That easily?
Li Ye had landed a hit, yet he could not bring himself to feel pleased.
It had been too easy. Holmes had not even bothered to put on an act in front of them, directly leading Li Ye to this sand dune. The entire journey had been completely unobstructed.
It was practically as if he had been here before!
"Mr. Holmes, this—" Li Ye raised a hand toward the deep pit below. Holmes, at his side, understood and smiled. "Mr. Li Ye, you already know about the existence of Singularities, correct?"
Li Ye's gaze narrowed slightly at that, then he nodded in admission.
Holmes continued, "In one particular Singularity, I accepted a commission to investigate the cause of this disaster. That was why I came to this Singularity as well. As for how I learned the location of the Atlas Institute, it was merely simple deduction based on the existing conditions—
This is common sense, my friend."
After Holmes finished speaking, Li Ye involuntarily smacked his lips.
He had not really understood that deduction.
Holmes's train of thought was still far too difficult for Li Ye to follow.
After Nitocris used her familiars to investigate below and confirmed there was no danger, the three of them jumped straight into the deep pit.
A silent tunnel appeared before Li Ye and the others. Scattered candle flames illuminated the darkness, while walls of mottled bluestone stretched endlessly onward.
"So this is the Atlas Institute?" Li Ye swept his gaze around. He had thought the treasure vault of knowledge praised by King Hassan—the Atlas Institute—would have some sort of ultra-futuristic architectural style.
He had not expected this old cellar aesthetic.
The air around them was fairly fresh, lacking the rot of a place sealed away for years. It seemed to have air circulation with the outside world.
"So this is the anomaly the Pharaoh spoke of!"
The three reacted differently. With a mission to fulfill, Nitocris immediately summoned familiars to swiftly send the information back to the Holy City and inform Ozymandias.
"After all, the Atlas Institute was founded before the Middle Ages. This style is perfectly normal."
Holmes, pipe in hand, thoughtfully answered Li Ye's question.
"Mr. Holmes seems very familiar with the Atlas Institute. Could you explain what exactly the Atlas Institute is?"
Li Ye did not stand on ceremony and openly voiced his confusion.
Hearing that, Holmes lit his pipe and smiled. "What exactly is the Atlas Institute? That is a good question, Mr. Li Ye."
"It is an academy of alchemists based on another Mount Atlas in Egypt. Its other name is the Giant's Cellar; it is one of the Mage's Association's three major divisions, the Department of Accumulation and Measurement."
Holmes lightly bit down on his pipe and continued beneath Li Ye's gaze. "Unlike the mainstream modern alchemy that has existed since the Middle Ages, it is a group of alchemists dedicated to uncovering the origin of magecraft and the principles of the world.
It is said that although they are Magi, they are all apprentices lacking in Mage Circuits. The conclusion was therefore inevitable: in their study of magecraft, they relied not on magical energy, but on large quantities of tools. This approach resembles the advancements brought by science and technology—pseudo-Spiritrons, treating souls as observable energy, creating life with Mage Circuits. In other words, homunculi."
"Their technology has already advanced to the point of creating life? For example, freely transforming human bodies into other creatures?"
After hearing Holmes's explanation, Li Ye asked curiously.
Holmes's explanation reminded him of Maggie and Aleka, whom he had encountered before. Had they used this kind of alchemy?
"That is naturally possible. The Atlas Institute's alchemy has already reached a pinnacle of human intellect."
Holmes chuckled. "There is no need for us to become the strongest. We need only create the strongest. That is the motto of the Atlas Institute's alchemists. Taking it as their creed, they created countless weapons.
There has long been a rumor in the world of magecraft that the Atlas Institute created seven weapons capable of destroying the world—
Of course, at that stage, they recognized their own limits and sealed those weapons away."
Weapons that could destroy the world... How powerful would they have to be?
Li Ye's breath caught slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he continued listening.
"There are many theories about why they created such weapons. To this day, it remains an unsolved mystery in the world of magecraft—"
"In any case, this place is a storehouse of Mage's Dresses unmatched anywhere above ground. Though in reality, it is merely a junkyard. The Atlas alchemists repeatedly invented things and created failed products, with the result that terrifying weapons piled up like mountains."
As they chatted, the three continued deeper into the tunnel. Aside from candlelight, there was only endless silence.
"Something is approaching—"
Li Ye, walking at the front, stopped and stared intently into the depths of the tunnel.
Distinct magical energy fluctuations were emanating from deep within. There were an enormous number of them!
The air trembled, as though some colossal entity were drawing near.
Soon, Li Ye and the others saw three gigantic, strangely shaped machines emerge from the darkness.
Hovering half a meter above the ground in defiance of gravity, the three three-meter-tall azure-green machines seemed to meet Li Ye's gaze!
Their entire bodies were azure-green, mysterious machines that appeared to be composed of several cubes.
"Looks like the defense devices are indeed still operating. Coming here with Mr. Li Ye was truly the right decision!" Holmes smiled as he stepped back behind Nitocris. "My existence is not very stable at the moment, so I cannot fight. We can only count on Mr. Li Ye's combat strength now!"
He wants to see my strength—
Then I cannot use the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception—
Li Ye did not turn around. The moment Holmes said he could not fight, Li Ye understood what Holmes intended.
He simply wanted to clearly observe Li Ye's current strength. That one punch through the yellow sand was not enough information for a deduction, so Li Ye needed to reveal more.
An open scheme, plain as day.
Li Ye's lips curled as he drew his sword despite knowing it was an open scheme. Then he called out, "Mr. Holmes! Where are these familiars' weak points?"
With Li Ye's current knowledge, he could tell that these Automatic Defense Devices possessed incredibly strong defenses. Combined with the magical energy they radiated, they were practically no weaker than him!
If he wanted to end this quickly within such a narrow space, Li Ye felt it would be difficult.
His current fighting style was too broad and forceful. Moreover, he had no idea whether the Atlas Institute possessed other security measures. The best approach was to find the automatons' weaknesses and strike them precisely!
Finding weaknesses required an extremely high level of magecraft knowledge. Li Ye clearly did not possess that, but fortunately—
"Mr. Li Ye, I need time to observe—"
The world-famous detective—Charlotte Holmes—was standing beside him right now!
"Fine! Miss Nitocris!"
Having received Holmes's answer, Li Ye did not waste another word. He violently stomped both feet down!
A muffled boom erupted as Li Ye shot toward the approaching Automatic Defense Devices like a cheetah!
"Mirror of the Underworld—reveal yourself!" Nitocris gripped the Staff of Vance and slammed it heavily against the ground. A rapidly spreading black mirror surface seemed ready to devour even the light.