The secret chamber was dead silent.
Columbina sat on the edge of the bed, leaning slightly forward, her gaze fixed on a corner of the ceiling. There lay a narrow ventilation vent. She had maintained this posture for a long time.
The first Moon Spirit she had sent out to power Coppelia had been gone for a long time and had not returned.
Several possibilities swirled in her mind: Coppelia was far away, and the Moon Spirit hadn't found her yet; the Moon Spirit had been intercepted by something on the way, or even encountered danger; or... Coppelia needed the Moon Spirit to provide continuous power, so it couldn't leave.
None of these were good news.
Unable to set her mind at ease, she focused her mental energy once more, mobilizing the Lunar Force within her body that felt as sluggish as if it were wading through a mire.
It took a good while before a second glimmer of light struggled to flash into existence in the air, and a second Moon Spirit was created. She commanded it to also squeeze out of the ventilation vent to find the previous one, or to scout the situation.
As a result, up until now, the second Moon Spirit had not returned either.
Only she remained in the room, accompanied by a heart-palpitating silence. The waiting time seemed to have no end.
Just waiting was not a solution. While keeping an eye out for any slight movement at the vent, she replayed her meeting with Lessing over and over in her mind.
The more she recalled, the more the details of their conversation felt wrong.
That old man named Lessing had behaved too amiably. That gentle tone, the sincere apology, the thorough consideration. This posture involuntarily reminded her of how Kelvin had first appeared before them.
Kelvin had put on that act to deceive her, to lead her and Coppelia into a trap. Then what about Lessing? His objectives, she feared, wouldn't be much better.
Thinking of this, a wave of annoyance welled up. When she had heard "return to the Frost Moon," her head had heated up, washing away all doubts, and she had actually agreed in such a muddled confusion!
Clearly, she had just been deceived by Kelvin's disguise not long ago, so how could she turn around and...
But she did not let this emotion of regret continue to spread. Immersing herself in it was useless; it could neither change the current situation nor help Coppelia.
She continued to analyze her memories. There was a term that she had ignored in her excitement at the time, but now it pricked at the corner of her consciousness like a fine thorn.
"Outside the World."
She felt as though she had heard this expression somewhere before. Not from Lessing, but even earlier.
She began to laboriously trace back her memories, sifting through the images, sounds, and conversations experienced over the dozens of days since descending to the earth... like a pile of jumbled puzzle pieces. To find a specific sentence from so many fragments was easier said than done. Especially a sentence she hadn't paid much attention to at the time.
She used almost all her concentration, her brows knitting together unconsciously, her fingers unknowingly gripping the bedsheets beneath her. Memory fragments collided in the depths of her dark consciousness.
Finally, a vague scene was dredged up.
Chenyu Vale.
In Chenyu Vale, Changsheng had taken them into that Archon's abode. When facing that writhing mass of "black mud," Coppelia had mentioned this term—Outside the World.
Coppelia said that the power of the black mud came from "Outside the World."
The Abyss!
These two words made Columbina's scalp tingle.
She remembered the mad state of the Archon in Chenyu Vale after being eroded by the black mud. To help that Archon break free from the erosion, and to resolve the disaster caused by the Archon's madness, the two adepti, Fujin and Changsheng, had exhausted their power and nearly died.
To be able to turn an Archon into something like that... The Abyss was definitely nothing good.
And what Lessing and his group wanted to obtain from "Outside the World" must definitely be this.
A cold fury rose from the bottom of her heart. Columbina's hands abruptly tightened on the bedsheets, and her breathing became rapid, clearly audible in the quiet secret chamber.
"He really is lying to me too," she whispered. "Trying to trick me into helping them... obtain that terrible thing."
After a good while, her rapid breathing gradually calmed down. She released her grip on the sheets, leaving deep wrinkle marks on her palms.
"I can't let them get the Abyss," she said to herself. "I have to do something."
*
A person wearing a black uniform led Lessing to a room. In the center of the room stood a metal cage with fine mesh. Inside the cage, a Moon Spirit was locked up, leaning weakly against the cage wall.
The man in black reported, "Someone witnessed a Seelie like this entering the mechanical research laboratory. Subsequently, the intelligent machine whose core had already been removed woke up and successfully escaped. Its power source, according to preliminary analysis, matches the energy signature of the Frost Moon God. It can be confirmed that this thing provided temporary energy for that machine."
Lessing looked through the cage for a moment. "This should be a familiar of the Moon God. Was that machine captured?"
"No. The search is still ongoing, but the underground environment is complex..." The man in black paused. "However, based on her individual capabilities, she doesn't seem to pose a substantial threat to the subsequent experiments. Perhaps we can..."
"No," Lessing interrupted him. "One of the key bargaining chips to persuade the Moon God to serve the Kingdom is that mechanical creation. It is best to capture it intact. Even if we cannot..." His gaze grew slightly cold. "At the very least, ensure she cannot contact the outside world and cannot introduce variables outside the plan."
"Understood." The man in black bowed his head. "Then how should we deal with this Seelie?"
"Keep it locked up. Don't touch it." Lessing turned around. "Take it further away, don't let the Moon God detect it."
Having arranged these matters, Lessing walked toward the secret chamber where Columbina was.
The guard at the door opened the heavy iron gate. Lessing stepped inside.
Columbina was sitting upright on the edge of the bed, her back straight. Hearing the door open, she turned her face to look at Lessing who walked in, her expression blank.
The door closed behind Lessing with a dull thud. He walked to a spot a few steps away from Columbina and stood still, his face habitually wearing that gentle smile, about to speak.
Columbina spoke first. Her voice was very flat, without any fluctuation.
"How is Coppelia?" she asked. "Have you fixed her? When can I see her?"
Lessing listened carefully, the smile on his face unchanging, and spoke unhurriedly, "The technology used to create Miss Coppelia indeed has some aspects that exceeded our initial estimates. Here, our existing conditions cannot perfectly repair her."
He bowed slightly to express his apologies. "Therefore, we have sent her back to the Kingdom's homeland, where the top technical team will be responsible for the follow-up work. Please allow me to apologize; the time for you to meet your friend will have to be postponed until after the experiment ends."
Upon hearing this, Columbina showed no look of surprise on her face. She simply nodded with a very small movement.
"I understand," she said.
The smile on Lessing's face deepened slightly. "No need to worry too much. The good news is that the preliminary preparation progress for the experiment has been greatly advanced. It won't be long before everything can begin."
"I am ready."
____
👻🔥The Director is back! But with a brand new look, heheh...🔥👻
New Story: Classroom of the Elite: Black Sphere Academia
✅ Unlock a 40-chapter backlog for ALL my series.
✅ Receive exclusive content and regular updates!
Help us reach these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 universal bonus chapter
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters for ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnut-chan