"Is this a magic trick where you escape from a water tank?" Alex asked, full of doubt.
Lyney looked surprised, then nodded: "That's right, I didn't expect you to know what we're performing just by seeing the props."
Alex was a little unsure how the water tank escape was done, as the person had simply vanished, leaving only clothes behind, and the next moment Lynette walked out from behind the stage.
Now he had the chance to ask directly.
Alex: "Although I know this trick, I still don't understand how it's done. Is it mirrors, or a false bottom?"
Although Alex's guess was close, there were still some techniques he didn't quite grasp. Lyney smiled mysteriously: "Keep it a secret."
"Tsk, fine!" Alex rolled his eyes. He had seen it before, but some of the magic tricks in the two-dimensional world were difficult to replicate in reality.
Anyway, it was very magical.
Lyney said: "Finally, there's the human transfer magic trick, which we've finished designing!"
The ruthless myth-busting machine Alex said: "Do you understand magic or do I understand magic?"
"This one is too simple; it requires a secret passage and a box within a box. The third person just needs to transfer."
Lyney rubbed his forehead slightly, completely correct: "Otherwise, why don't you be our magic assistant?"
"It depends, I don't have that much time." Alex shook his head.
Speaking of the final magic trick, Lyney then said: "The stage setup is indeed very troublesome. These past few days, we finally managed to get on good terms with the architects and officials. An underground passage has been built beneath the Opera House."
This was another huge expense.
"What? You're going all out? Wasn't that underground passage always there?" Alex was a little surprised that the underground passage was only now being built.
Lyney nodded and said: "Of course, otherwise everyone would know there's a secret passage under the Opera House, and the magic performance wouldn't be exciting. Everyone would instantly know how it's done."
"Wow, how is it now? I want to see." Alex said.
Since things had come to this, Lyney frankly informed him: "The underground space is completed; all that's left is to build tracks and mechanisms for transporting large boxes inside."
At this moment, thunderous applause erupted in the Opera House theater, followed by dialogue for the curtain call.
In this small room, the three of them could vaguely hear it.
"Oh, is it time for the curtain call? Then the audience and actors will leave soon. I'll take you to see it in a bit." Lyney looked towards the Opera House stage, then at Alex: "If you have any small suggestions for the construction, feel free to offer them. We will consider them."
"Alright." Alex nodded.
Then the three of them waited there for a moment, and Lyney rearranged the props in the room.
Finally, they walked a distance, opened a side door, and arrived at the Hall of the Performance and Judgment.
Lyney mysteriously walked to a spot, looked around, and seeing no one else, he beckoned to Alex: "Here."
He lifted the invisible floorboard there.
"Tap, tap, tap." Lyney and Lynette walked into the underground passage.
Below the opening, Lyney and Lynette looked up at Alex, who was still stunned at the entrance.
"Coming, coming." Alex finally reacted and walked in.
It seemed that the underground structure of this hall was not as simple as a single straight passage as in the story.
"Do you see the ladder here? Above this is the ground in the very center of the audience seating." Lyney and Lynette walked with Alex, giving a brief introduction.
"And if you walk further ahead here, you'll be under the stage." Lyney said, adding: "It's not finished here yet. These past few days, we've just finished laying the basic foundation."
[Ding dong, current main quest completion: twelve percent.]
"?" Alex suddenly wondered why his completion rate increased a bit; he hadn't done anything.
As he spoke, Alex took two steps.
[Ding dong, current main quest completion: fifteen percent.]
Finally, Alex walked to the end of the path and arrived at a small door.
"Where is this?" Alex turned his head and asked Lyney.
"This??? " Lyney said, just as he saw Alex push open the door with his hand: "It connects to…"
Lyney's voice could no longer be heard at this moment.
Because just as Alex pushed open the door, a dazzling sky-blue light burst from his phone, shooting straight forward.
And directly in front of Alex was the bottom of the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale. At this moment, the deep blue 'Indemnitium' energy flowing on it began to fluctuate violently.
In Lyney and Lynette's line of sight, they only saw a blue light emanating from the room, and the next moment, Alex was gone.
"?" The siblings exchanged glances, finding it a bit strange.
Although they had not been teleported by Alex, they had learned from others that he possessed an ability to teleport himself, and even others, to any location.
But why did he suddenly teleport away at this moment?
Lyney and Lynette couldn't understand; perhaps he had an urgent matter. Thinking this, the siblings also left the place.
Since Alex had the ability to disappear, his actual disappearance now seemed normal in the eyes of others.
[Main quest phase one completed.]
The blue light vanished, and as his eyes closed and opened, the somewhat dim underground scene became bright.
It was still the Opera House, but the surrounding scenery was very odd; it felt as if only a small area existed.
The surroundings were a fictional blue sky, and many things floated in defiance of physical laws.
Clearly, this was either an illusion or a situation like the Plane of Euthymia.
And Alex definitely leaned towards the latter.
Secondly, directly in front of him, particularly striking, was a giant blue greatsword suspended in the air, as tall as a building.
And beneath the greatsword, with her back to him, stood a slender Damselette with long, twin tails, white streaked with a touch of blue, and bare legs and feet.
"What the f—! Sword of Damocles!" Alex exclaimed directly.
As if hearing a young man's voice from behind, the Damselette's body in front of him stirred slightly, and she turned around, her face showing surprise.
Seeing the newcomer, the Damselette became even more disbelieving.
"Fu…" Seeing the Damselette's appearance, Alex subconsciously spoke, then paused.
His phone had just notified him that the first phase was completed, and the quest name was 'First Encounter with Focalors'.
So, Alex, with uncertainty, spoke again: "Focalors?… My wife!"
Although she didn't know how this outsider, who immediately started shouting "my wife" with a megaphone, got in.
But Focalors still had to declare first: "Isn't your wife Furina? What does that have to do with me, Focalors?"
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The battle isn't over... and the truth has yet to be revealed. Read the next chapter now on Patreon! [patreon.com/Greyhounds]