Chapter 687 Twenty Years of Hope and Waiting (1/2)

The colossal Steel Python Simboa watched as Joshua threw the Steel Shard wherein his soul was imbued into the portal, watching it all silently without any emotion.

Every world and every World Will was different. Some World Wills favored involving themselves with the civilizations and races within their own bodies, perhaps even acting to aid those adorable and feeble mortals who lived and died like ashes, guiding them to prosper and flourish.

There were other world wills that tormented all things on their body—though they might not really wish to commit evil. To certain perspectives, they were simply thrusting their bodies and destroying for a bit, innocently and horrifically just like a child playing with ends.

If benevolent and apathetic ones existed, there certainly would be those that were evil or callous. Like intelligent beings, World Wills come in different types.

And that was where Simboa was different. Compared to those of its own kind that were active and preferred to be involved with the world, the Steel Python was not interested in anything. Wafting amidst the Void, it merely wanted to spectate silently as all life cycled and sleep soundlessly… And yet such a simple wish could not be realized.

”O Foreigner.”

The Steel Python that never once rested over a thousand years slowly dispelled the magical formation, and whispered, ”I wish you could bring everything back to the right track… You are the only being willing to aid me after so many years.”

Meanwhile, Joshua's soul was sinking.

The warrior felt himself falling freely past the shrouded portal, arriving at the layer between Void and world. The unfathomable dimensional curtain that shifted incessantly swayed beside him, and he felt countless voices and colors invading his senses.

It was the first time Joshua broke through an unfamiliar World Barrier. Usually, he would instantly cover such distances thanks to his familiarity with Mycroft, but he had to use what was a long time to get into Simboa due to the resistance from a mysterious energy.

Amidst the vague flowing light and the mysterious energies, the warrior's soul seemed to hear a 'voice'.

—Joshua. You proclaimed yourself savior, but who do you actually intend to save?

—You once said the people in this world do not need saving, that they would save themselves. Then why would you proclaim yourself savior?

The voice was wondrous. It seemed to come either from the depths of the heart or from the Void, invoking every fragile logic in the mind and probed it.

However, Joshua did not consider too much about the source of the question. It may have been self-doubts he had in the deepest reaches of his heart, or perhaps a demon inside that had developed after his living form developed to such a state. At present, with his soul and body having been separated, the lurking doubts surfaced… But those were trivial, and Joshua simply gave the questions his own answer.

—Saving worlds is an act, and being a savior is a stance.

To put oneself over worlds and to provide acts of salvation from up high, such thoughts were prideful and unrealistic… But in truth, one just had to act if they intend to aid others so that they would not lead to destruction.

So-called saving was nothing other than something he should do, just like how the empathizing and the kind would provide others with directions, or how they would lift up those about to fall or had already fallen. With such power he had now, the warrior's kindness can achieve such feats without the need for any noble titles.

He proclaimed himself a savior was a mere statement of fact. From start to finish, Joshua is a warrior, and only a warrior.

The fluctuating dimensional curtains vanished.

The purple-green Steel Shard fell from the highest point in the sky, breaking through thick cloud layers and falling towards a diamond-shaped continent. The land itself was visibly barren, with only sporadic specks of green spread throughout every corner of the world. And in the heart of the continent, was a metal creation operating with tremendous reverberations repetitively, with a towering spiral tower at its center, piercing the clouds as it stood aloft in the middle of the world, its top flickering with dark-blue radiance.

Joshua was falling.

He had entered the world of Simboa.

***

It was a small workshop, less than forty squared meters wide apart from the mattress laden in traces machine oil. Apart from the work platform, every other spot in the room was filled with mountainous junk and spare-parts, the dark room itself full of the distinct odor of steel.

But at the moment, there was a more pungent smell than the substantial odor of machine oil and rust.

Drip, drip.

There was a humanoid puppet placed on the center of the work platform. It appeared damaged and waiting for someone to repair it, but right in front of it was the rigid form of a person, sprawled over that platform. One of his hand was hanging limply, and there was a conspicuously huge cavity on the side of his skull.

Fluids flowed incessantly from within, accumulating on the hollow of the work platform, streaming over the hand before dripping onto the ground.

It was the smell of blood.

A filthy diary that was covered in traces of machine oil and blood opened, its pages turning amidst the wind from the ventilation gap.

[Work diary, day 2971: Three 'Nursery' Suppression-mode Soul Puppets undergoing repairs. Two are successfully reconditioned, the remaining one had a dead mobility core. Requesting a new Soul Core from the 'Colony'.]

[Work diary, day 2972: The Soul Core has arrived. Repairing the Soul Puppet was tremendously difficult, but it's a success.]

[Work diary, day 2973: Promoted to Repairman, First-Class. Moved from 'Nursery Repairs Number One' to 'Garden Repairs Number Six'. Workspace confirmed, work platform unlocked, the work of a new day would begin tomorrow.]

[Work diary, day 2974: Struck by the soul energy that spilt from a Puppet. Work incomplete. Head feels weird. What is this feeling… Received warning from Control—if there is incomplete tasks without applied permission, I will be destroyed.]

[Wait. What am 'I'?]

Sporadic dirt and scrawling covered every text, leaving everything unreadable until the few pages beneath.

[Work diary, day 3002: I'm confused. What is going on? My mind is suddenly lucid after arriving in Garden, the knowledge that was previously unrelated started to click… I no longer have any memories of what life I had led before, and others around me are simply the same as the Soul Puppets, doing the same tasks day after day… I probably was the same as them before this.]

[Work diary, day 3003: It's a month since I've awakened now. Usual Soul Puppet repairing tasks today, mostly simple joint impairment, took me less than three minutes… But everything is too abnormal. Other repairmen did not react when I spoke to them, just like those in the corridor… Can't they hear me? On the other hand, the diary is now a habit. I probably would keep writing.]

[Work diary, day 3005: Stopped by Soul Puppets when I tried to leave Repairs. The Garden was just ahead: I could see children playing happily on the grass, and the Soul Puppets are taking care of them… perhaps I'm overthinking. Maybe, being from the Nursery, I don't have enough clearance to move freely around? Still, I feel happy when I see the children play in such bliss.]

[Work diary, day 3012: Something's not right! The children are playing identically day after day, just like... Just like the Puppets. I could sense a chill in my bone. There is something absolutely wrong about this place, am I the only one who feels that?]