Chapter 438: Allen Finds a Dalek and the TARDIS
Bang! Bang! The Doctor knocked the Cyber Elder awake.
"Intruder detected. Initiating purge protocol."
Upon regaining consciousness, the Cyber Elder immediately called for backup from the Cybermen.
But outside, all the Cybermen were immobilized under a lockdown protocol.
"There's a time limit on the Demon Binding Spell. Doctor, shut the door now!" Allen suddenly remembered and shouted.
The Doctor bolted toward the door and quickly sealed the gate using his sonic screwdriver.
Clang!
The heavy gate slammed shut, cutting them off from the outside once more.
"Tell me about the future war," the Doctor demanded gravely.
"Enemy detected: Time Lord. Initiating war protocol."
The Cyber Elder didn't respond directly, but its actions made the answer clear.
There was no doubt now—one side of the future war was the Time Lords.
"Die!"
Allen attacked first, unleashing two spirit sigils to eliminate the target. Then, he swiftly cleared the remaining Cybermen. With a flick of his hair, he said smugly, "Cultivators really are devastatingly handsome."
By now, the Doctor had pieced things together. Since the Time Lords were involved in the future war, he couldn't sit this out.
Normally, Cybermen didn't react to him this strongly. Only the Daleks were always screaming about exterminating him—while also cowering in fear.
"I'm going to the future to stop the war."
The Doctor turned to the group, solemnly.
But no one responded.
Or rather, no one dared to decide for the rest.
After all, traveling to the future was already outrageous—intervening in a war of godlike proportions was practically suicide.
"Aww… You snatched me away from my wedding, and now you're thinking of running off? Scumbag! I won't let you get away with it."
Allen put on a mock-shy expression, squirming like he was imitating some old woman's reaction to being flirted with.
Hiss…
Yep. The Doctor and this madman definitely had something going on.
Their relationship was… complicated, to say the least.
"Don't spout nonsense, idiot!" the Doctor retorted, flustered. "I pulled him out of a ship that was about to explode. It wasn't a wedding! Don't listen to his lies."
Mmm-hmm-hmm…
So the wedding was held on a spaceship?
Under the stars? That's pretty romantic.
The more he explained, the guiltier he looked.
"I'd already decided to sacrifice myself to save humanity. Getting a glimpse of the future is a worthy death," Tony said, stepping forward.
"You're not going without me."
Bruce followed calmly. "I'm old. A few less years won't matter much."
"If we can't stop the Cybermen of the future, Earth's doomed anyway. Might as well take the gamble."
"I don't want to spend my days living in fear."
"If you're all going, I'm going too."
"…"
As everyone declared their resolve, Allen weakly raised a hand. "Is it too late for me to back out now?"
Hmm…
All eyes turned to him with killing intent.
They were all being so dramatic and noble—there was no way they'd let him chicken out.
Since they were all set on going, the Doctor immediately got to work completing the time tunnel.
He examined the equipment and determined that the Cybermen's time tech was primitive—nothing compared to that of true Time Lords.
After all, this was the man who once repaired the TARDIS with nothing but his bare hands.
While the others watched in utter confusion, the Doctor skillfully completed the time portal.
What he did couldn't even be described with normal science—it was more like some form of magical abstract engineering.
Vmmm!
Ripples formed inside the portal's archway like a sheet of liquid.
"The two temporal gates are linked. I don't know if the Cybermen are waiting on the other side."
The Doctor looked at Allen, making it clear—only Allen was strong enough to lead the charge.
"Of course, such a dangerous task can only be handled by a beautiful boy warrior like me! Hi-ya!"
Before anyone could react, Allen dove headfirst into the time portal.
…
"Shurima~ Your order of crispy golden fried chicken has arrived."
As he stepped out of the portal, Allen's usual smugness vanished.
The sight before him was a wreck. Not a single Cyberman was intact.
Broken parts were scattered everywhere—clear signs of a devastating battle.
"Anyone here?"
"I am Megatron, the newest model of Cybertron robot. You may call me Mega-chan."
"Good morning! I'm an agent from S1 Entertainment. I'm casting for a mecha-girl action film and need a few Cybermen to play male leads."
Unfortunately, there was no response.
