Chapter 1 Seeing the Truth

Seeing the monster's size becoming increasingly exaggerated, its escape irreversible, Dean Mason's already aged face darkened, his vigor instantly waning by a third.

He murmured to himself, "Herbert was my close friend. I knew his research direction was the gene fusion of Void Mother Bugs. Exploring directions never before studied inevitably carries unpredictable risks. So, when I discovered I couldn't kill his mutated form, I foresaw uncontrollable situations. That's why I sealed Laboratory Zero, preventing anyone from entering. I also erased all traces of him in the academy to prevent anyone from accessing that information. I didn't expect it to leak out..."

These words seemed like a soliloquy, but more like an attempt to explain the truth to the Imperial Capital investigation team.

Suren heard the deep helplessness and regret in his tone.

In the academy, his position as dean allowed him to keep anyone away.

But he couldn't stop the investigation team bearing the imperial decree.

He had thought bringing them personally would avoid trouble, but he hadn't expected to be tricked. From beginning to end, General Tajina's group hadn't revealed their true purpose, instead secretly dispatching someone to open the emergency device in the lab.

Listening to Dean Mason's words, the entire plot became clear.

It turned out the old man hadn't been lying all along.

Suren frowned, musing, "Sure enough, when you prejudge someone as a bad guy, your entire thought process helps reinforce that view. His kindness becomes disguise, his advice becomes hypocrisy..."

He felt he had learned a lesson this time, thankfully the problem wasn't too big.

Now that things had come to this.

Or rather, the "Void Invasion" that was bound to happen had occurred.

Mafa and the others obtained the information and directly came to Laboratory Zero to release the monster. This was no different in essence from the previous NPCs releasing monsters.

Suren reorganized all the clues in his mind again, thinking, "However, at least my judgment wasn't wrong, the 'main will' of this cursed space is that Herbert. Although he mutated into a monster, he still has good intentions. To break this cursed space, we still need to find a way from this guy..."

He was very certain of this judgment.

The encryption method of the notebook he saw on the fourth floor of the library was very special. The ciphertext could only be unlocked with a combination of text and images. If it wasn't the person himself, even someone who had read it might remember the text, but definitely couldn't remember all the details.

Moreover, he had just identified some other information about the *er xiang chong* (two-dimensional worm), and there were clearly details that could be dug deeper.

Thinking of this, Suren felt that the "T11" area that Tajina kept mentioning seemed to be a key place too.

However, he didn't know enough about the structure of this underground laboratory, and blindly searching would be a big problem.

Suren turned his gaze to Mafa's group.

They happened to have the information he lacked.

.......

The so-called "great disaster" was nothing more than triggering a Void Invasion.

But for outsiders like Suren, the problem wasn't that big to begin with.

After all, this was a cursed space, and the world wouldn't be destroyed or anything. So no matter what Mafa and the others wanted the permission for, they couldn't change some historical facts, such as: this "Toxter Void Royal Alchemy Academy" had already been destroyed.

Suren didn't know what the final outcome would be, but historically, the spatial通道 (space channel) had been successfully sealed, and the plane hadn't been destroyed.

In other words, Dean Mason could at least hold the line, and fight that monster to a draw.

Provided that Mafa and the others didn't sabotage things.

At this moment, Mafa and his group were clearly dumbfounded by the sudden appearance of the [Void *Er Xiang Chong*].

Looking at their astonished expressions, Suren figured they clearly didn't know there was such a terrifying monster here, and didn't expect that the "Void Invasion" was caused by them releasing this monster.

Now the truth was clear, the information in the hands of the investigation team leader was the misleading information deliberately leaked by "Herbert Hillbolet" after he mutated into a monstrosity. It must contain some tempting clues, guiding them to deliberately avoid the academy side and look for something.

But similarly, tempting clues must require "bait."

That's why Suren felt that there should be something tempting enough in the "T11 test area" to make Mafa and the others take these risky actions.

Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, passing in an instant in reality.

The sketch-like [Void *Er Xiang Chong*] condensed into a mud monster, and the "black lines" around its body flowed on the ground.

And then, a strange scene quietly occurred.

Any object touched by those lines that looked like black caterpillars would be instantly dissolved as if they had fallen into strong acid, as if they had been "eaten" by the monster.

