Chapter 272: The Only Turning Point

The method to enter a private realm was extremely simple—easier than spatial teleportation. Wu Chang merely thought the corresponding thought, and the next moment, he was inside Shelter 88.

The location where he entered the underground shelter was identical to where he first entered—on the city's edge, where a streetlamp was visible the instant he opened his eyes.

This time, however, there was no Xiao Liang to give him a whole show.

The streetlamp before him had been upgraded to a new model; no trash or vomit littered its base, and the chaotic graffiti on the walls had been painted over.

He sniffed the air—it was fresh. Upon closer sensing, he detected airflow within the underground shelter.

If he hadn't entered once before, he wouldn't have sensed this was a city built underground.

Walking along the road, he saw vehicles moving in orderly fashion. At an intersection, a driver lightly scraped the car ahead; the driver behind immediately got out to apologize. The front driver glanced over, saw no visible damage, and waved it off with a gesture.

Wu Chang clicked his tongue. The once-decaying shelter now thrived, making him feel alienated.

He Yun tore up her contract with Mercury, resetting the underground shelter to the day the crisis began. Since everything restarted, the residents forgot everything that happened during the time loop.

The residents felt as if they'd had a long dream, retaining only faint, unclear impressions of the past.

Fortunately, this was the case—during the time loop, people had to constantly seek stimulation just to feel alive, and they'd done absolutely anything to find it.

If they remembered all those memories, they'd likely be so ashamed at midnight that over ninety percent would kill themselves.

Walking forward, he saw the familiar Broken Bottle Bar. The bar had changed little—though repainted, it still retained its wild style.

He sat at the bar, waved to the bartender, and said: "A latte."

The moment he spoke, the entire bar fell silent. All eyes turned to him, filled with expressions of "You've messed up."

No matter how much the city changed, some things were deeply rooted and unchangeable.

For instance, ordering a non-alcoholic drink at Broken Bottle Bar triggered the boss's wrath.

Boom.

The bartender's mechanical prosthetic arm slammed onto the bar, denting the all-metal surface deeply and shattering the glass cup instantly.

"You fucking—"

Before the bartender could finish his greeting, he saw Wu Chang's face, seemed to remember something, and changed his expression:

"Wait a moment—I'll have someone buy it right away."

Wu Chang was surprised. He'd prepared to beat up Snake again, but this time the bartender was surprisingly cooperative.

Even more astonished were the regulars seated around the bar. One of them gaped dramatically and shouted: "Paul, you—"

Before he could finish, the bartender cut him off: "The broken cup goes on your tab."

"Why?"

"Because you disturbed me."

The regulars understood body language well. They didn't provoke the bartender, but turned their gazes toward Wu Chang.

Judging by his attire, he was an outsider—outsiders who entered here were rare. Who the hell was he, to make Boss Paul back down?

One bolder regular prepared to approach and speak, but before he could open his mouth, the distinctive engine roar of an air car echoed outside.

Within the confined underground space, air cars had few applications and few owners; their engine noise had become a signature theme for certain individuals.

The bar patrons looked outside and saw a pure-black air car parked there—the vehicle of Shelter Chief He Yun.

Everyone wondered what the chief wanted tonight—was she bored again, randomly picking a victim to beat up?

Lately, the chief's mood had been unstable, like an aunt who moved in and refused to leave, showing up every few days for a fight, deliberately holding back just to punch the punching bag longer.

Snake, just emerging from the restroom, saw He Yun enter and immediately turned back into the stall, locking the door behind him.

As a regular on the boxing ring, he'd been beaten more than anyone else.

He Yun, in a white lab coat, ran down from the car. Once inside the bar, she slowed to a walk, heading straight to Wu Chang's side. The two regulars sitting next to him immediately stood up to offer their seats.

He Yun sat beside Wu Chang and asked: "Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

Wu Chang blinked and said: "Wanted to give you a surprise."

He Yun asked: "Want to hang out here a bit, or come with me right away?"

Wu Chang answered without hesitation: "I came here for you. What do you think?"

He Yun didn't hesitate. She grabbed Wu Chang's hand and walked out.

Watching the two leave, the bar patrons immediately swarmed the bartender: "Paul, who was that guy?"

Paul smirked, continuing to wipe the glass: "Don't know. Don't ask questions you shouldn't."

He glanced at the special button beneath the bar. He truly didn't know who Wu Chang was—he only knew He Yun had told him: if an outsider entered the bar and asked for milk, detain them and press the button immediately.

