Kanter and Ness sensed something different as soon as they set foot on the fourth floor.
The first three floors were cold and desolate. They didn't sense any aura of death, but there were no living beings either. It was as if they were walking in a deserted wasteland. However, it was different on the fourth floor. Even though they had not seen a single person with their own eyes, the brighter lights, the different smells in the air, and the occasional rustling sound in the distance all indicated that there were people here, and there were many of them.
Under Reynolds' lead, they walked forward for a short while before they saw traces of living people.
At the end of the long and narrow corridor in front of him, several swaying figures appeared at the corner.
Ness narrowed his eyes and looked at Kanter. "Should we go directly or hide?"
"Before Angor finds the control node, it's best if we can hide as much as possible. But how do you plan to do that? "
An evil smile appeared on Ness's face as he pointed at the silent skeletal knight. His meaning was self-evident.
Hide? Naturally, he would use physical means to conceal himself. They could simply knock out the two people in front of them and sneak past them.
Kanter felt the corners of his eyes twitching slightly after he understood Ness's plan. As expected, with Ness's behavior pattern, he would definitely choose such a "hardcore" and a "reckless" approach in disguise.
Kanter sighed and reached out a finger. A mass of darkness began to gather at his fingertip.
Not long after, the darkness covered Kanter's body and quickly spread, covering Nessie, Reynolds, and the enormous skeletal knight.
When the darkness covered them, the four of them looked like human silhouettes with their own mosaics under the light. They looked even more conspicuous than before.
Ness looked at Kanter and tried to send a message with his eyes. It's not night time yet. Let's just fight.
However, they were all pitch-black at the moment, and it was difficult to communicate with their eyes alone.
However, Kanter had his reasons for using this ability. Even if Ness hadn't asked, he would have explained, "Don't stand in the middle of the corridor. There's light above. Walk along the wall."
The light in the corridor came from above. If they walked in the middle of the corridor, they would be nothing more than a mosaic without any protection.
However, Ness and Reynolds didn't see any point in walking to the side. The corridor wasn't spacious, and the light was enough to cover the entire corridor.
If they walked to the side, the light would at most dim. They would still be discovered.
While everyone was wondering, Kanter took the lead and walked to the wall.
Then, a miraculous scene occurred. When Kanter reached the wall, his whole body melted into the environment, and not a trace of him could be seen.
"What's going on?" Reynolds asked in confusion. As a soul, he could see with his naked eye, energy eye, and Soul Eye. Even so, he couldn't see Kanter at all.
"It's a small cantrip. Just a little bit of shadow can magnify the effect," Kanter explained.
The corridor was also covered by light. However, due to the angle, there was always a faint shadow at the bottom of the corridor. Normally, these shadows wouldn't affect one's vision, but Kanter's cantrip used them to hide his body.
With Kanter's demonstration, the others followed suit and leaned against the wall.
Nice sensed the strange feeling of being covered by the shadow, and his eyes were filled with surprise. "Is this the power of the Shadow Element?"
Kanter didn't answer directly. "It's a gift from the night."
With the shadow, their movements were much easier. Even if they saw someone in front of them, they didn't hesitate to walk over.
"Number 61 and 62." When they came to the corner, the first thing they saw was the backs of a few people who had just walked away and two people standing nearby. They were wearing silver-white uniforms with the numbers 61 and 62 on their faces.
"They're researchers. I don't know what they're researching. I don't usually interact with them, "Reynolds said through the Spirit Bond.
"Researchers? Listen to what they're saying. " Ness didn't hurry to leave. They had the cover of the shadows and their abilities were enough to hide the energy waves leaking out.
Number 61 and 62 didn't stay put. Instead, they walked forward and talked. However, they did not know that there were a total of four figures hidden in the shadows beside them.
Number 62 said, "Although Number 47 said everything was under control and it's impossible for it to come to the fourth floor, I still feel uneasy."
Number 61 said, "Don't worry. All the Eyes of Power on the fourth floor have been activated. It can't come in. Even if it does come in, it won't be a problem. Unlike the previous three floors, all the control panels on the fourth floor are under control. As long as it dares to come, even if we can't kill it in a short time, we can trap it and slowly grind it down with the magic array. When the High-Sequence Beyonders come back, it'll be easy … "
As they spoke, they turned and walked into a room.
Ness and the others didn't follow. It wasn't that they didn't want to, but the mageweaths in the room were shining brightly. Number 61 and 62 might have the authority to enter directly, but once they stepped in, they might be discovered by the mageweaths.
Ness looked at the shining mageweaths in the room and sighed softly. "The fourth floor may not be as easy as the previous floors."
After a pause, Ness looked at Reynolds. "Do you know what's going on with these mageweaths?"
Reynolds was also looking at the activated mageweath at this moment, and was stunned for a while before he said, "This is a phenomenon of the Mana Array being fully activated. I remember that the last time this happened was when a combatant betrayed us. When the Mana Array is activated, there's almost nowhere to escape if you don't have the relevant authority."
Ness frowned. "In other words, as long as the mageweaths are activated, we can't enter?"
Reynolds said, "You have to have the authority to enter. Otherwise, you'll be locked by the magic array."
The magic array identified energy, so as long as there was energy in the body, it would be locked immediately. Even a truth-finder wizard couldn't escape. Only those who had mastered some special laws, or spatial wizards who were proficient in mageweaths, could enter the activated area silently through the gaps between the mageweaths.
However, spatial wizards were rare, and those who were proficient in mageweaths were even rarer. Moreover, the magic array here was set up by an enchantment warlock from the source world. In order to find the flaw in the magic array, one had to be at least as powerful as the person who set it up. The southern region was a place where enchantment warlocks were weak. It was basically impossible to find someone like that.
