The Way Ahead
What a difficult and arduous road!
Wood Abby stood motionless on the engineering platform between the buildings of the complex.
The towering frame, supported by carbon alloy steel, forms the spine of this steel behemoth. It resembles a gradually enlightened Hanged Man, receiving all sorts of information from the various electromechanical control panels and mechanical positions.
The scorching air from the southwest lifted the hem of Mr. Wood's coat, tearing a small opening along the zipper of his sun-protective clothing.
His neck, exposed to the sun, cracked rapidly, like rough tree bark, from dehydration. Feeling the stinging pain, Wood immediately covered his head, and in the blink of an eye, he was back in the shadows, a mouse, too afraid to look at the brilliant sun.
"What a magnificent and splendid journey!"
He sighed softly, as if reminiscing about his life. His ideals would eventually be realized, and he had gone further than Ming De.
"This is my path."
There are many, many people in the world who are struggling to make a living, fighting for survival. They don't even have the right to talk about "ideals," they can only talk about "dreams."
--Wood was both lucky and unlucky.
His good fortune comes from the Blessed Holy Blood, from the blood and flesh of all living beings.
He had lost count of how much primordial energy he had consumed to complete this journey.
It all started with the repeated bloodshed at Zero Platform, Judas came to sponsor this cause.
Then there were the prisoners brought by the barbaric war in Shambhala. These blood sacrifices not only went into his stomach, but also fattened up the merfolk hybrids, turning them into test subjects for Project Lightning Star.
Finally, there's a camera, through this religious symbol—
--Wood transformed from Blood-giving Monster into a god.
From the moment the first foundation pile was driven into Aizong Mausoleum, the skilled craftsmen of the Great Xia Dynasty became invaluable assistants to Wood. It took four generations of effort for the industrial complex in Wood to be successfully completed.
Without Judas to provide religious packaging, without Judas to tell him the story of the Heavenly Palace, Wood could never have done these things.
He had nearly died at the hands of a gunsmith a few years earlier, and had reluctantly accepted Judas's gift, returning to this primitive and wild land.
In Wood's view, it was all worth it.
Even if blood flows like a river, every piece of metal underfoot, every colleague before you, every lightning star in the distance, they are all oozing human blood and flesh from the inside out, from head to toe, and everything requires a huge amount of manpower.
Wood didn't care--
This complex feeds more than 300 people every month.
Every day, 340 kilograms of clean human flesh, 136 kilograms of clean bones, marrow, organs, and brains, and 27 liters of clean blood are produced. If the weather is favorable and there is no war, the blood sacrifices will be scarce, and Lightning Star will starve.
He didn't care whose father or mother, whose son or daughter, the things he swallowed were all destined to become meat dogs once they were sent to the meat processing plant.
All he cared about was the complex, this great undertaking that stretched to the very core of the earth.
He knew that Death God was imminent.
--This is destiny, even though his soul power can save him time and time again.
Faced with death and his ideals, Wood chose his ideals without hesitation.
[A Way Out] The last photo he took of himself was a portrait taken years earlier when he escaped from the fjords of District 77.
The gunsmith retrieved Jingguang's weapon and fired the shot.
--The selfie Wood used for his escape at the time was interpreted as a prophecy that his death was imminent.
The scene depicted in this photograph is Wood confronting the Original Seed.
The backdrop was composed of golden, flowing mud tentacles, bizarre temples built from piled-up lava and volcanic rocks, and jagged, grotesque boulders rising from the depths of the earth, gradually writhing and constantly shifting into a macabre palace. A branch of the Original Seed shot skyward, and Wood Abby stood on the outer deck of the ultra-deep hole drilling equipment, his back to the camera, his body beginning to spontaneously combust.
This was how he died, his destined end.
Death God relentlessly pursued him, forcing him down this path to certain death.
Without the help of [A Way Out], he wouldn't have been able to get this far.
If he no longer clings to the prophecy of "A Way Out," he will succumb to the emptiness within his heart. It is this sense of fatalism that makes him a prisoner of "A Way Out"—always acting according to the prophecy's path.
