The air pressure within the ruins was plummeting at an alarming rate. Around them, the once-indestructible alloy plates groaned and buckled under the extreme heat, emitting a high-pitched, metallic shriek that set teeth on edge.
Driven by a primal fear of the golden-eyed youth, the surviving convicts had dug through the rubble like frantic animals. Finally, they dragged a black, sealed container from beneath a mountain of stone. The chest was forged from heavy lead alloy; even after enduring the direct shockwave of the Inverted Tower's self-destruction, its seams remained perfectly aligned. Only the intricate crimson wax seals of the Inquisition—burned to a charred black—hinted at the darkness contained within.
Gu Hanzhou brushed aside the fawning convicts who were eager to claim credit. He stepped forward and pressed his palm against the activation slot.
Hiss—
A cloud of pressurized white vapor vented out as the lid slowly slid open.
Inside, twelve high-purity Order Crystals were neatly arranged, each radiating a haunting, neon-blue glow. A single one of these crystals carried enough energy to power a tactical fortress for two weeks. However, Gu Hanzhou's gaze didn't linger on the expensive energy source. Instead, his eyes locked onto a cylindrical object tucked beneath the crystals.
It was a scroll made of an obsidian-colored material that was neither silk nor parchment. Its surface was covered in dried, brownish stains—blood. The moment Gu Hanzhou's fingers brushed the texture, the bloodstains seemed to pulse with a hidden life, emitting a faint, suffocating dark-gold radiance that resonated deep within his marrow.
At the scroll's seal, a blurred stamp remained barely legible: [Night-War Legion · Classified · File No. 001].
Gu Hanzhou's heart hammered against his ribs. He could feel a violent resonance between the energy within the scroll and the turbulent Imperial Gold blood in his veins. This was the scent of truth—and the source of a decade of suffering.
Just as his fingers trembled, ready to tear open the seal that had been frozen for ten years—
Sssss—Sssssss!!
A sharp, high-pitched hissing sound suddenly erupted from the cracked pipes lining the walls of the Inverted Tower.
At first, the sound was faint, nearly drowned out by the bubbling magma. But within seconds, a thick, viscous, grey-green gas began to pour through the ventilation slits and cracks in the floor like a creeping tide.
"What is this? It reeks..." A convict hauling a crystal suddenly froze, his hands flying to his throat as he gasped for air.
The moment the green mist touched his skin, it reacted like boiling acid. Tiny, translucent purple blisters erupted across his arms and neck. The blisters popped as he breathed, leaking foul pus, while his pupils dilated until the whites of his eyes were covered by a grey, cloudy film.
"No... it's Dark-Order Gas! That old beast Mordent wants us all to rot and die down here!"
Su Qingyue's voice shrieked from the direction of the power-supply room. She had already covered her mouth and nose with a wet cloth, but she knew it was a futile gesture against the most notorious "cleansing" weapon of the Inquisition.
Dark-Order Gas didn't just kill. It was infused with a high concentration of Aberration Dust. It was designed to force a rapid, violent mutation in living flesh, turning victims into mindless, cannibalistic ghouls within minutes.
Duke Mordent had finally lost his patience. Since Gu Hanzhou refused to kneel, the Duke would turn the ruins into a living purgatory.
"Everyone, hold your breath! Charge for the ventilation shaft!"
The convicts descended into total anarchy. Under the shadow of such a horrific death, their fear of Gu Hanzhou crumbled. Several desperate madmen even tried to lung at him to snatch the Order Crystals, hoping the energy could shield them.
"Get back."
Gu Hanzhou didn't even turn his head. His left hand swept outward, his dark-gold energy manifesting as a physical shockwave that sent the approaching convicts flying into the rubble. He tucked the bloodstained scroll into his tunic and hoisted the crate of crystals with one hand, his body becoming a dark-gold blur as he reappeared at the power-supply room's entrance.
The toxin was thinner here, but the air still tasted of rot. Gu Hanzhou felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his lungs. Within his sea of consciousness, the dark-gold vortex began to spin at a violent speed, working overtime to repel the invading toxins.
"Hanzhou... take them... go..." Gu Qingshan's eyes were barely open. His skin, already showing faint scales from years of experimentation, was trembling violently as the gas accelerated his aberration.
"It's useless." Su Qingyue looked at the exits, now choked with the thick green fog. "The gas is being pumped from above. Mordent has sealed the elevator shafts. He's turning this place into a sealed jar... he wants to watch us rot like insects."
Gu Hanzhou looked at the scroll in his vest, then at the screaming convicts who were already beginning to growl like beasts. The coldness in his eyes reached an absolute zero.
He slowly drew the reforged [Black Order].
Stimulated by the toxic environment, the dragon-scale patterns on the blade flared with a violent, violet-gold radiance. The sword felt more alive than ever, sensing its master's murderous intent.
"Su Qingyue. Can you detonate all twelve of these crystals within one minute?" Gu Hanzhou asked, his voice eerily calm.
Su Qingyue froze. "Detonate? The structural integrity of this level is already failing. If we blow those, the entire base will collapse. We'll be buried alive!"
"Better to be buried in stone than to become rotting meat in Mordent's petri dish."
Gu Hanzhou pointed his blade toward the ceiling—toward the thick alloy plating that separated them from the upper levels and the source of the gas.
"I'm going to use the energy of these twelve cores to rip open the belly of this prison. Mordent wants to see how I die? Then I'll show him what it means to return from hell."
The dark-gold flames in his eyes soared. For the first time since reaching the Peak of the Blood-Ignition Phase, Gu Hanzhou prepared to unleash his power without restraint.