The weightlessness from the collapse of the bridge still seemed to linger in Aaryan's spine. When she opened her eyes, however, she did not see a mass grave or the ghost of 1969, but rather the unchanging, rusty, greyish-purple sky of the Maya District.
They had been thrown into the deepest part of the district — the 'sewer black market' — Gear Street.
This was the city's gut, devouring all the waste excreted from above: broken mechanical limbs, expired etheric potions and outlaws like Aaryan who had been banished. Dahlia lay unconscious beside an abandoned shipping container. Her long, dark purple hair was slowly turning white, and the wind-up pendant around her neck had stopped completely, its surface riddled with tiny cracks like a stopped heart.
'It must be repaired,' thought Aaryan, propping herself up and feeling a chilling coldness as her fingertips touched the pendant.
Without this pendant as a conduit, he knew that the raging purple-gold royal blood within him would burn away his meridians like a runaway nuclear reactor within three days. Moreover, Dahlia's sanity seemed inextricably linked to the rhythm of this 'wind-up heart'. Aaryan put on an oil-stained robe, settled the unconscious Dahlia in Balthazar's secret hideout and then ventured alone into the depths of Gear Street.
The only light here came from fluorescent moss canisters hanging in front of the shops, their eerie green glow illuminating weary and greedy faces. The cries of vendors, the hissing of electrical sparks and the distant roar of hydraulic presses mingled together to create a scene of morbid prosperity.
'Look, look! The newly unearthed 'Celestial Vein' energy core! It's leaky, but powerful nonetheless! Fresh mutated rat meat, only two copper coins, guaranteed no radiation sickness!'
Aaryan made his way through the crowd, his eyes as cold as knives. He needed "high-purity activated brass" and "etheric precision coupling wire", both of which were strictly prohibited military supplies by the Holy Blood Council.
As he passed a stall piled high with discarded steam arms, a shrill, slick voice pierced his ears:
'Oh dear, sir, wait! Your steady gait and extraordinary bearing... no, your imposing presence! You must be a fallen hero. Come, come, look at my treasure! This is an original item 'scavenged' from the wreckage of Inspector Vane's patrol car!'
Aaryan stopped and turned around to see the man.
It was Pau.
He was wearing a patched-up tailcoat and a pair of worn-out goggles were perched on his nose. He was laboriously carrying a massive, still-smoking, steam-powered mechanical arm and trying to show it off to every passer-by. His movements were comical and exaggerated, like those of a clumsy street clown. Yet a glint of cunning occasionally flashed in his eyes, hidden behind the goggles.
"Vane's wreckage?" Aaryan lowered his voice and approached slowly.
'Shh! Keep your voice down, my lord.' Pau jumped in fright, quickly grabbing Aaryan's sleeve and pulling him into a pile of scrap metal behind the stall. 'This is a life-or-death deal. I wouldn't have revealed this to you if you weren't so handsome." Aaryan put on an oil-stained robe, laid the unconscious Dahlia down in Balthazar's secret hideout and walked alone into the depths of Gear Street.
The only light here came from the fluorescent moss jars hanging in front of the shops on both sides of the street. The eerie green light illuminated weary yet greedy faces. The shouts of vendors, the hissing of electrical sparks and the distant roar of hydraulic presses mingled together to create a scene of morbid prosperity.
"Look, look! The newly unearthed 'Heavenly Vein' energy core! It leaks electricity, but it's incredibly powerful! Fresh mutated rat meat, only two copper coins, guaranteed no radiation sickness!"
Aaryan made his way through the crowd, his eyes as cold as knives. He needed "high-purity activated brass" and "etheric precision coupling wire", both of which were strictly prohibited military supplies by the Holy Blood Council.
As he passed a stall piled high with broken steam-powered mechanical arms, a shrill, slick voice pierced his ears:
'Oh dear, sir, wait! With your steady gait and imposing presence — no, I mean your dignified bearing — you must be a fallen hero! Come, come, look at my treasure! This is an original piece 'scavenged' from the wreckage of Inspector Vane's patrol car!'
Aaryan stopped and turned to face the man.
It was Pau.
