The Four Witches were startled by the huge stone that suddenly split open in front of them.

However, having been around Ma Lu for a while, they had gradually become immune to such occurrences.

Updat𝓮d from freewēbnoveℓ.com.

Only Yun Que continued to make a fuss, "Sir Knight, be careful, there might be someone under the stone!"

"It’s okay," Ma Lu said, "there’s no one below, I’ve already checked."

After saying that, he took the lead and walked in.

The entrance to the secret room thoughtfully included a staircase, albeit the steps were a bit narrow.

Considering the size of the Pointy Hat, it should be just right for him to walk, but it was a bit narrow for Ma Lu in his armor.

Yet he managed to descend the stairs smoothly. As his feet touched the ground, the secret room lit up.

Although it had been over three hundred years, the door security, lighting, and ventilation systems were still functioning normally, and there was notably little dust around, making one wonder how it was achieved.

Ma Lu then found a marker in the room, didn’t think much, and clicked to view it.

The familiar silhouette of the Pointy Hat appeared before him, hands on hips, "Hmm, congratulations on finding my secret nook, unnamed traveler. Now, turn on the controller on your right."

After speaking, the Pointy Hat muttered under his breath, "This damn thing only records for 10 seconds, it’s too..."

Before he could finish, he positioned his hands on his hips again, repeating, "Hmm, congratulations on finding my secret nook, unnamed traveler, quickly..."

Ma Lu looked to his right. The so-called controller looked very similar to the terminal machines in Holy Temple City.

Therefore, he didn’t need to study it much before he could operate it. After turning on the switch, the Pointy Hat’s projection jumped out again, this time not just a blurry afterimage.

Ma Lu also saw the face under the Pointy Hat, it was a — bizarre yet perfect circle.

It lacked facial features such as eyes, nose, and mouth, somewhat resembling the little figures from Monument Valley.

The voice was filled with surprise, "No way, someone really managed to find this place?! How did you do it, buddy?

"But never mind, by the time you watch this video, I should have finished my thesis and left this plane, and there isn’t much left here."

The Pointy Hat adjusted the camera and leaned back in his chair, "Don’t rush to be disappointed, I’ve left you a gift, considering it your reward for making it here. After all, it’s truly impressive that you found this place—are you a detective or something, a bounty hunter perhaps...

"Anyway, it must be cool whatever job you have; unlike me, I’m just a miserable research hound, slaving away in the lab for my supervisor.

"Honestly, I never thought I would be crazy enough to come to such a remote place alone, if not for my graduation. I probably wouldn’t have come here on my own.

"I was almost driven mad by my thesis, didn’t sleep well here, didn’t eat well, and it was lonely. Only me and my Energized Plants in this valley, no one to talk to, so you can probably understand why I left messages all around.

"Actually, I wasn’t like this at school; I was usually very quiet, but it was too quiet here. Thankfully, I met a friend...yes, yes, you might have heard me mention him.

"He’s a sincere and charming guy, and he also bakes excellent cookies. His name is Yong Yi, a native of this plane, and you’d understand I’m not exaggerating should you meet him.

"By the way, could you check on him after I leave? I don’t know when you’ll come to this plane; chances are he might already be dead by then, most human lifetimes are pretty short, which is a pity.

"I really wish Yong Yi could have returned to The Grand Alliance with me, sigh." The Pointy Hat seemed somewhat melancholic.

He pulled a little biscuit out of his pocket, placed it on his face, and like a pebble in a lake, it rippled and then vanished.

The round face of the Pointy Hat once again became calm.

After eating the biscuit, he appeared to be in a much better mood, "All right, let’s not talk about such heavy topics. Life here is tough but my research is going very well. I have a feeling I’ll write a thesis that will stun everyone.

"You might see my name in the newspapers or in a biography. Hey, maybe they’ll even rope off this place and sell tickets." The Pointy Hat rambled on for a while, then finally remembered the gift.

"Hahaha, are you excited already? My gift for you is on the shelf right in front of you, go ahead and open it."

Ma Lu looked toward the steel shelf in front of him to find nothing atop it.

It seems the Pointy Hat hadn’t had the chance to place anything there yet.

After all, he probably didn’t expect to die and was planning to arrange everything before leaving.

But this did not prevent the Pointy Hat in the video from boasting, "How about that, do you like it? This set of signed sports cards started when I was 5 years old. I collected them until I was 59, including a few rare and ultra-rare cards."

While talking, he even imitated one of the sports stars, "Meteor Rocket Shot!! Ahhhhh!!"

Ma Lu looked at the empty air in front of him, unsure of what to say.

He patiently listened to the Pointy Hat wax lyrical about his beloved sports star for about ten minutes. The Pointy Hat finally finished boasting about his collection of cards then said, "Oh, and there’s something else I might need your help with. I’ll destroy all the test subjects before I leave, and I’ll check a few more times.

"But just to be safe, you should check too when you come, in case some Energized Plants have escaped. The people of this plane don’t have weapons or experience dealing with Energized Plants. If you find any here, there’s a red box in the corner to your left with weapons against those Energized Plants."

Ma Lu quickly looked in that direction, but again saw nothing. Fortunately, he later found a red box next to the controller. Stay tuned with empire

Ma Lu opened the box to find no weapons inside, only a Thermos.

He didn’t know if the Pointy Hat hadn’t had the chance to place the weapons, or if he just randomly used this red box for his lunchbox.

The voice of the Pointy Hat continued, "Let me think, what else... I can’t think of anything else for now, hmm, I’ll continue recording if I think of anything else, I need to go back to the lab to continue my experiments."

After saying that, he leaned forward and turned off the controller.

Meanwhile, Ma Lu continued to look around the secret room, which, apart from the box mentioned by the Pointy Hat, contained many other items.