man who had been following him the whole time stammered, squeezing out a muffled sound from his throat.

Even though he had initially suspected Ji Jue of having ulterior motives, after watching him fix almost all the broken tools in the camp in just half a day, he could no longer maintain his vigilant and defensive posture.

After hesitating for a moment, he went to get a bottle.

Only after Ji Jue had finally dismantled two old cars, welded them into one, and finished the job did he walk over with a cup. "Want some?"

A clear liquid fell into the paper cup, carrying a faint, pungent odor.

"This is..." Ji Jue sniffed, unable to confirm.

"Liquor." The middle-aged man gave a bitter smile: "Before I came here, I was... made into a worker at a distillery. I collected some materials myself to make some.

It's made of starch; the taste isn't great, but this is all we have. Don't mind it."

"To be honest, I don't know if my stomach can digest local ingredients." Ji Jue gave a self-deprecating smile, but after taking a small sip, he set it down.

At this amount, he shouldn't get drunk.

97, however, was stunned, unable to believe he was so straightforward: "You... aren't afraid I'd poison you?"

Ji Jue just smiled and said bluntly: "If it's poisonous, I'll take revenge on you."

With the Ancient One's Mouth hanging around his neck, he really wasn't worried about this.

Not to mention whether any poison could fool Brother Qiu's scan, Xiao An was standing right there; he would know what ingredients were mixed in just by smelling it. Besides, if there really were a problem, with his abilities, making the entire camp collapse would be as easy as snapping his fingers.

"..."

97 remained silent, finishing a full cup himself before sighing: "It seems the Prophet was right; you really are different from the rumors about those other outsiders."

"Oh? What about the other outsiders?"

"It's said that other outsiders have come several times before, but every time, they only cause destruction and kill 'people' who don't even know what they are.

For the sake of treasure, they'll do anything. But don't we know whether there's treasure or not? There's nothing here but hell.

Yet they seem to like this hell even more than we do."

"..." Ji Jue sighed, "'Players' are like that."

Not to mention the relics and treasures of Mercury; even if there were only a few common drops, they would treat the entire Rift Realm like a dungeon and tear it apart.

It was just that the local gangs weren't very friendly, and the water was too deep; if they caused too much destruction, Mercury's workshop might just wipe the floor and blast all the outsiders away.

"Players?"

The middle-aged man didn't understand the word, his expression gloomy: "The Prophet says they are demons, demons just like Mercury."

Ji Jue was speechless.

He only felt how ironic it was.

As the creator, she should have been longed for and worshipped by her creations like a god, just as the furnace had remained loyal to Mercury until the very end.

But now, the creations of the Rift Realm regarded her as a terrifying demon.

What was this?

An out-of-control AI from a novel? A rebellious AI?

But no matter how out of control or rebellious they were, they couldn't stop the operation of the workshop; they could only flee and endure passively.

"Do you all trust the Prophet that much?" Ji Jue asked curiously.

"Of course. If it weren't for the Prophet, I might have been recycled and recast as a tool long ago. Without her, there wouldn't be this camp."

97 answered bluntly: "I know what you want to ask. The Prophet is the Prophet; the Prophet knows everything—at least, in this 'Rift Realm,' that's the case. Those were her exact words to me."

"I don't know what you outsiders are thinking, but there's no need to be so vigilant. We're just a bunch of poor wretches huddling together for warmth. Even the rewards we can offer are just these meager things."

He raised his cup with a self-deprecating smile: "If you want to do something, go talk to the Prophet. There isn't much time left until the reboot."

"Reboot?"

Ji Jue was curious and wanted to ask more.

However, a scream rang out—so familiar, sharp yet muffled, like the painful, agonizing cries of countless people trapped in the same body, shouting, roaring.

The sound of wailing rose up.

"Mom, Mom!!!"

The cart flew up, landed on the ground, and shattered into pieces, but the fragmented child was rolled up by a sharp tentacle, hoisted into the air, and thrashed about wildly as fragments constantly fell.

97's face changed drastically; he dropped his cup and sprinted over.

"Iron-sickness!"

Someone in the panicked crowd shouted: "It's iron-sickness, 32 is having an episode!"

In the middle of the chaos, the bloated, obese man was wailing and weeping with half his face, while the other half had already developed insect-like mutations. Two tentacles extended from the split in his chest, sweeping wildly and destroying everything.

"Lies! You're all lying to me! It's all fake—"

That face twitched constantly, screaming in madness: "I have a child! I have a child, my child is seven years old, he's waiting for me at home, he, he... he..."

That twisted face spasmed, revealing despair, wailing in vain:

"He's dead."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

In the low, muffled sound, a net made of iron wire covered the twisted, mutated figure, and then, the giant firearm Ji Jue had seen appeared, aiming from afar at the struggling, rapidly swelling figure in the net, and pulled the trigger.

What flew out was a harpoon-like spear, gas-powered; its lethality couldn't compare to Ji Jue's shotgun at all, but they used it with such familiarity.

Just like that, they pinned him to the ground.

"Kill him quickly, he's already lost control." Someone in the panicked crowd shouted: "He couldn't hold it back yesterday; he kept wanting to go out and find his wife and child. The inhibitors don't work anymore."

97 hesitated, struggling with difficulty.

The trembling muzzle slowly raised.

But it was pressed down.

"..."

"So, why did I expect my damn luck to be any good?"

Ji Jue sighed, rolled up his sleeves, and stepped forward: "I'll do it!"

Boom!

A tentacle writhed, smashing down toward his head, but in mid-air, a silver light flashed, and it was severed in two. It was Xiao An.

In the net, the out-of-control figure had already swollen to two or three times his original size, and more and more mutation characteristics appeared on his body.

Even his original face was about to disappear.

Only one eye, which could barely be distinguished as human, shed tears in a void.

Ji Jue hesitated for a moment, his hand hovering in mid-air, and then, without hesitation, he pressed down.

"Eat shit then, if you have to."

He squeezed the words out through his teeth: "Brother Furnace, I'm paying back your interest!"

Snap!

At that instant, Mechanical Descent, activate!

Pain, despair, wailing, sorrow, madness, favor, hatred, compassion, joy, bitterness... all the emotions of the mortal world turned into a torrent and rushed toward him.

It swallowed him completely.

Ji Jue's face flushed instantly, feeling the incomparably manic and chaotic spiritual quality eroding his soul; he didn't even have time to care—anyway, there was Brother Table, he could just extract it later.

But now...

He issued the command again:

—【Stop】!

At that instant, Ji Jue's vision went black again, but that decree, which felt like a god's, had already been transmitted down from his abilities.

A formless ripple surged from his body, like a giant bell being struck, and the vast echo spread from his hands, enveloping the entire camp.

Making everything come to a sudden halt!

After the fever, my throat started hurting... swollen and red...