Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 354 Performing Surgery on the World-Destroying Mechanism
Including the one he just acquired, Han Su has now handled four mechanical fragments.

The four mechanical fragments have different functions, different appearances, and are also distinctly different in how they are used.

In the previous timeline, Professor Philar used cipher spells to remotely control Mechanical Fragment 03, and Mechanical Fragment 04 has now been activated by the Guardians from outside the city using cipher spells.

However, while mechanical fragment No. 03 can affect a certain area from thousands of miles away, mechanical fragment No. 04 must be in a certain space in order to freeze and freeze the surrounding things after activation.

This explains why the Guardians sent these two ordinary nobles to Zero City to resolve the issue. The Guardians only intended for them to act as bait; their task was simply to bring in the mechanical fragment.

But this also raises another point of doubt:
It seems that the Guardians of the World knew all along that Miss Ai would appear in Zero City?
Could it be that they had already anticipated that their presence at the Church of the Repose would pollute the city?
Just how big of a scheme are these people orchestrating?
Countless thoughts flashed through my mind, including the sequence of events and the main questions.

Of course, there are still some minor questions, but there's no need to dwell on them here:

For example, the relationship between Song Chushi and Mechanical Fragment No. 04, and why the Sands of Time in his possession have such a similar function to Mechanical Fragment No. 04, etc.

What Han Su is now certain of is that the operation of mechanical fragment No. 04 is actually advantageous to his side. This mechanical fragment has clearly had an effect on the crazed Miss Ai, and her attacks on him have begun to slow down.

However, if this mechanical fragment is allowed to continue operating, the freezing of the entire city will become irreversible.

When that time comes, he, along with all his companions, and even the mechanical fragments in his possession, will fall into the enemy's hands.

Having considered this, he frantically poured his mental energy into the mechanical fragment in his hand, trying to stop it from freezing time around him, while simultaneously raising his head and shouting at Miss Ai:
"Are you really going to let them use this machine to seal you away?"

"..."

The mechanic excels at calculation, and he believes Miss Ai can clearly weigh the pros and cons.

really!

As Han Su's shout rang out, Miss Ai's attack, already severely hampered, suddenly halted, causing an invisible tremor to emanate from all around, and a series of messages were transmitted into Han Su's mind:

“You… cannot control this throne fragment. They… belong to my… heart, including… those in your box… Only by returning to me… can the distortion be cleared, and civilization restarted… restarted…”

'Is the mechanical fragment her heart?'

This information gave Han Su a slight shock.

In fact, he had absolutely no doubt about what Miss Ai was saying at that moment.

However, the desire for the missing piece of the puzzle in my mind has become even stronger.

Ms. Shen said that sacrificing the blood of nobles to the mechanical fragments would produce strange effects, and I have tried it myself and it is indeed true.

Ms. Shen calls the mechanical fragment the Emperor's only throne fragment, while Ms. Ai calls it her own heart. What is the relationship between the two?
He keenly sensed that this might be the key clue to solving the mystery.

Unfortunately, Miss Ai is now severely affected, and the transmission of information is extremely slow.

As he pondered, Han Su also felt a splitting headache.

The mechanical fragment in his hand was frantically devouring his spiritual power. Just now, under the guidance of the Emperor's consciousness, his mental model had undergone earth-shattering changes.

That consciousness forcibly integrated all the "batteries" into its mental model, thus giving itself a mental capacity of over two hundred years. However, this mental capacity felt like a drop in the ocean for this mechanical fragment.

At this moment, the guardians outside were frantically urging the mechanical fragment to operate with coded incantations, while their own spiritual power was being channeled into it to prevent the mechanical fragment from functioning.

Faced with this confrontation, all he could do was ensure that the party wasn't completely frozen, but he couldn't sever the mechanical fragment's connection with the people outside, nor could he shut it down directly.

The result of this unification was that Miss Ai managed to retain some of her consciousness, but her living space was being rapidly compressed.

Most importantly, the ticking sound of this mechanical fragment seemed to lure something in his mind—the Emperor's consciousness.

