306: Chapter 306 The Final Climb

The charred, crystallized, and fissure-ridden ground extended beneath his feet. The air was thick with the pungent, destructive scent of smoke, ozone, sulfur, and the remnants of the fierce conflict between Order and Chaos. In the distance, that dilapidated, pollution-eroded, yet stubbornly standing, massive, dark silver metal structure stood like the last giant on an ancient battlefield—gravely wounded but still unyielding—silently overlooking this expanse of ruins.

Ling Ye knelt on the ground, gasping violently; every breath tugged at his chest and viscera with tearing agony. Pale golden saliva, mixed with streaks of blood, dripped from the corner of his mouth onto the charred ground, sizzling slightly before evaporating instantly. Within his body, his strength was almost completely exhausted, his Meridians like dried-up riverbeds, sending waves of burning pain. The "the key" mark on his chest was dim, yet it continued to pulse with a sustained resonance with the faint light atop the distant structure.

Old Shi was carefully placed behind a relatively intact, tilted dark silver metal plate, relying on the cold metal for temporary shelter. Its breathing was extremely weak, and the composite isolation layer was dim and covered in dense cracks, as if it might completely dissipate at any moment. Ling Ye injected the last sliver of extremely meager, mixed energy he had recovered into the isolation layer, barely maintaining it so it wouldn't collapse immediately, but that was all he could do.

He glanced at Old Shi, then looked up again toward the faint, pale golden light at the top of the damaged building, like a candle flickering in the wind.

He slowly and with extreme difficulty stood up. His body swayed as if he might fall again at any moment, but in the end, he steadied himself. He looked down one last time at the unconscious Old Shi, then turned around and walked, step by step, toward the massive, damaged, dark silver metal structure.

Every step felt as heavy as a mountain. The ruins beneath his feet were rugged and uneven, scattered with broken metal components, crystallized rubble, and traces of unknown substances that had long since dried into dark brown or purplish-black stains. He had to stop frequently to bypass massive metal debris blocking the path or carefully climb over collapsed areas.

The distance was closing. He could see the details of the building more and more clearly—the walls were covered with huge cracks and traces of energy burns and corrosion; in many places, the metal had twisted, melted, or even been covered and eroded by purplish-black pollution crystals. Some thick, dark red, pollution-tainted tissues, resembling biological blood vessels or nerve bundles, climbed and coiled around the building's surface like parasitic vines, still slowly writhing and emitting a nauseating aura of mixed corruption and madness.

The building's main gate had long since disappeared, leaving only a huge, irregular, pitch-black opening that seemed to lead into an abyss. On the edge of the entrance, there remained crystallized traces—like scars—left behind after the fierce confrontation between pale golden and purplish-black energy.

Ling Ye stopped before the entrance. He did not enter immediately but instead pushed his perception to its limit, carefully probing the interior of the entrance.

Inside, it was pitch black and deathly silent. Yet, within this deathly darkness, he could clearly "feel" that faint, pale golden light of Order coming from the top of the building, resonating with "the key" mark; it was like the most steadfast lighthouse in the dark, guiding his way. At the same time, he also "felt" that hidden within this darkness was some kind of extremely weak, yet abnormally dangerous and malicious, "undercurrent" of pollution energy, seemingly seeping out from the depths of the building, from those areas most severely eroded by pollution.

He took a deep breath, mobilized the last remaining sliver of weak Order energy from "the key" mark, and formed a thin, cicada-wing-like, almost invisible pale golden energy film on his body, then stepped into the dark, damaged building entrance.

In an instant, it was as if he had entered another world.

The scent of the outside world—of ruins, smoke, and destruction—was cut off. Replacing it was an older, duller scent, filled with dust, metal rust, and something indescribable, as if time itself had frozen, a scent of decay and deathly silence. Light had completely vanished; only the faint pale golden glow emitted by "the key" mark illuminated a few feet of space around him.

Beneath his feet was a dark silver metal floor covered in dust and rubble. On the walls, one could faintly see some long-dimmed and damaged energy patterns. The corridor was wide, but the walls on both sides were covered in huge cracks and depressions; in some places, one could even see irregular holes—forced open by tearing—leading to other rooms or passages, which were equally pitch-black and exuded an aura of unknown danger.

