fall.

Keep falling.

The surrounding environment gradually changed from wet and cold to wet and dry. Tom raised his head and looked at the slowly rotating fan blades above his head. Through the gaps in the blades, he could see the rapidly passing rock walls and soil, as well as exposed and covered An unknown ore cut as smooth as a mirror.

Looking up, he could only see the dark corridor and the disappearing light spot at the end. He blinked, and everything above his head was plunged into darkness. The sun's rays could not even reach such a deep underground. The ore flashed away in front of him, like a mirror, reflecting everything in the cage on the surface, the light was gentle, no different from standing under the sun.

He stretched out his hand to hold the iron cage's railings. Although protected by almost the strictest magic, the iron cage he was riding in was also hot due to friction during the endless fall, and he couldn't even grasp it.

On December 31st, Nelson mysteriously stopped Tom on the pretext of giving him a birthday present, took him outside the school, and took a shortcut to Krakow. Tom thought Nelson would take him To get something from the center, I never expected that Nelson used the invisibility cloak to skillfully bypass the defense here, and came to an inconspicuous post-war town in the distance. They climbed up a small hill, Entered a birdcage through an Ouroboros-like imprint.

Below the birdcage is a bottomless corridor. Under Nelson's control, it began to fall slowly. At first, Tom was curious about the underground scenery and the lost fog that shuttled from time to time, but as the journey progressed, he gradually became a little bit curious. feel bored.

From time to time, scattered soil and dust are scattered from the top of the head. They just lightly touch the rotating sharp blade, and then they are cut without a trace, which is difficult to be detected by the naked eye. It seemed extremely sluggish.

"What's the matter Tom?" Nelson's voice came from behind him. Although the space was cramped, there was no echo from the ground, as if the sound just made was left in place just before the moment, and did not keep up with their falling speed. This also makes the sound close at hand become as thin as a mosquito, and the sound of the fan turning, which makes Tom have to turn around, get closer, and listen to Nelson's voice, "Is it falling too fast?"

"No!" Tom shouted, as if it was the only way to keep his voice from being swallowed by the darkness, and he matched his body movements to express his boredom to Nelson, "Can you make it faster! This journey is so boring !"

"If it goes any faster, we won't be able to withstand the pressure."

Nelson looked calm and composed. He didn't even raise the hem of his windbreaker due to inertia. He bent down, picked up an unforged silver ingot from his feet, and lifted it into the air. The silver ingot passed through a bubble-like membrane, and The moment it penetrated, the strong pressure immediately squeezed the piece of metal out of shape, like a sponge being held. Nelson withdrew his hand and handed the silver ingot to Tom, only to see that it was separated by a clear dividing line. Dissolved in two, generally as before, and the other half presents a tight cluster, unlike the form that can be formed in nature.

"Wait, it's coming soon." Nelson shrugged. "I didn't expect them to dig so deep."

Nelson's words seemed to flip a certain switch, and the scenery around them quickly became richer, and the light from all directions illuminated the birdcage they were in, and Tom couldn't adapt to this sudden Brightness, tears flowed from his eyes, but he just rubbed his eyes and quickly got used to it. The sinking speed of the birdcage slowed down, and he was able to see the densely packed honeycomb-like structure all over the wall, which was a bit shabby compared to the exposed one before. Compared with the stone walls, this place seems to be another world.

Silver metallic luster fills the field of vision, and the surrounding environment gradually widens. Various metal objects come and go in and out of nests with consistent shapes and angles. Some use their metal arms to carry ores and some useless parts, and some are shaped. Packed with different tools, they shuttle quickly through the underground field that no one has set foot in. Although they move quickly, the distance seems to have been carefully calculated so that they will not disturb each other.

There is only one common feature of these metal blocks, and they all have eyes filled with runes that glow red like mayflies.

The birdcage also has its own elevator shaft, so there is no need to rub against the rocks anymore. They are wrapped by four hollowed-out silver pillars depicting complex patterns, passing through layers of water curtain-like membranes. Tom only feels cool and comfortable, the company commander The discomfort caused by time falling quickly subsided, and these four pillars also had other purposes. Red ambers were put in from the top, and every time they descended along the path, there would be brand new runes engraved on them. Above, when they fall into the bottom layer, a new alchemy puppet core will be successfully born, and fall into a pool of mist rising at the bottom. After being nourished by magic power, they will be embedded and wait for In a long body.

