Although Ona couldn’t understand Saul’s hobbies, she wouldn’t really interfere with him either.

She also wasn’t worried about Saul having any conspiracy by entering the Academy of Knowledge.

In Ona’s view, at least within Sky City, City Master Ophelia was an invincible existence—no one could scheme against her.

Moreover, Saul’s hobby was so harmless that Ona was happy to use this opportunity to get close to him.

After all, she still carried the mission of approaching Saul.

Thinking of this, Ona stepped forward to walk side by side with Saul.

“Would Lord Saul be willing to share the knowledge you’re verifying with me?”

Saul didn’t refuse Ona’s approach either, chatting casually with her just like he would with other wizards of the same rank at the Academy of Knowledge.

After all, Ona was a second-rank wizard. Although her daily work mainly wasn’t responsible for researching various theoretical knowledge, when needed she could speak eloquently about multiple fields.

So with Saul deliberately lowering his posture while Ona worked hard to stand on tiptoes to show herself, the two had a very pleasant conversation all the way.

As they chatted, Saul gradually steered the conversation toward the Mechanical Heart.

“Wasn’t the Mechanical Heart invented by City Master Ophelia?”

“It wasn’t. And this isn’t a secret in Sky City either. The original Mechanical Heart was conceived by the current dean of the Academy of Knowledge, and through the combined efforts of the Academy of Knowledge and Academy of Practice, the design and assembly were finally completed. It was only after the first-generation Mechanical Heart came into being that City Master Ophelia invested massive human and material resources to establish the Academy of Knowledge and Academy of Practice to create more useful knowledge.”

Saul couldn’t help but nod after hearing this.

“Actually, the two academies are places where brainstorming happens constantly, and they’re places full of innovation. Bold assumptions, careful verification.”

Ona smiled behind her hand. “It seems you really do like the two academies. Actually, if your status weren’t so important, the City Master would definitely hope you could stay in Sky City long-term. The research atmosphere here is very suitable for you!”

Was this subtly conveying that they didn’t want to imprison him for a long time?

Saul glanced at Ona, pretending not to understand the subtext of her words.

“I also really like the research atmosphere here, it’s just…”

“Just what?”

“It’s just that low-rank wizards face considerable pressure here. Those who can’t propose new research topics within a certain time are actually taken away for punishment—the penalty is even heavier than failing to complete report assignments.”

Ona was indifferent. “After all, people are naturally inclined to laziness. If they can’t inject fresh blood into Sky City, then why would the City Master support these low-rank wizards to do repetitive and simple experiments?”

Saul didn’t say much more but steered the conversation back to the Mechanical Heart, praising the ingenuity of its design.

Ona carefully shared all the information she could reveal while secretly feeling pleased with herself.

This Lord Saul liked to disguise himself as approachable and get along with low-rank wizards, so she abandoned her originally polite but distant attitude and changed to a more intimate and unrestricted approach, successfully drawing closer to Saul.

Finally, the two walked all the way to the small building where Saul currently lived.

Looking at the unremarkable two-story building before her, Ona stepped forward, carefully closing the distance with Saul. “Would Lord Saul mind if I went up to take a look?”

Saul opened the door, stepped forward and entered first, then turned to Ona outside and said, “Let’s skip the tour.”

Then he closed the door, directly shutting Ona, who had been chatting happily all the way, outside.

Ona’s eye twitched, almost failing to maintain the brilliant smile on her face.

Time passed bit by bit, and the white porcelain cats gradually transformed from cursed objects that could only circulate among a few apprentices into small-scale mass-produced magical tools that could be sold in the market.

As the producers, Saul and Nathan actually earned quite a few magic crystals from this, with Saul taking the larger share.

Soon, it was time for the third connection experiment.

Ona welcomed Saul into the White Glass Palace with a resentful expression.

During this time, she often appeared around Saul, working hard to build their relationship and seizing every opportunity to create ambiguous atmospheres.

But she didn’t know why—for wizards like them, physical pleasure was clearly just ordinary enjoyment like eating and drinking, so why wouldn’t Saul touch her?

Ona, who couldn’t complete City Master Ophelia’s assignment, naturally became more anxious day by day.

“Lord Saul, the City Master requests your presence.” Ona extended the invitation outside Saul’s two-story building.

“Wait a moment.”

Saul’s voice came through the door crack.

Before long, the door opened and an energetic Saul walked out.

“I’ll escort you into the White Glass Palace.”

“Actually, Wizard Ona, you don’t need to come pick me up every time. I completely know the way now.”

“Sigh. If you don’t even let me come pick you up, what chance do I have to communicate with you? Being able to receive guidance from a third-rank wizard lord is such a joyful thing!”

Saul shook his head and smiled. “It’s one thing for others to say this, but you’re someone who often follows Lord Ophelia—how could you lack guidance from high-rank wizards?”

Ona again showed a pitiful expression. “Don’t you really know what I mean, Lord Saul?”

Seeing Ona about to speak plainly, Saul simply kept quiet and refused to communicate.

So the resentful Ona became even more resentful.

Saul, with extremely strong stress tolerance, endured Ona’s burning gaze as he passed through the spatial teleportation formation and arrived at the Mechanical Heart.

At this time, one of Ophelia’s heads was already waiting there.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. I’ll start setting up the formation now.” Saul nodded to Ophelia, then was about to begin preparing the magical formation.

However, today Ophelia stopped him.

“After the previous two experiments, I discovered that the mental power I provided you wasn’t stable enough. So today I’m preparing to change methods—I won’t provide mental power support to you anymore.”

Saul’s movements paused, frowning disapprovingly. “But Lord Ophelia, besides you as a fourth-rank wizard, the power others can provide probably isn’t sufficient to penetrate the stargate’s barriers.”

Ophelia patiently explained: “Don’t worry. I’ll still help you break through the stargate’s barriers, but the subsequent mental power simulation synchronization and mental power supplementation will be handled by the Mechanical Heart.”

Saul asked in surprise, “The Mechanical Heart actually has such powerful capabilities?”

“The one before your eyes naturally can’t.” Ophelia smiled, her head gradually retracting into the dense white mist. “So today, I’ll take you to see the real Mechanical Heart.”

Watching Ophelia disappear, Saul opened his mouth to ask something but suddenly discovered the mist around him had dramatically thickened.

The dense mist had almost become a solid gel.

Standing in fog so thick he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, Saul actually felt terrifying pressure like the deep seabed.

Then his feet suddenly gave way, and his entire body was squeezed down by pressure from other directions.

When Saul fell from the white mist, he found himself in another room.

The temperature here was very high, as if the air itself was about to boil and bubble.

He rubbed his aching temples to clear his head. Opening his eyes again, he saw a massive steel furnace standing before him.

The “firewood” in the furnace burned with crackling sounds.

Waves of heat emanated from the furnace opening, almost burning Saul’s skin.

“This is the fuel furnace.” Ophelia’s voice came from overhead. “This is the core of the Mechanical Heart, and also the power supply core for all of Sky City.”

Saul raised his right hand, trying to block the heat waves from the furnace, but his eyes slowly widened after seeing clearly what the firewood in the furnace looked like.

Burning in the fuel furnace were actually charcoal-black corpses!

Those corpses emitted vigorous mental power and magical power while burning.

Moreover, even though they had been burning in the fuel furnace for a long time, those corpse-firewood showed no signs of diminishing.

Everything indicated that what was burning in the fuel furnace were wizard corpses!

(End of Chapter)

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