He was wearing a patched-up tailcoat and a pair of worn-out goggles were perched on his nose. He was laboriously carrying a huge, still-smoking, steam-powered mechanical arm and trying to show it off to every passer-by. His movements were comical and exaggerated, like those of a clumsy street clown. However, a barely perceptible glint of cunning flashed in his eyes, hidden behind the goggles.
"Vane's remains?" Aaryan lowered his voice as he slowly approached.
'Shh! Keep your voice down, my lord.' Pau jumped in fright, quickly grabbing Aaryan's sleeve and pulling him into a pile of scrap metal behind the stall. 'This is a life-or-death deal. I wouldn't be telling you if I didn't like you." Pau rubbed his oil-covered hands together and chuckled to himself, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. 'My name is Pau, the most honest middleman around here. Whether you want a murder weapon or life-saving medicine, as long as the price is right, I can steal anything, even the council chairman's underwear. How about it? Fancy this arm? The hydraulic pump is a bit leaky, but the drive gears inside are top-notch."
Aaryan didn't look at the wrecked arm. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Paul's collar. An invisible pressure instantly locked onto the man.
"I don't want junk." Aaryan stared into his eyes. 'I need something that can repair Twin Clockwork Hearts. You know where to get that, right?"
Pau's face turned deathly pale. He could sense the destructive aura imbued with royal authority emanating from the young man before him — unlike anything he'd encountered in his twenty years in the Maya district.
"Clockwork…" Pau's throat tightened. 'That's from Project 1969… Dude, you're really asking for trouble.'
His eyes darted around; his initial fear had turned into something else. Leaning close to Aaryan's ear, he lowered his voice and said, "If you really want that, you won't find it on the black market. But tonight, a batch of 'defective products' will be shipped to the Forge through the back door of the Holy Blood Auction House. The foreman is my buddy. As long as..."
Pau made a money-counting gesture, then pulled a rusty copper coin out of his pocket and held it up. Its shape perfectly matched a groove on Aaryan's pendant.
'This is the admission ticket, but that place is currently being watched by Vane's secret police. Do you dare go?'
Aaryan took the coin and was about to speak when a series of heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed in the distance.
The black-market vendors seemed to receive a signal and began packing up their stalls frantically. Pau's face paled and he grabbed Aaryan, the two of them scrambling into the dark alley behind them.
"Damn it! Not the secret police, but 'mechanical hounds'! They're sniffing you!" Pau cursed under his breath as he ran. 'Are you carrying some kind of "resonance material"? These bastards are allergic to the scent of 1969!"
Meanwhile, at the end of the alley, several pairs of scarlet electronic eyes lit up in the darkness. Accompanied by a chilling metallic grinding sound, a deep synthesised voice echoed over the black market.
'Restricted royal wavelength detected. Execution... on-site recovery.'
However, Paul suddenly grabbed Aaryan and stopped in front of a dead end. Pointing to some seemingly ordinary graffiti on the wall, he said gravely:
'Buddy, if you want to live, jump in.' But remember, the madman inside is more terrifying than the hounds outside. His name is... 'Griffin's Abandoned Child'."
'Griffin's scapegoat?'
Aaryan chewed on the name. The sound of iron boots pounding the ground behind him came almost instantly, the steam valves of the mechanical hounds echoing like the roar of a dying beast in the narrow alleyways.
'No time to explain, jump!' Pau slammed down on a concealed protrusion in the centre of the graffiti.
The seemingly solid brick wall rippled like water — a cleverly designed visual camouflage force field. The moment the infrared beam locked onto him, Aaryan grabbed Pau and leapt.
Cold, viscous, weightless.
They felt as though they had fallen into a giant mechanical stomach, hurtling down a chute filled with slime and discarded gears. In the darkness, Aaryan could hear countless tiny grinding sounds. After descending about fifty metres, the two of them crashed heavily onto a pile of discarded drive belts.
The air was filled with the strong smell of engine oil, mixed with a musty, herbal scent. The lighting was eerie: not the neon lights common in the Maya district, but luminous jellyfish submerged in a pale blue liquid that cast an eerie glow.
