Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2839: Chapter 2840: Poetry Collections for the Poet

The process of entering the secret meeting room is quite akin to solving a mystery.

You must touch the floating switch at the exact spot, and input a series of dynamically changing passwords on the password disk that appears.

At this point, the puzzle-solving part is considered complete. Although this segment only has two puzzle-solving steps, the difficulty is high because both puzzles involve dynamic changes. To crack them purely through reasoning without the answers requires mastery in Magic Pattern, Ceremony, and Arithmancy.

But solving the puzzles only leads to the location of the secret meeting room; the true key to opening its door lies in the energy of the corresponding person.

Currently, the secret meeting room can only be opened by Augustine, Margaret, and Olao.

The nature of their energy is recorded by the door of the secret meeting room, so only they can open it.

As for why the steps to enter the secret meeting room are so complicated? The word ”secret meeting” already explains everything.

Secret meeting, if expanded a bit, is nothing but ’private rendezvous’, ’secret appointment’. Building such a secret room in the Qingkong Poetry Room, anyone could guess its purpose; it surely is Augustine and Margaret’s rendezvous spot.

In the face of numerous obstacles, the lovers who yearn for each other choose a secret meeting place, and if it were so easy to enter, it would indeed be strange.

When Olao opened the door to the secret meeting room, a bright light surged out, dispelling all the darkness along the way.

Entering the secret meeting room, everyone immediately felt something different. Firstly, the inside was brightly lit, like daytime. Also, contrary to the confined space they imagined, the room was surprisingly large, comparable to the great hall of the Wise Sovereign.

The arrangement here is also quite fascinating. Apart from the large portrait on the front wall, none of the walls can be seen with the naked eye; they are all concealed by bookshelves stacked with countless books.

In the center of the secret meeting room, there are round tables and wooden chairs, as well as low tables paired with sofas.

In the bright glow, every set piece is outlined with faint golden edges, making the entire secret meeting room resemble a cathedral blessed with a divine miracle.

However, in this ”cathedral,” there’s no hymn singing in the air, only a faint fragrance of books; there are no statues showing compassion to the world, only a giant portrait of a maiden.

At this moment, the Alchemy Golem stood before the portrait, gazing at the smiling maiden in the painting with enchanted eyes.

It wasn’t until the sound of footsteps disturbed the Alchemy Golem that it reluctantly pulled back its gaze and turned to look at the group of newcomers.

”Please, take a seat.” The Alchemy Golem walked towards the round table and sat down first.

The others also took their seats. However, a small episode occurred here; originally, the two seats next to the Alchemy Golem were meant for Olao and Adanis, but Adanis didn’t want to sit next to the Alchemy Golem. Instead, she sat across from it, seemingly ready for a confrontation.

The Alchemy Golem, however, paid no heed to Adanis and instead actively invited Angel to sit beside it.

Angel, who was already heading to the far side, had no choice but to return upon hearing the Alchemy Golem’s words.

Having achieved all his goals, Angel only wanted to be a bystander now, but the Alchemy Golem seemed fixated on him, refusing to let go.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Angel sat in the secondary seat. Dox and Kaier sat beside Angel.

Vay and the Black Earl took their seats next to Olao.

Adanis sat farthest away, and as a result, she was not near anyone, as if isolated.

Once seated, the Alchemy Golem remained silent for a long time, seemingly contemplating where to begin.

No one rushed him; rules that have formed over a thousand years are difficult to break, so it’s understandable for the Alchemy Golem to take a bit longer to think.

However, what surprised them was that when the Alchemy Golem finally regained its composure, the first words it spoke were not about the main topic they were expecting, but—

”Have you seen Margaret? She is truly, at all times, so beautiful.”

The Alchemy Golem spoke to Angel, all the while glancing at the large portrait in the distance, its words laden with immense nostalgia.

Angel very much wanted to pretend as if he wasn’t there, but the gemstone eyes of the Alchemy Golem kept staring at him as if the ”Round Table Meeting” couldn’t proceed without his opinion.

With no other choice, Angel awkwardly performed: ”Ah? So this portrait is Miss Margaret? I thought it was a deity renowned for beauty.”

”Miss Margaret is indeed beautiful; no wonder the gentleman’s poetry recital was full of emotion, full of affection for Miss Margaret.”

Angel spoke in a tone of declamation while silently mocking inwardly: Yes, it’s full of emotion, and only emotion, without any literary quality. It’s like singing with a broken voice; aside from saying it’s full of passion, there’s nothing else to commend.

