As the young wizards in the examination halls of the teaching building sat in unease, outside the academy, beneath that blazing red light, the faculty mbers of the First University who had rushed to the scene looked equally grim.
Not far from the Silent River, in a certain area at the edge of the Silent Forest, a massive pit appeared. The entire pit seed like an overturned pyramid, with spiral passageways circling downwards. Amidst the soil and rubble, one could clearly see grayish-blue doors and collapsed experint tables.
A crooked Return Soul Poplar sprawled its branches in all directions like a living creature, shrouded in a faint red glow. Countless intricate runes flowed across its trunk, just a glance gave a feeling of dizziness.
Deep green nutrient solution gushed from those little grayish-blue doors, flowing into the roots of the Return Soul Poplar, washing away traces left after the magical curse’s destruction, emitting a warped scent mixed with cruelty and strange fragrance. Occasionally, a few golden-red sparks would burst from the shadows of the passageways, the last struggle before the extinguishnt of the Guarding Spell.
At the edge of the pit, many charred tree trunks remained as evidence of the Thunder Curse’s past rampage.
"...The School Guardian Array Office reports that the unknown experint body is confird to be a Return Soul Poplar. It is currently in a state between animal and plant. The possibility of movent cannot be ruled out! No strong aggressiveness has been detected, threat level temporarily set at A !"
"Observers confirm the unknown experint body is in an awakened state, currently not exhibiting other aggressiveness!"
"Sleep-type magic is ineffective!"
"Anesthetic is ineffective!"
"The experintal body is slow to react to temperature changes, has strong magical resistance, heating and cooling cannot cause direct damage... inquiry if the temperature range should be expanded!"
"The joint task force requests avoiding further stimulation of the experintal body!"
"The escaped Ogre experintal bodies have been contained, the school patrol is expanding the safety search range!"
"Life detection has not discovered any other abnormal life forms! A safe area has been opened at the accident site, all magical creatures within a three-kiloter radius have been expelled, evacuation is complete!"
"The dical subteam is on standby!"
"The Divination group is extracting residual elents from the laboratory, the site has severe magic power distortion, multiple Anti-Divination Magic traces have been discovered, no effective information obtained yet..."
Several elder wizards in gray and black robes stood at the edge of the pit. Clusters of blue firelight flickered around them, transforming into little blue birds, reporting ssages from all directions.
The good news is, most of the ssages are positive, and the current situation is under control; the bad news is, neither Vice Principal Ruoyu, Lady Emma, nor any other legends of the school have expressed any opinion on the matter.
Having no opinion is the worst opinion.
"Did soone from the relevant departnt co?" The old man Hemingway touched the flask hanging at his waist, showing a trace of irritation. Such a major accident during the school’s final exams—needless to ask, the school’s internal assessnt this sester will surely deduct a good chunk.
Professor An of Jiuyou Academy raised his hand, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and spoke rapidly: "Master Baoyangzi ca around, confird this laboratory did not involve illegal dinsional experints... signed the paper and left."
"These guys, they’ve really turned into moles, one knock and they change places!" Another black-robed wizard seed to want to lighten the current grim atmosphere, making a small joke.
Unfortunately, no one was able to laugh at this ti.
"Get rid of those flies around!" The old man Ferna kicked the old dog May at his side, his voice filled with annoyance: "The forest is big enough for all kinds of birds... Even dare to surround the First University’s matters."
He was referring to those lurking eyes in the distant woods—lone hunters from the Silent Forest, patrol teams from Beta Town, personnel from Moon Council, Wizard Council, Dark Council, and other organizations’ branches on Buji Island.
"Don’t drive away the Trident Sword’s people yet!"
Another gray-robed old school worker seed to recall sothing, quickly advising May before leaving: "Little Andrew from the Trident Sword had ntioned it before... For an accident of this level occurring outside the campus, ultimately a justification to the Alliance is necessary."
May wagged its chubby tail, nodded slowly, and walked out. After just a few steps, it disappeared without a trace. Almost simultaneously, in the distance ca a tense murmuring of surprise.
"Justification, justification."
The old man Ferna gripped his tall magic wand, sneering a few tis: "There are at least a thousand illegal laboratories outside the school! Didn’t those old folks know? Hundreds of years and still such a bad habit has ford! Each pretending to be blind, always looking the other way, yet when accidents happen, they hide faster than anyone... Who’s justifying to whom?"
Professor An’s plump face turned slightly pale.
The few old school workers around him, each one more senior than the last, several of whom had served as vice-deans of the academy, naturally had the grounds to criticize certain entrenched issues of the school, while he was just an ordinary administrative office director. He hadn’t even obtained a High-level Registered Wizard certificate, how could he dare to get involved in such discussions.
"Wasn’t it said that this Return Soul Poplar had previously released a batch of mutant spores? What’s the current situation?" He tried to steer the topic into a relatively safe area.
This effort imdiately received a response.
Another relatively young gray-robed wizard promptly chid in: "The spores spreading towards the Silent Forest have been fully contained, no pollution spread detected. The spores attempting to invade the school, most were extinguished within the Guardian Array, the small portion that remained has also been contained... But to be safe, the Assistant Team was notified, requesting students who were taking exams to stay in the exam room and temporarily not to move around..."
"Humph, containnt, containnt!"
The old man Ferna snorted again, unsatisfied, as he thumped his magic wand: "Without this damned ’containnt’ system, those illegal laboratories wouldn’t grow one after another! Illegal experintal items should be destroyed on the spot, what’s the point in containing them? Isn’t this giving those restlessly ambitious guys so wrong signals?"
"Can the owner of this laboratory be confird?" Professor An dry-coughed, shifting the topic again.
"Difficult."
The relatively young gray-robed wizard was equally cooperative, shaking his head, yet reaching out to present to the other mbers of the joint task force a previous finding: "The only thing that can be confird is that the master behind this laboratory isn’t appearing for the first ti. Perhaps the school needs to establish a dedicated task force for these guys."
Lying in the palm of his hand was a black raven feather.
User Comments
0 comments from readers