Suddenly, Du Ze felt that something was out of place … something was wrong but he didn’t know what it was. However, there wasn’t enough time for him to think because Garl, who was beside him, had begun to move again. The gnome god went around Du Ze and put a hand on the wheel of time. His fingers were covered with metal precision machine tools. Garl cleverly moved his fingers at the junction of the gold and crystal parts of the wheel of time. He seemed to be disassembling it.
Even though Garl had a reason to do what he was doing, Du Ze still had to stop him because this an important clue.
“You can’t -”
Garl glanced at Du Ze and stretched out his index finger. Du Ze instantly felt an invisible strip of matter tying up his body. Before Du Ze could figure out what it was, the transparent things that had been wrapped around him suddenly began to tremble violently. This strange reaction surprised the gnome god who looked at Du Ze with astonishment and uttered a single syllable expression confusion: “Eh?”
All gnomes love to make different types of machines but they each have their own areas of expertise. In addition to his interest in invisibility, Garl’s studies are also about the integration of biological and mechanical systems. This field of study made it possible to endow mechanical puppets not just with mechanical characteristics but also the ability to think and judge for themselves.
The living machine that wrapped up Du Ze seemed to be fearful to the extreme. It was like an octopus who caught its prey only to find that the prey was its natural enemy. The living machine lost control of itself because of its terror and threw Du Ze away as though he was a live grenade that was about to explode.
Seeing that Du Ze was about to hit the wheel of time with such force that he would undoubtedly be badly injured, if not killed, Garl hurriedly tried to order the living machine to catch Du Ze. Unfortunately, the living machine was crazed with terror and unresponsive.
“!”
Garl missed his opportunity and Du Ze slammed into the wheel of time – he crashed into it. The ruler of the gnome gods was shocked when the wheel of time burst into a dazzlingly bright light and swallowed the black-haired youth once again.
Du Ze hung suspended in a silent darkness. This was strikingly similar to that time when the Moe Lord was trapped in the gate of knowledge and he accidentally fell on the wheel of time. Now that he had entered this place, Du Ze did not think too much about it and was determined to use this opportunity to find the truth about the master of the wheel of time once and for all.
Surrounded by darkness all around him, Du Ze hesitated for a moment as he gazed into the vast unknown, then very resolutely shouted into the darkness: “God of Creation?”
Du Ze’s voice was like a drop of water dripping into a pool of dark ink. Ripples spread out in a circle and it was eventually absorbed by the darkness. There was no response. Du Ze was uneasy – was his conjecture wrong? He was just about to try again when a slight static noise, soft as a breeze, passed into his ear.
[……]
Du Ze held his breath because even the sound of breathing might drown out the other’s words. The voices in the dark were unclear and muffled. If the signal was bad before, it was now very faint because of a total shortage of electricity.
[… You… Did you hear that… ]
Du Ze subconsciously nodded, but did not know whether the other side can see, so he said “mmm” softly. He spoke gently because the sound gave him the feeling that the signal might break off at any moment, leaving him in a precarious state.
“Are you the Creator God?”
[…… Yes …]
Du Ze felt as dizzy as though he had been hit in the head with a stick. He really was right about the Final BOSS – he had been in contact with the Creator God for a long time.
The one who spoke to him in the dark, who is looking for him and who knows his identity, is truly the God of Creation.
[…… You …]
The voice in the darkness broke off and Du Ze’s heart missed a beat. When the other person spoke again, it’s tone was very urgent, like someone being chased by something, desperate to convey an important message.
[Hurry up…! ]
“Bang!”
Du Ze stared blankly at the Garl and the shattered crystal and gold – it was the wreckage of the wheel of time. In that instant he had returned from that dark illusion to the Gnome Ruins. Du Ze stood unmoving amidst the fragments of the wheel of time and his thoughts were on the last thing the voice said: that sentence was clearly not finished. What did the Creator God really want to tell him?
Hurry what up? Hurry up and find him? Hurry up and leave? Hurry up and move forward?
… The type of person who only speaks the first half of the sentence is the worst! _(;з」∠)_ 1
Now that he got more information, Du Ze felt even more annoyed. The Creator God’s voice seemed to be very anxious, making a silly, cute person even more anxious than before. The Moe Lord has almost finished the gnome trial yet all Du Ze got was a vague, crappy message. Du Ze scanned the remnants of the destroyed wheel of time. Do artifacts have a short shelf life? The wheel broke just like the scepter of the god of light. Based on the information he had right now, it was possible to infer that the scepter was made by the God fo Creation.
BOSS, your forging skill must be lacking. Regarding those two artifacts, these shoddy products are no good!
“You’re alright?”
Garl’s high-pitched voice caught Du Ze’s attention. The gnome god stood opposite Du Ze, eyes wide with shock as he stared at the black-haired youth. Du Ze’s excitement at meeting the Creator God finally cooled. What he has to do now is not to think over his encounter but to think about how to explain it to Garl or – Du Ze looked at the small figure at the entrance to the plaza – Xiu.
Xiu’s body was covered with blood. The seven-star mechanical puppet silently stood behind him like the shadow of death. After stepping into the plaza, Xiu threw away the machinery in his hand which made a chiming sound as it hit the ground. It was a strip of the living machine with blood pouring out of its broken end. Du Ze was relieved when he realized that the blood on Xiu was from the living machine. Du Ze breathed a sigh of relief but it was short-lived – the Moe Lord was staring at him and his expression was very angry.
Xiu stepped on a pool of blood. He made a series of small shoe prints on the ground as he walked towards Du Ze. Because the prints were made by blood, the trail was particularly horrifying.
Garl wanted to stop Xiu from approaching Du Ze but when he was about to move, Xiu shot the gnome god a look that made him freeze in his tracks.
The gnomes are a race of very stubborn people but eyes that cold – even the word “paranoia” is too mild to describe those feelings.
Du Ze looked helplessly at Xiu who was walking up to him slowly. The gnome’s face did not have the slightest hint of expression which made Du Ze feel fearful and apprehensive.
Xiu raised his head. He and Du Ze looked at each other. The amber-colored eyes were exceptionally bright, so bright that Du Ze didn’t know which was brighter, the gnome eyes or the blood.
“Don’t leave my sight. You promised, didn’t you?”
Du Ze swallowed nervously. Although his first instinct had been to go to the Moe Lord, it’s an indisputable fact that he had run off, abandoning the Moe Lord.
“I was looking for the God of Creation, the wheel of time is related to him.”
Xiu shot a look at the fragments of the wheel of time. The expression on his face was difficult to describe; it was full of intense dislike, unwillingness, and anger.
“…To you, the God of Creation is more important than me?”
Du Ze shook his head immediately. He wanted to tell Xiu that the reason he wanted to find the God of Creation was because of Xiu but that invisible force wouldn’t let him speak. Du Ze could only say: “I only care about you.”
“But you will abandon me because of the God of Creation.” Like a child who was left behind when his parents went to work, Xiu stubbornly asked: “If this were to happen again, you’d do it again, right?”
Du Ze could only remain silent.
“Ah …”
Xiu laughed and Du Ze shuddered. That strong killing intent was enough to rouse a man from a deep sleep. Obviously, Xiu’s killing intent was not aimed towards him but Du Ze’s scalp still turned numb with cold.
“Give me your hand,” said Xiu to Du Ze. His voice was soft but had a kind of deranged sweetness. “I’m going to make a chain and tie you up.”