"Do you have the authority to enter?"
Reynolds shook his head. "It's a temporary emergency. I don't have it."
Reynolds sensed Ness' fighting spirit rising from him. He could guess what Ness was thinking, so he added, "The authority can't be taken away. Even if we capture and control someone with the authority, they won't be of much use to us. The authority is engraved on the soul mark.
Also, the authority is limited to one person. "
In other words, even if Reynolds controlled someone with the authority to enter the magic array, he would be the only one who could use that person. Reynolds couldn't bring everyone into the display room by himself.
Reynolds' words put Ness in a bad mood.
Based on the current situation, wouldn't they be unable to enter most of the rooms? What about the display room? His items were gone too.
More importantly, the information he wanted couldn't be placed in the hallway. It had to be in one of the rooms.
If he couldn't enter the room, the information would be gone.
"What should we do now?"
Kanter said, "If we don't want to force our way in, we have to wait for Angor's results."
Nessie thought for a moment, and it seemed that this was the only way. He planned to ask Toby to call Angor and tell him about the situation, but he decided against it. Angor must be studying the runes and looking for the main control node. Every time he was interrupted, he might lose his train of thought. It was better to wait until Angor finished his research.
Next, the group carefully wandered around the fourth floor while trying to locate the areas where the runes were activated.
Along the way, they encountered many researchers in silver-white uniforms. They all had one thing in common — they all looked serious and hurried, as if something dangerous was following them and they would be devoured by the darkness if they moved too slowly.
This level of cautiousness also made Ness interested in what had happened on the fourth floor.
"I heard Number 61 and Number 62 talking about something breaking into the lab," Ness said. "I think that's why the first three floors are empty."
"Is it some kind of monster?"
Number 61 and Number 62 didn't mention the name of the intruder. They only referred to it as "it". "It" usually meant "non-human" in the common language of the continent. However, sometimes "it" could also be used to refer to humans. For example, extreme humanists would refer to other people as "it" with a sense of contempt. For example, many Karabits looked down on people. Even after the Human Amendment Act had been recognized for many years, they would still refer to humans as "it".
"A monster broke into the lab? No way. It's usually hard for humans to break into a lab, "Reynolds said. He was only able to sneak into the lab because he knew the place too well. He even knew the rules of the place like the back of his hand. That was why he was able to sneak in without being noticed.
Without the guidance of someone inside, it was impossible to even enter the lab, let alone cause a storm inside.
Because … they didn't have the authority.
Ness considered and agreed. If it wasn't for Angor, they wouldn't have been able to enter the lab.
No matter how smart a monster was, it couldn't possibly know how to use runes.
"Could it be that the magical creatures in the laboratory are rioting?" "Didn't you say there are monsters in the lab? Last time, you and Nausica were chased by monsters and forced to escape, right?"
Ness hesitated. "That's possible. But even if the monsters in the lab went on a rampage, we should be able to deal with them. Besides, if we keep monsters in captivity, we must have a way to control them. "
"That's true, but how should we interpret this record?" A medical record appeared in Ness's hand. It was recorded by No. 23.
Ness flipped to the record from two days ago. It clearly stated that Number 23 was attacked by a monster and had to go into cold liquid to recover.
Number 23 didn't specify what the monster was, so they couldn't be sure whether it was a monster kept in captivity or not. However, they knew that the monster must have gone on a rampage.
Ness didn't pay much attention to it at the time. But now, it seemed that the record pointed to the source of the problem.
Combined with what Number 61 and Number 62 said, it was very likely that everyone was holed up on the fourth floor because they were being harassed by demons.
Reynolds didn't know what to say when he read the record.
"Maybe the combatants left and couldn't suppress the monsters?" Reynolds guessed, but he didn't believe it himself.
It was true that the researchers were good at research, but it was impossible to say that they couldn't fight. Wizards were all well-rounded people. Some of them were better at fighting, while others were better at research.
There was no point in talking about it. Ness considered and said, "Let's keep looking for information. Then we'll find the way to the fifth level."
There were so many people hiding in the fourth level. They didn't even care about the consumption of energy and activated all the magic arrays. It would be difficult to find anything on the fourth level. However, the fifth floor was different. According to Reynolds, the fifth floor was the private property of the top three Sequences. Even if there was a monster attack in the laboratory, they would at most escape to the fourth floor. They would not dare to trespass on the fifth floor.
Reynolds nodded. He had secretly learned a lot about the fifth level, and his goal was also on the fifth level.
But Reynolds was still worried. On the way to the fifth level, they would have to pass through many halls, such as the lab center. Would the magic arrays in those places be activated as well?
With an uneasy heart, Reynolds walked in the shadows …
…
Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor on the first level of the lab.
Because of the narrow space, the sound of footsteps reverberated with a distant and repeated ghostly sound.
"Why do I feel like my heart is skipping a beat with every step you take? It's scary," Dankros said in a trembling voice.
Angor glanced at Dankros. "Do you have a heart? And you used the wrong word. It's not 'scary'. It's' scary '. "
"…"
Angor had already left the first level's sub-control node. He was sure that the main control node was on this level. However, he still needed to confirm the exact location.
He could rely on the sub-control nodes on the second and third floors to calculate directly, but that would be a little slow. Hence, he planned to stroll around the first floor and use the mageweath distribution there to combine with the sub-control nodes on the second and third floors to finally lock onto the location of the main control node.
That was why he was wandering in the corridor.
About ten minutes later, his eyes suddenly stopped at a corner.
There was a strange energy fluctuation there. And it didn't come from the magic array.
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