Chapter 77

It worked!

Ji Jue's nosebleed slowly dripped down; gritting his teeth, he pushed his ability forward once more: 【Restoration】!!!

Yet this time, it stirred up a riot of spiritual quality. The wailing that echoed in his ears grew increasingly violent, almost reverberating within his soul, launching an attack against him.

But when it encountered the manipulation of fluid alchemy, everything collapsed without a fight.

That frantically writhing body stalled, and to everyone's surprise, signs of dissolution appeared, especially on those alien limbs that had spread out, which began to fall off.

This was the first time Ji Jue had applied the purification of fluid alchemy.

He hadn't expected it to be so immediate!

They were, by nature, creations of fluid alchemy and had absolutely no resistance to it.

In just a few short seconds, all the abnormalities had completely fallen away and vanished.

And at this moment, within the vast camp, it was as if it had finally recovered from being frozen.

"Mommy, Mommy!"

After Ji Jue let go, the child nearby was the first to pounce over, hugging the person in the net, weeping and calling out.

But there was no response.

The bloated man had returned to his original appearance, even thinner than before, only... after Ji Jue moved his hand away, he no longer moved at all.

It seemed he was still alive.

But his eyes, from beginning to end, remained hollow.

It was as if a part of his soul had been completely lost along with the alienation.

—Spiritual quality overload, physical properties self-destructing.

A damaged creation, no matter how much it is repaired, can never return to its original state.

Ji Jue sighed wearily and cursed.

97 sat down beside him. "Thank you."

"It didn't succeed again, what are you thanking me for?"

Ji Jue wiped the nosebleed from his face. After the bloodstains vanished, the black-purple web-like marks became even more distinct; they were the faint veins formed by the bursting of facial capillaries.

Soon, under the restoration of the Mouth of the Ancient One, they disappeared.

Only then did he notice the astonished look in 97's eyes nearby.

"What's wrong?" Ji Jue asked.

"No, I'm just surprised." 97 said with a sudden realization: "So you really were sympathizing with us."

Ji Jue was silent.

"Thank you, and thank you for being sad because he couldn't return to his original state." 97 said: "You have already done enough, Mr. Ji Jue.

For things like us, Ironization Disease is the most terrifying thing of all. Being forced against our will to become those inexplicable monsters, while still alive, is even more terrifying than death.

Being able to let him maintain his original state, even if it's just like this now, is already very good."

He patted Ji Jue on the shoulder and said with final gratitude: "Thank you."

"Don't talk about that."

Ji Jue sighed, not wanting to talk anymore, and pointed at the crying child: "What's the deal with him? Why does he call others Mommy?

If I'm not mistaken, you... are all men, right?"

"That is indeed correct, but everyone here can be said to be his mommy." 97 replied: "To be precise, everyone within the Rift Realm, even those monsters, is one too.

Little Jiu is a 'newcomer' just produced from this restart, but the others are different. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Everyone has already been cycled and processed I don't know how many times."

He pointed to his own head: "Basically, it's all mixed together."

This is the cycle mechanism of the workshop.

All products judged as scrap are uniformly collected, dismantled, classified, mixed, reshaped, and then put back into production.

Turning into brand-new 'people'.

Following the settings, walking the predetermined path, and playing the role that belongs to them.

Whether it's a peddler or a high official and wealthy merchant.

From then on, day after day, year after year, they perform actions they cannot even understand themselves, as if it were a ritual of worship or a never-ending sacrifice.

Until one day, from within this life that is infinitely close to being human, they truly understand what 'I' am.

They will truly think of themselves as human.

But once they discover what their essence truly is, the sweet dream ends.

Once the inherent settings and identities lose their meaning, and once they realize what they are, those creations that cannot accept themselves will fall into chaos, eventually becoming completely insane.

Instinctively going to destroy, to kill, to seek death!

Longing for an end.

And just after being completely destroyed, everything will be collected by the workshop again, spiritual quality cleansed, consciousness reset, reproduced, and then welcomed into a new role, a new 'life'.

Just like this, day by day, year by year, generation by generation...

Accumulating over time.

For four hundred years, that initial despair has been constantly passed down, and in the end, the insane spiritual quality hidden beneath everyone's consciousness has become as deep as the ocean!

Ji Jue was silent, almost suffocating.

He couldn't imagine how desperate he would be if, after rebirth and reincarnation time and again, he discovered that life was nothing but an illusion, the self was merely void, and fate was so cruel.

If it were a creation of modern alchemy, it would just be spiritual overload and collapse, but fluid alchemy is something different...

Its greatest 'advantage' and 'feature' is that it causes the creation's appearance and structure to gradually move closer to its essence.

When the essence has completely collapsed, and such insane spiritual quality awakens from its slumber, the original human appearance will vanish without a trace, and they will become monsters in the truest sense.

Suffering day and night, wailing day and night.

It is just like a real hell.

Seeking life but unable to find it, seeking death but unable to achieve it.

"We want to stop."

97 whispered softly, talking to himself, like a prayer to a demon or a god, "No matter what, as long as it can stop, that's enough."

