What appeared in front of them was a wide space that was dark throughout.

The light flowed inside some crystalline object that could be a conduit of energy, and a colorful glow traveled through the conduit from time to time, illuminating the entire space without any lights.

Then, countless bones piled up in front of them, the skulls of the bones were all pried open, and the brains were removed and placed in a jar filled with nutrient solution, placed in the center of the wide space.

The glow of magic shone on glass jars, which were grouped together on several tall shelves, held in place by the shelves' own stabilizers, and which continuously channeled their magical power.

In the center of those shelves sat a large circular furnace, with several metal rings that bound the furnace to prevent its magic from leaking out and harming the surrounding brains.

The surging mana rose and fell in front of them, and the 'small' mana flowed through the energy pipes and was transported to the rest of the institute, most of which was used to keep these 'human brain matrices' running.

An illusory spirit floated quietly in the air, eyes closed, unawakened by the arrival of Cervantes and Ziegler.

As far as the eye can see, there are only wreckage left in this large space, and it seems that all the buildings have been demolished to make this 'human brain matrix'.

There are also a number of mechanical devices placed around the 'Human Brain Matrix', mysterious devices with no apparent purpose for a faint sound, and around these devices, there are many scrapped materials remaining.

Even the furnace in the center of the field was full of tinkering marks, and everything else had been repaired and replaced many times, except for the 'Human Brain Matrix', which didn't seem to have undergone any replacement.

Cervantes took a breath and whispered to himself, "Is there a crisis in the machine?"

Judging from the clothes of the bones that fell to the ground, they should be the researchers of this ruin, after more than 800 years, some of the robes on their bodies have been extracted from the 'characteristics' and turned into ashes, but there are still some rags that can prove their identity.

The spirit floating above the circular furnace, if I guessed correctly, should be the 'tower spirit' of this research institute, and I don't know what happened, he actually killed the arcanists working here, dug out their brains, and made a 'human brain matrix'.

Judging by the traces of the living quarters outside, the tower should still be dutifully working according to the instructions given to it by the Arcanists.

So, was everything it was doing now also an order from the Arcanist, or was it misunderstood the Arcanist's instructions that caused it to happen?

The soldiers and mages were still drenched in fear, even though they had seen the mountains of corpses and blood in battles with the Black Forest, with the cultists, and with the Undead Sovereign, but now, when these things were placed before their eyes, they were still terrified.

If these Arcanists had fled, or had been killed by something else, they might have been indifferent to it, but everything here suggests that it was the Spirit that killed the Arcanists.

At this time, Cervantes asked coldly, "Ziegler, what do you think that Taling is doing?"

"Calculate...... Ziegler gasped, frowned, and replied in a low voice, "There are so many Arcanist brains needed, and only one 'for calculation' can explain it, but the question is, what exactly is it calculating? How have those brains been preserved for more than eight hundred years, and where do the materials to keep them intact come from?"

These three questions get to the core, and they are the ones they desperately need to know the answers to now.

The reason why they explored this ruin was to obtain some unknown technology from here and use it to promote the development of the Age of Magical Energy.

They had never seen the furnace before, and it was impossible to know if it belonged to the 'Magic Furnace' or the 'Elemental Furnace' without probing.

They can ignore how many secrets this ruin hides, it's all in the past anyway, but only those unknown technologies are what they need to take.

Even Ziegler felt that it was very tricky, and Cervantes was undoubtedly the right decision, and they came here to understand what had happened here in the first place—the books, piled up around the 'human brain matrix'.

The books that had disappeared from the library were here, and the Taling must have learned a lot from them, and that knowledge should be able to be used in the calculations it was doing now.

"What should I do now?" Ziegler's mind could not be quiet to think at the thought that the knowledge that Taling was calculating was probably one of the 'truths' he had been seeking, and in desperation, he could only ask the black dragon beside him.

Cervantes didn't answer immediately, but was thinking about something.

After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "Ziegler, do you think that what this Taling is calculating right now is confidential enough for the Arcane Empire?"

"That's for sure!" Ziegler nodded, the answer was yes, otherwise, the bones of these arcanists wouldn't be here.

Perhaps, they gathered in this institute to study this project in the first place, so when the Arcane Empire was at war, that Taling chose to kill all these arcanists and make their brains into a 'human brain matrix'.

People who can become arcanists are definitely not too talented, and their brains are also very developed, and I don't know how many 'transcendentals' there are here, after becoming 'extraordinary', the magic will gradually merge with the body, so the transcendents can use all kinds of 'transcendent abilities'.

Whether it's being reborn from a severed limb, being able to use magic without having to memorize formulas and spells, or diving into the shadows, these are all abilities that are unimaginable to ordinary people.

The bodies of the transcendents are transformed by magic, and the brains and souls of the casters are affected by magic.

If there is a transcendent brain in that matrix, then the computing power should be very huge, then, what is that Taling calculating, so that so many brains are needed, and more than 800 years later, the calculation is still not over?

Is this kind of thing 'confidential'?

"Why, then, is this institute so close to the surface, and why is there a gate in two other places not far from each other after a shallow vein?"

Following Cervantes' prompts, Ziegler's chaotic brain was finally able to calm down a little and begin to think.

It's strange that secrecy doesn't match its 'confidentiality'.

"Remember the map we looked at before? it's the map near this mine......" Cervantes' voice was low, and Ziegler understood what was going on in an instant!

His eyes widened, and he immediately blurted out: "[Half-Plane Mansion]!"

"This research institute is made on the principle of [Half-Plane Mansion], before that, this research institute has always existed in the heterotopic plane, does not exist in the main material plane, and does not communicate with any matter, so this place will be fully enclosed, and it will need three gates not far from each other, and it will need 'synthetic air'!"

"It's not geological activity and fierce warfare that cause such strange changes in the terrain, but the fact that this research institute has emerged from the heterotopic plane to the main material plane and communicated with the matter has caused the terrain to change...... Wait, if you think about it, maybe the faint sound we're making when we ride down the elevator may be caused by something in the earth squeezing the space in this institute!"

"The vein of this mine may not be just a shallow vein, but a deep vein!"

"All the problems are in this research institute!"

.。 m.