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The voice coming from the depths of the tunnel sent shivers down Rocky's spine...
"Could it be... this place is haunted..."
You see, when people fled to the sky, each nation urgently shut down their research institutes and evacuated all their staff, so there really shouldn't be anyone here.
So what was with that voice just now? Truly haunted?
Shaking his head, Rocky cast aside the absurd idea and bravely trod down the tunnel, step by step.
No matter whether it was haunted or something else, he had come this far and couldn't return without achieving anything; it was crucial to figure out the situation here, both for himself and Thunderhawk City.
Thus, he quickly adjusted his mood and focused intensely as he began to walk deeper into the tunnel.
The length of this tunnel far exceeded his imagination; Rocky had walked downwards for a long time without reaching the end, feeling as if the tunnel had no end at all, which gave an idea of how profoundly deep the research institute was situated underground.
However, this was rather normal, just like the stone gate outside; these were safety measures designed to prevent demons from destroying the institute.
Finally, after descending nearly a kilometer, Rocky finally arrived at the end of the tunnel, where he faced another stone gate.
Having walked such a distance without encountering any other strangeness and without that previous voice reappearing, Rocky's mood had stabilized greatly. Coupled with his prior experience, he placed his hand on the stone gate at the end of the tunnel and channeled his magic power.
What followed was a rumbling sound as the stone gate rose slowly from the bottom up, and Rocky stepped through.
Behind the stone gate was a vast laboratory with dozens of research stations, each covered with various research equipment.
"Just like the rumors..."
Walking through the stone gate and surveying the room, Rocky approached the nearest research station and looked down to find a magic stone and an unfamiliar instrument covered in a thick layer of dust.
It seemed that when everyone fled to the sky, they indeed did so in haste, not even having time to take the equipment from the institute, just evacuating the personnel.
Thinking this, Rocky picked up the magic stone from the research table and discovered, to his surprise, that the magic stone still contained an ample amount of mana.
"I'll take that, I can keep these magic stones for my own use."
"And I should take this equipment too; it would be good to sell it as antiques!"
Realizing that the magic stones still held mana, Rocky took out a large cloth bag, placed the magic stone inside and then lifted the equipment from the table, clearly planning to take everything with him.
These things could fetch some money!
As City Lord, Rocky knew all too well how tight the finances of Thunderhawk City were. The city couldn't even sustain itself, so what income could it generate? Hence, he planned to take whatever he could from this place; if nothing else turned up later, selling these items would be enough to break even.
"You've finally come..."
But just as he was busily packing the devices into the cloth bag, that eerie voice appeared again!
"Ah!"
The sudden voice startled Rocky so much that he trembled, and a piece of equipment fell to the ground, causing him great distress.
When he looked toward the source of the voice, he found someone standing at the deepest part of the laboratory!
He really saw a ghost!
Seeing someone inside the lab surprised Rocky greatly, even filling him with a sense of horror.
But when he looked closer at the person, he realized it wasn't a person at all but a magic energy image!
My goodness! There's a magic energy image here?!
Realizing that the figure in the laboratory was just an image formed by magic energy, Rocky's eyes widened, for as far as he knew, magic energy images were not exactly cutting-edge technology but had only been invented around fifty or sixty years ago!
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Why did Magic Technology, which wouldn't be invented for another fifty or sixty years, appear in a research institute that was nearly a hundred years old?
The answer to this question wasn't hard to guess, but when Rocky thought of it, he couldn't help but take a sharp breath!
Could it be... that the person in this lab had invented the Magic Energy Image all by themselves?
This realization made Rocky's breathing quicken because if it was true, did it not mean the research in this laboratory was fifty or sixty years ahead of its time?!
"Impossible, it must be impossible. Perhaps someone came here before me..."
Feeling his guess was too bold, Rocky shook his head to warn himself not to think wildly and not to harbor too many hopes, or else he might collapse from disappointment.
Meanwhile, he also arrived in front of the Magic Energy Image.
Standing before the Magic Energy Image, he looked closely and noticed that the image was of an old man, whose aged appearance seemed to be in his eighties or nineties. The old man was dressed in a Magic Robe from the Land Era, suggesting he was from the Land Era.
"I've finally waited for you..."
As if sensing Rocky's approach, the Magic Energy Image spoke again:
"My name is Wensel, and I am the head of this research institute. This image is my last will and testament..."
By this time, Rocky had somewhat understood. There must have been some sensing mechanism within the research institute; once the stone gate outside was opened, the Magic Energy Image would activate, leading to everything he was seeing.
But what puzzled him was that if this Wensel was the head of the research institute, then he must be an extraordinary figure. So why would he leave his image here? Figures of his stature should have been taken to Sky City long ago, right?
As Rocky was puzzled, the Magic Energy Image in front of him, or more precisely the image left by Wensel, continued, "I don't know when you or you all will find this testament, and I don't even know who you are, but I assume you must have already implemented the Sky City plan."
"But believe me, the Sky City plan is destroying everyone!"
All of a sudden, Wensel's image became agitated and angrily said, "Fleeing to the sky is the same as handing over the land to the Demons; it's an act equal to surrender! No more surrendering to the Demons!"
"The direction of this plan is completely wrong; Sky City cannot take everyone away. People won't find a chance to fight back for the land in the sky—it's completely a death wish!"
My heavens!
Wensel's words shocked Rocky to his core!
How could this old man start by railing against Sky City, which had saved everyone? Who on earth was he to be so presumptuous?
Meanwhile, Wensel's image paused for a long time, and it took a while before a sigh came through:
"Forget it..."
"Talking about this now is pointless since you're seeing this image. It means I am already dead, and the Sky City plan has been carried out, so everything is too late..."
After a long sigh, Wensel's image continued:
"You might be wondering why you're seeing my image left here. It's simple because I didn't evacuate. When those cowards chose to flee, I preferred to stay here."
"Don't be surprised; there are many who share my sentiments. And we're not staying here to die; we're continuing our research."
Research!
Research!
When the image left by Wensel uttered this word, Rocky's breath almost stopped!
This Wensel had not fled to the sky, and he was still in the research institute continuing with his own research. What did this imply?
It meant that the research institute should hold his inventions!
And it looked like... Rocky might be the first person to come to this research institute!
This possibility made him forget to breathe...