Observation Deck (Part 1)

Forget it. He should not have had any expectations for this system in the first place.

Ronan felt that hiding the interface just now had been pretty stupid. Fortunately, it was not too late to make amends. With a sigh, he tapped the console and made the giant screen before him light up again.

The glow from the giant screen stretched Ronan's shadow long and made Xie Junping's jaw drop.

"Nan Di... are you a hacker?"

Ronan did not know how to explain it, so he simply said nothing.

But Xie Junping immediately grew excited. "Damn, I heard Quantum Corporation reinforced this system. You can command it too, Nan Di?"

Was this guy's emotional state a little strange?

Ronan remembered that Xie Junping had practically been frightened unconscious. Before passing out, he had even cried "Spare me!" at Ronan. Yet now, not only had his fear of Ronan vanished completely, but even his terror at being trapped in this desperate situation had been reduced to almost nothing.

Had he been scared into amnesia? Or had cutting down the Burning Demon Shadow really produced such immediate results?

After a brief and fruitless consideration, Ronan set the matter aside. He reopened the "Gear" interface and fixed his eyes on the "Observation Deck" option. A few seconds later, he selected it with a thought.

Nothing changed on the interface, but a stream of Information Flow traveled along the Dark Heavy Chains and entered his brain in sequence, making him understand many things.

Ronan pondered briefly, then turned around. "Let's go."

"Go? Where?" Xie Junping looked around at the dim surroundings, not daring to take a step.

But the next second, a doorway automatically opened at the side of the Central Control Room, leading into an even darker space.

Xie Junping blurted out, "A secret passage?"

"Turn on your wristband light."

"Huh?"

With a thought from Ronan, the giant screen went dark, and the room returned to pitch-black darkness.

Xie Junping cried out and fumbled to turn on his wristband light, barely illuminating the path ahead.

Now that they had light, Ronan said no more and headed straight for the newly opened doorway.

"Hey, hey, this is a secret passage, right..." Xie Junping lowered his voice and suppressed his nerves as he followed close behind.

"There's a corridor outside."

Although the giant screen had gone dark, Ronan's "large External Neuron" still controlled that portion of the resources, transmitting useful information through the Dark Heavy Chains before passing it to his cranial nerves and projecting the images directly onto his retinas.

So long as Ronan had enough mental energy to sustain the Dark Heavy Chains, this "electronic map" would not fail, no matter how far away he was.

Of course, without the Dark Heavy Chains guiding the Demon Rune's senses, and with no intention of risking Astral Projection, he was effectively blind in this darkness even with his eyes open. He still needed illumination.

Xie Junping had already learned from his wristband just how ruthless the security system was, and now he was completely baffled. "If it isn't a secret passage, how did it open?"

"It was probably part of the builder's original design. Every door along the route we'll take next is controlled by another independent power source... Apparently, the later renovators never discovered that."

"Why make it so complicated?"

Xie Junping swept his wristband's beam around, and sure enough, they were passing through public areas such as corridors. They occasionally had to cross one or two rooms, but there was no need for any concealment.

"Maybe it was a hobby."

The elevation and floor plans of Gear kept flashing through Ronan's mind. Its rigorous structure and unusual ideas left him in constant admiration.

The entire building's layout seemed to have transformed into a machine that could start up at any moment, ready to process some kind of product. At that moment, he and Xie Junping were weaving between Gear's Parts on a marvelous pilgrimage.

With the External Neuron in control, Ronan and Xie Junping had green lights all the way, encountering no obstacles whatsoever.

After climbing the stairs through the Safety Passage, the two of them should have gone from the fourth basement level to the second. Though this was still within the laboratory complex, it was clearly an area for public activity. Their sweeping light beam revealed a bar, sofas, and other places to rest.

"What a freak."

Xie Junping finally snuffed out all speculation about a "secret passage" and once again offered his regards to the builder's bizarre tastes.

Still, thanks to that bizarre design, Xie Junping had gradually relaxed as they traveled through the darkness. He even dared to fulfill the duties of a light-bearer, taking the initiative to walk ahead and light the way.

If there really had been some hidden tunnel in front of him, whether he would have had the nerve to crawl through it would have been open to question.

"Hey, which way do we go up ahead?"

Xie Junping's beam fell upon a wall. Along it, the outline of the rest area curved inward, seemingly ending there.

Before Ronan could respond, the beam suddenly swept over a sign and then stopped on it.

Xie Junping froze in place and slapped his thigh. "I know where we are!"

Ronan followed the beam and saw that the sign depicted an underwater scene in a hand-drawn style. Fish frolicked among aquatic plants, looking all the more vivid under the gently swaying light.

"Where is this?"

"The Sandbar Waterway, a famous attraction in Gear. From here..."

Xie Junping swept his light over a sealed doorway. "You enter through here, and an Underwater Corridor runs all the way to the Withered Tree Sandbar, seven hundred meters away. It passes through half a marsh and a small lake. It's a great place to get up close with the wetland's underwater ecosystem."

After the brief introduction, Xie Junping began peddling gossip again. "I heard this Underwater Corridor existed before Gear was built, but someone sued them for ecological damage. The construction company nearly went bankrupt, and the Order Society got a huge bargain. When they built Gear, they deliberately connected it up... Of course, they still have to pay a hefty amount in taxes every year."

From all that nonsense, Ronan picked out the key point. "You said there's a sandbar over there?"

"Yeah, a famous spot. They say it's the best place to view Gear Building in its entirety."

Ronan nodded inwardly. Was that why it was called the Observation Deck?

At that moment, Xie Junping finally caught on. He excitedly slapped Ronan on the shoulder. "Nan Di, doesn't this mean we're getting out? Once we reach the sandbar, screw the signal... Damn!"

Xie Junping suddenly swore again.

Ronan was baffled. "What now?"

"This might be bad." Xie Junping's expression could not be seen, but there was panic in his voice. "I remember the wetland's water level rose a few years ago, and the sandbar was completely submerged. Now only a crooked dead tree is still sticking out above the water... Hiss, the Order Society didn't seal the exit over there, did they?"

Ronan checked the route and confirmed that, just as Xie Junping had said, they needed to pass through the Underwater Corridor. So far, he had found no abnormalities.

"We'll know once we get there."

Ronan directly opened the entrance to the Underwater Corridor. Damp air with a faint fishy smell rushed at them, likely the result of years of water seepage.

Xie Junping aimed the beam straight ahead, but it could not reach the end. Like the rest of the building, this corridor also had a distinct curve.