Soon, this dazzling color gathered and settled in a corner of the laboratory, like water flowing into a channel, forming a rectangle that was about one and a half times the width of a person.

"Huh? Isn't this the place we just checked?"

Ms. Juliana raised a question and stepped forward to try to reach out, but there was no meaningful response.

"Perhaps there is a mechanism elsewhere that can activate it."

Although it's just speculation, it seems highly probable given the current situation. The person who built this basement appears to be a cautious individual, perhaps even prepared for the possibility that if the secret passage were discovered, they could use it against them by destroying the stone door, which could potentially trigger a trap.

Fortunately, it's not too difficult.

With a basic understanding of the concepts, the remaining tasks become much easier with the help of exceptional abilities.

The mechanism to open the door is hidden behind a separate cabin at the far end of the laboratory, behind the location where the boy who was rescued earlier was. There is only a small gap that allows one arm to reach in.

The good news is that, thanks to the headmaster's expertise in ice manipulation, after some adjustments, the ice layers, which were just the right depth, were layered and stacked on the switch button, which was no bigger than a fingernail, applying pressure. Soon, accompanied by a series of clattering and scraping sounds, the stone door, which had been shaped, contracted slightly inward and then lifted up on its own, revealing the narrow, dark passageway behind it.

The passageway, filled with an ominous atmosphere, was completely dark. The stone walls on both sides were mostly made of light-absorbing stone, and even when moonstones were thrown in from nearby, they could only illuminate a very small area, reflecting the dark red ground.

The headmaster reached out and stopped me from going any further in: "It's too dangerous. Let the adults handle the rest of the exploration."

“But we haven’t found Professor Adrian yet, neither the person nor the body,” I replied instinctively. “If he escaped from here, we might still be able to catch up with him now…”

“Yumi,” the headmaster interrupted me again, “it’s precisely because we’re worried he might be hiding in the passage that we’re stopping you. Compared to us, he’s likely far more familiar with this underground space. If there are any traps inside, and he’s deliberately luring us in before activating them, it would be far too dangerous.”

She took a breath and forced a faint smile: "It's alright, good child. You've done enough. Leave the rest to us adults."

I glanced behind me and saw my supervisor's indifferent expression floating around the room, completely oblivious to what was being said.

Even your mentor wouldn't want you to get hurt so easily, right?

Seeing my hesitation, Juliana added another sentence, though I couldn't deny it.

Forget it, I'm not interested in something that doesn't seem to offer much benefit anyway. I'm happy to keep to myself since someone's willing to take on this troublesome investigation. Rather than wasting time, I'd rather check out the piles of valuables here and replenish our depleted inventory.

First, he swept most of the magic stones into the spatial crevice, then took away the high-quality and rare mithril and rutile, and finally picked and chose among zeolite, bismuth crystal, opal and quartz ore, before filling the crevice halfway.

"It's too much trouble to stuff so many small items in here."

The mentor who floated over watched my sweep, complaining but not stopping as he stuffed most of the remaining magic stones into his pocket, and then stuffed a few diamonds he found under the pile of ore into my hands: "Oh well, at least this way we'll have funding for future experiments. The useless scraps can be used to make some jewelry or something."

"Instead of this, you idiot disciple, hurry up and go to the cabinet! That's where today's top scoop is!"

She suddenly lowered her voice, bypassing Ms. Juliana who was still investigating in the distance, and mysteriously pushed me toward the locked cabinet by the aisle.

The lock on the cabinet had been broken by external force and was lying crookedly to the side. Behind the half-open cabinet door, a large amount of paper was exposed, some of which still had a lingering smell of blood.

"Why do you want to look at these?" I asked, puzzled. "These written materials are nothing more than records of their monster experiments. They're all going to be burned anyway. If you really need to check, you can find the corresponding copies in the library."

"Foolish disciple, take another look at that top compartment. Isn't there a box there?"

Looking at it, a wooden box with an intricate mechanical structure and delicate patterns was placed on the top shelf of the cabinet. Nearby, there was a pile of deliberately messy paper documents, as if to conceal the box's presence. After taking it down and examining it closely, the faint fragrance, no longer masked by the lingering smell of blood, became exceptionally pronounced, clearly indicating that it was made of extremely high-grade wood.

"This is an item that the Wan Jin Chamber of Commerce lost at the auction. It's something like that—a historical collection that hasn't been fully deciphered yet. Anyway, something like that." The mentor's explanation came at just the right time. "If you return this to them, you'll surely gain their lasting friendship."

"Of course, there are also preferential discounts. This is a benefit that only a select few leaders recognized as partners of the Wan Jin Chamber of Commerce can receive."

I hesitated for a few seconds, then asked, "...What if I don't return it?"

"That's your business~ Although it doesn't bring much benefit, it's not a bad thing either." The tutor chuckled. "After all, it was found in lost and found items. If I hadn't told you, you probably wouldn't have known there was such a thing here. In that case, whoever gets it first gets it~ It's only right and no one can criticize that."

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