Chapter 1 The Monster in the Dimensional Passage

The monsters in the dimensional passage were like a mountain torrent bursting a dam, not an exaggeration at all. Moreover, Laboratory Zero was located closest to the void, making the monsters even denser.

Suren charged forward, facing perilous situations multiple times.

This was only because he had numerous treasures and spatial abilities. Had it been a normal person, even a sixth or seventh-tier professional would have died here.

He plunged into Laboratory Zero, which was vastly different from before. Upon entering the underground area, many of the isolating walls had disappeared. Suren knew that they had been reduced in dimension and digested by that [Void Two-Way Bug].

Suren became even more cautious. Black Crow scouted ahead, and the Omniscient Eye scanned the area, leaving nothing to chance.

There were still very violent spatial energy fluctuations at the bottom of the laboratory. The battle between Dean Mason and that strange being seemed to be intense.

Suren obtained the information from Mafa and his men and learned why they had come here to release the monsters.

The information did contain a lot of persuasive rhetoric, making it sound like a genius, oppressed and suppressed by the academy's bureaucracy, had died here in frustration. Just like when Suren first discovered that notebook in the library, it could stir up emotions of injustice and resentment.

However,

What happened is irrelevant now.

The most important thing was that the "bait" was real.

That "Herbert Silberlai" said that he had hidden many of his research achievements, enough to change the course of civilization, in the "T11 Experimental Zone."

The most important among them were the various treasures he had collected while traveling in the void dimension and all the research data for the completed [Void Gene Potion] project.

That super potion, which could directly grant people void talents without any hidden dangers, was an irresistible temptation for anyone, especially for major forces.

This was the most important reason for the outbreak of the "Void Invasion."

Suren thought that the bait in this information was likely genuine. After all, he speculated that Herbert might have been a top-level professional during his lifetime, and the era he lived in was a phase of the Dawn Era when alchemy was incredibly glorious. The possibility of that "Tal Kulu Empire" having a god-level alchemist was very high, and pure lies would be worthless in front of such an existence.

However, none of that mattered at the moment.

Suren was more concerned about something else.

Since Herbert, who had mutated into a [Two-Way Bug], would set up such a scheme, then the monster's intelligence would be very high, even higher than that of ordinary humans!

Suren had previously observed some signs of this Void Invasion and confirmed that the conjecture in Herbert's notes was correct, namely, the "Mother Bug Theory."

...

Suren killed countless monsters along the way before arriving at the depths of the laboratory.

But as he walked, he suddenly stopped.

He looked at the energy barrier identified in the distance and muttered, "The bottom layer of the laboratory is sealed by a spatial barrier..."

Suren knew that this fight would take a long time. He originally wanted to go directly to the "T11 Zone" to see the situation, but now all the roads were blocked.

Dean Mason had cast an isolating spatial art, restricting both him and the [Two-Way Bug] to a fixed area. Was he perhaps thinking of trying to seal the monster again?

Suren's eyes darted, and he thought, "This is probably a trap set by that monster. If this continues, this dimensional passage will definitely be devoured and collapse."

He couldn't enter the barrier in front of him, and the possibility of forcibly breaking it was extremely low. Moreover, in the current situation, the old dean was the greatest help and couldn't be offended.

After thinking about it, he shouted loudly towards the barrier, "Dean Mason, monsters have infiltrated the academy area through the void seal outside. A large number of void Zerg are gnawing at the rune restrictions of the dimensional passage. They are not ordinary Zerg but are controlled by a highly intelligent 'Mother Bug'..."

Before he could finish speaking, Suren suddenly felt a chill down his back, and a sense of crisis, like being watched by a poisonous snake in the dark, instantly surged into his heart.

Without hesitation, he raised his hand and pointed it behind him, and from the black hole in his palm, a domineering sword aura "swish" cut through the air.

As the sword aura passed, a stream of blue blood suddenly spurted out from the originally empty tunnel, and a transparent monster corpse, cut in half, crashed to the ground. Upon identification, it turned out to be a fourth-tier Gold Wraith.

This was the "Mother Bug" controlling its minions to silence him.

At the same time, in his soul perception, Suren discovered that a very dense wave of souls had instantly poured into this tunnel. The chaotic frequency of the air vibrations made it easy to guess that the monster tide from the ground was surging down.

Just as Suren was about to take action and fully open fire to protect himself, the spatial barrier in front of him suddenly expanded and directly enveloped him.

Those void monsters "thump," "thump," "thump" slammed into the barrier, unable to do any harm.

Naturally, the old dean had taken action.

Suren also breathed a sigh of relief.

