Suren followed the pirates to the armory. Hundreds of slaves were unshackled, and they chose some handy weapons and armor.

　　Although they weren't sophisticated, they at least had some basic equipment.

　　Then a pirate squad leader gave a grand speech, telling the slaves to perform well in the cursed space, promising them freedom if they completed the assigned tasks.

　　The others were skeptical, and Suren just took it as the wind in his ears.

　　Several waves of slaves were gathered from the city's prisons and mixed together, totaling about a thousand people. They were escorted through most of the academy ruins, arriving beneath the huge "Void Eye."

　　Getting closer, Suren felt the chilling void aura, like biting wind.

　　The ancient planar passage connecting to the "Void Plane" was near this cursed space, but it was invisible to the naked eye. Occasionally, strings of golden runes shimmered in the void.

　　The runes were of a very high grade, far more complex than any Suren had seen. Although he couldn't understand them, he knew they represented high-level runes like "seal," "stability," and "restriction."

　　Upon identification, it showed [Damaged Planar Passage Seal].

　　Suren frowned slightly. Mr. Mirror had said before that anything related to other planes should be treated with caution. A slight carelessness could lead to a civilization-ending disaster.

　　Now, the alchemical plane, with its incomplete rules, was truly a "sweet cake" in the eyes of other civilizations with god-level beings – rich in resources and weak in people.

　　The passage to the Abyss Plane had a crack, otherwise Sir Isaac wouldn't have built Dawn City underground to guard it.

　　Now, this space passage was also "damaged"?

　　......

　　Suren wore leather armor and a set of firearms he'd received, standing inconspicuously in the crowd.

　　He thought some pirates would lead them in for a routine meat shield operation, but after waiting for a long time, a well-equipped team of Mafa Royal Guards arrived.

　　Although they weren't wearing full mechanical battle armor, they were equipped with highly technological exoskeletal mechs.

　　And the leader was a blonde, blue-eyed female major general.

　　"Isn't that the major general from the submarine?"

　　Suren didn't recognize people, but his soul fire perception was correct.

　　He didn't expect it to be a woman.

　　Besides the leader, the group with simple exoskeletal mechs were all mechanical warriors who survived from the three submarines. They were probably being punished by Princess Frostmoon, hoping to redeem themselves through this mission.

　　"They're really going all out..."

　　Suren murmured inwardly, contemplating the situation.

　　With a group of royal mechanical knights involved, this exploration of the cursed space seemed to have some unexpected variables.

　　After this group arrived, the pirate leader said a few more words, mainly emphasizing that everyone had to obey the command of "Major General Tajina."

　　Soon, everyone stepped into the spatial vortex of the [Unstable Planar Passage].

　　......

　　The scenery changed, and Suren found they were all in a closed space.

　　It looked like a cabin, with glass windows all around. Outside the windows were blue skies and white clouds, and there was occasional slight turbulence.

　　The slaves didn't know where they were, but Suren already knew it was an alchemical airship.

　　This was the airship carrying the investigation team to the Toxter Void Academy.

　　Suren and the other outsiders had new identities in this space – some were investigators, some were followers.

　　Suren had experienced plot-based cursed spaces before, like the [Hunchback of Old London] incident. Usually, the "main will" of the cursed space wanted to investigate the truth of a certain event, to dissipate the unwavering obsession of tens of thousands of years.

　　Originally, the airship couldn't hold so many people, but the "NPCs" in this cursed space wouldn't find anything strange. Even if it was obviously overloaded, the airship wouldn't crash.

　　While the other slaves were nervously observing their surroundings, Suren found he was lucky enough to be playing an "investigator."

　　And in his hand, he had an investigation report in a sheepskin box.

　　Although he already knew the contents, Suren opened the box, took out the page, and read it carefully.

　　The purpose of this investigation team's visit to the Void Academy was to investigate and assess a tip: someone said the seal of the passage connecting to the Void Plane in the academy was broken, and unknown void monsters were lurking in the void, coveting this plane. They needed to close the passage to prevent the Void Plane's invasion.

　　The content was exactly the same as he knew before. After reading it, Suren had an idea: "The source of the information is a named informant... That means 'Herbert Silberlai,' who provided this information, didn't notify the outside world through normal channels. But he's very familiar with the academy's internal situation, which is interesting."

　　He had extracted many memories about this cursed space, but the North Sea Fleet's clues never mentioned this "Herbert Silberlai."