In the air car, Wu Chang and He Yun sat in the back seat, while AI-88 drove.

He Yun asked: "How long are you planning to stay this time?"

Wu Chang hesitated: "Two or three days. My world isn't stable—I can't spare much time."

He Yun nodded, showing no dissatisfaction. She piloted the air car on a patrol route above the city, explaining the changes in the underground shelter.

She chose to keep the shelter in its Current-World-Pillar state, not upgrading it to the Second Abyss Layer. Without full transformation, the shelter hadn't become what she'd envisioned—where everyone could manipulate energy by will, merging technology and magic.

Yet even so, fusing the Desire Stele with the shelter's energy grid had made energy and resources nearly infinite.

The only thing people needed to consider now was how to expand deeper underground and secure larger living spaces.

The air car descended to deeper levels. Since energy was drawn directly from the Desire Stele, the former energy mines had been converted into integrated R&D and manufacturing facilities.

The manufacturing facility was still under construction, with one-third completed. Once it reached halfway, it could be put into operation.

The highest priority now was building the new mecha production line.

Wu Chang asked curiously: "The Stone Temple is no longer a threat. Why are you still mass-producing mechas?"

He Yun's face showed a faint worry as she replied:

"As the shelter's time flow restored, traces of human activity have recently appeared outside the shelter's perimeter."

"They move stealthily, are well-trained, and deliberately gather intelligence on us—they're clearly hostile. They're the same group that attacked Shelter 87."

"As long as they keep watching us, there's always a risk of ambush. Brother plans to form a new armored unit and strike first—to eliminate them all."

Wu Chang's brow furrowed slightly. He remembered He Yun saying that among those who attacked and slaughtered Shelter 87, there were quite a few members of the Bliss Sect, with evil gods involved, and that the opposing side very likely had Transcendents among them. He said, "Be extremely careful when you act. Best to notify me beforehand, and I'll go with you."

He Yun said with a smile, "Then I won't stand on ceremony."

The empty vehicle stopped in front of the central laboratory. Seeing He Yun about to drag him toward the bedroom, Wu Chang hurriedly said:

"Hold on. Actually, besides coming specifically to see you, there are two other things I need to do."

He Yun turned to look at him and said with an expression that said 'I knew it': "I thought you'd keep it bottled up forever."

Looking at Wu Chang's slightly awkward expression, He Yun changed direction and pulled him toward the laboratory instead.

"Tell me, what do you want to use the shelter's energy network for?"

Wu Chang asked in confusion, "How did you know I wanted to borrow the energy network?"

He Yun said with a forlorn expression, "Who told me to compare myself to that little girl out there who was born a deity? All I've got left is this little advantage."

Wu Chang's expression froze, a guilty look flashed in his eyes, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

!

He Yun suddenly burst out laughing. "Just kidding. The fact that you came to see me already makes me really happy."

Wu Chang's expression grew even more awkward.

Oh no, he's about to be toyed with like Tom.

Wu Chang patted his face, deciding to let He Yun gloat for a little while. Later he'd definitely show her who's boss.

He took out the Omniscient Crystal and gave He Yun a rough rundown of the intel on it.

The Omniscient Crystal required sufficient Transcendent energy to answer his questions. Wu Chang had tried channeling energy into the Transcendent Crystal; with his Energy stat of 146, pouring it all in only nudged the energy bar forward by a hair.

It was clear how vast the energy the Omniscient Crystal required. Aileen charging it with her true divine form might fill it, but without enough believers, Aileen's divine power recovered very slowly.

After much thought, there was no place more suited to providing massive amounts of Transcendent energy than an underground shelter.

So when He Yun said that line about how, compared to Aileen, he only thought of her when he needed energy, Wu Chang couldn't help feeling guilty.

But He Yun didn't hold it against him, because after hearing all the intel on the Omniscient Crystal, her attention had already shifted from Wu Chang to the Omniscient Crystal.

Without Wu Chang needing to say a word, she immediately began building a power supply device based on the Omniscient Crystal.

Energy was He Yun's domain. In less than an hour, she had set up a channel on the central console, pouring a steady stream of energy into the Omniscient Crystal.

The infusion lasted five minutes. The Omniscient Crystal lit up once more, hovering in the air and slowly rotating, then asked Wu Chang:

"Required energy fully charged. Would you like to repeat your previous question?"

