Chapter 72: Experiment
Not until he returned to his alchemy laboratory did Zhou Ning finally exhale, his heart settling back into his chest. Although he hadn't encountered any direct danger that night, both the mirror and the statue had left him with a deeply unsettling feeling.
The statue of Nyastra had been particularly potent; the shuddering terror it inspired was still fresh in his memory. It had nearly driven him to madness.
Holding onto that thing was a dangerous liability, so Zhou Ning seriously considered handing it over to the Ascetic Church for disposal.
The Ascetic Church is the official church of the Kingdom of Blyston. They worship the Sun Goddess and are one of the four orthodox churches on the continent. I'm sure they'd be happy to take this evil thing off my hands and destroy it.
After two hours of rest, Zhou Ning's willpower finally climbed back to the safe threshold of 13 points, and his mind felt clear again.
He took [Damian's Ordinary Mirror] from his inventory and examined it carefully. To be honest, he was intensely curious about the world inside it.
According to the description on the game panel, a world waiting to be explored lay within, one that likely held unimaginable value.
But now, the mirror looked perfectly ordinary, showing no unusual properties. It was as if what he'd seen before had been nothing more than an illusion.
Recalling the scene in room 304, he remembered how a shadow had appeared in the mirror upon his first touch, struggling to break free. It had been a creepy sight, but his Observation Haki had told him the danger was manageable.
Of course, he wasn't about to take any chances, at least not without proper safety precautions. To ensure his absolute safety, he donned the Phoenix suit and fired a grappling hook into the ceiling beams, ready to retract it at a moment's notice.
The Phoenix suit is from the Marvel world—an item that shouldn't exist in this world, at least not at this stage. With a defense of over 100 points, it significantly enhances my strength. It's incredibly powerful.
Wearing the Phoenix suit, Zhou Ning felt confident he could handle a fight, as long as his opponent wasn't overwhelmingly powerful.
Following a method for activating unknown items he remembered from the games of his past life, Zhou Ning bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the mirror.
Ripples spread across the mirror's surface as the blood silently seeped in, turning it a deep, tranquil black.
After a moment, Zhou Ning felt a special connection form between himself and the mirror.
He gently stroked the mirror with his left hand. Its surface rippled like water, and his hand sank right through.
Suddenly, something on the other side grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the mirror with immense force.
Fortunately, Zhou Ning had taken precautions. Without hesitation, he gripped the hand holding his, activated the grappling hook, and shot toward the ceiling. A black shadow was yanked out of the mirror behind him, staggering before it collapsed to the floor.
It was a figure made entirely of shadow, wreathed in black smoke. Its facial features were indistinct, and it struggled desperately on the ground.
Still in the air, Zhou Ning released the grappling hook's controls with his right hand, raised his gun, and without hesitation, infused his shots with Armament Haki and fired three times in quick succession.
The three shots—an aerial shot, a ripple shot, and a fatal direct shot—all slammed into the black shadow. The final shot struck its head, dealing a fatal blow. The creature shattered into pieces of broken glass.
[Your fatal shot dealt 459 damage to the Mirror Ghost. You killed the Mirror Ghost (lv25 spirit) and gained 7200 experience.]
"A Mirror Ghost?" Zhou Ning thought, recalling the description for [Damian's Ordinary Mirror]. If it had actually pulled me in, I might have been replaced by it.
After retracting the hook, Zhou Ning landed lightly on the ground. He walked back to the mirror and tentatively stepped through. The bright light of the laboratory's whale oil lamp flickered, and in the next instant, he found himself inside the mirror.
The scene before him was strange. The environment was an exact replica of his alchemy laboratory, but everything was reversed, as if reflected. The alchemy table, normally on the left, was now on the right. A short distance away, a misty film shimmered in the air—likely the true entrance to the mirror world.
"Interesting!" Zhou Ning's lips curled into a slight smile.
He took the [Mini Mechanical Warrior] card from his inventory and used it. With a puff of smoke, a mechanical warrior half the height of a man, holding an M1 Garand rifle, appeared before him. At Zhou Ning's command, it walked toward the misty film.
It passed through without a fight, its health bar remaining full.
Zhou Ning cautiously followed the Mini Mechanical Warrior through the film. The scene that unfolded before him left him stunned.
What appeared before him was not the distorted world he had glimpsed before, but a vast expanse of ruins in an ancient elven style.
White mist filled the air. The once-extravagant and ornate elven buildings were now nothing but countless ruins linked by long, floating corridors. His Mini Mechanical Warrior was already walking along one of them.
Beyond the corridors lay a foggy void, so deep its bottom was impossible to see.
From a distance, the ruins appeared to be suspended in a boundless void, an incredibly shocking sight.
Zhou Ning drew a sharp, silent breath and froze.
The corridors before him interconnected, leading from one ruin to another. And within those ruins, he saw countless black shadows wandering about—more of the same Mirror Ghosts he had just killed. They seemed to be guarding the area.
"It's a bit like a dungeon instance in a game..." Zhou Ning muttered to himself.
At first, he tried to count the number of ruins within his sight, but he soon gave up. There were simply too many to count.
No wonder Damian, the archmage who created this mirror, ended up getting lost in here.
In the distance, Zhou Ning could even see a staircase spiraling upwards, leading straight into a deep sea of clouds.
Where does that staircase lead? Who built such a massive structure inside a mirror? Why were these buildings abandoned? Is anyone still living here? Who connected all the ruins with these corridors?
The sheer mystery and madness hidden within this mirror world made Zhou Ning's scalp tingle.
Not far away, he spotted another mirror hanging in mid-air. He approached it quietly and peered inside. It showed a familiar scene: Mr. Tulin and Leandro sitting on a sofa, chatting. It was a perfect tool for spying.
Zhou Ning had a strong intuition that he could step directly into Mr. Tulin's house through this mirror. He also felt that if someone on the other side approached their mirror, he could just as easily pull them in.
Looking further down the corridor, he saw countless such mirrors hanging in the air. It meant he could potentially reach any place that had a mirror.
It truly is an unknown wonder. This function alone is something many people could only dream of.
Zhou Ning chose not to explore any further. This world was too huge—so vast it was unsettling. Perhaps the time to explore this place will be after all the other players have arrived.
For the next two days, Zhou Ning didn't leave his alchemy laboratory, not even for meals. With the help of his "tool man," his alchemy skill was upgraded by noon of the second day, bringing with it the long-awaited panel prompt.
[Your proficiency has reached 100%. Alchemy has reached an advanced level.]
[You have mastered the new skill [Applied Alchemy].]
[You have mastered new recipes: Advanced Healing Potion, Advanced Mana Potion, Petrification Potion, and Dream Potion.]
Zhou Ning took [Goethe's Alchemy Manual] from his inventory and used it without a second thought.
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