Suren himself was proficient in considerable spatial laws, and he could clearly sense that the monster had spatial law fluctuations like a "black hole," even light was directly sucked into it.

All objects didn't disappear, but were reduced from "three-dimensional" to "two-dimensional," becoming like patterns in a painting, integrated into the black lines on the monster's body.

Not just objects, but also living people.

The place where the [Void *Er Xiang Chong*] appeared was exactly in the distance of this laboratory, where more than a dozen slave adventurers were fighting for treasures. Before they could react, the black lines appeared under their feet without warning. Then their feet seemed to be stuck on the spot, unable to move at all. Then the whole person rapidly shrunk, "dissolving" from the legs down.

They were still alive and struggling, but their feet were like they were stuck in a mud, the more they struggled, the deeper they sank, and they could only watch their bodies disappear.

These people had never seen such a terrifying scene before, although they didn't feel any pain, they screamed in terror.

"Help! I don't want to die!"

"General, please save me!"

"Someone quickly kill this monster, save..."

"..."

Before the words could fall, those dozen people had completely disappeared.

The black lines were still spreading, and the slaves in the distance quickly dropped the things in their hands, retreating while raising their guns and firing a burst of shots at the monster. Some even launched a single-soldier rocket.

However, an even more spine-chilling scene appeared.

The countless bullets and rockets flew past, but the movement stopped abruptly the moment they touched the monster's body.

Bullets hitting water would at least splash a little water. But hitting the monster's body, not to mention blood, caused no damage at all except for a few more black spots.

Seeing this scene, Suren quietly hid far away, re-evaluating the risk in his heart: "This [Void *Er Xiang Li* (Two-Dimensional Force)] is really unsolvable, once contaminated, death is almost certain..."

His All-Knowing Eyes observed every detail of the monster, and the conclusion was that as long as the spatial laws were not higher than it, once contaminated and reduced in dimension, there was no hope of survival.

Fortunately, the spread speed of the "black lines" wasn't too fast, which was a weakness.

But wasn't this closed space the monster's killing field?

Suren wasn't in a hurry to go out, because Mafa and those guys were definitely more panicked than him.

.....

After this weirdo showed off a little, Mafa's group of Mechanical Alchemists were dumbfounded.

They had just used the [Micro-Particle Energy Arc Gun] to disperse the energy particles in this laboratory, in order to prevent the condensation of magic spells and allow the Mechanical Alchemist's combat power to be maximized.

Now, it was useless, all physical attacks seemed to be useless against the monster.

But it seemed that this monster was vulnerable to magic damage.

Moreover, the laboratory door was closed by them.

This kind of emergency door closed very quickly, but it would take time to open it.

But fortunately, that Dean Mason was strong enough.

Perhaps he thought these were people from the Imperial Capital investigation team, even if they made a mistake, now was not the time to pursue it.

He didn't hold a grudge, and didn't blame Mafa's group, immediately entering a combat state.

He pinched a warlock seal, but his brow furrowed slightly.

The spell that would have come with a tap now took two seconds to condense, clearly affected by the [Micro-Particle Gun].

But fortunately, it was still released.

"Void Profound Meaning · Four-Image Cube!"

The moment the nine-pointed star array under the old man's feet lit up, a translucent cubic spatial barrier had appeared in his hand, covering the monster inside.

The warlock seal changed again, and he pushed his hands forward in a cross-flower hand seal: "Secret Technique · Spatial Turbulence Strangulation Technique!"

Looking again, the mud-like [Void *Er Xiang Chong*] was trapped on the spot, like it was frozen into ice. Before it could react, its body was torn into pieces by countless suddenly appearing spatial cracks, like lumps of minced meat falling on the ground.

Watching these two spatial spells that were originally at least eighth-order, Suren exclaimed in his heart: "So strong!"

The first spell was an advanced spell of [Void Imprisonment] that Suren was currently learning, and it was almost impossible to escape once controlled; and that second spatial turbulence was probably equivalent to using a Black Scythe to continuously slash out hundreds of times. One control and one kill, this set of spell combinations could definitely kill most professionals of the same level in seconds.

The combat power of a top spatial ability professional was indeed terrifying.

Was it killed?

No, obviously not.

The moment he made his move, the old dean seemed to already know the outcome. His face changed drastically, and he anxiously shouted at the investigation team: "This monster is more powerful than it was a few years ago, it can't be killed at all, you guys find a way to get out quickly! If you can get out, report the situation here to the Empire truthfully!"

