Dimensional Hotel-Chapter 650 - 649: The Hidden Monastery’s Grand Plan

"Deep Rock Fortress," once a secret base belonging to Old Qiao, has now been completely taken over by Yu Sheng. Even the remnants of the cloned army surrounding the fortress surrendered after receiving orders from within.

At the same time, within minutes after the battle ended, Luo had already taken control of the entire antenna system of the fortress. She severed the connection between the local network and the Black Dot Group's main data network, replacing all network ports with a complete set of false addresses and database interfaces — ensuring that no one would know what happened here.

In the core area of the fortress, in the hall where Old Qiao originally collected his "artwork," a new tank was activated and connected to a simple interactive system. Luo transferred "Old Qiao" into this new tank, and between the cables and processors connected to the tank was the temporary cage she prepared for this "old friend."

A string of bubbles emerged from the nearly transparent biomass solution inside the glass tube, with a shriveled, wrinkled brain quietly suspended within the container. The monitor next to the tank displayed jumping green characters — this monitor was currently "Old Qiao's" only external interaction channel. He had been stripped of all senses, with his consciousness trapped in a disconnected brain.

Looking at the setup before him, Yu Sheng found it difficult to imagine what that sensation was like.

"It's an extreme darkness and silence, an emptiness that gnaws at a person's spirit and will from all directions," Luo explained softly with a touch of recollection, standing beside the tank. "Without the stimuli of the real world as an anchor, the brain's perception of time quickly becomes chaotic, with every second being infinitely prolonged. In the interminable long night, fear becomes almost eternal, and death turns into a luxury."

She exhaled gently, a smile on her face as her fingers slowly traced the cold shell of the tank.

"He often used this method to punish disobedient or grave-mistaking assistants — sometimes merely to fulfill his... 'research' needs."

The simple monitor connected to the tank flashed green characters: "Darkness... cold... I promise you everything... anything!"

"Who was your contact within the Hidden Monastery?" Luo's mechanical limb directly connected to the tank, her thoughts turning into words that quickly appeared on the screen. "Do you have a rendezvous point?"

"No fixed contact — they call themselves the 'Envoys of the Holy Seat,' and the contact changes each time. We communicate through an encrypted channel," lines of text continuously scrolled on the screen. "There is a delivery point within a gravity collapse point near the Morona Fault, but they never show themselves... I also use intermediaries to interact with them..."

As Luo quickly recorded the contents Old Qiao confessed, she continued to question: "Do you trust those cultists so easily? How did you connect with them?"

"... I don't trust them," this time, the words on the screen appeared with a hint of hesitation, "but they offered conditions I couldn't refuse."

"Conditions you couldn't refuse?" Yu Sheng frowned upon seeing the answer. "What conditions?"

Luo swiftly inputted this question, bubbles again emerging from the biomass tank, and Old Qiao's reply quickly appeared on the screen: "They showed me something... a new world waiting for conquest."

This response even surprised Luo: "A new world?"

"Those Hidden Monastery Sect members used an ancient term to describe it, calling it 'Eden,'" the brain in the container replied honestly. "They accidentally discovered its existence and then considered it a hope for achieving the 'Path of Venerate Saint'... which you know is their mumbled doctrine. They believe 'Eden' is an unpolluted 'Original Paradise' fit for 'ingenious and perfect transformation.'"

Luo furrowed her brows deeply: "And then? What's the connection between this and 'Zolda Black Stone' and 'Rift Technology'?"

"Because they only observed the existence of 'Eden' — and to safely reach there, they need to open a stable passage. Those preachers call that thing the 'Gate of Eden,' essentially... it's a larger and more stable version of your gadgets. But now it seems their Gate of Eden seems to have encountered some issues."

Yu Sheng and Luo exchanged glances, seeing bits of shock in each other's eyes.

Both had considered that the cultists might pull off a major operation, but neither expected it to be this grand — as if digging holes around the world wasn't enough for them, they've finally started planning to dig through to another world?!

Luo's expression was filled with disbelief: "What are they trying to do? Find a new world to descend and 'become gods'? Are they even planning to become 'creators'?"

A line of text quickly appeared on the nearby screen: "… That's exactly what they think."

