Chapter 147: 83. Breaking the Deadlock (Triple Integration)
“I know where the magic is.”
“Where?”
Prince Losang and the others simultaneously looked at Fisher, who pointed to the ground, saying, “The people from the New Party must have inspected this building thoroughly, but they overlooked one area: the water pipes beneath the floor. Those pipes are several meters below the surface, and magical instruments can’t detect them.”
“Wait, you mean the pipes? That’s impossible. I’ve seen the Nali water pipe samples displayed in the Nali City Water Bureau. Those pipes are particularly narrow; even worms can’t get in, and it’s impossible to engrave such powerful magic on them. Super-ring magic is different from other types; it has a minimum engraving area requirement. Not to mention that spatial magic requires a resonance that wouldn’t be possible in pipes just a few centimeters wide!”
Roger shook his head upon hearing this and looked at Fisher. Just as Fisher was about to explain, Principal Ken sighed beside them, saying, “No, Fisher is right. It is possible. Saint Nali University has water pipes constructed with investment from the Exploration Company. Not only are they the most advanced in all of Nali, but they also have a noticeable difference from the city’s pipes; they are significantly larger.”
“Oh, what? We have separate drainage pipes as well! Fisher arrived later than I did; how does he know this?”
“I heard it mentioned by a board member before.”
Roger looked at Fisher with surprise, clearly impressed.
In fact, Fisher was just considering where the magic in the Pink Pavilion was most likely engraved. It couldn’t be on the ground as that would be easy to discover, and there wouldn’t be enough time to engrave there.
If it were underground, it was most likely in the pipes. The reason Fisher knew the water pipes at Saint Nali University were different from those elsewhere in Nali was that during the last visit to the Godlin Festival with Elizabeth and Renee, one of the board members introduced the university’s unique features to the parents, mentioning that the pipes under the university were independently constructed.
The proof that made Fisher suspect they were coming through the water pipes was a sudden memory of when Martha mentioned, while he was living in his rental, that the water pipes outside the neighborhood had broken, leading to a day without water in his rental.
It was very likely that the magical objects were coming from Saint Nali’s water system into the university’s underground, but the pipes under Saint Nali were too thin, which is why that object had been able to damage them.
That’s the overall thought process, but it’s just a guess; Fisher wasn’t certain.
“Oh my, I said before that it was correct for Her Highness Elizabeth to invite you to the Godlin Festival; otherwise, you’d never have thought of this.”
Roger obviously agreed with Fisher’s guess because it seemed the only place in the building that hadn’t been inspected was underground. He attributed Fisher’s insight to himself, as he had been the one to keep Fisher here on Elizabeth’s orders.
Though Roger didn’t know that his decision resulted in a fierce confrontation between Renee and Elizabeth.
After hearing this, Prince Losang stomped on the solid ground, frowning, and said, “But the problem is, you describe the water pipes as being several meters below the surface. How do we break through the ground? There are no tools here, and chiseling with a dagger isn’t very realistic.”
He glanced at the dagger in Carolina’s hand and then at her fair fingers. Behind him, Jasmine lifted her head; it seemed she had a way to break through the ground, but it required her to revert to her whale form. If that wasn’t an option…
Fisher subtly shook his head at her, then raised his staff and said, “I have a better method. My staff is engraved with a high-ring gravity magic, but it requires everyone to go outside to the first floor. There has been a spatial shift here, but the pipes should still be beneath the first floor, also to avoid accidental harm.”
But just as Fisher finished speaking, a series of roars came from outside—those familiar human-worm creatures, just as Fisher and Losang had predicted. Those monsters never seemed to run out—they would soon revive somewhere!
“What?! We can’t go out! I don’t want to be eaten by those things!” The young people and a number of scholars in the back protested. It was bad enough staying here, going out would only make it worse!
Fisher didn’t respond but looked out at the monsters pouring in through the windows from the hallway. The muscles on the human-worms had grown strong and solid as iron, looking much larger than the first time they encountered them. They were covered in numerous magic engravings, approaching like dangerous suicide soldiers.
Looking at his side, there were a few old men, weak young men, and a bunch of timid youths. Fisher felt it would be a miracle if they could hold their ground.
So he reluctantly took off his coat and handed it to Jasmine, stretched himself, and prepared to head out with his staff, saying, “Then I’ll go alone. I will do my best to damage the lower pipes if the magic is indeed there.”
