Chapter 283 - Chapter 282 - The Preservation Zone

The cathedral interior was not merely dark; it was heavy. The air inside held a strange, stagnant density that pressed against Ren's skin, as if he were walking through water that had forgotten how to flow. Every step he took on the uneven flagstones felt like an intrusion upon a silence that had been cultivated over five centuries. His own breathing sounded deafening in the vast, vaulted space, and even the simple, functional hum of Fang's hand-held diagnostic equipment felt like a desecration.