The black sun hangs high

Chapter 448 Sleep
The tremors occurred not only in Hugh's mental realm, but also within the entire ruins.

When Hugh completely removed the last traces of Dark Abyss from the gate, a dull sound echoed throughout the ruins. At that moment, the ruins seemed like an ancient clock tower that had been shut down for countless years due to some malfunction, and the instant the malfunction was successfully resolved, it couldn't wait to announce its revival to the surroundings.

"..."

The elderly ratman prophet was thrown to the ground by the sudden, violent tremor. Aziv scrambled to his feet and saw strange lights and shadows appearing on the surface of the metal door. These lights and shadows seemed to naturally repel the power of the Abyss. The ancient creations summoned by Hugh began to retreat under the influence of these lights, and the tentacles that had been clinging to the surface of the door disintegrated due to the violent impact.

However, Hugh himself did not seem to be affected by this shock.

His head was lowered, his hands still resting on the door, and where his palms touched the door, there were now rings of bright yellow light, which seemed to be a response to Hugh's touch.

The astonishing sight before him made Azifu's eyes widen. He stood there, greedily watching every subtle change that was happening in front of him. Not only that, he also picked up a broken metal plate from the side and began to record it with his magic.

As a former poet and scholar, and now a rat-man prophet, Aziv is well aware of the importance of recording.

His intuition told him that the miraculous scene before him was unlikely to bring destruction and annihilation, but rather an extremely important turning point, a turning point that was of paramount importance to the Dark Abyss, to the Skaven, and even to Vaan.

Such crucial moments should absolutely not lack recorders.

Even the act of "recording" itself has become a symbol of supreme honor at this moment.

As Aziv began to copy everything he saw and heard onto the metal plate, the muffled sounds coming from inside the door seemed to acquire a specific rhythm and cadence. Amidst the buzzing sounds, the bright yellow halo that met Hugh's palm gradually took on a clear outline and lines.

Those are gears.

Or rather, they were interlocking gear-like rings of light, each one larger than the last, which gradually appeared from Hugh's palm and extended rapidly toward all parts of the gate.

In less than ten breaths, the bright yellow light completely emerged from inside the gate. These translucent light and shadow structures combined to form an extremely complex mechanical structure. An orderly and intricate mechanical sound also began to emanate from all directions as this change occurred.

Yes, from all directions.

Every corner, every passageway wall, every floor...

Even the heavy metal tracks fixed overhead seemed to have regained their vitality, with strange and bright light slowly emerging from the tiny gaps, making the originally dark and oppressive empty passage bright.

Aziv couldn't help but squint. It had been in this body for far too long and had long since unconsciously picked up many of the rat people's habits. This sudden light made it very uncomfortable, but its inner impulse made it overcome this discomfort and persist in observing its surroundings.

The strange buzzing that shook the entire ruins and all the members of the ratman tribe took on a completely different form in Hugh's mental world.

In Hugh's perception, the hum was like the ocean tide and his breath. It was incredibly natural, yet at the same time possessed an extremely astonishing power. His own magic and his spiritual ocean showed a high degree of convergence the moment they sensed this vibration, as if the two had spontaneously begun to resonate. As the resonance continued to intensify, Hugh felt his breathing, heartbeat, and even the flow of blood in his body begin to match this frequency.

Hughes realized that the strange mechanical sounds and the rhythmic vibrations seemed to have penetrated completely into his body, or rather... a similar rhythm was emanating from the deepest part of his mind. The two highly similar sounds blended together to form a kind of intoxicating and wonderful melody.

"disc?"

The word flashed through Hugh's mind, and he seized the fleeting inspiration, forcibly pulling his attention away from the extremely captivating resonance and shifting it to the metal disc that served as the vessel for his own power.

Hughes was stunned.

The huge disc, which was originally in a "locked" state in a considerable area, seemed to be completely "activated" at this moment, and the bright yellow light had completely replaced all the colors inside the disc.

The deep fog that belonged to Theseus was now replaced and obscured by that dazzling light.

On the disc, the structures and lines that had always carried a heavy, metallic mechanical style began to change at this moment. They became simple and clean, and the patterns and textures they formed revealed a unique technological aesthetic.

Before Hugh could react further, the light began to change again. The slightly dazzling bright yellow light gradually turned into a clear light blue, which reminded Hugh of the color of the "Sinar Sea" and the gifts that Mel had given him.

The two seem to be highly similar, or even completely identical. However, compared to Mel's gift, the light that Hugh is now touching is much brighter, almost to the point that he dares not touch or look directly at it.

"..."

A subtle, noisy sound rang in Hugh's ears. It was information emanating from the stable circuits inside the gate in front of him. It entered Hugh's body along with the flowing magic and manifested through the operating disc.

Strange sounds, a jumble of countless languages, echoed in Hugh's head. After a few seconds, these chaotic sounds and words gradually coalesced and eventually merged into the language that Hugh was most familiar with.

"New visitor detected. Initiating the access review process."

"Please wait."

Hugh's body trembled slightly.