“I’ll go with you; if the magic is truly there, those human-worms will likely head for you. You probably can’t hold them off alone.”
The one speaking was Losang, who smiled slightly and stood beside Fisher. He then turned to Carolina, saying, “You need to protect the people here. This way, you’ll be safer.”
“Okay.”
Carolina rubbed the clothing draped over her, and although she didn’t show any specific expression, Fisher glanced at Prince Losang and then at Carolina, sensing an indescribable connection between them, even if it was very subtle; he still noticed.
But Carolina—she was an artificial sorceress of the Sorceress Research Society!
Fisher looked abstractly at Prince Losang, remembering those thunderous words from their first meeting ringing in his ears: “First of all, I’m not gay!”
But considering Carolina’s current state…
It probably doesn’t count, right?
Fortunately, his orientation was normal. As Lady Martha said, the stranger the young men, the more liked. But he didn’t belong to that category.
After arranging everything, Fisher turned to Jasmine, signaling with his eyes that she should make her own decisions if danger arose. After getting her nod of affirmation, Fisher and Prince Losang walked to the front of the room.
Just as they were about to leave, Prince Losang suddenly turned back to Carolina in the room, smiled at her, and said, “I forgot to introduce myself—I’m Losang.”
“…”
Though Carolina didn’t respond, he happily walked up beside Fisher, looking into his eyes with a grin and saying, “Just as I said before, when I meet a lady I like, I will pursue her. I think that lady perfectly matches my taste—strong, beautiful, and quite different from the others.”
“No, not that…”
“I know she might just be a servant or an agent from the Nali spy agency, but who cares? As I said, as long as she is a lady and I like her, all conditions are satisfied.”
Losang patted Fisher on the shoulder in an encouraging manner and said, “I know, conversely, dating a prince could be very stressful. You must deeply understand this because Princess Elizabeth really likes you. But I’ll try to be gentler; you know I don’t have any airs.”
“…”
No, I wasn’t talking about that.
Fisher had completely lost his words and didn’t want to mention a certain cruel truth that might affect his later combat capabilities. So he decided not to tell him about Carolina; it was better left for Carolina to explain herself, as it had nothing to do with him anyway.
He was eager to get out; it was difficult to converse with this strangely tastes Prince Losang. He wanted to do a bit of research on the underwater royalty.
Unlike that little brat Rena, Jasmine should know a lot about the underwater subhuman settlements.
Their thoughts were different, but one could say they were evenly matched. However, the monsters outside had started to break down the doors.
Since some people had not left, Fisher had no choice but to extend the area of magic release farther away from this place to avoid accidentally harming them.
He was going to use high-ring gravity magic: “Gravity Celestial Ring.”
This magic could lift all the stones from the ground, and if all went well, it could directly damage the pipes below, so there would be no need to search section by section for where the magic was hidden.
“They’re coming!”
Fisher and Prince Losang ran ahead while the dense horde of monsters indeed approached them. Unfortunately, their behavior couldn’t reveal where exactly the magic was located.
Prince Losang’s lion gauntlets darted rapidly; Fisher looked down the path ahead and saw that the huge banquet hall, which originally belonged on the first floor, had somehow been reconfigured to the side on the fourth floor. This meant that beneath the first floor, those pipes should be visible.
The spatial rules here were strange; even if the first floor flew into the sky, the area beneath would still be what was below the surface. The spatial connection visually was incorrect, but fundamentally they remained linked.
The banquet hall was completely dark, and the human-worms behind were tightly pursuing them. Fisher suddenly hurled his staff forward, and the familiar glow of gravity celestial ring finally illuminated the area. As the staff embedded into the ground, in the next moment, Fisher, Losang, and the countless monsters behind all flew backward as the ground cracked, pieces of it flying out like puzzle pieces.
“Poof!”
From the fissured pieces, water flowed slowly, and the fractured stones flew increasingly faster. Fisher grabbed Losang’s hand, leaping down while stepping on the numerous flying stones.
“Did you see the pipes below?”
Prince Losang shouted loudly. Following his gaze, the staff was still glowing with illumination magic.
As the staff fell, Fisher saw a pipe about the thickness of a plate hidden beneath the ground; one small section of it was lifted slightly by the gravity magic, clear water gushing out from it. It was precisely through the gap created when the pipe elevated that Fisher’s sharp eyes caught sight of the intricate array of complex magic runes densely packed inside the pipe.
