Chapter 1853: Chapter 1853
Everything was in motion, yet somehow, it all seemed static. Time and space no longer held any meaning; all that mattered were the turning gears.
He watched as the entire world transformed, the gears spreading like a ravenous plague, inch by inch corrupting every corner of the material plane.
Hills were leveled, ravines filled in. Thundering machines excavated minerals from the deepest corners of the earth and harvested resources from the highest reaches of the sky.
The world, in the truest sense, was driven forward by a single, controlling force, developing along a path of rigid, absolute order.
A sense of affirmation rose from deep within him. Jenkins found himself agreeing with this world—it was, indeed, a possible future. But...
“Is that all there is?”
he wondered, tearing his gaze from the pages before him and forcing his mind away from the vision.
He looked past the book at the three men sitting silently behind it.
“Is this really all?”
The lead man was clearly surprised; it was evident in both his expression and his tone.
“This is the future that machine promised?”
“A land of steel, a mechanical empire... is that it? I admit I only saw a fraction, my perspective limited to a single corner, but the future you've presented...”
He reached out and tapped the book. Flames instantly enveloped it. With a mournful cry, the book burned to cinders, leaving a fine layer of black ash on the floor.
“It's far less interesting than I imagined.”
He shook his head, his gaze fixed seriously on the three men.
“This future you've revealed... I assume it isn't what that machine truly desires. If it is, I'm deeply disappointed. To control the world with machinery, to have machines infest every corner, moving mountains, filling seas, plumbing the abyss, and seizing the moon, leaving no sanctuary for nature... I'm sorry, but I've seen a future like that before...”
He paused, his eyes growing distant as he thought of his homeland.
“Yes, I've seen it in my dreams. But compared to the future you've displayed, my dreams were far more interesting. Do you really think this is enough to recruit a demigod from an Orthodox Church?”
He tossed an explosive charm from his pocket, which precisely shattered a vase in the corner. As a quicksilver-like fluid spilled onto the floor, the world around them turned illusory.
That was the ritual's focal point for the arcane lock. It had been well hidden, but to Jenkins, it might as well have been right in front of his face.
The voices and faces of the three men blurred in Jenkins's perception. At the same time, the appearance of the strange Enchanter from the Orthodox Church dissolved before their eyes.
As the node of the arcane lock shattered, they heard the man's final words:
“Wait a few minutes. I'll be seeing you for real very soon.”
In the actual attic on the third floor of the apartment building, three men seated in chairs snapped their eyes open. The only difference between this room and the one Jenkins had seen was that, in addition to the traces of a ritual array, the floor was covered with porcelain vases of various heights.
“Retreat immediately! Secure the collected brain matter and the specimens.”
The lead man pressed his hands on the armrests and rose. As he moved, the ritual array on the floor flared with light—a sign of the arcane lock's instability.
“Someone else is breaking into the attic,”
the man on the left warned, remaining seated in his armchair, straining to keep the arcane lock stable.
“Forget them. Retreat now, and reverse the lock's effect to cause chaos on your way out.”
All three men left their chairs. The leader dragged a cardboard box from the corner and began assembling the stacked metal components inside. His hands were nimble; in less than thirty seconds, the precisely fitted parts had formed a rough cube, with only a few pieces missing from its surface.
Meanwhile, the thick-lipped man who had been sitting on the left stood and immediately went to a display case tucked away in a corner. The cabinet was metal, but its doors were glass.
He bent over, squinting as he carefully checked and counted the various boxes and delicate metal vials inside. Then he opened his mouth wide. Wider. Wider.
When a tiny red dot appeared deep in his throat, he jerked his head down and "swallowed" the entire display case.
It was an extremely rare spatial ability. Of course, even if Jenkins had a spare ability slot, he would never have learned it. The old elf's [Void Tree Space] was far more convenient and elegant.
The third man, the one with the balding crown who had been on the right, wasn't bustling about like his companions. He walked straight to the attic's trapdoor and linked his index fingers in a peculiar fashion. As the sound of his incantation droned through the cramped room, a metallic sheen spread from his feet, quickly coating the entire floor in a film of brass.
Just as the spell took effect, a violent tremor shook the floor beneath them, as if some behemoth were pounding on the ceiling from the floor below.
“Don't worry. I can guarantee no one will reach us for at least three minutes,”
the man who had used the spell announced.
“The brain fluid and human brain specimens we've collected over the last two weeks are secured,”
added the man who had swallowed the cabinet.
“Good. Then let's leave at once. What we've gathered will be sufficient.”
The man holding the cube spoke, and the three quickly gathered. He let the cube drop. The moment it struck the floor, a doorframe of the exact same color and material rose before them.
The man pulled out a matchbox, struck a match, and tossed it through the frame. A roar of steam machinery erupted, and a blast of searing gas shot forth. The gas didn't dissipate; instead, it swirled within the portal, obscuring their view of the attic behind them.
“Every time I see one of Mr. 'Great Wisdom's' peculiar creations, I can't help but marvel at the exquisite machinery. I imagine that's why our Lord agreed to this cooperation.”
“Our Lord merely acquiesced; he did not agree. Do not presume to speculate on the intentions of the great one,”
the man who had created the portal chided. But as he spoke, a distinct "click" sounded from the trapdoor.
The three of them spun around. The trapdoor, still coated in its metallic film, was swinging open on its own. A moment later, the man they had just been speaking with vaulted up from the floor below, as agile as a cat.