Death… And Me

Chapter 4397: Concluded

’So...’ Fohui stopped in front of one of the spatial silver boxes and looked it over for a moment. ’Is this one good enough?’

Rean observed everything through the Ring Communicator’s feed before nodding. -Yes, that’s a good choice. We actually want the boxes that aren’t the same type as the one we followed here. That first one most likely carries materials used for repairs on the outside of the light pillar. If we’re lucky, there are some within the other types that will be responsible for supplying the inside as well.-

Fohui didn’t waste any time. His Celestial Energy wrapped around the silver box, and he pulled it slightly away from its slot.

Unfortunately, the moment he did, the inscriptions on its surface lit up. The box immediately broke free from his grasp and flew straight back to its original position as if nothing had happened.

-That’s fine,- Rean said without sounding disappointed. -The runes and inscriptions I need you to work on are the ones you just exposed. Go over there again and bring out the tools I gave you before entering the warehouse.-

Fohui floated closer once more before taking several Array Master tools from his Spatial Ring.

’Alright,’ he said while waiting beside the box. ’I’m ready.’

Rean didn’t start giving instructions immediately. Instead, he carefully examined every rune and inscription visible through the communicator.

Naturally, he wasn’t foolish enough to believe he could decipher the entire ancient mechanism. If that were possible, the countless Array Masters back in the Besgol Region would’ve already unraveled the secrets behind the Sacred Relic long ago.

His objective was much simpler.

He only needed to recognize familiar energy patterns and identify which portions of the inscriptions were most likely responsible for the box’s autonomous movement.

After observing for another minute, Rean finally spoke again.

-Fohui, grab the box one more time. Stay close while it returns to its slot. I want to watch exactly how the inscriptions behave while it’s moving.-

Fohui did as instructed, using his Celestial Energy to pull the silver box away again.

Just as before, the inscriptions activated instantly, and the box shot back toward its designated position.

This time, however, Rean wasn’t watching the box itself.

His attention remained completely fixed on the countless tiny runes surrounding its edges.

-I found it,- Rean finally said. -Can you see those narrow lines of runes running along the borders? They’re present on every side of the box. They’re almost impossible to notice normally, but they’re definitely the ones activating whenever it moves.-

’I see them,’ Fohui answered after looking more carefully. ’So what do I do?’

-Use the Flow Needle first. Inject a tiny amount of Godly Energy into the third energy path between those runes. Your goal isn’t to destroy anything. Just overload that specific pathway enough for it to burn out. Once the third path snaps, move on to the next section and repeat the process.-

Fohui stared blankly at the tiny inscriptions.

’...These runes are microscopic.’

He looked all around the box.

’There are thousands of them on every side. You’re asking me to perform precise work on tens of thousands of runes. That’s going to take hours, and I’m definitely going to make mistakes.’

Rean didn’t seem worried at all.

-It doesn’t matter. Missing a few won’t affect the final result. From what I’ve observed, these inscriptions were designed with redundant energy routes. I still have no clue how the internal structures actually function, but when it comes to pure energy flow, they follow the same principles as any other array.-

Fohui sighed. ’Fine... Then sit back and enjoy the show. This is going to take a while.’

Without wasting another second, he began working on the first line of runes.

Inside the airplane, Rean watched every movement through the communicator, occasionally pointing out a section that required a little more precision.

As for everyone else...

There really wasn’t much they could contribute.

So they simply waited.

Nearly two hours passed before Fohui finally straightened up.

’Alright...’ His voice sounded noticeably tired. ’I think I got all of them. Well... almost all of them. I definitely missed a few, just like I warned you.’

-Forget about that,- Rean replied. -Now pull the box away again. If I understood the energy flow correctly, it shouldn’t be capable of returning to its position on its own anymore.-

Fohui’s Celestial Energy wrapped around the silver box once more before he slowly dragged it several meters away.

This time, even Fohui could sense the inscriptions activating.

Or rather...

Trying to activate.

He watched the tiny runes desperately redirecting energy through countless alternate pathways. It was obvious the mechanism was attempting to send power somewhere, but because the important routes had been damaged, the energy simply wandered around inside the inscriptions without accomplishing anything.

Fohui couldn’t understand the ancient structures themselves.

No one in Besgol could.

Still...

The result spoke for itself.

The silver box remained perfectly still.

’I... I think it worked,’ Fohui said, sounding a little surprised himself. ’It isn’t trying to fly back anymore.’

-Good. Leave it where it is for a few minutes,- Rean instructed. -Before we celebrate, I want to confirm that the worker cores won’t come over to repair it.-

The group patiently observed the surroundings.

Several worker cores floated through the warehouse as before, quietly carrying out their own tasks.

Despite the silver box remaining outside its designated slot, none of them reacted.

Several minutes passed.

Nothing happened.

’Still nothing...’ Fohui reported.

-Great!- Rean couldn’t hide the excitement in his voice. -That means these boxes probably aren’t capable of actively reporting problems to the ruins’ system.-

Fohui blinked. ’Was that part of your plan too?’

-Not exactly,- Rean admitted. -Disabling its flight function was my actual goal. But watching its behavior gave me another idea. These boxes seem much simpler than the worker cores. They probably operate on a request-and-delivery system. My guess is they’ll only report an error if they fail to deliver requested materials. Since this one hasn’t received any requests, the system has no reason to notice anything wrong.’

He paused briefly before adding, -At least... that’s my theory. I could still be completely wrong.’

’Alright...’ Fohui finally relaxed a little. ’So what now?’

Rean laughed. -What else? Put it back where you found it and move to the next type. We want one example from every category of box. They all look nearly identical from the outside, but once you compare their inscriptions, it’s obvious they’re divided into several different groups.-

Fohui understood immediately.

Even if the box couldn’t move anymore, placing it back into its proper slot would prevent unnecessary problems later. Since it would already be where it was supposed to be, there’d be no reason for the system to issue any error commands.

’Got it.’

He carefully returned the silver box to its original position.

Just as expected, the moment it settled back into place, the inscriptions gradually dimmed before shutting down completely.

Satisfied, Fohui moved to the next row of containers.

After confirming that the inscriptions belonged to another group, he once again began following Rean’s instructions to disable the flight mechanism.

The process repeated itself over...

...and over...

...and over again.

There were far more varieties than either of them had expected.

From what Rean and Fohui could tell, the warehouse contained several dozen different categories of silver boxes. Thinking about it, that wasn’t strange at all. The ruins extended far beyond the light pillar itself, so naturally the maintenance system required many specialized types of supply containers.

Fortunately, repetition gradually made the work much easier.

The first few boxes had required constant guidance from Rean, but after performing the same delicate operation enough times, Fohui’s movements became increasingly steady.

Eventually, he barely made any mistakes at all.

Practice makes perfect.

Or at least, it certainly helped.

Several more days passed in exactly that manner.

Throughout the entire process, Rean carefully repositioned the airplane whenever necessary, making sure the expanded disguise array always kept Fohui within its protective range.

Then...

Without any warning, a familiar mechanical voice echoed through the twins’ minds.

[Hibernation concluded.]

Sister Orb had finally awakened.

The two-hundred-hour cooldown was over.