The reason why he dared to return to Laboratory Zero was because the Void Invasion in history had been terminated.

He was sure that this old dean must have some trump card to suppress this [Two-Way Bug], at least to be able to hold it off.

At this time, he continued to say what he hadn't finished saying, "Dean Mason, if I'm not mistaken, the monster that Mr. Herbert mutated into wants to delay you here, deliberately making you think that you can still seal it. Then it secretly controls the void Zerg to destroy the dimensional passage."

Previously, he didn't understand why, even though the spatial passage had been closed, those void Zerg could find the weak points in the restrictions and go directly to the academy area.

The actions of bugs were more in line with instinct, and they didn't have enough "intelligence" like humans to understand such complex restrictions.

Obviously, these bugs were organized, disciplined, and premeditated.

Later, after observing that the key attack points of those bugs were the restriction nodes in the academy, Suren suddenly understood.

Herbert's notes had these words: "Many void bugs cannot be counted as individuals on their own, but must be counted as a 'individual' unit with thousands or even tens of thousands of them together. And the 'Mother Bug' is the brain of this unit."

Herbert was the vice-dean of the academy, and he knew the various situations of the academy and the dimensional passage in great detail.

Therefore, it was not difficult to guess that it was the "brain" of the Zerg.

...

Suren voiced his guess. At this moment, familiar "black lines" appeared in the spatial tunnel.

The Two-Way Monster had come to silence him personally.

Seeing this, Suren wasn't flustered.

The old dean could persevere for so long, naturally, he had a way to deal with it.

As expected, just as the monster appeared, an old figure instantly appeared in the tunnel with an even faster teleportation speed.

No matter how many times Suren saw it, he felt that Dean Mason's teleportation technique was a hundred times better than his own.

The old man looked at Suren with a very complicated expression.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the "Investigation Team" was the culprit of this accident, but the person in front of him didn't think about escaping but instead returned...

Dean Mason didn't know how to evaluate it.

Thinking carefully about what he had just said, he also had a feeling of sudden realization.

No wonder he clearly felt that the [Two-Way Bug] had been sealed for many years, and although its strength was stronger than before, it had been performing poorly, making him feel that he had a chance to seal it again. It turned out that this monster was deliberately feigning weakness to delay time.

Moreover, the changes in reality also proved this point.

The moment Suren revealed this plan, the bugs outside suddenly went crazy. Not only outside Laboratory Zero but also the entire dimensional passage was violently shaking, and several times more void monsters than before poured in.

Since the scheme failed, it was probably trying to use the Zerg sea tactics to kill this old dean as soon as possible.

Even through the spatial barrier, Suren could feel the madness of those bugs. A solemn expression also appeared in his eyes.

Just because he had changed a little of the plot's direction, this Void Invasion had directly entered the third stage from the first stage.

Now everything was fine, he couldn't get out at all.

He could only gamble that the old dean could turn the tide.

This was also the greatest danger that Suren had assessed when considering this plan before.

Moreover, not only couldn't he get out, but now this [Two-Way Bug] was even more crazy. This was the most direct and fatal threat.

Previously, Suren thought that this monster wasn't fast and had some shortcomings, so he could still deal with it for a while.

But now, it wasn't pretending anymore.

Suren had disrupted its plan, so this monster would naturally want to kill him quickly.

In that instant, the Black Crow beside Suren "cawed" and issued a deadly crisis warning.

Suren and Black Crow had already reached a tacit understanding. Without hesitation, he teleported towards the old dean.

Glancing back, the ground where he had just stood had been reduced to a two-dimensional pattern, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.

They were not opponents of the same level at all.

Suren couldn't think of any way to kill this monster.

Dean Mason looked at Suren's spatial teleportation skills and said with a complicated and emotional tone: "You are not weak."

He didn't let the monster continue to run wild. He once again cast an art to control the monster and crush it into pieces. The [Two-Way Bug]'s remnants would reorganize, giving him a brief respite.

Now was not the time to delay. Every extra moment of delay increased the possibility of the dimensional passage collapsing.

The old dean also knew that he could not let this monster leave Laboratory Zero, and he himself could not leave.

Reality did not allow him to hesitate any longer. He took out a bronze clockwork ball, handed it to Suren, and said, "You should know what this thing does. I will find a way to solve this monster, and the rest is up to you. Be careful."

He was convinced that Suren was a secret agent from the capital, and now he had no choice but to trust him.

Suren took the thing, and listening to these last words, he guessed that the old man really had a trump card. He didn't hesitate and responded, "Okay!"

Preventing the Void Invasion was also the best option for him to leave the Cursed Space alive.

