Chapter 361: Chapter 360: Exploration and Invasion

Calcium Oxide, chemical formula CaO, is produced by calcining limestone, hence it is called calcined lime or quicklime, and it appears as a white powder.

Calcium Oxide is a basic oxide, sensitive to moisture, easily absorbing carbon dioxide and water from the air. When reacting with water, the resulting Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2) solution is a moderately strong base, capable of neutralizing acidic substances.

…

“Bang, bang, bang…”

Bag after bag of Calcium Oxide piled up in Richard’s courtyard, building up like a small mountain.

Long after, the stacking was complete.

“How is it, my dearest friend–Lord Richard, are you satisfied with this delivery? I’m telling you, what I’ve acquired for you this time is absolutely top quality, not a single impurity. And, I haven’t overcharged you at all. I swear this–I swear on the name of my ancestors!” Alex leaned close to Richard, his face full of sincerity, but no matter how sincere he seemed, there was always an undeniable cunning.

As for Alex’s words, Richard didn’t believe them at all: The best quality, yeah right! And not overcharging, as if!

But he didn’t want to squabble over this, after all, as long as it met his needs. The next moment, his eyes flashed, he didn’t say another word, he just paid the final installment according to the original agreement and shooed Alex and the laborers away with a wave of his hand.

Once Alex and the laborers had left, Richard approached the stacked bags of Calcium Oxide, transferring it into his Space Iron Ring, then proceeded into the main laboratory located beneath the transformed Magic Laboratory.

…

Suddenly, night fell.

Richard’s figure appeared in the cemetery outside of White Stone City, having visited so many times that he could practically find Alex’s ancestor’s tomb with his eyes closed.

He bent over, stretched out his hand, and pressed it to the ground.

The “Earth Control” spell activated, the earth cracked open.

Glancing at the chamber filled with Chlorine, Richard took out a familiar Iron Bucket from the Space Iron Ring, opening its lid.

This time the bucket no longer contained Chlorine, because the tomb was evidently filled with enough of it already, and now it held a saturated Calcium hydroxide solution, intended to neutralize the Chlorine.

After all, turning the tomb into a den full of Chlorine might eradicate any dangerous entities, but it also prevented his entry. Even if he forced his way in with an oxygen tank, he had to consider whether the tank would be corroded by the Chlorine and how far his vision could reach in the high concentration of Chlorine.

Thus, to ensure the success of his third exploration, he had to find a way to neutralize the Chlorine.

It was like when he initially collapsed the tunnel in the forest of the Jade Kingdom to bury Suo Men; the more effort he had put into bringing down the tunnel initially, the more effort he had to put in to dig out the corpse later.

Thinking of this, Richard began to cast the “Water Droplet Condensation” spell in reverse, causing the Calcium hydroxide within the bucket to vaporize into tiny droplets, forming a dense fog that surged down the passage toward the depths of the tomb, quickly reacting with the yellow-green Chlorine.

Visibly, the fog engulfed the Chlorine like a ferocious beast opening its maw, instantly consuming it voraciously.

The Calcium hydroxide fog pushed onward with unstoppable momentum.

Soon, one Iron Bucket’s worth of Calcium hydroxide solution was used up, and Richard took out a second bucket to vaporize and neutralize.

Then a third, a fourth, a fifth…

Before long, the Calcium hydroxide solution in the two Space Iron Rings’ buckets was entirely spent, and Richard found himself facing the same problem that had troubled him before.

That was, in order not to attract attention, he could only silently bring the Calcium hydroxide solution to the cemetery at night, but because the capacity of the two Space Iron Rings was limited, the amount he could transport was severely restricted, requiring him to make repeated trips, acting as a transport worker.

“Phew–”

Richard let out a sigh of acceptance at the problem, having become somewhat resigned to the extra time it would take.

Without much fuss, he carefully repaired the cracked passage in the ground, and Richard quickly returned to the laboratory.

For several nights following, Richard rushed back and forth between the laboratory and the cemetery.

…

Several days later, on a pitch-black night with a sparsely starry sky, Richard estimated that the concentration of Chlorine in the tomb had decreased to an acceptable level, and after some deliberation, decided to begin his third exploration.

In the cemetery, at the tomb of Alex’s ancestor.

