After a while, they stood outside a corridor filled with water.
This corridor was entirely different from the ones they had passed before; the walls were made of a material resembling mercury, like square mirrors.
On such a mercury-mirrored corridor, a gentle stream of water flowed.
Because of the mirror reflections, standing outside the corridor and looking inside, it seemed to create an infinitely wide shallow pool, but in reality, it was about the same size as the other corridors.
"Are you sure the control node for this level is inside?" Nis asked.
"All sources of magic pattern energy flow point to the depths of this corridor," Angel’s voice resonated through the Mind Ribbon, "If there are no other pathways, the control node is inside."
Nis turned his head to look at Reynaud: "Have you been here before?"
Reynaud shook his head blankly: "I had no idea the third floor of the laboratory had such a corridor."
Nis sighed and said grumpily, "You’ve lived here for decades, and yet you didn’t know."
Reynaud felt a bit embarrassed. He had indeed lived here for decades, but that didn’t mean he had been everywhere. Moreover, they had found this place after passing through a high-sequence numbered washroom.
No one expected that there was a hidden passage behind that high-sequence numbered washroom.
It could be said that this area was unknown to most of the laboratory’s personnel, belonging to a hidden section.
Since no help could be expected from Reynaud, Nis turned to the Mind Ribbon and asked, "What do we do next, go inside?"
Angel used the Authority Eye to nod up and down: "There’s not much time left, we must enter immediately to control the information transfer block... Does Wizard Nis have any suggestions?"
Nis awkwardly said, "I just feel something is off about the water in this corridor. How about I have the Bone Knight go in first to try it out?"
Angel: "There are also magic patterns in the water, they can’t be tested recklessly."
Nis: "Then..."
Before Nis could hesitate, Kanter stepped forward gently: "I’ll go with Angel, after all, I know some magic patterns, while Wizard Nis does not."
Nis immediately nodded, he was saying so much just because he didn’t want to go ahead.
Angel himself didn’t plan to have Nis join; they could stay outside.
Kanter: "Shall we go in directly? Or should we observe a bit more?"
Angel: "Wait a moment."
Through the vision of the Authority Eye, Angel carefully explored the corridor ahead. Although he wasn’t present in his true body and didn’t feel any danger, the evasive look from Nis and the gradually solemn expression from Kanter suggested that this corridor was giving them considerable pressure, which was a wizard’s warning of danger.
Because of this, Angel put away his dismissiveness and began to observe meticulously.
A minute, two minutes... Soon, ten minutes had passed.
Kanter’s expression became increasingly severe because he had set up the magic pattern that delayed information transfer at the medical center, and he could feel its delay effect beginning to fail. In no more than five minutes, the magic pattern would fail, and the information from Number 23 would instantly reach all floors, putting them at a considerable disadvantage if the Magical Energy Array fully activated against them.
Though anxious, Kanter didn’t dare to urge, for Angel was the expert in magic patterns.
Another minute passed, and Angel’s voice finally sounded in the Mind Ribbon: "Refraction, reflection, diffraction, scattering, and the use of light and mirrors to create illusions of truth and falsehood, the one who set up this corridor was indeed cautious."
Nis looked bewildered: "What are you talking about?"
Angel: "Nothing, Lord Kanter, you can proceed. Just follow my guidance and do not make judgments based on subjective consciousness."
Kanter initially didn’t understand Angel’s meaning, but as he stepped into the corridor and walked a few steps guided by Angel, he gradually understood what Angel meant.
For instance, there was a landing point where magic patterns converged. Through past experience, Kanter himself could determine the corresponding position. However, Angel pointed to a very "wrong" spot, seemingly not at the magic pattern convergence point at all.
Kanter hesitated several times but ultimately trusted Angel’s advice.
Everything was calm, indicating they had taken the right path.
This left Kanter puzzled as to why his judgment had failed. Upon inquiry, Angel didn’t explain directly but gestured for Kanter to look at the wall.
The mercury walls were all mirrors, with the true magic pattern convergence point projected onto the walls through mirrors.
Kanter appeared to stand in a "wrong" position, but his projection on the wall stood at the correct magic pattern convergence point.
In short, the magic patterns here were applications of mirrors and light.
If unfamiliar with this, one could easily walk according to logic, ignoring the external factors of mirrors and light, leading to one wrong step after another.
Recently, Angel had been studying mirrored spaces, giving him relative knowledge of light and mirrors. Furthermore, the physics common sense taught by Jon had not been forgotten. Even if some physical constants in this world differ from those on Earth, the properties of light are mainly the same.
With such a foundation, Angel could quickly see through the corridor’s subtleties and swiftly solve its mechanisms.
With Angel’s explanation, Kanter finally understood, and from then on, he no longer relied on his experience to judge routes, following Angel’s instructions to proceed deeper step by step...
While Angel and Kanter approached the control node, elsewhere, Nis pondered over the conversation with Number 23 earlier.
Even though Number 23 eventually committed suicide, it didn’t mean they obtained no intelligence.
From the acquired information, what concerned Nis most was a sentence spoken by Number 23— "That noble, great, and invincible existence is still asleep, but once your threat is confirmed, he will awaken and use divine power to bring you to justice!"
Judging from Number 23’s state and emotions at the time, this sentence wasn’t something concocted on the spur of the moment.
This meant what he said might very well be true.
Once his information was transmitted, it might indeed awaken a dormant powerful being.
Who was this hidden ’mighty one’ 23 referred to with prefixes like "noble, great, invincible"?
Nis looked up at Reynaud floating in mid-air and questioned him.