Chapter 2420: Chapter 2421: Stumble
"It seems that the Mist Shadow did indeed come to the hidden room earlier." No wonder when monitoring the nodes, Angel had never been able to locate the Mist Shadow.
But how did it enter the hidden room?
Could it be that the semi-void state can ignore the walls inscribed with the Magical Energy Array? If thatâs the case, it could leave the laboratory at any time, so why bother possessing Reynaud?
Unless its goal isnât to leave, but to do something inside the laboratory.
And this process must be conducted with a corporeal form in the Material Realm.
What could its goal be? Angel couldnât help but think of the first time he saw the Fire Scale Demon, recklessly setting fire in the corridor; could its arson have something to do with its goal?
"Or is it trying to stir up trouble? Destroy the laboratory?"
Angel shook his head, unable to guess the Mist Shadowâs intentions, and could only temporarily set it aside.
"Angel, why did you suddenly stop talking over there?" At this time, Nisâs voice appeared in the Mind Ribbon.
Angel: "Itâs nothing, I just found out that Reynaudâs body seemed to have been hidden in 01âs hidden room earlier."
"01âs hidden room? 01 is practically the leader of the base now, why is he so interested in Reynaudâs body?" Nis muttered: "Could it be that he also values the luck of the mascot?"
Considering 01âs current situation, Angel thought Nisâs speculation might indeed be correct.
Despite 01âs current madness, it doesnât mean heâs truly insane; itâs just that he sees no hope, so heâs going berserk. But if there was even a sliver of hope, he definitely wouldnât let it go.
Perhaps in 01âs eyes, Reynaud, with his natural luck aura, is that small glimmer of hope.
No matter how insignificant this luck might be, 01 would be willing to try, which is why Reynaudâs body is perfectly preserved in the most secret part of the laboratory.
"By the way, what did you say you discovered earlier?" Seeing Nis muttering beside him, Kanter asked.
Angel: "Itâs letters from 01 to the Lacey Association and some Void merchant guilds, about a hundred of them."
"Letters? You only found letters in the hidden room and nothing else?" Nis didnât immediately ask about the letterâs content, as Angel would eventually mention it anyway. Instead, Nis was more interested in the hidden room itself, believing it must hold some secret.
Angel was already preparing to leave, but paused at Nisâs words.
He turned to look at this narrow room, which had nothing in it besides the lab table.
And on the lab table, there were only the letters.
This seemed a bit inconsistent with the placeâs significance; did 01 create this hidden chamber just to store a few letters?
Angel thought for a moment and returned to the lab table, carefully examining what appeared to be a standard lab table.
Externally, there seemed to be nothing wrong, but when Angel tried to probe the lab tableâs interior with his spiritual power, he was blocked by a familiar force.
This was the power of the Magic Pattern.
Most Wizards wouldnât be concerned if they sensed Magic Patterns on a lab table because standard lab tables come with temperature control and cleansing Magic Patterns, and might also have additional Magic Patterns according to a Wizardâs needs.
However, Angel was different; he had a deep understanding of Magic Patterns. Indeed, he sensed the "temperature control" and "cleansing" Magic Patterns on the lab table but also discovered other Magic Tattoo Horns:
"Concealment, energy blockage, and disguise."
These Magic Patterns concealed secrets, blocked spiritual power, and used disguised Magic Patterns for energy feedback.
This would subconsciously lead investigators to overlook hidden secrets.
Itâs a type of Magic Pattern trick.
"Almost got tricked." Angel mused silently; without Nisâs reminder, he might have overlooked it.
He realized he lacked experience.
Thinking the lab table was a "standard model," which symbolizes classic design and is hard to modify. Who knew 01 had actually modified it.
After identifying the problem, resolving it became easy.
The Magical Energy Array on the lab table wasnât connected to the laboratory and was independent, making it easy to crack.
However, Angel didnât plan on cracking the Magical Energy Array but instead decided to activate it directly.
The Magical Energy Array recognized only 01âs aura. Obtaining 01âs aura wasnât difficult, as the training ground outside was full of raging blood energy.
Using some special methods to collect it could easily activate the Magical Energy Array.
This detail indicated that 01 likely didnât alter the lab table; if he had, he wouldnât have placed the hidden room inside the training ground... If anyone broke in, the training groundâs blood energy would become the intruderâs access key.
In just a few seconds, the Magical Energy Array activated smoothly.
Before Angelâs eyes, the lab table slowly split into two halves, and a new platform rose from the middle.
At the center of this new platform was a small box, light enough to be lifted with one hand.
"Is this the secret 01 hid?" Seeing that the box wasnât locked, Angel, curious, opened it.
However, it was completely empty inside.
The only visible thing was that the box interior was divided into two sections, and the impressions left on the velvet suggested that there had been two bottle-like objects inside.
Angel carefully checked the box to ensure nothing was overlooked, then regretfully placed it back on the platform.
"So, what was inside?" came Nisâs voice through the Mind Ribbon.
"The box was empty." Angel had been broadcasting the situation since activating the Magical Energy Array, so Nis knew what was happening.
Nis seemed a bit disappointed: "Oh... It looks like 01 already took it."
By now, Angel had left the hidden room and was preparing to return to the first floor via the usual path. As he walked, he briefly recapped the lettersâ contents.
"...Thatâs the basic situation." By the time Angel reached the outer passage from the fifth to the first floor, he had finished describing 01âs current position.
After Angel finished speaking, neither Nis nor Kanter immediately responded through the Mind Ribbon.
This matter involved a significant figure from the Origin World, and they needed to consider the next steps. 01 had clearly begun the hunt, and it might already be too late to stop him. If Gluz Deward were indeed enraged, those nearby could inadvertently get caught up in it.
