Deep in the Living
Chapter 293 - 281: Going Home

Chapter 293: Chapter 281: Going Home

Agatha had arrived on the other side ahead of schedule.

Although the wait might exceed a day, she did not feel bored at all, still immersed in the stories told by Luo Di and the corresponding worlds.

Her life had been mostly confined within the Great Monastery,

and her thoughts were fixated on the Hell World as depicted in the Monastery Library.

As a rather special "nun," she was subject to many restrictions, often confined within the monastery. This time, it was rare for her to be assigned the task of catching rats, which allowed her to go out.

Even during the outbreak of a world invasion, their order hardly took action, unless life forms from the opposing world accidentally ended up near the Great Monastery.

The encounter with Luo Di was her first insight into the outside world, a world more interesting than the monastery, and even more than Hell.

A seed of the forbidden fruit had already been planted in her mind, barely constrained by the mental steel wires of the monastery.

While she was absorbed in the stories, pondering the Pseudo-Persons, Fear literature, and matters related to the Human World, she suddenly heard a sound of breathing.

Only three hours had passed, and she sensed a familiar presence, the aura of a Monk from the Punishment Room.

Her gaze shifted,

and she saw Luo Di crossing the bridge with a running gait, without any protection for his body.

"Luo Di!"

Not only Agatha was shocked.

The pilgrims who had spent nearly thirty hours and were about to cross the bridge were also affected by this running scene, almost causing them to fall off the bridge due to a psychological impact.

More eerily,

Luo Di was in a state of closed eyes, completely unmindful of the wires beneath his feet, his thoughts seemingly elsewhere.

Crack!

With his foot stepping onto the soil on the other side of the bridge, Luo Di opened his eyes.

His eyes contained no fatigue, even showing a different kind of brilliance, as if excited by something he saw.

He quietly asked Agatha, "That didn’t take long, did it?"

"No, very fast."

"That’s good." Luo Di looked up at the area he had reached, the land seemingly covered with a layer of white snow, yet metallic luster shone through the snow.

"Is this area, which looks like it’s coated with white metal, part of the order’s territory?"

"Not really a territory per se, it’s mostly just recognized by the demons as our area, after all, one must cross the Bridge of Sins to reach here.

In fact, the order’s main activities are centered around the Great Monastery and those three special facilities controlled by the order members.

This place is the [Hell Border - Pure White Plateau].

To cross this plateau at your Crow Colt’s pace would take about 1-2 days."

"This is already the border? By that token, True Hell doesn’t seem very large, but it’s incredibly densely populated, especially with Spines and swell folk."

Agatha patiently explained, "According to the books, True Hell has undergone two [World Compressions]. The original world was quite expansive and spherical.

After two significant compressions, the entire world transformed into a conical structure, reducing its surface area by 84%."

"World Compression?"

Luo Di, at his current level, found it hard to imagine precisely.

"Yes~ True Hell has scarce local resources, and long ago, it couldn’t sustain the astonishing reproductive rate of demons, nor the lifestyle needs of large forces.

[World Invasion] thus became an essential activity for True Hell.

Only through invasion and plunder can sufficient resources be brought in to support the development of Hell.

To invade other worlds, True Hell needs to approach them.

The earliest Hell was too massive, slow to mobilize, and consumed a lot of energy, so they began to conceive projects related to world compression.

The now conical Hell can move quickly through planar space, accomplishing long-distance moves with less energy, making it more suitable for world invasions.

As for the fuel that propels the world, a large part of it consists of bodies that died on the battlefield.

Bodies recovered by the Primordial Slime, after being completely drained of value, are collectively thrown into the Hell Rift Valley to energize the world fuel.

Of course, when needing to travel quickly, other, more expedient methods of charging exist, and the Hell Furnace is always burning."

Hearing this, a chilling sound echoed inside Luo Di’s heart.

Perhaps one day, True Hell might reach Earth, and it is uncertain what apocalyptic scene would unfold then.

