Quadruple split.

Chapter 2627 The Final Graduation Project
It is not some ancient memory that does not belong to oneself that awakens from the depths of the soul.

It is not some kind of predestined relationship that transcends time and space, but rather a case of using mysticism to create unnecessary trouble.

Ji Xiaoge knew perfectly well why she felt familiar with the Ascension Fortress and had a sense of déjà vu.

That was the ruins where the two of them were currently located, which reminded her of the seventh outer mountain of Tianzhu Mountain.

Although not a high-level observer, he possesses the same authority as the chief engineer of Tianzhu Mountain—Ruvi Fitzgerald—who manages the Seventh Outer Mountain.

but--

"I don't quite understand."

Mo Tan looked at the winged beauty who seemed to be deep in thought and hesitated, saying, "I also stayed in the Seventh Outer Mountain for a long time before, and was occasionally called by Master Lu Wei to help in the workshop. At least according to my personal subjective memory, there is nothing similar between there and this place."

Ji Xiaoge smiled and stepped into the passage she knew there would be no more unexpected dangers. She explained in a light tone, "That's normal, because neither you nor Cordova and Fimiguer have a very deep understanding of the Seventh Outer Mountain."

Mo Tan didn't respond, but simply walked alongside Ji Xiaoge at the most suitable distance, waiting for the girl to continue.

"I think the places where your mentor will ask for your help will basically happen on the first floor of the workshop."

Ji Xiaoge shook her wings, unconsciously tapping her chin with her right index finger as she explained, "The mentor's workshop is different from similar facilities. Although it is divided into work areas with different weights, the method of differentiation is a very ingenious 'plane cutting'. That is to say, with the restraints that are running every minute and every second, at least ten planes are forcibly stacked in an area that has undergone countless modifications."

Mo Tan followed suit and immediately speculated: "So the workshops I've seen are actually just the most superficial and least important plane, while the deeper things are hidden in other planes that are piled up in the same place but require specific methods to enter?"

"so smart."

Ji Xiaoge generously praised the clever person, then nodded in affirmation: "That's about right. Cordova and Fimiguer are often called over to do manual labor, so they are occasionally allowed to enter the second floor of the workshop. But you, Mo, are not an insider of Tianzhu Mountain, so your mentor should only open the first floor to you. Oh, by the way, it's not that the deeper you go, the more important it is. In fact, the first floor workshop that your mentor uses most often and is most loyal to is the one you often go to help with."

Mo Tan: "...Huh?"

"In the teacher's words, the first floor of the workshop represents the 'width' of the seventh outer mountain, while the other floors represent the 'depth' of the seventh outer mountain."

Ji Xiaoge shrugged and said with a smile, "But in fact, most of the things that teachers need to deal with through the first-level workshop are already quite profound for others. And even if teachers don't mind doing them, other high-level observers probably can't think of anything more profound."

Mo Tan nodded slightly and asked, "So, what's the highest number of floors you've been in the workshop? Would you mind telling me?"

"It's not inconvenient at all."

Ji Xiaoge smiled and said in a light tone, "The deepest I've ever been is to the seventh floor of the workshop, and the conditions there have a lot in common with this place."

As Mo Tan looked around the passage, which seemed unremarkable and unrecognizable to him, he muttered repeatedly, "A lot of commonalities?"

"Yes, yes, there are a lot of similarities."

Ji Xiaoge nodded vigorously and explained earnestly, "However, I'm not referring to this ruin now, but to the Valhalla before it was reduced to ruins, before it became what it is now. Uh... how should I put it? The so-called 'common points' are not exactly the same, and there are even many differences, but at least in terms of the concept, I think this place is really too similar to the fifth and seventh floor workshops."

Mo Tan glanced at Ji Xiaoge and asked, "Do you think this place is related to Master Lu Wei?"

"Yes, although I used to think my mentor was amazing, able to immediately understand and calculate the specifications of the final product from a sea of ​​blueprints that could be stacked up and kill someone, it seems that it's not that simple now."

