Boom!

The shockwave arrived in an instant, abruptly halting. An explosion occurred, yet it froze...

In the workshop underground, countless fragments were suspended in mid-air before they, like reversing flow, returned to their original positions.

Restored as if nothing had ever happened, completely intact.

Only the Mercury Spiders were flattened by an invisible pressure, their residual spirits extinguished, vanishing without a trace.

Next, the invisible force surged downwards, instantly spreading, following the remaining traces in pursuit, repeatedly sweeping over, yet finding nothing.

Only a mess of footprints laid out in deception.

And a bunch of spiders crawling chaotically with their shoes dragging...

"Where have you hidden the person?" Jian Yuan asked expressionlessly.

"What person? I don't know what you're talking about."

Ji Jue laughed, unconcerned, "As a Craftsman Grandmaster, you must be careful with your words; otherwise, I'll accuse you of slander in the Vortex... Besides, didn't you just say it?"

He said, "Always have a backup plan."

Always have a plan B.

And always have a backup for the backup plan.

In such situations, no matter how troublesome or convoluted, one need not fear.

Mechanical Descent might seem omnipotent, but beneath Jian Yuan's watchful eyes, it was nothing more than a petty trick.

A prepared craftsman is the true definition of omnipotence, especially one prepared within their own workshop; they can achieve the impossible. He could not be certain where his plan might reveal a flaw or falter.

He could not allow the plants to suffer because of his mistakes, to be added as fodder to Jian Yuan's material stockpile.

The only option was to come up with more ideas.

At that moment, Jian Yuan's fingers flicked, and instantly, a projection appeared—the list of materials recovered from the underground chamber over the past two days, and a record of submitted works emerged.

The moment when both matched, many discrepancies and variances floated up under the watchful eyes of the Craftsman Grandmaster.

His finger tapped the armrest.

And then, realization struck.

After a brief moment of shock and bewilderment, he could not hold back and burst into laughter.

Bending forwards and backwards in amusement.

Minutes before all this, outside the workshop.

In the dark ruins of Spring City, heavy steel was dragged from the sewers. Mercury Spiders clamored aboard, turning screws and dragging welding torches to complete the final processes.

The Mercury Puppet picked up Lou Yanyue, placing her into the prearranged slot, conveying the creator's message: "Give my regards to the plants, and, see you in hell!"

Snap!

The hatch sealed shut, the welding torch swept over, locking everything perfectly tight.

Then the puppet stepped back, looking at the launch rack before it... and the missile constructed from numerous scrap parts and workpieces!

Executing the command—standing with hands on hips, exclaimed proudly: "I am damn brilliant!"

Then, hitting the dramatic big red button with full ceremony!

Along with the roaring explosion from afar, at the launch rack, the 'knockoff missile's' tail, Flame Light suddenly spewed forth, bursting out, a wild wind swept through, thunderous reverberations roared, and in an instant, it shot into the night sky!

Like a distant star that suddenly brightened.

Under the mysteriously colored night sky, it flashed, then, the tail detached, blasting violently. Hidden by the dazzling fireworks, the remains of the rocket, powered purely by a crude increase in fuel, soared beyond the speed of sound toward the chosen direction, lurching wildly.

Or perhaps, plummeting...

Toward freedom.

Boom!

Amid the trembling ruins, loud reverberations spread, a storm unfolded.

And in the surrounding shadows, having waited for who knows how long, the little cars and horses, the moment it fell, they rushed out.

Swiftly excavated by telekinesis, soon, the broken and damaged remains of the missile were unearthed, within the leaking Mercury, the Deadlock Crystal.

After the terror of acceleration, explosion, supersonic flight, and plummeting, the Crystal was now showing cracks.

Lou Feng was first to rush in, using hands and feet alike, tearing open the warped metal plate.

His face pale.

Not until he saw behind the Crystal's cracks the Lou Yanyue choking and coughing did a flicker of color finally return to his face. Between laughs and sobs, his mouth moved, but he couldn't speak.

Overwhelmed by the immense surprise and shock, he didn't know what to say.

"Ji, I thank you!

I freaking thank your eight generations of ancestors..."

But seeing such severe injuries on his aunt's body, his eyes reddened.

And then...

With a howl, he doubled over in pain, rolling to one side.

"What are you crying for? Want a beating?"

Lou Yanyue withdrew her fist annoyedly, slightly tilting her head, her black eye sockets turning to Tong Shan: "Secretary Tong? Thanks. If you ever can't stand Xu Chaoxian, you can find me."

"Just you?" Tong Shan, his expression solemn, searched the fragments repeatedly.

"That guy..."

Lou Yanyue coughed and sighed, "might be in danger now."

Tong Shan remained silent, bent down, and picked up a piece of iron from the missile, upon which the engraving read: "Situation changed. Being watched. Have another plan. Don't come looking for me."

Snap!

The iron, twisted by rage, collapsed into a ball, crushed to dust.

"Shall we strike back?"

Having just escaped danger, Lou Yanyue had no thought of complacency. The cracks on her face oozing with blood, she smiled with hatred, "Leave Jian Yuan, that old fart, to me."

Tong Shan shook his head expressionlessly, glancing up at the strange halo coursing through the sky, soon retracting his gaze.

"We leave first."

He took off his own clothes, covering Lou Yanyue with them, and hoisted her onto his back.

They disappeared into the darkness, silently.

And were seen no more.

In the workshop, amidst the protracted silence, no one dared to speak.

Only Ji Jue, with his hands bound, and Jian Yuan, silently faced each other.