If any Cybermen were still operational, they would've fired high-energy beams already—based on standard protocol.
"Stop shouting, Allen."
The Doctor arrived next and observed, "This is a battlefield that's been abandoned."
Both sides in a war would naturally target each other's strategic installations.
It's likely the enemy noticed the Cybermen's plan to raid the past for soldiers and responded by destroying this time gate facility.
Once the rest of the team came through, the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to seal the gate behind them.
"This… isn't Earth?!"
Bruce looked up at the sky—where an oversized moon bathed everything in a dark red glow.
Fortunately, the air quality was roughly the same as Earth's; they could still breathe normally.
"This is Gallifrey. My home."
The Doctor recognized it instantly—he'd grown up here.
He hadn't set foot on Gallifrey since the Time War.
Painful memories he didn't want to relive.
Clearly, the Doctor didn't want to talk much about Gallifrey.
Realistically, the planet should've been sealed off forever.
But in the vast universe, there were far too many unknown variables.
Even the Doctor wouldn't claim to know everything.
"I found a pepper shaker."
While the others scouted the area, Allen dug up a trash-can-shaped metal shell.
The Doctor's face changed at once. "That's a Dalek."
He knew it all too well—his lifelong nemesis.
After the Time War, the Daleks had vanished. But some always managed to survive, drifting through the cosmos.
Dalek technology ranked near Level 7, putting them on equal footing with the Time Lords.
"This just keeps getting messier."
The Doctor frowned. "Why were the Cybermen and Daleks fighting on Gallifrey?"
From the looks of things, it was all-out war.
For the Cybermen to evolve to the point of producing Elders, their civilization had clearly reached a level that could challenge the Daleks.
But out of all the places in the universe—why here?
"Why not just fix one and ask?"
Allen pried open the top of the "pepper shaker" and yanked out a rotting, foul-smelling octopus-like alien.
"Yeah, it's totally dead. No point asking."
"No problem. Dalek armor stores information. I'll convert it into a pure robot."
The Doctor's mechanical skills were impressive.
With just his sonic screwdriver, he modified the Dalek into a working machine.
A flurry of dazzling operations later, he closed the top panel.
The Dalek's LED-like ears lit up, and a camera lens emerged, followed by an electronic monotone:
"Dalek! Dalek! Dalek…"
The robotic Dalek seemed defective, just repeating its own name like an idiot.
"Shut up," the Doctor snapped. "Tell me your objective or I'll tear you apart."
"To locate the Time Lords' technological legacy. To master time tech and conquer the universe."
The Dalek extended a plunger and a laser gun, visibly nervous around the Doctor.
"I see…"
The Doctor nodded. "It all makes sense now."
In short, both the Cybermen and Daleks had come to Gallifrey seeking time technology—and ran into each other, sparking war.
Let's be honest—Time Lord tech was the envy of every civilization in the universe.
It could immediately boost a species to a Level 7 civilization.
Its core features allowed biological beings to harness regeneration energy and drastically extend their lifespans.
Hearing this, Tony and Bruce couldn't help but feel stirred.
If humanity mastered time tech, they might one day become Time Lord-level themselves.
But knowing human nature… they'd rather destroy it than risk another universal war.
"I know where it is," the Doctor said grimly. "Because I'm the one who hid it."
He even admitted he was planning to blow up his homeworld.
Because the Time Lords' tech was inextricably tied to Gallifrey, and it all had to be destroyed.
Otherwise, even if they defeated the Daleks and Cybermen, other civilizations would eventually come to claim it.
"Dalek! Dalek! Dalek…"
Suddenly, the robot Dalek became agitated.
As if sensing something, everyone looked up—only to see a swarm of Daleks descending from the sky.
The robot Dalek immediately tried to fly up and rejoin its brethren.
"You are not a true Dalek. Daleks must preserve racial purity. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Boom!
The incoming Daleks didn't hesitate to open fire.
A laser beam pierced the robot Dalek—not damaging the shell, but frying much of its internal circuitry.
It crashed to the ground, lying on its side, groaning weakly: "Dal…ek… Dal…ek…"
"Hang in there, pepper shaker."
Allen crouched beside it, asking with mock sincerity, "Want me to swap out your batteries?"