Ji Xiaoge shook her wings and shrugged, saying, "Given such similar ideas, I actually find it hard to believe that our mentor has nothing to do with this place."

hum-

The shuttlecock perched on Ji Xiaoge's shoulder shook its wings and made a melodious chirping sound, as if expressing its dissatisfaction at being ignored for so long.

"Well, we can talk about these things later. Anyway, I can ask my advisor anytime."

Ji Xiaoge immediately changed the subject, gently stroking the badminton shuttlecock on her shoulder as she said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, little guy. If it weren't for you, we would both be in big trouble."

hum-

Although the tone and pitch remained unchanged, both Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge could tell from the flapping of the shuttlecock's wings that it was quite pleased with the praise.

After spending some time together, the two of them have gained a certain understanding of the badminton shuttlecock, which the system has defined as the "Queen's Legacy," and have also learned how to get along with the little guy.

First of all, badminton shuttlecocks are extremely, extremely, extremely timid, so they resist any overly aggressive or seemingly overly aggressive reactions. For example, if you reach out to touch it, even if Ji Xiaoge is in a state of "alluring beauty", if you reach out too quickly, it will trigger a stress reaction in the shuttlecock, which will simply be a "whoosh" and it will dart away more than ten meters away.

Secondly, the shuttlecock possesses a certain level of intelligence, despite its obvious artificial features. Even its beautiful wings, once the two got closer, were identified by Ji Xiaoge as being made of a special material. Based on their observations and judgments, the shuttlecock's intelligence was roughly equivalent to that of a particularly clever puppy, possessing the intelligence of a normal intelligent creature in its infancy, and it seemed to be able to understand common language.

Finally, besides its unbelievably fast movements, possessing a terrifying speed that even Mo Tan's [Gale] couldn't catch, Yu Qiu also has terrifying physical strength. Of course, this wasn't because the two of them had slashed it with swords or fried it with tea eggs, but rather because Ji Xiaoge, with Yu Qiu's consent, had conducted a 'physical examination' on it using some scanning equipment.

And the accuracy of this conclusion is almost 100%! The reason is simple: as Lu Wei's apprentice, Ji Xiaoge had become accustomed to using various scanning hardware developed by his mentors to test various materials when he was at Tianzhu Mountain. Although this process was meaningless to Lu Wei Fitzgerald himself, he had been cultivating Ji Xiaoge's basic skills as a professional engineer. Judging a series of data such as material toughness, magic conduction level, and high temperature threshold is the most basic skill among basic skills.

In addition, those detection devices do not require players to be very strong. The only threshold for using them is that the [Engineering Proficiency] must reach a certain level. Therefore, Ji Xiaoge always carries several sets of equipment that can be applied to various directions, which have played a significant role in exploring ancient ruins.

Based on this, the results of this physical examination of 'badminton' are as follows:

In terms of speed, it is conservatively estimated to be at the peak of the Rogue class level, and it is not restricted by any terrain, allowing for a variety of complex and indiscriminate maneuvers.

In terms of toughness, the material used for the bionic wings is extremely special. It not only has considerable flexibility, but also has very strong cushioning properties. It not only has epic-level defensive power, but also has cushioning, absorption, and force-dissipating properties. As for the metal sphere that is the main body, although the equipment in Ji Xiaoge's hand could not scan its internal structure, it still measured legendary-level defensive power.

That's right, it's 'legendary' level of defense.

In other words, even if Mo Tan gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, recklessly activating [Herrscher's Resolve] and [Reverse Scale: Full Release], and combined with talents such as [Rage], [Pride], and [Gluttony] that can greatly enhance his combat power to unleash a full-force attack, it would still be impossible for this seemingly cute badminton shuttlecock to break through his defenses.

