"It’s quite unsettling without the usual rumbling," Nis muttered.
Kanter: "Speaking of the rumbling, I remember last time during the rumbling, there was a distinct mix of beastly cries."
Nis: "I noticed that too. I guess the nest they’re exploring is indeed a Sea Beast nest. It’s just that we don’t know if our guess is correct. Could it really be the offspring of Sheath? Hey, Mascot, weren’t you saying there’d be personnel around? How come we don’t see anyone? If we could catch someone to ask, we might get an answer."
"There usually are personnel nearby, I’m not sure what’s going on. Maybe they’ve gone to the lower levels?" Reynaud’s voice came over the Mind Ribbon. By now, he was quite calm about the nickname "Mascot," accepting it since he couldn’t resist, anyway.
"Then let’s head to the lower levels. However, I remember you mentioning there’s a Soul Arms Exhibition Room on the first floor, right? We’re already here, so might as well take a look." Nis’s slightly excited tone revealed that he clearly wanted more than just a ’look.’
Angel listened to the Mind Ribbon conversation for a while, then blocked it out again because it was mostly just Nis’s monologue. Instead of wasting time listening to his chatter, he’d rather study Magic Patterns.
After the airwave subsided, Angel immersed himself once again in the study of Magic Patterns.
On the other side, Reynaud, at Nis’s strong insistence, headed to the first-floor Exhibition Room.
Along the way, they passed the Experiment Center, Storage Room, and Material Depot, and Nis checked out each room. His goal was not just to ’look’; if he could take anything, he certainly would. But in the end, he only ’looked,’ because nothing on the first floor caught his eye.
According to Reynaud, the first floor’s most valuable were only two things: personnel and the Exhibition Room.
The personnel were the core of the lab. Even first-floor personnel would be involved in a lot of core-related research, and their value was undoubtedly significant.
The Exhibition Room, while present on each floor with increasing value by level, did not mean the first-floor Exhibition Room held no value.
Like Reynaud’s Soul Arms, they originally came from the first-floor Exhibition Room. And the value of Soul Arms is not in themselves but in who uses them.
Reynaud led the way, while Nis kept observing the surroundings.
He had always heard Reynaud mention that the lab wasn’t fraught with danger, that there were traps but they could be avoided with caution. This gave Nis a false sense that the lab wasn’t very dangerous.
But as he walked inside the lab, Nis realized Reynaud’s words were purely from his personal understanding.
Reynaud had lived in the lab for years and was used to everything here, and many mechanisms had access recognition. Reynaud rarely triggered these traps, so his understanding was limited.
Currently walking inside with Reynaud leading, they seemingly hadn’t triggered any traps, but this was only because of Reynaud’s guidance. Without a guide, if they had barged in, Nis believed they wouldn’t be in such good shape now.
As an experienced wizard, Nis had already spotted several dangerous traps along the way.
Danger aside, the most critical issue was that the lab wasn’t as spacious as imagined. Though it had a network of large rooms like the Experiment Center and Storage Room, there were many more narrow, cramped corridors.
Eighty percent of their journey was through these narrow passageways.
The corridors were mechanically built, filled with Magic Patterns, and threaded with energy conduits.
Nis wasn’t very skilled in Runeology, but he could tell that if the Magic Patterns here were triggered, the whole Magical Energy Array would rebel against them.
So, walking in these cramped passageways, they couldn’t attack the surrounding walls. This made their safe passage area even narrower.
Moreover, in such narrow and complex corridors, taking a wrong step could lead to a dead-end and encounter mechanisms that could destroy everything.
If this isn’t considered dangerous, Nis didn’t know what was.
Thankfully, they were fortunate to have Reynaud, who was something of a defector, allowing them to navigate the lab relatively safely.
After about ten minutes of traversing corridors lit with green light, red light, mechanical valves, and energy tubes, they finally arrived at the Exhibition Room.
The doors to the Exhibition Room were tightly shut, two massive steel doors blocking their path. The room’s nameplate was prominently displayed above the doors, glowing with a normal white light.
It’s noteworthy that the nameplate on the Exhibition Room was inscribed not just with the common language but also with Quest World script resembling tadpoles.
If it were anywhere else, Nis would choose soul infiltration as his first intrusion method against a sealed chamber, but this place was different, the lab was almost entirely etched with Magic Patterns that together defended against energy entities.
The same kind of Magic Patterns shimmered on these steel doors, indicating they were linked to the entire lab’s network, making soul infiltration almost impossible unless the whole network was disrupted.
Nis turned to Reynaud: "Any way to get in?"
Reynaud hesitated for a moment, then said, "Last time I came with Nausicaa, we could get in, but now I’m not sure if I can without a physical body, or if my permissions have been revoked. I’ll give it a try."
Reynaud moved forward, taking a deep breath, looking extremely cautious.
However, this serious atmosphere was effortlessly pierced by Nis, who silently said over the Mind Ribbon, "Mascot, don’t forget you’re in Soul Body form now. I’m sure you can’t take a breath; you’re inhaling loneliness."
Reynaud nearly lost his composure, his soul force within his Soul Body fluctuating for quite some time before he forcibly restrained himself, ignoring Nis’s teasing as he reached out with a translucent hand toward the steel doors.
When Reynaud’s Soul Body hand touched the door, the Magic Patterns on the door immediately reacted.
Energy flow started moving towards the nameplate above the door.
The nameplate with the large word "Exhibition Room" changed from white to yellow light. Meanwhile, a mechanical eye emerged from within the nameplate.
The mechanical eye vaguely resembled the Magic Energy Eye from Sky Mechanical City, minus the levitating wings but with several silver legs like those of a spider, allowing it to cling to the nameplate.
Once the mechanical eye appeared, its single eye did not look at anyone else but stared straight at Reynaud.
Reynaud felt his entire body tense, heart pounding – though he forgot that he currently had no heartbeat.
About two or three seconds later, the mechanical eye retracted back into the nameplate, and at the same time, the nameplate, flashing yellow, changed to flashing green.
A clicking sound echoed close by.
"Alright, the door’s unlocked," Reynaud exhaled a long breath.
"What was that just now?" Nis curiously looked at the spot where the nameplate was. When the mechanical eye emerged earlier, he hadn’t felt anything particular, but afterward, the eye released a very intriguing wave that enveloped Reynaud, containing a soul force that piqued Nis’s curiosity.
"The Exhibition Room’s butler, or Authority Eye."
Almost every Exhibition Room had such a mechanical eye-style butler. It governed who could enter and exit the Exhibition Room, requiring all entrants to be validated. Yellow light meant verification was in progress, green light meant verification was successful, and red light meant verification failed, triggering alert mode.
Nis: "You’ve turned into a soul, and it can still recognize you?"