Pure white skeletons crawled out of the darkness, instantly crowding the already narrow tunnel.
As Li Ye rapidly approached, the Automatic Defense Devices let out shrill cries. Their bronze-sheened bodies disassembled and reassembled in an instant!
The surging magical energy at the centers of the three Automatic Defense Devices made Li Ye's pupils contract. His instincts had already warned him what would happen next.
The rapidly rising hum resembled an overloaded turbine, ejecting its contents in the blink of an eye!
Bzzz—
Three dazzling beams shot toward Li Ye!
The core is in the center!
"Mr. Li Ye! Attack the central core!"
Almost simultaneously, Li Ye and Holmes noticed what lay behind those lights!
A wave of heat rushed at Li Ye. He immediately gauged the approximate power of the attack from the magical energy fluctuations and heat contained within the beams!
At Li Ye's current speed, he could have dodged them entirely. But Holmes and Nitocris were behind him!
I can block this!
Screech—
The magical energy that rose around him moved like wandering dragons, coiling around Li Ye's body and sword blade.
As Li Ye met the attack head-on, the skeletons summoned by Nitocris threw themselves in front of him, continuously weakening the beams!
By the time the beams reached Li Ye, their power had already been reduced by more than half!
They posed no threat to Li Ye at all!
Crack!
Li Ye endured all three beams, seized the opening during the Automatic Defense Devices' attack cooldown, and stabbed his sword into the center!
In an instant, the light flared brilliantly!
The immense magical energy contained within the shattered core roared past Li Ye like raging waves!
Two more!
More skeletons crawled up from below, restraining the remaining two Automatic Defense Devices, but they were crushed into fragments in the blink of an eye by the rapidly spinning machines.
The two advancing Automatic Defense Devices were like rolling blades, intent on tearing Li Ye apart completely!
*...!*
Li Ye pulled out his sword and withdrew. Then, with an arm thrust out like a spear, he reached for the nearest Automatic Defense Device and forcibly stopped it from spinning with nothing but his bare flesh!
Crack!
Now that he had confirmed the cores' locations, dealing with the remaining two Automatic Defense Devices was only a matter of time.
In less than ten seconds, all three Automatic Defense Devices had completely lost the ability to move.
"Are there all things like this inside the Atlas Institute?"
Li Ye tried picking up a shattered core. A prism no larger than his palm could contain magical energy of that level and even replenish its own supply. The technology within was beyond anything Li Ye could imagine.
"Yes, Mr. Li Ye. Given the Atlas Institute's alchemical reserves, along with Automatic Defense Devices capable of operating for extended periods, I imagine we will encounter many enemies along the way."
Holmes spoke as if nothing had happened, saying exactly what Li Ye did not want to hear.
That meant Li Ye and Nitocris would have to fight their way in all the way.
"Don't worry! Pharaoh Nitocris shall grant you her blessing!" Nitocris declared confidently.
Crack—
Li Ye casually crushed the damaged core. It held little value to him, as his abilities were insufficient to analyze the technology within it.
When another Automatic Defense Device fell, Li Ye, Holmes, and the others finally left the tunnel and entered a vast space.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of tunnels leading to unknown destinations stretched out before them.
Li Ye pointed at the paths extending endlessly ahead. "How should we choose at this fork?"
Without realizing it, Li Ye had already handed the choice over to Holmes. Having such a powerful brain around made him feel immensely at ease.
"Should we use my familiars to explore these tunnels again?" Nitocris asked, drawing on her experience with carpet-style searches.
"We cannot use Miss Nitocris's familiars. From what we have seen, the Atlas Institute's Automatic Defense Devices are basically all functioning normally. If Miss Nitocris's familiars conduct a large-scale search, it will only cause every Automatic Defense Device to run wild toward our location."
Holmes rejected Nitocris's suggestion. After pondering for a moment, he looked at Li Ye, who immediately had a bad feeling.
"Mr. Li Ye, it seems we can only try them one by one. Of course, I have narrowed down the area. The path leading to the center should be among them."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
Li Ye took a deep breath and naturally took the lead.
After some time—
"What's that?"
Li Ye noticed something embedded in the bluestone wall not far away.
Unlike the bluestone, the object gleamed with a metallic luster.
Li Ye noticed that it seemed to be a metal plate, with a line of writing engraved upon it.
"Zepia Eltnam Atlasia?"
Li Ye slowly read the name engraved on the metal plate. Part of the writing after that name had been crossed out, making it impossible for him to identify.
Holmes, who was also examining the metal plate beside him, raised an eyebrow. "As far as I know, successive directors of the Atlas Institute are granted the title of Atlasia. This person must have been the final director. There may have been a successor, but their name was not preserved."
Holmes scrutinized the metal plate, his eyes seeming to see something within it.
"The final director?"
Li Ye raised an eyebrow, looking exactly like Holmes.
"Every director of the Atlas Institute inevitably goes mad. The result is the creation of forbidden weapons capable of destroying the world; or rather, they challenged the future and failed, and that failure drove them mad."
"What an unlucky profession—"
After hearing Holmes's explanation of the Atlas Institute's directors, Li Ye pondered briefly. "So why did he carve his name here? Like a hall of fame at an academy? It should be missing a portrait, then."
Li Ye then continued searching along the wall and found several more identical metal plates, but all the information on them had been erased.
"Mr. Holmes, what do you think?"
Li Ye stood before a large door and turned to look at Holmes.
It blended perfectly with the surrounding bluestone. If Li Ye had not noticed something unusual, he would never have discovered it.
Holmes and Nitocris, who had caught up, both examined the door. As Nitocris used magecraft to investigate what lay beyond it, Holmes once again bit down on his pipe and fell silent.
"We haven't encountered a single person so far. Even if our destination is the center, we can't just ignore this place—"
Seeing Holmes fall silent, Li Ye muttered to himself.
Thud, thud.
Li Ye casually knocked on the door, and the heavy sound attested to its weight.
"Holmes, do you think I have a chance of opening this door?"
Having finally found somewhere different, Li Ye was unwilling to let it go.
Especially after learning that the Atlas Institute was a storehouse of Mage's Dresses unmatched by anything aboveground, Li Ye had begun to entertain some ideas.
What he lacked most right now were weapons he could use under normal circumstances.
"Mr. Li Ye, forcing the door open may trigger a mechanism. Personally, I do not recommend doing so."
Holmes tried to dissuade him, his tone sincere.
"I found no traces of magecraft."
Nitocris suddenly spoke.
Li Ye raised an eyebrow. "None? Then step back first. I'll give it a try."
Just as Li Ye was about to force the door open—
Bzzz.
The flowing air seemed to reverse, and a powerful suction force burst forth from the depths.
It was as though they stood within an undersea whirlpool, slowly sinking toward a boundless prison!
Yet the movement of the air was only secondary. What truly surprised Li Ye and Holmes was that abnormal presence.
"This one seems a little different—"