Chapter 527: Pe Laya's Experiment |
The teleportation array?
Upon hearing this, both Cheng Shi and Da Yi were stunned.
What surprised Cheng Shi was the "deconstruction" the Destruction Declaration mentioned. It sounded very much like a technique of Truth or Folly, which meant the other group's arrival was likely connected to either the Tower of Logic — which had championed Truth during the Civilization Era — or the Civilization Lonely Tower, which followed Folly during the Chaos Era.
Da Yi's shock, on the other hand, stemmed from a sudden realization about why Lord Ultraman had them go through all that trouble at the teleportation array for seemingly nothing... Looking back now, it wasn't for nothing at all. Every step of the lord's plan had a purpose. The teleportation array wasn't useless — the timing simply hadn't been right!
And now, look — someone had actually come back through that array!
'Lord Ultraman truly deserves his reputation!'
His gaze toward Cheng Shi grew even more reverent.
Cheng Shi felt Da Yi's blazing stare, but he had no time to wonder what the man had fabricated in his imagination this time. Outwardly serene as a still lake, yet inwardly burning with curiosity, he addressed the Destruction Declaration:
"Continue. In detail.
The Oblivion singer was extraordinarily cooperative — almost too cooperative. He clearly had doubts about Cheng Shi and Da Yi's identities and was confused by everything around him, yet he didn't ask a single question. Whatever Cheng Shi asked, he answered — promptly and thoroughly.
"I... prayed for a trial to witness Oblivion's great endeavors, and was then matched into a War scenario.
Our trial took place in the Tower of Logic near the end of the Civilization Era, right when Pe Laya — a member of the Erudition Presidium — was staging her rebellion. We..."
"Who the hell?" Da Yi blurted out in confusion, but then it clicked. "You came back through Pe Laya's experiment?"
The Destruction Declaration seemed unsurprised that a high-tier player would know this history. He nodded quickly, but Da Yi immediately launched into a tirade:
"With just you lot, you managed to replicate her experiment?
The only opportunity in that piece of history was beating the Erudition Presidium to the punch — and snatching food from a tiger's mouth requires the strength to fight the tiger! You're at best tiger food. What were you going to snatch with — your heads?
Or what, are your skulls so hard they chipped the tiger's fangs?"
"..." Da Yi's wave of contempt left the Destruction Declaration speechless. Cheng Shi said nothing, though the information in that exchange was substantial.
Pe Laya!
Pe Laya again!
What kind of experiment had this Grand Scholar of the Tower of Logic been conducting?
Cheng Shi genuinely didn't know this part of history, so he chose to keep silent. He couldn't afford to reveal his ignorance, so he simply played mysterious and kept his mouth shut.
"..." The Destruction Declaration wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hastily explained: "No, no — we did replicate the experiment, but the opportunity was seized by the Grand Marshal and his people. We just..."
"Lao Hu?!" Da Yi's voice jumped up three octaves. "You were even matched with Lao Hu? With his rating — even if the game's matching system is absurd, how could it pair him with small fry like you?"
"..."
'Bro, can you stop being so aggressive? I'm trying to listen to a story here!'
Cheng Shi shot a subtly disapproving look and cleared his throat as a reminder. Da Yi heard the cough and instantly realized he'd disrupted his lord's interrogation rhythm. He snapped his neck straight and fell silent.
The Destruction Declaration suppressed his terror and hurriedly continued his explanation to Cheng Shi:
"We weren't matched with the Grand Marshal — we collided with his trial. No, wait — he and his people crashed into our trial.
Our trial wasn't going well from the start. Grand Scholar Pe Laya flipped the table at the Erudition Presidium meeting and used spatial deconstruction to warp the Death Knell Knights directly into the heart of Tusnat.
We'd barely set foot in the Tower of Logic's research wing when droves of Death Knell Knights trapped us inside. Fortunately, we had a Lord of Desire among us. He converted their fear, took control of several scholars, and used them to skirmish with the Death Knell Knights. Combined with everyone fighting tooth and nail, we barely survived.
But the situation was far too chaotic — way beyond anything we could handle. We even suspected it was a special trial rather than a wish trial.
Staying in the research wing meant certain death. There was no way out. So we ran — fleeing in a rout toward Tusnat proper.
Just as we were looking for somewhere to hide until the trial ended, the Grand Marshal and several others split the void open and dropped down right above us.
I don't know how they found this place, but their appearance definitely relieved the pressure on us. He's truly worthy of being War's Chosen One. He was so powerful — he..."
'Wait, wait — kid, do you even realize what you're saying? You're turning into a Grand Marshal fanboy mid-interrogation!'
"Ahem. The point."
"Oh, oh right. The point is — he led his people and cut straight through the Death Knell Knights. We were afraid to die, so we followed in their wake and broke through together."
At this, both Cheng Shi and Da Yi wore peculiar expressions. Clearly, they both knew that regardless of what faith Hu Wei professed, he should have been on the same side as the Death Knell Knights.
'You're Chaos's muscle. Why are you hacking your own people?'
Da Yi gave Cheng Shi an odd glance, afraid his lord might take issue. But Cheng Shi wasn't about to fuss over something so trivial. He lifted his chin, signaling the captive to continue.
"But it turned out they weren't fleeing at all — they had a different objective. They charged into Pe Laya's laboratory. This Grand Scholar of the Existence Origin Department was famously known for deconstructing spacetime, and in her possession..."
"We know all that already — get to the point!" Da Yi barked.
'Hold on just a moment!'
'You know, but I don't!'
'This IS the point for me, now shut your mouth!!'
Cheng Shi was furious. He shot Da Yi an icy glare, and Da Yi instantly felt the weight of his lord's displeasure. He clamped his mouth shut and stared at the ground, as docile as a student sent to stand in the corner.
The Destruction Declaration froze too. He sensed that the person in charge wanted him to keep going. So he swallowed nervously, testing the waters as he resumed his thread:
"Grand Scholar Pe Laya possessed the corpse of the Barren Walker. It was left over from a failed faith experiment in the Tower of Logic's underworld. It was precisely because she held this servant god's shell that she commanded such authority within the Erudition Presidium.
The scholar team she led had been continuously researching the Barren Walker's origin. They sought to deconstruct the associated spatiotemporal links to locate His soul — namely, the Gift of Sores — and then stitch this Decay Herald back together, creating an artificial Herald.
The Grand Marshal led his people to her laboratory. We followed behind and also saw the Barren Walker's corpse. Unfortunately, by that time, Grand Scholar Pe Laya had already lost all interest in these experiments. She'd fully devoted herself to Chaos and the rebellion against Truth, so the experiment had been shelved.
Someone in the Grand Marshal's group tried to restart the experiment, but that's when several Grand Scholars from the Erudition Presidium arrived at the Tower of Logic, intending to reclaim the experimental materials — no, not reclaim. Confiscate. They declared that Pe Laya had betrayed the Tower of Logic, and her experimental resources needed to be redistributed."
"..."
...