After passing through the familiar corridor, the smell of motor oil mixed with sweat hit him once again.
Kairos stepped back into the core area of the Watchmen's base, which had been converted from a massive workshop.
The mining lamps overhead still cast their dim halos, illuminating the busy or exhausted figures below.
The lingering sense of tension in the air seemed even heavier than when he had left.
His gaze swept across the space and quickly locked onto a small figure beside a pile of repair parts.
It was Axuan.
Kairos walked straight over.
The little boy was carefully wiping dust off a device in his arms. Hearing the sound, he suddenly looked up, his eyes instantly lighting up.
"Kairos!" He ran over with his backpack, his face showing obvious relief. "You're back! I knew you'd come back!"
Chandelure floated behind him, glanced at Axuan, then turned toward Kairos with curiosity. After discovering the visitor was someone familiar, it also squinted its eyes contentedly.
"Yeah, I'm back." Kairos patted Axuan's shoulder.
"How have things been these past two days?"
Axuan vigorously shook his head.
"Nothing much happened, just... it's been rumbling outside constantly, and everyone's really tense..."
His voice lowered.
"Don't worry, everything will be fine." Kairos patted his shoulder reassuringly.
Just then, footsteps approached. Elara and several high-ranking Watchmen members, having heard the news, rushed over directly.
Elara looked more haggard than she had two days ago, with dark circles under her eyes and low energy.
She quickly walked up to Kairos, appearing very anxious.
"You're back!"
Before Kairos could ask anything, she spoke extremely quickly.
"While you were gone, the base... only because we have Quinn in our custody did the Alliance not dare to actually make a move. But the mechs and aircraft patrolling outside haven't stopped, rumbling day and night. Besides surrounding us, though, they haven't made any other moves—no attacks, no one sent to negotiate..."
This situation made it even harder to breathe.
Everyone in the base had been on edge these past two days, constantly on alert, unable to sleep well, afraid that the Alliance would attack them at any moment.
Fortunately, Kairos had returned now.
She stared intently at Kairos, asking somewhat anxiously:
"How is it? Did you find a way? I really feel time is running out!"
Behind her, Old Smoker held his pipe without speaking, but his equally intent gaze at Kairos said everything.
Other busy people in the base gradually stopped their work, their gazes silently converging on him.
The air seemed to freeze, leaving only the faint sound of dripping water from distant pipes and the slight crackling of Chandelure's flames behind Axuan.
Meeting Elara's gaze, Kairos nodded.
"A way... I did find one."
These words were like a stone thrown into water, instantly creating huge ripples among everyone.
Elara took a sharp breath, her chest rising and falling.
"Really? What way? What do we need to do? Everyone in the Watchmen is ready to coordinate with your actions at any time!"
Her speech was still very rapid.
However, Kairos's next words left Elara and everyone listening intently completely stunned.
"There is a way, but I don't need you all right now. I'm going to find the Alliance."
Kairos's voice was very calm.
"Wha... what?"
Elara froze upon hearing this.
The Watchmen behind her were all dumbfounded, suspecting they had heard wrong.
Go find the Alliance?
The Alliance that was hunting them down like rats and about to launch its destruction plan?
Wasn't this jumping into a fire pit?
"Kairos... you..."
Elara opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.
She couldn't understand what this boy from another world was thinking.
"Simply put, I think I need a deeper understanding of this matter—understanding the Genesis Engine, understanding what the situation inside the Alliance actually is right now."
Kairos explained briefly.
"Don't worry, just wait here for my news."
"Within one day, I should be back."
After speaking, he said no more and turned toward the base exit, leaving Elara and the Watchmen standing there stunned, their faces full of confusion.
Go find the Alliance?
What kind of solution was that?
Although Kairos's previous performance had made them realize that this person couldn't be viewed with normal expectations—that even if everyone in the Alliance joined forces, they might not be his match—they still couldn't figure out what exactly Kairos was going to do.
Kairos ignored the gazes behind him and walked straight toward the exit corridor.
Just as he was about to step onto the ascending stairs, a figure blocked his path.
It was Old Smoker.
He still held that old metal pipe in his mouth, exhaling smoke.
"I know what you want to say," Kairos spoke first. "Don't worry, I have my own plan."
Old Smoker shook his head.
"I'm not here to persuade you."
"Or rather, I never thought your plan was wrong."
Kairos raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"The Genesis Engine... probably isn't as simple as it seems." Old Smoker lowered his voice, glancing around to make sure no one could hear, then continued quietly.
"Truth is, from what I know, the Alliance isn't a unified bloc internally either. Without that key, the consequences of forcibly starting the engine... I'm afraid it's far more than just causing a few lower districts to collapse."
"Otherwise, why do you think they're waiting? Why are they going through the trouble of searching the world for that key? If it really didn't matter, they would have pushed the button long ago. They wouldn't care about such a cost."
Kairos nodded. In fact, this was precisely why he had temporarily changed his mind.
When he came to this world this time, he had thought very simply—relying on Chandelure's Elite Four-level strength that could crush this world, plus the Watchmen's combat power enhanced by his Rare Candies, he could just charge through directly to the Alliance core area and physically shut down that Genesis Engine.
