Chapter 1528: Inside The Building

The factory was quiet. Erend continued walking deeper into the facility and realized that the place was much larger than he had initially assumed.

The further he went, the more sections of the facility he discovered. Eventually he began seeing the actual water-processing systems.

He saw big machines standing and large pools filled with relatively clean water occupied different sections of the building. Pipes connected the pools to what looked like enormous processing units, and some of the machinery was still operating despite the facility’s age from the sounds he heard.

That confirmed that this really was a water-processing facility, and more importantly, it was still functioning.

Erend found that rather strange. There was no one guarding the water-processing area.

There were no patrols moving around it. Nobody seemed to be watching over one of the most valuable resources in Valthoria.

Water should have been the thing that every settlement fought over. Yet this place remained completely empty.

"I suppose the robots are the reason," Erend thought.

Anyone who knew about this facility probably also knew about its guardians. The machines attacked anything that entered without distinction, and their strength was enough to kill ordinary humans with ease.

Erend could imagine that many scavengers had already died trying to enter this place in the past, so after enough deaths, people would eventually learn to stay away.

There was no reason to risk their lives when the facility’s guardians would just kill them before they could reach the water.

Erend continued deeper into the factory.

The outer surfaces of most machines were covered in rust and corrosion. Some metal structures had deteriorated so badly that parts of them had begun to crumble.

But beneath the damaged exterior, several systems were still functioning. Pumps continued moving water through the facility and old processing machines produced a low hum.

Erend already had enough information to return. He could report the existence of the facility, the functioning water-processing systems, the robot guardians, and that no one was here, to Darius. That would probably be considered a successful mission.

But Erend couldn’t bring himself to leave yet. Something about this place bothered him.

The facility was too advanced for the civilization Norma had described. The robots were too sophisticated. The strange energy he had sensed earlier was still present, and the fact that some of the machinery was still operational after decades of abandonment raised even more questions.

There is something wrong with the history he’s been told.

Erend’s curiosity continued pulling him deeper into the facility. Perhaps he would even find something connected to the Dragonborn.

He eventually entered a long corridor.

The corridor was dark and narrow compared to the enormous processing areas behind him. The walls had once been painted white but years of dust and corrosion had turned most of the surface gray and brown. Metal panels covered the floor and ceiling, thick cables ran along the walls.

Dozens of doors lined both sides of the corridor. Some had been left open and others closed. A few had suffered damage and hung from their hinges.

Erend activated his Dragon eyes and the darkness immediately became irrelevant for him.

He could see every detail of the corridor as clearly as if the lights were still functioning.

For an ordinary person, the corridor would have been terrifying. A long abandoned passage buried inside an ancient facility with no lights, no people, and dozens of unknown rooms could easily have been the kind of place where monsters waited in the darkness.

For Erend it was just another place to investigate. He walked forward without hesitation. He checked the rooms one by one.

Most of them have nothing that looks particularly useful. There were old machines, broken equipment, damaged containers, and various pieces of technology.

Some rooms appeared to have been offices while others seemed to have served as laboratories or maintenance areas. Everything was covered in dust.

Erend continued deeper until he finally found a room that looked considerably better preserved than the others.

He stopped at the doorway and looked inside. Unlike the previous rooms, most of the equipment here was still intact.

Several large computer terminals stood against the walls. Their screens were dark, but the machines themselves appeared surprisingly undamaged. Large processing units sat beneath the desks, connected to the terminals by thick cables.

Erend walked toward one of the computers.

"I wonder if this thing still works." He searched the side of the main processing unit and eventually found a small power button.

He pressed it. For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then the machine suddenly began producing a soft hum.

Erend’s eyes widened slightly knowing the computer was still alive.

He waited as the system slowly powered itself up. One of the large screens flickered before finally illuminating the room with a pale blue light.

A strange symbol appeared at the center of the screen.

Erend stared at it for several seconds. It appeared to be the symbol of the facility.

The image eventually disappeared and was replaced by a simple starting interface.

Erend began exploring the system.

Most of the available files were corrupted or inaccessible, but several records remained intact.

He opened one of them and a recording appeared.

The image showed an older man wearing a research uniform. His face looked exhausted, dark circles surrounded his eyes like he had spent countless nights inside the facility.

The recording began.

"Experiment fifty-three..." The man paused for a moment and sighed. "Another failure."

The researcher continued explaining that the experiment had attempted to reproduce the strange energy they had discovered. The energy had been isolated, measured, and subjected to countless tests, but every attempt to reproduce its properties ended in failure.

The researcher described the energy as unusually powerful and fundamentally different from anything they know.

It did not behave like conventional energy or respond to their systems in predictable ways. Every attempt to replicate its structure produced unstable results.

Erend frowned. "An experiment?"

He continued watching through the records left behind. The same problem appeared again and again until he found experiment fifty-three had failed as well.

The researcher repeatedly emphasized the same conclusion: The power they were studying was simply too strong and too strange for them to reproduce.

In one of the later logs, the researcher sounded increasingly frustrated.

"We have spent years trying to understand its structure. The measurements we did produce results that contradict the previous model. We cannot reproduce the original energy regardless of how many variables we change!"

Another entry followed:

"The higher administration has rejected our recommendation to terminate the project. They insist that replication remains possible and have ordered us to continue."

Erend’s expression became increasingly serious as he watched. The researchers themselves seemed to understand that they were approaching something they did not understand, and were afraid. But their superiors continued demanding results.

"We have repeatedly warned them that this power may not be something we are capable of controlling. But they don’t care. They want a usable version of it."

Erend leaned closer toward the screen. "Don’t tell me... Is this connected to the Apocalypse?"

The possibility immediately entered his mind.

The factory, the machines, strange energy, and now these experiments all seemed connected to something far larger than a simple water-processing facility.

But Erend stopped himself. It was still too early to reach such a conclusion. He needs more evidence.

Erend continued scrolling through the remaining logs.

The last one gave him chills.

"He came to us again. Warning us with a sad expression on his face."

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