Within the 50-floor Mechanized Sovereign Tower of the Infinite Space, Jacob’s figure appeared on the 40th floor.
The 40th floor was bathed in bright light, with runic markings that emitted neon lights embedded in the walls, and it was designed like a futuristic biotech laboratory. Rows of large glass cells were embedded in the southern wall, filled with translucent liquid.
The moment Jacob appeared, the Lab Assistant-1, Alma, and the previous Soul Ghost King, now dressed in black researcher attire —a Legendary Lord Rank item from the Mechanized Sovereign Tower’s 11th floor, one of the ten Weaponized Factory Floors —quickly approached.
Her eyes were filled with reverence and respect as she bowed in front of Jacob, "Master, welcome back!"
From her past self, Alma appeared completely different, and she no longer seemed to have any resentment towards Jacob despite what he had done to her. She was a completely new person, at least in front of Jacob.
Jacob merely nodded in acknowledgment before he started walking towards the rows of glass containers as he impassively asked, "How are the specimens?"
Alma promptly replied as she followed behind Jacob in her icy voice, "Specimen-1, previously goes by the name ’Rat’ as a Lord Mercenary Rank mercenary affiliated with the Bank.
"In our racial databank, we analyzed his bloodline, and it’s confirmed that he belongs to a Legendary King Rank Race called the Earth Locality Gnome. The Dwarves enslaved this race around 12,000 years ago because of their racial traits of finding rare loads of minerals, and excellent talent in scouting and locating targets that not even legendary king rank treasure could.
"The Rat should be someone who managed to escape from the Dwarves and has been operating within the Great Cosmic Continent of Leo to keep a low profile. After all, if the dwarves found a Legendary Lord Rank Earth Locality Gnome roaming free, they’ll do anything to get him back."
Jacob nodded as a hint of astonishment flashed past his eyes when he heard about the ’guide’ hired by the Shattered Star Pirate having such a background.
Although Jacob kidnapped him out of curiosity and for the map of the Temple of the Blazing Flame, he believed he was special because he led the pirates safely to the lava sea without incident.
Once Jacob was done, he sent him here to turn him into a specimen, but he wasn’t expecting much. However, it seemed Rat was worth researching after all.
At that moment, Jacob reached the far end of the glass containers, and at that moment, Rat’s stark-naked body was floating within the translucent liquid, and he was entirely out of consciousness.
The liquid in the glass containers was actually a Legendary King Rank Torpor Anesthesia Elixir, found among many other formulas within Black Mechanic’s databank. It can put even a legendary king in a long hibernation without any ability to wake up until the elixir loses its effects.
Jacob found a huge load of it within the old Timeless Tower’s treasury reserves, and the ingredients to make it were also quite easily found, so Jacob built this entire facility to gather live specimens like rats.
Since Rat was only a Legendary Lord, that whole glass container of the Torpor Anesthesia Elixir will keep in that slumber state for almost a century.
Then Jacob looked towards the next similar glass container, where an enthralling sleeping beauty was floating.
Alma also glanced at The Sleeping Beauty, and a hint of killing intent flashed fast in her eyes before she flashed a faint, gloating smile as she was pleased with that woman’s current condition.
However, she quickly returned to her Stoic expression, and seemed to have gotten her clue and quickly started speaking again, "Specimen-2, the Holy Pontiff of the Cardinal Spirit Temple, titled as the Holy King Eliza. We have some slight trouble analyzing her bloodline, but we do find a match.
"She belonged to the elusive race of Fairies, and according to the limited information, the ATLAS believed that all the Fairies had been transported either to the Upper Plains because their bloodline potential is actually above the legendary rank, or they seem to have found a hidden Ancient Elemental Galaxy, and hide themselves there.
"It has been over 550,000 years since someone has reported seeing a fairy, but it wasn’t confirmed, and ever since, the Fairy Race has become a mere myth, and not even the ATLAS was aware of the Holy King’s actual race.
"However, the ATLAS does have some information on the Holy King as their prime targets of investigation and also recruitment. Holy King has always been secretive, and her rise was meteoric. She appeared out of nowhere and took control of the entire Cardinal Spirit Temple.
"There’s also a rumor that the previous Holy King, who has been ascended, was actually defeated by her and forced to flee the Legendary Plains. There’s also a chance that he might not even be alive, and to keep controlling the Cardinal Spirit Temple, Eliza uses the ’ascension’ to cover the entire truth.
Lastly, the ATLAS believed Eliza had awakened one of the rarest optical talents in the Zodiac Plains and belonged to the ancestors of the Fairy Race, called the Inner Espy Vision, which allows her to peer into others’ secrets and grants her the ability to deduce future events.
"Although the ATLAS was never able to confirm this piece of information, nor did they have any more profound knowledge about the Inner Espy Vision, they were most wary of the Holy King Eliza.
"As for the information about the Fairy Race, they only have information on one of their racial aspect, which is that they have an ability to ’nurture faith’. Other than that, there’s nothing."
’Inner Espy Vision?!’ Jacob’s eyes flickered violently as he instantly remembered Immortika had once told him about this optical trait being one of the most powerful optical abilities of the Zodiac Plains.
Apparently, it was on the same level as the Eyes of Judge!
Realization dawned on him at that moment, ’No wonder my Eyes of Judge didn’t work her on her at, and I was also feeling apprehension about her eyes. But it also seemed her eyes didn’t work on me because of the Eyes of Judge.
’But even more terrifying thing is, the Holy Justice God seemed to have both the Eyes of Judge and Inner Espy Vision if the Faith Idol is identical to the Holy Justice God.
’How did the Holy Justice God achieve it? No matter what, I need to be extremely careful of him since by no means is he a weakling, and on top of that, he seems to be an extremely influential and ambitious God...’
Jacob was solemn as he glanced at Eliza, and he didn’t regret capturing her since now he also had someone with Inner Espy Vision. If he could also rob that vision from her, he would be like the Holy Justice God!
Yet, he didn’t have a method to achieve this feat right now, so he had to keep Eliza in that state until he figured it out. If nothing works, he has no choice but to make a wish to get that method or clues about it.
Moreover, since Eliza was a Quasi-Myth, the Torpor Anesthesia Elixir could only keep her in that slumber state for around a few days, and it needed to be constantly changed if he didn’t want any inconvenience.
Although within the infinite space, Eliza would be suppressed entirely, Jacob still didn’t want any hassle, and he didn’t need her, at least right now.
At that moment, Jacob finally looked away, and this time, he saw the burly giant, almost taking the 15-meter-tall glass container’s space.
Alma spoke again with a hint of mockery in her eyes as she glared at the giant, "Specimen-3, the Champion King...!"