　　So, Suren guessed that the key to breaking this cursed space was to start with this name.

　　"A pseudonym? Or was it deliberately concealed by the academy?"

　　Suren considered two possibilities.

　　Then he looked at the fat nobleman sitting in the front of the airship.

　　This guy was the leader of the investigation team, and he had more detailed information than the "investigators."

　　If anyone on this airship knew about "Herbert Silberlai," it was most likely in this fatty's files.

　　Suren guessed that Princess Frostmoon sent the Royal Guards to target this NPC leader. After all, this was the best entry point. Moreover, after appearing on the airship, many Royal Knights were unconsciously staring at him, their intentions obvious.

　　And their specific method of obtaining information was likely to be "robbery."

　　Suren didn't want to compete with these people.

　　The North Sea Fleet had tried it before and been wiped out countless times.

　　Although this fatty wasn't strong, he had several guards with him. After trying, they found it took at least several Tier 5 professionals to kill him.

　　This explained why they sent a major general.

　　Suren was confident he could kill these people,

　　But doing so was very dangerous.

　　After all, being hostile to NPCs in this cursed space was unwise.

　　They had to stay here for three days. If they offended the NPCs, even if they weren't killed on the spot and were just imprisoned, they would almost certainly die when the monsters broke out.

　　"It seems this plan has to be postponed..."

　　Suren murmured inwardly.

　　He hadn't been doing nothing while imprisoned for the past few days.

　　He had compiled all the information he had obtained and discussed feasible plans with the Dawn Squad.

　　One of the plans Suren had considered before was to use some special method to try to get information from this fatty.

　　But now, it was good that someone was taking action for him.

　　Since these people came prepared, they were obviously confident.

　　Robbing from the princess's guard was much less risky than robbing from an NPC.

　　Besides, Suren had other backup plans.

　　He thought the possibility of this fatty NPC having information was only a possibility, but the probability was much higher in the academy library's archives.

　　And he had a special idea about the academy library.

　　If it was what he thought, things would be much simpler, and there might be unexpected gains!

　　Thinking of this, Suren carefully observed the seal on the file, and found some details the pirates had overlooked. His lips moved slightly: "Tsk, tsk, it really is the Tarkul Empire."

　　This coincidence made his eyes light up.

　　......

　　Soon, the airship docked at the pier.

　　Everyone in the investigation team got off the airship.

　　Here, everyone saw a complete Void Academy, truly as beautiful as a palace garden. Tall white towers were connected by exquisitely shaped廊桥 and alchemical airships. Waterfalls cascaded down from high places, and beautiful rainbows rose everywhere in the academy.

　　In the core area of the academy's back mountain, a copper-edged oval mirror with a diameter of one kilometer floated, reflecting a mysterious galaxy.

　　That was the "planar passage" leading to the Void Plane.

　　The passage had the richest void energy, so it also housed countless laboratories in the academy, which required floating airships to enter. It was also the most important and mysterious place in the academy.

　　In the North Sea Fleet's information, that was a "T-level" area in this cursed space, and no one had ever returned alive.

　　And the task assigned to Suren and the other "slaves" this time was to explore the situation inside.

　　"It's really magnificent."

　　Suren squinted at the planar passage, imagining the powerful alchemists of the past using these planar passages to conquer alien planes, and couldn't help but sigh.

　　After getting off the airship, the investigation team was received by academy staff.

　　They were NPCs with very low intelligence, only reacting to specific behaviors. After asking a few questions and getting nothing, Suren didn't plan to waste time on them.

　　The academy was very large, with at least tens of thousands of students. If he wandered around alone, it would probably take days to figure out the layout of the academy.

　　Fortunately, the North Sea Fleet had explored many times before and had almost figured out the layout of everything outside the academy.

　　Major General Tajina and her group were probably planning to follow the investigation team to the academy reception, and then kill the leader of the investigation team there.

　　That was also the best place to act, as Suren had predicted before.

　　He didn't plan to get involved with these people. He made an excuse, left the team, and appeared alone on the academy street.

　　This Void Academy had many exquisite buildings, and young students walked in groups of two or three in the academy, unaware of what was about to happen.

　　These buildings, as well as the students and teachers, also yielded alchemical materials, cursed objects, and void materials. The North Sea Fleet had discovered a large number of low-level materials from these people before, and there were occasional surprises.