After vaporizing an entire Space Iron Ring’s worth of Calcium hydroxide solution and ensuring it filled the tomb, Richard packed up the now-empty buckets.

He took a deep breath, then from another Space Iron Ring, pulled out a somewhat odd set of clothing. It was an all-in-one leather suit covered with a special coating, complete with leather socks and a leather cap. Dressed and donning a beaked mask, he strapped on a modified oxygen tank and connected it with a tube, thus, Richard was fully protected in an airtight outfit.

Taking a moment to steady himself and move his limbs to adapt to the slightly bulky new state, Richard stepped forward into the tomb.

Admittedly, Richard felt that the Chlorine in the cemetery had been neutralized and diluted enough to pose no danger, but still holding the mindset that caution was advisable, he decided to enter wearing protective clothing just to check on the situation.

And so, Richard walked into the passage, his figure vanishing underground.

The third exploration — Richard’s confident and seemingly straightforward venture, began.

…

The night was dark.

At the same time as Richard entered the tomb, two silent shadows appeared in the heart of White Stone City, amidst the White Stone Tower complex.

One male and one female figure, or to be more precise, outwardly appearing to be so — Suo Men and Mu Konni.

The pair scanned their surroundings with caution, making sure no one had spotted them. After exchanging a glance and coming to a decision, they muttered almost imperceptible spells and their forms hastened silently toward the core of the building complex.

But the moment they started moving, they sensed something and their expressions changed drastically.

“Be careful!” Suo Men shouted.

“Be careful!” Mu Konni also exclaimed.

The duo halted swiftly, straining to release magic shields.

A red and a blue energy shield appeared swiftly in front of them, followed by the hissing sound of something cutting through the air.

“Bang bang bang –”

The energy shields they had erected shook violently, numerous cracks appearing and looking as if they might collapse at any moment, yet they successfully blocked the attacks.

Suo Men and Mu Konni looked gravely towards the source of the attack on their shields.

They saw several golden ice cones whose power exceeded the ordinary First Circle Magic. After striking their shields, they shattered, scattering golden ice crystals on the ground.

After observing this, Suo Men and Mu Konni exchanged another look. Mu Konni raised her eyebrows and called out into the night, “Who’s there? Come out!”

“Hehe, it’s me!”

A gust of wind blew by, and a figure clad entirely in white appeared in front of Suo Men and Mu Konni.

White boots, white trousers, white shirt, white hat.

Macbeth!

Macbeth squinted at Suo Men, shaking his head — not recognizing him, then turned towards Mu Konni and nodded — recognizing her.

“Tsk, it’s you!” Macbeth addressed Mu Konni, speaking meaningfully, “What shall I say about you? You managed to escape before, but why come back to our White Stone Tower? This is our territory, do you really think of it as your home?

By the way, ever since your last appearance, we at the White Stone Tower have been on high alert, mobilizing a sixth of our forces especially to deal with you.

A sixth of our power!

Including myself, a whole group of wizards, we’re kept constantly busy just to find you and resolve the situation with you and your allies. And here you are, delivering yourself to our doorstep, tsk tsk, I really don’t know what to say.”

“You could say… ‘too much nonsense, giving me the opportunity that will lead to your death,'”

Suddenly Suo Men shouted at Suo Men, as a ball of purple flame appeared in his hand and was swiftly swallowed.

With the consumption of flames, immense power erupted from within Suo Men, his aura rising dramatically and instantly breaking through Level One Wizard to become a Second-level Wizard.

Then Suo Men leapt up, igniting into a slim, needle-like blaze, thrusting towards Macbeth’s forehead.

A powerful attack right from the start!

Transformational Construction Magic * Second Circle Low Level * Serving Fire!

“Swoosh!”

Fast!

The flame was incredibly speedy!

So swift it left almost no time to react!

Macbeth’s speaking mouth had not yet managed to close, his face still wearing a puzzled look, when the flame pierced through his forehead.

Macbeth wavered and with a “thump”, he fell to the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

The flame that had pierced through Macbeth’s forehead hovered in mid-air, landed, and quickly returned to Suo Men’s form.

Suo Men swept a cold gaze over Macbeth’s corpse, his lips closed and then parted as he voiced an evaluation, “Hmph, a fool who talked too much!”