Two-story tower
Passing through the doorway that opened from the anchor point, the city's clamor and strange gravity washed over him. As Yun Shuo took a step, his body tilted uncontrollably upwards—as if the entire city had been flipped upside down and reassembled. Skyscrapers' foundations were facing upwards, their glass curtain walls casting shattered shadows of clouds in the sky below. Streets became suspended planks, and silhouettes of pedestrians "walked" headfirst on the building's rooftops, their movements so slow they seemed to be in slow motion.
"The rules panel has been updated:" the prompt sounded mixed with the muffled sound of a building collapsing in the distance.
Core Mechanism: The city is in a dual anomaly of "gravity inversion + time lag". The ground plank road will randomly switch the direction of gravity every 30 minutes, and contact with areas not designated by the plank road will trigger "space collapse".
Objective: Reach the "Clock Tower Core" in the city center and obtain the "Timing Gear" to open the second level passage of the upper tower.
Hidden hint: There is a "normal time zone" in the city, which can be identified by the flashing "golden lines" on the exterior walls of the buildings. After entering, you can restore your physical strength and memory.
Yuheng crouched down, his fingertips lightly touching the plank road beneath his feet. It felt cold as metal, its surface engraved with spiral patterns similar to those in the Time Lock Maze. "These plank roads are safe, but you must hold on to the handrails on both sides when switching gravity," he looked up at the clock tower hidden behind the clouds in the distance. "The clock tower's hands are reversed, indicating that the time anomaly in the core area is more serious. We need to hurry."
Yun Shuo had just nodded when the plank road beneath him suddenly emitted a harsh mechanical sound, and a red warning light on the wall began to flash. "Gravity switch countdown 10 seconds!" a cold tone rang out, and the two men immediately grasped the metal handrails beside them. The next second, the direction of gravity suddenly reversed, and Yun Shuo felt his body being violently pulled downward. The city in his sight suddenly "stood upright"—the skyscrapers that had been above him now pressed down overhead, and the silhouettes of pedestrians were now walking "heads up," but their movements were still slow.
"Be careful!" Yuheng suddenly grabbed Yunshuo's arm and pulled him back to the center of the plank road. Where Yunshuo had been standing, black, collapsing cracks began to appear at the edge of the plank road. The air within the cracks twisted into a vortex, as if threatening to engulf everything around it. "Don't touch any non-designated areas," Yuheng said with a hint of urgency. "My memories are returning. The power management mechanism of the 'Rust Belt Factory'... might be able to be used to breach the bell tower's defenses."
The two of them continued along the plank road, constantly dodging shifting gravity and sudden collapses. Passing a dilapidated office building, Yun Shuo spotted a shimmering golden pattern on the exterior wall, outlining a virtual door. "It's the normal time zone!" He pulled Yu Heng through the door, and instantly felt the heaviness disappear, his memories clearing—he remembered the use of the "Xi Key" and Chao Xin's weakness in the "Temple of Tranquility."
In the normal time zone, a worn map lay out, its route to the clock tower marked in red ink. There was also a line of small text: "There's a 'Time Guardian' at the heart of the clock tower, which requires the corresponding key seal from the 'Chronological Gear' to counter it." Yu Heng folded the map and placed it in his arms. "Six key seals are indeed useful. It seems the items in each dungeon are the key to the upper tower."
Leaving the normal time zone, the two quickened their pace toward the clock tower. Along the way, they encountered the afterimages of other challengers—some, having lost their grip on the handrails, were flung toward the collapsed zone by gravity, while others, having mistakenly touched an undesignated path, were swallowed up by space. Yun Shuo gripped the "Time Key" tightly, remembering the lesson from the reverse corridor, and always kept his distance from the afterimages.
Finally arriving at the foot of the clock tower, the enormous clock face rotated backwards, and with each tick of the hands, time slowed down a minute. At the clock tower entrance, two metal "Time Guardians" patrolled back and forth, their bodies etched with circuit patterns similar to those of the "factory mastermind."