This was a hollowed-out underground space, shockingly large. The walls were covered in densely packed mechanical blueprints and intricate clock parts were scattered across the tables. In the centre stood a colossal, unfinished bronze statue of a faceless goddess holding a gear in her left hand and a withered rose in her right.
'This is... Griffin's secret laboratory?' Aaryan stood up, scanning his surroundings warily.
"To be precise, his 'storage of failed experiments'."
A hoarse, metallic voice came from the shadows, accompanied by the sound of a heavy wheelchair rolling across the metal floor. A figure slowly emerged into the circle of light.
Aaryan had never seen a more unsettling 'person'. While his upper body retained a human silhouette, his lower body was completely attached to a complex, six-legged walking platform. His face was covered by a semi-transparent silicone mask, through which the constantly beating, spring-loaded pistons inside were faintly visible. His hands were the most striking feature — not human hands, but 'precision-machined machines' composed of countless fine, hair-like silver needles.
'I am Julius, Griffin's former chief mechanic, and the "incomprehensible perfection" defective product he spoke of.' The man in the wheelchair raised his head. Even through the mask, Aaryan could feel two scalpel-like gazes fixed on the pendant around his neck.
'Twin spring-loaded hearts... and someone can actually keep them "alive".' Julius's silver-needle fingers trembled violently and emitted a fine hum. Pau, hiding behind Aaryan, donned a fawning smile. 'Master Julius, long time no see! I've brought you a great deal. This young man wants to repair this treasure. I don't think there's anyone else in the world who could do this besides you."
'Repair it?' Julius chuckled dryly. 'This isn't just a machine; it's a vessel for the soul left behind by Project 1969. In order to repair it, you need not only military supplies such as 'etheric coupling wires', but also a living 'resonance chamber' that can resonate with the royal bloodline.'
He activated the base and slid it to Aaryan's side. He gently touched the purple-gold light flowing from the pendant's crack with a silver needle.
"Hiss—"
A faint spark exploded and Julius's silver needle was instantly stained purple.
"Your blood... is more violent than I imagined." Julius's eyes gleamed with an astonishing light. 'Griffin has always tried to tame royal blood with machinery, but he was wrong. Royal blood is a beast that can only be guided by a gentler force called 'self-sacrifice'. You want to save that White Witch, don't you?'
'Name your price,' said Aaryan curtly. He didn't want sympathy; he wanted efficiency.
Julius fell silent for a moment, then turned and pointed to the faceless goddess statue. 'I can repair the pendant for you and provide higher-purity etheric liquid, but I want one thing from you: that wisp of "ghostly memory" you just absorbed from Vane on the bridge.'
Aaryan's pupils contracted. In the instant the bridge collapsed, he had indeed felt a chilling force intrude into his consciousness — a forbidden fragment concerning the source of Vane's power.
'What do you want that for?'
Griffin abandoned me because he said I couldn't create 'machines with divine qualities'." Julius's voice grew fanatical. 'Vane is the perfect vessel; his memories contain the Council's core false-god logic code. I'm going to implant it into this statue. I'm going to prove to Griffin that flawed creations can still be godlike!"
'That's too dangerous, buddy!' Pau couldn't help but warn him. 'Vane's memories are toxic. If you don't remove them properly, you'll turn into an idiot!"
Aaryan looked at the completely dormant pendant in his hand. The image of Dahlia's mutated, empty eyes flashed through his mind. Without this pendant, they wouldn't even be able to leave the basement.
'Deal,' Aaryan said in a low voice. Julius didn't waste any words. He directed the complex mechanical arms to secure Aaryan to an iron bed covered in wires as the pale blue jellyfish light turned a fiery purplish-red.
'The process of stripping away your memories will allow you to relive Vane's darkest moments. Don't lose yourself." Julius's voice sounded distant amidst the cacophony of the electrical current.
Countless silver needles pierced acupoints on the back of Aaryan's neck. His consciousness was instantly thrown into a viscous sea of blood, where he saw the young Vane kneeling before a massive, pulsating 'mechanical heart', having his emotional centre painfully severed. In the centre of the heart, faces from 1969 wailed and reformed...
