Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 1368: Section 1369 Display of Inventions

Angel had already thought about meeting Midora, and considering today’s events and Midora speaking up for him, he naturally had no reason to refuse.

Angel nodded, “Alright.”

Sabo glanced at the regretful expressions of the other Enforcement Squad leaders, didn’t say anything, and said to Angel, “Let’s go.”

As Sabo and Angel left, the once busy Manshi Magic Material Street quickly returned to its former calm. However, the incidents that occurred here and the ripples caused by this battle would continue to ferment and spread in the days to come.

On the way to the Research Institute with Sabo, Angel also pondered the previous battle.

This was his rare experience of facing an Official Wizard, and upon reflection, he didn’t feel too bad about it. Although Angel didn’t have absolute certainty of victory, under those circumstances, relying solely on physical strength had allowed him to keep up until now, and he didn’t feel he could lose.

Move with discretion, victory or defeat is in the heart.

Angel was quite satisfied with the battle, although it was possible that Winchester hadn’t given it his all, but hadn’t he had cards left to play himself?

…

The Research Institute was not located at the front of the Sky Mechanical City but rather at the back. On their way to the rear, Sabo occasionally looked at Angel out of the corner of his eye.

He wanted to ask how Angel managed such a transformation, but this obviously involved privacy issues, and he worried that asking might spoil their relationship.

In such a dilemma, Sabo didn’t realize that he was already looking at Angel as a peer. If he still considered Angel a mere Apprentice, he wouldn’t be concerned about his feelings.

They arrived at the reverse city in silence, with Sabo never asking, when it was Angel who broke the silence first.

“Does Lord Midora have something important for me?” Angel asked.

Sabo shook his head, “I’m not quite sure.” After all, if it hadn’t been for Midora’s message, Sabo wouldn’t have known that Angel, who was now a hot topic in public opinion, had come to the Sky Mechanical City.

“But you don’t need to worry, it’s probably nothing bad.” Sabo knew very well that Midora thought highly of Angel. After Angel left the Sky Mechanical City last time, Midora had always kept an eye on his situation.

Given Mentor Midora’s regard for Angel, calling him over wouldn’t be for anything bad.

Two streaks of light passed through the sky above the inverted Gravity City, eventually landing in front of a building resembling a Blood Tree made of steel.

A steel column rose from the ground, and at its top was a semi-elliptical cap.

This was the Research Institute, known as the heart of the Sky Mechanical City!

“This is the Research Institute, Mentor Midora is waiting for you inside,” Sabo pointed to the entrance of the Research Institute, “I don’t have an access card for the Research Institute, so I can only accompany you this far.”

Angel nodded and didn’t say much, heading towards the door.

As he approached the door, a red light suddenly flashed across the display in front of him and a mechanical voice sounded: “Please present your access card, countdown begins, ten, nine, eight…”

Angel didn’t know what the countdown meant, but seeing the red light flickering on the screen, he guessed nothing good would come when it ended.

He quickly took out the access card and held it in his palm.

As soon as the access card appeared, the red light on the screen vanished, replaced by a green light: “New access card detected, recorded, welcome to the new member.”

As the voice fell, the steel doors in front of him opened like a fan from the center, rotating to create a passage.

Without hesitation, Angel stepped through.

Angel had once wondered what the inside of the Research Institute would look like. After all, it was acclaimed as the dreamland for Alchemists and the origin of numerous new types of experimental equipment. In his imagination, it was crowded, with everyone working on research at their stations, assistants bustling around, and the atmosphere lively.

However, when he actually entered, he found reality starkly different from his imagination.

Once inside, the place was empty, not a single person in sight.

To call it a Research Institute, it seemed more like an Exhibition Hall. From the moment he entered, Angel noticed glass display cases on both sides.

In the display case on the left, there was a device Angel was familiar with: an Energy Stabilizer.

But this Energy Stabilizer looked like the original model, not an improved one.

Angel wanted to take a closer look, but as soon as he approached the display case, he noticed luminescent green text appearing on the glass of the display case.

