Chapter 460: Indigestion (1/2)
Zac took a deep breath as he found himself back in his body, and he was almost surprised to see that he was still in one piece after the four-eyed cultivator refused to provide him with a cage for the Shard. He did sense a new power coursing through his body, but it didn't feel too bad. His whole body was pins and needles, but there was nothing like the all-consuming rage and insanity that the Splinter sometimes brought forth.
Even the Splinter seemed to have been subdued by the alien presence in Zac's body, and the railing against the Miasmic Cage had completely stopped. This alone made Zac pretty hopeful for the future, as this was exactly the sort of effect he had hoped to gain by taking this huge risk. Satisfied that he wouldn't up and explode the next minute he quickly took in his surroundings.
The radiant lights that previously lit up the core chamber were gone, and he found himself sitting on the metallic floor. He immediately reached for the token fastened to his belt, but he stopped himself when he realized that there was no threat.
The initial plan was to snatch the token and escape if he encountered the captain, but he realized that might not be needed now since the core containment shield had been erected again with him inside it. Three massive machines that had appeared while he took his spiritual journey powered the sphere from the outside, each of them shuddering with power.
Just outside the energy cage the metallic Transhuman stood guard, staring at Zac like a praying mantis. Beside him were a few technocrat scientists that were busying themselves with dozens of panels in front of them. It had been impossible to make out the orders the captain shouted earlier, but Zac quickly put two and two together as he looked at what was going on.
Jaol had mentioned a drastic increase of issues on the ship, and Dr. Fried believed that the anomalies appeared because the Shard wanted a host. Perhaps the technocrats hoped that him absorbing the Shard would result in fewer problems, which was something they desperately needed until they were out of harm's way.
”I don't know what your plan was, but I'll be keeping an eye on you until we return to our domain. Deramex Dynamics will no doubt pay even more for the Shard being delivered a compatible host,” the silver Transhuman said, immediately confirming Zac's guess.
Zac ignored the man as he touched the shield, only to feel a painful zap that traveled along his arm. He wasn't worried in the slightest about being imprisoned; it was actually the opposite. This was the perfect outcome for him since they couldn't possibly know he would disappear the moment he cracked his Token.
Since his safety was guaranteed for now he wasn't too anxious to return, and he would rather wait things out for a few days to see whether any unanticipated changes arose within his body. He also didn't want to exit too early, as he had made an agreement with Ogras and Galau. Perhaps he would even be able to figure out a way to complete the mission on this level and then test his mettle against the floor guardian.
However, his eyes widened in shock when he looked down at the token. It showed that less than two days reminded on his climb. How was that possible? He had over a week remaining on his climb when he arrived on the ship, allowing him to allocate over three days to finish this level before moving on to the floor guardian. There was even the chance of fighting for a treasure if one appeared on the 73rd level, in case he defeated the 8th floor guardian quickly.
He had pushed himself to the limits over the past weeks, but the system had somehow invalidated his efforts and stolen time on his climb. But a sudden realization made him want to curse out loud. He wasn't inside the tower any longer. He hadn't even considered it until now, but it appeared as though he had been forced to complete this level under normal temporal conditions. He had spent an hour and a half on this level, which pretty much was the equivalent of 6 days in of climbing time.
It also meant that his climb would end in less than thirty minutes unless he managed to get to the next level.
Even worse, were there perhaps other changes to the rules he had taken for granted? Would he even get sent out if he crushed his token at this point? Panic started to build in his body, and he was no longer as calm and collected as before. He desperately started to look around for an opportunity to escape, wishing for some solution to present itself.
A deep thud made his whole body shudder for an instant, before a shockwave of creation spread out, causing the environment to turn into a chaotic mess of random shapes and colors. The shockwave was contained within the shield though, and it seemed as though the power was slowly drained by the three large machines.
”It's pointless,” the captain's voice could be heard from outside, but Zac couldn't bother with it as he had more pressing issues to deal with.
The Shard had awakened.
A shudder traveled across Zac’s whole body as it felt he was being ripped apart, and the next moment hundreds of bleeding cracks appeared across his body before quickly closing again. What had changed? The thing had been quietly moving about his body like a curious animal, but suddenly it was frenetically releasing power to the point that Zac had trouble withstanding it.
Desire. Was this what the cultivator in the vision had warned him about. Zac had suddenly wished for a way to return to the Tower, and the Shard of Creation started rampaging a moment later. Worse yet, the Splinter had woken up from the massive fluctuations in his body, and Zac felt his mind tremble as it pitted itself against one of the Miasmic Fractals.
It almost seemed as though the two remnants were creating some sort of loop where they kept agitating each other further and further. The visions he saw were pretty grim, but it was nothing like this. The Shard was going haywire in his body, pouring out an ever-increasing amount of unfamiliar energies.
It was just like when he was drowning inside the pond of Cosmic Water, except that this time the energies came from one of the highest Daos in existence. There was no telling what would happen next, and he briefly considered whether he should crush his token in hopes that he would get sent out after all.
However, Zac eventually decided against it. His situation wouldn’t be any better in the Base Town than here, and there was a complicated situation waiting outside. He would need his mental faculties to deal with whatever the forces in the Base Town had planned, and he would rather try to deal with this mess onboard a technocrat vessel than among the elites of his sector.
If he left the Tower of Eternity like this there was a decent chance that the tragedy of the Zethaya Pill House would repeat itself, this time perhaps causing trouble of irrevocable levels.