’I have to help Dr. Marshal, he told himself. If I stay near him, maybe I can finally figure out what he wanted to tell .’
"All right, then you’d better go to the lab. They might need your help down there." Dr. Marshal pulled a small screwdriver from his pocket and got ready to take apart the Homunculus on the table piece by piece. "Go on. They’re probably waiting for you."
"...."
"Shaan?" Dr. Marshal frowned when Shaan didn’t move at all. "Why are you still here?"
Shaan scratched the back of his head, his expression stiff. "Dr. Marshal... after thinking about it, maybe I should help you instead. Chelsie and Nalira can assist the courier downstairs. They won’t have any problem."
"Hmm..." Dr. Marshal paused and stroked his chin. "All right, if you don’t mind."
Shaan’s face lit up. "Great! So, what should I do?"
"Simple." Dr. Marshal handed him the screwdriver. "Remove all the tiny screws on this Homunculus’s outer fra. Once the casing is off, I can examine the internal damage—the dark creature really did a number on it."
"Ah, okay. That’s easy."
With full confidence, Shaan drove the screwdriver into one of the screws on the Homunculus’s outer fra. But removing all of them turned out far harder than he expected. Almost every screw on the exterior had rusted—probably because the Homunculus went through extre environnts— he had to put all his strength into each one, gritting his teeth as he forced the tal to move.
’Argh, co on... just a little more... I can do this—’
’Grrnk.’
"Finally." Shaan wiped sweat from his forehead and exhaled in relief. "Dr. Marshal, I’m done. All screws removed."
"Good work, Shaan." Dr. Marshal tapped his shoulder. "Now, let’s lift the fra."
They removed the outer casing, revealing the Homunculus’s internal structure—wires, cables, steel ribs, and glowing mana conduits that flickered weakly like dying fireflies.
Dr. Marshal clicked on his flashlight and leaned in. "Hmm... the internal damage is worse than I thought. Nearly a dozen cable connections have been severed. If we don’t fix these imdiately, the mana core may destabilize."
"Can you fix it?" Shaan asked.
"Of course. I’ve handled worse." He motioned behind him. "Shaan, can you grab the box with the replacent cables? I think I left it on the living room table."
"Of course. I’ll gladly help you."
"Take the long box with the br—wait." Dr. Marshal halted for a mont. "Ah, no, not that. I think I have changed the box."
Shaan blinked. "So... which box should I take?"
"The rectangular box with the wh—eh... but I don’t even own a white box either." Dr. Marshal scratched his head in frustration. "Ugh, damn it. My mory is getting terrible."
Shaan let out a slow, controlled breath. "How about this: instead of guessing, I’ll just check all the boxes in the living room. One of them has to contain the cables you ntioned."
"Yeah, that’s a good idea." Dr. Marshal nodded enthusiastically. "I’ll start removing the damaged cables while you look."
"Alright, Dr. Marshall."
Shaan rushed into the living room and began searching for the spare cables inside any of the boxes. But the mont he stepped into the room, his face stiffened at the sight in front of him.
’Oh...You’ve got to be kidding ...’
He kept shaking his head as he stared at the room. The table was covered with boxes. Not one, not two... at least twenty, stacked neatly into a miniature cardboard tower.
’Okay, Shaan... Calm down.’ Shaan slowly exhaled. ’You just need to stay calm, and you’ll find it.’
He walked toward the table and started opening the boxes one by one. tal scraps, Old tools,
Mana tubes, A jar of screws. More boxes, identical on the outside, useless on the inside.
"Argh..." Shaan groaned as he opened another empty one. "I’ve checked half of these and still nothing. Why do they all look the sa?"
Even so, Shaan refused to give up. He kept opening the boxes, checking them one after another. And finally, he uncovered a box full of replacent cable joints. Without wasting a second, Shaan sprinted back to Dr. Marshal with the box in his hands.
"Dr. Marshal!" Shaan called out, panting hard as he ran toward him. "Here it is—the thing you needed."
"Perfect timing," Dr. Marshal said with a proud smile. "I’ve finished removing all the damaged cables. Now I can fix this Homunculus." He reached for the replacents. "Shaan, can you hold the flashlight for ? I need good lighting to reattach these."
"Yes, of course. That’s no problem for ." Shaan pointed the flashlight at the inside of the Homonculus’s body. "Like this?"
"Perfect. Keep it steady." Dr. Marshal grabbed several replacent cables and started installing them. "I promise. This won’t take long."
Shaan watched as Dr. Marshal worked. His hands moved with practiced precision, weaving cables through narrow spaces and locking them into position.
"Dr. Marshal... what exactly did you want to tell earlier?"
"Ah, yes," Dr. Marshal replied without looking up. "It’s about the Lunaris Revia event. Before it begins, all faction leaders will gather for a special eting with the Twilight Sanctum Council. They’ll discuss rules, safety protocols, and potential anomalies."
"And that ans... Miss Daisy will be there, too?"
"Exactly." Dr. Marshal pushed his hand deeper inside the Homunculus’s chest. "I plan to speak with her. Hopefully, she’ll have a mont to et us. But hold on... this part is tricky... and—ah. Got it." He pulled his hand out and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Anyway, if she’s there, we may finally get so answers."
"Yes, I also hope that we can-"
A cluster of footsteps was suddenly heard. It was growing louder and sharper until he turned around imdiately. A group of uniford n stood behind them, their posture rigid and authoritative. Symbols of the Twilight Sanctum glowed faintly on their collars.
"Dr. Marshal," one of them said firmly, "we are mbers of the Twilight Sanctum Council’s escort team. We have received orders to bring you in imdiately."
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