The old man was fair and selfless, which was admirable.

As soon as the old man said this, he saw that the [Void *Er Xiang Chong*], which had just been chopped into pieces, re-condensed into the form of a mud monster. But at the same time, the door of the laboratory hadn't been opened yet, and a frightened cry for help came from the crowd again, "Watch out for your feet, the monster is coming!"

After this shout, everyone saw that the black lines had appeared under everyone's feet at some point.

This time, in addition to dozens of slaves, more than a dozen Mechanical Alchemists were "stuck" on the spot by the black lines.

The power of the mechanical armor was so great, but it still couldn't break free at all. They could only watch themselves being devoured by the monster, and others didn't dare to pull them, even if there were mechanical arms ejected to grab them, it was useless.

The guns and cannons on the armor of this group of trapped Mechanical Alchemists were outputting towards the monster, but still to no avail.

The defensive advantage of the mechanical armor didn't play out at all, this dimension reduction ability directly bypassed the thick armor and killed them all.

The only survivor was a very decisive slave. Seeing that his feet were stuck in the black lines, he raised his knife and chopped off his legs at the knees, and then took off with the help of his wing implants, saving half his life.

Seeing this scene, Suren's face was also full of solemnity. Although he had discovered the spatial fluctuations a moment in advance, he had to admit that the attack of this [*Er Xiang Chong*] was very concealed. If he really waited for its "black lines" to cover the floor of the laboratory, everyone would have to die.

......

"The monster is immune to physical attacks, use magic devices!"

"Yes!"

Now Mafa and the others also realized that the situation was critical, they put away their physical attack methods such as guns, cannons, and ship-cutting knives, and activated the magic energy devices on their armor.

For a time, fire, frost, lightning strikes, holy light... various elemental attacks were thrown at the monster, and the laboratory was flashing with colorful lights, like a boiling elemental magic pot.

With the old dean's full effort to delay, the monster's spread wasn't too fast.

Just then, the thick emergency door of the laboratory slowly opened.

Suren originally planned to sneak out in the crowd, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw that General Tajina, who was already fully armored, hadn't left.

Even at this critical moment, she still shouted at the old dean: "Your Excellency Dean, please give me the authority, I want to find a way to stop this disaster!"

Although the tone was much more polite than before, she still clung to that "authority."

Suren's eyes turned when he heard this, and his thoughts became active.

Although he didn't know what this woman's intention was, what the enemy wanted to do was what he had to stop.

The old dean's eyes flashed with a hint of thought when he heard this, but he seemed to decide immediately.

He now had to hold back this [*Er Xiang Chong*] and couldn't free up his hands at all, and it was good to have people from the "investigation team" to help, so he decisively agreed: "Okay, you take it, remember to close the inward void channel first, and absolutely can't let the void monsters invade the plane!"

Saying that, the old man threw out an item.

[Void Channel's Restriction Clockwork]

Detailed explanation: A key that can control the void channel's restrictions, it can only be used with special permission. Twisting the alchemy clockwork can strengthen the space within the range, making it unaffected by spatial fluctuations, immune to spatial cracks and teleportation close combat, and can pass through various restrictions of plane通道 (channel). The usage method is as follows: infuse spiritual power and twist clockwise, it will consume a lot of spiritual power and time;

"A key? So that's what they're after!"

Seeing his action of taking out something, Suren's pupils shrank suddenly.

He immediately identified what it was, and shouted: "Don't give it to them!"

Although Suren didn't want to expose himself at this critical moment, he decisively teleported over.

Moreover, he also knew that if he didn't shout, it would be impossible to snatch something away in front of such a top spatial professional!

Sure enough, when Dean Mason heard Suren's words, he grabbed the thrown item in the void, and it reappeared in his hand.

The old man looked at the suddenly appearing Suren with surprise, obviously recognizing him as the secret investigator who went to the fourth floor of the library.

But he was also puzzled, why was there infighting among the people of the investigation team?

General Tajina was overjoyed when she saw the thing that was already in her hand, as long as she could get that thing, not to mention being able to save her life, she might even have a chance to break this cursed space.

Even if it didn't work this time, it could work next time!

But when she saw the stranger who suddenly rushed out, Tajina's heart sank, and her shout was a little trembling, "Who are you?!"

