Ahead of Leilin's four-person expedition team, the dark metal corridor split into three, revealing three different directions.
At each entrance, there were no obvious markings of any kind, which gave Leilin and the others an uneasy feeling.
"If this is a laboratory, why aren't there any proper signs?"
Tonghuan was the first to voice this question.
"Perhaps there were originally, but they were manually destroyed later on. Or maybe the Wizards stationed here have their own system of information exchange that we simply don't know about!" The old witch glanced at Tonghuan. "What? Now that we've come this far, you're thinking of backing out?"
"Of course not!" Tonghuan shook her head matter-of-factly.
Setting aside the generous compensation the old witch had offered, the potential profits to be found within this secret realm alone were more than enough to make Tonghuan unwilling to walk away.
"Then what? Do we split up and explore, or tackle them one by one?" Leilin's question was entirely practical.
"We move together as a group, obviously! This is the ruins of an Ancient Wizard — some of the traps alone could be beyond us even if we worked together. Acting separately is far too dangerous!"
As the initiator of this operation, the old witch made the final call without hesitation.
"Besides, we've already made our arrangements in the town. No one will be drawn here within ten days, and that's more than enough time for us to sweep through this entire laboratory!"
After hearing the old witch's words, Jay was the first to voice his agreement. After thinking for a moment, Leilin also nodded.
"Fine then!"
With Leilin now on board, the only one left was Tonghuan, who could only purse her lips in resignation and go along with the plan.
The four of them chose the rightmost corridor and walked in together.
Thud! Thud!
The black leather boots scraped against the metal floor, producing a grating sound.
"Be careful. The Soul-Slaughtering Sect's tricks certainly don't end at Soul-Devouring Moths…" Leilin kept his eyes on the walls lining the corridor as he offered his warning.
His clear voice bounced back and forth along the passage, and he could even hear a faint echo.
Leilin suddenly froze mid-step.
At that moment, he was the only figure visible in the entire corridor. The old witch, Tonghuan, and Jay had all vanished without a trace!
"What's going on?" Leilin stared intently at the red reflection on the metal wall.
"A trap that activates without anyone noticing? It even concealed itself from the Chip!"
A calm smile tugged at the corner of Leilin's lips: "Looks like this expedition is going to be far from simple..."
Ding!
As if Leilin's sudden stop had triggered some mechanism, the metal wall behind him began to close in like a living thing, sealing off his path of retreat.
"Crimson Hand!"
Leilin's hands turned red once more, scarlet flames blazing across the blood claws as he pressed them firmly against the converging metal wall behind him.
Sssss!
A violent hissing sound erupted — like ice being plunged into a raging furnace.
Beneath Leilin's palms, the black metal of unknown composition glowed cherry-red, constantly melting and dripping away, forming puddles of molten metal on the ground.
After several dozen seconds, the metal wall behind Leilin had been burned through to a gash over a meter deep — but the bottom was still nowhere in sight.
It was as if, in that brief instant, his only escape route had been completely sealed by the black metal.
"Based on detection data analysis, predicted wall thickness: forty-five to forty-seven meters, with a high concentration of solidified Manc Alloy interspersed. Estimated time required for full breakthrough: thirty minutes and fifty-six seconds!"
The Chip also projected a line of blue detection data into Leilin's field of vision.
"Over half an hour — that's too long!"
Leilin had no doubt that the wizard who originally set this trap would be generous enough to give him that much time to break through.
Sure enough, as Leilin's delay grew longer, the black metal ahead in the corridor began to deform as well, creeping inward like something alive.
The corridor grew narrower and narrower, until it could barely accommodate a single person.
"I can't keep going like this — if I do, I'll be trapped at the center of a massive metal sphere, and breaking out will cost an enormous amount of mana and Spiritual Power!"
Leilin cast one last glance at the gaping hole corroded into the wall, then broke into a full sprint toward the front.
Whoosh!
Bolstered by both his formidable physique and his wizardry, Leilin's speed now surpassed the limits of an ordinary human, leaving only several elongated afterimages trailing through the air.