Chapter 288

The exterior of this building looked plain, but Luo En keenly sensed that its surface was covered with at least three layers of hidden protective layers, far more rigorous than the protection in ordinary areas.

Two guard golems stood at the entrance, their carved eyes presenting an unnatural silver-gray, clearly having undergone some kind of enhancement.

"Wizard Lei Nuozi, hello."

The guard golems identified Lei Nuozi and nodded in greeting: "Routine inspection, please show your permit."

Lei Nuozi took out a silver badge from his chest and stuck it in front of the golem.

After the golem finished scanning carefully, it turned its gaze to Luo En: "Your guest?"

"Yes, Wizard Luo En Ralph, a new lecturer at the Crystal Spire; I will be responsible for his actions."

Lei Nuozi reported formally.

Hearing this, the golem stalled for a moment, then a small magic power detector protruded from its body to perform a simple scan on Luo En.

The detector emitted a soft beep, and a line of green text flashed on the display screen.

"Verification passed. Please note that any actions of Wizard Ralph during this period will be recorded and associated with your account."

The golem emphasized to Lei Nuozi, then mechanically raised its arm and made a "please enter" gesture to the two.

Stepping into the interior of the building, the air immediately became cool and dry.

The corridor presented a pure white color close to a hospital environment, with countless tiny blue light spots embedded in the walls, providing soft and uniform lighting.

"What is this place?" Luo En asked in a low voice, feeling the unusually pure energy field around him.

"The 'Special Containment Center' of the observation station."

Lei Nuozi also answered in a low voice:

"Some special items brought back from the Abyss, things that cannot be simply classified or have potential research value, will be temporarily stored here, waiting for further research or allocation."

They walked along the corridor, with closed rooms on both sides, each with labels and numbers of different colors on the door.

"Most rooms are classified according to Abyss layers, with colors from light to dark, representing the depth of the source and the corresponding danger level."

Lei Nuozi explained, pointing to a door with a purple label ahead:

"Our destination is that containment room specifically for storing 'Memory Crystals'."

Coming to the door with the purple label, Lei Nuozi stuck his badge on the door lock, while inputting a string of complex codes on the control panel next to it.

The door lock emitted a series of crisp clicks, then slowly slid open.

Stepping into the room, Luo En was immediately shocked by the scene before his eyes.

The entire room was hexagonal, with a circular display stand in the center, and rows of precision storage cabinets around it.

Dozens of transparent containers were placed in each storage cabinet, with crystals of various shapes and colors floating in the containers.

These crystals flickered with peculiar light under the faint light, like miniature stars.

"Memory Crystals." Lei Nuozi's voice carried awe:

"One of the most mysterious and dangerous products of the Abyss."

Luo En walked forward slowly, carefully observing those crystals.

Each one emitted unique energy fluctuations, some as calm as lake water, others as violent as boiling magma.

In his "Extraordinary Identification" vision, these crystals presented complex energy structures inside, just like solidified thought fragments.

"What exactly are these?" Luo En asked softly, attracted by these peculiar objects.

"After the fourth layer, the Abyss environment begins to affect the spirit and thoughts of explorers."

Lei Nuozi explained:

"Sometimes, when a strong thought, a profound memory, or a huge emotional fluctuation occurs.

The surrounding Abyss energy will 'materialize' these non-material conscious activities in a way we have not yet fully understood, forming these crystals."

He carefully took out a light blue crystal from the display stand and placed it in front of Luo En:

"The initial discoverers called them 'Thought Solidification' or 'Memory Fossils', and later they were uniformly named 'Memory Crystals'."

Luo En stared at that crystal, feeling a faint spiritual fluctuation coming from it.

Different from ordinary energy bodies, it was a more complex, almost "conscious" existence.

"They... preserve memories?"

"Not just memories." Lei Nuozi's voice became even lower:

"But complete experience fragments, including perception, emotion, and even the thinking process at the time.

Some memory crystals even preserve the essence of certain skills or fragments of knowledge."

He carefully put the crystal back in place:

"However, attempting to interpret these memories is extremely dangerous.

Without proper training and protective measures, rashly contacting memory crystals can lead to severe spiritual pollution or cognitive disorder."

Just then, the air in the room suddenly produced a trace of strange fluctuation, and then a voice sounded behind them:

"Luo En, it seems you are very interested in our collection."

Lei Nuozi turned around abruptly, his face showing a somewhat panicked expression:

"Pro, Professor Yuteer! You... how could you be here?"

Luo En also turned back and saw a translucent figure composed of silver light standing at the door.

That was the void projection of Professor Yuteer.

Although the form was blurry, the aura was unusually powerful, making the air in the entire room become heavier.

