Chapter 2623 Fragrance and Borne Dream <TOC> Chapter 2625 The Crown and the Fragrances
Next page password is bold portion: b?Ofev2xlyoH
Translator: SumTLMan
Because he feared damaging these painstakingly repaired and remade ornaments, Angel decided to forgo touching them directly and instead used mental power to investigate the various traces here.
Previously, he had only used “Danger Sense” to probe a bit and hadn’t discovered any traps.
Now, upon closer inspection, considering that everywhere here is ingeniously yet delicately designed, it’s indeed impossible to set up any traps. Even those two armored knights cultivating are just in the simplest static embrace, which is evident.
Moreover, that Wizard Eye Ghost was obviously afraid of excessively remodeling the room, causing the magic formation to backlash. So, it covered the walls with curtains, and the floor was adorned with pebbles and carpets.
After roughly exploring, Angel did not find anything unusual… Well, there were even fewer treasures.
The only item with traces of the extraordinary was a somewhat old and yellowed square box beside the pillow of the soft bed with gauze curtains.
This box felt cold to the touch, not made of metal but of bone. It’s impossible to determine which creature’s bone it is specifically, but this bone has the property of isolating energy probing, probably coming from an extraordinary creature.
Although the box can isolate energy probing, the effect is not that great; perhaps over time, the degree of energy isolation has become very thin.
If Angel really wanted to investigate the contents of the box, he could still use mental power to probe. However, this thing is already old and yellowed, even with faint cracks; Angel was afraid that forcibly probing might directly cause the box to fall apart, so he didn’t explore inside.
Besides, the box itself wasn’t locked; there was no need to cause damage.
Angel wasn’t particularly interested in the contents of the box for now because there was no energy or aura leaking from inside; presumably, it also contained mundane items.
However, some patterns and characters on the box’s shell did attract Angel’s attention. A simple hollowed-out emblem was carved on the lid, half of which was broken, but from the other half, it can roughly be seen that it seems to be “a Garden City bathed in sunlight.”
Below this emblem, there was a row of characters carved in the same hollowed-out style, but a large part of them was already damaged. Angel could barely make out “XX Forbidden Prison, Experiment Building No. XXX.”
The front is text, and from the last few faintly visible characters, it may be numbers, but the specific numbers are mostly worn away.
However, from these words and the subsequent serial numbers, it can be basically determined that this is a mass-produced box. Presumably, it was distributed to many institutions, and this box belonged to a certain “Forbidden Prison.”
Angel didn’t know where that Wizard Eye Ghost had picked up this box. If it was found here, perhaps this place is the so-called “Experiment Building No. X of Forbidden Prison”?
Angel then looked at the other sides of the box; there were no traces on the sides, but on the back appeared a familiar carved pattern.
——A silver serpent entwined around a bone staff.
If it was the first time seeing it, Angel might have been surprised. But on the fragments of instruments in that previous laboratory, Angel had seen the exact same emblem.
Therefore, when seeing this emblem that seems related to the “Laudsourcians” again, Angel’s mood didn’t have much fluctuation.
Perhaps the Laudsourcians really had something to do with Nightfall City, even participating in some of Nightfall City’s experiments… But these are matters of the past, and Angel doesn’t want to delve into them at this moment.
However, he could inform Totoro about the findings here.
Totoro is a person without a past, and having no past is a very sad thing. You don’t know where you come from, why you exist, nor your future path. If Totoro wants to pursue his people’s past, to search for his own past, perhaps the Garden Labyrinth would be a starting point.
However, the current Totoro, although his prophetic abilities are unmatched, his personal strength is really insufficient. So even if he tells Totoro, Angel will let him wait until his wings are fully fledged before making a decision.
As for hiding the truth from Totoro now and telling him later, Angel had never considered such a scenario.
Firstly, he didn’t want to conceal anything from Totoro, and besides, he might not be able to hide it even if he tried. Secondly, based on his understanding of Totoro, he still didn’t see himself as a Laudsourcian, and his sense of belonging to the group was very low. Even if he told him, Totoro probably wouldn’t pursue it now.
Perhaps only when Totoro becomes a formal wizard and undergoes the Source Fire baptism at the Ancestral Altar will he gain more awareness? By then, Angel believed Totoro would be able to stand on his own. Whether he chose to seek his past or continue being himself, Angel would support him unconditionally.
“Is there really any treasure here?” Angel’s deep thoughts were finally interrupted by Daus’ incessant questioning through the mental connection.
Daus said: “Where are you? I want to come over and take a look. You’re the leader; you can’t keep things to yourself!”
Earlier, Daus had been shouting, but Angel hadn’t responded. Now that he had almost finished his investigation, he could reply.
