Chapter 376: Child of the Multiverse

Wu Chang and the others had already felt the power of steam explosives at Saint George Square.

The Executioner differed from the modified humans who appeared in the square—he stored steam explosives within his body, some to power his attacks, others to detonate and take his opponent down with him if he failed.

This caused the steam explosives inside the Executioner to activate extremely quickly, detonating within at most two seconds.

Thick plumes of steam erupted from the Executioner's body, each containing destructive power; according to the Omniscient Crystal's estimation, it was enough to level one-fifth of Grimlan.

Under the immense pressure of so much steam explosive, Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing's hearts, which had just settled, rose again to their throats.

Even though Wu Chang had just demonstrated unimaginable power before their eyes, faced with the sheer numerical force of the steam explosives, both men had little faith in him.

In two seconds, they had to decide immediately: whether to rush out of the slum zone and forcibly exit the instance dungeon.

This dilemma left Leng Shan utterly helpless.

As the former top breaker of the Wasteland Realm, his past choices had always been between a desperate gamble or a steady advance—deciding among different strategies to clear instance dungeons.

But in the Steam Phantom instance dungeon, his choices had seemingly narrowed to whether to exit the instance dungeon entirely, and how to escape the shielding zone to do so.

Whether breaking the instance dungeon, clearing it, or even just surviving and leaving it—these options had vanished from his list.

How had the Abyss Game he once knew become so alien all at once?

While Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing struggled with the Executioner's impending self-destruction, Wu Chang was also hesitating.

The Executioner's explosion this time was too fast—he could reuse his old trick and hurl the Executioner skyward, but the height might not be enough to escape the blast radius.

Moreover, if the Executioner exploded, the Anti-Magic Steam Turbine Core above his head would likely be destroyed, and Wu Chang was reluctant to lose it.

Forget it—the jewel of industry, he had already pried out enough; one more wouldn't matter.

Just as he was about to act, a voice came through his spiritual world: Ailin.

The next moment, a large burst of white flame appeared from all around, converging toward the Executioner's corpse.

The white flame drove back the steam, as if sweeping garbage spilled from a trash bin back into it.

The root force contained within the steam had no effect at all before the white flame—no struggle, no resistance—simply forced back into the Executioner's body.

The white flame formed a seamless outer shell over the Executioner's body, leaving not a single gap.

The scene before them left Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing, who also possessed root force, stunned; they stood frozen, staring in disbelief, forgetting even to decide whether to flee the slum zone and exit the instance dungeon.

The white flame the Priest had borrowed—the Undying Holy Fire—had only made them feel its power; the white holy flame now appearing filled them with dread.

The root force within their bodies trembled spontaneously before the white holy flame—a primal fear of the inferior confronting the superior.

Only one possibility could explain this.

The white holy flame before them was not a borrowed counterfeit—it was divine, genuine, infused with divine power.

1, 2…

Puff~

After a soft sound like a wine cork being pulled, all fell silent.

The bomb that two seconds ago held world-ending power, capable of destroying one-fifth of Grimlan, had suddenly become a dud.

Not only did it fail to explode, not even the Executioner's corpse suffered a single scratch.

To an outsider, it might seem the Executioner had just feigned death and let out a fart.

This was divine suppression over mortals—even mortals wielding root force, who ruled the Wasteland Realm with storm and thunder, were utterly insignificant before true divine power.

Not even self-destruction was permitted.

Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing said nothing; a single question rose simultaneously in their minds.

If they were the ones facing the white holy flame, what could they do?

Merely imagining the scenario filled them with overwhelming despair and suffocation.

The answer was: nothing.

Though not corpses, if locked onto by the white holy flame, they could only watch helplessly as it consumed them, like corpses.

Earlier, when Wu Chang dragged the Executioner into the mysterious space and killed him in under a minute, the fear was unseen, unknown.

But the white holy flame casually snuffing out the steam explosives—this was unknown terror they could see in full, yet utterly could not comprehend.

In their memories, even the Three Xieshen Sects could not wield such a dimension-lowering strike within the Wasteland Realm.

They stole a glance at the gray church, thinking inwardly: Could it be that after today, the Three Xieshen Sects would become Four?

For Wu Chang, Ailin's display also startled him.

