Chapter 648: Nightmare of the Mechanical Hollow

Staring at the person inside that mechanical tree hollow, Lu Xin’s eyes filled with deep bewilderment.

In an instant, a surge of barely controlled excitement washed over him.

The person inside the hollow showed no obvious age, with pale skin and a gaunt, emaciated body.

Each rib was clearly visible as he curled up within the narrow space of the mechanical trunk. It was hard even to tell his full height or complete form. Yet, from the glasses he wore and the hazy expression on his face, strange memories suddenly flooded Lu Xin’s mind—fleeting recollections from his days at the orphanage.

There was a boy with small round glasses who always sat in the living room watching television; sometimes, he would sit on a little bench in the corridor, gazing up at the moon, and at other times, he’d squat by the fish tank, watching the fish all day long…

…Yet, it was rare to see him sleep.

Back then, sleep was scarce for Lu Xin as well, so he often encountered the boy in the dead of night.

There were times when they would sit quietly together watching television and share a bottle of orange soda.

Neither of them was much of a talker.

Thus, their communication was minimal.

But since they both rarely slept, they spent more time together at the orphanage—a memory that left a deep impression.

That boy had long vanished from his life.

Yet now, seeing the person in the mechanical tree hollow, long-forgotten memories suddenly surged forth.

After a long silence, Lu Xin murmured, “Number Two…”

“How did you end up here?”

“…”

The boy in the mechanical tree hollow was none other than his classmate from the orphanage—Number Two.

Unexpectedly meeting him here, Lu Xin felt a slight dizziness at their unexpected reunion.

For a moment, the entire world seemed unreal.

“It really is you…”

Upon hearing Lu Xin’s response, the boy in the mechanical tree hollow finally confirmed his identity.

A joyful expression spread across his pale face as he said, “I’ve been here for a long time…”

“I never expected you’d come over. Are you…”

“…Did you come here just to find me?”

“…”

His voice was soft and gentle, and a faint blush seemed to color his pale face.

“No.”

Lu Xin shook his head lightly and replied, “I came here for another matter—I didn’t know you would be here…”

After a pause, he added in a low tone, “But if I had known earlier, I’m sure I would have come to find you sooner.”

……

……

“Then, what’s going on?”

At that moment, on the ruined platform, Xia Chong and the last Black-Robed Priest hanging in midair, watched Lu Xin’s quiet conversation with the tree hollow with wide-eyed astonishment, their hearts gripped by endless terror.

They didn’t know what Lu Xin was up to, but one of them had long known, and the other had already guessed just how terrifying the depths inside the mechanical trunk could be.

So, Lu Xin’s reaction far exceeded their expectations.

Meanwhile, deep within the underground deep pit, a pulsating dark red glow suddenly began to flicker incessantly.

Accompanying the red light was an intense alarm.

At the same time, the ceiling of the deep pit emitted deep creaks as massive steel beams retreated to the sides, revealing three ominous pitch-black openings. Atop each, a round metal column—sprayed in blue—slowly began to protrude.

The tops of these metal columns also flickered with red light.

One could even see yellow electronic digits rapidly counting down atop the columns.

“Twenty, Nineteen, Eighteen, Seventeen…”

“…”

The Black-Robed Priest trembled all over in sheer terror at the sight.

Desperate to escape, he found the sealed surroundings imprisoning him, and all he could do was curse furiously, “Bastards, bastards! We’ve already prepared ourselves to sacrifice, coexisting with these monsters, and you still want to wipe us out together?”

“Have you decided from the start that the three of us should stay here and escort these two monsters to our doom?”

“…”

Seeing the three columns, Xia Chong’s face went pale. “Hell Umbrella?”

……

……

“What is that?”

As the shrill alarm pierced the deep pit, Lu Xin was momentarily distracted, furrowing his brow.

Having just encountered his old companion, he had so many things he wished to say.

Number Two in the mechanical tree hollow wore a smile on his face.

It seemed he heard Lu Xin’s earlier words and felt a surge of happiness.

In a soft voice, he replied, “This is the most powerful Hell Umbrella plasma bomb series from Flame—designed specifically to take on Ability Users.”

“With such massive yield…”

He peeked out from the mechanical tree hollow and said, “Releasing it in such a confined space would kill anyone.”

Then, turning to Lu Xin, he nodded seriously, “Including you.”

“Huh?”

Lu Xin looked up at the bomb suspended in the air, its red glow flickering and its countdown begun, frowning slightly.

“Flame really went all out—aren’t you leaving?”

The shadow beside Lu Xin grew erratic, and a voice from ‘Father’ shouted, “Are we just chatting with friends now?”

“We can’t leave.”