"Found it…" Aaryan reached out in his hallucination, trying to grasp the flowing black light.
In the real world, alarms suddenly blared in Julius's laboratory.
'Bang!'
A tremendous force ripped open the ventilation duct at the top of the laboratory and a dark figure clad in heavy power armour and wielding a chainsaw sword crashed to the ground. It was the Council's "Executioner".
"Illegal ether frequency detected successfully." The Executioner's helmet emitted a cold, emotionless command: 'Target: Aaryan Julius; Execution: Purge all.'
'Damn it! How did they find this place?' Terrified, Pau grabbed a wrecked mechanical arm to shield himself.
'It's not over yet! Don't touch him!' Julius roared. His silver needles were in the midst of a critical stage in the process of stripping away memories — it was impossible to withdraw them now. If he was forced to stop now, Aaryan's soul would be torn to shreds by the two opposing forces. The executioner's chainsword let out a high-pitched shriek as it slashed down with overwhelming force towards Aaryan on the sickbed. However, just as the blade was about to touch his skin, the previously shattered and dormant 'Twin Clockwork Heart' suddenly emitted an unprecedentedly piercing whistle.
The light emanating from the pendant's cracks was no longer white, but a viscous, dark golden liquid interwoven with eerie characters. In mid-air, the light condensed into a phantom, scaled hand that gripped the rapidly spinning chainsaw blade.
Meanwhile, Dahlia, who had been lying unconscious at the base, suddenly opened her eyes dozens of kilometres away. A roar overlapping with Aaryan's escaped her lips:
'Get out of my time!'
Spontaneously combusting on the laboratory wall were ancient blueprints from 1969, revealing the truth hidden behind the paper: a list of members destined for the pinnacle of power in the Maya District — an internal membership of the 'Holy Blood Council'. The first name on the list was one that Aaryan couldn't recall.
A dark golden claw emerged from the void and gripped the high-frequency, rotating blade of the chainsaw sword. Purplish-black sparks from the friction of the metal landed on Julius's precious blueprints, instantly burning several charred holes in them.
'What... is that?' Julius's silver fingers hovered in mid-air as wisps of white smoke billowed from the precision machining centre due to overload. He had seen countless ethereal weapons, but never any power that could materialise 'nothingness' to this extent.
Aaryan's body arched violently on the hospital bed and his eyes rolled upwards. His once clear pupils were now obscured by dense, ancient runes; the stripping of memories had entered its most dangerous phase. Vane's ghostly memories, like a crazed squid, were frantically spewing venom into Aaryan's sea of consciousness.
'Don't stand still! He's about to collapse!' Pau screamed. Despite his trembling legs, his survival instinct compelled him to grab the massive wrench beside him and smash it against the executioner's neck. *Clang!*
A dull metallic clang rang out. The executioner remained motionless, the feedback system of the heavy power armour instantly locking onto Pau with a flash of red light beneath the helmet.
'Non-combatant, eliminate.'
The executioner released its chainsaw sword and its left hydraulic fist struck Pau's chest like a cannonball. Just as Pau closed his eyes in despair, an extremely subtle yet undeniable ticking sound filled the noisy laboratory.
It was the sound of a clockwork heart.
It was no longer the stiff, mechanical rhythm of before, but a vibrant, lifelike beat, like a baby's heart. Suddenly, the dark golden phantom claw exploded, transforming into countless purple-gold threads that coiled instantly around Aaryan's entire body and spread rapidly to Julius's mechanical arm.
'Coupling successful?' Julius exclaimed, as he felt an unprecedented surge of pure energy flowing back through the control circuitry. The previously discarded parts and rusty gears now emitted a joyful roar.
Aaryan's eyes snapped open, his pupils a pure purple-gold. He ripped the wiring from the back of his neck, leaving a blurry afterimage in the air.
Boom!
The Executioner's hydraulic fist stopped three centimetres from Pau's nose. Aaryan's fingers gripped the opponent's powered forearm like steel hooks, the sounds of shattering bones and twisting steel mingling together.
'Vane's memories...' Aaryan's voice was as deep as magma. "Indeed interesting."