The text detailed the functions of this Energy Stabilizer model, including the time of invention and the inventor.

And when Angel stepped away from the display case, the text on the glass automatically disappeared.

Angel conducted a few more experiments and discovered that not only this display case, but all the other display cases featured a similar mechanism. Moreover, all the display cases housed an alchemical creation.

It’s worth mentioning that all alchemical creations on display here were from the Research Institute, and were mostly original pieces.

Along the way, just on this short path alone, there were over two hundred display cases.

The items displayed were all too familiar to Angel, even necessary for his own alchemy at times. However, when using these mechanical devices, he rarely paid attention to the stories behind them, while here, each inventor’s story was clearly recorded.

As Angel made his way through, he found it very interesting; many inventors merely jotted down their initial inspirations in a few words, but those brief sentences could easily spark a collision of ideas.

Along the corridor of just a few dozen meters, Angel had spent half an hour.

When he exited the corridor, he couldn’t help but feel that he had gained much from the experience.

Behind the corridor was a circular exhibition hall, with a cylindrical glass tube in the center. The hall was connected to several corridors, and even without visiting them, Angel could see that they were lined with display cases just like the one he had seen before.

Angel originally wanted to go and have a look, but at that moment, a burst of light flashed in the center of the circular hall.

Something that looked very much like an “elevator” slowly descended from within the central cylindrical glass tube.

When the “elevator” reached its destination, a door in the cylindrical glass tube opened automatically, the invitation to enter couldn’t be more obvious.

Angel thought for a moment and then stepped in.

It was best to first find out what Master Midora wanted, then he could consider other matters. As for these display cases, they weren’t going anywhere, so he could always come back for another look.

The “elevator” ascended floor by floor, and as it went up, Angel noticed that nearly every floor was like the ground floor, full of display cases, and indeed devoid of people.

Finally, on the fiftieth floor, the elevator came to a stop.

Angel surveyed his surroundings and found that this floor finally had no display cases, but this also made the already spacious room feel even more barren.

The elevator didn’t continue upwards, clearly indicating that this was his destination.

As he stepped out of the elevator, the first thing he saw was an old man sitting on a couch in front of him, wearing a monocle and flipping through a magazine.

He wore a very ornate, gold-inlaid wizard’s hat, with orange-red hair peeking from his forehead, somewhat withered and distinctly smoke-stained at the edges.

The wizard’s robe matched the hat, still in the ornate gold set.

This person was precisely the one Angel had come to meet, “Magic Potion” Midora.

The sound of Angel’s footsteps caught Midora’s attention, and as he lifted his head and looked over, he scrutinized Angel with a curious gaze, then said with a smile, “I never expected you to have changed so much in just a few years.”

Midora’s tone made Angel feel relaxed and comfortable, immediately reminding him of the time spent learning at the little magic potion house years ago.

Angel smiled, “I am equally surprised by the change in Master Midora.”

“I’ve changed?” Midora was taken aback.

“This is the first time I’ve seen Master Midora dressed so formally,” Angel replied.

Midora’s expression became a bit odd, as if he recalled something, “Do you think I want to wear this getup? If it weren’t for being tricked by him, making me take charge early…”

“Ah, never mind,” Midora looked at Angel, “You’ll find out eventually, maybe you’ll have such a day too.”

Will I have such a day? Angel was puzzled, not understanding what that meant.

Midora didn’t bother to explain, putting down the magazine in his hands.

Angel noticed that the cover of the magazine was his own portrait; reality and the illustration intersecting in this moment, as he stared at himself.

Eventually, Angel averted his gaze, feeling quite embarrassed.

Midora chuckled, “Recently, the magazines of Sky Mechanical City have been featuring you extensively. Ninety percent of the magazines have you on their cover.”

Angel had already experienced this when he took Lyon to buy “Glowing City Night Talk,” and still felt quite embarrassed hearing it from Midora.

Angel quickly changed the subject, “By the way, Master Midora, is there a reason you asked me to come here?”