Number Two explained, “This place is sealed off, so there’s no route to the Abyss. Physically, we’re surrounded by the toughest alloys, thirty-centimeter-thick steel plates, and a sandwich layer of glass that even Mental Power cannot penetrate. No ability can devise an escape in such a short countdown—so we’re all doomed.”

Tilting his head slightly, he glanced at Lu Xin and then chuckled, “Though maybe you won’t die completely.”

He added, “But you’re definitely going to lose the part of you that can still speak to me.”

“…”

“What nonsense are you spouting?”

In a burst of anger, Father roared, “Are we just going to wait here for death… huh?”

Amid his roar, he suddenly reacted; from within the black shadows, eyes stared in disbelief at Number Two:

“You can see me?”

“…”

“Of course.”

Number Two nodded slightly, his face softening with a pale smile as he looked behind Lu Xin and said:

“Little Seventeen, are you still alive?”

“…”

At his gaze, the sister trailing behind Lu Xin froze.

After a moment’s hesitation, she ducked behind him silently, peeking furtively at Number Two.

“Seventeen is really shy right now.”

“Of course, or maybe it’s because you’re not dressed properly.”

Lu Xin explained on behalf of his sister before looking at Number Two and saying, “But since it’s this dangerous, we should head out. With the situation so dire, our only way out is through the Abyss. How exactly is the Abyss being sealed?”

“It’s me.”

Number Two nodded and explained, “They sealed it using a part of my body.”

“You?”

Lu Xin was taken aback. “Then why haven’t you undone it?”

“Well…”

Number Two looked bewildered and said, “I can’t—I was never taught how to undo it…”

“Beep beep beep.”

While Lu Xin and Number Two conversed, the countdown on the three Hell Umbrella plasma bombs above the underground deep pit neared its end.

Entering the final five seconds, the numbers continued to tick while a warning alarm blared.

The alarm merged with the pit’s original blare, creating an atmosphere so tense it made one’s hair stand on end.

The Black-Robed Priest, hanging in midair, was now at the brink of despair, praying in his final moments.

On the ruined platform, Xia Chong shouted frantically for the Single Soldier while brandishing a Multi-Barrel Rotary Gun at the steel-plated door.

She seemed determined to blast the door apart and make an escape.

……

……

“Phew…”

At that moment, Lu Xin took a deep breath and said to Number Two, “Find a way out.”

Number Two’s expression showed clear hesitation before he softly nodded, “Alright, should we save everyone?”

Lu Xin replied, “The one hanging in midair can be left behind.”

The moment their conversation ended, the countdown on the dome’s Hell Umbrella plasma bomb hit zero.

The beeping ceased and the entire column fell silent for less than half a second.

Then, a massive blue electric arc suddenly engulfed its surface.

The blue arc, like a giant python, stretched downward.

Its dazzling light melted anything it touched in an instant, filling the air with scorching heat and aridity.

But even as the blue arc began to spread, not yet filling the space entirely, Number Two reached out from the mechanical tree hollow and grabbed Lu Xin’s wrist. At that same moment, the hidden mechanical grotesque tree emitted flashes of light along its segments.

Countless mechanical tentacles detached from the bodies surrounding the mechanical monster and swiftly surged toward the ruined platform.

Desperately holding onto the Multi-Barrel Rotary Gun to blast the door, Xia Chong was suddenly ensnared by mechanical tentacles around her calf, hoisted upside down, and dragged swiftly toward the mechanical tree. If time slowed down, one could almost hear her mouth forming the words:

“Let… go… of my… leg…”

“…”

“Crackle, crackle…”

In the next moment, the massive blue electric arc instantly flooded the entire underground deep pit.

Whether it was the ruined platform, the people in the pit, the Black-Robed Priest hanging in midair, or even the electronic parts that assembled the mechanical grotesque tree, everything was either vaporized or twisted, with even the shattered glass on the floor completely melted. The deep pit was awash with pulsating plasma, at an unfathomably high temperature.

At the same time, Lu Xin, Xia Chong, and the others disappeared from the underground deep pit in an instant.

……

……

“Phew…”

Lu Xin abruptly opened his eyes to find himself in a strange place.

He was standing on a small floor.

The floor was tiny, only a few square meters.

Oddly, the surrounding space was incredibly vast, yet it wasn’t a sky of sun, moon, or stars, nor a city street—instead, it was composed of fragmented scenes.

Some fragments depicted the afterglow of a sunset, others a city lit by dazzling lights, and still others a meadow covered in lush green grass.

Only, each scene was torn apart.

The normal world had been ripped to pieces and scattered across the air, creating this surreal panorama.

Between each fragment, a bottomless darkness could be seen.

“Where is this?”

After a moment of thought, Lu Xin whispered the question.

A soft voice answered from beside him—Number Two was seated cross-legged on a fragment of a pale room, silently observing his surroundings, and murmured,

“This is the Nightmare of God.”