The adventure team was all from the North Sea Fleet and slaves, they would never come out to make trouble at this critical moment.

The only possibility was a spy from an enemy force.

Moreover, looking at the [Teleportation] ability, she immediately thought of a familiar old acquaintance that made her gnash her teeth, naturally the hateful guy who intercepted the submarine back then!

At the same time as she spoke, the red whip in her hand swung over, hitting the air with a "啪 (pa)" sound.

If Suren hadn't reacted fast enough, this whip might have cost him half his life.

Some words that exceeded the cognition of the cursed space NPCs would be automatically shielded. Suren didn't waste time talking, directly shouting to Dean Mason at a very fast speed: "They intercepted Commander Markel and want to destroy the plane通道 (channel)!"

......

Suren's reckless move directly shattered all the plans of Mafa and his group.

Markel was the previous NPC commander, and their interception was a fact, which couldn't be explained at this critical moment no matter what.

Moreover, their previous actions of releasing monsters had already given this old dean a very bad impression.

Mafa and his group were ashen-faced. Now they had to face not only the monster, but also this old dean. They had no chance of winning no matter what.

But now the Void Invasion had just begun, and the monsters weren't too dense. If they fought, they might be able to find other opportunities to get out alive.

General Tajina was also extremely decisive, cursing: "Damn it, let's get out of here!"

Having mastered these key clues, as long as they could survive, they could almost certainly crack this cursed space next time they came in.

Saying that, this group of Mechanical Alchemists filed out.

As soon as they went out, there was a huge explosion in the 通道 (channel), and the air wave lifted into the sky, giving no one a chance to follow them out.

Even the laboratory door that had been opened was immediately closed again.

Suren had expected this, these people would definitely not let him leave the laboratory safely.

But since he had been exposed, he would definitely not let these Mechanical Alchemists live.

What's more, he needed the information in that woman's hand.

......

As the Void Invasion began, a large amount of void energy poured into the plane通道 (channel), like a mountain flood exceeding the safety line of a reservoir, the spatial通道 (channel) gradually became unstable.

However, it was also good for professionals who had mastered spatial abilities.

At this moment, Dean Mason's spellcasting efficiency was obviously much higher, and he repeatedly trapped and strangled the [*Er Xiang Chong*] into pieces, but still couldn't kill it.

After Mafa's people left, Suren also asked the same question, "Dean Mason, can you give me the key?"

Dean Mason had a gloomy face and didn't respond directly. These people from the Imperial Capital investigation team had completely lost his trust, and he only said: "I can no longer reseal it, the disaster this time may be very bad."

Suren guessed what he was thinking, and knew that this old man would definitely not trust anyone easily anymore. Without hesitation, he only said: "Your Excellency Dean, take care!"

Saying that, he took out the chessboard and placed it on the authority recognition restriction that had already been identified.

In the next instant, the closed laboratory door slowly opened.

While the laboratory door wasn't fully opened, Suren pinched a warlock seal, and a black hole quickly condensed in his hand, and he shouted to the group of slaves who hadn't had time to escape: "If you want to live, go in!"

These war slaves weren't big villains, and they were strong, many people in the Dawn Regiment were of this identity.

Suren felt that if he could help, he would help.

The slaves obviously didn't have much trust in a stranger, and the matter of poking a black hole with bare hands was too unbelievable in the eyes of normal people. Rather than giving their lives to others, it was better to fight for it themselves.

So most of the three to five hundred slaves who were alive scrambled to squeeze out of the laboratory door, only a small half believed Suren and rushed into the small Void Realm.

After taking in these people, Suren didn't hesitate any longer, rushing out of the laboratory 通道 (channel).

He wasn't in a hurry to negotiate with this old man either.

From the information obtained by the North Sea Fleet from exploring other cursed spaces before, this dean had persisted in the plane通道 (channel) for at least three days, and it was impossible to be defeated in a short time.

Now the old man's combat power was still at its peak, and the monster was the same.

Even if he wanted to participate, he had to wait until both sides had fought to exhaustion before he could pick up the bargain.

Before that, Suren decided to get the "bottom-line harvest" of this trip to the cursed space first.

......

The group of slaves who ran out returned along the same 通道 (channel) they had come from, and explosions also sounded in the 通道 (channel) one after another.

Mafa and those guys had also set up booby traps when they retreated, which caused heavy casualties to the people who went out later.

