The Eldritch Files

Chapter 291: Chapter 253: This Is Just the Beginning

“A gift?”

What the fuck kind of gift!

Han Su really wanted to say, ‘There’s no need for this act anymore.’

To him, Ms. Shen with the Crystal Skull and the head of Abyssal Studio without it were one and the same.

She was the one who ruthlessly tried to kill him, and she was also the one who wept and clung to him.

She had become two different people. It was as if she’d been given a get-out-of-jail-free card, as if everything she’d done could be forgiven. As if he was supposed to understand her pain, to understand why she did what she did. But the truth was, he didn’t understand at all.

After all, if being near the Crystal Skull was all it took for her to remember he was her child, then hadn’t she had opportunities to touch it before Lu Neng stole it and delivered it to him?

What did she do back then?

Didn’t she just wallow in self-pity for a bit before steeling her heart and tossing the Crystal Skull far away?

So, how much was this mother-son bond really worth?

But in contrast to Han Su’s coldness, Ms. Shen seemed to have steeled herself for something. She took a few quick steps.

The space was small, located on the lowest level of Abyssal Studio and filled with intricate, complex machinery.

She had brought Han Su here, seemingly to buy more time to talk.

But now, she slowly raised her palm and pressed it against the complex, precise machinery.

As an eerie arc of electricity flashed, the vast expanse of machinery suddenly began to contract, transform, and fold in on itself. It quickly shrank into a small, strangely beautiful piece in her hand.

“Hmm?”

As he got a sudden, clear look at the piece of machinery, Han Su couldn’t help but feel a flicker of astonishment and suspicion.

‘This is…’

‘…a Mechanical Fragment?’

It was clearly the same style of object as the Mechanical Fragment in his suitcase, just a different size. It was as if they were different parts dismantled from a single, complete machine.

The one he had seemed much smaller in comparison.

“This piece of machinery…”

Ms. Shen turned around, her body trembling slightly, as if she knew the magnitude of her betrayal.

But she took a deep breath, suppressing the panic in her heart. She looked up at Han Su again, her mind made up. She knew that the destruction of Qinggang and the exposure of the Eleventh Altar signified the complete collapse of the Seven Days of Divine Descent, and that everyone’s fate was now sealed.

Neither she nor Han Su could escape death. In that case, giving him this dangerous object was of little consequence.

She let out a soft breath, struggling to keep her voice steady. “It’s a fragment of the One and Only Throne. Take it and run.”

“You have to remember, just keep running. Don’t look back!”

“Don’t even think about fighting them. You’re no match for them. They aren’t the same species as us.”

“They’re powerful enough to treat this world like their own private garden. So you can only run. The farther, the better.”

“Run to a place where even the Circuit Knights can’t find you. Run until all of this blows over.”

“…”

She carefully placed the Mechanical Fragment next to Han Su. She was rambling now, babbling almost incessantly:

“I don’t know how you managed it this time, but you did well.”

“I can’t teach you how to fight them, because I don’t know how either. I… I’m not as brave as you and him.”

“If… and I know this is a pipe dream, but if you can really find the ruins left behind by the Emperor, then maybe… maybe you’ll actually have the right to negotiate with them…”

“But even if you don’t, when they find you in the future, this will give you a little bit of leverage… Of course, before you negotiate, you have to be able to destroy this Mechanical Fragment. That’s the most important thing. You must remember that.”

“…”

If it had been anything else, Han Su might have indulged his stubbornness and ignored her meaningless words.

But this was a Mechanical Fragment, and Han Su knew how important it was.

It could count down to Flashing’s arrival, even advance or delay it. It could make rescued children remember experiences from other lifelines.

Han Su couldn’t stop himself from asking in a low voice, “What exactly is this One and Only Throne you mentioned?”

“It’s the Emperor’s throne.”

Ms. Shen answered hurriedly, her tone like that of a small child afraid of displeasing their teacher. “According to him, it’s something the Emperor left behind in reality. Some say it’s a key, and also a clue, that can be used to find the ruins the Emperor left behind.”

“But that’s just a rumor, and there’s no telling if it’s true.”

“At the very least, the descendants of the Knights have had these Mechanical Fragments for a long time, and they still haven’t found anything.”

“But the Seven Days of Divine Descent they planned is based on this object. These Mechanical Fragments are a necessary component for the Divine Descent.”

“…”

As she spoke, the faint sound of heavy footsteps began to echo from all directions, from beyond the thick alloy walls. There was also the sound of large sheets of metal twisting under pressure. A vast, unnerving pressure was rapidly approaching them.

Ms. Shen grew more and more anxious as she spoke, her eyes even turning a little red. “Sorry, I’m sorry, we’re almost out of time…”

“Actually, I’ve thought for a long time that maybe, one day, we would stand face to face. You would ask me questions, either in anger or sorrow, and I knew the only thing I could do was give you an honest answer.”

“So, I learned everything I could. I’ve stored all of this knowledge inside this Crystal Skull.”