Compared to the first discovery—which left everyone sighing and scratching their heads—the second one had the whole lab cheering like they'd won the lottery.
After some research, it turns out the original inhabitants of hyperspace—the so-called hyperdimensional life forms—were actually humans, or at least humanoid beings.
The evidence was staring us in the face: among all those unknowable materials, a lot of them matched the size, shape, and structure of human hands and bodies. If that’s not direct proof, Adam just straight-up lifted a mechanical arm—this thing was identical to a human arm bone!
The researchers below went wild, flipping it over and inspecting it for ages. Honestly, compared to a human skeleton, it looked even more like the arm of that ‘Terminator’ robot from the movie that just hit theaters.
Suddenly, ‘Terminator’ jokes were everywhere, turning into inside gags and metaphors among the research crew. Around then, a theologian and a priest—brought in to help with psychological issues—joined Tiberius Laboratory. Because of his looks, the priest got nicknamed ‘James Cameron.’ Later, during the White Terror period, that nickname replaced his real name and became his codename.
That year, Tiberius Laboratory seemed to be riding high, reaching its peak and basking in glory.
But then, a few crackling noises in the psychic field—static from another mental link—and Jill Young and her crew caught glimpses of the offerings’ other memories.
The timing? Right after Adam locked himself in his room for some deep thinking, but before he met with Sophia.
The place: a very special room wrapped layer upon layer in White Element, where one of the offerings met with Adam.
"Boss, here’s the analysis you wanted." The offering handed over the data, feeling the crushing pressure radiating from the shadowy man in front of him—he could barely breathe. The man said nothing, just bowed his head in heavy silence. The offering braced himself and explained, "So... the target’s personality and mental state are easy to analyze. Our plan is totally foolproof."
The man across from him finally moved, taking the report. It read like a movie script—every scene, every facial expression spelled out in ridiculous detail. The man’s eyes flicked over the page, softly reciting the written lines: "...I hope I’ll be the first to stand shoulder to shoulder with you, to become your equal... Hmph! What nonsense!"
The offering instantly shuddered in fright.
"Still, nonsense as it is, it fits. You always write well—this one’s not bad either." Snap! The lighter flared up, and he burned the report to ashes. The man stared at the offering, his gaze cold enough to freeze water: "Starting tomorrow, I want the whole lab revamped to her liking. No faking it—do it for real. Top to bottom, inside out, everything gets changed to suit her tastes. Building Infinity Dock depends on her power, so I want nothing left to chance. And another thing: I don’t want any paperwork left behind, and I especially don’t want that person noticing anything she shouldn’t. Got it?"
"Got it!" The offering bowed his head, cold sweat dripping from his nose—but he was confident: "When it comes to science, I can’t beat her. But in other areas, you can count on me. With her kind of flawed personality, there’s no way she escapes your control."
"Do this well, and you’ll have a seat at the family council." The man stood up, his terrifying shadow stretching across the room: "Whatever it takes, Infinity Dock must be built without a hitch!"
The static faded, and the memories of the void came flooding back.
At the end of 1984, Tiberius Laboratory’s third tier—Infinity Dock—was officially completed. The permanent transfer point to Theory Lane went live.
—————————— Infinity Dock Divider ——————————
Linked tightly to Theory Lane but even deeper in hyperspace, in a blink, two figures—one big, one small—popped out of the void.
They leapt—and promptly crashed to the ground. Thud! Patrick Zade tumbled down, gasping for air like he’d just run a marathon. The terrifying aura of a clash between powerhouses rattled his nerves; he felt like jelly, except for the horn on his forehead, which stood firm. Sweat dripped into his eyes, but thanks to the horn, he couldn’t wipe it away. Eyes red, still shaken, Patrick asked, "Did we lose that guy?"
"We lost him, but he’ll probably catch up soon enough." The giant didn’t know any space magic, but he got the gist: "These two spatial channels are way too stable. Even the Divine could track us here with a map. We’ve gotta keep moving. Do you know the way?"
"Uh..." Patrick Zade looked around, totally clueless.
The space they were in was just plain weird.
Beneath their feet was a giant sphere made of White Element, stretching over three thousand meters wide—like a white asteroid floating in space. Artificial gravity pulled everything toward the sphere’s center at one G, so Earthlings could walk around without too much fuss. But the sphere wasn’t that big, and you could really feel the curve under your feet. Every step was awkward.
Looking up was even more jaw-dropping.
Up there, massive, perfectly smooth planes made of White Element converged at razor-sharp angles. Look around, and you’d spot more planes meeting at more corners.
At those corners, you could see twisted whirlpools with the naked eye—those were the permanent spatial channels.
The giant zipped around the sphere and quickly figured it out: they were inside a massive regular tetrahedron. The white sphere was smack in the center. Three of the four corners had spatial channels—one linked to Theory Lane, and the other two were a mystery.
Gravity pulled everything toward the center, so there was no real up, down, left, or right. Take a few steps and the world spun—you couldn’t even tell which corner you’d just come from.
The giant didn’t get it, but he was determined. He grabbed Patrick Zade and barked, "Tell me—where’s the stuff I want?"
"According to my intel, Infinity Dock has three main parts: Beacon of the Unknown, Port of Tomorrow, and one place I haven’t figured out yet."
"You don’t know?" The giant squeezed his hand, jaws snapping in Patrick’s face. "We’ve come all this way, and you still haven’t figured it out?"
Snap! Patrick’s bones nearly cracked from the grip, and he yelped, "But I know where your stuff is!"
"Spit it out!"
"It’s at Port of Tomorrow! That’s where the old hyperspace exploration teams launched and came back. The warehouse there has the rarest Unknowable Materials, and your Abyssal Fruit is definitely there!"
"How do we get to Port of Tomorrow?"
"Uh..." Honestly, Patrick Zade had no clue how to get there, but with his life on the line, he just pointed at a random corner and bluffed, "That way!"
Whoosh! The giant grabbed Patrick and shot into the corner at lightning speed.