Moreover, he had to solve this big boss to have a chance to get the treasures in this laboratory.

Seeing that the [Restriction Clockwork] was taken out, the monster became even more crazy. Its main body surged out from the depths of the ground, and those black lines poured over like a flood. This range-based attack didn't give people a chance to avoid it at all. As long as the spatial barrier was not lifted, everything in this laboratory would be submerged.

Looking at the "black insect tide" in front of him that made his scalp tingle, Suren felt a sense of death crisis that he hadn't experienced for a long time.

He formed a hand seal with both hands, and dark golden runes appeared on the surface of his body.

At the same time, Dean Mason gently pushed Suren out. At the old man's feet, an extremely mysterious nine-pointed star array lit up.

As the art condensed, a stone door carved with ancient runes appeared behind the old man.

The rune stone door lit up with a dazzling light. Looking through the door, it seemed to lead to a terrifying world like an abyss.

The old dean's face was without joy or sorrow, and his robe moved without wind. He was like a true god descending, with a domineering and fearless look in his eyes. His entire aura suddenly changed, as if shrouded in an indescribable brilliance. With every gesture, he seemed to be attracting the power of the vast starry sky.

The art became more and more powerful, and the violent spatial law fluctuations were like the prelude to a volcanic eruption, giving people a feeling of doomsday.

The old man raised his hands forward, and a low and deep murmur came from the darkness: "Divine Art: World Banishment!"

...

Suren knew that the start of the art was not simple, but when the grade of the art was identified in his eyes, he was also surprised.

He didn't expect it to be a divine art?

Even if this old man wasn't a god-level powerhouse in his prime, he was at least a demigod.

But because of the Cursed Space, the art in front of him only had some form but not the true power of a divine art.

Even so, Suren was greatly shocked when he saw it.

Moreover, it was clear that the price of using this art was definitely not small. Suren only glanced at it and saw that the old man's originally somewhat rosy flesh visibly became as dry as firewood.

Faced with a monster that could not be killed or sealed, Dean Mason had not used this move before, but now he did, clearly at a great cost.

However, Suren didn't have the mind to care about the old dean. At this moment, he was repelled by the barrier, surrounded by endless void monsters, and he himself was in a dangerous situation.

"Mu Shi: Flame Emperor!"

Suren watched the void insects like grains of sand, and raging flames rose around his body.

The black umbrella wraith was released, and countless threads spread out from the cross above his head, wrapping him up.

The corpses of the void insects fell in large swathes...

There was no way to escape. Going out now would make the situation outside even worse. His only hope was to hold on until the old man killed the [Two-Way Bug].

Fortunately, the space in this tunnel was limited, so Suren didn't have to deal with enemies from all directions, but only needed to solve the monsters coming from the entrance.

He used various one-handed seals to maximize his defense; with the other hand, he created a black hole, and the members of the Dawn Squad unleashed a barrage of attacks towards the hole.

Sword auras, fist energies, and gun bullets and artillery were as dense as a rainstorm. He spat out exaggerated flames several meters long from his palm. Those void monsters that came into close contact were already fragile, and almost all of them were reduced to ashes...

Fortunately, he had obtained the [Void Passage Restriction Clockwork], and the passive effect of this thing was to stabilize the void within a certain range. Suren was not torn apart by violent energy fluctuations, and he was also immune to those range-based spatial shock damage.

But this intensity of firepower could only last for a moment and was definitely not sustainable.

While fighting, Suren also paid attention to the battle inside the barrier.

At this moment, Dean Mason was like a god. He condensed white magical light in his hand and actually grabbed the main body of the monster, which looked like a mud monster, with his bare hands. Not only was he not reduced in dimension, but he also struggled to stuff the monster's body into the rune stone door behind him as if in a tug-of-war.

The [Two-Way Bug] was like a venomous snake caught by its weakness. Its head had already been stuffed in, and its body was still needling and resisting outside the stone door, desperately unwilling to enter that unknown world...

Seeing this, Suren roughly understood the principle of this divine art. The old man seemed to want to banish the monster to another world?

Since it could not be killed or sealed, this approach seemed to be the only option.

As Suren thought this, a long tentacle lashed out, "slap" piercing through his rune golden body. Underneath the everted flesh and blood, the rune bones were visible. The spatial shock not only injured his flesh but also caused his internal organs to tremble. He couldn't help but feel a bloody taste in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of old blood.

Suren didn't care about his injuries. Seeing the monster a hundred meters away, he didn't hesitate to draw out the black scythe and slash at it several times.

Only then was the fourth-tier lord-level tentacle monster cut into several pieces.