“I accidentally discovered a room, which should be the room of that Wizard Eye Ghost outside. The furnishings here resemble an ordinary girl’s boudoir…” Angel paused and rephrased: “Or rather, this is just an ordinary girl’s boudoir.”
Daus exclaimed: “An ordinary girl? You mean that Wizard Eye Ghost?”
Angel replied: “You could think of it that way. Since this is an ‘ordinary’ girl’s boudoir, there definitely won’t be the treasures you were imagining.”
Setting aside the two armored Wizard Eye Ghosts, Angel briefly described the situation inside.
“Fragile yet carrying a Wizard Eye Ghost’s pursuit of beauty?” After listening, Daus curled his lips: “I think you don’t need to be so cautious. Breaking is beauty. Those ruins and wastelands have a certain aesthetic, don’t they? Right, Kael?”
To support his twisted logic, Daus even pulled Kael into the conversation. However, Kael was indeed a lover of ruins, so he agreed with Daus’ words. He just didn’t dare to speak up in the mental connection.
“Coward,” Daus scolded Kael, then said to Angel through the mental connection: “Back to the point, according to what you said, the only treasure there is the box in your hand?”
“This doesn’t really count as a treasure. It just has some traces of transcendence, very faint, not very useful,” Angel said casually.
“What’s inside the box?”
“I don’t know.”
Upon learning that Angel hadn’t opened the box yet, Daus’ tone immediately became excited: “Then hurry up and open it! Maybe there’s a treasure inside.”
Angel said: “Personally, I think… you might be dreaming.”
Although Angel hadn’t opened the box, when he was flipping it around to examine different sides, he could hear the clinking sounds from inside.
There were two types of sounds: one resembled the muffled scraping when metal collided with glass, and the other sounded like glass clinking against glass.
Setting aside the first for now, the latter sound was all too familiar to Angel.
The clinking of potion bottles colliding, that was the sound… low-grade, generic glass potion bottles.
Based on these two types of sounds, Angel could already guess what was inside.
——Perfume bottles and some kind of metal object… perhaps jewelry?
There was a faint fragrance in the room, but Angel hadn’t found its source. He initially thought the perfume was carried by the Wizard Eye Ghost. But now, hearing the sound of potion bottles colliding, he could basically confirm that what’s inside was perfume.
“I’m dreaming? Although I know you’re insulting me, as long as you honestly tell me what’s inside the box, I can admit I’m dreaming,” Daus said. He was extremely bored at the moment; the only thing that could pique his interest was the unknown box in Angel’s possession.
Curiosity about the unknown is an innate human instinct, and an unopened box can ignite people’s desire to explore.
This kind of situation doesn’t only exist in the Wizarding World; in human culture on Earth, it also exists.
In mythology, it’s called Pandora’s Box.
In reality, it’s called opening blind boxes.
And what Angel was about to do now was… live unboxing a blind box.
Angel could sense Daus’ fervent emotions, as well as Vai and Kael quietly anticipating the box’s contents.
Since they were so curious, Angel thought for a moment and decided to try a remote live broadcast.
Although everyone was enveloped in the fixed illusion Angel had set up, and they weren’t far from him, Angel was now inside a sealed building, and within an expanded space inside the building.
Multiple magic formations were blocking him, making it really difficult to control the illusion nodes outside.
This made Angel admire the Black Count. The mental connection set up by the Black Count remained exceptionally smooth. If it were Angel’s mental connection, it would have been cut off by the magic formations as soon as he entered the building.
It could only be said that the Black Count was indeed a big shot; the details reveal true skill.
Angel tried several times in a row but couldn’t manipulate the illusion nodes outside until he began to mobilize the Nightmare Aura, and only then did he get a response from the external illusion.
However, the responding illusion nodes were still very weak, possibly because Angel hadn’t left much Nightmare Aura outside.
But if it’s just live-streaming the unboxing of a blind box, and not showing all the details of the entire room, it should be fine… right?
With a tentative attitude, Angel began his first live blind box unboxing.
…
At this moment, the group eagerly awaiting Angel to reveal the contents of the box suddenly felt a slight change in the surrounding illusion.
Amid the Black Count’s puzzled “Huh,” an illusion light screen, small as a dinner plate, appeared before everyone.
Angel tried manipulating the illusion nodes, simulating a hand waving.
“Can you see my hand waving?” came Angel’s voice through the mental connection.
Daus stared blankly at the scene before him: “…Is that your hand?”
“Yes, it seems you can see it. Since you can, I’ll prepare to open the box.”
After speaking, Angel quickly manipulated the illusion light screen to simulate the appearance of the box.
