Chapter 1117: The Light of the Cursed
Roland had designed the laboratory himself, so he knew its specifications on paper. The reality was still impressive.
Thousands of Stones of Lighting drove back every shadow. Their light fell on rock walls plated with lead — smooth, reflective, colorless — enclosing a space the size of a basketball court. There was a particular beauty to it, he thought: not the beauty of ornament but of function made visible. Each plate flush against the last, each seam sealed. The beauty of a thing that did exactly what it was designed to do.
If we lose the Battle of Divine Will, he thought, this becomes an ancient ruin. A different kind of ruin from the underground civilization’s — no grand hall, no murals, no evidence of ritual. Just lead-plated rock and a few thousand dead light-stones, waiting for someone 400 years hence to find them and wonder what the builders feared.
“Probably,” Pasha said, setting him and Nightingale down with the careful precision her tentacles always managed. “But I’ve never felt as certain as I do now that we’ll survive.”
“I believe so too.” He stepped inside.
The laboratory ran in two sections: operation and observation, separated by a concrete wall half a meter thick and covered in additional lead plating. At the center of the wall, a window of lead-glass — Lucia’s work, lead oxide added to the melt. Not as transparent as modern glass. Sufficient.
Celine appeared in the doorway of the operation chamber, her bulk shifting the air in the room as she moved. She had a bolt clamped in one auxiliary tentacle, a ruler in another.
“You’re here, Your Majesty. Did Zooey bring the ancient treasure back?”
“Right here.” Roland set the lead box on her main tentacle and stepped into the operation chamber to look around. “Well? Built to your specifications?”
Celine lifted her tentacles in a gesture that might have been satisfaction. “Mostly. The elevator still needs work.” She studied the box. “But is it truly necessary? If the curse is just a form of light, a regular wall should stop it.”
“In theory.” He turned to face her. “But a regular wall would need to be several meters thick. This room lets us work without that.” He looked at Pasha and Zooey. “The original carriers are more durable than humans, but before we have a thorough understanding of what this Cube does, we follow procedure. Even you.”
“You sound like the president of the Quest Society,” Celine said — not unkindly. “Don’t worry. One of our principles is to follow rules. I’ll be careful.”
Roland nodded. “Let’s begin.”
Celine sealed herself in the operation chamber.
The protocol was simple: all doors closed during experiment, all personnel except the operator in the observation room. Roland pressed himself to the lead-glass and watched.
Through the window, he saw Celine open the box and lift out the Magic Ceremony Cube.
A pale blue light leaked from the stone’s cracks, bending toward the uranium coin on the workstation as though the light had opinions about direction.
“Interesting,” Celine murmured. Her tentacles were already moving over the Cube’s surface — probing, feeling, remembering. “This isn’t activated yet, is it?”
The walls blocked sound. Roland replied through the mental link: According to Sean, the earl touched it after it started glowing. I think the blue light is just an indicator.
“I see.” She wrapped the Cube in her tentacles. Held it.
“What is she doing?” Nightingale asked.
“Feeling it,” Pasha said. “Our tentacles are far more sensitive than fingers. They read texture, density, every dent and hollow. A mind like Celine’s builds a complete three-dimensional model from touch alone.” She extended one tentacle and tapped the glass. “I can see what she’s perceiving right now, if she shares it. Which she is. The Cube is right in front of me.”
Roland filed that away. A psychic network that transmitted not just thought but spatial information — the implications for coordination, for engineering review, for —
“The length and width are almost identical,” Celine said. “Both approximately 15 centimeters. The interior is hollow. And there are seams.” A pause. “It isn’t one piece. The Cube is assembled from multiple stones.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hold on. I believe I’ve found the opening mechanism.”
Her tentacles released. A small aperture appeared at the Cube’s rear face — a door that had been there for a hundred years of ownership and examination, seen by no one. The smooth stone had concealed it perfectly.
“How long did previous owners spend on this?” Roland said.
“Decades, perhaps. Without the right kind of touch, you’d never feel the seam.” Pasha sounded pleased without quite saying so. “I told you Celine was the person for this.”
Celine probed the opening carefully. “Your Majesty — a question. Why does it respond only to the coin? The Cube seemed inert for years. I thought perhaps it had exhausted its power, like a spent sigil. But the magic is still present inside.” Her voice shifted, the note of a researcher who has found the axis of a problem. “Is it possible that what this device lacks is simply the element that creates what you call ‘the Glory of the Sun’?”
“That’s my thinking as well,” Roland said. “Try inserting the coin. But take protective measures first — it may activate.”
“Understood.” She moved behind the lead shield — a round disc with four small holes for her auxiliary tentacles. She positioned the coin at the opening.
The stone swallowed it.
The aperture closed.
The blue light at the top of the Cube went dark, then: deep red.
Roland and Nightingale both moved toward the glass at the same moment.
Celine held the Cube for another minute, studying it from behind the shield. Then a beam of red light lanced from the far face of the Cube and struck the lead-plated wall, throwing the whole gray room into a strange crimson cast.
The color of old blood. The color of a warning.
Chapter 1117: The Light of the Cursed Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Although Roland designed the laboratory himself, he was still quite impressed with its real version.
Thousands of Stones of Lighting illuminated the pitch-black underground space, spilling light on the surrounding rocks plastered with lead plates, which formed an enclosed area the size of a basket ball court.
There was, somehow, a sort of beauty in those smooth, glinty and colorless lead plates.
It was the beauty of industrialization.
“If we lose the Battle of Divine Will, this place will become an ancient relic as well after hundreds of years, right?” Roland murmured.
And it would be a relic completely different from those of the underground civilization and the demons.
