Shadow Novelist
Volume 23: The Game Changes
← Previous chapter: 720 I Was Wrong
Nick left the warehouse after looking around for a bit.
Sure enough, there was not much of interest in the warehouse.
Even though Markus hadn't been very thorough, he had not lied, at least.
After leaving the pillar, Nick looked around.
Nobody had entered the underground, even though over half a day had passed.
'There's not much point in looking at the northern ruins, but I think I will still do so just to finish my trip.'
If he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found.
Nick transformed into mist and entered the tunnel leading to the northern ruins.
There was a gate there, but Nick could easily bypass it with his abilities.
Naturally, there were other people in this place.
Nick recognized around 70% of them.
'They are all scientists who had worked for Ghosty,' Nick thought.
Of course, since Ghosty had left Crimson City, the scientists joined the city directly and continued their science there.
The secret ruins were made of one huge hall and a couple of small rooms.
The rooms were simply offices or break rooms, while the big hall contained all the research.
There was a humongous machine in the middle of the room.
It looked like a pedestal for a gigantic ball, ten meters in diameter, but there was no ball on the pedestal.
The pedestal was mirrored on the ceiling.
If one put a big ball there, it would perfectly fit.
Zzzt!
From time to time, some sparks came out of the pedestal before vanishing.
When Nick saw these sparks, he knew immediately what this was.
'It's either Pure Energy or Star Energy,' Nick thought.
When Nick saw these sparks, he felt nervous.
'It seems like this factory is constantly trying to restart itself,' Nick thought as he looked around.
Some of the machines had some lights coming from them, but as with all the machinery of the Enlightened Ones,there were no buttons or panels to interact with them.
One needed a Seed to interact with these machines.
'Some machines don't work anymore, while others seem to work.'
Nick looked at the big pedestal that constantly tried to do something.
'Most likely, this is related to harvesting Star Energy,' Nick thought.
Nick remembered the gigantic ball of fire he had once found inside the ruins east of Crimson City.
That gigantic ball of fire had turned out to be a powerful Fallen Possession Specter.
'That ball could potentially fit in these pedestals.'
'What better way to harvest Star Energy than to create a small star in a factory?'
'It's very possible that this facility simply exists to create Star Energy.'
Zzzt!
The pedestal sputtered again.
Apparently, that happened about once every minute.
Every time it happened, Nick felt a bit nervous.
'That explains why Specters don't like to stay in this general area. Up on the surface, the Specters might not feel the actual burst of Star Energy, but something inside of them is telling them that it isn't safe there.'
'That also explains why it hits Specters of all powers. Not even Demons or Fanatics stayed there.'
'The Specters are not in any actual danger, but they feel like they are.'
Nick could also tell that the sound the pedestal made was essentially identical to the vibrations the machines in the poor people's houses made.
The scientists in the room constantly tried to find out what this machine was supposed to do, but without a Seed, this was basically impossible.
'Even more, I believe most of the machine is actually not here anymore,' Nick thought. 'If these pedestals are truly here to contain a star, nobody would be able to work here anymore. Stars are quite hot.'
'Most likely, there was an entire machine around this pedestal, but the machine was made of materials made of Star Energy and Pure Energy. Over the years, the materials were probably just eroded by the Prephyx.'
'Materials treated with Zephyx are not subject to Prephyx erosion, but the others might be.'
'It might actually be possible that a lot more has been lost to time than we initially believed. We always thought that the buildings were relatively complete, at least, but that doesn't seem to be the case.'
Sadly, just like the scientists, Nick was helpless here.
While he could take a good guess as to the purpose of this machine, he couldn't interact with it.
Just like the scientists, Nick would need a working Seed.
After looking at the secret ruins to the north, Nick went back to the city.
'There's no reason to look at any other ruins for now. I should focus on the Specter for now. While it can't communicate at a sufficient speed, I will still learn more by listening to it than by just randomly digging through ruins.'
Nick left the underground of the city and appeared in front of the hole through which he had entered.
"Welcome back, sir!" a random guard spoke as Nick jumped out of the hole.
Naturally, Nick had already put on his disguise again.
"I'm done with my investigation. You may enter the underground again," Nick said.
The guard quickly called Herman back, who appeared in front of Nick within less than a minute.
"Did everything go well?" Herman asked politely.
"Pretty well," Nick answered. "I might return with some of my colleagues to continue the investigation."
Herman was a bit surprised when he heard that.
They hadn't found anything of note in the underground except for the ruins to the north.
Yet, the special Agent probably hadn't been to the north yet.
Did this mean that the special Agent had found something valuable that they had overlooked?
"Did anybody disturb you during your investigation?" Herman asked.
"No, everything was fine. Nobody needed to die," Nick answered.
"Glad to hear, sir," Herman said. "Do you require my services for something else?"
"Yes, I need to meet the Governor again for a different matter.Could you call him?" Nick asked.
"Certainly, sir," Herman said before leading Nick out of the wall of the megastructure. There was no reason to stay here.
Some moments later, William Drawhand, the Governor, arrived in front of Nick.
"How may I assist, special Agent?" he asked with a quick but polite greeting.
"I am done with my initial inspection of the ruins, and I have found something of great relevance to Aegis beneath the city," Nick explained.
William looked surprised. "What did you find?"
"Apologies, but I can't reveal that to you. The important part is that I will regularly return with some of my colleagues. During these visits, I expect full cooperation from your side. However, we will also exhibit due diligence and not disturb Crimson City's daily life."
William seemed a slight bit annoyed.
Nick hadn't talked to William a lot.
While William had been more on the nicer side as a Hero, he was obviously still somebody interested in his own power.
The fact that the new outer ring was treated in such a way spoke volumes of that.
Nick was not the greatest fan of William due to that, but in his mind, William was just barely above the level of being corrupt.
There were many worse Governors out there.
"Special Agent, with all due respect…"
'Here it comes,' Nick thought. 'They always say that before saying something dumb.'
"But as the Governor of Crimson City, I do believe that I have the right to know about what my city contains. The safety and happiness of my subjects is my responsibility, and I think my ability to perform my work…"
'You done talking soon?' Nick thought.
"… is severely impeded if I do not have access to all the information Aegis has about Crimson City. So, I implore you to please share with me what you have found. Is it something I need to be careful of? Is it something dangerous? What kind of effects will all of this have on the city? Were you once a Governor as well? If so,you probably understand where I am coming from."
Silence.
'Guess he's done,' Nick thought.
"You are a servant of Aegis," Nick spoke.
"This city belongs to Aegis."
"Aegis' interests supersede the interests of any local government."
"Our investigation will have no impact on your city whatsoever. Most of the time, you won't even know that we're here."
"I will not give you any more information, and I advise you not to bring forth that topic once more."
"Am I understood?" Nick asked.
Nick could tell that William was doing his best to keep his expression under control.
"I understand," William said. "It will not happen again."
"Good," Nick said. "Then, I require your assistance for one more matter before I depart."
"Yes?" William asked.
"Crimson City contains a Specter that Aegis wishes to study, and I am here to fill that part. A couple of decades ago, that Specter should have been confiscated by the city. The Specter's name is the Fiend of Darkness. I wish to study it."