Reynaud appeared puzzled: "I don’t know who Number 23 was talking about; does such a being really exist in the laboratory?"
Nis: "Why do I feel you’re completely clueless? I’m very doubtful. Given your understanding of the laboratory, how did you manage to break in with Nausicaa and then escape successfully?"
Reynaud scratched his head, not sure how to answer; he was very familiar with the personnel shift arrangements of the laboratory, which allowed for easy entry. However, this didn’t mean he was privy to all of the laboratory’s secrets.
Reynaud hesitated for a moment: "Besides hidden areas, there are certain restricted zones, and I am relatively familiar with the first four floors, but I’ve never heard of any hidden powerful existence. I think the existence Number 23 spoke of might be hidden on the fifth floor?"
The fifth layer, Reynaud has only been there once, it’s the reserve area of the top three sequences. Because he went there so little, Reynaud has quite a few fantasies about it.
Reynaud: "Oh, by the way. No. 23 has an assistant, sequence number is No. 91, I heard she is his wife, but I don’t know if it’s true or not. What I can confirm is that usually they are often together, maybe she knows something."
Nis with a blank expression: "Then where do you think this No. 91 is?"
Reynaud: "I... don’t know."
Nis: "Then how is what you said any different from nonsense."
Nis rolled his eyes at Reynaud and no longer paid attention to him, instead continuing his contemplation.
As for that hidden entity, Nis actually had a guess in mind: could No. 23 be referring to No. 00?
Earlier outside when speaking with No. 03, No. 03 never denied the existence of No. 00.
However, due to Reynaud’s influence, they preconceived that even if No. 00 existed, it wasn’t within the laboratory... After all, over the decades, situations had occurred inside the lab, and the ones who stepped in to solve problems were always the top three sequences, No. 00 never appeared, always remaining a ’legend’, never revealed.
Now thinking about it, No. 03 didn’t say No. 00 had left either, she just kept silent, unwilling to talk more.
Perhaps No. 00 is actually inside the lab?
After all, No. 03, upon knowing they wanted to go inside the lab, clearly showed a somewhat encouraging attitude. Perhaps she thought their entry would trigger No. 00?
If No. 00 were truly asleep somewhere in the lab, then their actions must be quicker, and also much more cautious and secretive.
Quickly find the data and leave the lab, to avoid being trapped inside like a turtle in a pot.
...
Three minutes after Kanter entered the mirror corridor, Nis received a communication from Kanter via the Mind Ribbon: "The block for message transmission has been controlled. The message sent by No. 23 has been processed."
About ten minutes later, Kanter emerged from the mirror corridor with the Authority Eye.
Nis quickly approached to inquire: "What’s the situation inside?"
Kanter: "There’s nothing particularly different, just pure Magic Pattern similar to the previous sub-control nodes."
Nis: "Has Angel discovered anything?"
Nis inquired about Angel’s status because the eyes of the Authority Eye were closed at the moment, and Angel remained silent in the Mind Ribbon, apparently blocking external information again.
Kanter: "I didn’t ask specifically, but Angel said he could attempt to decipher the location of the master control node. He is probably working on the deciphering now."
"Let’s go, we should first check this floor’s Exhibition Room, according to Angel, we can take two items from this room, exceeding that will trigger a warning."
Nis naturally nodded, simultaneously searching for data and collecting some exhibits would also be beneficial for him. Even if they don’t find the data, he can still research Soul Arms through these exhibits.
On the way back, Nis asked: "In the sub-control node, besides Magic Pattern, is there anything else? Are there Hunter Sequences?"
Kanter nodded: "Yes, there is the Hunter Sequence with code number 3, resting inside."
Nis: "This means every layer’s sub-control node has a high-sequence Mechanical Puppet."
Kanter: "That’s correct."
The first layer houses the Hunter Sequence with code number 5, the second layer has code number 4, the third layer has code number 3. Following this pattern, it’s not hard to deduce that the fourth layer might be code number 2, the fifth layer code number 1.
But if this pattern really continues, a question arises.
"Each layer’s sub-control node has a Hunter Sequence, with the sequence number increasing as layers progress, strength also increases... Following this logic, what about the master control node?"
The fifth layer has five sub-control nodes, guarded separately by the top five Hunter Sequences.
It is evident the master control node is more important than the sub-control nodes, might there also exist a ’Guardian’ inside the master control node? Could it be the legendary No. 00?
Nis felt faintly uneasy.
But Kanter advised Nis not to dwell on it, even if No. 00 existed, its strength likely wouldn’t surpass other sequences by much, at most reaching Second Level True Knowledge Wizard level, which Kanter deemed he could handle. Even if it attained Third Level True Knowledge, Kanter believed he had means to... escape.
Rather than worrying about No.00, Kanter was more concerned about the entity Ferro encountered capable of blurring his memory.
That entity might truly be the hidden bigwig.
...
Minutes later, they returned to the medical center.
Eager to find the sub-control node earlier, they didn’t stay long in the medical center. Now with time, they naturally couldn’t simply skip over it.
Such a medical center surely contains some experiment records.
Locating the experiment records might significantly aid Nis in his future research of Soul Arms.
Since Reynaud was ’born’ in the medical center, he was extremely familiar with the place, under his guidance, Nis quickly found a pile of records.
The majority were medical records, with a small portion pertaining to experiment records, all concerning the experiment bodies with X numbers, along with related research on compatibility with Soul Arms.
Although there’s a gap from the envisioned situation, theoretically, these still pertain to Soul Arms scientifically, so overall there’s some gain.
Plus, from the medical records, they gleaned one fact.
No. 23 voluntarily entered cold liquid to recuperate a day ago, before the combat personnel went to The Nest.
The reason for recuperation was that No. 23 was attacked by a Magical Creature, though the specific Magical Creature wasn’t recorded in the medical records.
From the burn injuries of No. 23, Nis guessed that it was likely a Magical Creature adept at using fire.
But when Nis asked Reynaud if there were any similar Magical Creatures in the lab, Reynaud shook his head.
Shaking the head doesn’t mean denial, but not knowing.
What Reynaud knew was, the lab predominantly bred water system Sea Beasts, there were no skilled fire creatures among them. However, because the lab frequently needed Magical Creature organs, occasionally having fire-attribute Magical Creatures in the lab was normal, just they quickly would be dismembered.
Due to uncertainty on specifics, and since the matter wasn’t very crucial, Nis didn’t probe further, tidying up the relevant experiment records, they left the medical center heading towards the Exhibition Room.
Encountering no obstacles on the way, they smoothly arrived at the Exhibition Room.