　　But Suren didn't plan to waste time here. He had to find enough clues before the "void invasion."

　　Otherwise, he would have to find a place to hide, survive, and come in again next time.

　　But as a "slave," he was able to deceive them once. It would be too difficult to get in a second time.

　　The normal plot in this cursed space was that about half a day after the investigation team arrived, cracks would appear in the "planar passage," and countless monsters would pour out, killing anyone they saw.

　　The academy's teachers and students would fight back desperately, resulting in a fierce battle with heavy casualties. Then, three days later, a teacher would open a spatial gate, allowing some people to escape. The entire secret space would then be completely closed, and the people who remained would be wiped out.

　　To survive in the cursed space, one had to persist for three days and then escape through the spatial gate. The North Sea Fleet had also explored some stable ways to survive, mostly by hiding in certain large buildings.

　　So, there was a guaranteed way to survive.

　　But he didn't plan to just hide and get through it.

　　As he walked, Suren pieced together all the clues he had obtained and pondered, "The time when the void monsters break out isn't fixed, which means there's something in the cursed space that subjectively controls the time of the outbreak?"

　　This was what he had been wondering about.

　　The only few clues were that someone had gone to the "T-level experimental area," which seemed to have triggered something, and then the time the monsters appeared was advanced.

　　But because no one survived, no one knew what exactly was triggered.

　　Suren felt this was a key to breaking the situation.

　　Since he couldn't figure it out, he decided to go to the library first and check the archives.

　　Unlike the pirates, he had the [Omniscient Eye], and he saw some things beyond the information along the way. The more he looked, the more he felt his guess was feasible.

　　......

　　In any academy, the library must be one of the best-built main buildings.

　　Suren soon passed through a tree-lined avenue with a fountain pool, and saw the beautiful building with stained glass by a small lake.

　　This was the Void Academy's library.

　　The library was crowded with people, and these NPCs could also trigger some opportunities.

　　The bookshelves were filled with various dense books, estimated to be hundreds of millions of volumes.

　　Having the identity of an investigator allowed him to enter the library, and the people from the North Sea Fleet had almost figured out every corner of the library.

　　The library had three floors, where you could find many spatial books below Tier 7, which were so rich that they were dazzling.

　　Moreover, many books had partial or complete text records. There were also many secret methods that had been lost in the modern era.

　　The books in the cursed space had text because they came from the main will's memory.

　　This meant that the "main will" of this cursed space was a very knowledgeable grand alchemist. He was erudite and had an exaggerated reading volume.

　　The North Sea Fleet had taken away a lot of precious books here.

　　Suren was very interested in these, but he didn't have enough time to read them all.

　　Moreover, he had harvested the Void Fleet's three squads before, and the spatial knowledge those guys had mastered mostly came from here.

　　If he really wanted to obtain these books, he could pay attention to the North Sea Fleet after going out in the future, which would be faster.

　　Suren entered the library, and a strong fragrance of books came to his nostrils.

　　The students in the library seemed oblivious to his existence, each focused on their own book.

　　Suren went directly to the third floor, and then there were no more stairs to go up.

　　But he knew that there was a hidden fourth floor in this library. It was a special area that only academy professors could enter.

　　The "Toxter Void Royal Alchemical Academy" dotted the space with art in every corner. Suren knew the information in advance and knew where the trigger point was. He touched the painting on the wall and felt the subtle spatial fluctuations.

　　This wasn't the fluctuation of the perfectly hidden fourth floor, but an alchemical device similar to "permission identification."

　　The pirates had tried countless ways and failed to get up there, so Suren naturally knew that it would be difficult for him to get in by finding clues. He would have to gain the trust of a professor-level NPC.

　　But now, Suren had a better choice.

　　He was going to try a guess.

　　At this time, he took out a black and white checkered board, which was the magical tool [Steinitz Chessboard] that he had been using for a long time.

　　"I hope it works."

　　Suren breathed out and said to himself. Then he slowly placed the chessboard in front of the painting.

　　Just as he was looking forward to it, an eight-pointed star alchemical array suddenly condensed in the air, as if something had been activated. The space where there was originally a wall in front of him suddenly became illusory, and then a magical scene appeared!

　　After the light and shadow of the abstract oil painting were distorted, a simple staircase leading to the "fourth floor" condensed!

　　"It worked!"

　　Suren was overjoyed, "This chessboard is really from this era!"

