Chapter 72 – Experiment
It wasn't until he returned to his alchemy lab that Zhou Ning finally let out a long breath, the tension in his chest easing. While he hadn't encountered any real danger tonight, both the mirror and the statue had left him with an overwhelming sense of dread.
Especially that statue of Nyastora—the chilling sensation it gave him was etched deeply into his memory. He had come dangerously close to losing his sanity and descending into madness.
This kind of thing was like a hot potato in his hands. Zhou Ning was seriously considering handing it over to the Ascetics' Church.
The Ascetics' Church was the official state religion of the Kingdom of Bryston, devoted to the Sun Goddess. It was also one of the four major orthodox churches on the continent. Zhou Ning believed they'd be more than willing to destroy such a profane artifact.
It took a full two hours of rest before Zhou Ning's willpower returned to a safe level of 13 points, bringing his mental state back to normal.
He then took out [Damian's Ordinary Mirror] from his inventory and examined the surface carefully. To be honest, he was quite curious about the world inside this mirror.
According to the game panel's description, there was an unexplored world within—one that could very well hold unimaginable value.
But right now, the mirror looked completely normal, no different from an ordinary mirror. It made him wonder if what he saw earlier had just been an illusion.
Thinking back to the scene in Room 304, when he first touched the mirror, he had clearly seen a shadow trying to pull itself out of it. That had definitely sent chills down his spine. However, his Observation Haki told him the danger level was still within a controllable range.
Of course, he wasn't going to let his guard down. At the very least, he wouldn't enter the mirror without safety measures in place. To ensure absolute security, he donned the Phoenix Battle Suit in advance and shot a grappling hook up toward a ceiling beam. That way, if anything went wrong, he could yank the rope and pull himself out immediately.
The Phoenix Battle Suit came from the Marvel universe and shouldn't exist at this stage of the world at all. It provided over 100 points of defense and significantly boosted Zhou Ning's strength—it was an incredibly powerful piece of gear.
With this suit, as long as he didn't run into anything absurdly powerful, Zhou Ning was confident he could put up a good fight.
Following the method for using unknown artifacts from his past life's experience in the game, Zhou Ning bit his finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the mirror's surface.
The mirror rippled like water, and the blood silently soaked in, emanating a deep, tranquil black glow.
Moments later, Zhou Ning sensed that he had established some kind of special connection with the mirror.
He lightly touched it with his left hand. The surface rippled like water, and his hand slipped inside.
Caught off guard, Zhou Ning suddenly felt a strong grip pulling his hand from the other side of the mirror, trying to drag him in with tremendous force.
Thankfully, he had already equipped the Phoenix Battle Suit. Without hesitation, he grabbed the attacker's hand in return and yanked on the grappling rope to launch himself upward. A shadowy figure was dragged out of the mirror, stumbling to the ground.
It was a humanoid figure entirely composed of darkness, shrouded in black smoke, with no discernible facial features, struggling frantically.
Zhou Ning released the grappling hook and, while still airborne, raised his gun and fired three shots in quick succession, all enhanced with Armament Haki.
Aerial Shot. Ripple Shot. Point-Blank Killshot.
All three bullets struck the shadow. The final Point-Blank Killshot hit it square in the head, blowing it apart into shards of broken glass.
[Your Point-Blank Killshot dealt 459 damage to Mirror Phantom. You have slain Mirror Phantom (Lv. 25 Spirit Form) and gained 7,200 EXP.]
"Mirror Phantom?" Zhou Ning murmured, thinking of the description of [Damian's Ordinary Mirror]. If it had managed to pull him in, it really might have replaced him.
Retracting the grappling hook, Zhou Ning landed nimbly, approached the mirror, and carefully tested entering it. The bright light of the whale oil lamps in the lab flickered—and in the next second, he was inside the mirror.
The scene before him was strange. The surroundings were an exact replica of his alchemy lab, except everything was reversed. The alchemy table that was originally on the left was now on the right. Further away, a misty membrane shimmered—it had to be the entrance to the mirror world.
"Interesting," Zhou Ning muttered with a slight smirk.
He took the card [Mini Mechanical Warrior] from his inventory and activated it. After a puff of smoke, a waist-high mechanical warrior holding an M1 Garand rifle appeared. Under Zhou Ning's control, it marched toward the fog.
No battle initiated. No change in HP.
Cautiously, Zhou Ning followed behind the [Mini Mechanical Warrior] through the mist. The sight that greeted him on the other side left him stunned.
Instead of the twisted realm he'd seen last time, he found himself amid ruins built in an ancient elven architectural style.
White mist drifted everywhere. The once ornate and extravagant elven structures were now reduced to ruins, connected by long corridors. His [Mini Mechanical Warrior] was advancing along one of them.
Beyond the walkways was a fog-covered void, too deep to see the bottom.
From a distance, the ruins appeared to be suspended in an infinite abyss—an awe-inspiring and terrifying sight.
Zhou Ning inhaled silently and stopped in place.
The walkways branched in every direction, leading to numerous ruined structures. Within them, he saw countless black shadows wandering—those were the same Mirror Phantoms he had encountered earlier. It seemed they were guarding the ruins.
"Looks like some kind of dungeon," Zhou Ning muttered to himself.
He tried counting the ruins visible in his field of view but gave up quickly—the number was simply too large to track.
No wonder the archmage Damian, who created the mirror, had lost himself inside it.
In the distance, Zhou Ning saw a staircase spiraling upward into the clouds.
Where did it lead? Who had built such a massive complex inside a mirror? Why was it abandoned? Were there still any inhabitants inside? And who had connected all these ruins with corridors?
The sheer mystery and madness of this mirrored world made Zhou Ning's scalp tingle.
Nearby, he spotted a mirror suspended in midair. He crept toward it and saw the neighboring room—Mr. Turing and Leandro were sitting on a sofa, chatting. It was essentially a perfect spying tool.
Zhou Ning had a very strong hunch: he could use this mirror to travel directly into Mr. Turing's home. And if someone got close to the mirror on the other side, he could just as easily pull them in.
Looking farther ahead, he saw numerous mirrors hanging in the corridors—meaning he could potentially travel to any location through any of them.
No wonder it was an unknown artifact. That function alone was something countless people would kill for.
Zhou Ning didn't continue exploring. The world was too vast—so vast it sent chills down his spine. Perhaps once players gained full access, that would be the right time to explore it thoroughly.
Over the next two days, Zhou Ning didn't take a single step out of his alchemy lab. He even ate there. With the help of his tool assistant, by noon on the second day, his Alchemy skill leveled up—and with it came a long-awaited system notification:
[Your proficiency has reached 100%. Alchemy has advanced to High Rank.]
[You have unlocked a new skill: Applied Alchemy.]
[You have learned new recipes: High-Grade Healing Potion, High-Grade Mana Potion, Petrification Elixir, Dream Elixir.]
Zhou Ning took out [Goethe's Alchemy Manual] from his inventory and immediately chose to use it.