Just then, the elevator door, which had been completely still, suddenly slid open, as if awaiting Ye Chen and Kaba’s entrance.

“This thing has a delay feature,” Kaba shook his head, preparing to step inside.

Ye Chen’s eyes flashed, and he suddenly grabbed Kaba’s wrist, whispering urgently, “Don’t go in.”

Kaba paused, “What?”

Ye Chen glanced at the seven-colored energy cabinet behind them, his eyes flickering as he murmured, “The normal operation of this shop suggests its intelligent system isn’t damaged. This elevator is controlled by that system. If the system locks us inside and then lets the corpses outside in, we’ll be finished.”

Kaba pictured the scene, a wave of primal fear causing his scalp to prickle. His expression soured. “Then what do we do? There’s no stairway here. Should we just smash through the wall to the second floor?”

Ye Chen shook his head. “I checked. The metal here is all Tier Nine grade. Only a few parts are Tier Ten (Peak Pseudo-God). Even if your physical body reached the Divine level, you couldn't break through the walls.”

Kaba forced a wry smile. He looked around, and then his eyes lit up. “I have an idea!” Amidst Ye Chen’s look of confusion, he walked directly to the elevator entrance, stopped, closed his eyes, and placed his palm flat against the elevator’s glass tube. Faint threads of lightning traced along his fingertips as he pressed them against the green switch, as if attempting some form of communication.

A moment later—

The green switch button depressed inwards, followed by a flat, synthesized female electronic voice: “Who are you?”

Kaba turned his head to glance at Ye Chen, whispering, “We are people who wandered in by mistake, seeking refuge on the second floor.”

The electronic voice was silent for a beat. “Then you may enter.”

Kaba deliberated. “We cannot trust you. Can you tell us why this happened here, and how long ago it occurred? May I search your memory banks?”

“No!” the synthesized voice rejected immediately. “My memory banks contain all the data and information pertaining to this establishment. If you search them, all of this shop’s secrets will be exposed. According to system protocols, my memory banks cannot be accessed by outsiders. If you attempt to force a search, I will self-detonate.”

Kaba stiffened, then turned to look at Ye Chen, offering a bitter laugh. “Such a small shop is so complicated, possessing an intelligent system and anti-hacking defenses. Now what? Without accessing its memory, there’s no way to verify what it says.”

Ye Chen pondered for a moment. “Tell it that the city is already ruined, and this small shop is useless to it anyway. If it absolutely refuses, ask it to provide us with a map of this city so we at least know where to go next.”

Kaba sighed. “We have no other choice.”

He turned back to the console slot. “Can you tell us about this city? And why this calamity happened? You must know everything that’s going on outside, right?”

The synthesized voice replied, “That falls within the acceptable range. According to the navigation system’s parameters, I can explain. Our city is called Pria City, one of 30 cities in the Tianxiong World. Its area is 83,200 square kilometers, with a population of approximately 9.2 million. One hundred thousand epochs ago, a chaotic virus suddenly erupted throughout the entire city, causing immediate pandemonium.”

“Subsequently, most of the city’s inhabitants became mindless creatures driven only by violent impulse. They do not decay, feel no pain, and retain a mere 0.1% of their original combat awareness—they are the Monster-Men.”

As the synthesized voice recounted the events, Ye Chen frowned deeply. This scenario bore a chilling resemblance to biological viruses that had once ravaged Earth, except here, the outbreak occurred 100,000 epochs ago, and the monsters they had seen so far possessed bodies at the God level!

This entire world structure was built upon a divine foundation!

Deities who were formidable enough to inspire terror in the outside world were merely ordinary people here. Furthermore, the fact that the corpses remained undecomposed for nearly 100,000 epochs after the strange viral outbreak was utterly unbelievable.

Considering that the birth of an ancient civilization often took no more than ten thousand epochs, the preservation over 100,000 epochs implied a terrifying efficacy for that virus.

Ye Chen theorized that another crucial reason for the lack of decay was that this world had been sealed, a closed environment, much like a ruin. Only when the world opened did the outside air finally penetrate within.

Air was inherently corrosive.

Perhaps the passage of time within this world had been suspended until recently.

“Hmm?” Ye Chen suddenly thought of something, his gaze sharp as he fixed on the intelligent system’s slot. He turned to Kaba, “Ask it if it’s absolutely certain it was 100,000 epochs ago.”

Kaba looked puzzled. “Is there an issue with that?”

Ye Chen gave a slight nod.

