Chapter 32: Another Abyss
Year 835 of the Falling Stars Era, April 21st, early morning, Northern Lands, Moldavia Territory, Lord's Manor, Basement Warehouse.
At the end of the dark underground corridor, a dim Glowstone Lamp flickered with light. Beyond a heavy iron door left slightly ajar lay the Radcliffe Family's underground warehouse. But contrary to what many adventurers imagined—a cavernous space piled high with gold, gems, and all sorts of gleaming magical equipment, as vast as a dragon's lair—this warehouse was, in a sense, somewhat cramped. It measured only about twenty meters long, fifteen meters wide, and stood at a standard height of three meters and two feet. A dragon would have been forced to curl up uncomfortably in a tight coil here, a far cry from the reputation of its master, whose name shook the continent.
And yet, within this warehouse—which was by no means small—was packed with all sorts of miscellaneous items: metal chests engraved with the holy emblem of the Church of the Seven Gods, scrolls bearing the royal crest of the Far South Kingdom, small boxes clearly of elven craftsmanship with the mark of the royal court, and a variety of gifts and rewards from major powers. If one were to judge solely by these items, their value could barely match that of a Legendary Warrior. However, in reality, these obviously valuable objects were mixed in with wooden barrels, crates, and many messy bundles. Even the most skilled thief would find it difficult to pick out their target from this chaotic pile.
But now, a petite Silver-Haired Girl was painstakingly sorting through this mess, categorizing everything and arranging it neatly by type.
This was no easy task—whether it was the metal chests that looked incredibly heavy at first glance, or the Dwarf-carved alloy metal statue standing over two meters tall, none of them seemed like something she could move. Even five or six burly men might not be able to budge them an inch.
Yet reality often defied expectations. The girl effortlessly lifted these items, which weighed tons, with one hand, and without even catching her breath, casually placed them wherever she wanted.
—Not as heavy as Miss No. 3, except for this statue.
Not long after, Ying, who had finally finished organizing, wiped the non-existent sweat from her forehead. After working for so long, a satisfied smile curled at the corners of her lips as she looked at the now orderly basement, a sense of accomplishment rising in her heart.
Finally done, Ying thought. After spending the entire night, she and No. 3 had finally tidied up the basement and corridor, which the Artificial Intelligence Girl had turned into a complete mess while controlling the metal body. There might also have been issues with Lin carelessly moving goods around. Even with the superhuman strength of a Divine Mechanism humanoid form, this task was no easy feat. Fortunately, magic existed in this world—a simple "Restore to New" spell could fix the damaged floors. But that spell was useless on the gifts from various nations, which contained immense magical energy themselves, so they had to be moved physically.
Because of this, No. 3 had directly taken off after organizing those Amethyst Crystals—she said she had to fulfill her duties, patrolling at night to monitor potential Cultists and troublemaking adventurers. Then, without hesitation, she left Ying alone in the chaotic basement.
Who are you kidding?
The Silver-Haired Girl now thought indignantly. It was already Year 835 of the Falling Stars Era. What adventurer would have the dragon's courage to cause trouble in Moldavia, the territory of a Legendary Warrior? Let alone Cultists. According to reliable intelligence, the entire Northern Lands had become an absolute forbidden zone for the dark world of the Mycroft Continent. A one hundred percent identification rate had long made countless demon worshippers and Evil God devotees think twice, not even daring to cross the Ural Mountains. What courage did they have to run into the heart of the forbidden zone and seek death?
Right now, No. 3 was probably in the Lord's Manor's formation hub, using the Amethyst Crystals to add plug-in formations to her main body, right? Thinking of this, Ying couldn't help but feel a bit envious. Ever since her main body had advanced through a pure Holy Light baptism at the Holy Mountain, the Warrior had stopped oiling and maintaining her for a long time.