The emperor's consciousness was suppressed, not eliminated, by the cerebrospinal injection given to him by Li Manman. This mechanical fragment seemed to be something extremely familiar to him, and his consciousness had begun to recover step by step with contact with it.

Amidst this intense sense of urgency, Han Su remained oblivious:
Li Manman, who had just been fighting against Miss Ai with all her might, had stopped. Miss Ai had stopped, and she should have been able to relax, but she was not. Amidst the constant ticking sounds, Li Manman's expression was sometimes complicated, and sometimes surprised and disappointed.

She suddenly turned to look at Han Su, her expression filled with regret, mixed with a touch of emotion.

"you……"

She managed to ask, "You've done... so much?"

Unfortunately, her voice was too soft and the surroundings were too chaotic, so Han Su didn't hear her.

……

……

"The freeze is only 91% complete; the core is still loose, like a soft-boiled egg!"

Meanwhile, outside Zero City, behind the thirty-six high priests in red robes, a man dressed in a Zhongshan suit, who appeared to be an assistant, looked up and reported:
"It seems that someone has seized the time-stopping machine and is trying to use their will and mental strength to resist its activation. Although such resistance is theoretically not very effective, we cannot bring Zero City back until the freeze is 100% complete."

The elderly man in the Zhongshan suit frowned, glanced at the time, a knot forming between his brows, and remained silent.

Beside him, the middle-aged man in prison clothes smiled and said, "Then we'll have to activate Plan B."

"Perform surgery on this world-destroying angel on site!"

"..."

"This……"

The elderly man in the Zhongshan suit trembled slightly and hesitated, saying, "Isn't this too risky?"

"Although we have devised a Plan B, the best approach is still to transport the city back to China before performing the consciousness implantation surgery. After all, Plan B is Plan B precisely because this is a last resort..."

"Ah……"

Upon hearing this, Dr. Han, dressed in prison garb, only let out a cold laugh: "You think capturing this machine is easy?"

"She has destroyed countless civilizations and witnessed countless eras more powerful than ours turn into ruins. Before the reconstruction of the era began, even the gods had to avoid her."

"Without her help, humanity would have no way to fight against those gods, and there would be no reconstruction era as we know it today. Even the world's priority in maintaining the entire aristocratic system is a gift from her..."

"A single misstep with this machine could lead to utter destruction!"

"It took us ten years to finally capture her this time. Do you think we'll have a second chance?"

"..."

The elderly man in the Zhongshan suit remained silent for a long time before looking at the man's slightly mocking face.

Having considered the entire process, his gaze turned slightly cold: "Then I'll do as you say."

"You will be in charge of this surgery!"

"very good!"

Dr. Han smiled and nodded, saying, "I've been preparing for this moment for ten years!"

"Then, hand the scalpel to me!"

"..." The old man in the Zhongshan suit sighed deeply, glanced at Zero City, which seemed to have frozen even the lights, between the thirty-six red-robed high priests, and gently raised his hand.

The next moment, the sound of countless hooves thundered in the dark night sky.

A thick darkness swept in from afar, within which countless nightmare horses could be seen galloping. Three patrolling knight squads had escorted something over. They rushed to the group, and without a word, gently placed a box down and stepped aside.

The box was opened, and inside was a beautifully crafted two-handed knight's sword.

In the darkness, the patterns on the sword hilt emitted a faint silver light.

"This is the sword once used by the Dragon Slayer Knight. It is imbued with his divinity and is a true holy relic!"

The old man in the Zhongshan suit looked at the knight's sword in the box with an expression of admiration and said in a low voice, "Ten years ago, you already used the golden spear. This is the third relic you have come into contact with."

"Because this surgery is so important, we can only use this relic as a scalpel, but I hope you understand that not everyone has this honor, you..."

"understood!"

Dr. Han bent down, grabbed the knight's sword from the box, and then turned around and slashed at Zero and City from afar.

The rough movement startled the elderly man in the Zhongshan suit, who said in a slightly shrill voice, "Be careful..."

"This is a sacred relic, are you really going to use it as a scalpel?"

"..."

Amidst his screams, a massive crack suddenly appeared in the frozen Zero City as the sword struck.

