Chapter 2420 Number 01’s Story <TOC> Chapter 2422 Rejection Mechanism
Translator: SumTLMan
“It seems that the misty shadow indeed came to the hidden room before,” Angel mused, puzzled by his inability to locate the misty shadow’s position during his monitoring at the sub-control node.
But how did it enter the hidden room?
Could it be that a semi-void state allows it to ignore the walls inscribed with magic formations? If that’s the case, it could leave the laboratory anytime and wouldn’t need to possess Reynolds’ body.
Unless its goal wasn’t to leave but to accomplish something within the laboratory.
And this task had to be carried out with a physical body in the material world.
What could its purpose be? Angel couldn’t help but recall the Fire Scale Familiar recklessly setting fires in the corridors. Could its arson be related to its goal?
“Or maybe, it aims to cause trouble? To destroy the laboratory?”
Angel shook his head, unable to deduce the misty shadow’s intentions and decided to put the matter aside for now.
“Angel, why have you suddenly gone silent?” At that moment, Nisi’s voice echoed in the mental connection.
Angel replied, “It’s nothing, I just found out that Reynolds’ body was apparently in the hidden room of room number 01.”
“The hidden room of room number 01? Number 01 is practically the leader of the base, isn’t he? Why would he be so interested in Reynolds’ body?” Nisi murmured, wondering, “Could it be that he’s after the mascot’s luck?”
Considering Number 01’s current predicament, Angel felt that Nisi’s speculation might actually be correct.
Despite Number 01’s current extreme actions, it didn’t necessarily mean he had lost his sanity. It was more about losing hope and resorting to desperation. However, if there was even a sliver of hope, he would certainly not let it go.
In Number 01’s eyes, Reynolds, with his innate luck aura, might represent that tiny bit of hope.
Even if this luck seemed trivial, Number 01 was willing to try it out, which is why Reynolds’ body was kept intact in the most secret part of the entire laboratory.
“Right, what was that about a discovery you mentioned earlier?” Seeing Nisi continuing to mumble to himself, Canter interjected.
Angel replied, “It’s about letters from Number 01 to the River Legacy Society and some void merchant groups, around a hundred of them.”
“Letters? You only found letters in the hidden room, nothing else?” Nisi didn’t immediately ask about the contents of the letters, assuming Angel would eventually share. Nisi was more interested in the hidden room itself. In his view, the only unexplorable hidden room in the entire laboratory should hold some secret.
Angel was about to leave when he heard Nisi’s comment and paused.
He turned to look at the narrow room, which, apart from a laboratory bench, was empty.
And on the lab bench, there were only letters.
This indeed didn’t match the expectations for this room. Did Number 01 create this hidden chamber just to hide these few letters?
Angel pondered for a moment before returning to the vicinity of the laboratory bench, where he meticulously inspected what appeared to be a standard-issue lab bench.
On the surface, everything seemed normal; however, when Angel attempted to probe the interior of the lab bench with his mental power, he was blocked by a familiar force.
This was the power of runes.
To an average wizard, the presence of runes on a lab bench wouldn’t be alarming. Standard-issue lab benches come equipped with temperature control and cleaning runes, and according to the needs of different wizards, other types of barrier runes might be added.
But Angel was different from the rest; he had a profound understanding of runes. Indeed, he detected the “temperature control” and “cleaning” runes on the lab bench, but he also discovered other runes:
“Concealment, energy blocking, and camouflage.”
These runes concealed secrets, then blocked mental probing, and used camouflage runes for energy feedback.
This could lead a probing person to subconsciously overlook the secrets within.
This was considered a rune trap.
“I almost fell for the trap,” Angel muttered to himself. If not for Nisi’s reminder, he likely would have overlooked it too.
This was a lesson in inexperience.
He had assumed that the lab bench was a “standard model,” which represented a classic and difficult to modify design. Little did he know, Number 01 had actually modified it.
After identifying the problem, solving it became straightforward.
