Chapter 2069: Chapter 2069

"That worm is incredibly tenacious. Even with a group of friends helping me hunt it, it's very cunning. I'm a bit tired. Leaping through time continuously is no simple task. I just came to rest for a moment and make sure you're both safe. Don't worry, this will all be over soon."

Jenkins said, getting to his feet again, but the low ceiling of the carriage forced him to stoop.

"I'm going to continue the chase."

He took a single step out of the carriage and vanished into thin air. Miss Audrey glanced outside to make sure Jenkins wasn't coming back before closing the carriage door again.

"Teacher, so what do we do now?"

"Let's wait patiently," Miss Broniaons said, leaning back against the soft cushions. "I believe this matter is more or less over."

Just as Jenkins had predicted, it was the Difference Engine that was manipulating the power of the enigmatic Paradox Worm. It hadn't developed any new strategies; rather, it continued to hone its craft of mechanical fabrication, and in doing so, had created the Mechanical Paradox Worm. This creature theoretically possessed all the abilities of a weakened version of the Paradox Worm, but because it was a creation of the Difference Engine, it also possessed many new powers related to machinery.

This made it impossible for the Time Paradoxers to subdue the worm through normal means, which was why they needed Jenkins to intervene.

The unsealed Paradox Worm theoretically exists at every point in time, yet simultaneously exists at no point in time. Only a few groups, like the Time Paradoxers, can find it within time and force it to manifest.

The first time they caught up to the creature on the vast plain, the Mechanical Paradox Worm gave everyone a nasty surprise. It first opened its enormous maw and spewed a torrent of metal scraps that looked like they'd been pulled from a junkyard. Then, under the influence of temporal power, the metal automatically assembled into various gear-driven mechanical creations—replicas of Cursed Items forged with the Difference Engine's power.

These replicated Cursed Items each had their own abilities. Even when destroyed, they would regenerate almost instantly through the power of time and machinery, achieving a state that was, in a sense, truly immortal. Googlᴇ search NovelHub(.)net

The Time Paradoxers suppressed the temporal power while Jenkins suppressed the mechanical power, and only then could they barely manage to eliminate these things. But by then, the Paradox Worm had already fled to who-knows-where.

It was an arduous pursuit, a relentless cycle of chase, battle, and chase again. In these repeated encounters, Jenkins could feel the worm actually evolving, accumulating experience through constant battle. Even the mechanical Cursed Item replicas it created were growing stronger.

But the Time Paradoxers hadn't earned their reputation for nothing. Through repeated contact, they finally discovered a flaw in the Mechanical Paradox Worm's time jumps. Its traversal of time, unlike a true Paradox Worm, was not without its costs.

Relying on this knowledge, the Time Paradoxers, together with Jenkins, finally located it again on the white, mist-shrouded plain. When it tried to pull the same trick, a bronze-colored bird flew out from Jenkins's book. As a massive metal gear in Jenkins's eyes began to turn, driving a whole array of smaller gears, the Mechanical Paradox Worm actually froze for a split second.

An ethereal gray light radiated from the outstretched hands of the Time Paradoxers, enveloping the Mechanical Paradox Worm. At that moment, Jenkins finally felt the wind, a sign that the linear flow of time was being restored.

The Mechanical Paradox Worm, momentarily controlled by the Principle of All Machines, certainly sensed the threat. It struggled violently, even attempting to crush the group before it with its body, the size of a small mountain.

But its chance was gone. As the gray light spread, its movements became rigid once more, and for a short time, it was unable to traverse time again.

"It's up to you now," declared the man in the black formal suit beside Jenkins.

Jenkins nodded, drew his sword, and took two running steps before leaping high into the air. Like an agile cat, he scrambled up the massive mechanical worm's body. Upon reaching its head, he pushed off forcefully, launching himself even higher, and the gleam of his sword spun as he slashed downward.

With a sound that set one's teeth on edge, the worm wasn't sliced into pieces, but a gaping hole appeared a third of the way down its body.

A brilliant, multicolored light burst from the hole in the mechanical body. It was followed by an aura even more terrifying than the Mechanical Paradox Worm itself, one that made even Jenkins feel a bit uneasy. The source of this colored light was the core of the mechanical beast—the very power of the Paradox Worm, whose origins were unknown.

Jenkins didn't dare touch that rainbow-hued light. He just stood on the mechanical behemoth's head, using the power of the Principle of All Machines to restrain its movements.

The Time Paradoxers also avoided direct contact with the light. Just as they had done at the hospital, they summoned a massive ring in the sky that seemed to absorb all color. The multicolored light then dissolved into shimmering motes and was drawn into the ring.

In the midst of this process, everything around them began to return to normal. While the lightless, empty plain remained the same plain, the chaotic flow of time had stabilized.

And without the power of the Paradox Worm, this mechanical behemoth was nothing more than a large but ordinary mechanical creation. With ease, he sliced it into three parts, which scattered across the plain.

He leaped down from the worm's remains. After reconfirming that the three metal cores integrated with miniaturized steam engines—located in the head, middle, and tail—had lost all power, he walked over to the Time Paradoxers with his sword in hand.

"Thank you for your help. The fog is about to clear. Thank you for all your trouble this time."

"No, the gratitude is ours, esteemed one," the man in the black suit, who acted as the group's spokesman, said with humility. Their figures were already beginning to fade. After dealing with the matter here, they had other things to attend to. Across countless continuous timelines, the Paradox Worm is forever in a superposition of escaping its seal and not escaping its seal, and so the Time Paradoxers' work is never done.

"We just discovered something very important. Ordinarily, we wouldn't be allowed to warn you, as it pertains to the End of the Era. But since you have helped us, we can information with you as a token of our gratitude."

He bowed slightly to Jenkins and spoke directly, without waiting for a question.

"We have discovered that it wasn't just the Paradox Worm's power that was stolen."