Fantasy Game: Infinite City

"The system is now online."

The cold, mechanical beeping echoed in Han Zu's ears. The little mouse on his shoulder remained curled up, its golden tail tightly wrapped around his neck, only its nose twitching slightly as it sensed its strange yet familiar surroundings. Han Zu gently stroked the mouse's back; the pale gray energy at his fingertips carried a soothing warmth, and the mouse's anxious squeaks gradually subsided. The erratic codes caused by energy interference in the contractor's equipment had completely disappeared, returning to normal. However, Han Zu did not immediately initiate the teleportation procedure. He needed to first confirm the overall condition of Bastin Castle—whether it was the structural stability of the castle itself or whether any lurking threats had been completely eliminated. These must be checked before he could leave with peace of mind.

He strode into the depths of the hall. The stone path beneath his feet was no longer as solid as before; each step caused a slight tremor, accompanied by creaking sounds from the joints, as if it might crumble at any moment. Han Zu's sensory particles, like a fine spiderweb, instantly spread throughout the entire castle. His fingertips could clearly detect energy fluctuations emanating from within the building's structure—signs of impending wall collapse and beam breakage. The murals on the hall's dome, already faded and peeling, were now shedding fragments of paint and dust amidst the structural tremors, landing on Han Zu's shoulders only to be gently deflected by the faint energy flowing around him.

Han Zu stopped at the junction of the hall and the corridor. The arched doorway that once connected the two had developed a massive crack, stretching from the top to the ground, wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways. Stones along the edges were constantly crumbling, striking the ground with dull thuds and sending up fine dust. Large sections of the walls on both sides of the corridor had also collapsed, revealing the intricate wooden beams and brickwork beneath. Some areas were completely blocked by the rubble, leaving only narrow gaps for passage. Thick dust filled the gaps, mixed with the stench of decaying bricks and stones, making it dry and pungent to inhale.

"boom!"

After clearing a small path, Han Zu entered the corridor. The corridor floor was covered with irregular depressions, clearly caused by structural deformation. Some depressions still held small amounts of murky water, a mixture of rainwater and dust leaking from the roof. The humanoid deformities that had once inhabited this place were nowhere to be seen; only a few shriveled corpses lay beside the collapsed debris. The skin on the corpses clung tightly to the bones, appearing a grayish-black color, and some parts of the skin had cracked, revealing the dried muscle tissue beneath. Han Zu's senses swept over the corpses, detecting no signs of life. The monsters' bodies had lost their previous elasticity, becoming stiff and rigid. Finger-sized stone chips fell onto the corpses, making a crisp clattering sound, but the corpses showed no signs of revival.

Continuing forward, rooms came into view one after another along the corridor. Most of the doors to these rooms were either missing or buried under collapsed walls, revealing a chaotic interior. Han Zu examined each room carefully, his steps extremely light, to avoid disturbing any unstable debris. In the room where the Ferdinand family members had previously been, the makeshift beds were twisted and deformed. A table leaning against the wall had been broken in two by fragments of broken wall material, its tableware scattered on the floor, shards of porcelain mixed with dust. In the adjacent warehouse where supplies were stored, most of the shelves had collapsed, leaving supplies and equipment scattered everywhere, including unopened compressed food, bottled water, and some unused weapon and ammunition boxes.

Regardless of the room or location, the monster corpses all remained in the same state—inactive and completely stiff. In one room, several predator corpses were piled on top of each other. Their claws had lost their luster, and fine cracks had appeared in the keratinized tips. Their once fierce eyes were now empty and lifeless, their sockets filled with dust, and their bodies were already cold. Han Zu casually kicked one of the corpses with his toe. The corpse made a dull thud and rubbed against the gravel on the ground, still showing no signs of revival.