Undoubtedly, after the examination, the value of the "Queen's Legacy" was immediately elevated to a whole new level. Although Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge had no idea where this rather charming badminton shuttlecock came from, nor did they know who the so-called queen was, this did not prevent the two from feeling that this "Ascension Fortress" was incredibly mysterious.

click-

A moment later, with a muffled thud, the smooth, flat wall, which seemed like a dead end, slowly parted to the sides, making way for the badminton shuttlecock in front of Mo Tan and Ji Xiaoge.

The central management room of Valhalla, the Ascension Fortress, appeared completely undefended before its highest authority and two uninvited guests.

"Wow!"

Ji Xiaoge immediately let out a soft exclamation, her eyes shining as she looked at the large hut in the center of the management office: "Amazing!"

"..."

Mo Tan blinked, subconsciously starting to wonder why there was a place here with a completely different style from the surroundings, built with a lot of scrap metal that heaven knows where it came from. At first glance, it did look quite comfortable, but if an ordinary person actually slept on it, they would probably be crippled. Then, after noticing the badminton shuttlecock next to it, he suddenly realized.

Clearly, this place must be the home of this little guy who looks exactly like a badminton shuttlecock, officially named "Queen's Legacy," who is currently happily playing the Rattlesnake maneuver in mid-air. It has been there for a very, very long time.

"This place seems to be well-preserved."

Ji Xiaoge struggled several times before finally managing to shift her attention away from the steel badminton shuttlecock nest. She looked around at the still lifeless but not as severely damaged as the outside world, cold, hard, and angular machines that, despite the passage of time, still functioned normally. She murmured, "I thought this fortress had no functional facilities left."

Mo Tan, who didn't know much about engineering but understood Ji Xiaoge very well, nodded slightly and said softly, "Can you see anything?"

"I can't see anything."

Ji Xiaoge shook her head and said with a wry smile, "Although every piece of equipment here seems familiar to me, I don't even know how to use them. It's like... a long, long time ago, some people were able to imagine what an 'airplane' would look like, and even the concept drawings they created based on their imagination were almost identical to real airplanes, but their technical capabilities were far from being able to manufacture an airplane."

Mo Tan immediately understood and laughed, "Is this beyond the scope of the curriculum?"

"That's right, it's way beyond the scope of the curriculum."

Ji Xiaoge walked slowly to an engineering creation that flickered several times every few seconds, with only a single, still green line on the screen, resembling the retro computers outside of games. With a somewhat complicated expression, she said, "This feeling is strange. I feel like a high school student with good grades, admiring the graduation project of a senior in the same major. I can understand a little bit, but even that little bit is not enough for me to see what the designer has designed."

Seeing that the other person was a little down, Mo Tan shook his head and calmly comforted him, "Don't forget that you've only been studying with Master Lu Wei for less than a year, and you're not someone who specializes in this field outside of the game. Isn't it a bit too arrogant of you to want to compare yourself with the designer of this [Ascension Fortress] at this time?"

"They weren't being arrogant."

Ji Xiaoge pouted and muttered softly, "But... although it's probably just my imagination, I still feel a little uncomfortable seeing these relatively well-preserved devices that haven't been ravaged by time like the ones outside."

Mo Tan opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing. She simply stayed quietly beside Ji Xiaoge, and raised her left hand slightly to let the badminton shuttlecock, which seemed to sense that the girl was feeling a little down and was hesitant to approach, rest for a while.

"This is... the final project, a project we've poured all our efforts into."

Ji Xiaoge walked slowly past several pieces of equipment that had completely stopped working. Her slender, fair fingers gently stroked the cold, dusty metal as she tried to reconstruct the final moments of its creator through the traces on these machines. She murmured, "That's right, this is the final project, the final design, the final struggle, the final... graduation project."

Mo Tan, who was walking slowly behind Ji Xiaoge, frowned slightly: "The final graduation project?"

"That's right, this is... a work with no future."

Ji Xiaoge stopped and stared intently at the message on the widest wall in the room. Although the screen was long gone, the light sensor had distorted the screen, and the two could still vaguely make out the words that had been flashing there for who knows how many years.

We will rise again.

Everything for Valhalla.

Chapter 2618: The End