Chapter 327 Promises and Wishes

Lu Yuan didn't rush to call out a second time.

He first checked his own condition.

After the consciousness was projected in, the body's sensations became very faint. The feet could feel the hardness of the broken platform, but the temperature and touch were vague, as if there was something between them.

He tried to adjust the time synchronization.

The thought was sent out, but nothing was touched.

There was no response, no vibration, nothing at all. The time synchronization and his body had been integrated for so long that he had almost forgotten that this thing was essentially a physical symbiosis. His body was still crouching in the pipeline channel, and the time synchronization was naturally there as well.

He then tried the symbiotic relationship of the knowledge worm.

This time there was a response.

It was extremely faint, like reaching a thread from a very, very far distance. The connection was intermittent, and the transmitted sensations were so blurry that they were almost indistinguishable.

The Knowledge Worm is building a bridge outside to maintain the passage, and most of its power is focused on that bridge, leaving almost nothing for the symbiotic connection.

'You've really screwed me over. Is this the solution?'

Lu Yuan cursed the bug in his heart.

Then he felt deep inside his left eye.

The key was still there; the teardrop-shaped object was embedded in the back of the insect's body, floating quietly, unchanged from when it came in.

Lu Yuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he had the key, he could get out. He had witnessed the deterrent power of this thing before. If even this thing couldn't protect him, then he probably had no hope of getting out.

He steadied himself and began to read on.

The grayish-white void was bottomless, filled with gray mist in every crevice. Scattered rock platforms floated at varying heights, differing in size, the largest barely a few steps square. Further away, nothing could be seen, only gray.

Somewhere below, through gaps in the gray mist, the outline of a large rock platform could be vaguely seen. A figure seemed to be standing on it.

Lu Yuan called out again.

"Rek!"

The sound was swallowed up by the gray fog within a few meters.

It's not like the sound can't travel far. It's more like the sound itself was absorbed by something, leaving no vibration behind.

He tried to move down. The broken platform was only wide enough for one person, with scattered floating platforms all around. The nearest one was about two steps diagonally below, less than the size of a palm, not even big enough to fit half a foot.

Those further away are out of the question.

Lu Yuan crouched down and looked around again. The gray fog flowed in a regular pattern, unlike natural air currents; it seemed as if something was controlling the fog's concentration and direction.

This space actively absorbs sound, and the platform's layout doesn't support movement at all.

Rex heard the first shout from the rocky platform below.

It was very far away, as if it came through several layers of walls, most of it was swallowed up, and only the last trace of the sound reached my ears.

But he heard it clearly.

That was Lu Yuan's voice.

Rick looked up abruptly, but could see nothing in the gray fog except for the churning gray-white mist.

He opened his mouth to respond, but his voice was swallowed by the gray mist and disappeared the moment he shouted it out.

The second sound came from above. It was even more indistinct than the first, with only one syllable barely discernible.

At this moment, Rex finally confirmed that Lu Yuan had indeed entered, and Rex became a little anxious.

How did Lu Yuan get in here? He shouldn't be here! This place is the territory of the Wall People, whose extraordinary powers have been completely stripped away, trapping them on this three- or four-step square rock, unable to even jump away. What could Lu Yuan possibly be doing here?

So Rick wasn't going to just wait around.

Several fragments of the platform floated around it, at varying heights. The closest one was about a step above him, much smaller than the one he was standing on, but large enough to step on.

Without hesitation, Rick bent down, jumped, and reached out his hand toward the broken platform.

But his body collided with something invisible.

The gray fog itself condensed into a dense layer of resistance, forming an invisible cage at the edge of the rock platform. Rex was bounced back, staggering back to the center of the platform, almost losing his footing.

He looked around. The gray mist floated quietly, as if nothing had happened.

The person on the wall not only retreated, but also chained him to the stone.

Rick gritted his teeth, preparing to try again.

Just then, a brief gap appeared in the gray fog, as if a gust of wind blew from a certain direction, creating a hole in the thick grayish-white fog.

Through the gap, Rick saw it.

Above itself.

A figure stood on a floating, broken platform, looking down.

It's Lu Yuan.

At the same instant, the gray fog surged back, its concentration suddenly increasing several times. The gray fog was pushed over, as if it had a mind of its own, blocking the gap and pouring into the space between the two, severing all connections. Even the sense of direction began to blur, and Rex could not tell whether the figure from before was directly above or diagonally above.

The people on the wall didn't want them to have a chance to speak.

After the gray fog surged, the rock platform beneath Rex's feet trembled.

It was faint and persistent, as if something was undulating underneath.

Then the gray mist split open in front of him.

Half of a gigantic face emerged from the gray mist, and a grayish-white, pupil-less eyeball appeared before Rek, occupying most of his field of vision.