Those magic engravings were layered upon each other, as if countless paintings were distinctly organized, right owned to the thirteen-ring magic: “Spatial Prison.”
So it really is here!
Fisher’s guess was correct, and just as he was about to jump down, he suddenly saw a slender arm, folded, extending from within the pipe. That limb had no skin or muscle; it stretched out like a stick insect, surprisingly reaching several meters long.
Unbelievably, how could that thing shrink into such a small pipe? And since there was water inside, did that mean the water Saint Nali University used during this time was all taken from this creature’s bathwater?
That thing was like cotton stuffed in a straw, delivering its body outside segment by segment, until it fully emerged. Its form stood three or four meters tall but was extremely thin, resembling an upgraded version of a “human-worm.”
“What… what kind of monster is that?”
The monster, shaped like a stick insect, had limbs pieced together, and in the center, a small eye stared directly at Fisher above. The magic circuit shimmering in deep purple proved that eye once belonged to a sorceress, but it wasn’t Carolina; otherwise, Carolina would have sensed this creature.
This was an artificially made sorceress independent of the Sorceress Research Society!
“Is that an artificial sorceress from the Sorceress Research Society?”
No, that thing only had the sorceress’s eye added to acquire engraved magic and similar magical power; its essence remained unchanged, resembling a biological weapon like the “human-worm.”
That was a “manufactured artificial sorceress.”
“Hehe.”
The creature stretched its body, pressing the pipe underneath back down, clearly aiming to protect the spatial magic of this prison. Fisher couldn’t tell where it produced its voice, but at that moment, it spoke in a voice as light and crisp as a little girl.
But its appearance was too disgusting, nearly making Losang vomit.
Behind them, countless monsters climbed over the floating stones towards Losang and Fisher, quickly gaining ground on them. Fisher decisively turned to Losang and said, “You handle the back; I’ll destroy the pipes.”
“Alright, be careful!”
Prince Losang and Fisher had a tacit understanding; one turned immediately, while the other eyed the monster below. That monster, like a little girl, suddenly cried out, arms spreading wide, causing its body parts to erupt with a strange green liquid.
That liquid emitted a sharp, foul odor, and just as Fisher turned away, the liquid behind him swallowed all the flying stones.
Does it have corrosive abilities?
Fisher’s right hand’s fluid sword slashed out a flowing blade, slicing sharply at the creature’s body. The blade was extremely sharp, spinning and severing the monster’s arm. But once the arm was cut off, it bent down and picked it up, reattaching it.
The speed of that assembly was beyond Fisher’s imagination; it was like building blocks—attach when desired, dismantle whenever wished—truly outrageous.
The most critical point was that this thing was still alive?
Should he be thankful for the miracle of life or say this thing was simply too unreasonable?
Fisher twisted his body, landing on the ground, and reeled the staff back with his fluid sword. Left hand holding the staff, right hand wielding the fluid sword, Fisher was currently training with this combat method.
Mainly because this fluid sword was too useful; even the thread weaver he used to love was no longer appealing. He now seemed quite fickle. But thinking carefully, magical tools shouldn’t be wasted; utilizing them in battle was a bonus.
It just required time to adapt, and usually, there weren’t opportunities. Now was just right.
“Pain.”
“Ugh.”
From different parts of the monster, soft moans continuously sounded. Fisher paused in surprise, unsure if this was a tactic to awaken people’s compassion or something else, but he moved without hesitation. The wildly swinging fluid sword turned into a fierce onslaught on it.
Seeing his attacks had no effect, the monster furiously yelled as more and more wounds appeared on its body, seemingly on the verge of being completely killed.
But in the next second, from Fisher’s peripheral vision, a palm-sized worm appeared out of nowhere, moving rapidly before darting into the creature right in front of him.
“Chirp!”
Then, the monster suddenly stiffened as if wound up. After its body trembled like building blocks, the single eye shot towards Fisher, but this time, its gaze was no longer hollow; it now appeared remarkably calm.
Fisher’s movements were interrupted by this sudden change. He abruptly halted, also gazing at this creature now exhibiting human-like behavior.
It gently reached out, and the monsters within the room obeyed its command, flowing like a tide and throwing Prince Losang outside the banquet hall. The doors thundered shut, leaving only Fisher and the standing monster still inside the room.
Only to see me?
Fisher didn’t continue attacking because the creature in front of him felt no longer like a mindless monster. Ever since that little worm drilled in, its behavior resembled a…
Human!
“Ah, finally… peace.”
