Chapter 2397 Core in a Bottle <TOC> Chapter 2399 Blocking
Translator: SumTLMan
Nisi looked skeptically at the levitating Reynolds in mid-air.
At this moment, Reynolds also wore a look of surprise, his gaze fixed on the flashing red light of the Authority Eye, filled with questions.
Nisi asked, “Is this a warning that the number of items taken is close to the limit? Could it be that someone else entered the exhibition room today and took something?”
According to Reynolds, once the number of items taken from the exhibition room exceeds the limit, the Authority Eye would issue a warning.
However, Nisi had followed the rules of the exhibition room, taking only three items, which theoretically should not trigger a warning. The only possibility Nisi could think of was that he was not the only person to enter the exhibition room today. Perhaps other people, such as the researchers here, had also entered the exhibition room and taken items, so his taking three items brought the total close to the limit.
Yet, Reynolds shook his head at this time and said, “No.”
“No? Then what is it?” Nisi looked at Reynolds.
“If it were close to the limit, it should be flashing yellow as a reminder. But the light flashing from the Authority Eye now is red,” Reynolds explained, staring at the Authority Eye.
Nisi recalled Reynolds mentioning that red indicated a state more urgent than yellow. Now that the Authority Eye was flashing red, could it be… it had triggered the magical formation?
Nisi’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly asked, “What does this mean? Has the magical formation been activated? Should we leave here?”
“It’s not that. I don’t feel it’s the activation of the magical formation; it seems to be another mechanism that’s been triggered,” Reynolds said thoughtfully. “It feels familiar, but I can’t quite remember…”
After pondering for a few seconds, Reynolds suddenly had a realization, his eyes lighting up: “I remember now, my lord, I’ve remembered!”
However, Nisi didn’t turn to look at Reynolds but instead gazed solemnly towards the entrance.
On both sides of the door, two white steel cabins, embedded with various energy tubes, suddenly rose.
With a thunderous noise, the doors of the cabins automatically opened.
Two silver mechanical puppets appeared before Nisi.
Both mechanical puppets were in their bare form, not adorned with any clothing, exposing all their mechanical parts, gears, and pipes. Under the halo of light from above, their components shimmered with an unusual silver glow.
Although they were unclothed, it’s worth noting that, like Reynolds, their mechanical cheeks were also engraved with characters.
On the left, there were two “x” symbols overlaid, resembling “爻”. On the right, there were numbers, one being 19 and the other 18.
As Nisi observed them, both mechanical puppets simultaneously opened their eyes, their energy tubes instantly detaching, their bodies emitting steam and frenzied energy.
Click-clack, click-clack.
The sound of metallic footsteps echoed.
Two mechanical puppets stepped out of their cabins simultaneously.
After their three-meter-tall frames came to a halt, they slowly lowered their heads, their hollow eyes locking onto Nisi and Canter. Then, without any warning, their eyes turned red.
“Target locked, the hunt begins,” a mechanical voice emanated from both puppets.
As soon as these words were spoken, Puppet Number 19 vanished into thin air, blending into the surrounding space as if merging with the surface of the water.
The other, marked with the Number 18 on its right face, lightly leaped into the air. Its left hand grasped its right wrist, and with its right index finger extended as if it were a gun, it fired——
A colorless stream of energy shot out from the hole at its fingertip, aiming straight for Nisi.
At the same time, Reynolds snapped back to reality from his thoughts and noticed the two mechanical puppets. A look of horror flashed across his face as he yelled to Nisi, “Watch out, they are part of the ** Hunt and Kill Numbers!”
“Number 18 of the Hunt and Kill Numbers attacks with mental waves! If hit, your head will explode on the spot!”
Reynolds had barely finished his warning when the mental wave was already nearing Nisi.
But Nisi didn’t move, because in front of him, there was now an additional “person”… or rather, a knight in bone armor.
With a wave of his hand, the bone armor on the knight’s arm transformed into a massive square shield, adorned with a whale-shaped relief, signifying that the armor was derived from a whale-like sea beast.
“Shields are useless! The Hunt and Kill Numbers that can move in the exhibition room doesn’t attack the material world directly; all matter is ignored, including shields…”
Before Reynolds could finish, the mental wave emitted by Number 18 was blocked by the knight’s shield and deflected.
Reynolds’ mouth hung open in astonishment at this scene.
