"Heresy!"

"Traitor!"

The mechanical servants by the console fiercely slammed the control panel, and rage quickly spread among them without any reason. However, both their bodies and minds were uncontrollably occupied by rage, leaving only one thought in their minds—curse and destroy!

If that damn heretic appeared here now, they would surely disembowel her and tear her heart from her chest cavity.

"Yes, that's the reaction monkeys should have!"

Monkeys need not express any views; it was a great fortune for them to appear here and witness the transformation of the Holy City.

"She deceived everyone with her heretical behavior and even took the position that should have been mine!"

The voice of the second-level mechanical servant was angry and vicious, "Monkeys, I can give you a chance to be my witnesses, confess everything you found here to the council, and after that, I may forgive your crime of sneaking into the Holy City and even consider giving you a legal status."

"...Hmm? You want to ask what I did to you?"

"Just made your brain release signals of anger. The Lord of the Holy City can grant you happiness, and can also drive you mad."

When that superior gaze glanced at the mechanical servant beside the console, the fully mechanized body actually clutched the chest in pain, knelt, and curled up in a ball, trembling all over, "With your intelligence, it's probably hard to understand why, even when attached to machinery, you still feel 'pain'... This is merely a warning, to remind you that there are many feelings in the world far more terrible than death."

"You... used us from the very beginning!"

"Idiots!"

The second-level mechanical servant spat out the most contemptuous curse, "Did you really think that with your walnut-sized brains you could break through the security team and reach this deep? As for your accomplice called Song Xian... he still exists for now but was handed over to the legal department, where they opened his brain and checked all the information inside."

A group of experimental subjects that developed free will and defied the commands of the Holy City dared to return here after the project's end.

Commendable spirit, but ridiculously incurable stupidity.

The current choice for the monkeys is like manna from heaven.

"I have given you enough patience and kindness."

Speaking, the second-level mechanical servant finally shifted his gaze to Ethan, "And you, who are you? Why is there another fish that slipped through the net here?"

"Me?"

Ethan noticed that he was singled out and, out of friendliness, politely responded, "I'm just a passer-by."

Being new here, it's not wise to make enemies everywhere.

This was the first seat's "feeded" wisdom imparted to him. Despite the first seat never hiding his vile nature, he tried to show all the politeness, patience, and kindness during the "feeding" process. Ethan later managed to befriend the eccentric Old Gods led by Lao Ba, all thanks to Lindong's attentive guidance.

Of course, Ethan also understood his unique status, which even compelled the high-and-mighty first seat to present the best of humanity to him.

Otherwise, if there were an error during his creation, like developing a vile character comparable to Sincaro's, it might cause many adverse effects on the worlds on either side of the nodes.

He was grateful to Lindong because, perhaps aside from Sincaro, no one wanted to be described as "a pile of dung."

"That is not an official answer."

The downstairs mechanical servants also turned their attention to Ethan. When they saw Ethan's appearance, an emotion arose in their minds that momentarily overshadowed control, allowing them to regain autonomous thought. Merlin and Zhuang Xiao almost simultaneously exclaimed, "Why are you here!?"

They should have been delighted at the heavenly reinforcements, but the moment they saw Ethan, the fear of the unknown overwhelmed everything.

They couldn't imagine why Ethan suddenly appeared here.

No prepared ritual arrays, no bizarre occult tools, and no fervent invocations and prayers.

Ethan's appearance had no forewarning.

Based on everything they'd recently learned in the Holy City, a terrifying guess emerged in their minds.

—Something had escaped from another space.

The second-floor mechanical servant noticed the monkeys' odd behavior and asked with an unquestionable tone, "I, the second seat of the Origin Society, am inquiring of your identity!"

He also applied pressure to Ethan's mind. Regardless of where this unexpected visitor came from, as long as his mind remained closely connected with the Lord of the Holy City, he had the absolute authority to suppress him.

"Navigation coordinates are not heresy; I can assure you that as long as their usage method is strictly followed, your ships will not be affected there."

Ethan spoke kindly, trying to resolve the misunderstanding peacefully.

The second-floor mechanical servant seemed to realize something instinctively and took a step back, starting to mumble, "No, that's impossible!"

"If it's you, you should understand, that world is endless, whether science or occult, and regardless of the intruder's intention, someone will occasionally appear there... To give an analogy, if you were famished for days and someone suddenly presented you with a lavish meal, would you refuse?"

Ethan used standard human reasoning to explain the significance of navigation coordinates to the second seat. "Difficult, right? So, when a deal has been made, how do you avoid inadvertently consuming your ships? Exactly, that's the importance of navigation coordinates. You should thank her. She labeled those ships with 'hard bread' to ensure the safety of navigation."

The navigation coordinates used by the Holy City starships and the teleportation rituals used there essentially labeled them as "unpalatable hard bread."

This is also why one-way nodes are dangerous; it simply opens a door.

Those who use this door are no different from a strawberry sundae served on a platter.

"Although it's somewhat embarrassing to admit, I've been quite busy lately."

It seems the second seat is also busy, similar to now, where he couldn't personally participate in this crucial evidence-gathering process, instead having to attach to a malfunctioning mechanical servant.

Ethan believed the other party would surely understand him.

"I can't keep an eye on them constantly. When you're overwhelmed with work, it's sometimes hard to realize what you've digested."

For those races that don't need the node space for space jumps, they naturally wouldn't suffer this unnecessary risk.

However, for supercivilizations like the Holy City, used to jump technology, reverting them overnight to navigation methods from thousands of years ago, they probably wouldn't accept it.

"So, rest assured, by strictly following the theory proposed by the first seat, you can ensure everything proceeds safely."

Regrettably, what greeted Ethan was a dull thud.

The mechanical servant on the second floor fell to the ground with a puff of smoke rising from its body.

Simultaneously, a young man in a luxury suite in Area One suddenly opened his eyes. Unable to suppress his emotions any longer, he uttered a scream, throwing his burning bracelet towards the door. The searing pain made him roll onto the floor awkwardly; even the bliss-inducing gas from the Lord of the Holy City temporarily lost its effect.

He leaned against the bedside, still shaken. It took several seconds before he activated the communication device.

"Speaker, yes, it's me."

"I must see you immediately."

"No, it has to be now."

"There's nothing more important than this!"