Inala spent his sweet time extracting everything of value from the middle-aged man. Standing in one of his Mystic Biome Bombs were a row of monoliths, littered with carvings. They were Piezo Slips.
The information he extracted from the middle-aged man was immediately carved onto the monoliths. And the ones processing that information were the Quip Zingers. All Inala did was read their surface thoughts to gain only the most important information.
This was to prevent his mind from being overloaded with useless information. As long as the Quip Clan lived in Biome Bombs in contact with him, Inala was able to read their minds.
The process was slower than from the time when he had the Tertiary Nature of Spatial Immune System, but the moment he elevates himself to Gold Grade, his speed of access would be on par with an Empyrean Tusk.
And as a Mystic Grade Royal Zinger, he'll be undeniably faster than an Empyrean Tusk.
It had been three days since he entered the hexagon chamber. Inala didn't wish to stay here for too much time, for that might make Pettenac suspicious about him. He had plentiful gains for his first visit.
With a punch, he shattered the middle-aged man's skull, killing him. The Comb considered him the victor and began to condense Nectar in the chamber.
This condensation process took close to ten minutes, which was the time available for the victor to consume the corpse of the loser. If they didn't intend to, they could simply remain idle until the Nectar condenses.
And once the Nectar condenses, it would hover in the centre of the hexagon chamber, giving a window of a minute for the victor to consume it. If the victor fails to consume it, the Nectar would dissipate into influence and be absorbed back into the Comb.
Moreover, the filament of air acting as the ceiling would vanish, causing the tunnel connecting to it to unleash a powerful pulling force. This would be a force of gravity, causing an inversion of gravity within the hexagon chamber.
The victor would no longer be able to stand on the ground, for the gravity had now been inversed. They'll be pulled into the tunnel. If they wished to remain in the chamber, they'd have to hold onto a stalactite and hang from there.
But over time, their arms would grow tired, eventually causing them to slip into the tunnel, following which they would be transported to the surface. The filament of air contained the Comb's presence. Once the victor passes through it, the Key in his body vanishes, preventing him from trying to enter the hexagon chamber through any means.
When the Key vanishes, the filament of air would cut off the gravity in the tunnel from the chamber, causing the hexagon chamber's gravity to return to normalcy. "That's where I strike."
Inala waited patiently as he observed the droplet of Nectar forming before him. Obviously, he was using his Secondary Nature to the limit, keeping his senses pried on what the Comb was doing to condense this droplet.
'It's storing this Nectar somewhere in the Sanctuary and is squeezing it through the pores of these walls in gaseous form.' He judged as he observed.
Somewhere in the Comb, there existed hexagon chambers where Phells could freely enter and exit. There, they absorb the influence, grow to their peak and die, causing the Comb to absorb their flesh and blood, which it refines into the Nectar.
'Would I be able to cause more droplets to appear here if I bring out people from my Biome Bombs and kill them here?' Inala thought, intending to experiment with it next. 'Oh, maybe just killing people won't be sufficient. They should have a Key in their body. That's probably the beacon that the Comb uses to sense the presence and influence of the combatants.'
The Nectar finished condensing. It was a yellowish-white droplet with shades of swirling black in the centre. Inala wrapped his Biome Bomb around it and used Subtle Terrain Domination, hurrying as he made a mental count of the time.
"Done!" He grinned upon succeeding in fully dominating the droplet of Nectar, now able to control it as he pleased. He held the Biome Bomb—in miniature form—and jumped once the time was up, being pulled into the tunnel.
Two tendrils of Prana ejected out of his body and latched onto the walls of the tunnel, keeping him hovering right beyond the filament of air. Once he passed through it, Inala could feel the Key vanishing from his body, "That's surprising."
Since he had layered a Biome Bomb on his body, Inala was able to sense everything that happened in his body, including sensing the Key. The Key acted like a Minor Treasure and fused with his skeleton.
The moment he passed through the filament of air, the Key dissipated out of his body like influence. It did resemble the influence being generated by the Comb. "A few more times, and I might get a hang of it."
He increased the power of psychokinesis in the two strings of Prana and kept his body tethered at the end of the tunnel, not falling further. His face was positioned right before the filament of air, allowing him to observe the hexagon chamber.