Because he bore the title of Blasphemer, he feared no divine power and felt no pressure from the divine.

Compared to the Executioner, who wielded root force, the native gods who had condensed divinity were actually easier to fight.

Over time, he had forgotten the rule—that only gods can defeat gods.

Now, seeing Ailin's action, he remembered it—and through the reactions of the Executioner, Leng Shan, Xiang Jianxing, and others, he understood the rule was absolutely true.

It turned out that mortals, besides himself, truly had no resistance against gods.

He set aside his awe, stepped before the Executioner, and pried loose the Anti-Magic Steam Turbine Core embedded on his head.

"Item Name: Anti-Magic Seal Steam Die"

"Item Type: Special"

"Item Skill: Anti-Magic Seal."

"Skill Description: Through research and improvement of the Anti-Magic Crossbow mechanism, combined with mysticism and industry, this enhanced Anti-Magic Seal allows mass production of Anti-Magic bullets via steam press."

"Item Skill: Silver Crossbow Bolt" (King's Emblem Unlocked)

"Skill Description: When mist bearing the Anti-Magic Seal is driven by steam root force, it inflicts additional damage to the source of the transcendent."

Wu Chang stared at the Anti-Magic Steam Turbine Core in his hand, his expression thoughtful.

Was it out of caution for Zhu Li's presence, or because as an official transcendent steam machine, openly using human lives to amplify performance and output looked too grotesque?

The hidden ability of the Anti-Magic Steam Turbine Core required no life or flesh to activate—it looked perfectly normal.

But upon closer inspection, its unusual nature became apparent.

The hidden ability name of the Demonic Steam Press Machine should refer to the prototype of the Demonic Crossbow, and its effect is similar to the Demonic Crossbow—both deal extra damage to specific types of targets.

It was precisely this ability to inflict extra damage on the Source that made the Executioner so effortless in mowing down enemies on Bai She Street; even if players were hit by bullets without striking vital areas, they might still die instantly.

The silver crossbow arrow's effect is powerful, but activating it requires Steam Source Power as its driving force.

And precisely here lies the problem.

Since entering the Steam Phantom Dimension, every influence of Steam Source Power on the dimension's rules has come from the Steam Council and the Quiet Church; the steam explosives containing Steam Source Power also originated from the Steam Council.

On the surface, the Stilan authorities do not possess the method to use Steam Source Power—so why did they design the hidden ability of the Demonic Steam Press Machine this way?

Do the Stilan authorities also possess something similar to steam explosives, or do they have a way to make Source Power influence dimensional rules, merely without having implemented it yet?

He set his speculation aside; when the prompt "You obtained a Pearl of the Industrial Crown" appeared before his eyes, he tossed the core to Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing, sharing the loot.

The requirement for Main Quest Two is to obtain at least one Pearl of the Industrial Crown; the more obtained, the higher the dungeon exploration rate will surely rise.

Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing are meticulous; both skipped the prompt and passed the core to the Priest, helping him complete Main Quest Two as well.

After all, without the Priest, they wouldn't have made it to the slums.

While the three focused on the Super Steam Engine Core, Wu Chang examined the two Blood Epitaphs looted from the Executioner.

Both Blood Epitaphs were deep crimson, brimming with intense resentment.

Together, the two Blood Epitaphs granted Wu Chang 3 points of Life, 1 point of Endurance, 4 points of Inspiration, and 2 points of Willpower.

Additionally, the Multifaceted One's resentment left Wu Chang a colored gemstone.

"Item Name: Adaptive Heart"

"Item Type: consumable"

"Item Rank: B"

"Item Effect: When the player activates the Adaptive Heart, their physical body will be adaptively modified according to the current world dimension, granting them a body better suited for movement within that dimension; the effect dissipates upon leaving the dimension."

"Note: A qualified warrior must adapt to fighting in any environment."

Wu Chang weighed the Adaptive Heart in his hand, then stowed it in his inventory. The Adaptive Heart's effect was equivalent to a single-use version of the Multifaceted One's ability—the most useful skill the Multifaceted One possessed.

Although Wu Chang had never been to the Reason Realm and currently had no information about its dungeon, from the Steam Phantom Dungeon alone, it was clear that Source Power and dimensional rules would be standard in high-difficulty Reason Realm dungeons.