A bone shield… isn’t it part of the material world? How could it defend against mental waves?
Reynolds was puzzled, but if he had observed closely, he would have noticed a layer of pale blue energy attached to the knight’s shield, which was the knight’s soul power. It’s true that mental waves have difficulty causing destruction in the material world, but when colliding with soul power, which is also an energy form, a reaction naturally occurs.
After blocking a mental wave, the bone-armored knight charged forward, swinging his bone sword at Number 18.
While the bone-armored knight was entangled with Number 18, Reynolds heard the sound of wind near his ear.
Instinctively turning his head, he saw ripples in the space nearby, and a humanoid silhouette appeared next to Canter, faintly visible.
“Lord Like the Night, be careful! Number 19 of the Hunt and Kill Numbers specializes in spatial assassination…”
Before he could finish his sentence, Reynolds saw Canter casually reach into the space ripple beside him. With a boom, the mechanical puppet hidden behind the ripple turned to dust.
The dust scattered gracefully into the rifts of space.
Canter extended his hand, casually wiping it on the robe adorned with blue orchids and stars and moons he wore, before turning to Reynolds: “What did you just say?”
“Nothing, nothing at all,” Reynolds quietly closed his mouth.
Too brutal… At this moment, Reynolds could only think of these words to describe his impression of Canter.
While Reynolds was emotionally fluctuating, on the other side, with a clank, Hunt and Kill Number 18 was directly cut into two halves by the bone armor knight.
Mechanical constructs and gear chains fell scattered on the ground.
Number 18 flashed a spark of electricity, then the red light in its eyes faded away, and like Number 19, it was completely destroyed.
However, Number 18 was slightly better off than Number 19; it at least had remnants left.
The bone armor knight rummaged through the remnants of Number 18 and soon brought over a large oval crystal, handing it to Nisi.
Nisi glanced at it and raised an eyebrow: “This is a rare magical material capable of bearing mental power. It seems this was its mechanical core… Pity, it’s already been inscribed with runes, and the runes are damaged, rendering it practically useless.”
With that, Nisi casually tossed the crystal aside.
Only then did Nisi turn to Reynolds: “What did you just remember?”
“What did I remember?” Reynolds was still in a daze, unable to grasp how the formidable Hunt and Kill Numbers 18 and 19 were destroyed so effortlessly, leaving him momentarily unable to recover.
“It was right before these two broken metal puppets appeared, didn’t you say you remembered something?” Nisi said, somewhat irritably.
Reynolds paused, then came to his senses: “Oh, right… right. I remembered, I was going to say that the Authority Eye flashing red wasn’t because we triggered a magic formation, but because we’ve stayed too long.”
Nisi looked puzzled: “What? We’ve stayed too long?”
Reynolds nodded: “My memory was a bit fuzzy, I had completely forgotten these impressions until I saw the Authority Eye appear, and then I remembered another rule of the display room: each time the display room is opened, one can only stay for a maximum of 10 minutes. Once this limit is exceeded, it’s considered hostile, and the Hunt and Kill Numbers will initiate a pursuit.”
“Since this is an internal rule, a restriction on the behavior of the laboratory personnel, it doesn’t trigger the magic formation. But once you violate it, the only outcome is being hunted down by the Hunt and Kill Numbers until death.”
After finishing, Reynolds showed a look of guilt; he had only thought of this later. If he had remembered earlier, this situation could have been avoided.
“Time-limited? There’s actually a time limit?” Nisi finally understood: “An exhibition room, yet with a visiting time limit? What were they thinking?”
Canter quietly said: “Your treasure vault, doesn’t it also have a visiting…”
Nisi immediately interrupted: “That’s different. That’s a treasure vault, a ‘vault,’ a secret room. It’s normal to have strict restrictions. This is an exhibition room, what does ‘exhibition’ mean? Similar exhibition halls, galleries, it’s meant for showing to people. Setting a time limit in such a place is definitely absurd.”
Evidently, Nisi was somewhat engaging in sophistry. However, Canter didn’t mind and didn’t bother to expose him further; mentioning it occasionally and letting him stew in his own frustration was satisfying enough.
It took Nisi a while to calm down and accept the outcome. After all, they were in someone else’s laboratory, where the rules were set by others, and any additional complaints had to be kept to themselves.
“Since that Authority Eye… huh, the eye is gone? Never mind, its presence or absence doesn’t matter. What I want to know is, does the flashing red light of the Authority Eye mean that we have been discovered?”