But thinking carefully, this wouldn't fundamentally solve the problem.
The surface world's current condition couldn't allow people to move up and survive directly, and without the Genesis Engine, the underground world's energy probably couldn't be maintained for long either.
So he had temporarily decided to infiltrate first, figure out the situation, and then make his next plan.
Now, new problems had emerged.
He was probably already wanted by the Alliance. With Quinn currently in the Watchmen's custody and so many deserters having returned to the Alliance side, his appearance had likely been circulated throughout the Alliance.
As soon as he appeared in the upper district or the Alliance core area, he would immediately become the most conspicuous target. Forget investigating the Genesis Engine—he'd probably have to start fighting as soon as he arrived.
However, the good news was... he wasn't a person of this world at all.
Change his appearance, change his identity, and to the Alliance, he would just be an ordinary person.
Thinking of this, Kairos looked down at the dark gray coveralls he was wearing—clothing he had specifically changed into before crossing over that more closely resembled what this world's lower-level workers commonly wore.
This was much more low-key than his previous casual outfit.
But just changing clothes definitely wasn't enough, since his face was still the same face.
At this moment, he stopped in front of a stall selling various scrap parts and miscellaneous items.
His gaze swept over a pile of metal products and quickly locked onto a crudely shaped iron mask that only covered the upper half of the face.
The mask's surface was pitted and uneven, looking like a part removed from some scrapped machine.
"This, how much?" Kairos pointed at it.
The stall owner was an old man missing a front tooth. He glanced at him and held up three fingers.
Kairos didn't waste words. He counted out three coins from the small amount of currency Dr. Lila had given him earlier, handed them over, picked up the mask, and fastened it on his face.
The cold metal pressed against his skin, covering the area above the bridge of his nose, leaving only his chin and lips exposed.
This way, the appearance problem was also solved.
So now, only one final key problem remained—identity.
If he was just wandering around the commercial district, it wouldn't matter, but a reasonable and legal identity was essential for entering the Alliance core areas.
When he came to this world last time, Dr. Lila had given him a temporary identity, but that identity definitely couldn't be used anymore.
As for the Watchmen's side...
Kairos shook his head. It was already difficult enough for them to survive in the lower district. If they could forge an identity that could pass the Alliance core area's security checks, they probably would have gone to find the Alliance themselves long ago.
Kairos's gaze turned toward the distance.
He remembered that when he came to this world the second time, near the edge of this area, there was a semi-abandoned public communication booth.
A few minutes later, Kairos entered the communication booth again. Relying on memory, his fingers pressed a string of numbers on the old dial pad—Dr. Lila's private communication code.
After a long stretch of static noise, the screen flickered several times, and Dr. Lila's face, showing obvious fatigue and worry, appeared.
She seemed to be in a place with a laboratory background.
"Who are you?!" Dr. Lila was startled at first, seeing the person wearing an iron mask on the screen, then immediately recognized his exposed lower face.
"That person!"
Her tone was full of surprise and anxiety.
"It really is you! Where have you been these past two days? No news at all! And what's going on with that game you released? Why did the Alliance suddenly order a complete ban? And list you as the highest level..."
"Let's not talk about that first, Doctor."
Kairos directly interrupted her questions, his voice sounding somewhat muffled through the mask.
"I can't explain those issues in detail right now. This time I'm only asking you one thing—regarding the final purpose of the Genesis Engine research, or rather, what the Alliance leadership plans to use it for, do you know?"
At these words, Dr. Lila on the other side of the screen froze.
The urgency and confusion on her face slowly disappeared, replaced by a complex expression.
After several seconds of silence, she finally spoke slowly, her voice much lower.
"Truth is... I was only responsible for the design and initial testing of the engine's core stabilization module. But I know... I know what the Alliance leadership wants isn't just something as simple as stabilizing the underground energy supply."
"I've heard... they want to use it to do something very dangerous."
She closed her eyes, as if recalling something.
"Specifically what... is beyond my clearance level. I'm just a researcher and don't know these things. What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying is, I know what the Alliance is planning to do." Kairos said.
"They plan to use it to tear through the ley lines above, extract the ecological energy that the surface world has just begun to recover, to maintain their rule in the underground world."
"But the cost is that the entire surface world will collapse again, and many lower districts might also collapse and disappear because of this, along with the people inside."
"Yes, the surface world can actually be inhabited now, but the Alliance deliberately concealed this fact."
As these words came out, the massive amount of information directly made Lila's eyes widen.
"...What? This..."
She obviously hadn't expected that the plan behind the Genesis Engine would be like this.
But as one of the designers of the engine's core modules, she knew better than anyone the terrifying energy contained in the engine. If things were really as Kairos said, it truly could bring about such consequences.
But just hearing this, she obviously couldn't believe it yet.
Kairos knew this too, so he continued:
"Doctor, I've walked all the way from the lower district and seen what the Alliance has done. I've also confirmed this plan through certain channels. If you want, I can show you some evidence."
As he spoke, he showed the iron tag that Old Smoker had given him.
"Do you recognize this?"
~~~
Happy New Year's Day, Ladies and Gentlemen