The Multifaceted One's transformation was unremarkable in the Wasteland Realm, its combat power weaker than that of combat-oriented transformations at the same level, and its survivability inferior to that of the Priest—only because the wrong dungeon had been entered, its difficulty too low to unleash the transformation's strengths.

Dungeons with dimensional rules are the true stage for the Multifaceted One.

For instance, in the Steam Phantom Dimension, beneath the Grimlan Smog, even ranked players faced severe restrictions on their abilities—but the Multifaceted One, transforming into a mechanical lifeform, could move freely within Steam Rules.

Not only was his combat power unaffected, he even gained partial bonuses from Steam Rules.

If used properly, the Adaptive Heart would not disgrace its B-rank consumable rating.

Wu Chang turned his attention to his stats panel; the Executioner's Blood Epitaph had not dropped an item, but a skill.

"Skill Name: Flesh Gun"

"Skill Rank: A"

"Skill Effect: Fuse firearms into one's own flesh to enter the Gun God form; during Gun God duration, maximum Life decreases by 1 point per minute, lasting 24 hours."

"Status Name: Gun God"

"Status Effect: Condense any part of the body into a massive, shape-shifting firearm; fill it with flesh from oneself or other sources to create Blood Bullets."

"Blood Bullet: Depending on the type of flesh used, the Blood Bullet will manifest different affixes; retain one affix as the Bullet's special effect. If using one's own flesh as ammunition, retain two affix effects."

Although the Executioner had only two Blood Epitaphs, both dropped rewards Wu Chang desired.

The Flesh Gun skill was his second A-rank skill, after Blind Abyss.

This skill not only filled his gap in ranged output but made his damage output flexible and varied; more importantly, looking at the Flesh Gun skill, a bold speculation arose in his mind.

Did he just drop the Gun God's transformation skill?

Not only the activation effect, but even the status itself is named "Gun God"—clearly the core skill of the "Gun God" transformation.

So transformation skills can be dropped too? Then if he obtained a transformation skill, wasn't he effectively gaining half a transformation?

And if he dared to think bigger, could even the construction skills of a transformation be dropped? Then, might the ultimate skill of a transformation also have a chance to drop?

Thinking of this, his eyes grew eager.

The battle in the slums had subsided, but fighting continued elsewhere.

Saint George's Cathedral was now locked in a desperate struggle.

The matter traced back to when Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing broke out of the Steam Council outpost; Zavier dispatched the Executioner to hunt them down, while the remaining Steam Councilors continued their original mission—attacking Queen Olivia at Stilan Palace.

Over the past few years, Olivia, leveraging her growing power and influence in the field of Super Steam Engines, had cultivated a group of loyal, extraordinary followers.

Some assisted Olivia in carrying out missions, such as disguising themselves as miners from the Pine Tree Mine; others served as guards stationed near Stilan Palace.

These extraordinary individuals were of limited caliber and utterly incapable of resisting the Steam Councilors, who had been modified with semi-mechanical bodies.

The situation was not as one-sided as Bai She Street, but the palace gates were soon breached.

Seeing the tide turning, Olivia fled through a secret passage to Saint George's Cathedral.

Originally, Saint George's Cathedral alone could hardly resist the Steam Councilors—but fortuitously, Randy was visiting Zhu Li inside the cathedral to discuss the election.

Upon hearing of the rebellion and open assassination attempt on the Empress, Randy immediately drew his sword and charged out.

As the pinnacle of native extraordinary beings in the Steam Phantom Dungeon, Randy displayed the same esoteric Source Power as Wu Chang.

Unlike Wu Chang, a half-baked Esoteric Knight, Randy had spent five years in rigorous cultivation; his esoteric Source Power surpassed Wu Chang's.

When fully unleashed, he could expel most of the Steam Rules surrounding Saint George's Cathedral using his own Source Power.

To expel dimensional rules by one's own power—this level of Source Power was beyond even top-tier players like Leng Shan.

Standing at the entrance of Saint George's Cathedral, Randy felt as if he had returned to the day he acted at the Moonlight Sanatorium; no matter what extraordinary power or semi-mechanical body, anything struck by his blade was cleaved in two.

With a single person's strength, he forcibly suppressed over half the Steam Councilors, driving them from the cathedral's entrance all the way to the square.

