Published at 28th of December 2025 7:56 am

Chapter 2411: Shortcut

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

Due to the physical disconnection of the external corridor, the situation on the fourth floor has become irreversible. It looks like an island, but this is only limited to those researchers trapped on the fourth floor.

Nis and Kanter on the fourth floor are unlikely to encounter any danger.

Therefore, when Nis went to the data room, Angel was not worried and continued to immerse himself in the research of the Magical Energy Array.

Angel had generally mastered the Magical Energy Array on the fourth floor, but it was impossible to grasp further or more core permissions in a short time. Hence, Angel shifted his focus to other sections.

The section he was most interested in right now was undoubtedly the floor Magic Pattern that X0 wanted to activate, and the situation on the fifth floor.

Considering the urgency, Angel first delved into the floor Magic Pattern, as it might be related to the security issues within the main control node. Moreover, he had already locked onto the floor’s Magic Pattern before, making the research relatively convenient.

As time passed, Angel continued to explore deeper among the dazzling Magic Patterns.

"Blood Covenant, Authority, Level Restriction, Activation."

As the foreign-feeling Magic Tattoo Horns were deciphered by Angel one by one, the truth about the Magic Pattern hidden beneath the floor gradually surfaced.

"A Magical Energy Array that can only be activated with blood of specific authority," Angel murmured softly, "The coordinates of the activation area are in the center..."

Perception began to spread outward from Angel’s forehead, reaching the center of the Magic Pattern.

After suppressing the Magic Tattoo Horn representing "activation," Angel gradually permeated his perception beneath the floor.

Seconds later, Angel retracted his perception.

"I see." A flash of realization crossed Angel’s eyes. He had already sensed the presence beneath the floor, marked with a "Yao" pattern on its left face and a "0" number on its right—a member of the hunting sequence.

Angel had previously pondered that the sub-control nodes on the first, second, and third floors respectively corresponded to hunting sequence number 5, number 4, and number 3. Following this pattern, the fourth floor might be number 2, and the fifth floor number 1.

Who would correspond to the main control node?

Initially, Angel speculated it might be the legendary still-sleeping number 00, which motivated his urgent attempt to unravel the truth of the Underground Magical Inscriptions. But ultimately, he was wrong. Number 00 still wasn’t here. What the Magic Pattern under the floor required to activate was still the blood of number X0 for the hunting sequence.

Through his perception, while observing this number 0 hunting sequence, Angel had discovered its aura had surpassed the limits of other hunting sequences.

Judging from the aura, it was stronger than him, though not by much. Even if X0 activated this hunting sequence, Angel believed he could handle it.

Moreover, with Earl Mi and Toby, the two combat forces present, if one couldn’t defeat it, they would attack together, forcing even the strongest to kneel.

For now, since it was still asleep, Angel hadn’t activated it. If the opportunity arose, he even considered trying to bring out the hunting sequence without activating it.

This type of Mechanical Puppet, surpassing ordinary wizard levels, was rare in the Southern Domain, and Angel was indeed eager to research it.

However, considering the current urgency, the task of retrieving the hunting sequence would have to be postponed.

With the truth of the Magic Pattern beneath the floor unveiled, Angel relaxed and prepared to study another section that piqued his interest—the fifth floor.

What could the fifth floor be like? Were there really only three rooms? Where was the legendary number 00 sleeping?

Angel believed that he could find the answers to these otherwise difficult-to-answer questions within this Magical Energy Array that encompassed the entire base.

...

When Nis arrived at the data room, he immediately saw a researcher enclosed within a small area by a circular light arc.

This researcher, numbered 50, was continuously pressing on a miniature light screen suspended in mid-air. On the light screen was a cross-section of the entire fourth floor, with several glowing points inside.

However, no matter how much he pressed, the map on the light screen did not respond, as if it was stuck.

Seeing this scene, Nis immediately understood that the "external object" Angel had mentioned in the Mind Ribbon, which controlled the fourth floor’s Magical Energy Array without being at the sub-control node, referred to the light screen floating in front of him.

Observing the stuck light screen, Nis secretly rejoiced, thankful that Angel was here this time, otherwise this number 50 with just the light screen could have played them into circles.

In addition to this sense of relief, Nis also felt anger towards number 50. Because of this guy, they were forced to be trapped on the fourth floor.