He hadn't expected to hear that kind of calm, gentle, and emotionless synthesized voice again. Although it was ultimately transmitted through magic, the final result gave Hugh a startling sense of familiarity.

After a brief silence, the sound rang out again.

"A type of verification procedure has been activated... Species verification has been passed, and the list comparison is now being conducted."

"The comparison of one category of lists has been completed, and no matching objects were found."

"The comparison of the second category list has ended, and no matching object was found."

“Three categories…” In almost an instant, countless different testing procedures flashed through Hugh’s mind. The massive amount of information rushed into his mind, almost causing his thinking to come to a standstill.

Fortunately, although these testing procedures seem cumbersome, they are completed extremely quickly. Before Hugh could even carefully distinguish which aspects these testing procedures covered, the process had already entered a new stage.

"The alignment of feature sequence number 42 has been completed, and the corresponding feature has been successfully retrieved."

"It has been confirmed that the new visitor's match with the 42nd feature sequence is 48.5%."

A piercing warning sounded.

"Match verification failed."

Hearing these words, Hugh was slightly taken aback. He didn't quite understand what the so-called "42nd" characteristic sequence meant. If it referred to species characteristics, then logically speaking, the body he was currently using should also belong to the category of "human". However, Hugh himself was not sure whether he could still be considered a normal human being after receiving so many abnormal lost powers.

However, the magic circuit inside the gate did not give Hugh more time to think, because immediately, Hugh felt his metal disc begin to operate. As its rotation speed increased rapidly, the originally orderly synthesized sound was completely disrupted and shattered.

As this change occurred, a completely new procedure suddenly "jumped the queue".

"Key carrying detected. Normal process terminated. Proceed to key verification process."

"Key number D65-F11-H424".

"Verification passed."

"Temporary registration process activated, registration complete."

"Welcome, temporary visitor number 002."

The moment the magic circuit verification was officially completed and the passage sequence was issued to Hugh, the closed door shook violently. Then, the bright light on its surface was completely 'sunk' into the metal door. Immediately afterwards, a series of strange noises came from inside the door.

Hugh quickly took two steps back, and then he saw that the thick metal in front of him began to "fold" inwards into the door in an extremely abnormal way. In just a few seconds, a "passage" large enough for a person to pass through appeared in front of Hugh. Through this dark passage, Hugh could see the bright light coming from the other space that was separated by the door.

Hugh turned his head and glanced at Aziv in the distance. Then he made a gesture and took the lead in walking into the passage.

Aziv was very anxious. He naturally couldn't give up such a precious opportunity to witness a real miracle, so he hurriedly ran to the door. However, before he could get close, an invisible wall of magic stood in front of Aziv with extreme force, and the violent impact almost knocked out two of Aziv's front teeth.

By the time the poor ratman prophet recovered from his dizziness, Hugh's figure had already disappeared into the passage, which then closed and vanished at an extremely fast speed.

……

"Tap, tap..."

As Hughes advanced, the passage gradually contracted and closed.

Hugh was aware of what was happening behind him, but at this point, he had no choice but to pass through the passage alone. It was probably impossible for Aziv or the other ratmen to enter. Judging from the previous so-called "approval procedures," the factors considered by the builders of this place were terrifyingly numerous. If even a seemingly "human" like himself could not pass through easily, then it would be even more impossible for a race like the ratmen.

"Very well... It might not be a good thing if you find out what's inside."

Hugh sighed softly, then quickened his pace and hurried toward the bright light directly ahead.

Soon, he stepped into the light.

The first thing Hugh saw was an impenetrable defensive line, which was made of some kind of gray-black material, but its surface was also engraved with many fine patterns.

Hughes walked slowly forward and carefully touched the wall of the fortification in front of him. He then discovered that it had become incredibly fragile. With just a little pressure, he could leave a noticeable mark on it.

Although the patterns on the surface of the fortifications looked quite unfamiliar, Hugh quickly drew a conclusion based on his magical knowledge: these patterns were actually the basis of some temporary protective rituals. It seemed that, like the fortifications themselves, they were backup protective measures temporarily constructed under duress. Once the ritual maintainer left or the supply of magic ceased, both the fortifications and the protective rituals would lose their original effectiveness.

"It seems that those who retreated here back then are also prepared for a final stand..."

As Hugh walked through the fortifications, he constantly observed his surroundings. Soon, he picked up a rifle from the side of the passage.

It was severely corroded, and traces of magic circuits could be faintly seen on its surface, but overall, it was not much different from the "mainstream firearms" in Hugh's memory.

Soon, Hugh passed through the empty fortifications, and another strange and spectacular scene appeared in his view.

Behind this last line of defense lay a vast, brightly lit hall. In the very center of the hall stood a massive cylinder, from which dazzling light emanated. This enormous beam of light stretched outwards along a circular passageway pre-prepared at the top of the hall, looking like a sharp sword poised to pierce through the abyss.

Hugh's gaze gradually descended from the pillar of light.

At the base of this massive device, Hugh saw many figures.

They either lay fallen to the ground, leaned against the massive metal base, or clung to each other, piled up...

It seems that the last guardians of this ruin ultimately chose this place as their eternal resting place.

(End of this chapter)