Zhu Li was not as dominant as Randy, but when she began fighting, it became clear that this quiet woman also possessed Source Power.

Each time she charged up her attack, she could remotely twist and incapacitate a Steam Councilor from afar.

If Wu Chang were present, he would immediately recognize Zhu Li's origin power as Space.

Zhu Li relies entirely on innate talent to use Space Magic; she lacks the refined control Wu Chang possesses through systematic training, yet her results are no worse.

With the two of them working together, the Steam Councillors surrounding St. George's Cathedral gradually faltered and began to retreat.

Seeing they could not break through the two today, the Steam Councillors fought their way backward, attempting to flee.

Before they could leave St. George Square, a scream erupted from behind the Steam Councillors' formation.

The short, fat man stationed at the front, tasked with monitoring Leng Shan and Xiang Jianxing, turned toward the scream—and saw the space behind them nearly filled with blade light.

Around them, the air was thick with blade afterimages, yet each afterimage seemed solid; any limb touched by an afterimage was severed by the blade light.

The phantom, who had fled down Bai She Street to treat his wounds, arrived just then and joined Lan Di and Zhu Li in a three-way assault, swiftly eliminating all the Steam Councillors.

They had originally intended to take some alive, but when they stopped fighting, they discovered that both the dead and the living Steam Councillors were now emitting steam from within.

Xavier had implanted self-destruct programs into the Executioners' bodies—he would never forget these ordinary Steam Councillors.

This trick had been used once before during the final struggle for the invitation, and Zhu Li had already prepared for it.

Before the steam from the explosive charges intensified into concentrated origin power, she used her Space origin power to teleport everyone upward.

Unfortunately, Wu Chang's Space Magic had not yet reached the origin level—even the faintest trace of steam origin power could not be breached; otherwise, back in the slums, they wouldn't have needed Ai Lin to stop the Executioner's explosion.

Boom!

Crack!

The Steam Councillors teleported into the sky exploded one by one, not only shattering the thick smog above them but also bursting into brilliant flames.

What should have been a self-destructive attack capable of destroying St. George's Cathedral—and even the entire West District—became nothing more than a fireworks display.

Zhu Li turned to the returning phantom and asked in surprise, "How did you come back? Wasn't Prime Minister Ge La De attacked?"

The phantom opened his coat, revealing a gruesome, freshly-stopped wound of bullet holes across his chest, and said helplessly:

"An extremely powerful monster appeared on Bai She Street. According to the police, he's the serial killer who haunts the nights of Grimlan—the Executioner. We all attacked together, yet we couldn't stop him for a moment."

"I received a fatal wound during close combat with him and had to retreat to treat my injuries."

"They're now..."

The phantom sighed and said, "They're probably finished already."

Lan Di frowned and said, "Bai She Street isn't far from here. If that's true, the Executioner will arrive soon. Go rest. I'll check the situation there."

Lan Di finished speaking, picked up his sword, mounted his horse, and rode toward Bai She Street.

Zhu Li, left behind, led the phantom into St. George's Cathedral.

With the Executioner dead and all Steam Councillors annihilated, it seemed the battle of the night was over.

In truth, the battle had barely begun.

All the Steam Councillors had perished, yet their leader, Xavier, had yet to appear.

Where was Xavier?

At this moment, he floated high above, gazing down at the Grey Church Slums beneath him.

He had followed the Executioner throughout, witnessing every battle.

He murmured, "There are anomalies in the slums—the Steam Rule cannot penetrate them. But those anomalies are confined to the slums alone."

"If so, then I simply won't enter."

Xavier spoke, spread his arms wide as if taking a deep breath, and inhaled vast quantities of mist into his chest.

As the mist flooded into him, his origin power condensed wildly.

As a child of the plane, he was born with the Steam Rule—even before Olivia founded Grimlan University to study transcendent industrialization, he had already developed the prototype of a transcendent steam engine.

He had always believed he carried a mission, especially after the Executioner eliminated Ge La De—Ge La De's mission had now converged onto him.

Now, he would fulfill his mission.

With the aid of plane rules, his steam origin power condensed to its limit. He slowly opened his eyes, and within them flickered a pale golden light.

This golden light was called Divinity!

(End of Chapter)