The sensing particles continued to spread, covering the entire main body of Bastienburg Castle and even extending to the auxiliary buildings inside the city walls. Han Zu discovered that the collapse was not limited to the corridors and rooms; the core areas of the castle—including key locations such as the main tower, library, and armory—had suffered severe structural damage. A third of the top of the main tower had collapsed, the exposed bricks and wooden beams swaying slightly in the air. The surfaces of the wooden beams were blackened and rotten, and some of the nails at the joints had rusted and fallen off, as if it could collapse completely at any moment. Two of the massive stone pillars in the library were broken, the cross-sections jagged, revealing the grayish-white stone texture inside. A large section of the ceiling had collapsed, sunlight filtering through the collapsed area, casting dappled shadows on the ground and illuminating the scattered rubble, dust, and broken table and chair remains. The armory door was completely blocked by the collapsed debris. Han Zu released a burst of energy to probe it. The energy struck the debris and produced a dull echo. Through his sensory particles, he could sense that the armory's interior had also completely collapsed.

He flew up the ramp made of collapsed debris to the middle level of the main tower. Here, the cracks in the walls were more dense, spreading like a spiderweb across the entire surface. Parts of the walls had completely collapsed, revealing the outer city walls. Han Zu, supporting himself against the crumbling wall, looked out and saw that, using the city walls as a dividing line, the collapse inside the castle had spread to the base of the walls. Bricks and stones on the inner side of the walls continued to crumble, forming steep slopes. Gravel tumbled down these slopes from time to time, making a crashing sound. The outer side of the walls was relatively intact, though its surface was also covered with small cracks. Several sections of the crenellations on the top of the walls had collapsed, exposing the rammed earth structure inside. The auxiliary buildings in the distance had not been spared either.

All the monsters inside the castle had lost their vitality, a fact confirmed by his senses. Han Zu's sensory particles swept across every corner of the castle like a tidal wave, from the underground dungeons to the top attic, from the main castle to the auxiliary buildings, finding no signs of life. The entrance to the underground dungeons was blocked by debris. His sensory particles penetrated the debris, detecting mountains of monster corpses within: various skeletons, humanoid aberrations, elemental golems, parasites, predators, and some aberrations he had never seen before. They were all in the postures they had been in at death, some tearing at each other, others curled up in corners, their bodies already stiff. The wooden floor of the top attic had rotted and cracked, with sections collapsing to expose the floors below. The monster corpses in the attic were buried under collapsed beams and tiles, with only limbs visible, also showing no signs of life. Those monsters that had once roared madly, were bloodthirsty and ferocious, and would lie on the ground and ambush their prey, were now harmless corpses, some buried under debris, others exposed to the air, gradually losing moisture and becoming shriveled.

Next, Han Zu focused on tracking down the Ferdinand family members. He moved swiftly through the collapsed castle, carefully examining every area where Ferdinand family members had been. In the room where the Ferdinand family had previously gathered, supplies and equipment were still neatly piled in the corner. There were no signs of battle, no bloodstains, and no corpses on the ground, only some messy footprints. Clearly, these people had planned a deliberate evacuation, rather than being attacked by monsters or dying accidentally. Han Zu crouched down, carefully observing the footprints on the ground. The footprints were clear, varying in depth, indicating that the people's steps were steady and there was no sign of panic during the evacuation.

Han Zu walked to the supply depot, his fingertips brushing against the surface of one of the ammunition crates. The crate was dust-free, clearly having been frequently handled recently. He opened it; the ammunition inside was neatly arranged and complete, indicating that the evacuation wasn't urgent, and these people had enough time to organize their supplies, only ultimately choosing to abandon this equipment. Sensory particles spread out through the gaps and cracks in the room, tracing the faint traces of residual energy. These traces were extremely thin, yet clearly directional, extending along the corridor and ultimately pointing towards the side gate of the castle.

