Huai Shi seemed to be standing over its heart. Looking up, he could see countless grotesque scars, the steel curling back like open wounds, from which real blood flowed. The blood burned as it fell, creating rivers of molten lava.
Beneath the solemn steel crown, the Giant's face was maimed, its eyes dull, its countenance fractured, devoid of the terrifying majesty that once reigned supreme. Its lower half was severed, lost to places unknown.
Thus, it was awkwardly propped up against the mountainside, bathed in the twilight's dying glow. It was dying.
Even Osiris, even Pluto, had to face death.
Now, death was imminent.
This was the dying dream of Osiris, the only remaining trace of a once Fifth Stage Sublimator.
*'Come here—'*
As if someone was calling by his ear, a soft whisper, *'Come this way.'*
In front of the Giant's chest, the steel Armor slowly opened, revealing a narrow gap; sparks flew from the broken circuits, rising in a plume of thick smoke. Behind the gap, flickering lights came on, illuminating a narrow path.
But as soon as Huai Shi entered, he realized he wasn't the only outsider here—there was another, more detestable presence ensconced within.
Ubiquitous.
On the ceiling, the walls, even in the corners of the corridor, countless specks of purplish-red appeared. They seemed like some kind of fungal spots but with the texture of innards, deeply nauseating. Like aberrant flesh parasitizing the steel, the fungi incessantly writhed, forming eye-like voids that coldly stared at Huai Shi, the intruder.
A piercing roar erupted.
But then, as the doors closed, they were isolated behind them. Fierce electrical light surged, forcibly sweeping away the 'fleshy fungi' that had penetrated inside the door, clearing a path for Huai Shi to proceed.
Huai Shi weaved through the vast metal structures, as though walking in a Temple of Steel, feeling an indescribable solemnity and oppression.
The calling voice continued, guiding him forward relentlessly, through layer upon layer of massive gates, straight to the core.
At last, he arrived in front of the heart.
Its heart was shattered; the Source furnace, the size of a building, was riddled with cracks and had completely died out.
Stopped beating.
But within the 'heart's' rupture, faint Source Substance still rose.
It formed a metallic cube as tall as Huai Shi himself.
Upon closer inspection, it was composed entirely of countless tiny and intricate components, meticulously assembled to form something resembling a book.
It beckoned Huai Shi forth.
And when Huai Shi, following its guidance, placed his palm on the Steel book, the smooth metal surface suddenly trembled. Wisps of ephemeral light appeared, woven together, moving across the metal cover, displaying what seemed to be Osiris's final words from a distant time—though they appeared as a string of bizarre, indecipherable characters.
???
A hundred thousand question marks rose above Huai Shi's head.