After receiving Eagle's taunting message, the atmosphere within Da Vinci's group grew even tenser, mixed with anger. Kiana looked towards the dark entrance of the Athenaeum ahead, her eyes flashing defiantly. "If he thinks we'll retreat because of a mere threat, he's mistaken," she said firmly. "We will go in, but we will do so with utmost caution."
Da Vinci nodded in agreement. "The fact that he sent a taunting message instead of attacking immediately suggests that the main entrance might indeed have deadly traps, or he wants us to waste time looking for another way in." He proposed that the reconnaissance team, Ryu and Raven, meticulously check the main entrance using the energy wave detection device he had invented, while he would observe from a distance to analyze the trap mechanisms if they activated.
Ryu and Raven accepted the order. They moved slowly and silently towards the Athenaeum's main entrance, each step filled with caution. The detection device in Ryu's hand emitted a faint blue light, showing no alarming reactions. Strangely, the main entrance seemed unusually "open," as if some traps had been "disarmed" or were "non-functional." This ease made both them and the watching main group feel an intangible sense of unease.
Seeing no immediate danger, Ryu signaled the main group to follow. As soon as everyone stepped across the Athenaeum's threshold, the first thing they sensed was the musty smell of time and thick dust. The once grand and imposing entrance hall was now filled with ruins. Towering wooden bookshelves were mostly empty; books and scrolls that once held the knowledge of ages had turned to ash or were scattered on the floor. There were signs of systematic and meticulous searching, unlike a common robbery.
"This is..." Da Vinci murmured, his eyes scanning the surroundings analytically. "Not like a common robbery. It's more like a targeted 'selection' and 'transportation' of information." He pointed to drag marks of heavy objects on the dusty stone floor and signs of tools used to pry open heavily locked document cabinets.
The team began to explore the interior of the Athenaeum more cautiously, moving from the first hall through smaller chambers and dark corridors. The deeper they went, the clearer the signs of information removal became. Empty large wooden crates were piled in corners, scraps of fine fabric likely used to wrap important items littered the floor, and the footprints of many people (or perhaps machines) who had recently departed were visible on the dusty ground.
"It seems their 'work' was just completed not long ago, or perhaps not even fully completed yet," Raven said flatly, picking up a partially burnt piece of paper to examine. It had some legible characters, but the meaning couldn't be pieced together.
In the deepest part of the Athenaeum's front section, which seemed to have been the most heavily destroyed and searched, Da Vinci noticed an anomaly in one of the stone walls. Its color and texture were slightly different from the surrounding areas, as if built later or part of some mechanism. "Bacchus, could you check this out?"
Bacchus walked over and lightly tapped the wall with his Earthen Hammer. The sound that echoed back was solid, but some parts sounded hollower. "There might be a space inside," he observed. With his and Taurus's immense strength, that section of the stone wall was carefully smashed and pushed aside, revealing a narrow, pitch-black passage leading to a secret chamber.
Inside the secret chamber, it was entirely different from the rest of the Athenaeum. It wasn't large, but it remained untouched by time or ransacking. In the center of the room stood a large stone pedestal, upon which several ancient stone tablets were stacked. The surrounding walls were covered with incredibly detailed and astonishing carvings of letters and images. The entire room was bathed in a faint blue light emanating from unknown crystals embedded in the walls.
Da Vinci seemed mesmerized. He slowly approached the stone pedestal, his eyes wide with excitement and wonder. "This is... incredible!" He gently touched the first stone tablet. Complex and beautiful ancient script met his eyes. He felt a strange familiarity with it, as if he had seen or studied it before in some faded memory from his old world.
He immediately became engrossed in deciphering those characters. The other team members waited with bated breath, a mixture of hope and anxiety. Time passed slowly, with only the sound of breathing and Da Vinci's scribbling breaking the silence.
Then, Da Vinci's expression changed, from excitement to stunned disbelief. "Impossible..." he murmured, his voice trembling. "This is... about the 'Great Celestial Project'!"
Kiana frowned. "What do you mean, Da Vinci?"
"These records... these schematics..." Da Vinci pointed to a carving on the wall that looked like a colossal, complex mechanism. "They indicate the... the 'creation' of the sky! The creation of an 'artificial sky dome' or an 'artificial light source' that mimics the sun!" Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Or could it be... that the sky we see every day... those two suns... are merely things that were 'created'?!"