Kaba felt a jolt of caution. His demeanor grew serious as he looked at the slot before him. “Are you absolutely certain it was 100,000 epochs ago?”

The synthesized voice responded, “Confirmed.”

Ye Chen furrowed his brow, thinking hard for a moment, until a flash of astonishment crossed his eyes. “For this intelligent system to articulate such detail, it surely wouldn't slip up on such an obvious detail. This event is likely true! One hundred thousand epochs… that is an immense span of time. Even Tier Nine metal would have eroded into dust by now!”

“Moreover…”

“One hundred thousand epochs ago, many civilizations on the Ancient Continent had not yet arisen, yet the technology here clearly blends mechanical and other established technological aesthetics. How could such advanced technology exist before that time?”

“There can only be one possibility!”

“Could there have been a super-ancient civilization before the 100,000-epoch mark?”

Ye Chen felt he was brushing against a profound secret. He frowned, pondered briefly, then instructed Kaba, “Have it print out a map of Pria City.”

Kaba nodded and addressed the slot. “Please transfer the city map to me.” As he spoke, he extended a finger onto the slot. Fine electrical filaments emerged across his fingertip and connected with the system. After a short while, he withdrew his hand. “The map is received. I’ll transfer it to you shortly.”

Ye Chen nodded slightly, then mused, “Ask it if it’s willing to help us. What are its conditions? We might be able to assist.”

Kaba’s eyes brightened, and he quickly translated Ye Chen’s request to the shop’s intelligent system.

“Affirmative,” the electronic voice responded. “There are intruders within the shop. Security personnel are currently absent, and the self-defense system is damaged and inoperable. We require your assistance. If you are willing, you may become a One-Star VIP member of this establishment.”

Ye Chen offered a bitter smile. What use was a membership status at a time like this? Still, he nodded. “Agreed.”

The synthesized voice continued, “There are deceased Monster-Men on the second floor: one near the elevator, one at the viewing deck, one in the lounge area, and one in the open plaza. Are you ready to proceed now?”

Ye Chen paused, considering. “What weapons are available here?”

“There are eight guard batons, four wave swords, and one light-particle cannon,” the voice stated with mechanical precision.

“We’ll take all of them!” Ye Chen immediately declared.

“All these items are located in the first-floor storage room, position second from the left. The access code is 23442…” the electronic voice recited mechanically.

Ye Chen glanced at Kaba. They followed the instructions to the left side of the main hall, where they found a passageway. The floor was littered with small, bloody body parts, and the walls and floor were smeared with ghastly red stains emitting a foul odor.

“First, second…” Ye Chen and Kaba stopped before the second location—a platinum-white door secured by numerous mechanical dials and a metal combination lock. Standing there, Ye Chen rapidly entered the code provided by the system onto the door’s metallic keypad. Upon confirmation, the door displayed ‘Identifying,’ and moments later, the platinum door swung open with a heavy thump, revealing an absolute void within—a room where one could not see one’s own hand.

Two beams of white light ignited in Kaba’s eyes, illuminating the space. It was a storage room piled high with assorted junk, overflowing with cardboard boxes and various miscellaneous items.

Kaba was about to step inside.

For some inexplicable reason, Ye Chen’s heart suddenly tightened. Whether it was an instinctive aversion to the darkness or some other factor, he felt as if a pair of cold, unblinking eyes were fixed upon him from the pitch-black room. An intense sense of danger surged from the core of his being. Without hesitation, he yanked Kaba backward, shouting, “Fall back, quick!”

Kaba was startled but offered no resistance, rapidly retreating with Ye Chen’s pull. “What is it?” he asked, bewildered.

Ye Chen stared at the silent, icy storage room, frowning deeply as he processed his thoughts.

Seeing Ye Chen’s grim expression, Kaba felt a rising tension. He stood still, his palm gripping the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword damp with nervous sweat.

After a long pause, Ye Chen’s eyes suddenly shone with brilliant clarity. “I knew something felt off, something I couldn’t quite place—this is it! This entire shop is forged from Tier Nine metal, yet how can the intelligent system be so primitive? Not only is the voice dehumanized, but its speech patterns and overall interface are extremely rudimentary!”

“It’s practically a beginner-level intelligence, too clumsy even for a vessel comparable to a Half-God warship.”

A subtle curve formed on Ye Chen’s lips. He fixed his gaze on the cold, black storage room, took two steps back, and announced, “Come out. I know what you’re hiding in there, and I know you can hear me.”

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