　　......

　　The [Steinitz Chessboard] was a very special magical tool that Suren had obtained in Old London.

　　Besides being able to trap people, it wasn't useful for anything else.

　　However, every time he used it, the remnant soul in the chessboard would pop out at night and play chess with him.

　　Then, the remnant soul would keep muttering: "My name is Mishaer Toxter, I am the king of the Tarkul Kingdom."

　　Suren didn't take it seriously before because he thought of it as a broken civilization. After all, there were as many ancient kingdoms buried in the dust of history as there were grains of sand.

　　But now, coincidentally, the full name of this alchemical secret realm was "Toxter Void Royal Alchemical Academy"!

　　It was a royal academy named after the surname of the royal family in that civilization.

　　Suren had vaguely guessed that there might be a relationship between the two when he knew this name before. After all, they were both related to the "law of space."

　　But he also felt that it was more likely to be a coincidence.

　　But when he saw the seal on the investigation file before, he was sure that it was from the same era as that magical tool.

　　Moreover, since it was a royal academy, the king would usually be the "honorary dean" of the academy, and the royal family would usually have the highest authority in the academy.

　　This chessboard was an item possessed by a king's soul, so naturally there would be something inside that could prove his identity.

　　Suren took it out and tried it in the library, and it really worked.

　　.......

　　Suren didn't think too much about it. Looking at the stairs that suddenly appeared in front of him, he walked up without hesitation.

　　His current identity was an investigator from the royal family, so even if he was caught, he could explain it.

　　He entered the fourth floor of the library for the first time, which no outsider had ever entered before.

　　There wasn't a single person here. It was very quiet, with only rooms for storing various books.

　　Suren glanced at it casually, and the room was densely packed with various alchemical books and scrolls.

　　He scanned the names of those books, and his pupils shrank violently, and a shocking swear word burst out in his heart: "Damn, I'm rich!"

　　The names of those books made it impossible to look away!

　　Ninth-tier forbidden curse-level space arts [Great Destruction], [Godspeed, Plane Leap], Eighth-tier defensive mysteries [Eight Thousand Layers of Void Barrier], Eighth-tier remote arts [Hundred Void Strangulation], Seventh-tier [Empty God Strike]... various top-level space alchemy techniques.

　　There were also "Arrangement of Large-scale Space Teleportation Arrays", "Arrangement and Cracking of Space Barriers below the Ninth Tier", "On the Observation of the Original Void: Its Form is Determined Only When It is Seen"... high-level knowledge.

　　Suren glanced at it casually, and the knowledge in those books was very complete.

　　It also made him more certain that the main consciousness of this space was a top-level alchemist with great knowledge, and at least "he" had read most of the books on this fourth floor.

　　Then, the target circle could be narrowed down a lot, almost to the "Dean" and "Vice Dean" level of big shots.

　　These were all very rare top-level space arts, and Suren was dazzled.

　　He immediately felt that if he took a closer look, he would gain invaluable knowledge.

　　But after taking a closer look, his realm wasn't high enough, and he couldn't remember it at all.

　　These levels of arts were no longer simple text records. The complexity of the nine-pointed star alchemical arrays above made Suren dizzy.

　　It was the feeling of a lot of knowledge that he couldn't understand being forcibly poured into his brain, a feeling of being in a fog.

　　"Take it away?"

　　Suren had this thought in his mind.

　　These books couldn't be said to be invaluable, they were definitely "civilization-level" treasures!

　　The complete void lineage inheritance had long disappeared in the present world. Any book taken out of this space academy would cause a sensation in the entire alchemy world.

　　However, when this idea came up, Suren frowned.

　　He had come to the fourth floor by trickery, but that didn't mean he could take things away from here. Maybe he was already being watched by some big shot NPC.

　　"Or, wait until the fighting starts, then find a way to collect them?"

　　Suren recalled that the library seemed to be a disaster area for fighting.

　　But this fourth floor had a special space barrier, and it was even safer than anywhere else in the academy.

　　When the big shots were too busy to take care of themselves, he would have the opportunity to take away these precious books.

　　But... I'm here to find clues to break the situation.

　　Even if he moved the library away, although the harvest would be huge, his intuition told him that he might miss something more important.

　　Suren was a little tangled.

　　After thinking about it, he decided to find the archives first and see what the situation was with that mysterious "Herbert Silberlai."