"I always feel like you don’t have anything good to say," Nis muttered, finally saying softly, "Let’s hear the good news first."
Angel: "The good news is, the corridor leading to the fifth floor is filled with danger, the Magical Energy Array there is fully activated. With Wizard Nis’s capabilities, I’m afraid even entering wouldn’t bode well."
Nis looked puzzled: "How is that good news?"
Angel: "Of course it is. You took the wrong path, so you didn’t enter that corridor. Isn’t that good news for you?"
Taking the wrong path, thus missing the dangerous corridor, and arriving at a safe one. Nis was momentarily at a loss, but it seemed like this could count as good news, however reluctant.
But the main part of this good news is... taking the wrong path.
Why did they take the wrong path? Because at one intersection, Reynaud had a momentary lapse in memory and led them the wrong way.
Nis turned to look at Reynaud, who still seemed a bit bewildered.
Earlier, he thought Reynaud had suddenly gone stupid, but it now seemed that perhaps it wasn’t stupidity, but rather Reynaud’s "talent" coming into play.
The Lucky person’s wrong choice turned out to be a fortunate choice to avoid danger.
How to put it? Reynaud indeed lives up to being seen as a "John’s Comeback" kind of figure.
Kanter was also watching Reynaud at this time. When he previously heard Nis mention Reynaud’s natural good luck, he thought it was just an unfounded compliment. Now, it seemed he might have misunderstood. Could Reynaud possibly have the "Luck" bloodline flowing in him?
Reynaud didn’t know what Kanter and Nis were thinking. He just let out a long breath: "Luckily, we didn’t take that path, otherwise we’d be in trouble. It seems our luck isn’t bad."
Nis, Kanter: ...It’s not our luck that’s good, it’s your luck that’s very good.
Seeing that Reynaud was unaware, Nis didn’t point it out either, but continued to ask Angel: "Uh, that kind of counts as good news, so, what’s the bad news?"
Angel: "Before I talk about the bad news, aren’t you curious why the corridor to the fifth floor has the Magical Energy Array fully activated?"
Nis: "Isn’t it obviously to deal with us?"
Angel: "I’m sorry to tell you, it’s not."
Under Nis’s puzzled gaze, Angel briefly explained what he had observed.
Through the main control node’s tracing and manipulation, he saw some situations occurring on the fourth floor. The reason the path leading to the fifth floor suddenly had all Magical Energy Arrays activated was because a Magical Creature ran in that direction.
Nis asked in astonishment: "Magical Creature? Are you talking about that Fire Scale Summoned Demon that escaped from the experiment center earlier?"
Angel: "Yes, that’s it. Its goal, like yours, seems to be the fifth floor. And evidently, for the lab personnel, the fifth floor is a forbidden zone. To stop it, the person manipulating the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array activated all of that corridor’s arrays."
"Oh, and the one controlling the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array didn’t use the sub-control node but something else. I suspect it may be a tool left by the constructor of the Magical Energy Array. Its control effect cannot compare with directly manipulating the sub-control node, so it was relatively difficult for them to activate all the fourth floor’s arrays. This is also why they didn’t deal with you first; because that Magical Creature was first to rush towards the fifth floor, its threat was a higher priority than yours, and the manipulator had no time or ability to deal with you."
Nis’s face lit up with realization: "So that’s why?"
On the other side, as Kanter listened to Angel, a sense of foreboding rose in his mind: "You’re saying all this to lay the groundwork for the bad news you’re going to tell us, right?"
Angel: "Sort of."
Angel paused for a moment without further ado, and said directly, "That Magical Creature, the Fire Scale Summoned Demon, is very familiar with the layout of the fourth floor and moves extremely fast. Before the manipulator could fully deal with it, it successfully entered the passage to the fifth floor, and barring any unexpected events, it should have reached the fifth floor by now."
"And the manipulator of the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array certainly cannot control the fifth floor’s arrays. So..."
Kanter: "So the bad news is, from here on, he’ll go all out against us?"
Angel: "Master Kanter guessed correctly. He does plan to go all out against you, but that’s not the bad news. Because I am already able to suppress and limit part of the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array via the main control node, trying to deal with you through the arrays will be extremely difficult for him... unless they can enter the sub-control node to manipulate the arrays from there."
Even if they enter the sub-control node, the control over the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array will only temporarily surpass Angel’s. With Angel’s proficiency in Magic Patterns, and the main control node’s authority far surpassing that of the sub-control node, Angel will soon be able to regain control.
Moreover, Angel doesn’t believe they have a way to enter the sub-control node. If they could, they would have done so already.
Upon hearing this, Kanter and Nis breathed a slight sigh of relief. They, too, did not want to face a massive Magical Energy Array backlash. Angel being able to suppress the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array was already a big relief.
However, at this point, Angel still hadn’t mentioned what the bad news was, leaving them puzzled: "So what exactly is this bad news you’re talking about?"
"The bad news is that the paths leading down and those extending upwards, ’tentacles’—the outer corridors of the lab—have all been abandoned, physically abandoned."
In other words, the manipulators have entirely detached these outer corridors from the main structure, plunging them underground, cutting off all external passages.
"So, although the fourth floor is still part of the lab’s overall structure, without the ingress and egress routes, in essence, it has become an isolated island."
Those outside cannot come in, nor can those inside get out. It has indeed become a true island.
Nis: "But aren’t all the research personnel in the lab on the fourth floor? Doing this also traps themselves here."
Angel: "That’s true, but by severing external passages, they’ve also trapped you in here, and at the same time, trapped that Magical Creature on the fifth floor."
Kanter, having understood by now, said softly: "The one controlling the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array is indeed bold."
Preferring to sever all paths rather than allowing anyone to leave.
Nis: "Boldness might be part of it, but more likely, they are unaware of Angel’s existence, thinking they can deal with us using the Magical Energy Array."
The actual situation is as Nis thought; they have already begun using the Magical Energy Array against Nis and Kanter... However, Angel has already initiated a counteraction at the main control node, rendering their methods ineffective at this moment.
"Angel, are the outer corridors permanently detached? Without them, is there no way for us to leave?" Nis asked.
"If no one outside comes to dig up the outer corridors, it can be considered a permanent detachment. However, there are still ways for you to leave."
"What method?"
Angel: "Plane Corridor. I can suppress the Magical Energy Array’s restrictions on spatial abilities, making it almost negligible for a short time, allowing you to return to the outside world through the Plane Corridor."
If the Magical Energy Array is not suppressed, forcibly using the Plane Corridor might also allow departure, though it involves certain risks.
Nis crumpled his entire old face upon hearing about the Plane Corridor.