Chapter 138: The Triune Former Archprelate

As he slipped through the initial entrance into the ley line space, Ou Xiaolu noticed that the former Archprelate had indeed made a few minor modifications to stabilize this spatial domain.

Right at the entrance, Ou Xiaolu spotted at least a dozen floating instruments, presumably deployed to either stabilize the fabric of space or deter stray birds from entering.

They paid little heed to Ou Xiaolu's passage; the current form he had assumed rushed into the space in a flash of lightning.

Arriving here once more, Ou Xiaolu found that the entire ley line space had been almost completely overhauled.

Since rain never fell here, no conventional houses had been built. Instead, high walls partitioned the space. Vital laboratories requiring dust-free environments were placed at the very core, while the outer areas housed ordinary research facilities, with some plots even cultivated for medicinal herbs.

However, the most prominent sights here were the human-sized glass incubation tanks, filled with green liquid and embryonic human bodies at various stages of development.

Compared to Wayne’s side, the human specimens on the former Archprelate’s side exhibited varying degrees of mutation. Some possessed tiger-stripe patterns on their backs, while others had hawk-like beaks; in short, not a single normal specimen existed.

Ou Xiaolu inspected them one by one, only to find that none of them retained any vital signs; they appeared to have been abandoned.

This came as quite a surprise to Ou Xiaolu. He had half-expected a Resident Evil-style catastrophe here, with swarms of mutated test subjects running amok. Judging by the current state of affairs, however, everything seemed remarkably peaceful!

Just then, a group of figures in white lab coats rushed out. Having spoken with Lawrence prior to his arrival, Ou Xiaolu knew these were the space's personnel—some kind of engineered beings, though he had no way of knowing whether they were of the intellectual or combat-oriented variety.

Ou Xiaolu was about to step forward to greet them and ask for the whereabouts of the former Archprelate, when, without a word of warning, these individuals drew their respective weapons and charged straight at him.

Employing a shrimp-like backward dodge, Ou Xiaolu leaped out of their attack range and shouted loudly, "I’m here to help your boss! Stand down, or I'll be forced to fight back!"

Yet, not a single one of the figures in white lab coats stopped.

Ou Xiaolu’s anger flared. He had come to offer assistance, not to be beaten up. Judging by their demeanor, they clearly wouldn't stop until someone was dead, leaving him with no choice but to retaliate.

With a few precise sword strikes, Ou Xiaolu cleanly severed the hands of all of them.

Initially, Ou Xiaolu figured this would suffice; without hands, they wouldn't be able to attack anymore. As for what would become of their severed hands later, reattaching them with the technology available here shouldn't be too difficult.

To his utter astonishment, however, these individuals completely ignored their wounds, shifted their weapons to their remaining hands, and lunged at him once more.

That pushed Ou Xiaolu past his boiling point. Abandoning any concern for collateral damage—his sole priority now being the rescue of the former Archprelate—he swept his sword through the air, decapitating the entire group in one fell swoop.

After slaying these individuals in white lab coats, Ou Xiaolu could not help but emit a sound of surprise.

He noticed that he had actually gained experience points. Granted, it was only 5 points per head, but this could mean only one thing: these people were enemies.

It finally dawned on Ou Xiaolu why those artificial humans hadn't looked particularly vicious, while the researchers in white lab coats chasing them down looked like anything but good guys.

Of course, this was only a preliminary judgment; everything would be confirmed once he finally met the former Archprelate. Rushing toward the center of the space, Ou Xiaolu tried to use Guangling to contact the former Archprelate.

To his utter dismay, Guangling was completely unable to establish a connection with the former Archprelate. Fortunately, Ou Xiaolu had been here before. Although the place had undergone numerous modifications, it hadn't been long, and he still retained a rough mental map of the route.

Ou Xiaolu made a bee-line for the location where he had previously fought the true form of the ley line. In his mind, this ought to be the exact center of the spatial domain, and if the former Archprelate needed a critical stronghold, this place would undoubtedly be the prime choice.

Upon arrival, Ou Xiaolu was startled to see that the deep crater where the ley line's true form had previously manifested had been artificially expanded manifold. The crater was brimming with deep blue liquid, and numerous pipelines lined its perimeter, relentlessly pumping in even more fluid.

Hovering directly above the crater was a ten-meter-tall projection of the former Archprelate, composed of countless points of light, struggling desperately to suppress something. Only the face of this projection resembled the former Archprelate; the body was heavily mechanized, bristling with rivet-like details. Behind him hovered suspension instruments flashing with blue electrical currents—the exact same devices Ou Xiaolu had encountered upon entering this space.

These instruments formed a pair of gigantic wings behind the former Archprelate's projection, making it blatantly obvious that he was cosplaying as an angel.

Faced with this bizarre spectacle, Ou Xiaolu had no idea how to approach and greet him. Leaving aside the fact that the guy was over ten meters tall, the mere fact that he was a holographic projection posed a logistical nightmare. He couldn't very well walk up and poke the projection to check if he was flesh and blood.

Right at that moment, Ou Xiaolu heard a voice calling out, "Ou, come over here."

Following the direction of the voice, Ou Xiaolu spotted two figures of the former Archprelate waving at him.

Ou Xiaolu froze. What kind of absurdity was this? Were they staging some sort of real-versus-fake Monkey King routine?

Fortunately, the two figures showed no inclination to fight each other, nor did they demand that Ou Xiaolu distinguish the real one from the fake. As soon as Ou Xiaolu walked up to them, one of them spoke up, "Why did you come here? Didn't I send someone to fetch Wayne?"

"Old man Wayne didn't have time. Said someone was provoking him and he had to launch a counterattack," Ou Xiaolu replied somewhat speechlessly. His combat prowess was clearly formidable; why did nobody ever seem to have faith in him?

"It's just as well that you came. I have a favor to ask of you," said the other former Archprelate.

Watching the two of them converse, Ou Xiaolu had no clue whom he should pay attention to.

Realizing where the confusion lay, the two former Archpretates exchanged a smile and began to explain.

As it turned out, the three former Archpretates were actually a single entity—a literal nod to the theological concept of the Trinity. The giant projection above the crater was the former Archprelate's Principality body, a supercomputer composed of countless microchips, housing the rational facet of the former Archprelate's personality.

Meanwhile, the two standing before him were the former Archprelate's Scientific and Theological bodies. The Scientific body served as his physical avatar, handling external communications and scientific research.

The Theological body was the former Archprelate's ultimate artificial human, imbued with all of his theological knowledge and pursuits. Normally, this body was used to control the artificial humans within the research base and administer brainwashing to his subordinates.

As for the current crisis, it was precisely as Ou Xiaolu had suspected: the artificial humans had not malfunctioned; rather, the researchers within the former Archprelate's facility had turned traitor.