But no matter how resentful, Nis first suppressed it.

Finding the data was more important now, and since number 50 was trapped and unable to move by Angel’s set circular light arc, dealing with him later was not an issue.

Nis glared at number 50 and entered the data area directly. As for number 50, upon hearing the door of the data room open behind him and seeing the red light spot representing the intruder appear outside the door on the light screen map, he unhesitatingly lowered his head and closed his eyes.

Don’t look, don’t listen, don’t speak, and don’t ask.

He seemed to be expressing some stance: I didn’t see your faces, I don’t know who you are, nor what you’re doing in the data room, I am just an emotionless piece of wood.

This attitude seemed composed, but the logic embedded within was actually a latent... plea for mercy.

Indeed, number 50’s inner and outer expressions were completely different at this moment. The more composed his expression, the more his inner self trembled, wanting to scream in panic: Why must he, an apprentice, face this group of Wizard Level thugs? He’s merely a poor, weak researcher! And... why did the light screen suddenly fail?

Number 50’s internal conflict was something Nis and others chose to ignore, but his displayed attitude was considered a wise approach.

Nis and others entered the data area.

The data area was very large, about the size of a small exhibition hall in the Cloudtop Library. The internal furnishings were similar too, with neatly arranged steel bookshelves categorized to display research data, thematic reports, and related research books derived by different laboratory researchers.

Since accessing the data required permission, Reynaud ultimately retrieved the books, while Nis and Kanter quickly assessed the importance of the books and data.

Each time, Reynaud took six books, the maximum his permission allowed—three for Nis, three for Kanter. After they finished, they placed them back on the shelf and retrieved another six. Even so, their speed was very fast.

On average, they stayed at each shelf for at most one to three minutes before moving to another shelf.

Time passed quickly in this manner.

When they had sifted through about eighty percent of the data, Angel’s voice came through the Mind Ribbon.

"Wizard Nis, how’s your search going? Did you find any research on Soul Arms?"

Nis continued his rapid screening while responding, "Yes, but it’s all very scattered, likely research done by different individuals. It’s still unclear how much it involves, requiring a final consolidation. But I suspect the core content is not much."

In short, it’s peripheral research concerning Soul Arms. The core content is likely on the fifth floor.

However, even peripheral research, Nis was very willing to collect. Combining these contents and the organ possessing Soul Arms he acquired, even if the core content was not found, he had some confidence in deducing it himself.

"How about your side? Seemed quiet from you earlier; have you found anything new? Is there really no path from the fourth layer to other layers?" Nis asked.

Angel: "I’m certain there’s no passage connecting the fourth layer to others. However, while I was observing the magical energy array on the fifth layer, I discovered that the fifth layer has only one road, which is the passage from the fourth to the fifth. Now, the exterior corridor of the fourth layer has been completely severed, which results in the fifth layer..."

Before Angel could finish, Nis interjected, "The fifth layer has also become an island?"

"That’s one way to put it; the fifth layer has indeed turned into an island, but that’s not what I wanted to say. Rather... the passage interface on the fifth layer is now exposed."

Nis asked, puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Hasn’t Angel made it clear enough? And you still don’t understand?" It was Kanter speaking up, taking advantage of the moment when Nis was a bit slow to catch on because he was distracted, to mock him a bit.

"Angel’s meaning is quite clear; because the external corridor between the fourth and fifth layers is broken, the only passage interface on the fifth layer is revealed. This means that a new exterior corridor can be connected to the passage interface of the fifth layer."

Angel: "Lord Kanter is correct, that’s what I mean."

Nis then snapped back to reality and immediately understood the crucial point. His eyes brightened, and he quickly said, "You can now connect the exterior corridors from other layers, excluding the fourth layer, to the fifth layer?"

Angel: "Yes, including the first layer’s exterior corridor."

Which means, as long as the exterior corridor is connected to the fifth layer, one can directly reach the fifth layer from the first layer, bypassing other layers.

"That’s wonderful!" Nis exclaimed in delight, "Angel, you..."

Nis suddenly stopped, coughed twice, and in a more serious tone said, "You should be able to go from the first layer to the fifth now, right? How about we make a deal; could you help me find something in the archive on the fifth layer?"

