However, Number 18 fared slightly better than Number 19, at least it left some remnants.
The Bone Armored Knight rummaged through Number 18’s remnants, soon emerging with a large elliptical Crystal Stone, handing it to Nis.
Nis glanced at it, raised his eyebrows: "This is a rare Demonic Material capable of carrying spiritual power. Seems like this was its mechanical core... Unfortunately, it has had Magic Patterns engraved on it, and the Patterns are broken, it’s basically useless now."
After speaking, Nis casually tossed the Crystal Stone aside.
Only then did Nis turn around and look at Reynaud: "You said you remembered something?"
"What did you remember?" Reynaud was still in a confused state. In his eyes, the overwhelmingly powerful Hunting Sequence 18 and 19 were destroyed without a ripple, which left him momentarily unable to regain his senses.
"Didn’t you say you remembered something just before those two broken iron puppets appeared?" Nis said irritably.
Reynaud was stunned for a moment, then came to his senses and said, "Oh, right... right. I remembered then that the Authority Eye flashing red wasn’t because we triggered the Magical Energy Array, but because we stayed too long."
Nis looked perplexed: "What? We stayed too long?"
Reynaud nodded: "My memory is a bit fuzzy. I had no such impressions before, until I saw the Authority Eye just now, and I remembered another rule of the Exhibition Room: each time the room opens, you can stay for a maximum of 10 minutes. If you exceed this limit, you are considered an enemy, and the Hunting Sequence will pursue you."
"Since this is an internal rule, a restriction on the behavior of the lab personnel, it doesn’t trigger the Magical Energy Array. But as long as you violate it, the outcome is being hunted to death by the Hunting Sequence."
After Reynaud finished speaking, he revealed a look of guilt. He only remembered this later. If he had remembered earlier, this incident wouldn’t have occurred.
"A time limit? There’s even a time limit?" Nis finally understood: "An Exhibition Room with a visiting time limit? What were they thinking?"
Kanter said silently, "Doesn’t your treasure vault also have visiting..."
Nis immediately interrupted, "That’s different. Mine is a treasure vault, a ’vault,’ a secret room, so strict limitations are normal. This is an Exhibition Room, meaning it’s displayed for people to see, like a gallery or museum. Having a time limit in such a place is definitely problematic."
Evidently, Nis was being somewhat sophistical. However, Kanter didn’t care and didn’t continue to expose him. It didn’t matter, as long as it was mentioned occasionally to let Nis simmer in his own frustration.
Nis took a while to accept this outcome. After all, they were in someone else’s lab, and the rules were set by others. No matter how many complaints they had, they could only hold them in.
"Since that Authority Eye... huh, it’s disappeared? Never mind, it doesn’t matter if it’s there or not. What I want to ask is, the Authority Eye flashing red, does that mean we’ve already been discovered?"
Nis didn’t care about the rest; his main concern was being discovered by the internal personnel, which would cause setbacks in their next journey.
Reynaud shook his head: "Probably not. Each Exhibition Room has its own internal regulations, and violating these will only be dealt with by the corresponding Hunting Sequence without attracting the attention of others."
After all, the lab was mostly full of researchers who were usually engrossed in their studies. Research is most feared to be interrupted midway. So unless it’s a matter of great importance, they generally wouldn’t be overly disturbed.
After speaking, Reynaud added, "Maybe the top three Sequences might notice, but they are not in the lab right now, so there’s no need to worry."
Upon hearing this, Nis sighed with relief. Not being discovered by others was good news.
However, Nis noticed something else Reynaud mentioned: "Every Exhibition Room’s internal regulations are different?"
Reynaud nodded: "Yes. The overall rules are generally the same, but some details differ. For example, on this level, you can stay for ten minutes, while the next level might only allow eight minutes."
Nis shook his head, expressing his inability to comprehend these rules: "Oddities... Can’t stay here any longer, let’s leave for now."
After leaving the Exhibition Room, Reynaud once again floated ahead as their next target was the second basement level.
On their way, Nis was still puzzled by those strange rules: "Taking items beyond the quota triggers the Magical Energy Array, which might be discovered by other lab members. But staying too long and being hunted by the Hunting Sequence won’t be sensed by others. Your rules are truly peculiar."
"The former is almost impossible to occur. If it does, it indicates potential theft, whether internal or external, threatening the lab as a whole. It entails many people, making it more severe," Reynaud explained. "As for exceeding the time limit, it could just be due to carelessness, a personal mistake, thus not as serious."
While Reynaud explained logically, Nis, already biased, still found it unreasonable.
As they discussed the ’violations and penalties,’ they ventured deeper into the darkness, disappearing quietly into the first level.
...
Time continued to pass, and after an unknown period, Angel lifted his head from a corner of the first level.
It was still the narrow corridor around him, with branching paths everywhere.
Angel had been studying the Magic Pattern, following its flow and wandering around, now unsure of his location.
Angel looked at Toby: "How far are we from the entrance?"
Toby stood on Angel’s shoulder, yawning and chirping a few times, seemingly saying: go forward, then turn left, and you’ll be there.
Seeing Toby remembered the way, Angel felt a bit relieved.
But even if Toby didn’t remember, Angel wasn’t too worried. He could just follow the flow of the Magic Pattern backward for a bit to return to the original spot.
This time, Angel awoke from his immersion in the Magic Pattern, not because of getting lost, but because he had discovered some characteristics of this Magical Energy Array and wanted to discuss it with the others.
With that in mind, Angel submerged into the Mind Ribbon.
The Mind Ribbon was unusually quiet, and Angel muttered to himself: "Nis isn’t talking for once, how rare."
Pushing aside irrelevant thoughts, Angel spoke through the Mind Ribbon: "Where are you now?"
A silence followed, with no response.
Half a minute later, Angel asked again with a hint of confusion: "How’s it going with you guys? Wizard Nis, Lord Kanter, Reynaud?"
Still no response... no, this time there was.
"Gibber gibber."
"Honorable Toby, your voice is as delightful as always, even in the Mind Ribbon."
Angel: "..."
No need to guess, the first was Toby, the latter was Dangross.
Ignoring the dialogue between the two little guys, Angel directly asked Dangross: "I asked you to pay attention to their conversation. Did they say anything? Why are they silent now? If something happened, why didn’t you notify me?"
Dangross’s eye on the palm blinked, looking innocent: "Nothing happened."
"If nothing happened, why is there no sound?"
Dangross shrugged: "I don’t know either. There was nothing strange in the conversation before they went silent."
"What were they saying right before the Mind Ribbon went silent?"
Dangross thought for a moment: "Seemed like behavioral rules and penalty discussion. Yes, that’s it."
"Huh? What?"
Dangross repeated himself, and Toby chirped to affirm it was true.
"Behavioral rules? Penalty discussion?"
Angel looked bewildered, wondering why they suddenly started discussing such an odd topic.