“That’s a lot of them…”

“Where did all of these monsters come from?”

“This didn’t happen in the previous zone, it must be some inbuilt defensive mechanism against analyzing the gates.”

“Defensive mechanism?”

Zhang Dong nodded to Liena who could also see a scene playing out on the outside. The whole place became shrouded in black smoke. Previously they could at least see something but now it was as if a demonic miasma was being conjured by an evil cultivator. From within this dark mist, more of those strange creatures started arising. Their intent was obvious as they all charged at the golden palace that was hovering slightly above the ground.

‘When I was in the ice zone they stopped attacking me when I arrived at the teleportation spot. They have some type of ingrained command that will force them to back off or attack depending on a situation, this is clear.’

It was like fighting an army made out of automatons. The creatures didn’t seem to have a mind of their own and reacted to something their creator ingrained into their brains. It was clear that his hacking attempt was the trigger for this situation to arise. The person that created this pocket dimension maze didn’t want anyone to shorten the trip. Perhaps the path was linear but it was possible that more of these teleportation spots existed.

‘This would have been fine if I came alone but there is no way I’m getting out of here without the palace.’

While Bob was busy analyzing the teleportation patterns he got up from his chair. Along with Liena, they needed to head outside to stall the monsters. There was one unconfirmed theory, that this place was meant for a solo adventure and could only be finished by a system holder. It was possible that if he tried to go through the gate alone that it would be shut off.

His people would then be stuck in this lava region facing countless waves of volcanic monsters. There was no way of knowing that even if he reached the end if they would be set free. This whole place was somewhat above his knowledge as he had no idea how pocket dimensions were formed. All that he could do was analyze the portals between them.

Luckily he wasn’t alone, even without giving out the commands the people in the palace quickly picked up the pace. The cannons started reigning down doom on the approaching beasts and the nascent soul masters used their own attacks to support everyone. They were like a well-oiled machine that knew how to handle things.

This force was mostly composed of the cultivators that were fighting out on the sea. They knew how to circle out and keep everyone fresh. There was a system in place allowing only the well-rested warriors that be directly involved on the battlefield. The ones that were tired would quickly retreat and get treated for the loss of stamina and spiritual energy. After they were back at full it was time to go back.

“I guess they don’t really need me…”

“Stay here and leave everything to us, the Patriarch needs to be ready for the worst case scenario.”

”I guess you are right, be careful out there.”

Liena along with Zhang Zhi and Huo Qiang were all out there doing their thing. Zhang Dong on the other hand remained in the control chamber while the analysis took place. If he didn’t use up his own Qi then it would actually go a little bit faster. As the strongest person in the sect he needed to conserve his battle power. If a being of unfathomable power arrived he needed to be ready to battle it when at full power. If he used up too much energy on minions and side bosses, everything could turn sour fast.

It wasn’t the easiest thing for him to do. Just sitting here while doing nothing wasn’t really his style. Ever since he arrived in this world he was kind of forced to act by himself while the people he led only had a small role to fill. Now that they had been trained up to a force that could rival the old big three, it was time to let them handle things. Zhang Dong needed to stop treating his people like little children that needed him for every small thing.

This wasn’t the easiest thing for him to swallow. He knew that if he didn’t get involved that people would get hurt and perhaps even make bad decisions. Yet just as a parent sending off their child into the world he needed to do the same for his people. They needed to be able to handle themselves, otherwise if something happened to him, they would be defenseless. Finally, they were able to defend themselves, all that hard work, sweat, and tears was all for a day like this to arrive.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

‘80%...85%...89%...92%...99%... calculations finished, transferring data to the user.’

The analysis of the signal had been done and now it was just a matter of time for him to input it into the golden palace. First off he needed to see where they were and how many of the pocket dimensions other than this were accessible.

‘Bob, give me a visual representation of the situation.’

‘Affirmative.’

While the rumbling noises continued outside he looked at one of the screens that was being filled out by some spheres. They looked like marbles with different colors, the red one in the middle was a representation of the lava pocket dimension he found himself. Other ones had their own main theme that gave him an idea about the most prevalent Dao in them.

‘So this is where I am and that one looks like the one gramps and Qiang were sent to… everything is connected…’

There was not much variation in the structure of these pocket dimensions. They were created in a straight line that wrapped around like a serpent. The ice biome that he arrived in had two locations it connected to, one of them was the previous world he found his grandfather in. There were always two pathways that could be taken but everything was connected into one singular pathway.

‘So, if we just keep going through the gates we will arrive at the ice zone I first appeared in? This can’t be right, there must be something else…’

‘Bob, is there a hidden area somewhere? This can’t just be a loop of pocket dimensions, there must be some type of way out of here… Try to analyze the data again.’

‘...Hidden world found… attempting to find a pathway…’

Just as he had concluded there was an area that connected to the middle. There seemed to be one main world right in the middle of the serpent. All of the side dimensions connected to it but it required more time to analyze. This of course put more time constraints on the whole situation which was quickly turning ugly.

Many large-scale volcanic monsters like the one Liena destroyed had managed to arrive. They were showering the protective barrier with their volcanic fists and attacks. Eleven when they were pelted by multiple attacks they were hard to eradicate. The false cores were almost impossible to destroy at once without using up one of the special transformations.

This power had a cooldown period and wasting it on a wave of monsters before going into the belly of the beast wouldn’t be the best idea. There was a secondary option though, instead of teleporting to the main pocket dimension they could make their way into one of the smaller ones. They would be used as a soft reset as the monsters there should not be aware of their whereabouts.

The only problem was just like before, the Golden Palace. Considering that he needed to get it over to the other side in its entirety, it would cost a lot of energy. After one jump they would burn through half of it. They would be unable to make repeatable jumps and could even find themselves estranged in the new area. It would be much better to have a fully functioning fortress when they arrived at the enemy's doorstep.

‘Bob, keep at it.’

After giving his Ai the order he looked at the screens to see a small problem. The long battle outside had attracted something even worse than the titanic lava golems. It was something that reminded him of his familiar that was left in the main sect as its main protector. It was a massive dragon that was as big as four of those lava creatures put together. It didn’t seem to possess any wings capable of flight but its massive size that towered over everything was real.

This was not an opponent that the golden palace and his sect could handle alone. The fire coming out of this dragon’s mouth would not be stopped by the barriers for too long. Even as he was glancing at the monitors he could already see the energy dropping down rapidly. This time around he would need to go outside to get his own hands dirty. At least that was his intention yet before he could step take a step out of the hidden control room, he received a private message.

“Senior Brother, let me handle this.”

“Qiang? Are you sure? That thing might be too much for even you.”

“Haha, this is what I live for!”

Huo Qiang was willing to endanger himself to fight this massive monster instead of him. Zhang Dong wasn’t so sure about this but if he went outside now then this whole thing would take even longer. Bob needed to use his spiritual energy for processing power. It was like trying to run a game while many files were being copied at the same time in the background. It was certainly not an optimal process and not like there was an end to these monsters here.

“Very well, just be careful, that thing is probably resistant to flame attacks.”

“Haha, it might be but so am I!”

Just like Liena his wife Huo Qiang was in possession of a separate mode. His armor was soon taking form as he finally activated his battle mode. The frame wasn’t too bulky but the sun designs became apparent. He was someone that could wield the Dao of the Flame almost to perfection and along with it came the energy that stars were made from.

The battle between the two fire-wielding monsters soon started. The environment that was composed of hard obsidian rocks started melting as the dragon opened its huge mouth to intercept the incoming fire cultivator. A battle of immense proportions was taking place and for once Zhang Dong would watch it from the sidelines.