Ji Jue was silent.

He didn't speak again.

Perhaps it was the next day, perhaps it was a few hours later.

Ji Jue was awakened by the commotion outside and heard the cheers and blessings from the camp.

Walking outside the tent, he saw 97 surrounded by the crowd, along with several others, holding weapons and fully armed.

It looked as if they were preparing to set out on an expedition.

Noticing Ji Jue's gaze, 97 smiled, waved at him as if saying goodbye, and turned to leave.

The exploration was about to begin once again.

The crowd cheered and shouted, applauding their backs, filled with expectation, as if seeing them off.

Ji Jue even saw the Prophet in the crowd.

Right at the back, at the entrance of that shack, she sat in a wheelchair, being pushed by someone, watching the exploration team leave as the gate closed once again.

Noticing Ji Jue approaching, she whispered something, and the person accompanying her left.

"How have you considered it, Mr. Ji Jue?" the Prophet asked.

Ji Jue shook his head: "I don't know, I haven't thought it through, but instinctively, I don't like you."

"That's normal. Characters who are evasive and pretend to be mysterious can never gain trust. Compared to someone as frank as you, it is actually a non-human creation like me that is more hypocritical."

The Prophet smiled indifferently: "Please forgive me, sir. Some bargaining chips are simply too precious, and there is only one chance. I cannot rashly entrust it to someone who might not be trustworthy."

"Can't you explore it yourselves?" Ji Jue asked.

"Yes." The Prophet nodded with difficulty: "Do you think we will have any results?"

"I don't know." Ji Jue shook his head.

"Let me tell you, perhaps there will be some piecemeal discoveries, perhaps some warehouses and traces left by Mercury can be found, but a real breakthrough? A real transformation? No, there won't be."

The Prophet said: "Never."

"From the very beginning, everything was already destined. We are tools, and tools cannot escape the operational range preset by their master." The Prophet said: "Even if the workshop's hub appeared before their eyes, they would only turn a blind eye, or even, be unable to understand..."

"And you?"

Ji Jue asked: "Aren't you the Prophet? The all-knowing Prophet, can't you find it either?"

"I can find it, of course I can find it."

The Prophet answered decisively, her smile becoming more mocking: "But what happens after finding it? Tools can never destroy the work left by their master, because that is the command engraved in the deepest part of our spiritual quality."

Other people simply cannot discover it, cannot enter it.

And even though the Prophet has known and been clear about it for a long time, she cannot act.

This is destined to be a cycle without results.

Futile expeditions will only be launched time and again, but there will be no results.

Ji Jue asked: "Do they know?"

The Prophet did not answer.

For a long time.

Only a helpless sigh.

"Mr. Ji Jue, if you were awakened from a hell of only suffering and realized your own tragic outcome, then it is best not to go and wake up other sleeping people. But more and more people are being awakened... then, you must make them believe that there is still a possibility of breaking hell."

"Otherwise, all that awaits them is despair."

"Yes, that's right, I am lying. I am not all-knowing. I have deceived them, more than once."

The Prophet smiled frankly: "In fact, I can't do anything. I'm just a liar.

Even the survival of this camp only lasts fifty or sixty years each time. When each restart begins, we will all return to the workshop and once again become unrecognizable."

"But I must make them believe that the future is hopeful."

"Even if it is a hope that is so distant—"

"Humans need lies, and we need them too."

The Prophet whispered, sighing softly: "Mercury's plan actually has no problems. The only loophole is... did she make us too much like humans?"

Tools do not fear hell, tools do not despair, tools do not want to be liberated.

Only humans do.

Heaven and hell are both created by humans. All they can do is silently endure all this suffering.

Without knowing the years, without knowing the end.

In the silence, Ji Jue stared quietly at the camp before him. After a long time, he laughed at himself.

"Then why me? Prophet, if you know even a little, you should be clear that there is no essential difference between me and other outsiders."

"Perhaps you are just lucky?"

"My luck has never been good, only bad and worse, including you coming to my door." Ji Jue said: "Please answer this question frankly and directly."

"You have learned fluid alchemy, right?"

The Prophet turned her head and looked over, her incomplete eyes staring at him: "This is Mercury's workshop. According to the commands once set by Mercury, if an apprentice masters fluid alchemy, they will automatically register in the core and be granted the most basic access permissions to the inner layer."

"But your permissions are far higher than you imagine. Your spiritual quality identification circuit represents the former Central Thermal Reaction Furnace. The module that authorized you added a very small note to your authorization."

The Prophet's finger lifted, and right before Ji Jue's eyes, stroke by stroke, she drew a small symbol, conveying the entrustment from the furnace of the past:

"It says, you are trustworthy."

Ji Jue's pupils contracted for a moment.

He discerned the meaning of that outline.

That was a rune that flowed out from the Supreme Metamorphosis.

In the interpretation of alchemy, it represents inclusion and bearing, symbolizing protection and gifts.

Its meaning is, 【Compassion】.

Ah, it's the end of the month, asking for a monthly ticket.