FE204863 was once defeated by [the Regret Pill], and turned into a madman.
Wood was the same; [A Way Out] had hollowed out the old man, leaving him an empty shell. He no longer possessed humanity or human form; the "Haoshou Tianzun" living in the world had become a clay idol.
The believers in the surrounding area, and the people who rely on [A Way Out] for a living, firmly believe that as long as they dig to the center of the earth and meet the Earth Mother Goddess, everything will be alright.
This immense power, in turn, constantly reshaped Wood's mind, making him feel at ease eating meat and drinking blood, and at ease accepting his death.
"Mr. Abby," Marlene held up a parasol for her great-uncle, "There are only twenty minutes left before the program starts. The power unit has begun its self-check, so you should be prepared."
After navigating the layers of observation decks and iron staircases, Wood followed his niece down to the deepest part of the burial grounds.
As the temperature dropped, the already aged and frail body of the Bloodline began to crumble. Just as he had guessed, the geological layer here was very close to the Original Seed — Gaia was constantly recovering geothermal heat and competing with Io for the spiritual body.
This phenomenon also occurs in the cold polar regions beyond Zone 60 in the Northern Territory, particularly near Niflheim.
There were a total of six engineering teams arranged in a star-shaped pattern around the deep-hole drilling machine, with a total of thirty-six people. They were all students of Wood, including merfolk and psionicists with remarkable Inspiration.
The ultra-deep hole drilling equipment looks like an interlocking sand worm. It consists of seven sets of drill rings and a drilling mechanism. It is equipped with lifting equipment and power mechanism for discharging soil and sand and sweeping away debris and rock blocks. It is much more sophisticated than the shield tunneling machines used in modern civilization to drill subway tunnels.
It looks only 26 meters long, but after being miniaturized and scaled down, it looks like a rocket that goes straight to the ground.
Without sufficient electricity and refineries to manufacture the copper, silver, and rare earth elements needed for integrated circuits, the electromechanical integration was left to the superhuman, computationally powerful, and undesirable offspring.
The drilling machine's engine timing is controlled by sixteen elixirs, which reside in seven lightning stars and are interconnected.
Four fishmen emerged from the outer railing of the drilling rig's deck, having just completed their final calibration.
--Wood glimpsed the flesh and blood of Lightning Star through the gaps in the protective plates.
These fish-man children have become one with the machine. As long as they follow the instructions of the elixir to control their physical bodies and continuously output power to the gears and drive gears, this "celestial vessel" comes to life.
"Your Excellency!" A merman mechanic exclaimed excitedly upon seeing Wood, "Ling Ao and Ling Xiao have disappointed you, but Ling Tian will never disappoint you!"
This fish-man was the father of the commander and adjutant of the Daoheng Government Soldiers Garrison. Among the fish-man tribes at the Aizong Mausoleum, they were considered a prominent family.
As for Ling Tian, whom he mentioned, he was the most "promising" of the brothers, qualified to become the "ferryman" of the immortal ship—he had already been stuffed into this flesh and blood machine and become one of the members of Lightning Star.
Wood smiled, his sanity teetering on the brink of collapse.
He redesigned the configuration time and time again, repeatedly overturning and rebuilding his deep-hole drilling rig.
Looking at the second mechanism of the drilling rig, there are strands of pink flesh in the gaps of the chain. They are tough, strong, and full of life. With enough human blood and flesh, they can make these tenacious, stubborn, and unconventional flesh work hard. This is Ling Tian.
The fish-man father's face was filled with fervor as he discussed his youngest son; he was filled with nothing but joy and happiness.
Even though Ling Tian had transformed into an indescribable ball of lightning, its bones, blood, and muscles trembled constantly, emitting scalding heat, as if it were extremely excited. The elixir had become its eyes, allowing it to constantly peek into the mortal realm from the [Immortal Ship]—Ling Tian was about to become an immortal, to pay homage to the Earth Mother, and to face destiny with the Heavenly Venerable.
