Chapter 1 Death

Someone died.

At the very end of the line, several unlucky bastards were suddenly cut off by an unknown spatial divine object, their scarlet entrails spilling all over the ground.

Others didn't know what happened, but Suren felt the imperceptible spatial fluctuations.

At the moment of the attack, his Eye of Omniscience saw the shadow of the monster, like a skinned human. It had a scythe-like tongue, and he identified it as a [Void Aberrant - Sickle Tongue].

This was a monster outside the intelligence, one that had never appeared before.

This monster was very strong, fast, adept at spatial teleportation, and posed a fatal threat to third- and fourth-tier professionals. Killing a few low-level slaves was naturally a piece of cake.

Suren had expected to be attacked, but a trace of doubt arose in his heart: "Strange, it's not that old geezer who made the move, but a monster from the lab itself?"

He had just identified that the [Sickle Tongue] monster was the monster transformed from the researchers who died in the "Laboratory Zero" accident.

Suren thought there was something wrong with this, but his logical thinking immediately led to the most reasonable conclusion: this was an accident.

...

After a moment of panic, the crowd calmed down.

After all, only a few slaves had died, and no one cared about their lives.

But the team stopped, and everyone loaded their guns, showing great vigilance.

Dean Mason looked at the bodies, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Commander Tatyana, I think we'd better not go any further. There are many contaminants in this laboratory. Even I am not sure what it has become. If this goes on, I am afraid it will endanger the safety of the investigation team..."

Hearing this, Major General Tatyana said coldly, interrupting him directly: "Continue."

Losing a few slaves was nothing to this Royal Mechanical Guard Major General.

Dean Mason looked at her firm attitude, then at the bodies on the ground, shook his head and sighed, unable to say anything more.

The team continued to move deeper into the laboratory.

The fact that people had started to die meant that more tragic killings might be coming.

While following the team, Suren kept a close eye on the old man's every move, and his heart was on high alert.

Those monsters couldn't kill him; the only deadly threat was the old Dean.

Thoughts raced through his mind, and Suren suddenly felt that something was not quite right.

He carefully observed Dean Mason's expression.

Logically, if he wanted to find a place to kill and silence people, he shouldn't have advised the investigation team to turn back.

His emotions didn't seem fake at all.

An actor?

Suren rejected this possibility. He was an expert in emotions himself. It was highly unlikely that this old man, whose transcendent rank was above his own, wouldn't reveal even a trace of emotion.

"Could it be a reverse operation, the more he tries to stop us, the more people want to explore the depths of the laboratory?"

Suren thought, it must be so.

...

The investigation team continued to descend, encountering monster attacks one after another, and more than a dozen people died.

But because they were prepared, the team also killed several attacking monsters.

Gradually, Suren looked at Dean Mason, who was leading the way, and felt more and more that something was wrong: "We've gone so deep, why hasn't the old man killed anyone to silence them yet? What is he waiting for..."

Now, there were two key figures in the investigation team, one was him, Suren, who had been to the fourth floor of the library, and the other was Major General Tatyana, the team leader.

Suren felt that if he were in the old man's position, he would definitely try to kill these two people who were trying to get close to the truth.

But Suren felt that there had been several good opportunities to take advantage of the chaos while the monsters were killing people, but the old Dean didn't act. This was puzzling.

Now that only some insignificant lackeys had died, what was the old man waiting for?

"Is there something else going on?"

Intuition told Suren that something seemed wrong with all his previous deductions.

A laboratory accident did happen here, but what exactly happened?

What role did "Herbert Silberer" play in this accident?

Although Suren was sure that he was still alive, where was he now?

The "Void Invasion" was about to erupt, and any further delay would be very detrimental to him.

While Suren's mind was racing, Major General Tatyana had ordered her deputy to lead the hundreds of people into several teams to explore various parts of the laboratory.

The sound of gunfire could be heard everywhere, obviously encountering monsters.

But it wasn't too intense.

This meant that the monsters weren't too strong.