"Dal…ek…"
It kept repeating the same word, utterly broken.
Their armor had time locks that neutralized most attacks—which made the Daleks' weapons all the more terrifying.
"Enemy identified: the Doctor. Exterminate! Exterminate! Exterminate!"
Thousands of Daleks screamed from the sky.
Their fear of the Doctor was alive and well.
Unlike the Cybermen, who used clunky mechanical conversions, Daleks employed more advanced nanotech assimilation.
They could drop spores onto a planet and quickly produce new minions.
But real Daleks still needed cloned octopus creatures to pilot the shells.
"Run, everyone!"
Faced with overwhelming odds, even the Doctor had no solution.
He might be able to regenerate, but he was still made of flesh and blood.
"Everyone go! I'll hold them off!"
Allen raised the robotic Dalek like a shield.
Bang! Bang!
Two laser blasts hit it.
The robot Dalek grew weaker.
"Dal…ek…"
Its voice dragged longer and longer.
"Sorry, pepper shaker. I did this on purpose."
Allen gently set it down, then pointed to the sky and fired a spirit sigil.
In an instant, a qilin beast burst forth.
It roared thunderously, flames blazing in golden torrents.
Dozens of Daleks screamed in agony.
Though their time locks blocked the fire directly, the sheer heat roasted the octopus pilots alive.
[Dalek defeated. +600 EXP]
[Dalek defeated. +600 EXP]
[Dalek defeated. +600 EXP]
…
Leaving the qilin beast to cover them, the Doctor led the others toward Gallifrey's capital—the City of Time.
To end the war, they had to set the city's core to self-destruct.
Allen hoisted the robotic Dalek in one hand, looking like some ancient hero lifting a giant cauldron, and trotted over to the Doctor.
Grinning mischievously, he said, "Scumbag, hold my hand. Let's streak through the sunset together."
Tsk…
Even in times like this, he still found time to mess around.
The Doctor frowned. "Why are you still carrying that thing?"
"It's our child. I can't just leave it behind." Allen's eyes gleamed with conviction.
"…"
With Allen around, nothing ever felt truly dangerous.
Even this trip to the future felt more like a chaotic vacation.
"Do whatever you want."
The Doctor could tolerate Allen's antics, but absolutely refused to hold hands again.
Last time had been an emergency—they hadn't had time to think it through.
From now on, nothing like that would ever happen again.
"Daaai...leeek..."
Not only did the mechanical Dalek's voice draw out unnaturally, it had grown faint as well.
"Doctor, the kid's not gonna make it. Should we steam it or boil it?" Allen blinked and asked innocently.
"..."
If you're the one gnawing on it, then just eat it.
I'm not fighting you for it.
"Yaho!"
Suddenly, Allen darted off at a sprint, pointing excitedly at a police box half-sunken into the ground. "Doctor, look! I found our wedding house!"
"That's a scrapped TARDIS. Leave it."
The Doctor kept leading the group forward, completely ignoring the standard-issue Time Lord time machine.
At this point, he was the only one who could still repair a TARDIS.
"TARDIS!"
Allen had been thinking about it for ages—there was no way he'd let this one go so easily.
Before long, everyone stared speechlessly as Allen caught back up—with the thing actually dug out.
Four enhanced dragon-marked skeletons each carried a corner of the police box like a palanquin, charging full speed ahead.
"Hohoho… Anyone wanna catch a ride?"
Allen wore a punch-worthy grin. "My brand-new TARDIS, now featuring manual propulsion! Rock-solid performance!"
"Give me a lift," Morgan said, extending her hand.
"Got you, sis!"
The TARDIS was bigger on the inside, and its spatial tech could easily hold a few passengers.
If there's a free ride, who wants to run?
In the end, only the Doctor remained on foot. Allen stretched out his hand and urged, "Come on, get in already. How long are you planning to run?"
Without thinking, the Doctor instinctively reached out.
Allen hauled him up—but refused to let go right away. With a mischievous smile, he said, "Doctor, we're holding hands again~"
Ugh...
The Doctor yanked his hand back with a snap, suddenly recalling the vow he'd just made.
Thud thud thud...
Furious, he started banging his head against the TARDIS doorframe.