Chapter 992: Chapter 990: Gathering Clues
Pandora turned to look at the Witch Demon Elder, and the Eight-Armed Skeleton also turned to look at the Witch Demon Elder.
The Witch Demon Elder grinned, as if his teeth were hurting, and hesitantly said: “Could the alarm be broken, is it a misreport?”
“Swish!”
The sound of rushing wind was heard as a figure swiftly appeared beside the Witch Demon Elder. Richard, who had just hurried back from outside Eden, listened to the alarm with a serious expression.
Looking at the Witch Demon Elder, Richard, who was still unaware of the specifics, asked: “Why is the alarm sounding?”
“Well, I don’t know either.” The Witch Demon Elder shrugged and replied, “I was just sleeping when it suddenly went off. I thought it was the tree in the room rebelling, but there’s been no movement, the door hasn’t opened, so it doesn’t seem likely. I can’t figure out what’s going on. By the way, could it be that your stuff is unreliable, causing a misreport?”
Listening to the Witch Demon Elder’s words, Richard pondered and said: “A misreport is indeed possible, but I did a lot of processing before, so the chances are very low. Generally speaking, as long as it’s triggered, it means some values in the room have crossed the warning line.
Compared to a misreport, I’d rather believe the tree Ximu in the room actually did something. Not opening the door till now, it’s likely they don’t want to confront directly, but escape from underground or use other means to leave the room.”
“What do we do then?” the Witch Demon Elder asked.
Richard’s eyes flashed with a pale light as he looked towards Research Room No.3, but found his vision hazy, shrouded by something resembling white mist, rendering it unclear.
“There is intense chaotic energy in the room, I can’t see through it.” Richard replied, pursing his lips, “It seems we must enter the room to understand exactly what issue has occurred.”
After speaking, Richard did not hesitate and walked towards Research Room No.3.
Pandora blinked her eyes, quickly following, and said: “I’ll go with you.”
Richard turned his head, pressing Pandora in place with one hand: “You stay here!”
“But…”
“You stand guard outside, wait for my call, then come in.” Richard said.
“Well…” Pandora and Richard looked at each other for a moment, finally agreeing, “Alright, but don’t forget to call me then.”
“Got it.” Richard continued walking towards Research Room No.3, taking a few steps, he thought of something, turning to sweep his gaze over the numerous skeletons, then back at the Witch Demon Elder.
The Witch Demon Elder tensed up, seeing Richard looking at him, dryly said: “Hey, kid, you don’t want to take your little girl inside, then don’t bring me, this old bag of bones, in either. Otherwise, that’s really too much.”
“Rest assured, I didn’t intend to bring you in.” Richard said, “I just now realized, your modified skeletons perform impressively, able to set such a tight defensive formation before I returned. Even if that tree inside truly rebels, they should hold off for some time.”
“Ah, about that…” The Witch Demon Elder’s expression was somewhat strange, dryly chuckled, “Average, you’re overpraising.”
“You’re just being modest, Mr. Ah Fu, you’re indeed much more outstanding than I thought.” Richard said, saying no more, walking directly to the door of Research Room No.3.
Brilliant golden light emerged, the Achilles Armor enveloped his entire body, vigilantly reaching towards the door.
There was a palm-sized protrusion on the door, densely engraved with magic runes, Richard placed his hand on it, injecting free energy elements to activate.
“Swish!”
A streak of red light flashed across the protrusion, accompanied by a series of “ka-ka-ka” sounds from inside the door, these were the mechanical devices at work. To guard against the Eternal Ancient Tree Species Ximu inside, Richard had fortified the room strictly, just the door alone had four protections.
“Ka!”
Finally, accompanied by a crisp sound, the door opened.
Richard heightened his vigilance and stepped in, his eyes quickly sweeping through everything in the room.
He saw that the energy absorption towers, which originally almost filled the room, were now mostly subjected to unknown attacks, melting into pools of metallic liquid under high temperatures. Chaotic energy scattered through the air, occasionally striking the Achilles Armor, causing ripples.
The room’s temperature was extremely high, scorch marks were present to various extents on the surrounding walls, thus triggering the alarm.
When Richard threw his gaze towards the center of the room, his eyes couldn’t help but blink, seeing the Ancient Tree Tin Wood surprisingly hadn’t escaped.
The iron frame and glass pool supporting them had melted under high temperatures, their roots secured to the ground, with a human face on the trunk looking over, showing an exceedingly innocent expression.
“Hey, kid, let me clarify, what happened in this room earlier definitely, definitely has nothing to do with me. Although I cursed you before, saying your metal lumps will cause trouble eventually, now that they have, you cannot blame me.
I… I was merely quietly absorbing my energy from the void, who knows why your metal lumps suddenly lost control. I could feel the energy they absorbed from the void suddenly increased, afterwards they couldn’t sustain it, overflowing and melting, turning into this.
I was unfortunately affected by them, if not for timely use of the absorbed energy to protect myself and offset the attack, I might have been severely injured. Anyway, this matter really, really has nothing to do with me, it’s all your doing. So, don’t blame it on me.
My current condition is still normal, but until you repair your equipment, I cannot supply you with energy. This is your own doing; I demand this period be counted within our contract, no deduction! Additionally, you must shorten the contract service time for me, at least… by… half a month!”
After hearing the Ancient Tree Tin Wood’s rather emotional lengthy speech, Richard moved his eyebrows, somewhat taken aback.
The situation before him, was not quite what he thought. He originally intended to take advantage of the Ancient Tree Tin Wood’s rebellion, acting as a victim, to pressure them into signing a new contract. How suddenly, the victim became the other party?
Did the other party truly not rebel? Was the accident entirely caused by the absorption towers?
Or perhaps, was the other party deliberately sabotaging, damaging the absorption towers, then acting innocent, gradually testing his limits?
Richard frowned deeply.
The Ancient Tree saw Richard’s expression and urgently said: “Hey, don’t disbelieve, I’m telling the truth. I’ve always strictly fulfilled the contract with no other motives. This time the issue, is entirely irrelevant to me.”
“Perhaps.” Richard was noncommittal, his eyes flashing with pale light, activating the Eye of Gaze, carefully observing the chaotic energy swirling through the room, and other details, attempting to reconstruct what events had transpired earlier.