The Alchemy Golem, satisfied with Angel’s response, continued: ”Speaking of poetry, this bookshelf holds all the poetry collections I gathered from various worlds back then, including many unique editions. I believe the Chanter would definitely enjoy them.”

Angel: ”Ah?”

What does this mean? Is he going to give me all these poetry collections?

Angel was still perplexed when the Alchemy Golem confirmed his guess: ”In a while, the energy here is about to be depleted and will not be able to maintain the protection of the poetry collections. I thought about it and decided to entrust them to you, letting the Chanter inherit them. Entrusting them to the Chanter is not a betrayal; it’s a rebirth. Giving poetry collections to poets is also a commendable story worth acclaiming.”

Before Angel could respond, Adanis suddenly asked from the other side: ”What do you mean by ’in a while, the energy here will be depleted’?”

The Alchemy Golem initially ignored Adanis, but seeing Angel seemingly dazed, it glanced at Adanis: ”Without Olao to support the energy, naturally it will deplete.”

Adanis: ”Whether Olao leaves or stays should be his own decision. Even if he breaks the contract, he can still stay here.”

The Alchemy Golem laughed lightly: ”Why stay here? Once the contract is broken, if he stays, he’ll be drained by the Qingkong Poetry Room. It won’t take long before he completely dissipates. Do you think Olao finds himself living too long and is eager to commit suicide?”

Adanis frowned upon hearing this. Although she didn’t understand why breaking the contract would result in Olao being drained by the Qingkong Poetry Room, she trusted that Augustine wouldn’t deceive her on such matters.

Olao never mentioned these things to Adanis... which means he’s hiding things from her.

Adanis wasn’t actually concerned about Olao concealing things from her; after thousands of years of interaction, she understood Olao’s character well. He hides things from her just to protect her.

Olao is a person with an extremely strong sense of responsibility, aiming to bear all burdens and responsibilities himself and not wanting Adanis to worry.

However, Adanis doesn’t like this. She doesn’t want to be a mere appendage; she wants to share the burden with Olao... But Olao seems to never acknowledge her growth, never confiding any difficulties. Only when his Spiritual Body severely lacks energy does he ask for Adanis’s help, while everything else remains hidden within his heart.

Just like this time, Olao finally expressed something, but it was merely to tell her—

My time is running out.

This made Adanis feel both heartache and anger. Heartache for Olao not taking care of himself, and anger for why Olao didn’t say anything sooner? Why didn’t he discuss it with her and instead bear everything alone?

Adanis stared at Olao with bloodshot eyes, wanting to ask him something.

But Olao appeared puzzled, still looking at Adanis with gentle eyes. Even though his gaze was gentle, it made Adanis very uncomfortable because Olao looked at her as if she were still a child who hadn’t grown up.

Silent eye contact and a subtle atmosphere flowed between the two ”Spirits” at the round table.

It looked like Adanis wanted to speak, but in the end, she remained silent, lowered her head, and didn’t look at Olao or the Alchemy Golem.

The Alchemy Golem then told a meaningful story: ”Speaking of Margaret, I must mention her father, Franklin. Why did Franklin oppose my relationship with Margaret? The main reason was class differences, but there was another reason: Franklin hoped Margaret would be with another man. That man was Margaret’s childhood friend.”

”They grew up together... No, I should say, Margaret watched him grow from a little kid to a young man because Margaret was born sixteen years before him. Precisely because she watched him grow up and knew everything about him, Margaret could already imagine how dull and tasteless it would be if she fell in love with him. Moreover, when their love reached its peak, suddenly thinking of him as a kid might seem playful to some, but to others, it’s a ’buzzkill,’ and Margaret was the latter.”

At this point, the Alchemy Golem paused.

His sudden storytelling left many at the scene pondering, unclear of its meaning.

However, Adanis understood Augustine’s story; it was a veiled reference to her and Olao’s relationship.

The reason Olao always treated her as a child was that he had raised her since childhood. To Olao, he was the father, and Adanis was the daughter. For a father, it was natural to bear all burdens and shield the daughter from hardships.

As for the daughter wanting to break through this relationship and not wanting to be just father and daughter, but have a brighter or more ambiguous relationship? To a father, this is unacceptable, it’s unfilial, or perhaps even taboo.