This answer caused Erin, perched on Yu Sheng's shoulder, to burst out immediately, the little puppet speaking bluntly: "… Are they a bunch of idiots? Do they know how to write 'creator' and have such thoughts, without even a basic consideration?"

Luo immediately frowned, then suddenly thought of something: "And what about you — were the 'irresistible conditions' just having them show you a 'new world' and you were worshipping them? What condition did they offer you? To become a 'god' in the new world as well? Don't tell me you fell for such a ridiculous reason!"

The text on the screen trembled, many disorganized symbols flickered, seemingly showing Old Qiao's somewhat agitated mood. After several seconds, the text stabilized: "… They indeed would leave a spot for me in the new world, but I wasn't much interested in their 'god of the new world' rhetoric, but..."

The text paused, then the refresh speed suddenly accelerated: "However, Luo, don't you find this tempting at all? Think about it, an entire world! An unowned, unoccupied, undiscovered new world, without any interference from the Boundary Council or the Terra Council! An abundance of resources, land, freedom — with just a few cargo ships and industrial motherships, you could become the initial conqueror, making all the rules yourself, without worrying about corporation oversight! Dropping those hypocritical and conservative thoughts, aren't you at all tempted?"

Luo's expression became a bit nuanced, and before she could respond, Yu Sheng suddenly chimed in while stroking his chin: "I must admit, listening to this part is quite tempting."

Luo almost lost her composure, looking at Yu Sheng in shock: "Uh, boss?"

"Just hearing this part is tempting, what's wrong with admitting it," Yu Sheng said, standing his ground, "Being tempted is different from taking action, and taking action also differs depending on the circumstances..."

Erin straightened up upon hearing this, one hand on Yu Sheng's head: "Exactly, with your tendency to sweep anything not gathered is lost, if given the chance, wouldn't you just lay the fungal blanket all over?"

Beside them, Hu Li looked up at Yu Sheng, then at Luo, muttering quietly: "If there's good food over there, I'm tempted too."

Luna nodded after thinking, "Yeah, right."

Luo held back for a while: "Uh, no, I'm just trying to come up with some righteous words to retort him, you guys can't be like this..."

Yu Sheng chuckled, the corner of his mouth curling up: "Again, being tempted differs from taking action, and actions vary. If there truly is 'Eden,' I'd definitely want to have a look — those Hidden Monastery Sect members are opening space rifts all over. I also open gates all over the world, and why do they face wrathful opposition, while I receive widespread acclaim? We must stand on reason. Some people's biggest problem is a nasty heart and lack of skill, which is why they're in a jar now..."

Yu Sheng's theory left Luo dumbfounded, whereas Erin clinging to his hair murmured: "As I recall, when you first opened gates all over, there was wrathful opposition too?"

Yu Sheng maintained a straight face, pretending not to hear.

Witnessing this, Luo suddenly doubted herself: Have I truly abandoned darkness for light?

However, she had been doubting herself a lot lately, so she quickly cast aside this minor issue, refocusing on the interactive screen in front of her.

Old Qiao was cut off from all sensory contact with the real world, having to rely on this simplistic text interface for exchanging information with the outside, and in the few minutes where Luo ceased inputting text, the mental pressure index and toxic protein index of that brain had already begun rising sharply.

"Do you know to what extent the cultists' 'project' has progressed?" Luo asked another question.

"I don't know their specific progress — those preachers have tightly sealed any news in this regard, but they surely have developed some 'prototype' for the 'Gate of Eden,' because they frequently mention issues of charging and stability for the Gate, and they request Zolda Black Stone's raw data from me to apply to the Gate of Eden."

Luo's expression became grim, as she vaguely sensed something from Old Qiao's reply, and after a moment of contemplation, she suddenly realized: "You, along with those cultists you're 'trading' with, when did you first target me?"

The characters on the screen once again flickered violently, and disordered symbols rolled continuously before a coherent reply emerged —

"From the beginning."

Luo frowned, but before she could question further, new sentences refreshed after that line: "Luo, do you really think the news about Zolda Black Stone 'coincidentally' appearing before you? That stone... was from the outset a 'gift' we delivered to you."

"…Your mom's got to be within Usoob Bug Nest in and out seven (!) times!"