Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Not a single person from the ten-member team quit.

That was a huge boost to morale, no doubt.

Bei Chen: "Good! Since no one is backing out, let's unite and fight to the bitter end!"

Just then, a figure they'd nearly forgotten suddenly showed up at the edge of the ruins.

Lin Fan!

That NPC who called himself a scholar.

He wandered around, looking lost and confused, as if he had just noticed the group. He hurried over, his voice panicked: "Lord World Painter! You... how did you all suddenly vanish just now?"

Everyone's hearts tightened.

Qing Shu stepped forward, his gaze sharp as a knife, staring at Lin Fan: "You're the one who took us to the workshop, right?"

Lin Fan looked confused: "Yes! I was leading you all to the workshop, but you... you all disappeared into thin air! I thought... I thought something had happened!"

The team channel exploded with chatter.

Sui Yu: "What's going on? Didn't we go through all that?"

Hong Lan also rubbed her chin, with a look of utter confusion: "What the hell? Was the boss we just fought fake?"

Lao Liu rolled his eyes, snapping back at her like he always did: "Can the loot be fake?"

Oblivious to their shock and doubt, Lin Fan pleaded, bowing deeply to the group: "World Painters, please, I beg you, don't give up on Miss Gong Shu! She truly needs your help!"

Pushing down the turmoil inside, Qing Shu followed the plot: "We won't give up."

Lin Fan's eyes filled with gratitude, and he quickly said: "Great! No time to waste, let's move. I'll take you to Miss Gong Shu's workshop!"

In the team channel, Ji Xia picked up on a detail in Lin Fan's words and hesitated slightly: "...So before, we went to the *Gong Shu family* workshop. But now Lin Fan's talking about *Gong Shuwan's personal* workshop?"

Qing Shu: "Let's go. We'll find out."

No one spoke further, but everyone's expressions were grave.

The system had just issued a high-risk warning. Every step from now on was bound to be deadly dangerous!

Lin Fan led the group forward, through a secret passage that grew narrower and narrower, finally stopping before a red wooden door that looked completely out of place against the surrounding stone walls.

"This is it," Lin Fan's voice grew even more tense. He swallowed dryly and said, "This is Miss Gong Shu's workshop."

He reached out and pressed several unassuming bumps beside the door in a specific sequence. The heavy stone door let out a soft *click* and slowly swung inward, revealing a deep darkness.

"Let's go." Bei Chen stepped in first.

The Starfall members followed closely behind.

The moment the last person entered—

"Boom!"

The wooden door behind them slammed shut with a sound like a massive boulder hitting the ground.

Simultaneously, faint yellow lights on the surrounding walls lit up one after another, illuminating the scene behind the door.

Everyone froze, collectively drawing in a sharp breath.

Before them was not the workshop filled with tools and blueprints they had imagined, but a vast, vertical cavern whose ceiling was lost in darkness.

In the center of the cavern stood a...

"Tower" constructed from countless pale bones!

Bones were piled layer upon layer, some old, some new, still dangling shreds of not-yet-rotted clothing.

The dim yellow light cast upon them, illuminating dense clusters of skulls and twisted limbs.

"My... my god..." Sui Yu's voice trembled, and he couldn't help but take a few steps back.

Hong Lan felt a surge of nausea, barely suppressing it: "This... are these all..."

Ji Xia softly recited the final line of the nursery rhyme: "The vermilion door is heavy, the lock falls shut. Locking in human bones to build a tall tower."

A chill ran down everyone's spine.

Just then, the surrounding scene began to distort. The familiar "plot" started up again.

Qing Shu reminded everyone: "Stay focused! Pay attention to the details!"

The fluctuating scene before them stabilized. It was still the same enormous cavern, but the terrifying bone tower in the center was gone. In its place was the bustling, early-stage framework of a construction site.

Countless mechanical puppets were busy at work, laying down complex frameworks of gears and pipes.

Gong Shuwan, dressed in practical short attire, her temples damp with sweat, was completely engrossed in adjusting a core hub.

Ji Xia once again took out the miniature gear. Gong Shuwan's inner monologue echoed through the empty space.

"It's done! Connected! I knew it would work!"

"...Need to add another set of linkage gears here, then the entire foundation can move together!"

"...Almost there. It's nearly ready. Once my 'Locked City' is built, everyone can hide here, no longer suffocated by the King's decrees!"

This inner voice was filled with wild fantasy and naivety. It was a complicated feeling to listen to.

In the team channel, Lao Liu sighed: "She still can't let go..."

Qing Shu calmly analyzed in the channel: "The ideal is beautiful, but she underestimated the harshness of reality. She wanted to create a secluded 'Peach Blossom Spring,' but in the eyes of those in power, that in itself is the greatest act of rebellion and threat."

Just then, a figure sneaked in, groping his way.

It was Fan Lin.

He stared at the grand, miraculous project taking shape before his eyes, his mouth agape enough to fit an egg, his face a mixture of shock and infatuation.

"Se... senior sister?" His voice trembled. "You... what are you building? This... it's astonishing!"

Gong Shuwan was suspended, adjusting a massive set of transmission gears. Hearing the voice, she looked down, her brow slightly furrowed: "Fan Lin? How did you find this place? Get out!"

"I won't go!" Fan Lin seemed stung, stubbornly taking a few steps forward. "Senior sister, let me help you! I can..."