However, Suren wasn't affected much, his spatial ability had been greatly improved, and he teleported all the way out of Laboratory Zero.

When he came to the ground, a big battle had already broken out here.

Countless void monsters poured out from the depths of the plane通道 (channel).

Small void虫族 (insectoids) the size of mosquitoes, large void bats with wingspans of hundreds of meters, as well as void eyeballs, void giant pythons...

They gathered together, like locusts crossing the border, densely packed with hundreds of millions.

Suren was also seeing such a terrifying monster wave for the first time, and his scalp was tingling.

The teachers and students in the plane通道 (channel) had already begun to block them. Various defense restrictions were originally set up in the 通道 (channel), and there were also well-set up large-power Alchemy Towers and magic energy turrets in those laboratories, in order to prevent monster invasion.

At the first moment of the "Void Invasion," various high-power alchemy equipment had already been activated, and various high-level spells were thrown into the void as if they didn't cost money.

Rumbling, rumbling, rumbling...

Like the end of the world, as if the plane was about to be shattered.

A burst of brilliant colors erupted in the monster swarm, and corpses fell like a rainstorm.

But even so, the number of void monsters hadn't decreased at all, but was increasing.

As soon as Suren came out, hundreds of [Void Poison Scythe Mantis] swarmed towards him. These mantises, which were only half a meter high, might not even have the energy fluctuations of a first-order magic beast, but their numbers were very amazing. These void insectoids, which were born with [Flash], flickered very quickly in the void, making it difficult to capture their movements, and their attack methods were also unpredictable.

Suren released the Eight-Armed Spider Spears, slashing wildly with the black scythe in his hand, and pulling the cutting threads could harvest these insects in pieces.

The defense of these low-level void creatures was very weak, almost like paper, and they were very easy to kill. But their attacks were also sharp. The eerie puppets that Suren had placed around his body were cut into pieces of rotten wood by the sharp void scythes of those insects after only a few fights.

The monster tide had already struck, and more and more high-level void monsters were behind.

Suren didn't dare to delay at all, he rushed towards the small building with the space door on the fourth floor of the library before.

On the road, he also saw that Mafa and his group of Mechanical Alchemists were forming a charge formation, charging towards the exit all the way.

Because their firepower was very fierce and their speed was extremely fast.

Seeing this, Suren also understood why Princess Stika was willing to send her Mechanical Alchemist guards in.

Punishing combat failure was one thing.

Another more important reason was that Mechanical Alchemists were less likely to cause spatial cracks than traditional professionals.

Now the Void Invasion, the space通道 (channel) was very unstable.

The huge energy fluctuations of high-level professional battles would make it easier and easier to draw out cracks.

And most of the physical attacks of Mechanical Alchemists were driven by steam boilers, and the flesh and blood energy was negligible, so the probability of triggering certain law-level cracks would be much smaller; and their artillery was a long-range explosion, so even if the energy overloaded and triggered a spatial crack, it wouldn't hurt the mech itself.

But Suren didn't think these guys could escape.

Because the academy's emergency plan was that once the Void Invasion, the exit would be sealed immediately!

Thinking of this, Suren didn't bother with these people for the time being.

The combat power of the Mechanical Alchemists of Mafa's Royal Legion was not just for show, Suren couldn't have dealt with them alone in the first place. Even if the entire Dawn Regiment was dispatched, it would be difficult to eat this mechanical legion in a head-on confrontation, and at least there would be a lot of losses.

Now there were endless void monsters to help consume, saving Suren's effort.

He could wait until their ammunition was exhausted and come out to pick up the bargain later.

Suren charged all the way over, and soon came to the balcony of the small building before.

He took out the chessboard, and easily opened the space door, then stepped into the luxuriously decorated fourth floor of the library.

Looking at the dazzling array of precious books and treasures in his sight, Suren's eyes flashed with light.

He didn't dare to put them into his pocket before, because he was afraid that others would stop him. Now the dean was trapped in Laboratory Zero, and the administrators and others were also fighting outside, probably no one could stop him.

Thinking, he raised his hand and released dozens of Dawn Regiment members who had prepared empty storage rings long ago. Everyone helped to quickly plunder the treasures on the fourth floor of this library.

With these things in hand, even if there were no other gains, this adventure into the cursed space would be worth it.