"My child, have you forgotten?"

Yuteer's voice carried a hint of teasing:

"These little gadgets are under my jurisdiction, and my projection has always been patrolling this area."

His figure floated closer to the two, and the mountain-like pressure made Lei Nuozi clearly nervous.

But Luo En found that when Yuteer's gaze fell on him, that pressure miraculously lightened a lot.

"Luo En, I was just about to look for you." Yuteer's voice carried a hint of pleasure:

"Lei Nuozi is a good child, but his understanding of memory crystals is still at the surface level."

Lei Nuozi's face turned slightly red, not because of anger, but a kind of embarrassment similar to being pointed out shortcomings by an elder in person.

Yuteer did not notice his reaction at all and continued:

"Truly understanding the mysteries of memory crystals requires the eyes and skills of a professional 'historian'.

According to my experience, your progress in this ancient discipline recently should have stalled, shouldn't it?"

"Indeed, Professor."

Luo En nodded slightly, feeling surprised in his heart; he didn't expect Yuteer to know his progress so well:

"Although I have been repeatedly practicing the basic skills of historical research recently, due to the mental burden brought by the research process, the progress has been quite slow."

"That's just perfect!" The void projection of Yuteer clapped his hands, emitting a burst of energy fluctuation:

"Memory crystals happen to be one of the research objects that historians are most interested in."

Yuteer floated to the display stand and beckoned to Luo En:

"Come, let me show you a few special samples we collected recently."

Luo En followed Yuteer to the other side of the display stand, where several memory crystals that were clearly different from the others were placed.

These crystals were larger in volume, deeper in color, and the energy flow inside formed complex spiral patterns.

"These are high-grade memory crystals brought back from the fifth layer recently."

Yuteer's voice carried a kind of focus and enthusiasm unique to researchers:

"Judging from the energy characteristics, they might contain some extremely precious information fragments." Luo En carefully observed these crystals.

In the vision of "Extraordinary Identification", he could see the subtle energy flow patterns inside the crystals.

Each pattern represented a different type of memory or experience.

"The core value of memory crystals." Yuteer continued to explain:

"Lies in the fact that they not only preserve the explorer's experience, but sometimes can also capture the 'memory' of the Abyss itself.

Some of the most precious memory crystals even contain Abyss mysteries that have never been witnessed by humans."

"But interpreting these memories must be accompanied by risks." Luo En pointed out.

"Indeed!" Yuteer nodded in approval:

"This is why we divide memory crystals into two categories: interpreted and uninterpreted.

Uninterpreted memory crystals are like sealed boxes, with unknown content and unknown risks.

While interpreted memory crystals have been processed by professional historians, removing dangerous components and retaining valuable information."

He pointed to another group of crystals on the display stand:

"These marked in green are interpreted safe samples, while those marked in red are samples confirmed to contain high-risk spiritual pollution, which are not recommended for contact even by senior historians."

Lei Nuozi interjected cautiously at this time: "Professor, you mentioned that memory crystal from the seventh layer before..."

Yuteer's silver void shadow flickered, seemingly smiling:

"Ah, that's a story from a while ago. Decades ago, Cassandra, who had just completed her Great Wizard advancement in the Abyss, brought back an abnormal memory crystal."

His voice became heavier:

"That memory crystal actually preserved partial consciousness fragments of a 'Supreme Apostle'."

The interpretation process was extremely dangerous; among the three historians who participated in the interpretation, two permanently lost their sanity, and only I remained clear-headed enough to complete the final extraction work."

"Supreme Apostle" is one of the most mysterious and powerful existences in the Abyss, and it is said that only top Great Wizards might be able to confront them.

Extracting memories from such an existence is no different from dancing on a volcano.

"Where is that memory crystal now?" He couldn't help but ask.

Yuteer's void shadow floated to the center of the room:

"It is strictly sealed in the core archive of the Court of Truth. However, the information extracted from it became an important breakthrough point for us to understand the essence of the Abyss."

He turned to Luo En, the eyes in the void shadow flashing with deep light:

"The reason I 'happened' to appear here today is because I want to tell you some good news:

Considering your potential in historical research, plus Princess Yi Fu's strong recommendation, the School Alliance has approved your qualification to participate in the primary interpretation project of memory crystals."

"This is a rare opportunity, young man." Yuteer continued:

"Memory crystal interpretation can not only substantially improve your historical research skills, but also help you acquire some precious knowledge that cannot be obtained through conventional channels."

Luo En pondered this unexpected development.

Participating in the memory crystal interpretation project is indeed a rare opportunity.

Not only can it improve his skills, but it might also discover some information valuable to his own research.