Ling Ye paid no attention to those side paths and holes. He had only one goal—upward, to reach the top of the building, the location of that pale golden light.

He followed the corridor, searching for a path upward. The stairs had long since collapsed, and the elevator shafts were completely blocked. He had to look for vertical maintenance shafts that were barely climbable, or metal skeletons exposed at damaged sections of the outer wall, using both hands and feet to climb upward, layer by layer, with extreme difficulty.

Every climb exhausted his entire strength. The damaged metal edges, sharp as knives, kept tearing his already tattered clothes and skin, leaving trails of blood. The thick, pervasive scent of dust and decay in the air irritated his respiratory tract, causing him to let out suppressed coughs from time to time. Even more dangerous were the "undercurrents" of pollution energy lurking in the dark corners; like vicious, living tentacles, they would suddenly emerge from time to time, attempting to erode and pollute his body and Soul. He had to remain vigilant at all times, using the faint Order light of "the key" mark to dispel and perform Purification on them.

He did not know how long he had been climbing, but when he finally flipped himself up from a damaged, tilted metal ladder onto another level of the platform, he found himself in a relatively open, yet equally dilapidated hall.

The hall's dome had collapsed by more than half, revealing the ominous, dark red sky outside. A large amount of broken metal and stone was piled in the center of the hall. At the far end of the hall, on a relatively intact wall, Ling Ye saw a huge, tightly closed, dark silver metal door. Etched on the door were extremely complex, precise energy patterns; although most were dim and damaged, at their core, a pale golden energy mark—almost identical in form to "the key" mark—was emitting a faint but exceptionally stable and pure light of Order.

Ling Ye's heart skipped a beat. He quickened his pace, crossed the piled ruins, and arrived before that huge metal door.

He reached out, his fingertips gently touching the pale golden energy mark in the center of the door that was identical in form to "the key" mark.

"Hum..."

A faint yet exceptionally clear humming resonance, carrying a sense of "confirmation" and "welcome," emanated from the mark on the door. Immediately after, the pale golden mark's light suddenly brightened, and then, like water ripples, it slowly spread along the long-dimmed and damaged energy patterns on the door.

"Click... click-clack..."

A series of heavy, muffled sounds—as if coming from deep underground—of mechanical unlocking and gears turning, came from behind the door. The huge, dark silver metal door slowly opened inward.

Behind the door was a small, circular, domed room. In the center of the room was a circular console, also made of dark silver metal, but its surface was covered in even more precise, complex energy patterns—intertwined with pale golden and dark blue, and even possessing a certain biological texture. Hovering above the console was a polyhedral crystal, about the size of a fist, emitting a stable, pure, and gentle pale golden light.

The light emitted by the crystal produced an unprecedented, intense resonance and response with "the key" mark on Ling Ye's chest, as if it had finally returned to its Origin! He could even feel that the crystal seemed to contain some kind of Order information and energy that was of the same source as "the key" mark, but more complete, more ancient, and more vast.

On the back side of the console, leaning against the curved wall, sat a human remain, dressed in a long-faded, damaged uniform similar to that of high-level maintenance personnel of the Court of World Purification. The head of the remain was bowed, hands resting naturally on the knees, the posture peaceful, as if merely fallen into an eternal slumber. On the clothing over its chest, there was also a badge-like mark, identical in form to "the key" mark, but it was completely dim and had lost all energy fluctuations.

The entire room was permeated with a silence that was solemn and dignified, yet carried an endless sense of sorrow and loneliness.

Ling Ye walked slowly into the room. His gaze first fell upon the remain. Although he could not see the face, an indescribable sense of Bloodline connection, familiarity, and sorrow surged into his heart like a tide.

He walked slowly to the console, his gaze falling on the hovering polyhedral crystal emitting a gentle pale golden light.

The resonance of "the key" mark reached its peak. He could feel that this crystal was the "lock core" that "the key" ultimately needed to be "inserted" into. It was the final key to activating this entire console, and perhaps also to starting, repairing, or... closing the Star Gate.