The corpse of the middle-aged man was still there. It didn't fall into the tunnel. Moreover, hovering next to it was a Biome Bomb Inala had left behind purposefully. "Indeed, the Keys are the beacons through which the Comb's effects can target the combatants."
The supposed gravitational pull a minute after the Nectar appears can only be felt by the victor. The loser would remain on the ground. It was the same with Inala.
By leaving the Biome Bomb next to the corpse of the middle-
aged man, Inala confirmed his hypothesis that the gravitational pull from the tunnel was unleashed on him by targeting the Key that had fused with his skeleton.
The corpse of the middle-aged man wasn't targeted by the tunnel's gravity. And the same was true for the Biome Bomb next to him. As there wasn't a Key in it, it wasn't targeted.
As Inala observed the scene, his eyes widened in fascination, observing no changes in the hexagon chamber, but both the corpse of the middle-aged man and the Biome Bomb next to him began dissolving, breaking down at the elemental level.
'Is it using some sort of gas to achieve this?' Inala thought and unleashed Perfect Biome Domination. However, the Biome Bomb he released failed to pass through the filament of air, feeling resistance. 'My Silver Grade strength seems lacking.'
A moment's thought later, Inala absorbed the necessary Prana and Lifespan from his Mystic Biome Bomb to become a Beginner Gold Grade Royal Zinger, strengthening his two Natures. But upon noticing the filament of air fail to budge even now, he sighed and stopped trying to sense the proceedings within the hexagon chamber, 'It might be difficult even when I'm at the Mystic Grade.'
He didn't wish to waste so much resources at this point in time, 'This is just my first attempt. I'll inspect what's happening inside once I'm prepared enough. I'll be visiting here frequently from now on anyway.'
He stared at his Biome Bomb that had encased the droplet of Nectar inside. There were no changes to its composition, even after he passed through the filament of air. After all, through Perfect Biome Domination, Inala was able to fully control it.
So, the rules established by the Comb failed to dissipate it, since Inala cut off the influence through which it achieved it until now.
"I'll figure this place out fully." Inala muttered as he retracted the two strings of Prana and began to free fall through the tunnel, 'So, this is the Brimgan Founder's way of doing things.'
"Truly terrifying," He muttered, "If someone like that were born in the current Brimgan Empire, he would have easily surpassed his past accomplishments."
In a mere three days, Inala managed to figure out information that was on par with the Ravaged Federation or possibly even exceeded them. He planned to experiment to the extreme until he figured out the entirety of the mechanism behind the workings of the Comb, and by extension, the Sanctuary itself.
An absolute mad researcher! That was the Brimgan Founder. And by possessing his data, Inala was able to emulate him to a great extent. After all, the Major Treasure of Attribute was in the shape of a brain, which had fused with Inala's before merging into his genetic information through the Bolts of Transcendence.
"The route is different this time." He muttered upon observing the minor changes in the texture of the tunnel walls transporting him to the surface, "It seems I've switched lanes without knowing."
He hadn't done anything, but the cause was the Comb. Similar to how trains were switched to different tracks to ensure a seamless traffic flow, the Comb also switched the people through the tunnels while transporting them to the surface.
Based on the data, the middle-aged man was from another city. So, the tunnels were no different from a maze with moving walls. It's how two people from different cities were brought to the same hexagon chamber.
'I don't have the Key now. So, how is it detecting my position to make the changes…?' Inala observed for a couple of hours before laughing aloud upon noticing another individual in his tunnel, positioned a kilometre away, "Hahahaha! It doesn't sense anything!"
"The descent is time-based! The calculation is done through the simplest kinematic equation."
Since Inala spent some time latched to the end of the tunnel, his position was different as compared to if he had fallen into the tunnel at the very beginning. So, as the tunnels were changed during his descent, he ended up in another individual's route.
At present, the section of the tunnel that he was supposed to be at—had he followed things as usual—was empty, 'This means I'll probably arrive at some other City.'
Inala stared at the individual falling before him while noticing the layer of protection—to guard against air resistance—
granted to him by his Key had dissipated, 'I'm currently travelling through the descent route meant for him. Since this protection vanished, it implies that if I followed the arrangements obediently, I would have reached the surface at Myore City by now.'
"Welp, it is what it is." He said and targeted the individual before him.