What Nisi cared about the most was being detected by the internal staff, leading to potential obstacles in their journey ahead.
Reynolds shook his head: “That shouldn’t be the case. Each exhibition room has its own internal standards, and violating these standards would only trigger a corresponding Hunt and Kill Numbers to deal with it, without attracting the attention of others.”
After all, the laboratory was mostly occupied by researchers who were immersed in their studies. The last thing researchers wanted was to have their train of thought interrupted. Therefore, unless it was a matter of great importance, it generally wouldn’t cause much disturbance.
After saying this, Reynolds added: “Perhaps the first three numbers might notice, but they are not in the laboratory at the moment, so there’s no need to worry.”
Hearing this, Nisi breathed a sigh of relief. Not being detected by others was a relief.
However, Nisi noticed another point Reynolds mentioned: “Each exhibition room has different internal standards?”
Reynolds nodded: “Yes. The overall rules are the same, but some details differ, like you might be allowed to stay for ten minutes on this floor, but only eight minutes on the next.”
Nisi shook his head, finding the rules here nonsensical: “Weird and bizarre… We can’t stay here any longer, let’s leave.”
After leaving the exhibition room, Reynolds floated ahead again, their next destination being the second underground floor.
On their way, Nisi was still puzzled by the strange rules: “Taking more than the allowed amount of items triggers a magic formation, which might be detected by others in the laboratory. But staying too long, leading to being chased by a Hunt and Kill Numbers, won’t be noticed by others. The standards here are indeed strange.”
“The former scenario is basically impossible. If it occurs, it indicates a potential theft. Whether it’s an internal theft or an external person entering to steal, it’s a major issue for the entire laboratory, involving many people, so it’s naturally more serious,” Reynolds explained. “As for exceeding the time limit, it might be due to carelessness, which is considered a minor offense.”
Reynolds spoke logically, but Nisi, already biased, still felt something was wrong.
Thus, as they discussed “violations and penalties,” their figures walked deeper and deeper until they disappeared into the darkness, vanishing into the quiet first floor.
…
Time continued to pass, and after an indeterminate period, Angel lifted his head from a corner on the first floor.
The narrow corridors still surrounded him, with diverging paths at every turn.
He had been studying the runes, following their flow aimlessly, now unsure of his whereabouts.
Angel looked towards Toby, perched on his shoulder, and asked, “How far are we from the entrance?”
Toby yawned, chirped a few times as if to say: Go forward… then turn left… and there you will be.
Seeing Toby remembered the way, Angel felt somewhat relieved.
Even if Toby had forgotten the way, Angel wasn’t too worried. If necessary, he could simply trace the flow of the runes backward to return to the starting point.
Angel’s emergence from his deep dive into the study of the runes wasn’t due to being lost. He had discovered some characteristics of the magical formation and planned to discuss it with the others.
With this thought, Angel delved into the mental connection.
The mental connection was unusually quiet, prompting Angel to murmur in surprise: Nisi is actually silent, how odd.
Dismissing irrelevant thoughts, Angel spoke through the mental connection: “Where are you all now?”
Silence followed, with no response.
After half a minute, Angel, puzzled, asked again: “What’s your situation now? Wizard Nisi, Lord Canter, Reynolds?”
Still, no response… No, this time someone did speak.
“Chirp chirp.”
“The esteemed Lord Toby, your voice is as melodious in the mental connection as it is in person.”
Angel: “…”
Without guessing, it was clear the first was Toby, and the second, Dangros.
Ignoring the banter between the two, Angel directly asked Dangros: “I asked you to pay attention to their conversation. Did they say anything? Why are they silent now? If something happened, why didn’t you inform me?”
Dangros, with an eye blinking in the palm of his hand, looked innocent: “Nothing happened.”
“If nothing happened, why is there silence?”
Dangros shrugged: “I don’t know. Before they stopped talking, I didn’t hear any strange conversation from their side.”
“What were they discussing before the mental connection went silent?”
After thinking, Dangros replied: “Something about behavioral norms and sentencing for punishments. Yes, that was it.”
“What? Repeat that.”
Dangros repeated, and Toby chirped timely, affirming the truth.
“Behavioral norms? Sentencing for punishments?”
Angel was utterly baffled. How did their conversation suddenly shift to such an odd topic?