At this moment, he suddenly realized something: "Huh... that's not right. This woman's purpose is too strong. There's no hesitation or caution at all when choosing multiple paths. Does she know the detailed structure of the laboratory?"

"Laboratory Zero" had complex underground passages and many forks, as well as spatial restrictions.

Normally, it would not be wise to rashly split up to explore an unknown and obviously dangerous area.

But she, a major general with rich combat experience, did so.

"Could it be that they got detailed information from the investigation team leader NPC?"

Suren realized something.

At the same time, he was also very curious about what was written in the information that Major General Tatyana had. Why was she so determined to come to "Laboratory Zero", and what was she trying to find?

At this moment, the team probably arrived at the core of the underground laboratory, which was a huge space of several thousand square meters.

As soon as they entered, everyone's eyes were drawn to the dense array of instruments and the Void monster materials contained in glass vessels.

[Void Dragon Lice Skeleton (Silver)], [Black Flash Wyvern's Demonic Muscle (Gold)], [Dragon Lice's Black Magic Skin (Dark Gold)], [Locovalen Insect King Brain (Legendary)], [Void Mantis's Thorn Scythe (Gold)]...

The beams of magic lamps shone on the various rare Void materials in the glass vessels, the lowest being silver quality, and even some legendary materials.

These things had very strong curse characteristics and were definitely top-grade Void materials for refining alchemical implants, their value immeasurable.

Moreover, in the area that was clearly a material warehouse, there were even more supplies and materials.

Although this core area was a mess, obviously having experienced a fierce battle, it couldn't stop the excitement of these outsiders.

Seeing these things, the Royal Mechanical Legion members could still remain quiet due to military discipline, but the hundreds of slaves rushed in frantically like crazy people.

"Hahaha, we're rich this time! With these materials, we can get enough points to escape slavery!"

"Hurry up and grab them! Whoever gets them first gets them!"

"I touched this first! Whoever the hell dares to snatch it from me, I'll kill him..."

"..."

The slaves had gone mad, excitedly putting various materials and treasures into their storage rings.

They carried large items they couldn't fit on their backs.

These high-quality materials, almost any one of them, could give them freedom and great wealth. No one could stop their madness at this moment.

Not to mention the slaves who wanted to survive and escape slavery, even Suren felt envious when he saw these materials.

The materials were one thing, but there were also many experimental data, documents, manuscripts, and detailed reports of research projects... Those were the things of immeasurable value.

But while others were going mad, he became more and more calm.

Along the way, there seemed to be no great danger, except for the unlucky ones who died.

Moreover, the actions of Martha and the others were very strange.

Major General Tatyana didn't stop the slaves from grabbing things, probably thinking that they would all be confiscated after they got out and wouldn't be able to keep them.

Seeing this scene, Dean Mason's face looked ugly, as if he couldn't understand the investigation team's looting behavior. He earnestly warned everyone, "Laboratory Zero was once a research institute where the Academy's high-risk projects were concentrated. Many dangerous experimental subjects, specimens, and materials are sealed here. Please be careful and try not to touch them, otherwise you may be contaminated..."

At this moment, Major General Tatyana spoke, making a very strange request: "Dean Mason, please give me Level 1 management authority. I want to go to the 'T11 Experimental Area' to investigate the situation."

Hearing this, the old Dean's face changed drastically, and he quickly responded, "The T11 Experimental Area is very dangerous. It contains the monster that has already mutated. You can't go!"

Suren raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this.

This was information that he didn't have, obviously something that Martha and the others found in the Investigation Team Leader's files.

The old man's attitude was very firm, and Suren thought that Major General Tatyana wouldn't insist, but unexpectedly, the woman's attitude was surprisingly tough at this moment.

She took out a piece of parchment with the royal family's coat of arms and said in a deep voice, "Our investigation team has its own judgment, and we don't need Dean's reminders. This is a warrant passed by the council, just give me the authority!"

As soon as these words came out, the dozens of mechanical warriors around her vaguely formed a battle formation, showing signs of making a move.

Level 1 authority?

So the focus was here?

Not on some "T11 Area".

