Chapter 1528: Temporary Simulation, Working Against the Clock

Finally, Xia Duo arrived at one of the former Seven Laboratories, but unfortunately, it was already a ruin; here, he truly saw the Semi-plane that Buluode had described as having had an accident.

It should be said that Iolum is worthy of being Iolum; even an experimental accident could be controlled so appropriately.

Unlike the ruins of the Inosen Mage Tower, the Semi-plane itself here was still intact, only it had completely overlapped with the Main Plane, and at the same time, for some reason, it had lost its boundaries, causing the area outside this laboratory to also be affected.

But it should still be recoverable and processable later.

After passing this laboratory, Xia Duo no longer needed Buluode to lead the way; on one hand, this area belonged to the Core Area, and even if the original space had expanded, there wasn't much road left.

On the other hand, it was even more critical: Xia Duo had already found the reason for the appearance of the temporary passages; some were indeed artificially opened, but a considerable portion should have been caused when this Magic Net Dead Zone was created.

If one were to view the normal Magic Net environment wrapped by the Dead Zone as the body of an octopus, then these temporary passages were the octopus's tentacles.

Perhaps the technology was still immature, or for some other reason, the Magic Net environment within the temporary passages was actually not much better than the Dead Zone.

It's just that I don't know what the Magic Net environment in the experimental area is like now!

……

Soon, Xia Duo arrived near another of the Seven Laboratories for the Independent Arcane Fire Device project; during the approach, the Magic Net environment became increasingly active.

Until arriving outside the laboratory, the Magic Net environment here was no different from the outside world.

With a "creak," the laboratory door suddenly swung open, and Iolum walked out with a weary expression; after seeing Xia Duo, a light of surprise clearly shone in his eyes:

"Xia Duo, you've finally come!"

"Apologies for keeping Teacher waiting too long." Xia Duo bowed slightly.

"Then let's begin; we don't have much time left!"

Not much time?

Xia Duo immediately associated this with the mysterious organization of Cormanthor that the other party had mentioned during his spell-meeting with Xierdalanna before coming to Saivendun, and his heart suddenly tightened.

Just at this moment, Xia Duo felt something being stuffed into his hand; looking down, it was a thick booklet, and when he looked up again, Buluode was just withdrawing his hand from his side.

"This is the experimental record from the two times you weren't here."

"Mm."

Xia Duo nodded and put away the experimental record; he had originally been preparing to ask Iolum why there wasn't much time left, but after this interruption, he found it somewhat difficult to ask.

Fortunately, after entering the laboratory, Iolum had to explain the current state of the environment first, and only then did Xia Duo know that the "not much time" Iolum spoke of was not an external factor, but that this Dead Zone could not hold on much longer.

According to Iolum's introduction, the Dead Zone here was indeed not a true Magic Net Dead Zone, but a special environment created by a Simulated Dead Magic Zone.

But a Simulated Dead Magic Zone is still a Dead Zone; it would still continuously assimilate the normal Magic Net environment, which required the continuous consumption of a large amount of Arcane Energy to resist this assimilation trend, but there was a limit to the resistance.

And there was one more point that was even more fatal: the Dead Zone itself, if not released for a long time, was very likely to transform into a true Dead Zone.

Of course, not the kind of silent, natural transformation, but a violent scene similar to when a Mythallar collapses.

Or one could also view this simulated temporary Dead Zone as an unstable Mythallar; once time was up, it would disintegrate, and at that time, besides the grand scene of a Magic Net riot, it was highly likely to also create a Dead Zone.

The Arcane Union had lost a large number of laboratories this time, and they were all laboratories with good configurations in the Core Area; Iolum had already taken a not-insignificant risk, and at the very least, compensating the Union for its losses was certain.

He could not allow this temporary Dead Zone to turn into a true Dead Zone.

"Although no Great Arcanist has spoken out personally yet, quite a few Councilors have already raised questions; the relevant experiments must be completed as soon as possible, otherwise, the wrap-up of the project will likely drag on for a very long time."

Iolum's words also gave Xia Duo a sense of urgency; a little thought made it clear that it was already April, there was the Snow Melting Competition in May, and after that, there was a Northland Alliance meeting almost every month.

Although Iolum did not necessarily need to be present, regarding the Limitation of Magic Proposal specifically targeting Netheril, Iolum certainly could not be an outsider.

The experimental environment here (the Dead Zone) was almost entirely set up by Iolum alone, and the process was cumbersome; if this opportunity were missed, Iolum would likely not be able to spare the time for a very long time.

Or one could also stubbornly endure the Elves' Monitoring Divine Art and conduct experiments as before, but that would mean facing the Elves' possible probing or even sabotage, while also adding variables to the Northland Alliance meeting.

The best result now would be to complete the project wrap-up before May; if things went smoothly, one could even develop a set of War Spells specifically designed to be used with the Independent Arcane Fire Device.

Only then would Netheril have the confidence to say no to Cormanthor's unreasonable demands at the Northland Alliance meeting.

What Xia Duo could think of now, Iolum had perhaps already thought of; no wonder Iolum had uncharacteristically urged him several times in the past few days—the time was indeed tight!

Thinking this way, Xia Duo had already unconsciously tightened his nerves.

……

In the days that followed, as long as it did not affect Spellcasting, Xia Duo threw himself into the project almost without sleep or rest.

From the construction of the device to verification and testing, then to the device "ignition," collecting Arcane Fire, and even safe "shutdown" and adjustments and improvements, Xia Duo did not miss a single process.

Even changing laboratories and re-stabilizing the Magic Net environment of the experimental area, he could lend a hand.

Such desperation almost frightened Iolum, who arranged for Xia Duo to rest in private several times, but was refused by Xia Duo every time.

As for the others, they were all amazed at Xia Duo's extraordinary energy; Buluode even bluntly stated that Xia Duo simply didn't seem like a human.

Regarding this, Xia Duo did not explain much; since his Bloodline Awakening, he was afraid he no longer had anything to do with the term "normal human."

As long as he didn't engage in strenuous exercise or frequent Spellcasting, even if he went three days and three nights without eating, drinking, or sleeping, he wouldn't feel a shred of hunger or fatigue!

If he were to use 【Body as the World】, he could even quickly recover his energy, but it was inconvenient to perform in front of Iolum and the others.

The reason he had to work so hard was, on one hand, that his body could indeed handle it; on the other hand, he wanted to squeeze out a little time to research War Spells.

Netheril did not have the saying "tight at the front and loose at the back," but a similar logic was not difficult to understand or accept.

Under Xia Duo's influence, the efficiency of the others also improved significantly, especially Buluode; if it weren't for Iolum's words still being useful, it might have even evolved into a contest of spirit to insist on not resting.

……