"You can't help." Gong Shuwan finally stopped her work, her gaze clear and calm as she looked at him.

These words stabbed into Fan Lin's heart like a needle.

His face turned deathly pale, his eyes downcast, and his lips trembled. "...I'm too useless."

Gong Shuwan, seeing him like this, sighed softly, and her tone gentled a bit. "It's not your fault. It's that I don't need anyone's help. As you can see, these mechanical puppets can execute my commands perfectly."

Fan Lin bit his lower lip hard, his fingers clenching into fists at his sides.

Gong Shuwan paused, then added, "Junior Brother, if you really want to help me, go to Father's side. The workshop is under the crushing weight of the royal decree and needs manpower. And I need more time to complete this underground fortress. Once it's done, our Gongshu family can finally break free from all constraints and survive!"

As she spoke, Gong Shuwan patted Fan Lin's shoulder gently. "Okay?"

Fan Lin suddenly looked up, staring deeply at Gong Shuwan, his eyes filled with an indescribable complexity.

Finally, he lowered his head and choked out four words from his throat with all his strength: "...I understand."

Seeing this, Ji Xia's heart sank.

Qing Shu also knitted his brows tightly.

The "plot" began to accelerate, and the scene before them whirled by rapidly.

Gong Shuwan became even more immersed in her construction.

She worked day and night, sleeping no more than four hours a day.

She even ate while perched on those massive machines. Even when she was so exhausted she was about to faint, she would have the mechanical puppets move her about.

The underground fortress took shape at an astonishing rate, a sight magnificent enough to awe future generations.

But just then—

"Boom—!"

"Help!"

A huge uproar from above ground shattered the underground tranquility like a heavy hammer!

Gong Shuwan's hands, which had been fine-tuning the controls, froze abruptly.

At the entrance of the secret passage, Fan Lin stumbled down, rolling and crawling. His clothes were tattered, covered in blood, soot, and dust. He cried out in panic, "Senior Sister! Disaster! The imperial troops... the imperial troops are here! Up above... up above..."

Gong Shuwan's pupils contracted sharply, the color draining from her face. "How is that possible? It shouldn't be! I calculated the timing!"

She shoved Fan Lin aside and rushed toward the surface like a madwoman!

What greeted her eyes was a scene of burning ruins and corpses strewn everywhere.

"Mother... Mother..." Gong Shuwan's voice trembled, her hands clammy with cold sweat.

She frantically scanned the area, her gaze finally settling on the front of the main house—her mother lay in a pool of blood, her arm hanging limply.

That small wooden kite had been reoriented but ultimately hadn't been pulled out.

"Mother!!!"

A heart-wrenching scream tore from Gong Shuwan's throat, immense grief shattering all her reason and illusions.

Fan Lin caught up and grabbed her arm, shouting urgently, "Senior Sister! Master defied the imperial decree! The King was furious and sent tens of thousands of elite troops... We must flee!"

"Flee?" Gong Shuwan violently shook him off, the force nearly sending Fan Lin stumbling to the ground.

She stared at her mother's unseeing eyes, at this bloody hellscape, her voice filled with despair and distortion. "All under heaven belongs to the King! Where can we possibly flee to!"

What shattered Gong Shuwan's heart even more was that these soldiers ransacking the estate were driving the mechanical puppets she had personally crafted and submitted to the royal court!

They spewed flames, they burned down houses, they cruelly seized the panicked apprentices of the Gongshu family and snapped their necks!

Gong Shuwan furiously wiped her tears away.

Without looking at anyone else, she coldly walked back underground.

Her straight, slender back stepped out the final movement of a world fallen into dead silence.

The next moment, the earth shook and the mountains trembled!

Those puppets originally built for the "Locked City"... for protection...

At Gong Shuwan's command, they became terrifying war machines!

Surging waves of scorching heat tore through the night, and massive metal arms crushed the soldiers' armor!

A terrifying war that transcended its era descended abruptly!

The "plot" stopped abruptly here.

The scene before them returned to the tower of human bones beneath the vermilion gate.

The team channel was dead silent, filled only with heavy breathing.

Everyone was clearly still reeling from the tragic and heroic scene they had just witnessed.

"Crack... crack..."

That ghastly white bone tower began to crumble.

Amidst the swirling bone dust, a slender figure several meters tall slowly emerged.

She had Gong Shuwan's delicate and beautiful face, but the innocence and liveliness in her eyes were gone, replaced only by an icy divinity that looked down upon the mortal world.

Her body had transformed into silver-white mecha armor, the material emitting a faint, cold glow under the dim yellow light, as if polished from translucent human bones.

A delicate, beautiful face, paired with a mecha body radiating dangerous energy.

Divinity and demonic nature achieved a bizarre and despairing unity within her.

Bei Chen drew a sharp breath and decisively ordered, "Prepare for battle!"

Ji Xia quickly spoke up, "Don't attack her!"

The members of Starfall, ready to unleash their civilization fragments, were stunned. Qing Shu felt cold sweat trickle down his forehead and swiftly commanded, "Listen to Ji Xia. Don't move!"

Author's Note:

When I was drafting this dungeon, I was so excited I was practically howling. Being able to hold back until now to post it, I'm really not an ordinary person *puffs chest*.

While my draft reserves are healthy, I'll temporarily stick to double updates at 8 AM. For every 5,000 nutrient solutions, I'll add another chapter!