Urban Plundering: I Corrupted The System!
Chapter 442 - 442: The Descent into Infinity

"Why the rush?" Seoryeon asked, glancing up at the cosmic battle raging in the sky above them. "I mean, shouldn't we be more concerned about those four tearing the city apart right now?"

Parker shook his head, his expression calm despite the reality-warping chaos overhead.

"I'm not in any hurry because of those four fools fighting up there. Sure, they can destroy the city—and probably will before they're done—but the Core will remain intact regardless. Hell, not even the gods know the true depth of these cores, much less have the power to destroy them."

"Then why now?" Seoryeon pressed, her business instincts detecting there was more to this timing than he was revealing.

Maya answered, her royal heritage allowing her to see the broader cosmic patterns. "Because while gods throwing tantrums is annoying, it's not the real threat. The Gateways are."

"The what now? Gateways?"

Parker nodded grimly. "Haven't you felt the change in the Ether?" Seoryeon nodded, "It's the Gateways. Humans blessed by gods who don't realize they're creating puppets to house THEY. These Gateways are starting to act reckless across the planet, and they will destroy and kill many humans in ways that make today's battle look merciful."

"The quicker I finish this mission," Parker continued, "the quicker humans go through the Awakening Era and gain power to fight back—or at least stop dying like ants every time cosmic forces decide to play games."

"And," Maya added with a meaningful look, "the quicker he ensures Earth's protection, the quicker we can leave for something far more important to our family's survival."

Seoryeon stared at them both, finally understanding the scope of what she'd become involved in. "So this isn't about stopping the current destruction—it's about preparing for something worse."

"Much worse," Parker confirmed, then gestured toward the ground beneath their feet. "Now, shall we get started?"

The ground beneath Parker's feet didn't crack or split—it simply ceased to insist on existing as solid matter.

With a gesture that redefined the relationship between space and substance, he stepped downward into earth that parted like liquid around his cosmic presence.

Maya and Seoryeon followed, their forms surrounded by protective fields that allowed them to breathe and see in an environment that operated according to rules predating physics.

"Stay close," Parker commanded, his voice carrying harmonics that made the surrounding matter vibrate in sympathetic resonance. "We're about to travel through layers of reality that weren't designed for conscious observation."

The first hundred feet of descent felt almost normal—soil, rock, the familiar geology of a planet that had been cooling for billions of years. But as they moved deeper, reality began to show its true face. The walls around them shifted from brown earth to crystalline formations that reflected not light but concepts, their surfaces showing glimpses of parallel realities where different versions of New York existed according to alternative physical laws.

Maya floated beside him with royal grace, her being allowing her to navigate the impossible descent without discomfort.

"The dimensional barriers are thinning," she observed, watching as the tunnel walls occasionally became transparent, revealing glimpses of subway systems that existed in realities where New York had been built underground, or where the city floated in vast caverns of luminous crystal.

Seoryeon clutched her tablet with white knuckles, her corporate mind struggling to process an environment where the concept of "down" had become negotiable.

"How deep are we going?" she managed to ask, though the question seemed inadequate when applied to a journey that traveled through metaphysical rather than merely physical space.

"Deep isn't the right word," Parker replied, his form now glowing with inner light that illuminated tunnel walls made of compressed possibility. "We're not just moving through space—we're moving through the layers of reality that separate what is from what could be across all other New Yorks through this main one. You better not look at this glimpses way too much."

The tunnel around them began to widen, its walls revealing architecture that defied description. They weren't carved or built—they were conceptual, existing as the abstract idea of "support" given substance.

Pillars of crystallized runes held up ceilings made of frozen time, while doorways opened onto vistas that showed other versions of their journey occurring simultaneously across parallel dimensions.

As they descended further, a presence made itself known—not through sight or sound, but through a weight of observation that pressed against their souls like the gaze of something vast and ancient beyond mortal comprehension. It felt like standing beneath the full attention of a cosmic entity that existed primarily as watchful consciousness, its awareness so complete and penetrating that it seemed to see not just their actions but their deepest intentions, their potential futures, the very essence of what they might become.

The sensation was simultaneously humbling and terrifying—like being examined by the universe itself to determine whether they were worthy of what they sought.

"It's observing us," Parker said quietly, his cosmic senses detecting the Guardian's scrutiny. "Be prepared—it will attack the moment it determines we're unworthy of proceeding."

"But aren't you the Prince of Existence?" Seoryeon asked, confusion evident in her voice. "Shouldn't that count for something?"

Parker chuckled, the sound carrying both amusement and respect. "Guardians don't care about status, titles, or bloodlines. They care about potential and purpose. A prince who would abuse the Core's power is far more dangerous than a beggar who would protect it."

The walls around them suddenly blazed with light that existed in spectrums beyond visible perception. Ancient symbols appeared in the crystalline surfaces—not carved, but manifesting as the Guardian attempted to communicate across the vast gulf between mortal language and cosmic consciousness.

Maya translated with the ease of someone raised among beings who spoke in concepts rather than words. "It's asking if we understand the price. It wants to know if we're prepared for the binding."

Parker extended his consciousness toward the Guardian, offering his understanding for examination. The contact was immediate and overwhelming—millennia of loneliness, eons of protecting something so precious that its destruction would collapse infinite realities into chaos.

The Guardian had waited through ice ages and civilization's rise, through wars and peace, always vigilant, always alone.

*You seek to bond with the Prime Core,* the Guardian's voice resonated through dimensions rather than air. *Do you comprehend that this choice will transform you from individual to caretaker of infinite possibilities? And are you prepared to prove your worthiness through trial?*

"I understand," Parker replied, his words carrying the weight of absolute commitment. "I'm prepared to accept both the responsibility and whatever test you deem necessary."

*Then descend further, Prince of Existence. But know that the being who reaches the Core will not be the same as the one who began this journey. A test awaits—one that will measure not your power, but your heart.*

"Didn't attack, huh? Seems like you're have been preparing for long time, Mother?"

The tunnel suddenly plunged at an impossible angle, the walls around them becoming liquid starlight that flowed in patterns suggesting vast intelligence.

They weren't falling so much as being guided by forces that existed outside conventional spacetime, their descent controlled by consciousness that operated on scales that made galaxies seem like momentary thoughts.

Around them, the walls began showing glimpses of what they were approaching—a chamber that existed simultaneously across infinite dimensions, its architecture transcending the limitations of three-dimensional space.

At its center, something pulsed with the rhythm of creation itself, sending waves of energy that maintained the quantum entanglement between countless parallel realities.

"We're almost there," Parker announced, feeling the Prime Core's proximity like a second heartbeat gradually synchronizing with his own. "Prepare yourselves. What we're about to see exists on a scale that mortal perception wasn't designed to process."

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