Not being prone to damage wasn't always a good thing. Feeling somewhat neglected in this regard, the Divine Mechanism girl let out a soft sigh. She looked up again at the neatly arranged pile of goods in front of her and couldn't help but murmur, "He really bought a lot of stuff."
At least several tons of high-quality Amethyst Crystals, enough for Miss No. 3 to use for years; two barrels of Gwyer Dwarf Fine Wine, which the master had bought to entertain guests; and at least dozens of different types of small items, carefully placed in delicate boxes and packages—like jewelry and clothes bought for her, for No. 3, and even for Lin, even though they hardly ever used them most of the time.
The master had always been generous, even to the point of being spendthrift.
Seeing all this, Ying, imitating the Warrior, rubbed her smooth, delicate chin. In her heart, she silently added another thought—He doesn't even know how much money he has, nor which merchant associations and properties belong to him.
Thank goodness she and Lin were there to manage things for the master. Ying thought smugly, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly.
And perhaps it was the telepathic connection between siblings, for just as the Silver-Haired Girl was about to look for which gifts were meant for Lin, regular footsteps echoed from the corridor not far away.
"Hey, sister."
Hearing the familiar voice, Ying turned around and saw her brother opening the heavy iron door to the basement. The Black-Haired Boy, whose hair was a bit messy from not being combed, didn't bother with pleasantries with his sister and said directly, "The master isn't here with you, is he?"
Although the boy used the grammar of a question, his tone was as certain as a statement.
"Of course not. Can't you see that at a glance?" Ying thought it was something important, but it turned out to be such a trivial matter. She curled her lip and said impatiently, "The master came back last night to get that Grimoire and hasn't returned since. We all have sensing abilities. Did you really have to come all the way here to ask me…"
"But, sister," Lin interrupted the Silver-Haired Girl's complaint, using a calm tone that Ying found familiar, "have you noticed that Hei also suddenly disappeared last night?"
Blinking, Ying shook her head in confusion. Yesterday, she had helped Joshua get the Abyss Grimoire from the study, then came down to organize this mess with No. 3. When would she have had time to pay attention to the Dragon Girl's movements? Besides, Hei had never been very noticeable anyway.
"Sigh… my sister."
Seeing that Ying still hadn't caught on, Lin shook his head in slight disappointment. "Even if the master doesn't need to sleep, that doesn't mean he wouldn't come back to the Lord's Manor, right?" He paused, then said in a tone that was a statement filled with questioning, "So, isn't there a possibility—that the master has already left?"
In this sentence, the way the boy said the word "left" was very clever, carrying a sense of certainty, confirmation, and conviction that left no room for argument.
"Huh?" Ying was still confused, not quite processing it. Lin continued, "Look, Hei suddenly left the city in the middle of the night. Who else but the master could have ordered her? Besides…" The boy rambled on with more evidence, all of which supported the fact that the Warrior had actually left last night to handle some business, but without taking them along.
"Impossible!" No matter how slow her reaction, Ying finally understood what her brother meant. The girl instantly became frantic. In a flash, she was in front of the boy, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "We are the master's weapons! He takes us everywhere he goes! How could he only take Hei and not us?"
"He didn't take us to the Abyss of Anos either, only Chu Hao and Hei." The boy calmly pointed this out, the price being that he was shaken even more violently. Lin looked at Ying, who was growing more frantic with jealousy, and shook his head. "Speaking of which, sister, you're becoming more and more like a human."
"Miss No. 3 is the same," he said.
Hearing this, the Silver-Haired Girl stopped her actions. She snorted and then said softly, "Honestly, brother, the fact that you can say something like that just proves you're the same."
At the same time, Northern Lands, Moldavia, Dwarf Underground Settlement.
This was a massive, narrow abyssal rift, its length and depth impossible to gauge. It lay nearly a kilometer underground. The frequent crustal movements around the Great Aias Volcano caused chunks of the earth's crust to rise and fall periodically. While the Dwarves had methods to stabilize the crust around their settlement, they couldn't control every corner of their vast underground domain.