Adanis looked up at Olao in the distance, whose expression was normal, clearly not understanding the metaphor Augustine was making... This also meant that Olao really had never seen Adanis as an ”adult.”

Suddenly, Adanis very much wanted to ask Augustine how she could make Olao change his view? How could she let Olao know she was no longer the little kid she used to be?

But in the end, Adanis didn’t ask, only silently lowered her head in complex emotions, lost in thought.

Adanis’s silence also marked the end of this little episode.

The Alchemy Golem turned his gaze back to Angel: ”So, would the Chanter be willing to accept this modest gift?”

Is this considered a modest gift? The total amount of poetry collections here nearly rivals those of several small libraries at the Cloudtop Library; how is this modest?

After the complaint, Angel’s eyes fell on the countless poetry collections around him.

Should he accept these poetry collections?

Angel wasn’t overly thrilled; instead, there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Angel’s attitude towards poetry is... well, he has no particular attitude. Like all literary forms, poetry can be appreciated, read, and admired. If he encounters something that really resonates, it can be collected.

But that’s about it. He doesn’t have a collector’s obsession, madly collecting all poetry collections. He wouldn’t do that.

Of course, if the poetry collections were replaced with some ”practical knowledge,” Angel would gladly accept them all. But poetry collections are just poetry collections; there might be some phrases that could spark inspiration, but they fall short of ”practical knowledge.”

And the books here, Angel had previously surveyed, confirming they were all genuine poetry collections. If he really took them all, it would be like chewing wax—tasteless yet regrettable to discard.

However, if he truly received so many poetry collections, including unique editions from various worlds, Angel would still be happy overall regardless. If he couldn’t use them, he could give them to Jon. Jon would definitely be interested in books from various worlds, even if they were poetry collections.

The reason Angel still hesitated was that... there were just too many books.

So many that even if he emptied his bracelet, he couldn’t fit them all. To truly take them away, he would need dozens of One-time Spatial Capsules, and Angel hadn’t prepared that many spatial capsules.

Perhaps noticing Angel’s predicament, the Alchemy Golem added: ”Indeed, these poetry collections are too numerous; taking them all would be troublesome. How about this? I’ll have Olao pack all the poetry collections into a mirror space, making them easier to carry.”

”Introducing physical objects into the Material Realm’s mirror space could cause the mirror space to collapse, right?” Angel said.

Just like before, when Angel loaded the Gray Merchant’s memory into the newborn mirror space, that mirror space seemed on the brink of collapse, looking like it could collapse at any moment, let alone putting actual physical objects into a mirror space.

Even stable mirror spaces can only hold a small amount of material; more would lead to collapse.

And such a massive library, placing it in the mirror space, Angel couldn’t imagine any mirror space that could withstand it.

The Alchemy Golem, smiling, said, ”You’re right, but don’t worry, Olao has his tricks. Back when Olao, his brother, and I traveled across various realms, the poetry collections I gathered were all given to Olao.”

Angel was momentarily stunned. Olao has a brother?

No, the focus should be whether Olao could really find a stable space to contain so many poetry collections?

Angel looked at Olao with doubt, but Olao didn’t return his gaze and continued watching the Alchemy Golem.

The Alchemy Golem continued, ”So, are you willing to accept these poetry collections now? The gifting of poetry collections to the Chanter, this wonderful story, I plan to share with my friends when I return.”

Having said this much, the Alchemy Golem left Angel with no choice but to accept.

”Then, thank you, sir.”

After all, poetry collections aren’t particularly precious things. Once back, they can all be scanned into the Wilderness of Dreams using the Dream Conch and given to Jon to manage.

The Alchemy Golem: ”While poetry collections aren’t rare objects, they hold significant meaning for both me and Margaret. The Chanter accepting them and preventing them from decaying here warrants my thanks instead.”

As the Alchemy Golem said this, he stared directly at Angel. While the Alchemy Golem showed no expression, Angel oddly sensed some intriguing depth in his words.

It must be an illusion; they’re just some poetry collections, what deeper meaning could there be?

Angel didn’t ponder further nor ask questions. Mainly because the Alchemy Golem had already spent too much time on him, and he wasn’t the main focus of this meeting; the focus was Olao and Adanis, so... Isn’t it time to address the real issue?

Could you please take the spotlight off me now?

He just wanted to be an idle onlooker, to not be involved anymore, could he?

With these hopes, Angel eagerly awaited the Alchemy Golem to initiate another topic...