"It does look a bit like a tailed creature, but this eye, the wall originally didn’t have it, did it?" Dox asked Angel.
Angel: "It didn’t, but..."
Before he finished speaking, Angel seemed to realize something: "Let’s go back and take a look."
"What’s going on?" Looking at Angel’s retreating figure, although puzzled, the group still followed suit.
Angel explained while walking: "If I’m not mistaken, the pattern’s eye area seems to be an extinct Magical Energy Array Power node."
"So the eye area is an energy node? But since you’re sure of that, we don’t necessarily need to go back and look again, right?" Dox replied.
Angel furrowed his brow: "I’ve read some cases in books where the Magical Energy Array gets damaged, and if the energy from the damaged part still has surplus, that energy is very likely to accumulate at the energy nodes and eventually crystallize."
"Crystallize... You mean forming Energy Crystals? Magic Crystals?" Dox was a bit puzzled: "You’re going back just for a bit of Magic Crystals? How did you become even stingier than me?"
Angel couldn’t be bothered to respond, but Vay chimed in: "You’re the one who’s blinded by money, always thinking Magic Crystals are money, completely ignoring that Magic Crystals are also crystals!"
"Crystals..." Dox paused for a moment, then quickly understood Vay’s meaning.
Crystals mean facets, and facets, as long as they’re slightly smooth, can reflect light and display images, essentially becoming a special kind of mirror!
This means they might have passed by a hidden mirror surface!
Now Dox understood why Angel suddenly turned back. If it truly is a mirror surface, then regardless of whether it has issues, it needs to be dealt with first.
They retreated rapidly and soon saw the previous crossroads.
From a distance, it indeed looked exactly like the image reflected by Kaier’s Photostone, with the patterns on the three walls forming a strange design due to the angles.
When they actually saw this design, an eerie feeling suddenly spread around.
"Be careful." Black Earl reminded in the Mind Ribbon, while also returning to Vay’s side, which was a form of protection for Vay.
Everyone naturally didn’t dare to be careless, secretly preparing Defense Spells while looking for any signs of anomalies around.
However, they couldn’t find any anomalies; all the abnormalities, including the unsettling feeling, all originated from the cracks on the three walls.
"So cunningly hidden." Dox couldn’t help but curse in the Mind Ribbon as he stared at those cracks, "Angel, can you now confirm if there are Energy Crystals inside?"
"I can basically confirm." Angel still didn’t give a definite answer.
But now, whether or not they could confirm didn’t matter anymore. The eerie atmosphere permeating around was enough to indicate that there was definitely a problem here.
The reason they didn’t discover the issue before was that they hadn’t paid attention to it. Now, as everyone’s eyes were focused on the cracks on the three walls, the problem naturally surfaced.
"What should we do?" Dox asked.
Angel: "Destroy the wall and take out the crystals inside."
Dox intended to say "I’ll handle it," but before he could speak, Angel intervened: "I’ll do it. Even though the Magical Energy Array has collapsed, hidden traps remain, and mishandling could result in energy backlash."
Hearing Angel’s words, Dox swallowed back the words that had reached his throat.
Angel walked to the bottom of the wall, pinpointing the location where energy had accumulated through the direction of the cracks.
"Be careful, I have a feeling there might be..."
Angel’s words were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"I didn’t expect your observation skills to be quite good, but this is where it ends. Clownfish, you previously promised not to be discovered, but now it seems like a joke."
The voice was cold, source unknown, as if it echoed from all directions. Yet, they were familiar with this voice—
"Adanis!" Angel exclaimed.
"Humph, that old guy indeed still collaborated with you. But he should have told you that I hate this name." After Adanis finished speaking, she raised her voice: "Clownfish, act now!"
With her words, a spatial disturbance appeared on the surrounding walls, and although they were cracked, they suddenly displayed a mirror-like appearance.
Seeing this, everyone reacted immediately. According to the Wise Sovereign’s suggestion, they must not stay in the area reflected by the mirror, so it wasn’t time to resist, instead, they needed to leave the mirror reflection area first.
They had only two choices: the route before they retreated or heading back to the way they came, toward the direction of the Hall of Wisdom.
Weighing their options, they chose the direction towards the Hall of Wisdom without hesitation.
The place Black Earl mentioned to intercept the scent hadn’t been reached, and if Angel’s guess was correct, it meant more traps laid by Adanis lay ahead. Thus, a strategic retreat was the best choice for now.
However, when they tried to retreat, they found a transparent water wall, invisible to the naked eye, blocking their path.
Behind the water wall stood none other than Adanis, staring coldly at them!
This water wall hadn’t been there when they arrived, meaning it was set up by Adanis after they left.
The water wall fully sealed off this path.
If it was simply an ordinary water wall, they could find a way to break through it. But with Adanis standing behind it, it meant the water wall was a medium for mirrors.
Whether burying it in earth or flooding it with water, it would all fall into the mirror without threatening the mirror medium.
Previously, the Wise Sovereign mentioned that Angel could enter the mirror bare-handed, perhaps even break the channel between the mirror and the outside world.
But exactly how to break it, the Wise Sovereign didn’t know either.
Moreover, the stronger the caster of the mirror medium, the harder it would be to break. With Adanis standing behind the water wall, who even the Wise Sovereign had to avoid within the Mirror Domain.
So, there’s no need to think; they couldn’t break this water wall.
Since they couldn’t break the water wall, their only option now was to continue along the previous route.
And when they changed routes, Adanis neither spoke nor stopped them.
This showed that continuing forward might also bring "shocks" waiting for them.
Even knowing there was an issue ahead, they had no choice now.
They quickly sped forward on the path, Angel glancing back at Dox while running.
Dox quickly said: "You don’t have to say it, I know. Plane Corridor, I’ve already prepared it, just say the word and I’ll deploy it immediately."
Dox now understood Angel well; a disagreement meant using Plane Corridor to escape.
In any case, he would have to follow Angel eventually, and Dox had accepted this fate, trusting that Angel wouldn’t make him bear the costs of the Plane Corridor materials without reimbursement.
Angel opened his mouth but didn’t end up speaking. He indeed intended to instruct Dox to prepare for the final step, avoiding truly falling into a trap.
But unexpectedly, Dox would answer ahead... This made him feel slightly aggrieved.
As they hurriedly moved forward, a voice suddenly echoed in the surrounding space, and it came with resonance.
"I told you not to call me Clownfish, I am the Mermaid Princess. If you call me Clownfish again, I’ll call you by that strange name!"