However,

The planar distance between True Hell and Earth must be vast; otherwise, Luo Di wouldn’t be the only Connector to appear after such a long time.

Given sufficient time, Luo Di was confident he could rise within the hierarchy of Hell. With some degree of authority, he might prevent such a scenario.

"Luo Di, let’s go. The Great Monastery and the Punishment Room are both in the same direction."

"Okay."

The two continued to move in the same manner.

This Pure White Plateau gave Luo Di a great sense of dissonance. It lacked the sweltering heat of True Hell, with temperatures around 30°C. Even the dryness was slowly dissipating, and occasionally, puddles containing floating metal fragments could be seen.

Most importantly,

this place was utterly desolate,

Previously, Luo Di often encountered Hell Creatures and various towns while on the road. Now, he could see nothing but a few metal-coated spiky plants on the surface.

Occasionally, they also saw pilgrims crossing the bridge.

They had successfully passed the most difficult part; now, all they needed was to complete this last easy stretch to reach the Great Monastery and become one of its members.

Of course, the real austerity had just begun.

As they passed these pilgrims, the latter would bow and kneel.

Soon, the Great Monastery was in sight.

Contrary to expectations,

the so-called Great Monastery was a huge white cube, distinctly different from the rough style of Chaos Nest City, and much smaller.

What was inside could only be discovered by entering.

Agatha spoke softly, "The rat is dead, my active period is over, I can’t accompany you to the Punishment Room. After you return from Mr. Hook, remember to come find me at the Great Monastery.

When the time comes, just head to a certain entrance, then gently tap this Iron Pillar, and I will come to pick you up immediately."

Agatha separated a delicately small iron rod about the length of a finger from the palm of her hand and tossed it onto the horseback where Luo Di was.

"I will come over then."

With Luo Di’s affirmative reply, Agatha’s pupils trembled, unspeakably pleased.

"Just continue along this road to the very end and you will reach the Punishment Room, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Luo Di, holding the metal rod with different properties, attempted to assimilate it into his left arm, but discovered that the iron wires inside his arm were incompatible with this iron rod, even repelling each other, and thus unable to assimilate.

He had to keep the iron rod in his coat pocket.

Fei Spine, who had been holding back for a long time, could finally speak.

As a subordinate unit, it wasn’t proper to interrupt conversations between messengers and nuns, so it was silent throughout.

"Iron Pillar Nun, she is a special monk from the Great Monastery... Mr. Di, this nun is no ordinary being, almost equivalent to a special elite in the Spine regiment.

Such nuns are used for external combat, able to suppress most Hell Creatures.

She is still young and has great potential for further advancement."

"I can see that."

"Mr. Di, if you have a habit of forming teams, you might consider including her next time you go hunting for wanted criminals for higher efficiency."

"Hmm."

Fei Spine wanted to say more, but ultimately transformed into a necklace and obediently rested on Luo Di’s body.

It sensed that this messenger journey had just started; what had happened before was merely an appetizer.

After continuing along the road for several more hours,

Click, click, click~ a sensation from the torture device transmitted through his left arm.

No building related to the Punishment Room was in sight,

but instead, a gigantic transport vehicle resembling a coffin moved down the road, drawn by two Giant Sewing Beasts filled with hooks.

Accompanying them was a group of demons, restrained by torture devices, their eyes sewn by hooks, who seemed both prisoners and escorts.

One by one, they nodded in acknowledgment towards Crow Colt, showing no strangeness, as if they had long known Luo Di.

When Luo Di looked at these escorts, he also felt a vague familiarity; their physical characteristics somewhat resembled the psychiatric patients from the Fifth Hospital.

Continuing on,

the ground began to slope upwards.

Luo Di gradually saw the true edge of Hell, with countless red lightning dancing in the darkness.

Above this edge stood a special building, its architectural distribution and proportions eerily similar to the Fifth Hospital...

Although the proportions were the same, the size was several times larger.

Any sinner arriving here would experience intense suffering, but to Luo Di, it felt just like coming home, and his tense nerves finally relaxed.