Everything here is beyond Tom's cognition. He stared wide-eyed and observed the well-organized fortifications around him. Suddenly, a huge, hideous pale skull appeared in front of him. It was covered with bone spurs and had a terrifying expression. The posture of the huge mouth looking up to the sky, and the green venom flowing from the sharp and dense teeth, Tom inexplicably felt that these venoms would not deteriorate even after hundreds of years.

"In the beginning, there was only one such pillar, so the output of mayflies was relatively low." Nelson pointed to a relatively old hollowed-out pillar in the northeast corner, and said softly, "I was going to put the new plan on hold. , this will kidnap me too much time, I spent almost half of the time in Krakow building it, but they are very good, and I have not let me down, I can already manufacture and assemble this high-precision special Parts, you know, if you want the magic power to form without the wizard's control, the precision of the output port must be very high."

"I don't think even wizards can achieve such high precision." Tom touched the air in front of him and sighed, "Did you give them the ability to reproduce? This is the right that only life has. It's terrible. It's also... so beautiful."

"Of course, I have to do the work of activating the rune carving ability in the end. Although they can make things inseparably, they don't understand what these things are," Nelson looked down at the pool under his feet. Open your hand, press it on the fence of the birdcage, and slow down its speed, "But you are right, even the most skilled wizard will be tired and lowered due to long-term work, but the machine does not No, this is where life can never catch up to steel."

The birdcage he was riding in slammed through a layer of membrane that was the same as the top of the cage. The foam that wrapped the birdcage was swallowed by a larger membrane. Tom only felt a tightness in his chest, followed by a breath of fresh air that was the same as the ground. Surrounded him instantly.

"Here we are."

The fan above the head stopped slowly, and the birdcage they were riding in stopped above the pool. Immediately afterwards, the surrounding poles unfolded like petals, and the empty and regular space on the ground floor appeared in front of Tom. Before his eyes, It is a rotunda so huge that it is hard to see the boundary. Dozens of thick columns support the distance between the ceiling and the ground. The magnificent skeleton becomes a part of the support, lying on the ground in a posture of prostration and surrender, becoming On the passage for people to walk, at the edge of the hall, empty door openings appeared in front of him. Except for a black wooden door in front of it, it seemed that there were no residents waiting for them behind the other doors.

The huge skeleton of the basilisk lay like a bridge over the pool at its feet, just enough to support the birdcage in which the two were riding.

"What's this?"

Tom lowered his head and kept looking at the skeleton. When he looked closer, he realized that the skeleton seemed to have been severely damaged, with radial cracks running through it all over the body, as if it had been punched by some mighty brave man. It is rotten, and some parts are even missing bones, which are filled and repaired by silver metal. Its upper body is in a strangling posture, tightly entangled with a stone tower that is riddled with holes but also full of spikes. They destroy each other, but in the end they all survived. Survive, not even apart from each other.

What a mighty snake this is! Although it was full of scars, it was still dangerous and frightening. Tom's expression was a little fascinated, and he murmured: "Is this the birthday present you mentioned?"

"This is the remains of the basilisk I told you about. It is the first basilisk created by Haierbo, and it is also the first time I have won a trophy from a strong enemy." Nelson shook his head, moving and standing a little sour Ankle, stepped on the spine of the basilisk crawling under the feet, "If it is still alive, I can't imagine how powerful it is, but unfortunately, it's good that it is dead, but even so, I have suffered a lot , almost died... But after all, it is just a slave of the loser, not worthy of my gift."

"Really? I'm more curious."

Tom immediately stepped on this skeleton, and he was disappointed by the pale touch of death and the lingering sense of ruin belonging to a loser under his feet. The ending of this snake is far less powerful than its appearance. The mayfly was working on the snake, and there were regular vibrations under its feet from time to time. Tom took a closer look and saw that the magic circuit was being constructed deep in the bone marrow. Its body was already filled with ordinary gears and mechanisms. The survivors were trampled under their feet, and even treated as trophies and transformed into puppets to protect the enemy.