Although Angel could have directly revealed the answer, he decided to go through a “ceremonial” process after some thought.
He then simulated his own hands, pointing at the box while explaining: “This is the box you’ve been thinking about. Looks quite ordinary, doesn’t it?”
“In fact, it is indeed quite ordinary, and many parts are tattered.” Angel even began adjusting the “camera,” zooming in to let everyone see the carvings on the lid.
Because of his experience manipulating the Drama Shadow Box, Angel was extremely smooth in making camera transitions. These visual changes, combined with his verbal explanations, indeed enhanced everyone’s sense of participation.
Even the Black Count was watching Angel’s tinkering “live stream” with surprise and curiosity at this moment.
The Black Count naturally knew that Angel was just manipulating illusions and wasn’t actually transmitting his current view, but he had to admit that this was the first time he’d seen such a format. Plus, with Angel’s continuous explanations, the immersion really came through.
However, although there was immersion, thinking that Angel was just performing illusion transformations, or, put bluntly, monkey tricks, the Black Count felt a subtle strangeness. Most importantly, Angel was explaining in the mental connection in a serious and methodical manner, as if genuinely sharing his insights with everyone.
“How are you managing not to feel embarrassed?” At this moment, the Black Count really wanted to ask this question.
Based on his understanding of Angel, he shouldn’t be doing such awkward things… Although this format is indeed interesting, it’s a bit odd for Angel to be doing it.
What the Black Count didn’t know was that Angel’s enlightenment was completely different from others. Under Jon’s guidance, he understood much of Earth’s culture, so under this premise, Angel didn’t feel this format was awkward.
Moreover, Angel had made many Drama Shadow Boxes himself; in his view, the Drama Shadow Box and the current situation were similar. The only difference was that he added self-commentary here to enhance others’ immersion.
Besides, Angel couldn’t manipulate many illusion nodes; the illusion light screen was only the size of a dinner plate, and they couldn’t see his face. What was there to be embarrassed about?
Initially, the Black Count wondered whether Angel would get stuck in awkward small talk, but Angel spoke very calmly, like a classroom instructor, unhurriedly sharing his insights about the box. He wasn’t embarrassed, but the Black Count instead felt embarrassed.
The Black Count didn’t want to feel embarrassed for Angel. After forcibly suppressing his discomfort, he instead let it go. As long as Angel’s illusions presented the real picture, it wasn’t considered monkey tricks.
If Angel had faked it, treating them like fools, they would sense it. When Angel returned, there would naturally be appropriate “repercussions.”
After letting go, the Black Count no longer felt awkward and watched carefully. At the same time, he felt that Angel was becoming more and more interesting… Unfortunately, the only flaw was that he took Sanders as his mentor.
On the other hand, Daus and the others didn’t think Angel was playing tricks. It’s not that they didn’t consider that possibility, but they felt there was no need for Angel to deceive them in this way.
Moreover, satisfying their curiosity about the unknown wasn’t a bad thing in itself.
…
“We’ve pretty much looked at the box’s exterior; now it’s time to open it. To be honest, I already have a rough idea of what’s inside. Unfortunately, I didn’t leave many special illusion nodes outside, so I can’t simulate sounds. Otherwise, just by hearing the sounds, you’d be able to guess what’s inside.”
At this moment, Angel, sitting cross-legged on the rain flower stone, was both talking to himself and truly, as the illusion image showed, methodically presenting the real situation.
He didn’t randomly fabricate illusions because there was no need. Besides, if he were making up fake images while providing real-time explanations through the mental connection, that would be somewhat challenging for Angel, who was trying “live streaming” for the first time.
In everyone’s eyes, and in Angel’s own eyes, he reached out and slowly opened the box.
There was nothing unusual, no traps; the box was easily opened, revealing its contents.
Inside the box, there were only three items.
Exactly as Angel had guessed: two bottles of perfume and a metal ornament.
Angel said: “See, I told you you were dreaming, but you didn’t believe me. Now, has the dream ended?”
Daus replied: “…Are you sure you didn’t cheat?”
Angel didn’t respond to this, just snorted coldly. Whether he cheated or not, if they really investigated, could they not tell with their abilities?
Moreover, the Black Count was also watching the illusion light screen; Angel didn’t have the guts to treat the Black Count like a fool.
Daus sighed: “Alright, I believe you. I really was dreaming today…”
That Daus would back down was something Angel had anticipated long ago, so he wasn’t surprised. He didn’t continue to mock Daus but instead took out the three items from the box.
Although they weren’t particularly valuable items, perhaps like the carvings on the box lid, they might have some residual information.
Chapter 2623 Fragrance and Borne Dream <TOC> Chapter 2625 The Crown and the Fragrances