But at the same time, this also means more time investment and potential risks.

"I am very grateful for this opportunity, Professor." He responded cautiously:

"Could you specifically explain the time schedule and specific content of the project?"

"The project conducts centralized interpretation work every two weeks, each time for about half a day.

As a primary participant, you will attempt the most basic interpretation under my direct guidance, mainly handling some low-risk samples that have been preliminarily screened."

He added:

"As your skills improve, you can gradually contact more complex samples. The entire project cycle is three months, after which further in-depth cooperation will be decided based on your performance."

Three months, half a day every two weeks; such a time schedule is acceptable to Luo En now.

Moreover, Yuteer's direct guidance is undoubtedly a precious resource, especially for a novice who has just come into contact with historical research.

"I accept this invitation, Professor." Luo En nodded in agreement: "Thank you very much for your and Princess Yi Fu's recommendation."

"Very good, very enlightened!" Yuteer's void shadow fluctuated slightly, showing his satisfaction:

"The first interpretation course will begin in half a month. Before then, you can purchase some uninterpreted memory crystals as practice materials."

Mentioning this, Yuteer turned to another corner of the display stand, where several uninterpreted memory crystals were placed:

"By the way, the trading area also has many uninterpreted memory crystals, usually priced at about one magic stone, which is reasonable for most low-risk samples."

"As you said, I do intend to buy a few as practice." Luo En said: "Any recommended suppliers?"

"'Rui Si Collection' in the southeast corner of the trading area is a good choice." Yuteer suggested:

"The shop owner is a retired explorer with quite rich experience in memory crystals and will not deliberately sell you those samples with excessively high danger coefficients."

Subsequently, Yuteer led Luo En to visit the entire containment room.

Introducing in detail the classification methods, storage techniques, and basic interpretation theory of memory crystals.

Lei Nuozi remained respectful throughout, occasionally adding a few sentences on some professional details.

During the visit, Luo En's "Extraordinary Identification" skill constantly captured the subtle energy fluctuations and structural characteristics in the memory crystals.

【Extraordinary Identification (Proficient) Experience +1】

【Extraordinary Identification (Proficient) Experience +1】

【Extraordinary Identification (Proficient) Experience +1】

【Current progress: Extraordinary Identification (Proficient 45/300)】

Because "Extraordinary Identification" has almost become his passive skill.

So even though it has already advanced to the Proficient level, the experience point improvement is not slow at all.

Before leaving the containment room, Luo En suddenly remembered a question:

"Professor, I noticed that some memory crystals seem to emit a special... malice? This is different from other energy fluctuations."

Yuteer's void shadow solidified for a moment, then slowly nodded:

"A very keen observation, Luo En. Indeed, some memory crystals contain not only memories or knowledge, but also a special crystal we call 'Thought Virus'.

This usually appears in those memory crystals that record scenes of Abyss creature predation, or traces of apostle activities."

"For identifying this kind of 'virus' at the consciousness level, you seem to have innate sensitivity."

Yuteer looked at Luo En, his words implying something:

"This is a very valuable talent, especially for historians."

Luo En realized that this might be related to his "Hunting Evil" skill.

Although this skill is rarely used in daily life, it seems to be able to provide additional perception ability when facing Abyss pollution in memory crystals.

【Link detected: Extraordinary Identification + Hunting Evil

1. Perception precision of Extraordinary Identification for evil energy is improved

2. Hunting Evil can react to non-physical evil energy】

This unexpected discovery made Luo En's heart move.

After the link took effect, when dealing with memory crystals, he could identify and avoid those potential dangerous samples more safely than ordinary historians.

Another point, since these "memory crystals" are a kind of highly information-concentrated carrier, can they be loaded into the simulation device.

Thereby further interpreting those lost skill inheritances, assisting himself in completing the further growth of skill experience point accumulation speed.

He was just worrying recently about the problem that there were too few loaded samples available for the simulation device.

And those malicious memory crystals with so-called "thought viruses", after harmless treatment, might also find use in the simulation device.

For example, using them to generate virtualized Abyss field environments, previewing various dangerous scenarios of being preyed upon by monsters in the Abyss, or being discovered by apostles.

"I will buy two memory crystals as preliminary practice."

Thinking of this, Luo En made a decision:

"'Rui Si Collection' that you just mentioned will be the first stop."

Yuteer nodded in agreement:

"Good idea. Remember, for beginners, step-by-step is the safest learning path.

Start from the most basic samples, and try more complex interpretation after gradually accumulating experience."

On the way out of the containment room, Luo En always felt a sense of inexplicable incongruity, as if something had been completely forgotten by him.

(End of chapter)