"Use the Rust Key," Yu Heng whispered, tossing it to Yun Shuo. "The Rust Key can disrupt the circuitry of mechanical guards. I'll attract their attention." Yun Shuo nodded, grasping the Rust Key tightly and circling around the guard. While Yu Heng was distracting the guard, he thrust the Rust Key into the guard's circuit interface. Instantly, the guard's movements stiffened, rust began to form on his body, and he collapsed to the ground.
The two entered the clock tower. A massive gear hovered in the center of the core area—the "Time Gear." Six energy barriers surrounded the gear, corresponding to the symbols of the six key seals. "We need to activate the barriers simultaneously," Yun Shuo said, taking out the six key seals. He and Yu Heng stood on either side of the barrier. "One, two, three!" As they simultaneously inserted the key seals into the barrier, the energy barrier gradually dissipated, and the Time Gear slowly descended before them.
Just as Yun Shuo reached for the timing gear, the clock tower suddenly shook violently, and black mist seeped from the cracks in the wall. "The second floor of the upper tower, 'Misty Forest', has been unlocked, but the 'temporal anomaly' is spreading!" a warning sounded, and Yu Heng grabbed Yun Shuo's hand. "Leave here quickly! The Misty Forest may be even more dangerous."
The two rushed out of the clock tower with the timing gears, and the city behind them began to collapse on a large scale. Ahead, a new gate was forming in the clouds, and behind it, the outline of a dense forest could be vaguely seen. "The next level is the 'Misty Forest,'" Yu Heng said, looking at the timing gears in his hand. "Based on the previous hints, the forest may hold more secrets about the upper tower." Yun Shuo nodded, tightened his grip on the key seal, and followed Yu Heng's footsteps, stepping through the gate leading to the Misty Forest.
After passing through the gate of clouds, the world suddenly became quiet.
Before my eyes lay an ancient forest, its branches intertwined, obscuring the sky. Strangely, the mist here flowed upward, and the tree roots stretched toward the sky like canopies, as if time had been twisted.
"Rules panel updated:"
Core Mechanism: The flow of time in the forest will change randomly. Touching the "annual ring node" can briefly switch between the past and the future.
Objective: Find the "Heart of Time" and bring back the "Sands of Time" to stabilize the flow of time in the Upper Tower.
Hidden hint: The "Heart of Time" only appears once in the "now", and it will disappear if you miss it.
Yun Shuo and Yu Heng moved forward cautiously. Soon, they discovered strange growth rings on the tree trunks, varying in color. Yu Heng touched a light-colored ring, and the surrounding trees instantly grew more lush. Birdsong could even be heard in the distance.
"This is a time slice of the future." Yu Heng judged.
Touch another dark ring, and the forest will immediately become withered, with dead branches scattered on the ground that will fall in the future.
“Tree ring nodes can give us a glimpse into the past and the future, but we must be careful not to change too much.”
They used the nodes of the tree rings to switch constantly and avoid various traps. In an open space, they saw a transparent hourglass suspended in the air, and the sand inside was flowing upwards strangely - this was the "Heart of Time".
However, as they approached, three blurry figures suddenly appeared around the hourglass - afterimages of themselves, only older and more tired.
"Don't touch them!" Yu Heng warned, "This is what we'll look like if we fail. If you touch us, we'll be drawn into their cycle of failure."
The afterimages also tried to obtain the "Heart of Time", but each attempt caused the time field around the hourglass to become more chaotic. Yun Shuo suddenly realized: "The 'Heart of Time' only appears once, in the 'now'."
He quickly took out the "Time Key" and inserted it into the base of the hourglass, while Yu Heng used the "Forest Key" to stabilize the energy of the surrounding trees.
"Now!" They both exerted their strength simultaneously, and time seemed to have been paused. The next second, the reverse flow of sand in the hourglass stopped, and a grain of golden sand separated from it and fell steadily into Yun Shuo's hands—this was the "Sand of Time."
"The second level challenge is complete, and the third level of the upper tower, 'Rust Belt Wasteland', has been unlocked."
The ground shook, and a stairway leading to the abandoned city appeared among the tree roots. Yun Shuo tightly grasped the "Sand of Time", feeling it emanate a warm and stable power.
"Let's go," Yu Heng said with a firm look, "The real challenge begins now."
The two walked up the stairs side by side and disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