Wu Chang nodded and repeated, "What should I do to stop or reduce the Abyss's erosion of the real world?"

"Obtain three Pillar of the Present World and temporary administrative authority over the Wasteland Realm among them. Obtain faith power from no fewer than three planes. Ally with the existing Surface God-Kingdom in reality to construct a large Hidden God-Kingdom. This can buy a slim chance of turning the tide."

Wu Chang knit his brows. What he wanted was to stop the erosion of the real world—how could the Omniscient Crystal, after laying out all these conditions, still only offer a single chance?

"Can't it be stopped completely?"

The Omniscient Crystal did not answer. Its surface dimmed once more and fell back onto the console.

Wu Chang was getting a little anxious. After eating all that energy, you really only answer one question?

He looked at He Yun, wanting to ask her to do it again, but He Yun gave a helpless expression and said, "It seems to have hit its energy ceiling. I can't channel any more energy into it."

Wu Chang sighed. The Omniscient Crystal was immensely powerful, but unless one signed a soul contract with it, using it came with all kinds of restrictions. Even Aileen couldn't force-activate it, so of course He Yun had no way either.

He Yun handed the Omniscient Crystal back to Wu Chang and asked, "You said earlier there were two things. What's the second?"

Wu Chang pulled a portable hard drive from his interdimensional storage, dropped to one knee, and presented it to He Yun with the ceremony of delivering a diamond ring.

He Yun picked up the hard drive, plugged it into the console, and asked, "What is this?"

Wu Chang said, "I have a cousin. He's made quite a name for himself in biology and runs a world-class unicorn company. Unfortunately, he was assassinated recently. On his deathbed, he entrusted the company and his life's research to me."

"I figured since I was coming to see you, I couldn't exactly show up empty-handed, so I brought his research along. Your fields are different, but who knows—maybe it'll spark something through cross-pollination."

What he gave He Yun on the hard drive was precisely Schultz's life's work.

During the three days helping Aileen stabilize the Surface God-Kingdom, he had tried studying it. Every time, after just five minutes, he'd feel dizzy and drowsy.

The feeling was exactly like his college days—whenever he had insomnia, he'd pull out the vocabulary book, read 'abandon' three times, at most glance at the related definitions, and immediately fall fast asleep. Better than sleeping pills.

What Schultz had left him was far beyond his depth. Maybe one day, once he fully unlocked the Omniscient Crystal, looking at this knowledge again might bring some insight.

But he knew his own limits. With the Omniscient Crystal, he might learn this knowledge; but him learning this knowledge was unlikely.

Besides, he, Wu So-and-So, made his way through the Abyss Game on the strength of his iron elbows. Spending time studying that stuff would be a waste of good steel on a sword tassel.

But Schultz's knowledge was a treasure for any tech-oriented world. Leaving it in a corner would be an absolute waste. Better to hand it to He Yun, a fellow science prodigy. Maybe she could learn something from it.

Just as Wu Chang had guessed, He Yun—who could blend mysticism and science together—was also a super-genius, capable of understanding what Schultz had written.

He Yun casually opened one of the files, read a few lines, and her gaze was locked tight by the contents, greedily devouring what was inside.

Seeing this, Wu Chang said smugly, "So? Pretty震撼, right? My cousin…"

He had just started to praise Schultz when he noticed He Yun pressing her index finger to her lips, giving him a shush.

This stung Wu Chang a little. So that's how it is—before, she was calling me Sweetheart, dragging me to the bedroom; now that there's a new favorite, I'm Lady Niang, and I even get shushed when I talk.

Wu Chang sighed, found himself a chair in the lab, and waited for He Yun to get her fill.

That wait lasted three hours.

He Yun stared unblinkingly at everything, constantly writing and sketching, all the while wearing the same unhinged grin as a mad scientist. Wu Chang was starting to worry she'd learn something wrong.

Fortunately, He Yun's lab was saturated with energy, so all electronics were essentially on real-time wireless charging—no need to worry about a dead phone.

Three hours later, He Yun came back to herself. She rubbed her dry eyes and walked toward Wu Chang.

Wu Chang put away his phone, thinking He Yun had finally remembered him.

But He Yun took a tablet from beside him and said:

"Your info's already registered in my bedroom. If you're tired, go sleep first. If you're bored, get He Yi to show you around."

Wu Chang:?

Wait—I even put on my lucky underwear, and you're showing me this?

(End of this chapter)