Nis spoke cautiously, already thinking about what benefits would persuade Angel.

However, Angel wasn’t thinking about benefits at all and agreed directly, "Sure."

Angel himself was quite interested in the fifth layer, and while observing its layout, he had indeed discovered a few very concealed spaces.

Perhaps secrets lay hidden there.

Moreover, he had some interest in the archives of the laboratory, including Soul Arms, Mechanical Puppets, and even information on the Lacey Association and the Origin World mentioned by Number 03, which might all be found on the fifth layer.

"You just agreed?" Nis was taken aback, asking subconsciously.

"Why wouldn’t I agree?" Angel retorted.

Nis awkwardly replied, "Nothing, it’s good that you agreed, good that you agreed."

After speaking, to ease the awkwardness, Nis glanced back at Number 50, who still had his eyes tightly shut in the distance, and said, "This guy proudly severed the exterior corridor between the fourth and fifth layers, probably not expecting it to backfire in the end."

The direct connection between the first layer and the fifth layer’s passage interface even saved Angel time.

Kanter: "If you really plan to go to the fifth layer, be cautious of potential traps and mechanisms there."

Angel: "Rest assured, I’ve already observed the fifth layer’s situations, and I’ll suppress all mechanisms involving the magical energy array in advance."

As for mechanisms that don’t involve the magical energy array... there should be few, if any, because deploying other mechanisms when there’s a convenient shortcut like the magical energy array would indeed be a waste.

...

Although Angel decided to visit the fifth layer, he did not leave immediately.

He first reviewed the whole laboratory’s magical energy array to ensure there was no risk of linkage; then, Angel accessed the Authority Eye for the fifth layer via the main control node.

Using the Authority Eye, he began to observe the situation on the fifth layer directly.

Of course, observations here were limited to the three main rooms and corridors on the surface. As for hidden rooms, the Authority Eye couldn’t observe them. If Angel wanted to observe them, he would have to go in person.

Angel’s main interest in observing the fifth layer was to find the fire-scaled summoned demon that had intruded there.

Previously, he had only briefly scanned the layout of the fifth layer and hadn’t paid attention to that fire-scaled summoned demon. But now, since he was planning to visit the fifth layer, he had to consider all circumstances.

Analyzing details from before, whether it was Angel or Nis and Kanter, they all felt that the fire-scaled summoned demon was somewhat odd.

Unsurprisingly, the fire-scaled summoned demon should have escaped from the Magical Beast Garden, according to Reynaud’s account.

The Magical Beast Garden is on the first layer.

Yet this fire-scaled summoned demon was now on the fifth layer.

The fire-scaled summoned demon didn’t have a shortcut like Angel’s to take. To reach the fifth layer, it must have started from the first layer, moving layer by layer downward.

Normally, fire-scaled summoned demons are low-intelligence magical creatures and wouldn’t be able to precisely find paths to the next layer.

Even high-intelligence magical creatures would find it nearly impossible to find paths in this maze-like laboratory filled with magical energy array traps in a short time.

The ability of this fire-scaled summoned demon to accomplish this was quite extraordinary.

Nis previously speculated whether someone might be colluding with the fire-scaled summoned demon; otherwise, without someone familiar leading the way, the fire-scaled summoned demon would find it hard to recognize the paths.

The truth remained unknown, but Angel personally thought the fire-scaled summoned demon perhaps received the correct path from someone’s mouth inside the laboratory, but not necessarily through collusion.

Perhaps the fire-scaled summoned demon used force to coerce someone?

Even though the fire-scaled summoned demon’s prowess was relatively weak... this fire-scaled summoned demon was different. It could even decipher Kanter’s Ghostly Shadows in the fourth layer’s experimental center; could that be called weak?

Moreover, without any surprises, the Number 23 in the third layer’s medical center was probably burned by the fire-scaled summoned demon too.

Number 23, though a medical staff, was numbered below 30, which barely counted as combat personnel. A fire-scaled summoned demon overcoming Number 23 could easily threaten an ordinary research staff.

Based on this information, everyone felt the fire-scaled summoned demon was peculiar.

It seemed to be working towards a goal.

Moreover, that goal, unsurprisingly, was on the fifth layer.

This made Angel very curious about what the fire-scaled summoned demon would do upon reaching the fifth layer.

Share