Chapter 2185: Chapter 2185

Jenkins's image of a boatswain was a cliché: a burly, barrel-chested man, rough around the edges, with an anchor tattooed on his bicep. The woman before him, while somewhat full-figured, looked less like a seasoned sailor and more like a common textile worker.

"If I also pretended to be afraid, how would you find me?"

"Discerning genuine terror is difficult, I'll admit. But as long as you're human, I can vaguely perceive your mental state. You can put on a convincing show of fear, but the feeling itself—that can't be faked."

This was another new passive trait, an offshoot of his [Spiritual Communion]—itself a life-based ability—that had developed after [Four Seasons] nurtured the [World Tree Seedling]. Then again, it was also possible that the nurturing had elevated the very essence of his soul, granting him a near-divine ability to perceive the inner thoughts of others.

Regardless, there was a vast difference between the absolute terror induced by the Aura of Fear and a complete lack of it. That was how Jenkins had managed to single out the boatswain. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel⦿fire.net

"And how did you know I wouldn't be terrified like the others?"

"I didn't," Jenkins admitted, and he wasn't lying. "It was just a guess. I figured that since the boatswain has special authority on this ship, you might be able to resist—or even be immune to—certain effects that the other refugees cannot."

Then what if your guess was wrong?

"If I was wrong, then I was wrong. My next step would have been to sense the life signature of every single person. A boatswain's has to be different from that of an ordinary refugee. It would have been time-consuming, but at least it was a viable option."

The plump woman's face was not particularly striking. In fact, her features were obscured by a dense constellation of freckles that made it difficult to hold her gaze for long. Under normal circumstances, no one would ever have mistaken her for the boatswain. And had Jenkins not received that hint from the young girl, he never would have approached her for questioning.

"I want to get some information from you," Jenkins stated. "And I also want... authority. The kind of authority that will allow me to break the rules."

At Jenkins's words, the woman sat up straighter. She glanced first at the silhouette of the metal skull on the chair in the distance before speaking, her voice thick and nasal.

"Then you'll need to do something for me."

"No problem. Fish or flowers? Or do you need me to swab the decks?"

"Neither. There are... problematic individuals among the refugees. Help me eliminate at least three of them, and I'll give you the authority and the information you want."

"What do you mean, 'problematic individuals'?"

"You should know by now," she explained. "The unspeakable entity that descended from the heavens has the power to transform living beings into its own kin. Some of its kin are on this ship right now. They haven't been fully converted and still retain most of their human characteristics, which is why the ship doesn't reject them."

"I just killed someone who could turn his mouth..."

"No, he wasn't one," the woman interjected. "He may have been insane, but he was still human."

Then how many of them are there? Do they have any distinguishing features?

"The ship has only informed me that such individuals exist, somewhere between five and ten of them. As for their features, I can't tell you. If I knew, I wouldn't need you to handle it."

In truth, Jenkins already knew what the "unspeakable entity" that had descended upon this world was. It seemed impossible, but it was the Difference Engine—or at least, a part of it.

This theory was fraught with contradictions. This was, after all, the eighth level. If the Difference Engine made its appearance now, there would be no reason for Jenkins to proceed to the ninth. He entertained the possibility that he had already reached the ninth level and was suffering from a memory lapse, or that the Difference Engine had been deceiving him all along and the so-called nine-story tower only contained eight Mysterious Realms.

Jenkins dismissed all these speculations. The tower did have nine levels, this was indeed the eighth, and the Difference Engine had, in fact, descended upon this place.

Jenkins couldn't fathom what methods the Difference Engine had employed to insert itself into the very background of this Mysterious Realm. He didn't sense its core here, however, which led him to a single conclusion: the Difference Engine had crammed a portion of its colossal combat chassis into this realm, becoming a part of its cataclysmic backdrop. The challenge for Jenkins on this level, then, was to confront that immense body.

The Difference Engine's physical form was so vast it had already spread to every corner of the material world, so splitting off a section to insert here was entirely plausible. Still, the idea that this realm's Beast of Calamity was the body of the Difference Engine had its own inconsistencies. It was just a theory, and Jenkins remained skeptical. There was no rule stating that the Difference Engine, having become the backdrop, couldn't also conceal another Beast of Calamity within the realm.

There was already considerable evidence supporting the theory that the Difference Engine had descended here. The first clue came when Jenkins attempted to dissect the fish that generated black lightning. Though the creature had self-destructed, the liquid that leaked out when his blade pierced it was undeniably machine oil.

Later, from both the man who demanded the fish and the girl who wanted the flower, he learned more about the disaster that formed this realm's backstory. Their descriptions of the "unspeakable entity" matched the Difference Engine almost perfectly.

It could convert living beings into clockwork structures, turning them into its kin, and transform inanimate objects into steel constructs to serve as its tools. The yellow light that bathed the world was a clear reference to the Difference Engine's signature brass aesthetic. But the moment that solidified this theory for Jenkins was the brief instant he had poked his head outside the ship.

During his battle with the Difference Engine above the church, Jenkins had siphoned off a portion of its "King of All Machines" power, causing his own ability to evolve into the [Principle of All Machines]. As a result, he now possessed an incredibly keen perception of the Difference Engine's creations. This ship, while shielding its occupants from external influences, also effectively blocked Jenkins's metallic senses.

The moment his head breached the ship's protective field, however, that protection vanished. He could clearly feel it then: in the world outside the vessel, traces of the Difference Engine's handiwork were practically everywhere.

Later, he had even made direct contact with a tentacle that snaked out of the water. While it felt like living tissue, the touch confirmed it was a purely metallic construct. If he couldn't have identified it after making physical contact, he might as well have given up on his final showdown with the Difference Engine.

In short, all the clues pointed to one conclusion: the backstory of this Mysterious Realm was "The Descent of the Difference Engine," an event that had transformed the world into a land of steel and initiated the slaughter of all flesh and blood. This much, he could confirm.