Suren narrowed his eyes, watching everything in front of him, and thought to himself, "Are they planning to get tough? Where do they get their confidence?"

At the same time, he felt that the old Dean's temper was a little too good. In this situation, he still hadn't killed everyone?

Suren's first reaction was that it was good, that Martha and the others could clear the way for him, saving him a lot of trouble. Since Martha and the others dared to make a move, they must have some certainty.

But... things were developing more and more strangely.

The plot that Suren had originally envisioned was that the old Dean would kill people to silence them, and then the "Herbert Silberer" hidden in the laboratory would come forward, and the two sides would fight fiercely...

But now the old man hadn't made a move, and these people from Martha were making trouble, demanding some "Level 1 authority"?

Dean Mason had a very high level of intelligence, almost like a real person.

He was about to say something, but at this moment, the sound of doors closing echoed in the passage.

"Laboratory Zero" had many defensive measures to prevent pollution leakage. The passages were also built with particularly strong materials that could prevent energy leakage and even had special boundary walls that could prevent spatial displacement.

Suren had specially observed them before, but his chessboard could also be opened, so he didn't take it too seriously.

But now, someone had activated the mechanism, and those doors were closing down.

"Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"...

The sound of closing doors came from far to near, and finally, the doors of the core area were completely sealed.

Everyone was trapped in this laboratory of several thousand square meters.

Dean Mason looked at the imperial "Investigation Team" with an expression of disbelief and asked, "You... those people just now, did you arrange for them to open the laboratory's emergency safety device?"

Tatyana didn't mention the topic, but her silence was an admission. She emphasized again, "Please cooperate, Dean, and give me the authority!"

Dean Mason didn't understand why she had to get the authority. He paused for a moment, then suddenly understood something. The color on his face suddenly turned pale, and a powerful aura instantly erupted. He roared, "My God, do you know what you're doing! This stupid behavior may even bring a devastating disaster to the entire plane!"

After a pause, he added with an expression of anger and sorrow, "I finally know why he lured you to the 'Laboratory Zero', so that's how it is! Alas... you've been fooled."

Suren had never seen the old man so distraught, and his heart skipped a beat.

He finally realized that things were different from what he had expected.

Martha and the others were determined to get that "authority", as if they were going to do something big.

"Damn it, the clues left by that 'Herbert Silberer' are problematic in themselves!"

At this moment, Suren finally understood why the "Void Invasion" would erupt at different times.

...

Suren looked at the old Dean's attitude and immediately realized that he himself had been misled by the clues in the notebook, and Martha and the others had also been misled by the clues in the files!

He immediately realized that this old man was not the evil villain he had imagined!

At least, this guy had never intended to kill the investigation team to silence them from the beginning to the end.

Suren analyzed in his heart: "According to previous intelligence, if the investigation team's actions are not interfered with, those NPCs will enter the plane channel every time. And shortly after entering, the 'Void Invasion' will erupt. So, the real trigger for the monsters to invade the academy is the investigation team's behavior of entering Laboratory Zero!"

"Now that the investigation team's files have been intercepted by Martha and the others, they have obtained that information and directly came here! There must be some special information in that file that points to this place, so that Martha and the others could find the laboratory's emergency safety device and close the doors, making the move they have made now..."

Suren understood some of the causal relationships in his heart.

But at this moment, Major General Tatyana waved her hand, "Do it!"

With this order, the group of mechanical warriors behind her suddenly took out strange guns, and when they fired, a blue arc network condensed in the air.

This was a cursed space, not the real world, so Martha and the others didn't have so many scruples.

Killing monsters and seizing treasures, breaking the cursed space, was the ultimate goal.

Suren could have reacted in advance, but after looking at the situation that was identified, he immediately chose to stay.

[Microparticle Energy Arc Gun], this gun didn't have much lethality, its only use was to make the energy in the area turbulent, making it difficult for people to condense alchemy.

These guys trapped the old Dean here, restricted spatial displacement, and even used this kind of high technology, obviously to ambush him!

"These guys are really planning to kill this Dean..."