The magic formation on the lab bench was not connected to the laboratory; it was independent, making it easy to break.
However, Angel did not intend to break the magic formation but rather to activate it directly.
This magic formation was encrypted with a specific aura, recognizing only Number 01’s aura. It was not difficult to obtain Number 01’s aura, as the outside training field was filled with wild blood energy.
By collecting some of this using special means, he could easily activate the magic formation.
This detail suggested that the modification of the lab bench’s magic formation was definitely not done by Number 01. If it had been, he wouldn’t have placed the hidden room within the training field… If someone were to break in, the blood energy of the training field would serve as the enemy’s password.
It took only a few seconds for the magic formation to be successfully activated.
Before Angel’s eyes, the lab bench slowly split into two, and a new platform rose from the middle.
In the center of this new platform lay a small box that could be lifted with one hand.
“Is this the secret Number 01 hid?” With curiosity, and because the box was unlocked, Angel opened it.
However, the box was empty, devoid of anything.
The only visible aspect was that the interior of the box was divided into two sections, suggesting by the shapes pressed into the velvet lining below that it previously contained two objects resembling bottles.
Angel carefully inspected the box, ensuring nothing was overlooked, only to regretfully place it back on the platform.
“How is it? What was inside?” Nisi’s voice came through the mental connection.
“There was nothing inside the box,” Angel reported while activating the magic formation, thus keeping Nisi informed about the situation on his end.
Nisi sounded somewhat disappointed: “I see… It looks like Number 01 has already taken them.”
Angel then left the hidden room, preparing to head back along the way to the first level. As he walked, Angel relayed the contents of the letter, briefly summarizing the situation.
“…That’s basically the situation,” Angel said upon reaching the external passageway from the fifth to the first level, having finished explaining the current predicament of Number 01.
After Angel finished, there was a pause from Nisi and Canter on the other end of the mental connection.
This matter concerned a significant figure in the Source World, requiring them to contemplate the next steps. It was evident that Number 01 had already begun hunting, and attempting to stop him now might be too late. If Gruz De Weld was indeed enraged by this, staying nearby might put them at risk of being affected.
As Canter and the others pondered their next actions, Angel entered the external corridor.
The journey was smooth until Angel, ascending the stairs to the first level, suddenly noticed a series of footprints on the ground.
A faint chill lingered near the footprints, indicating they had appeared not long before.
Undoubtedly, these were the footprints of Reynolds, possessed by the misty shadow.
However, Angel was puzzled, as there had been no footprints along the way until now. Why had they suddenly appeared here?
Continuing upwards, close to the entrance of the first level, Angel spotted another mark on the ground, this time not a footprint but a handprint.
Looking at the two handprints and a suddenly elongated footprint behind them, Angel could almost visualize the scene: “Reynolds” was walking up the stairs when he suddenly slipped, failed to stabilize himself, and took a Hard Fall, landing upside down.
Although it’s rare for humans with normal limbs to take such falls, the entity was “Reynolds,” possessed by the misty shadow, perhaps unfamiliar with human walking mechanics, or maybe “Reynolds,” having been “frozen” for too long, had stiff limbs, which could explain the fall.
Therefore, seeing the fall marks on the ground didn’t surprise Angel; he glanced at them and moved on towards the exit to the first level.
As soon as he emerged from the exit, Angel sensed something was wrong.
Everything looked normal to the naked eye, but the air carried a scent of blood.
Angel did not immediately follow the bloody scent but first glanced at the ground. The level was smooth, but in some areas, the outlines of footprints could still be faintly seen, and there was a cold air dissipating nearby.
Previously, Angel thought of heading to the main control node upon reaching this level to search for Reynolds’ whereabouts. However, now it seemed there might be no need to go to the main control node; following the footprints should lead to the target.
After confirming the direction the footprints extended, Angel began to sniff for the source of the bloody scent again.
He discovered that the direction from which the bloody scent wafted was precisely the direction Reynolds had headed.