The marks on the lead plates would then become evidence that proved that the human civilization had, at one time, been prosperous.
“Probably,” Pasha replied as she put Roland and Nightingale down gently. “However, I’ve never had such a strong feeling as I have now that we’ll survive in the end.”
“I believe so too,” Roland said smilingly and stepped into the laboratory.
The entire room was divided into two sections, one for operation and the other observation. A concrete wall of around half a meter thick, which was
also heavily protected by lead plates, separated the two chambers. Lead oxide had been added to the glass implanted at the center of the wall created by Lucia. Due to the limitation in the current technologies, the lead glass was not as transparent and bright as modern glass. However, it was sufficient for people to see through.
“Ah, you’re here, Your Majesty,” Celine said as she poked her main tentacle out of the door of the operation chamber, her giant body looming over them menacingly. However, the threatening atmosphere soon lightened as they saw bolts and rulers in the crook of her auxiliary tentacles. “I heard Pasha talking when I was installing a lead plate. Did Zooey bring the ancient treasure back?”
“It’s right in this box,” Roland answered as he placed the lead box on her main tentacle. He then entered the operation chamber and examined it carefully.
“What do you think? This is designed and built solely according to your instructions,” Celine said while raising her tentacles. “But is it really necessary? If the curse is a sort of light, wouldn’t a regular wall be sufficient to block it out?”
“Just in case. If my theory is correct, the light won’t be detected by naked eyes and can be highly penetrative. Regular walls do block it, but they have to be several meters thick,” Roland replied as he turned to the two ancient witches. “So, you can never judge things based on your instincts. Even though the original carriers are very resistant to various perils, before we obtain a thorough understanding of the Magic Cube, we have to follow our procedures.”
Since radiation would break down DNA structures and thus hinder the replication process of DNAs, it would cause great damage to organs with a fast metabolism. Organs such as heart and brain were more resistant to radiation than the others. Judging from the incredibly long lifespan of the original carriers who could normally live for hundreds of years, Roland believed that they were also somewhat immune to radiation. That was also the reason why Roland had asked Celine to conduct the test.
Celine broke into a laugh and said, “You remind me of the president of the Quest Society. Don’t worry. One of the principles of the Quest Society is to follow rules. I’ll be cautious.”
Roland returned a nod, “So let’s begin.”
Celine thus shut herself in the operation chamber.
The first step according to the operation manual was to keep all the doors of the laboratory closed during the experiment. Everybody should recede to the observation room except the operator.
Through the lead glass, Roland saw Celine open the box and take out of the Magic Cube.
Like Sean had said, a jet of pale blue light escaped from the crack of the stone and pointed at the coin on the work station.
“Interesting,” Celine mumbled while studying it attentatively. “This isn’t activated, right?”
Since the wall blocked the transmission of sounds, Roland replied with his mind, “According to Sean, the Earl of the Archduke Island touched it after it emanated the blue light, so I think it functions as an indicator.”
“I see,” Celine said while snatching up the Magic Cube and wrapping it with her tentacles.
“What’s she doing?” Nightingale asked.
“Feeling,” explained Pasha. “Our tentacles are much more sensitive than men’s fingers. They can touch, smell, and remember every single dent and bump on the surface of an object. A genius like Celine can even form a picture of the outline and details of the object by touching it. Unfortunately, this part of the information is conveyed via the carrier’s mind only. Human brains can’t process it.”
“Can you see what she has sensed?” Roland asked in surprise.
“If she’s willing to share, ” Pasha said as she stretched out one of her tentacles and tapped the glass. “Now I see the Magic Cube right in front of me.”
This was such a convenient ability. Like a psychological network, it not only enabled the original carriers to share their thoughts but also 3D visions.
“The length and the width of the Magic Ceremony Cube are almost the same. They are both 15 centimeters. The cube is hollow, and there are cracks. I can tell that it isn’t a whole piece,” Celine suddenly spoke.
“What do you mean?”
“The Cube seems to consist of several stones. Hold on… I probably have just found the key to opening it.”
At these words, all the tentacles relinquished their grip on the Cube, and Roland saw a small opening at the back of the Cube, as though this was the entrance to a treasury well hidden for years.
“Wow, impressive,” Roland remarked in amazement. “That was fast.”
Over the past hundred years since the Magic Ceremony Cube had been smuggled out of the temple, none of its previous owners, despite extensive research, had discovered that this was actually not made out of a single stone.
“I told you Celine is the best person to consult,” Pasha said with a smile. “She pieced together the entire magic core of the underground civilization.”
“Your Majesty, I have a question,” Celine put in as she poked her tentacle into the opening. “Why does it only respond to this coin? You say the Magic Cube has been unresponsive for years. I thought probably it had exhausted its power, just like a magic stone or a sigil. However, after I check it, I find, as you may also notice, that there’s still some magic power in it. So, is it possible that what this thing lacks… is the element used to create what you call ‘the Glory of the Sun’?”
“I think so too,” Roland replied while curling his lips. “You can try to insert the coin, but it may activate the Magic Cube, so you must take some protective measures.”
“Got it,” said Celine as she moved to the other side of the work station behind a plate. The plate was a round lead shield with four little holes in the middle, which allowed her auxiliary tentacles to pass through. Celine put the coin into the Magic Cube, and the opening immediately closed itself. Meanwhile, the light at the top of the Cube instantly turned dark red.
He was right!
Roland and Nightingale exchanged a look. Both of them were excited.
Celine continued to study the Cube for a while when suddenly, a flash of red light erupted from the other side of the Cube and fell straight onto the wall, adding a reddish hue to the dull, colorless laboratory.