He exerted sudden force, lifting the half-ton Executioner with one hand and slamming it against a generator. Arcs of electricity danced and large areas of short-circuit sparks appeared on the Executioner's armour.
'Aaryan... you...' Pau slumped to the ground, panting heavily and staring at his companion, who seemed like a completely different person.
A faint mist enveloped Aaryan, vaguely coalescing into dragons and serpents in the air — a sign of the awakening of royal blood and an instinct born of his status as a member of the 'Holy Blood Council'. 'Quick! The executioners' signals are networked; the main force is on its way!' Julius shouted urgently. Despite the impending crisis, he didn't relax; instead, he stared in horror at the faceless goddess statue that had absorbed Vane's memory fragments.
Two streams of black liquid slowly oozed from the statue's eyes.
'I repaired your clockwork, but I also unleashed a monster.' Julius grinned bitterly as he pulled a sealed metal box from under his wheelchair and tossed it to Aaryan. 'This contains the remaining high-purity etheric fluid and precision coupling wire. Take the list. There's no place for you in the Maya District.'
Aaryan caught the box, his gaze sweeping over the list that had been revealed by the spontaneous combustion on the wall.
His pupils constricted sharply.
On that yellowing list — the most taboo list compiled by the Council — were not only Vane and Lord Malakor, but also a series of crossed-out names. At the very end, he saw two names overlapping:
[Aaryan · 1969 · Subject Zero]
[Dahlia · 1969 · Fitting Core].
The two names were connected by a red '∞' symbol. From birth, they had been an indispensable part of the Holy Blood Council's grand plan, and their 'chance encounter' might simply have been a preordained arrangement.
'Pau, take the list. Let's go.' Aaryan pulled the still-shaken Pau up.
'Where to? There are dogs up there and a dead end down there!" Pau cried, his voice trembling.
"To the underground arena." Fragments of Vane's memories flashed through Aaryan's mind. 'It's where the city's etheric flow is most chaotic and the only place that can shield the royal wavelength. I need to find a demon named Balthazar." Less than three minutes after the two of them had evacuated through the escape tunnel that Julius had provided, the laboratory's decoy force field was completely shattered.
A pair of jet-black leather boots stepped onto the ruins.
The newcomer wore a dark red cloak and had a slender rapier at his waist. Pinned to his chest was the 'Crystal Eye' medal, symbolising the council's supreme power. He was Castro, the CEO of Lord Malakor and the most ruthless hunter in the Maya district.
He walked to the faceless goddess statue shedding black tears, dipped a white-gloved finger into the black liquid and tasted it.
"Vane's memories. The smell is disgusting." He chuckled contemptuously, then looked at Julius. 'Teacher, after all these years, you still prefer to search for divinity in garbage dumps.'
Julius was now utterly weakened, his mechanical lower body completely paralysed. 'Castro... you're too late. He already knows. He knows who he is."
"So what if he knows?" Castro swung his rapier elegantly, instantly reducing the statue to dust. 'An experimental subject who thinks he's a dragon slayer will ultimately discover that he's nothing more than a piece of dragon skin.'
He turned to look in the direction that Aaryan had fled, a cruel thrill flashing in his eyes.
'Notify the "bookmakers" of the underground arena and prepare an unprecedented feast. I'm going to break that little lion's spine with my own hands at the moment he's at his most triumphant.' In the dark escape tunnels, Pau suddenly grabbed Aaryan's sleeve, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
'Little brother, when you were looking at the list just now, didn't you notice the black name at the very top?'
Aaryan stopped and turned around. "Who?"
'I've stolen things from the council's secret room before; I recognise that kind of paint.' Pau swallowed hard; cold sweat trickled down his forehead. 'That blacked-out name… that's the founder of the Maya District and the only "Mythical" mechanic. If he's still alive, you and the White Witch will never escape this laboratory."
Before Aaryan could ask any more questions, a deep, heavy bell tolled from the depths of the tunnel.
It was the signal for the start of the arena match, yet it also sounded like a funeral bell. Even more bizarrely, Aaryan felt the wind-up key in his arms begin to spontaneously combust in time with the bell's tolling...