While Kanter and the others contemplated their next move, Angel stepped into the auxiliary corridor.
The journey was smooth, but as Angel stepped onto the stairs heading to the first floor, he suddenly saw a series of footprints on the ground.
There was a slight chill near the footprints, and judging by the depth of the marks, they seemed to have appeared not too long ago.
Undoubtedly, this must be Reynaud, possessed by the mist shadow, who left them as he passed by.
However, Angel was a bit puzzled. There were no footprints earlier along the way, so why did they suddenly appear here?
As Angel continued upwards and was about to approach the entrance to the first floor, he saw another mark on the ground, but this time it wasnât a footprint; it was a handprint.
Looking at the two handprints, along with a suddenly elongated footprint behind them.
Angel could almost visualize the scene at that time: "Reynaud" was walking on the stairs, and suddenly his foot slipped, and he couldnât steady his body, resulting in a heavy fall, landing flat on his back.
Although for a normal human, the chance of tripping isnât high, the opposing party is "Reynaud" possessed by the mist shadow, who might not understand human walking methodsâor maybe Reynaud was "frozen" too long, with stiff limbs, which might lead to a fall.
So, upon seeing the signs of a fall on the ground, Angel didnât find it strange and simply glanced at it before heading toward the exit on the first floor.
Just as he stepped out of the exit, Angel sensed something amiss.
Everything seemed normal visually, but the air carried a hint of a bloody scent.
Instead of immediately pursuing the bloody smell, Angel first cast his gaze on the ground. The ground was smooth, but in some places, he could vaguely discern the outline of footprints and a chill lingering nearby.
Earlier, Angel thought about visiting the main control node to search for Reynaudâs whereabouts once he reached the first floor. But now it seemed unnecessaryâto follow the footprints alone might lead him right to the target.
After confirming the direction the footprints extended, Angel started sniffing to locate the source of the bloody smell.
He found that the bloody scent wafted in the direction Reynaud was heading.
"Could it be, Reynaudâs corporeal body is injured?" Angel wondered, otherwise, where would the bloody smell be coming from? But if he were truly injured, why hadnât he smelled anything earlier in the outer corridor?
Soon, Angel arrived at the source of the bloody smell.
He stared at the corridor not far away, his brows tightly furrowed.
The corridor appeared quite ordinary, and he had walked it before when heading down. But now, the corridor had become somewhat chaotic, with rampant wind energy lingering in the air and some blood splatter on the floor.
The reason Angel furrowed his brows was that he knew what had happened here.
The trap in this corridor was activated.
Once activated, the corridor would shortly release a massive amount of violent wind energy, which either formed wind vortexes or transformed into wind blades, indiscriminately attacking everything in the corridor.
Though it sounded dangerous, it wasnât actually soâthe corridorâs trap was trigger-type, so as long as one didnât touch the walls on either side and walked straight through, there wouldnât be any problem.
Because the trigger method is easily avoidable, Angel was perplexed.
Normally, upon entering an unfamiliar place known to have trap mechanisms, one wouldnât touch things randomly. Especially considering the other party is a mist shadow.
Additionally, the mist shadow previously controlled the fire-scale summoned demon to run from the first floor to the fifth, and it hadnât encountered any traps at that time, so why did it now?
With doubts in mind, Angel entered the corridor.
As he walked, he paid attention to the details around him. His eyes were noticeably brighter than usual, a result of the "True Sight" being activated.
Using the True Sightâs insight, Angel quickly discovered the trapâs trigger point.
Then, Angel looked around near the trigger point again and noticed a familiar mark.
It was an instantly elongated footprint.
This was very similar to the footprints he had previously seen in the outer corridorâthe ones left from the fall. If they really resulted from a fall... Angel seemed to understand why the trap got triggered.
Presumably, the mist shadowâs foot slipped here, instinctively touching the walls on either side. Consequently, the trap was triggered, the wind blades cut through, blood flowers blossomed.
It seemed like a mere coincidence, but Angel felt that something was odd.
Since Reynaud got injured in this windy corridor, it became easier to track him down. By following the blood trail and the information dispersed in the air, one could chase after him.
However, as Angel progressed, his brows furrowed deeper.
He was about to reach the tenth corridor. Among the previous nine corridors, only two had traps, both being trigger-type traps.
But somehow, those two corridors had their traps triggered.
Moreover, the trigger had clear signs of misfortune. Assuming all mishaps were due to "unstable footing," the question was, what happened in this corridor?
Why was the trap in this corridor activated too?
This corridor also had a trap, a trigger-type one, though its trigger was a very hidden button. It generally wouldnât be triggered by foes but rather subtly activated by allies upon discovering danger, eliminating threats.
Such a trap requires external assistance; triggering it alone can only be explained as... having an overly fidgety hand.
In the air, there still lingered the sizzling sound of an "electric field."
Even though the sound was fading, it carried formidable deterrence, showcasing the trapâs powerâit was currently the most powerful among all activated traps.
When Angel stepped into it, he still felt a prickling numbness on his skin.
Imagining the damage Reynaud must have suffered upon triggering the trap before, it must have been terrifying.
He walked up to the button where the trap was located.
Upon noticing the scorched mark near the button, the scratches on nearby pipes, and the residual marks on the ground, Angel slightly visualized the scene at that time.
Reynaud staggered around here again, nearly falling, but instead sprained his foot. He grabbed onto the nearby pipe, unaware that right beside the pipe was the hidden trap button...
Was it another coincidence?
If Angelâs visualization truly had no external interference, it frankly appeared as a coincidence.
Yet such coincidences had occurred far too often before.
All the coincidental outcomes led to one same conclusion: traps activated, Reynaud wounded.
To sum it up, misfortune haunted him.
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