“Could it be that Reynolds’ physical body is injured?” Angel was somewhat puzzled; otherwise, where would the bloody scent come from? Yet, if there truly were injuries, why hadn’t he smelled them in the external corridor earlier?
Soon, Angel arrived at the location of the bloody scent.
He looked at the corridor not far away, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.
This seemed to be a very ordinary corridor, one he had passed through on his way down earlier. However, at this moment, the corridor had become somewhat disordered, with the energy of rampaging winds still lingering in the air and a few spots of blood scattered on the level.
Angel’s eyebrows furrowed because he knew the situation at hand.
The trap of this corridor had been activated.
Once activated, this corridor would release a massive amount of violent wind energy in a short period. This wind energy could form tornadoes or turn into wind blades, attacking everything living in the corridor indiscriminately.
It sounded dangerous, but in reality, it was not so. The corridor’s trap was trigger-based, and as long as one did not touch the walls on either side and walked straight through, there would be no problem.
Because the trigger method was easy to avoid, Angel was puzzled.
Normally, when someone knows there are mechanical traps in an unfamiliar place, they would not touch things randomly, especially when the opponent was the misty shadow.
Moreover, misty shadow had previously controlled the Fire Scale Familiar to run from the first to the fifth level without encountering any traps. Why did it encounter one this time?
With doubts, Angel entered the corridor.
While walking, he paid attention to the details around him. His eyes were noticeably brighter than usual, an effect of the “True Sight” being activated.
Using the insight of True Sight, Angel quickly found the trigger point of the trap.
Then, Angel looked around the trigger point again and saw a familiar trace.
It was a footprint that had been stretched out in an instant.
This was very similar to the footprint he had seen in the external corridor when someone had fallen. If it really was due to a fall… Angel seemed to understand why the trap was triggered.
It seems that misty shadow slipped here, and subconsciously touched the walls on both sides, then the trap was triggered, the wind blades swept across, and blood blossomed.
Everything seemed to be a coincidence, but Angel felt that something was a bit off.
Because Reynolds was injured in this wind corridor, it became easier to track him down. The bloodstains and scents dispersing in the air could lead the way.
However, as Angel advanced, his frown deepened.
He was about to reach the tenth corridor. In the nine corridors before this, only two had traps, and both were trigger-type traps.
Unfortunately, the traps in those two corridors had been triggered.
Moreover, the triggerer showed clear signs of having been caught in the act. For now, it’s assumed that their falling was caused by “losing their balance,” but what about this corridor in front of him?
Why was the trap in this corridor also triggered?
This corridor had a trap, also of the trigger-type, but its trigger point was a very hidden button. It was not usually triggered by enemies, but by allies who discovered danger and quietly pressed the corridor’s trap to eliminate the threat.
Such a trap, unless there’s an outsider present, would imply that someone triggered it on purpose… which could only mean they were meddling unnecessarily.
The air was still filled with the hissing of an “electric field.”
Even though the electric field was dying down, it still carried a remarkable deterrent force, showcasing the power of this trap, which was the most formidable among all triggered traps so far.
As Angel walked through, he could still feel a tingling sensation on his skin.
One could imagine that the injury Reynolds suffered when he triggered the trap must have been quite severe.
Angel continued until he reached the button of the trap.
Upon seeing the charred marks near the button, the support marks on the nearby pipes, and the residual scratches on the ground, Angel could almost visualize the scene.
Reynolds stumbled again near here but didn’t fall. Instead, he twisted his foot and, while leaning on a nearby pipe for support, unknowingly pressed the hidden trap button…
Was this another coincidence?
If it really happened as Angel envisioned, without external forces intervening, it indeed seemed like a coincidence.
But such coincidences had been encountered too often before.
All these coincidences led to only one outcome: the trap was triggered, and Reynolds was injured.
In conclusion, it was a string of bad luck.
Chapter 2420 Number 01’s Story <TOC> Chapter 2422 Rejection Mechanism