It's different from before.

When the wish was made earlier, the person on the wall urged him on, waiting for Rick to speak, waiting for him to make his wish, and waiting for the deal to be made.

This time it was extremely calm. Like a host seeing a guest walk to the door on their own.

Rick couldn't read any emotion in that grayish-white eye.

He was simply watching him. Like watching something that had already been done.

"You have paid the price."

The overlapping sounds fell heavily, causing the rock platform to tremble slightly.

Rick was taken aback.

What price? He made no wish, nor did he pay anything. The man on the wall said, "The price has been paid," but what exactly was that price?

Before he could even speak, the person on the wall had already said the second sentence.

"You have the right to make your wishes. You may do so at any time. If I permit it, I will grant it."

Rick's pupils contracted slightly.

The rock platform beneath their feet shattered instantly.

Without any warning, the entire rock platform shattered from within, turning into gray fragments that scattered in all directions. Rex lost his support and plummeted into the grayish-white void.

Gray mist surged in from all directions, enveloping him and pulling him downwards at an increasingly rapid pace, as if he were being pushed down by some force.

The sound of the wind rushed into my ears, and the gray fog rushed past my side.

Rick desperately tried to keep his eyes open as he fell.

He saw it.

The moment the gray fog dissipated, the entirety of this space was revealed to him for the first time.

It is not an empty space.

It is a huge stone wall that has been carved out.

The rock strata seemed to have been cleaved in two by some force, forming a deep, bottomless fissure. The rock platform where they had just stood was merely one of countless fragments suspended within this fissure.

The surface of the stone wall is rough and ancient, covered with some kind of engraving, but it is not clear what it is under the cover of gray mist.

And further down there.

There are steps recessed into the stone wall.

However, most of the steps were empty, with only a few steps having human figures on them.

Several, indistinct and in various poses, some standing, some seemingly kneeling. The gray fog obscured their faces and details, leaving only their outlines.

Rick didn't have time to look at it a second time.

The gray fog closed in again, engulfing everything.

Consciousness began to slip away. The feeling of falling disappeared, replaced by a weightless sensation, like being pulled out of the water.

Darkness followed closely behind.

In his last moments before losing consciousness, Rick finally understood why the person on the wall had let him leave.

He paid no price. The man on the wall said, "We've arrived."

Lu Yuan's voice came from above. Lu Yuan entered this space.

The person who had been refusing to join them eventually came to them on their own.

The person on the wall let him go because they got something else they wanted.

Rick suddenly opened his eyes.

The copper walls of the pipeline tunnel. The light of the marching lights. The cold air filled my nostrils, carrying a faint smell of bronze.

He is back.

Lu Yuan squatted down in front of him, placing one hand on his forehead, his posture unchanged.

But Lu Yuan's pupils were unfocused, his breathing was steady, and his body remained completely still.

He was clearly not conscious.

A colorful light hovered above the two people who were in contact. That should be the Knowledge Derivative Worm. It seems that Lu Yuan used the Knowledge Derivative Worm and some other means to force his way in.

The extremely fine bridges formed by the colorful light on the knowledge-derived insect's body were still pulsating, with a stable frequency and no signs of decay.

Rick's suspicions became confirmed.

His first reaction was to reach out and cut the bridge, grab the insect, sever the connection, and forcibly pull Lu Yuan's consciousness back.

But he suppressed the thought.

The rational connection was forcibly severed, which could cause mental damage at best, and a tearing of consciousness at worst. Moreover, the other end of the connection was that thing's space, and he couldn't judge what consequences would be triggered by forcibly breaking it.

Rex checked Lu Yuan's breathing; it was relatively stable.

The pupil, although unfocused, did not dilate.

From this perspective, Lu Yuan is not in immediate danger.

Rex dared not move, fearing that the connection would be broken if he did. He then took out the communication crystal from his pocket and injected a faint supernatural energy.

The surface of the communication crystal lit up briefly, a buzzing sound rang for two seconds, and then Klaus's voice came through.

"Lu Yuan's consciousness is trapped. In the pipeline layer, near the copper wall area."

Rick lowered his voice and spoke very quickly.

"I don't have any other options. You need to come over here."

The gray fog closed in.

The space fell silent again. The brief tremor had disappeared, and something had been ejected from the space.

It's probably Lake.

Lu Yuan wasn't sure what had happened, but he could sense that the faint aura that had been emanating from below had disappeared, and Rex was no longer there.

He was considering whether to try shouting again.

The gray fog moved.

The gray mist before him slowly receded to the sides, like a curtain being pulled apart by an invisible hand. Quietly, without a sound.

Where the gray fog dissipated, a gigantic face appeared directly in front of Lu Yuan.

He looked at Lu Yuan at eye level.