"With such good fortune bestowed upon Tian'er, I, as the head of the Ling family, do not know how to repay the Heavenly Palace." The old father's knees buckled, and he wanted to kneel down.
Wood neither stopped him nor responded.
He looked coldly at the leader of this primitive tribe, feeling only inexplicable terror.
He went into the 26-meter-high "tower" and checked the warm-up status of each of the lightning stars.
Open the layers of heat insulation panels, check the bonding between the biogel and the gold, and then look at the supple, pink strips of flesh peeking out with their elixir-like, bloodshot eyes.
The ecstasy and excitement in their eyes stunted Wood's mental state.
--This is the monster he raised with his own hands, the disciple and his offspring he stuffed into the machine; this torment will soon be over.
Using the elixir as a communication tool, Marlene spoke to her great-uncle from the control panel: "Is the Penglai in good condition?"
Wood: "Not necessarily, this is the first attempt."
Marlene: "Good luck."
If Judas were willing to fully support Wood's cause, [Midas Touch] could replace most of the chemical refining work. Wood wouldn't have to take the long way around, using a brutal and savage elixir to control these flesh-and-blood power units.
He returned to the top of the tower, and before a bloodied and mangled mechanical console, looking at his hands covered in biomass oil, he reluctantly typed out the first set of instructions—these ganglion input terminals were connected to the flesh of every Lightning Star. The mechanical console was also a major area of psionic contamination.
Wood felt as if he were almost becoming one with this flesh-and-blood celestial vessel.
The winch gradually began to slide, and golden electrical signals burst forth between the drill rings, manipulating the Lightning Star to push and pull the mechanical armor and rotate the drill bit.
"Complex ground platform, awaiting dispatch from command center."
From a distance of more than fifty meters, Ms. Marlene gave orders to the foundation engineering team.
"Release the safety suspension of the Penglai, and prepare to begin drilling operations."
Meanwhile, six team members in the command center continuously transmitted various orders using the celestial radio.
"The submarine's attitude is normal, and the status of its intrusion into the bedrock strata has been transmitted back to the ground reconnaissance instruments."
"The suspension has been successfully released, and both the pier and main drill are operating well. The core temperature of the Lightning Star power unit has reached the expected level—currently 135 degrees Celsius."
"The ground surveying and observation team continues to collect data; the hull vibration is within acceptable limits."
Sunlight shone on the four iron arms of the foundation and streamed into the deep pit through the gaps in the rock of the burial complex.
The four giants' offspring, positioned at the four corners, slowly lowered the celestial vessel into the deep well according to the schedule of the earth platform's operations.
"Fifteen seconds to reach the expected depth"
Marlene was sweating bullets; this was the most crucial and tense moment.
Based on the geological conditions of Aizong Mausoleum, the drill bit assembly needs to break through a relatively hard "orange peel" layer to reach its optimal working state. It needs to reach a temperature of around 230 degrees Celsius to withstand the frozen rock area of around -40 degrees Celsius in the deep hole. Its drilling depth design life is only 55,000 meters. Although it cannot reach the Earth's core, it can observe the main limbs of the Original Seed up close and overcome the obstacles of ciliary nerves.
"Ten seconds."
Nine seconds.
The giants simultaneously released the winch handles, and the hinges began to guide the celestial boat to fall naturally.
Through the pre-drilled, narrow "origin," the circumferential drill hooks and bites at the basalt deep within the strata, and the operating temperature reaches an ideal state.
"Eight"
Marlene continued the countdown while observing the psionic signal readings on the oscilloscope and the control panel, as well as the electromagnetic wave signal readings.
"Seven, Six"
"5, 4, 3"
"Two.
"One."
The research team held their breath, only able to hear the rumbling roar coming from the deep vertical shaft.
Marlene: "The Penglai has lost contact; this mission has failed."
The signal didn't disappear; instead, it became even more violent.
