It wasn't until Zhou Ning returned to his alchemy laboratory that he slowly exhaled, his heart finally settling. Although he hadn't encountered any real danger that night, both the mirror and the idol had given him an immense sense of dread.
Especially the Nyastora idol; the profound shiver it sent down his spine was still vivid in his memory. It had almost made his will zero out, plunging him into madness.
Keeping such an item was like holding a hot potato; Zhou Ning seriously considered handing it over to the Ascetic Church to deal with.
The Ascetic Church was the official church of the Blystone Kingdom, worshipping the Sun Goddess, and was one of the four Orthodox Churches on the continent. He believed they would be very happy to take over and destroy such an evil thing.
After a full two hours of rest, Zhou Ning's willpower finally returned to the safe line of 13 points, restoring him to a good mental state.
Zhou Ning took out damian's ordinary mirror from his inventory and carefully examined its surface. To be honest, he was quite curious about the world within this mirror.
According to the game panel's description, there was a world waiting to be explored inside, which could, of course, contain unimaginable value.
But at this moment, the mirror truly looked like an ordinary mirror, completely normal, as if what he had seen before was just an illusion.
Recalling the scene in room 304 earlier, the first time he touched this mirror, he had clearly seen a shadow appear in the mirror, trying to break free. It had certainly given him a creepy feeling at the time, but his Observation Haki told him that the danger was completely within a controllable range.
Of course, he wouldn't let his guard down. At the very least, he wouldn't rashly enter the mirror without safety precautions. To ensure absolute safety, he had already put on his phoenix battle suit and shot a grappling hook onto the ceiling beam. In case of any special circumstances, he could pull the grappling hook to save himself immediately.
The phoenix battle suit came from the Marvel Universe, an equipment that shouldn't exist in this world at this stage. Its defense exceeded 100 points, and it could significantly enhance Zhou Ning's strength, making it extremely powerful.
With this phoenix battle suit, as long as it wasn't an overwhelmingly powerful entity, Zhou Ning was confident he could put up a fight.
Following the method of using unknown wondrous items from his previous life in the game, Zhou Ning bit his finger and dripped blood onto the mirror's surface.
Ripples spread across the mirror's surface, and the blood silently seeped in, emitting a deep, tranquil black glow.
A moment later, Zhou Ning felt as if he had established some special connection with the mirror.
Gently stroking the mirror with his left hand, the mirror's surface rippled like water, and his left hand actually submerged into the mirror.
Suddenly, Zhou Ning felt someone on the other side of the mirror grab his hand, pulling him forcefully into the mirror with immense strength.
Fortunately, Zhou Ning had already put on his phoenix battle suit. Without hesitation, he gripped the person's hand in return, pulled the grappling hook, and ascended into the air. Then, a black shadow was pulled out of the mirror by Zhou Ning, stumbling and falling onto the floor.
This was a figure composed entirely of shadows, wreathed in black mist, with indistinct features, struggling desperately.
Zhou Ning released the grappling hook with his right hand, raised his gun in mid-air, and, without hesitation, empowered it with Armament Haki, firing three shots in quick succession.
Floating Shot, Ripple Shot, Fatal Straight Shot—all three shots hit the shadow. The final Fatal Straight Shot was a headshot, delivering a fatal blow that caused it to shatter into pieces of broken glass on the ground.
[Your Fatal Straight Shot dealt 459 damage to the Mirror Ghost. You killed a Mirror Ghost (Lv25 Spirit). You gained 7200 experience.]
"Mirror Ghost?" Zhou Ning couldn't help but recall the description of damian's ordinary mirror. If he had truly been dragged into the mirror, there might have been a risk of being replaced.
Retrieving the grappling hook, Zhou Ning landed lightly on the ground. He walked to the mirror and tentatively integrated himself into it. The bright whale oil lamp light in the laboratory flickered, and the next second, he appeared inside the mirror.
The situation before him was somewhat peculiar. The surrounding environment was identical to the layout of the alchemy laboratory, but everything was symmetrical. The Alchemy table, originally on the left side of the room, was now on the right. Further away was a hazy, misty membrane, which should be the entrance to the mirror world.
"Interesting!" Zhou Ning's lips curled into a slight smile.
Zhou Ning took out the [Mini Mechanical Warrior] card from his inventory and chose to use it. As a cloud of smoke dissipated, a half-human-tall mechanical warrior holding an M1 Garand rifle appeared before him. Under Zhou Ning's control, it walked towards the membrane.
No combat was initiated, and the health bar remained unchanged.
Zhou Ning cautiously followed the Mini Mechanical Warrior through the smoke, and the scene that unfolded before him left him somewhat stunned.
What appeared before him was not the distorted world he had seen last time, but rather a series of ruins filled with ancient elven style.
White mist permeated everywhere. The exaggerated and magnificent elven-style buildings were now countless ruins, connected by long corridors. His Mini Mechanical Warrior was walking forward along one of these corridors.
Beyond the corridor was a misty void, so deep that its bottom was invisible.
From afar, these ruins looked as if they were built in an endless void, an incredibly shocking sight.
Zhou Ning silently took a breath and stood still.
These corridors branched out in all directions, leading to various ruins. In the ruins, Zhou Ning saw countless black shadows wandering—these were the Mirror Ghosts he had killed earlier. They seemed to be guarding these ruins.
"It's a bit like a dungeon in a game..." Zhou Ning muttered to himself.
Zhou Ning initially tried to count the number of ruins in his sight, but he quickly gave up because there were simply too many to count accurately.
No wonder Damian, the archmage who created this mirror, got lost inside it.
Further in the distance, Zhou Ning even saw a staircase spiraling upwards, leading directly into a sea of clouds in the depths.
Where did this staircase lead? Who built such a massive structure in the mirror? How did these buildings become ruins? Were there still residents inside? And who connected the ruins with corridors?
Thinking about the mystery and madness hidden within this mirror world, Zhou Ning's scalp tingled.
Then, not far away, Zhou Ning saw a mirror suspended in the air. He quietly walked over and saw the scene in the adjacent room: Mr. Turing and Leandro were sitting on the sofa, chatting. It was practically a peeping artifact.
Zhou Ning had a very definite intuition that he could pass directly through this mirror to Mr. Turing's home, and when someone approached this mirror, he could easily bring them in.
Looking further into the distance, countless mirrors were even hanging in the corridors, which meant he could reach any place through any mirror.
As expected of an unknown wondrous item, this function alone was something many people dreamed of.
Zhou Ning did not choose to continue exploring, because this world was simply too vast, so vast it was terrifying. Perhaps when players fully entered, that would be the time to explore this world.
Over the next two days, Zhou Ning did not leave the alchemy laboratory even a single step, even eating his meals inside. With the help of his tools, by noon of the second day, his Alchemy skill had leveled up, followed by the long-awaited panel notification.
[Your proficiency has reached 100%, and Alchemy has reached Advanced.]
[You have learned a new skill: Applied Alchemy.]
[You have learned new recipes: Advanced Healing Potion, Advanced Mana Potion, Petrification Potion, Dream Potion.]
Zhou Ning took out [Goth's Alchemy Manual] from his inventory and, without hesitation, chose to use it.