This enormous abyssal rift, with molten red light glowing from its depths, was located at the edge of the Dwarves' eastern mining district. It had appeared during a small earthquake two days ago, tearing a massive crack nearly two hundred meters long into the underground. In the instant it appeared, it claimed the lives of three Dwarf miners and isolated nearly thirty others on the far side of the abyss.
After the Dwarf settlement had dealt with the various aftermaths of the earthquake, they belatedly remembered that a team of miners hadn't reported back. By the time a rescue team was dispatched, those Dwarf miners, lacking water and food, no longer had the strength to respond to the rescue.
Dwarf bodies didn't contain much water. Compared to ordinary creatures, they were indeed like rock. But regardless, water was still a crucial part of their bodily fluid circulation. Two days without water or food in the sweltering, oppressive underground mining district was unbearable even for Dwarves.
For these master craftsmen, a two-hundred-meter-long abyss was nothing. Normally, they had ten thousand ways to cross this seemingly insurmountable barrier. But now, probably due to the underground mana disturbance caused by the earthquake, many spells were unusable. Using engineering methods, the fastest approach would take nearly a day. For them, the problem wasn't the method—it was time. If they didn't hurry to rescue the Dwarf miners, most of whom had fallen unconscious, they might soon return to the embrace of the earth.
Logically, these naturally impatient Dwarves should have been cursing in frustration. After all, time was absolutely running out. Their keen ears could hear the weakening breaths and heartbeats of their kin on the other side of the abyss—a truly agonizing ordeal.
But in reality, not a single Dwarf was restless. They all stood calmly, waiting for something to arrive.
And not long after.
With heavy, thudding footsteps, a massive, ferocious steel giant strode quickly from the distance, arriving at the edge of the abyss.
It looked like a giant suit of humanoid armor, standing nearly thirty meters tall, making it appear larger than a dragon. After all, dragons seemed big because of their wings and tails, but this steel giant was a full size larger than their actual bodies, clearly not in the same weight class.
With each step the giant took, it needed one or two seconds, making it seem slow. But because each step covered a great distance, it was actually quite fast. Its vulnerable joints showed clear signs of reinforcement, a technique commonly used by the Dwarves.
"Chu Hao! We're counting on you this time!"
When the steel giant arrived before the abyssal rift, a Dwarf engineer with a thick beard laughed in his rough voice, "I can't wait to see that scene again!"
"Yeah!" The other Dwarf engineers and construction workers also shouted loudly, "Show us! Show us!"
"Zzzt, zzzt zzzt zzzt." The head of the humanoid armor, a steel giant encased in a dragon-headed helmet, emitted a dull metallic sound of electrical current, as if agreeing. Without further ado, the steel giant stood on one side of the abyssal rift and began to undergo a violent transformation.
Then, an astonishing scene unfolded—with a series of piercing metallic screeches, the massive steel giant, like clay, morphed into a shapeless mass of silver metal. As if it were a living creature, it extended all the way to the other side of the abyss, forming a thin yet sturdy steel bridge!
The Dwarf rescue team and engineers didn't waste any time. They immediately began reinforcing the edges of the bridge, while dozens of rescuers quickly ran over to the Dwarf miners, who were mostly in shock or unconscious, administering urgent aid.
A long while later, all the miners had been rescued. Dozens of Dwarves had retreated back to the other side of the rift, and the steel bridge, amidst another series of violent metallic screeches, reverted back to its original form as the massive steel giant. It stood in place, accepting the praise and admiration of the many Dwarves.
Chu Hao listened to the noisy, sincere thanks around it. A flicker of joyful current passed through its metal-forged thought core. But for some reason, it didn't have the heart to dwell on these compliments. Instead, it instinctively looked up, gazing into the distance to the south.
Without any reason, without any evidence, the steel giant simply knew that its creator, its "father," was in that place.
At this moment, he was heading towards a different abyss, unlike this one.