Chapter 32: The Gatekeeper!
Daniel reached the entrance to the Flow Regulator Chamber.
It was a large, circular room, much cleaner than the junkyard or the leaky conduit.
Pipes and cables ran neatly along the walls, converging on a complex machine in the center.
This machine looked like a giant metal spider squatting over a pool of the pulsing blue labyrinth energy.
Thick cables connected the spider-machine to openings in the walls, ceiling, and floor, likely the regulation point for the energy flow the Leeches were feeding on earlier.
The air here crackled with power, making the metal floor hum under Daniel's E-grade boots.
Standing silently between Daniel and the spider-machine was the source of the powerful signature he'd sensed.
It wasn't another pile of junk like the Golem. This construct was sleek, humanoid, about three meters tall, and made of polished chrome-like metal that reflected the blue light eerily.
It had no face, just a smooth, blank head. Its limbs were long and multi-jointed, ending in sharp, talon-like fingers.
Arcs of controlled blue energy danced between nodes on its shoulders and chest.
It stood perfectly still, like a statue, guarding the path forward.