The monster spoke in a little girl’s voice, as if a scuba diver just emerged from drowning, greedily inhaling air. Fisher distinctly heard its artificial breaths.
“…What exactly are you?”
“Me?” The monster looked toward Fisher with its single eye, lifting its limb as it smiled, saying, “I’m human! I thought you people would never find where the engraved magic was, but as expected, having someone as clever as you in a team is conducive; otherwise, most would just flounder like headless flies, ultimately dying in filthy toilets.”
“The Pink Pavilion’s plan didn’t succeed; you cannot stop me from destroying that emblem.”
Fisher raised his fluid sword, confident that the creature’s physical attributes couldn’t stop him. Instead, he preferred to believe this puppet master had something to say to him.
“Stop you? Why would I stop you? I’m just a nameless person working for others, and the results of what happens here don’t concern me. Moreover, how do you know the purpose has not been achieved?”
The monster tacitly acknowledged that this matter was orchestrated by the Pink Pavilion, but its tone was odd, even turning sarcastic at the end.
Fisher raised an eyebrow; could it be that Prince Losang hadn’t held on and had perished?
But outside, he could still hear the sounds of battle. Did that mean the others had died? Yet he still had Carlo and Jasmine…
What was their purpose, then? Had that already been achieved?
“Hehe, you’re a clever one; hopefully, you can figure out the answer sooner rather than later! Oh well, I can’t stay here for long. If it weren’t for someone instructing me to come, I wouldn’t be here. But seeing you unharmed puts my mind at ease.”
So this guy’s purpose in entering the magic was just to confirm his continued survival?
What kind of logic is this?
“Hehe, being alive is good, being alive is good! Life is incredibly precious; keep your useful self ready to embrace future life challenges. Once I leave, this sorceress body will quickly perish, and I will destroy the magic array.”
It extended its long limb and grasped the pipe below, and although it bore no expression, Fisher could hear an abundance of mirth in its final words as it said, “Watch your head.”
Your head?
Fisher frowned, watching it suddenly crush the extensively rune-engraved pipe. As it moved, the entire space seemed to shake like the ground quaking. The high-ring magic shattered, the surrounding space instantly warped as if folded, and behind Fisher, countless gravity-filled vortices dragged at his body, making him fly backward.
Those human-worms struggled and vanished from sight, clearly indicating that the magic array allowing their revival had completely disappeared.
He gritted his teeth and strained to hold on as the magical world constructed around him crumbled, and outside that magical realm lay a spectacular domain filled with stars, a sprawling river of stars tilting down from the vast sky.
But did it seem like those stars were all… alive?
What lies outside this magical realm?
Even with Fisher’s soul strength well above that of ordinary humans, he struggled to observe the outside space for even a second, while he presumed others couldn’t see it clearly either. In the next moment, he was forcefully pulled from this space, flying toward another direction.
Just before leaving this strange place, he seemed to vaguely hear a faint, distant voice of uncertainty, “Huh?”
The sound was indecipherable whether it was male or female; it could have possibly not even been a voice—just a simple question of consciousness.
After breaking free from the peculiar space, Fisher found himself spinning in the void, much like being in a wooden barrel at the laundromat, his mind growing exceptionally dizzy. But in the next moment, it felt like he landed somewhere, and along with him, another soft body fell with him.
“Ugh—”
Fisher clutched his head but didn’t move, hazily surveying his surroundings until he realized he was squeezed in a very narrow space with someone.
This smell was from a cleaning supplies cabinet, right?
But besides the tools’ scent, there was also a hint of refreshing fragrance resembling water-blooming flowers.
He struggled to open his eyes and as he lifted his head, he found his lips gently pressed against another pair of soft lips. The space was simply too cramped.
This sudden kiss, though fleeting, caused the person he kissed to react like being electrocuted, jolting back against the cabinet wall behind.
“Ugh—”
Another adorable exclamation came out accompanied by sweet breaths, almost within reach due to their proximity.
Just as he tried to inspect the surrounding environment, Fisher inadvertently tightened his grip on the staff, causing its glow to illuminate the space, revealing Jasmine, who was just inches away. Her face flushed red, covering her mouth, too shy to look at Fisher.
“Jasmine?”
He faintly sensed something on his body trembling; looking down, he realized their current positioning was even more awkward, with Jasmine directly seated on Fisher, her legs separated from his waist. Given the tight space, their distance was nearly zero.