Suren also understood their plan.

In the entire Void Alchemy Academy, only the closed environment of this laboratory could kill this old man who could teleport at will.

Although he hadn't completely figured out the cause and effect of the matter, he would never let Martha and the others kill this old Dean!

But just as Suren was about to make a move, a strange scene appeared.

...

The previous group of people who left opened some kind of emergency safety device, not only closing the doors, but also releasing a very terrifying monster.

At this moment, a strange creature that looked like a sludge monster in a sketch, completely composed of black lines, emerged from the cracks in the floor and formed a terrifying Void monster nearly ten meters tall in front of everyone.

Suren watched the monster's transformation process with his own eyes, and his eyes couldn't hide his shock.

[Void Two-Dimensional Insect Aberrant]

Details: Herbert Silberer's aberrant monster formed by fusing the marrow of a Void Mother Insect. It is a Void monster that can freely transform between two-dimensional and three-dimensional forms. It has the ability to reduce three-dimensional objects to two dimensions, extremely dangerous; It is also the 'Mother Insect' of the Void Zerg, capable of initiating telepathy and summoning billions of Void Zerg.

"Spatial dimension reduction?"

Suren was also taken aback when he looked at the identified ability.

So spatial laws were not just teleportation and imprisonment, but also dimension reduction, a skill that could be called "divine".

But none of this mattered anymore.

Looking at the word [Mother Insect], he thought of the top-secret files that Martha and the others had obtained, and then realized something, exclaiming in his heart: "I finally understand, the 'Void Invasion' has been a conspiracy directed and acted by Herbert himself from beginning to end! It was just to let outsiders release it, and then intercept this Dean, seize the authority, and completely open the Void Plane channel."

"But... why would he do this?"

Suren thought of those words in the notebook, which didn't seem like a fabricated "little essay".

That Herbert Silberer was an alchemist who loved the world.

"That's right, he was already mutated when he wrote this notebook! Part of the content in the notebook is true, and part of it may have been written under the control of a twisted mental will after his mind was mutated."

Suren thought of Pestoia's situation (Mr. Mirror's sister).

Her soul and the soul of the fallen angel were one, but she didn't even know that she had another side. She had no idea what the fallen angel was doing.

This Herbert fused divine-level Void materials and mutated into a monster. Could it be that some behaviors were not controlled by him at all, but by the will of that "monster"?

"Herbert knew that the mutation was irreversible, so he actively reported to the Academy and had himself imprisoned in 'Laboratory Zero'. After being completely mutated, the monster's will took the lead. It knew that it had no hope of escaping. So it could only use this excuse to lure the Imperial Capital Investigation Team!"

Suren roughly understood everything.

...

After the monster appeared, the tentacles on its head trembled constantly, as if emitting some kind of biological signal. In the next moment, the laboratory suddenly shook violently like an earthquake.

The Void Invasion... as expected, erupted!

Suren looked at the completely reversed plot in front of him and narrowed his eyes.

The safest option was to run away while the two Bosses were fighting each other, but everything here would have to be given up.

Moreover, the cursed space plot would proceed in its original direction, and it was likely that it wouldn't be broken.

Suren's mind raced, quickly assessing the risks of various plans.

He found that things didn't seem so bad.

Although the process was different from what he had guessed, the ending was the same. At least the two big Bosses were facing off head-on.

This allowed Suren's original second half of the plan to be applied as well.

It just seemed that he now had to help kill the two-dimensional monster, not the old Dean.

The old Dean looked at the monster in front of him and knew that things were irreversible. He said with a bitter face, "Herbert was once my best friend, and he was also the most talented alchemist in the Academy in centuries. Eccentric, persistent, kind, and loved life... but he accidentally mutated because he studied some very dangerous projects. I always wanted to help him suppress it, but that gradually made the mutated monster's will think that I wanted to harm him. He had the 'Void Two-Dimensional Power', I couldn't kill him, and I couldn't bear to kill him, so I could only seal him in Laboratory Zero. I didn't expect... to cause such a disaster."