The Mechanic

The sky is white, the earth is white, the distant outlines are white, the air is white, everything is white.

All colors are stripped away, all light is refracted, and all existence is simplified to the purest color.

Su Luo looked down at herself.

He was also white-skinned.

Clothes, skin, and hair all turned the same white. In this space, the light of the Dreamscape began to distort, becoming surreal and unreal.

Behind Su Luo, several figures fell one after another.

"No, isn't it the heart?"

Iron Guard looked somewhat bewildered.

"This is the final boss's room." The Observer's voice was calm, his gaze fixed ahead.

Everyone followed her gaze—

There is a door there.

Or rather, it used to be a door.

Now all that remains is a distorted outline, a figure whose face is indistinct, sitting in front of the door, desperately blocking it.

The door was struggling, and dark green mist kept pouring out from the cracks. With each surge, the seated figure trembled.

It can be clearly seen that there is a dark green and black "being" outside the door, which has no fixed shape. Sometimes it looks like mist, sometimes like liquid, and sometimes like countless tiny insects.

It blocked the doorway, frantically pounding on it, deforming the door with each impact, but the person sitting there held it firmly in place.

"That is..."

A Jingjing voice caught in her throat.

She recognized what it was.

That was Desolation Plague.

That was the root cause of her every death, every Resurrection, and every new beginning in her countless Reincarnations; it was the existence that destroyed her clan, caused the fall of the Gods, and corrupted the world.

A Corruption heart beat slowly within the man's open chest.

[Corruption Heart]

[Health Points: 95,425,000/95,425,000 (affected by Blight Shield)]

Su Luo looked at it for a while. "So, the condition for clearing the Tower is to kill that person's Corruption heart?"

"After the heart dies, the Tower will fall into a deep sleep..." There was a hint of confusion in the Observer's voice.

What does the Tower's slumber symbolize?

Su Luo stared intently at the person blocking the door for a long time.

Then he took a step and walked forward.

With each step he took, Spell runes began to appear all over his body. These runes rose from beneath his feet, descended from the sky, and surged in from all directions, layer upon layer, First Ring upon First Ring, weaving together a vast and unimaginable Cycle system.

Ten percent of the power.

Adding all the energy accumulated previously.

Fully open.

The torrent of Spell, like an invisible hand, reached towards that open chest.

The Corruption heart flew out of the man's body.

It slowly grew larger and larger, expanding from the size of Fist to the size of a house. It hovered in mid-air, and with each jump, a dark green ripple Diffusion outwards.

Su Luo's partial strength versus Corruption heart of a member of Lost Pre-Civilization.

There were no explosions, no impacts, not even sounds; the battles in the Dreamscape were different.

Where the two forces meet, color and dark green/black devour, Annihilation, and transform into each other. That area sometimes becomes colorful, sometimes dark green, and sometimes utter Ethereal.

The standoff lasted for a second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Black flames appeared, and the advance began.

The advance was slow, but it gained a decisive advantage within minutes.

One inch, two inches, three inches—the dark green torrent began to shrink, emitting a kind of silent hiss.

The heart eventually died from Burn by the black flames.

Su Luo's gaze passed over the heart and landed on that person.

He awoke.

He is "watching" here.

That gaze pierced through the Desolation Plague, through the black flames, through the pure white space, and landed on Su Luo. That gaze was ancient, weary, and carried an indescribable sorrow.

The Dreamscape itself began to change, and the rules of the Dreamscape began to blur. The pure white space began to ripple, as if something was rising from the depths.

Gods.

He is also a member of the Lost Pre-Civilization and one of the holders of access to the large Dreamscape [The Eternal Night Court].

Also... a mechanic.

The Dreamscape began to become clearer, and the rules of the Dreamscape no longer Suppression Su Luo's power. Su Luo returned in her complete form.

The figure was no longer sitting on the ground blocking the door as before.

He became blurry and faint, like mist that might dissipate at any moment. But the outline remained, sitting on an equally blurry throne, head bowed, hands folded on his knees.

Behind the throne lies a gate battered by Desolation Plague.

He was also wearing a white robe.

The white robe was even whiter than the Pure White Space, so white that it was impossible to look directly at it. But dark green spots had begun to appear along the edges of the white robe.

He is waiting to die.

Or rather, He is already dead, but has not completely vanished.

Su Luo walked towards Him.

Behind him, the Four-Colored Puppets stood frozen in place, staring at the blurry figure, unable to utter a single word.

"That was..." the Machine Fortress's voice trembled, "... that was me?"

Su Luo up to the figure and stopped.

The figure slowly raised its head.

His face had no features, only a blurry light, but within that light, something was watching Su Luo.

Su Luo was very familiar with this feeling.

Enhanced Perception —this skill comes from Him.

"Outsider," He spoke, His voice seeming to come from a very, very far place, "You have come."

Su Luo did not answer.

He simply looked at the throne beneath Him with a pang of heartache.

The throne was covered with patterns—patterns of rules, the underlying structure of the Dream World, the blueprints for the Tower's construction, and all the secrets of the Eternal Night Court, all etched on that throne.

And those patterns are being Corrosion by dark green spots, disappearing one by one, returning to Ethereal.

"You want this." There was no doubt in His voice.

"Right."

"But you are too late. The past glory has turned to dust, and the throne has long since decayed."

"That's a pity." Su Luo sighed.

"But the Tower itself is the reward. The Corruption heart has been removed, and the Tower is about to enter a slumber. For some time to Future, there will be no more Desolation Plague within the tower."

"What was the original reward for completing the game?"

"Push open this door."

He raised his hand and pointed to the door behind him that had fallen silent.

"In that time before Desolation Plague," He said, "Those who climb to the top of the Tower can open the door, receive eternal guidance, and obtain the gifts of the Gods."

"There was a Giant Whale and a biologist who climbed to the very top." His voice held a hint of reminiscence. "They each gained the ability to Resurrection and the ability to live forever."

Su Luo glanced at the bewildered Machine Fortress, gesturing for him to come up and talk to him, while she herself walked to the side.