What trembled were her thighs, unsure if it was due to fear, tension, or shyness.
“F- Fisher-sir.”
“Sorry.”
Now aware of what had accidentally happened with Jasmine, even Fisher felt somewhat embarrassed. He hurriedly pushed aside the nearby cabinets, causing numerous brooms that were blocking the door to tumble down with a crisp sound.
So they had been in a storage closet within the conference building, having returned to the real world.
Fisher quickly emerged from the hot cabinet while Jasmine followed him out. As they stepped out, they both hurriedly separated. Jasmine pinched her skirt, appearing as though she had been bullied, her eyes trembling slightly.
“Bang!”
Just as Fisher was about to say something, another cabinet suddenly swung open, revealing Carolina, who awkwardly climbed out while covering her mouth. Following her was a very embarrassed Losang, who looked at Fisher in surprise, saying, “What a coincidence; it seems we managed to escape from that magic.”
“It is quite a coincidence.”
Wait, could it be that the scenarios in both our cabinets were similar?
Glancing at the silent and nonchalant Carolina as she walked away, alongside the cute little Jasmine, Fisher felt utterly powerless to complain.
“Bang!”
“Hey, what a coincidence!”
At that moment, yet another cabinet opened, and out popped Scholar Clow from Shivali, with his flushed sheep emerging right behind him, also covering its mouth.
“…”
The atmosphere in the room grew tense and silent, almost stifling.
Three cabinets, the same plot, one more absurd than the last…
Now it was Prince Losang and Fisher’s turn to share a moment of silence. He coughed, a look of exasperation on his face as he followed Carolina out of the room, saying, “I’ll go find the others and inform the Nali officials as well.”
The Shivali scholar felt embarrassed as he led the sheep out. Before long, the only ones left in the room were Fisher and Jasmine.
Turning back, he saw her blushing face down, silent. Fisher had no choice but to speak first, saying, “Shall we head out?”
“…Mm.”
She softly responded, suddenly reaching out to grasp Fisher’s sleeve, but he had already taken a few steps forward and missed it, leading her to instinctively retract her hand.
“What’s wrong?”
As Fisher looked at Jasmine, who remained frozen in place, she nervously shook her head, no longer able to find words.
“It’s… nothing!”
In the corridor, the disheveled Shivali scholars and their families wore sorrowful faces, gazing out at the sunlight that nearly made them burst into tears.
At that moment, the corridor lights flickered on, and Fisher disbeliefingly bolted to the window, punching it until it shattered. Only upon seeing the normal campus outside, not a terrifying shadowy void, did he collapse to the ground and start shouting, “We’ve finally returned! Finally returned! Ugh, damn Nalis!”
“Boom!”
In another room, Father Dek, with his backside on fire, burst through the door, covering his behind. He was clearly ignited due to the silver mirror’s chaotic teleportation from within the space magic, randomly triggering a magic that had set the nearest priest on fire.
Rolling on the ground, he yelled in agony, “You beast! I unilaterally declare you no longer a relic of our church! Ouch, my butt!”
Fisher took in this scene, roughly counting. Not a single person at the meeting was lost; everyone survived.
He successfully rescued them from the deadly trap.
But the question remained: why did that last monster imply their objective might have already been achieved?
Could it be that their assault had some hidden motives Fisher was unaware of?
Below, the alerted New Party officials hurried toward the building, seemingly having been spooked by the battered Prince Losang. Clearly, no one had anticipated such calamity.
This incident was likely to land the New Party in hot water. With the mid-term elections approaching, although Fisher guessed the New Party would still win, it would undoubtedly add unnecessary troubles.
Fisher furrowed his brow at the shattered window, where sunlight poured in brightly, but he felt slightly unadapted to that brightness. After all, they had just spent at least five to six hours in the dark, not to mention several rounds of seamless combat, and as he gazed at the sunlight, Fisher could feel all his muscles aching.
More exhausting than the training sessions with Eil, but still bearable.
He was somewhat fatigued, but continued to glance back at Jasmine, who strangely stood behind him.
She was gazing at him, lips pressed together, blushing, and seeming wronged while still following him.
Did the previous incident hurt her?
Although it was an accident, it still happened, and he bore some responsibility.
Fisher decided to put aside exploring this matter with her, planning to wait until she felt more comfortable before bringing it up.
Perhaps in a day or two.
This chapter is 8000 words; consider it a triple integration, ugh.
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Thank you very much for your support!
(End of chapter)