"Alright, everyone else leave," Jian Yuan waved his hand, dismissing the faces filled with panic or somber grimness, "I'll have a chat with our young hero here."

The crowd scurried away at once.

The last few even dragged Sun Ci by the legs, hauling him away.

Not a trace of detritus or rubbish was left behind.

Ji Jue clicked his tongue in wonder.

These craftsmen truly have exceptional standards!

At this point, he could only think of some bland platitudes to say, as anything more was beyond his ability.

Glancing around, he took a passing look at the president in the corner, then calmly swept his gaze on, simply signaling it not to approach.

"What's the matter?"

Jian Yuan walked ahead, suddenly asking, "Where's your confidence from before? Why are you silent now?"

"To think a Craftsman Grandmaster could remain so calm even when his toilet's been blown up, I really admire that," Ji Jue followed step by step behind, his eyes scanning everything around him. Finding no exploitable weaknesses and seemingly no escape routes, he sighed, "To tell you the truth, I have no idea how I was exposed. Could you, in your great mercy, enlighten me? It would at least allow me to die knowing."

Jian Yuan asked without turning back, "Do you think a craftsman would mix up the materials at hand?"

There it is, craftsmen always hoping for their fellow craftsmen's downfall, huh?

Turns out I was marked as a 'material' on my very first day in the workshop...

Ji Jue sighed with a sense of loss.

The average quality of craftsmen these days is still too low, after all.

"There are over three hundred people in the workshop, and among the more than two hundred apprentices, I have a clear understanding of who is useful and who is a hopeless case," Jian Yuan spoke slowly: "Even if I were blind, I wouldn't confuse the fine jade under my eyelids with broken bricks and rubble. Only fools like Cun Ling can't see 'the present,' and talk to me about the 'future's promise.'"

Ji Jue glanced at him, "You were hinting at me then?"

"And at him too."

Jian Yuan pushed open the door to his private workshop, lamenting, "Pity, he didn't understand, and neither did you."

Ji Jue followed behind, head held high with chest puffed out, stepping inside.

If death was certain, he might as well die with a defiant pride.

He looked around unabashedly, touching this and that with the demeanor of a country bumpkin who had never seen the world. Unfortunately, damn it, whether it was any object, none responded to him.

Instead, it was Jian Yuan beside him, watching him with his hands behind his back.

A smile that was not quite a smile.

Go ahead, touch away. If you can find something that reacts, I'll take your surname.

Even Mechanical Descent had been seen through.

Regretfully relaxing his grip, Ji Jue said, "Craftsman Grandmaster seems to have a high opinion of me?"

"Why not?"

Jian Yuan began to smile, "Daring to perform tricks right under my eyes, daring to infiltrate my workshop for someone you do not know, neither overestimating yourself nor blinded by greed.

Everything about you is organized and clear-cut, and even afterwards, you dared to return under my eyes to plan for the future... Talent, adaptability, courage, you lack none."

Jian Yuan questioned back, "Why wouldn't I appreciate that?"

"You're saying such good things about me, I'm starting to admire myself."

Ji Jue laughed heartily.

And then, he could laugh no longer.

An invisible power instantly froze him, lifting him halfway into the air, and then began a thorough scan that went from the tips of his hair to the soles of his feet, not sparing a single crevice.

From the outside in, penetrating deep into his soul.

"What sort of praise is that? Compared to your own uniqueness, those qualities are nothing worth mentioning."

A single-lensed glass materialized in Jian Yuan's hand, with spiritual light emerging and intertwining, piercing through all of Ji Jue's secrets:

"Zhi Fu, Mercury Spider, Slaughter, Absolute Abyss, you seem to still be a Cursed from the Ruins... Hmm, there's even the yet to be born tower, the yet to be born wolf?

The Mutant already marked four on you, three of the future Mutant all entwined with your aura. Not to mention the nine marks left on you by the Superior... and Mo, Non-attack?"

He marveled with a tsk tsk, "To gather all these diverse and messy things within you, you truly are... heh, a gathering of elites, with great future prospects."

What's all this?

Ji Jue's heart skipped a beat, vision going dark.

It was as if he had lived a whole lifetime only to find that he'd been streaking all these years, with certification stamps all over his bottom...

So he was a stamp album!

What's this Superior personal selection, Great Calamity's craft?

Zhi Fu and Mercury Spider aside, Slaughter, when did you... oh, when I used the pile of corpses to cultivate Mutant Poison, right?

And what about Absolute Abyss?

Right, the grand firework given by the Evil Cult!

Ji Jue managed to maintain a calm façade, responding, "Craftsman Grandmaster is too kind."

After Jian Yuan finished his assessment, he waved his hand and Ji Jue fell to the ground, grimacing in pain, unable to get up for a while.

The Mercury Exoskeleton had been stripped away, and his leg was still broken.

Watching him move between life and death, Jian Yuan actually cracked a silent smile, seemingly pleased, "Who is your teacher?"

Ji Jue snorted coldly, "You already know so much, why not guess?"

"Do I need to guess?"

Jian Yuan said, "With so many people from the association arriving outside, there are only a few who could have taught you.

Duan Mu, with his self-destructive obstinacy, could not have taught a slippery successor like you; Zhou Chong, who only knows how to exploit apprentices, would not let such a useful tool wander around; Kong Qingyan may have some ambition, but her control issues wouldn't be able to handle your rebelliousness...

The rest are mediocre, none worthy of such good material, none could have taught you.

That leaves only one possibility.

Moreover, the technique you used to disrupt the alarm sequence is unique to one.

He concluded decisively,

"Your teacher is Ye Xian, right?"

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