Chapter 1 The Dancing Colored Paper

Whirling, dancing pieces of colored paper flew over the academy's rooftops, along the high tower's outer walls, all the way to the highest observation deck, where they coalesced on the edge of the platform, reforming into Lucresia.

The vast observation platform was silent, devoid of any figures.

Lucresia frowned, carefully observing the situation at the top of the tower.

The instruments used to record various celestial phenomena were still running automatically. The enormous lens assembly, supported by numerous complex mechanical arms, focused its observation point on the sky. Three sets of lenses with filter structures had been temporarily removed, seemingly the result of manual adjustments!

The platform was deserted. The original staff had probably evacuated in a hurry when the sun went out.

"Observing the sun under those circumstances wasn't wise," Lucresia couldn't help but say softly. She began searching for Talan Eal’s figure near the lens apparatus. Just then, a pencil that had fallen to the ground caught her eye!

She immediately ran over and finally found the elven scholar among a pile of steam pressure pipes. Talan Eal lay quietly on the ground, his eyes closed, seemingly in a deep coma!

Lucresia immediately stepped forward to check on the elven scholar, finding his breathing steady, with no apparent life-threatening condition. She was merely unaware of why he had lost consciousness. Then, she waved her hand in the air, and a large group of toy soldiers immediately ran out from the shadows beneath her feet, rushing towards the unconscious scholar in neat ranks, as if inspecting the terrain.

The toy soldiers surrounded Talan Eal in an instant and began climbing all over his body, checking him over like they were inspecting a position, accompanied by rapid communication and reporting.

Lucresia, the "Sea Witch," bent down, flipped the scholar's eyelids, and then reached out, unceremoniously patting his face, trying to wake Talan Eal, but with no effect!

It seemed he had merely fallen into a coma for an unknown reason...

...

"Hmm?"

Lucresia "hmm"ed in puzzlement during her muttering to herself. She saw two toy soldiers move aside Talan Eal's hand, which was tightly clutching his chest, and a piece of scrap paper, nearly torn to shreds, came into her view!

"What's this..." Lucresia picked up the paper curiously and smoothed it out, only to see that it was simply a circular object drawn with scribbled handwriting. Inside the circle were many complex and messy lines. She tried to discern a pattern for a long time, but could not extract any from those lines.

She only felt that they were like sprawling branches, or something densely arranged!

Clearly, the person who drew these patterns was also in an extremely hurried and chaotic state, recording these images. Lucresia looked solemnly at the things on the paper, squinted her eyes, and glanced at the now re-illuminated sun. Then she lowered her head to look at the pencil not far away that had fallen to the ground, and the "courier" pipes beside Talan Eal leading to the academy!

The pressure pipes quickly revealed how the elven scholar had fallen here. When the sun went out, the great scholar had run to the top of the tower, wanting to use this "condition," which could not be achieved no matter how many "filter devices and lens assemblies" were used, to observe the details of the surface of Anomaly 001. He had successfully drawn a sketch and then wanted to send it to the academy via the "courier" system as soon as possible.

But at this moment, some mysterious force "attacked" him, causing him to fall into a deep sleep in an instant. He should still have had some consciousness remaining at the moment he fell, as evidenced by the sketch tightly held in his chest...

But what exactly "attacked" him? Was it a saboteur who had infiltrated the tower? Or mental pollution caused by observing the sun in its extinguished state? Lucresia shook her head. It shouldn't be a saboteur!

The reason was simple.

?

Talan Eal himself, after losing his ability to resist, had not suffered further injury, and the "sketch" he was tightly protecting in his hand had not been taken away. Nor were there any signs of damage to the various devices on the tower. Just then, the noise of a lift operating suddenly interrupted the "Sea Witch's" thoughts!

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw the elevator door on the side of the tower platform opening, and several panicked scholars from the Truth Academy ran out of it. When they saw the "Sea Witch" standing on the top of the tower, the scholars were stunned!

"Talan Eal observed the sun in its extinguished state and has now fallen into a coma for an unknown reason. I suggest you purify all the facilities here, in case some of the lenses that once reflected the true appearance of Anomaly 001' have also been contaminated!"

Lucresia said casually to the scholars, then raised the sketch in her hand!

"This is what he drew before losing consciousness! I'm going to take it away to confirm whether it carries contamination. If there's no problem, I'll give it to you!"

As soon as the sound fell, she didn't care about the scholars' reactions, turned and walked to the edge of the platform, and then turned into scattered colored paper flying away in the wind!

"She comes and goes freely, she always does." One of the scholars waved his hand and walked towards Talan Eal, who was still lying on the ground. "Let's take the master to a safe place first!"

"She took away the information left by Master Talan Eal... will there be a problem?" A younger human scholar said with some worry, seeming a little uneasy about the "Sea Witch!" "Don't worry. Although Ms. Lucresia has a strange personality and acts independently, she has dealt with the Truth Academy and the Explorer's Association a lot. She can be considered a... friend.

A middle-aged scholar said as he bent down and draped Talan Eal's arm over his shoulder, "She is the best border scholar and pollution resistance expert in the world.

"She has helped the academy deal with many dangerous things. She will keep her promise... I say, why is he so heavy? You eat junk food and stay up all night without exercising, are you also this heavy! But I heard that the constitution of elves is different from other races. Your lifespans are long and your metabolic systems are powerful, so it's difficult to accumulate fat and you rarely get sick before old age..."

"His talent has run out, he couldn't resist..." Heidi stood in the corridor, glanced at the patient who was lying quietly in the ward through the glass, and turned to the staff member from the Political Affairs Office who had brought her and asked, "What's the patient's condition?"

"Deep coma, unable to be awakened, no external injuries or signs of poisoning," the staff member in a dark blue uniform immediately replied, "The patient has no prior underlying diseases and has not been exposed to any magic potions or heretical beliefs that could cause this coma!"

"You investigated quite thoroughly?" Heidi subconsciously said, and then shook her head. "But I still have to say, I'm a psychiatrist, not an internist. What I'm good at solving... are mental and psychological problems, not coma. A person who is sleeping and cannot be awakened cannot receive psychological counseling. Shouldn't you find a professional doctor?"

"We have, Ms. Heidi," the staff member shook his head. "The doctor's conclusion is that the patient's coma is no different from a disease." After various examinations, we suspect..."

"I understand." Heidi nodded slightly before the other party finished speaking. "Suspect that it is spiritual pollution?"

"This is just the result of a preliminary investigation, but there are many ways to get spiritual pollution. It does not necessarily require the person involved to have actively touched something. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, learning certain knowledge, or perhaps..."

The staff member said, suddenly paused, then raised his finger to point upward, and a serious expression appeared on his face! "Perhaps it is related to the sun's previous extinction. There is still no evidence that the sun's extinction for twelve hours can affect ordinary people, but perhaps the one in front of you is the first evidence!"

"I understand, this is within the scope of my duties," Heidi took a light breath, picked up her medicine box, and walked to the ward door. Before pushing the door in, she suddenly turned her head and reminded, "Do not let anyone near here during the treatment.

"If supernatural phenomena appear near this ward, notify the priests and guardians here immediately!"

"Understood, Ms. Heidi!" Heidi nodded and pushed the door into the ward!

Heidi silently recited the name of Rahm, the God of Wisdom, and reconfirmed the colorful stone amulet she was wearing on her wrist, cautiously walking towards the bed!

A girl with her eyes closed, seemingly deeply trapped in an unstable dream, lay there, motionless, as if... the link between her body and soul had been severed!

Before opening the medicine box, Heidi first habitually observed the patient's face!

An elf?