637 Hello My Old Friend (1/2)

”Sard…” Lucien confirmed Rhine's judgment from the feedback of his magic.

Although the former Grand Cardinal of the Orvarit parish and the ambitious schemer had lost his body and his soul under God's Arrival and only had a mysterious piece left, there were still plenty of secrets surrounding him. For example, why could he use God's Arrival, what did he obtain from the Realm of Gates, why could he escape from the monster, how he cooperated with the Angel King, and what the mysterious piece was exactly.

Rhine smiled, ”I came to the Realm of Gates to track him but lost clues after I encountered the monster. However, now that I've given up and I'm devoted to the mysteries of the monster, his traces have unexpectedly shown up again. What a treacherous thing fate is.”

”I believe that the most important thing for us right now is to go to Thanos' laboratory and figure out the secrets of the monster.” Lucien was interested in Sard's piece, too, but they had to stay focused in this dangerous Realm of Gates without being distracted easily.

Rhine did not object. He smiled in self-mockery. ”You open the gate. I'm worried that I'm still haunted by bad luck.”

Lucien meant to say that they were the same, because it was he who opened the gate when they encountered Ivan. However, he remembered that what lay behind the gate Rhine opened was 'Mountain Paradise', which was definitely much more severe. So, he nodded his head and said, ”Alright. At the very least, the enemy that we encountered after I opened the gate could still be gotten rid of.”

The rest of their journey was peaceful and quiet. The terrifying monster seemed to have forgotten them. As they approached Thanos' laboratory, Rhine suddenly halted and said in confusion, ”The traces left by the mysterious piece again…”

Sard had only a mysterious piece left and was incapable of covering his traces. It was only reasonable that he was sensed by the people who entered the same hall. However, the odds were few to none for them to enter the same hall in the Realm of Gates!

”Is Sard's destination Thanos' laboratory, too?” Their first encounter might've been coincidental, but now that they'd met again, Lucien couldn't help but wonder if they were going the same way, and the only reason why they were going the same way was that they had the same destination!

Rhine maintained his graceful smile. ”Possibly. I'm very curious about his past. How did he pick up God's Arrival? Perhaps the secret lies within Thanos' laboratory.”

After three grey halls, they discovered Sard's smell and traces again, which further assured them of their speculation.

Several minutes later, Lucien and Rhine stopped before a black gate that seemed no different from others.

”Is Thanos' laboratory behind this gate?” Not confident about his calculation ability, Rhine asked for confirmation from the specialist.

Lucien nodded his head solemnly. ”Mr. Rhine, be prepared. Great dangers might be looming inside. My Host Star of Destiny keeps giving me premonitions.”

”Of course. The laboratory of a top sorcerer must be carefully defended.” Known as the 'Observer', Rhine had abundant adventure experiences.

Hardly had he finished his sentence when a black gate nearby shivered and creaked.

Lucien and Rhine had been wary that somebody might break in. They almost attacked with their instinct, but the gate remained closed after the creak, showing no sign that anybody was coming, as if it was just their hallucination a moment ago.

”I smell Sard.” As a vampire prince, Rhine had a particularly keen smell about living creatures.

”He wanted to come in?” Lucien corrected himself subconsciously. ”No, he just left.”

In the final hall that led to Thanos' laboratory, Lucien and Rhine also discovered Sard's traces and inferred that he had already entered the laboratory, but as it turned out, he went to a different place and intentionally made a noise?

”Is he tricking in order to ambush us?” Rhine speculated Sard's purpose.

Lucien shook his head. ”Is it necessary? He could've ambushed us inside Thanos' laboratory. It's the place that we have to go to.”

Suddenly, Lucien had an uncanny intuition. So, he brought out his crystal ball and performed astrology. Out of his expectation, he got a fuzzy result. ”Follow Sard…”

”Well?” Lucien and Rhine looked at each other, equally surprised.

”Should we try following him? We will return in three minutes whatever happens. It will not delay our exploration in Thanos' laboratory.” The sorcerers of the school of astrology all pay enough attention to their prophecy. That was why Lucien made the proposal.

After completing the general theory of relativity, his ability of astrology had greatly improved and was as good as the level-one 'Prophet'.

Thinking for a moment, Rhine fell into a weird silence and nodded his head. ”Alright.”

Therefore, the two of them opened the door where the noise came from and, within their expectations, found the remaining scent of Sard. Then, following the scent, they passed two grey halls and stopped before a black gate that showed no anomalies.

Having been calculating the coordinates all the time, Lucien suddenly said in surprise, ”Behind this gate is also Thanos' laboratory!”

”We're back after a detour?” Said Rhine in amusement. Had they been tricked by Sard?

Lucien shook his head. ”This should be another entrance.”

”Sard wants us to enter through this entrance?” Rhine stopped smiling and opened the black gate warily, his legendary items all prepared.

As the gate was moved backwards, a magnificent and splendid laboratory was unfolded before them. Mysterious patterns, cubic models, weird magic circles, and broken mirrors that were embedded on the grey hall could be found everywhere.

The laboratory was as huge as the entire Nekso Palace, with many pathways that led to different rooms. Broken pieces were scattered on the ground.