Da Vinci's words plunged everyone in the room into stunned silence. The idea was too incredible to accept easily. Ryu's face turned pale, while Raven even raised an eyebrow with unprecedented surprise. Bacchus and Taurus looked at each other in confusion.
Da Vinci continued to murmur, his voice filled with confusion and alarm. "Perhaps to protect the world from an external catastrophe... or to control the climate after a great disaster... or... or this is what the Nebula Empire has been trying to hide all along!"
As everyone was absorbed in this shocking revelation, Da Vinci's gaze suddenly fell upon another carving on the innermost wall of the secret chamber. It was a different and more prominent image than the others. The image of a man standing tall beneath a sky that seemed to be "cracking" or "opening up," revealing a dark void dotted with star-like pinpricks of light. And most importantly, there was "only one sun" shining brightly down! In the man's hand, he held what clearly looked like a "brush," and he was "drawing" or "creating" something magnificent on the world below, which seemed to be undergoing restoration.
That image was like a lightning bolt striking Da Vinci's heart. He felt a tremor run through his body, his heart pounding as if it would burst from his chest. He saw... he saw himself in that image! The golden brush in his hand was trembling as if responding to that ancient carving.
"This is... the prophecy..." he uttered with difficulty. "The prophecy of liberation... the Artificer... who will draw a new world... beneath the true sky..."
Excitement and dread overwhelmed him simultaneously. He felt he was approaching a truth that was both immense and extremely dangerous. As he was focused on the prophetic carving, his hand accidentally touched a part of the stone tablet before him. It depressed slightly with a soft "click"!
A section of the stone wall beside the tablet silently slid open, revealing a small hidden compartment! Da Vinci and everyone else were shocked and curious!
Inside the hidden compartment, there was only a single "notebook bound in pitch-black leather." It looked ancient and worn but was surprisingly well-preserved, as if time had no effect on it. There was no title on the black leather cover, but a "strange symbol" in faint silver was embossed in the center. The symbol was complex and mysterious, a shape never seen before, yet it gave a strangely familiar feeling.
"This notebook..." Da Vinci murmured, his eyes filled with a craving for knowledge and excitement. "What is it? Why was it hidden here?" With his genius intuition, he knew instantly that this was a "priceless treasure" that might hold knowledge even more important than the stone carvings he had just discovered.
He was about to pick it up to open it...
Suddenly! CRUNCH! GRIND!
The sound of large, heavy machinery began to operate, thundering throughout the area! The floor of the room vibrated violently! As if responding to this momentous discovery with disaster!
"Damn it! The trap is activated!" Kiana shouted!
Da Vinci didn't even have time to open the first page of the notebook. He could only "grab it" and "swiftly shove it into the satchel at his side" before the situation worsened! The entrance to the secret chamber they had used was now sealed by a thick, heavy stone slab that slid down rapidly! The light from outside vanished in an instant, leaving only the faint blue light from the crystals on the wall and the flickering, dangerously swaying light from Kiana's torch!
This notebook... what on earth is it? I must find time to read it! Da Vinci thought as chaos and despair began to take hold.
"Correct... genius from another world."
Eagle's cold, emotionless voice echoed from somewhere in the darkness. The voice resonated throughout the secret chamber, now a death trap, as if he were speaking through an ancient sound pipe hidden in the walls, or perhaps it was his own psychic power.
"A shocking truth, isn't it? The fact that you've all been living under a 'created sky' all along." The voice continued, mocking and filled with superiority. "The Nebula Empire has known about this for a long time... and one of our most important missions is to prevent this knowledge from spreading, and to prevent that 'prophecy of liberation' from being fulfilled, especially by an 'Artificer' like you!"
Silence fell for a moment before Eagle's voice sounded again, firm and filled with unwavering intent.
"Your discovery today... was all according to my plan." A soft, dry chuckle interspersed. "This room is the tomb for your foolish dreams!"
Then, the true horror began! The four walls of the room started to move, squeezing inwards slowly but steadily and unstoppably! The floor began to vibrate even more violently, and the sound of some liquid seeping in from cracks in the floor could be heard! Immense pressure began to constrict everyone's breath!
What will be the fate of Da Vinci and his companions? Can they survive the death trap of the cold-blooded Hawk? And what secrets does the mysterious notebook Da Vinci just acquired hold?
[End of Chapter 31]