"I am very grateful to Haierbo. He and I met by chance in the misty illusion. I don't want to get involved with him too much, and I have no interest in his grand vision of resurrection and dominance," Nelson said while leading the way. Said, "If it wasn't for him trying to disgust me every day, I wouldn't even look at this despicable person, but it's also good that he focused on making me unhappy, otherwise my magic wouldn't improve as fast as it is today, now I might even be ignorant of the Misty Illusion and the Lost Fog, just like you studied with Professor Dumbledore, and to some extent, Haier Bo is a good teacher."

Tom shrugged noncommittally.

"After all, it's not easy to find sandbags that live in legends like this," Nelson turned around and smiled, "Perhaps without me, the person who just restrained him, maybe his vision could be realized. Of course, without me, he might be lost in the illusion The door will never be opened... In fact, it would be nice if you came a few days later, and the basilisk will have a step ladder on its back, so we don't have to walk by ourselves, but I really don't want to wait."

"I understand that it's one more regret for me to see this place a day later," Tom nodded, and asked, "I noticed that there seems to be no one here?"

"Aren't we?" Nelson smiled, "Of course, I don't trust them, I don't trust any wizard who jumps out of the quagmire of magic, I have seen too much in the past few years in Nurmengard For example, this is not a home for lonely people as many people advertise. In fact, like most of the demonized descriptions of the Ministry of Magic, this is a gathering place for liars, traitors and criminals. Except for a few people, here The vast majority of people here are dark wizards full of blood and debts. They have Haierbo's character, but not his ability. Betrayal and killing abound. I don't need to hand over the future to some despicable people. , these machines do just as well, if not better, don't they?"

"Machine..." Tom chewed Nelson's words, and it was difficult for him to connect these constantly shuttling creatures with the textile machines in the factories around London that needed to be driven by pedals and rollers.

"Of course it's not something like that," Nelson smiled and walked beside Tom, walking side by side with him. "Magic and everything can be sublimated when combined, but most people who use magic don't want to use it like this."

Tom nodded, and walked side by side with Nelson toward the closed room.

"This is the place where Haierbo prepared for his resurrection. Because of the prophecy, there is a natural gap in the blurred illusion, which is waiting to attract those dead souls who may never appear," Nelson said as he walked, "I have to Said, Hai Erbo is really a good man, he has made all the preparations, even prepared a misty spring of mist to restore his magic power, but he left all of these to me, as long as a little modification, one place exists at the same time The underground cavity in the illusion and reality can become my factory for making mayflies. In the past few years, I have been using the assembly line of the magic factory to make some parts that only I can use. After several years, I finally let this place take shape. .”

Listening to Nelson's experience of dancing on the wire for several years, Tom was amazed from time to time. Soon, the two came to the closed black door. Uncomfortable and decaying atmosphere, Tom took a closer look, and a rough door frame that seemed to be cut from black stone was placed on a high platform. After a closer look, it was not a black stone, but condensed with black magic power.

Tom knew the magic, he had seen them in Nelson's eyes.

"What's this?"

Tom felt palpitations instinctively. He knew that what Nelson was about to blurt out would subvert his cognition, and it was more shocking than everything he had seen before.

"I once had a brief adventure with Professor Dumbledore in the Misty Realm."

"I saw the most eternal and grandest thing in this world."

"As a traveler, I did something immoral. I tore a piece of it from its body and held it in my hand."

"This is the real reason why Misty Illusion is not influenced by time, because death is eternal and absolute, and time is meaningless to death."

"Tom, Lori Ann has analyzed the magic power of time to the point where it can be roughly used, and this place can become the final anchor point."

"When the zero o'clock bell rings, we will conduct the first experiment of leaping time here."

"This is the thing you've ever wanted to leap forward the most. This is a miracle we can't understand. It doesn't belong to magic, it doesn't belong to the world, but it is the end of everything." Nelson opened his arms, and the invisible sunlight hit him, Above the door frame behind him, a hand-sized piece of tattered tulle was slowly fluttering, "It is death."

Tom's pupils were filled with that ridiculously small veil.

"Happy birthday, Tom."

This is the door in the Department of Mysteries

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