It was as if a whole block of tofu had been cut in half. Both sides remained intact, but the middle part looked like a huge hole had been torn open in space, revealing a bottomless abyss.

This sword strike seemed to cleave open hell itself.

At the bottom of that abyss, invisible howls appeared, as if chaotic, unseen and unknowable monsters were surging up.

"What you think is the boundary!"

Below, thirty-six high priests in red robes began to chant simultaneously.

The immense spiritual power within each of them was fully activated, transforming into an indestructible barrier that firmly blocked everything in the endless abyss, keeping the city's wound in a stable state.

Dr. Han then stuck his knight's sword into the ground beside him, turned around, picked up a roll of parchment, and gently unfolded it. He saw that the parchment was covered with densely packed imperial writing.

At the beginning of the parchment is printed the number 03.

He held the parchment in his hand and looked into the abyss, seeing the space continuously extending downwards and splitting until the deepest part was revealed.

In this empty space, where everything seemed distorted, a row of enormous mechanical structures suddenly appeared.

At first glance, one can sense the immense magnificence of the machine. However, as the abyss further widens, it becomes clear that what one sees is merely a corner of this colossal machine. The true mechanical body lies hidden deep within the abyss, its true size unknown.

"What...what exactly is that?"

When the elderly man in the Zhongshan suit saw the machine, his heart couldn't help but race, and he closed his eyes slightly.

His assistant, knowing he shouldn't ask, couldn't help but ask anyway.

“That’s the real Miss Ai…”

The elderly man in the Zhongshan suit also made an exception and answered, because the scene was so impactful that he needed to share the information to help others alleviate his own stress.

"That is an intelligent machine that has existed in this world for countless eras. It has evolved generation after generation and its body is enormous."

"With the help of the Bronze Civilization, she has even broken the boundary between reality and illusion, hiding this enormous body at the bottom of the abyss. Therefore, no matter what method we use, we cannot find her true body!"

"Therefore, only by truly capturing her consciousness can we follow it to find her true form!"

"The same..."

He paused briefly, then spoke in a low voice: "She is also the most powerful weapon!"

"She was the one who destroyed the world before, but if we can take her down, she will become our most reliable tool. Not to mention the current five layers of tides, even if all twelve gods were to revive together, the twelve layers of tides would still not be able to shake our foundation!"

"..."

"Take it down?"

The assistant was so shocked she couldn't shut her mouth: "Wasn't it said that her underlying logic was unshakeable?"

"That was originally the case..."

The man in the Zhongshan suit smiled softly: "It has been like this for countless ages, but things changed two thousand years ago."

"She has destroyed countless civilizations and eliminated countless powerful mutants, but each time she destroyed a world, it was not necessarily completely and thoroughly."

"After all, she needs to preserve the 'human race' in order to restart civilization. Therefore, each time she destroys a world, it is like a big net. In addition to the human race that she intentionally leaves behind, there will also be some special fish that slip through the net."

"These survivors, with each generation of civilization restarting, grew increasingly powerful, eventually becoming special individuals, and these individuals were revered by the people of that time as..."

"...Gods!"

"..."

As he spoke, a sense of excitement even rose within him: "Before the Reconstruction Era began, the power of the Twelve Gods had already exceeded the limits of what she could contend with, so in order to eliminate them, she gave us her most powerful weapon..."

"Heh, or rather, it was given to the emperor!"

"So, the era of reconstruction began, but she also entered her weakest state in history."

"This is the key to how we were able to seal her away two thousand years ago and change her now!"

"Surge her so she can be our tool forever!"

"..."

"..."

The entire plan had not been revealed beforehand, and the assistant trembled, suddenly looking at Dr. Han.

He was now facing Zero City directly, standing to the side. A slight smile played on his lips as he spoke softly, in a voice audible to those around him: "There's one truth to that: the rules of the game, in fact, began to change two thousand years ago..."

"The right to live should not be bestowed by a machine, but rather taken back by our own hands..."

"And you..."

He raised his gaze slightly, as if looking at a figure still struggling in the Zero City party, and sighed softly: "My child, you are too disobedient, so you will be kicked out of the game..."

(End of this chapter)