At a depth of 1,600 meters, Wood was on the verge of a mental breakdown. His face was ashen as he watched the restraints cracking around him and the increasing amount of oil and flesh beneath the mechanical platform.
The seven lightning stars let out sharp howls and simultaneously went berserk.
This place is too close to the filaments and tendrils of the Original Seed — the Blood-giving Monster already relied on the Amorphous Matter to maintain a highly integrated state, and upon arriving at the deeper, dark, and cold underground, their remaining rationality completely collapsed, turning them into mindless, fleshy flowers.
A cross-shaped crack suddenly appeared on Wood's arm, which then rapidly transformed, splitting from a four-lobed fleshy piece into a sixteen-petaled chrysanthemum pattern.
He was terrified, and then he saw his thighs and shoulders gradually turning red, and the Vita Imprint began to go berserk— the Original Seed was transforming his body.
The biogel inside the isolation layer burst out clumps of dark, murky mucus, from which emerged tough, fleshy strips covered in suckers. When these fleshy sprouts touched the iron armor plates of the Penglai Immortal Ship, they immediately blossomed and sprouted—as if sensing the environment, understanding the shape of objects, and gathering more information.
Arms crawled out from the cracks in the planks, the berserk Lightning Star's instinct to save itself and maintain its human form. These soft, slender arms, like the limbs of an infant, gradually grew ten or so fingers without nails. From the fingers, they fused back into a fist-sized head, which gradually grew five or six eyes. Seeing the petals blooming everywhere in the fairy ship, they developed a throat, tongue, lips, and teeth, emitting a shrill roar.
Wood's eyes were bleeding, and his limbs were also splitting and blossoming.
Once the command center received the information, Marlene confirmed the exact location of the Penglai, and the data was completely saved.
"[A Way Out]!"
The Haoshou Tianzun abandoned the Penglai Ship and returned to the base of the complex for the first time.
His face was very pale, but he hadn't reached the point of despair; his willpower was terrifyingly strong.
With a wave of his hand, the ground crew worked together to cast a beam of intense sunlight through the skylights of the burial complex, nearly killing the Haoshou Tianzun on the spot.
The flames cleansed the flesh and flowers from his body, revealing a bloody skull through layers of charred and rotten dead skin. After being exposed to the sun for sixty-six seconds, Wood Abby was almost kneeling on the ground. Meanwhile, the ground crew, carrying a makeshift flamethrower, burned the Celestial Venerable into a piece of medium-rare roast meat.
Wood got up again, and Marlene personally poured six liters of steaming "nutrient solution" onto the ancestor.
His limbs were slowly healing, Blessed Holy Blood pulled him back to the mortal realm.
Without a word, he changed into new sun-protective clothing, put on another set of protective gear, and prepared to continue trying.
"Go to Yingzhou Base 2 and notify the Lightning Star on the Yingzhou to begin warm-up operations."
Marlene, still shaken, replied softly, "Okay."
The Penglai was just an experiment; in addition to this ship, Wood had prepared four other alternatives.
But to the Ling family, Ling Tian had become a failure.
--The fish-man father knelt before the shaft, weeping bitterly and banging his head on the ground. His son's failure to complete the mission was a great disgrace to the family.
Just as Wood was about to leave, he heard a scream coming from the direction of the shaft. He turned back to look.
The head of the Ling family had already jumped into the well. The subsequent handling of the psionic disaster and the sealing of the well continued in an orderly manner. The giants filled the deep pit with piles of soil and gravel to prevent the psionic pollutants from the Original Seed from rushing out of the ground through this tunnel.
He remained silent, even though this failed attempt had cost him at least 60,000 adult-sized blood sacrifices—but it wasn't deep enough, far from deep enough, and time was of the essence.
He pulled a bloody photograph from the subcutaneous tissue of his neck; it was something he had risked his life to bring back from the Penglai.
The content of the photo was unexpected --
--The gunsmith is watching him, transcending the boundaries of time and space through the frame. This man sits on one side of the mechanical console of the celestial ship, coldly looking at the camera.