The energy traces stretched along the corridor to the side gate of the castle. The side gate was wide open, with obvious wear on the hinges, indicating it had been frequently opened. Scattered on the ground behind the gate were discarded backpack straps and food wrappers, the wrappers still bearing faint traces of energy. Outside the gate, in the open space, were several messy footprints leading towards the forest beyond the castle, eventually disappearing into the dense vegetation. There were approximately dozens of footprints, varying in depth, and it was clear that some were male and some female, some tall adults, and others relatively thin young people. Han Zu's senses followed the direction of the footprints, discovering that the energy traces ultimately converged at a location a few kilometers outside the castle, most likely a temporary camp prepared by the Ferdinand family for such situations. Coincidentally, that direction was one Han Zu hadn't explored during his previous search of the castle's perimeter.

After confirming that no area inside the castle had been missed, Han Zu turned and walked out of the side door towards the possible temporary camp. The ground outside the castle was also affected by the collapse, riddled with cracks and depressions, and the vegetation in some areas had withered and died, clearly affected by the energy fluctuations released when the castle collapsed. After walking about three kilometers, Han Zu arrived at the ruins of the temporary camp. The ashes of a campfire remained in the ruins, still warm to the touch, indicating that they hadn't been gone long, no more than half a day. Scattered on the ground were some abandoned tent frames, food packaging, and a few empty energy drink cans, with no signs of casualties. Clothes were hanging on the trees around the camp, obviously left behind in a hurry during the evacuation. Combining this with the traces found inside the castle, Han Zu could confirm that these people had completed their evacuation before he destroyed the core of the creation engine, and that the evacuation process was orderly and without being attacked by monsters.

After confirming there were no potential threats, Han Zu stopped and turned to walk towards the outer walls of the castle. At this moment, the castle's collapse accelerated significantly; falling rubble was more frequent, the walls trembled more violently, and the ground could even be felt as it shuddered. The already narrow passage became even more rugged under the pressure of the collapsing debris. Han Zu had to mobilize his pale gray energy to form a thin energy shield around his body to protect against the falling rubble and fragments of the crumbling walls. The energy shield collided with the rubble, producing a crisp "clanging" sound, and the rubble was deflected, rolling a distance on the ground. Bricks and stones continued to fall from the auxiliary buildings along the way. Suddenly, the remaining walls of the stables collapsed, sending a large amount of bricks, stones, and wooden beams hurtling towards Han Zu. He easily dodged them, the collapsing walls crashing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust that obscured the surrounding area.

As they reached the central courtyard of the castle, a massive boulder, over three meters in diameter, plummeted from the overhead dome, crashing to the ground with a whooshing sound. The air, compressed by the boulder, emitted a muffled hum. Han Zu's eyes narrowed, and he sidestepped the boulder's trajectory. The boulder struck Han Zu, breaking in two, the two halves landing on either side of the courtyard, kicking up clouds of dust mixed with fine stone fragments that rained down. Han Zu's energy shield deflected all the stone fragments.

Ignoring the surrounding collapse, Han Zu quickened his pace towards the castle's outer wall. The collapse on the inner side of the outer wall was already severe, with large amounts of bricks, stones, and wooden beams piled up along the wall, forming an obstacle several meters high, with rubble still tumbling down. Han Zu stopped, took a deep breath, and the pale gray energy within his body began to surge wildly, gathering in his arms. His muscles bulged slightly, and the energy glow on his arms grew increasingly intense, eventually forming two substantial pillars of energy. The air around the pillars was distorted by the energy, displaying slight ripples. The surrounding debris seemed to be affected by the energy, its tumbling speed noticeably increasing, crashing onto the ground with a series of rapid sounds.

Han Zu thrust his arms forward with a powerful thrust, and two beams of energy slammed into the collapsed debris. The immense impact spread outwards like a tsunami, sweeping across the surrounding area. Piled-up bricks, stones, and wooden beams flew to both sides like a tidal wave; some bricks were shattered by the energy into fine dust, while wooden beams snapped in two and flew far away, striking the remaining walls with dull thuds. The previously blocked passage was forcibly cleared into a wide road, the collapsed debris on both sides pushed away, revealing the relatively intact inner side of the city wall. The aftershocks of the energy impact continued, completely clearing away the remaining debris and even shaking off the rubble clinging to the city wall, making the inner wall surface even smoother.