Endless Debt Chapter 1473 - 53: The Forge Pit Bottom

In the vertical darkness of the passage, Bologue felt a gust of wind carrying choking dust and a faint smell of machine oil. He could vaguely hear the sound of mechanical operations and the clash of metal roaring.

"You must have realized, right? The Land of Secrets is far more than what meets the eye on the surface."

Yolanda led the way ahead. She was very familiar with this area and could accurately distinguish the road in the darkness, even without any illumination.

"Yes."

Bologue nodded and continued his conjecture, "According to the pyramidal structure, since there are so many Condensers here, correspondingly, The Imperfect should be dozens of times more, but the Wasteland District is not that large, nor are The Imperfect as numerous as I estimated."

The dark vision gradually turned bright as Bologue stepped out of the passage, standing on a high aerial corridor.

"There must be a part of the Land of Secrets I can’t see, where all The Imperfect live," Bologue murmured as he looked down at the gradually brightening scene below, "You’re all here."

At the end of the dense darkness, the vast underground world appeared before Bologue’s eyes. The air, carrying the warmth of rust and embers, rushed towards him like a deep breath expelled from a volcano.

The dark dome was covered with giant lamps that shone like artificial stars, casting beams of light downward. Below lay a huge, ever-collapsing pit sinking inward.

Giant pillars extended from the dark dome above, plunging into the deep pit below. This was not some sort of extraordinary creation. Upon first sight, Bologue recognized these as the foundations of the High Towers on the surface, penetrating the ground, inserted into this underground world.

Among the forest of pillars, one massive and mighty pillar occupied the center of the sinking pit, which was the foundation of the Supreme Hub and its extension.

"No wonder I felt so strained when I destroyed the High Tower just now. I was only seeing a part of it."

As Bologue spoke, he turned to look at the battlefield area, where he saw a corner of darkness cracked among the dark dome, and sunlight from the surface freely poured down.

"Where is this?"

Palmer couldn’t help but ask. Besides these giant pillars, there were numerous factories among them. To be precise, this entire underground world was a massive factory, covered in countless aerial corridors, pipes, and cables like a web.

"The forging pit base."

Yolanda explained to the two, "You can consider this as the Logistics Department of the Order Bureau."

Walking down the wide path, they saw groups of giant machinery at work tirelessly. These machines composed of complex pipes, wires, and lights were like neurons in a giant, precise brain, interconnected and coordinated.

"The Land of Secrets underground holds abundant mineral resources. We hollowed out this place, gaining resources and simultaneously enlarging this pit base. For convenience of control, we simply built the factory here, operating day and night."

Yolanda looked at the flickering lights below, narrating the past as if she were a tour guide.

First, a massive underground cavity was dug out, then it constantly extended downward until forming this gigantic underground pit base. It looked much like the Great Rift of Oubos in the Oath City, only the Great Rift was formed due to the Fall of the Holy City’s great battle.

"The Condensers spent a long period twisting the geology here bit by bit, diverting multiple underground water veins, endowing it with equally abundant water resources."

Looking up closely, the dark dome was filled with various pipes, where the sound of rushing water could be heard, providing water resources for the High Tower buildings on the surface.

Listening carefully, Bologue also heard the pitter-patter of rain, though it wasn’t rain but ruptured infusion pipes caused by Bologue’s destruction of the terrain.

A large amount of water gushed out of the pipes, some pure water sources, some industrial wastewater, or domestic sewage, all mixed together, pouring over the underground world, forming a localized rain curtain that emerged from the darkness and disappeared into the darkness.

"That is also the core of the underground world," Yolanda pointed to the central giant pillar, the foundation of the Supreme Hub.

"Looks like we can infiltrate from there," Bologue asked again, "This is where you, The Imperfect, truly live, isn’t it?"

Yolanda fell silent for a long moment, then broke the dead silence with a long sigh.

"The Imperfect are failures of the Supreme Trial. Although we cannot implant the Alchemy Matrix, we still possess a certain level of Ethereal Perception, allowing us to operate devices that require Ether to adjust."

Bologue spoke softly, "This is a factory that maintains the prosperity of the Land of Secrets, and all The Imperfect are workers living in the darkness."

During the conversation, the three stepped forward a few more steps, and Bologue saw the lights rising from below in the darkness, along with the sound of metal and rock clashing.

Bologue couldn’t see it, but he knew there were miners laboriously swinging their pickaxes, shattering heavy rocks.

"You’re right," Yolanda admitted reluctantly, "This is the significance of The Imperfect’s existence in the Land of Secrets, and this forging pit base is our true home."