After Angel descended from high above, the air fell into silence. Everyone watched Angel silently, with no one speaking.
The reason for this situation was the apprentices were afraid to speak, Dox felt embarrassed as he seemed like a useless person, and the Black Earl was too emotionally conflicted to speak. Additionally, he had praised Angel not long ago, and now if he were to speak, it would only be more praise, which made him uncomfortable for some inexplicable reason.
Angel, unaware of everyone’s differing thoughts, saw no one speaking, so he decided to speak himself.
"The Magical Energy Array is now activated, and it seems it won’t be concealing itself anytime soon," Angel said. "Even if it is hidden with illusion techniques, once the Traveling Merchants come to do business, they will definitely detect something unusual. The Hero Squad might need to relocate their base in the future."
After Angel finished speaking, he sighed slightly.
Everyone looked deadpan: ...breaking the silence, you actually focused on those ordinary people first.
"Vay, tell the people outside about the situation inside. I suggest they move away promptly... also, you can agree to some reasonable requests they might have."
The one speaking wasn’t Angel, but the Black Earl.
After the Black Earl spoke these words within the Mind Ribbon, in his view, it also served as a way to express support for Angel. It was basically—
Don’t want to praise you, but can support some of your foolish opinions.
Angel didn’t know the Black Earl had such a proud side, but the Earl’s suggestion coincidentally matched his thoughts, so he didn’t oppose it and even felt more agreeable toward the Black Earl.
Rhein and the Black Earl are old friends for many years, which seems to have its reasons.
Though I don’t know what temperament the Black Earl’s True Body has, at the very least, his nose is currently a good collaborator.
Having resolved the Hero Squad’s matters, Angel looked up at the glowing Magical Energy Array overhead: "I originally thought this Magical Energy Array might have a short-distance transportation effect, transferring people deep inside the maze. But judging by the already revealed magic patterns, with very few space-related Magic Tattoo Horns, it’s not a Teleportation Array, but a kind of decryption array."
"Decryption?" Dox finally found an opportunity to assert his presence.
Angel: "It’s using the Magical Energy Array to decrypt another Magical Energy Array."
The true depths of the Underground Labyrinth, the Magical Energy Array is vast and complex, operating for millennia, attesting to its strength. Even a millennium later it’s still so, utterly decrypting it a millennium earlier is obviously even more impractical.
However, these followers of the Mirror Demon God discovered a loophole in the Magical Energy Array not completely covered, creating a "lever" with the Magical Energy Array for the Magical Energy Array, secretly prying open a passage.
Simply put, this Magical Energy Array is like an insignificant little worm attached to the enormous Magical Energy Array, as long as it’s not overdone, it won’t attract internal attention.
This shows that the mysterious person who chose the site for the Underground Church was definitely not simple.
The person who built this Magical Energy Array, on the other hand, wasn’t skilled, encryption measures were quite weak, and the energy projection from the lectern as the main controlling magic pattern was rather obvious.
However, this turned out to be beneficial for them, as it didn’t take much time to find a suspected usable underground passage.
"Now we should try this Magical Energy Array, but after so many years, we don’t know if it’s still usable," Angel said and turned to the others: "By the way, before activating it, I’d like to remind you, although this Magical Energy Array isn’t particularly complex, it is embedded into the Magical Energy Array in the Underground Labyrinth, and once fully activated, there will inevitably be energy fluctuations escaping."
"I don’t know how strict the Merchant Organization is in monitoring energy fluctuations in The Garden Labyrinth, but once we enter this passage, there’s a high chance of being discovered by them."
"So, if this passage is indeed usable, after we enter, we should expedite our exploration. If we encounter any magical creatures, if possible, bypass them and don’t waste time," Angel turned his gaze towards Dox, since this guy is a Bloodline Wizard, once fighting starts, he might never stop, so he advised him in advance.
"Also, if you encounter murals or characters suspected to be ancient relics, refrain from stopping to study them. If you really can’t resist, bring a Photostone and study it later if necessary," Angel this time directed his gaze to Kaier.
Kaier also understood that Angel was talking about him, and quickly nodded: "I understand."
As for Vay and the Black Earl, Angel said nothing, as the Black Earl’s experience and knowledge exceed his own, ensuring he can handle himself and Vay.
"If that’s the case, should we lay some obstacles here to block the Merchant Organization?" Vay suggested.
Angel: "Whether there are obstacles or not doesn’t matter, but we can leave some guidelines for the successors. I’ll set them up."
With that, Angel casually flicked a breath of Nightmare Illusion, swirling around the Magical Energy Array.
"That’s it? Shouldn’t there be some poison or something, like that mushroom-growing one..." Dox muttered beside him.
Angel cast him a glance, to which Dox responded with a silly smile. Dox indicated that he knew about the Princess Castle situation and that Angel duped him into going there without good intentions.
Dox naturally wasn’t threatening Angel with this matter; mentioning it now was actually a form of candid expression.
Want to hold big... cough, want to befriend, any points that might cause conflict, suspicion, or issues should be candidly met, preventing these small matters from snowballing larger, making them harder to resolve later.
"No more of that poison," Angel said blandly.
"Then perhaps a powerful trap instead? I have a few self-destructing Puppets here, should we hide them in the Illusionary Realm? They might not kill an Official Wizard but can probably severely injure them," Dox suggested again.
Before Angel could respond, the Black Earl interjected: "No need. Setting the traps you mentioned would show your lack of confidence."
After speaking, the Black Earl added: "Angel did well, no need for flashy tricks."
The others didn’t see what Angel did within the Nightmare Illusion, but the Black Earl, very familiar with Sanders and aware of the Nightmare Illusion he created, discerned the guide Angel left in the Nightmare Illusion.
Yes, only a guide, without traps, nor intentionally misleading illusions.
The guide was straightforward—just a few words: explaining the background of the underground structure; stating the Magical Energy Array was repaired by them, the lectern was made by him; also included was a sentence on Transcendent matters to be resolved by Transcendents.
Aside from the last sentence, which instructed successors not to trouble the Hero Squad, everything else was laid out flat, with no subjective opinion, purely a "guideline."
Simply put, the choice was given to the successors. Whether you believe it or not, it’s up to you. I’ve fixed the Magical Energy Array, but whether any afterhand was left, you need to judge and decide.
If someone particularly suspicious, naturally they’ll carry out various checks, which actually just delays time.
Of course, if someone both suspicious and ruthless decides to test directly using lives, the encounter could occur sooner, and by then, even if they were killed, Angel would have no objections.
In essence, their strength is already superior to that of the Merchant Organization, why fear them? Just don’t want disruptions.
Angel’s approach gave ample face, also subtly anticipating the opponent’s mindset, filled with strong confidence simultaneously.
Because his guidelines were all true, he didn’t make any afterhand for the Magical Energy Array.
This approach aligned closely with the Black Earl’s intentions.