The room was large but dimly lit. The air was filled with the strong scent of burnt materials, bitter medicines, and old parchments.
Shelves on the walls held books, parchments, and scrolls, while various tools and equipment were scattered across the spacious tables. A group of researchers worked busily to prepare the ingredients for their experiment.
At the side of the room, a few other men sat slumped in their chairs, their hands and feet tightly bound with thick ropes. Their eyes were heavy-lidded, and they appeared like people who had been working for days on end without rest.
The men looked exhausted and scared, their faces drawn and pale. They had been kidnapped and forced to translate the journal without respite, and their captors had shown them no mercy. They had been given meagre rations of food and water, barely enough to sustain them through the long hours of labour.
