"All these are the workers of the building?" Noel gasped and took a step back, looking around once again. When he thought about it, there were a few people who didn't have the mutation on their faces.
As he predicted, their features were extremely similar to the real humans on the other side of the room. In other words, they conducted their experiments on themselves.
"What is going on here?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows. He never thought that these people would be so indifferent and ruthless.
The reason why these demi-humans showed such anger toward these humans was because of this.
"But there is one more concerning problem…" Noel had noticed one most important matter. "The fact that all of them are staying here means they have been gathered by a certain person."
That was the only explanation for why all these people would even come here. However, when he turned his head around to the location of the blue jade, he didn't find any trace of humans. In other words, there was no one who gathered them to freeze them.
It was most likely that this person actually froze everyone on all those floors and brought them all here.
"That's right. This is the only possibility. It's quite hard to gather every single one of them in this place. So, he must have done it one by one. After he succeeded, he must have stolen all the secret books and records about the experiment before running away from this place."
"If this is the case, then that person must have gone somewhere. But whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, there didn't seem to have any change around the four kingdoms. This place was built one thousand years ago, so there should be a leak somewhere in time. There was no way a place could hide its secret for a thousand years if we are realistically speaking."
"Then, does that mean the one who did steal these records was actually a demi-human?" Noel couldn't see any other culprits where the information didn't leak. There was also a chance that it was a human and he died in an unknown place, guarding that secret with his death.
However, that didn't matter to him for the time being. The problem was that this person left behind this blue jade in this place.
"If my theory is correct, the moment Heisk absorbs this jade, the ice will gradually melt." Noel was considering the repercussions of his action.
Since that person froze the people from each floor and there was no trace of it being frozen anymore, it was clear that the ice would melt when the jade disappeared from this place.
Noel frowned. "If I take this jade, what will happen to the bodies that have been freed from the ice?"
On the one hand, he had made sure that taking the jade was possible without any traps the previous civilization had. On the other hand, he encountered another problem that couldn't be tread lightly.
"No, I shouldn't think of it that way. If I'm not wrong, I should have done the same in that alternate world according to Anna. So, the people from the Atrecaeca Kingdom would have found out about these bodies as well. The problem is that I didn't ask for more details about it from Anna."
Noel simply didn't expect that he would encounter this problem. If only he had asked whether this finding would cause a shock to the country or not, he could make his decision easier.
"What should I do now?" Noel looked around. If something bad happened by taking away the jade, he would have become the enemy of the Atracaeca Kingdom.
After some thought, Noel decided to sit down, meditating. His consciousness gradually shifted to another place where Ardagan and Heisk stood in front of him.
"Ardagan, Heisk." Noel nodded to the.
"Greetings." Heisk nodded while Ardagan asked, "Do you have something to ask?"
"You should have seen what I've witnessed. So, I will just go to the point. Is there a way to absorb the jade without causing the ice to melt? Will there be a problem with Heisk's breakthrough if I do that?"
Ardagan fell silent while Heisk said, "I can confirm that I won't have any problem. It's just that I will be a bit farther from the evolution process. Though, I'm not sure if it's possible or not."
"You can't only absorb a portion of it?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows.
"No. I can absorb only a portion of its energy, but I don't know if it'll be strong enough to continue freezing these people or not. Besides, because I have to control the absorption rate, I will require a lot of time."
"Now that I think about it, the original plan is to take the jade away and let you absorb it, right?"
"Yes. In that case, I can simply disappear for a bit to absorb it. But since we have to do it in this place, then you will be stuck here for a long time."
"How long?"
Heisk calculated the amount of energy and answered, "Approximately three days."
"Three days, huh?" Noel had to consider Tristan and Sandra, the movement of the Atrecaeca Kingdom, and the Supreme Devil Organization. So, staying here for three days definitely complicated things.
"That is the only way if you only want to absorb the energy from the jade. Heisk should be able to stop when the temperature almost increases to the freezing point. I don't know how much energy she has taken until that point though." Ardagan added and Heisk confirmed it with a nod.
Three days was enough time for Legolaz to reach this place while being careful. It was also enough for the Supreme Devil Organization to create traps and plans to ambush him.
Either way, it would prove to be fatal if he continued to stay in this location for a prolonged time.
"I think you are too good." Ardagan suddenly spoke. "It's true that you have to consider others after taking something, but in this place, you need the ability to escape and utilize what you've gained. If you can't, then it's useless."
Ardagan was urging him to plunder everything since this chance didn't come so often. In fact, this was what most people would do. If they got the blue jade and went away with it, they could get all the benefits they wanted. Meanwhile, those who were around the area would suffer in their place.
Even if he cared about them, no one would care about him. So, it was useless to consider it properly.
Heisk seemed to agree with him. Noel was too smart for his own good. If he was a little dumber, he wouldn't have seen through the potential harm that his action might cause. And he wouldn't have to face this kind of problem.
Yet, the situation had forced him to consider it.
However, Ardagan's words actually provided some clues to Noel.
"The people to handle the potential calamity…" Noel fell silent. He abruptly smiled, "That's right!"
The two spirits were confused by the sudden mood change.
"Wait a bit, you two. I have to do something." Noel suddenly disappeared as his consciousness returned to his real body.
He suddenly rose from the floor and climbed the stairs.
He went all the way to the fourth floor where Legolaz set up a camp. When he felt the aura of Spirit Grandmasters behind the door, Noel opened it, alarming everyone.
Bang!
"!!!" The people raised their weapons, including Legolaz, ready to fight against the demons. However, Noel was the one that surprised them.
Without hesitation, Legolaz charged forward. He had to capture Noel to understand the situation and his identity. After all, he caused him to be threatened by that mysterious group.
Noel didn't move a single step even though he was confronted by Legolaz. In fact, Legolaz should be the one to stop.
He sensed the aura of Spirit Grandmasters. That was right, there must be another Spirit Grandmaster besides Legolaz.
And in that instant, Legolaz's shadow suddenly rose and restrained his hands, upper body, and legs, stopping his movement.
At the same time, a mysterious figure emerged from Ramuer's shadow with a blade right in front of its neck.
"It's better to stop doing something reckless, Grand Protector."
"!!!" Legolaz abruptly stopped. He didn't even struggle because the voice came in the direction of the second prince. When he turned around, he saw a mysterious person holding his second prince hostage.
It was clear that if Noel wanted to fight, he couldn't defeat Noel easily. At that time, this mysterious person would have sliced off the second prince's neck before helping Noel.
"Who are you?!" Legolaz gritted his teeth, annoyed by the fact that he got involved in their power struggle.
But this was the question that Noel had been waiting for.
"Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Noel Ardagan." Noel politely nodded to them.
"Noel Ardagan?" Both Legolaz and Ramuer recognized that name. "The author of the rune book?"
"That's right." Noel smirked. "And I'm here to negotiate with you. Will you lower your weapons and hear me out?"