The monster tide's attacks became more and more violent, and Suren had bloodstains on the corner of his mouth, but a smile appeared in his eyes.

He had bet right, the overall situation on the old dean's side was settled!

Once upon a time, that Tokster Alchemy Academy's teachers and students stopped the Void Invasion at a tragic price.

Now it had become a Cursed Space, and the plot should be similar. Suren had killed Mafa and those "variables" and revealed the [Queen Bug]'s conspiracy in advance, so theoretically, it would only be better.

A few minutes later.

Dean Mason had already stuffed most of the [Two-Way Bug]'s body into the rune stone door, and the monster was powerless to recover.

However, the old man's condition was also very bad. His body was like burnt ash, gradually collapsing into the endless void.

"This divine art consumed his lifespan?"

Suren understood.

At this time, the old dean, whose face was as golden as paper, banished the Two-Way Bug into the void gate in one breath, and his body completely collapsed.

In the last moment, he looked back at Suren, and his eyes seemed to have a request.

Suren also understood and nodded.

Across time and space, he paid his respects to this great alchemist senior from who knew how many tens of thousands of years ago.

In any case, this kind of person was worthy of respect.

...

The [Two-Way Bug] was banished to who knew where, and Dean Mason also died on the spot.

Without the command of the "Queen Bug," the void monsters in this laboratory, which had been frantically attacking just now, suddenly collapsed into a pile of loose sand.

Without instructions and without a target, they also instinctively sensed that the human in front of them was not easy to provoke, and they immediately collapsed.

Nine out of ten monsters in the tunnel had disappeared, and Suren also breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, a thought popped up in his mind: "Did I end the main plot of this Cursed Space in advance?"

Under normal circumstances, the Void Invasion would last for three days.

But no one had ever come out of this dimensional passage alive before, and no one knew what had happened.

The current situation was that the ultimate boss had been killed, and the void Zerg had completely become a mess without the [Queen Bug], so it was likely that they would not organize any large-scale attacks.

Then the Cursed Space was solved?

No.

Obviously not.

The main will of this space was definitely not a "monster" but that "Herbert Silberlai."

Suren's eyes turned, and he felt that the guy's remaining will should be in this Laboratory Zero.

There were still plots to be discovered later.

With the old dean's death, the spatial barrier also disappeared.

Suren originally wanted to harvest some "gray fog" from this great alchemist when he found that there was nothing where his body had collapsed.

This kind of thing was also common in the Cursed Space. After all, it was someone else's memory scene. Non-main wills were all supporting characters. It was hard to say what could be preserved.

Just when he felt extremely regretful, an ancient rune stone door slowly condensed in the void.

Even from a long distance, he could feel a strong and mysterious aura.

[Void Walker's Any Door]

Quality: Legendary

Description: A magical door that opens to another world. Where do you want to go?

Curse Characteristics: You can use this alchemical item to travel between the current coordinate and the fixed marked coordinate. The transmission distance is affected by energy and law comprehension; The fixed Divine Art [World Banishment], you can use it to travel between planes; If you do not master the laws of space or forcibly traverse a leap distance beyond your ability, the void will tear your soul and body; Using this divine art, spatial displacement is equally converted into time consumption, resulting in a corresponding loss of lifespan;

Detailed Explanation: The distance to the high-dimensional world is not as far as you think. To use this power, you must first understand it; Records the coordinates of a mysterious alien plane 433.1224, 655.874; Can be used as a professional advancement material. After taking the job, you will gain displacement ability, master the spatial divine art [World Banishment], and greatly improve your spatial awareness; Fusion condition, void affinity rating ss, current fusion success rate is less than 1%;

Suren was overjoyed and shocked.

"Eh... is this the stone door curse item that the old dean used to cast the art before?"

When he saw the information identified, he realized that the divine art [World Banishment] was actually attached to the curse item?

As for that coordinate, it was probably the alien plane to which the monster was banished.

And when he saw the words "can be used as an advancement material," Suren became a little hot-blooded.

He had come to explore the secret realm this time to find professional advancement materials related to void abilities.

Wasn't this exactly what he wanted?

Not just good, it was simply too good!

It had a significant void ability bonus, could also pinpoint coordinate displacement, and ultra-long-distance transmission...

It was simply far beyond his expectations.

However, this item's quality was too high, and the 1% success rate made him frown.

"Insufficient spatial affinity?"

Suren's first reaction was to think of the [Void Gene Potion].

If affinity was not enough, he would use the potion to make up for it.

The previous information said that it happened to be in the "T11 Zone"?

Now that the monster tide in this laboratory had receded and the danger was much smaller than before, he definitely had to go and take a look.