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Chapter 82
Marcus returned to the laboratory the following morning with the copy of Marek Solven's notebook.Oren had spent most of the night comparing its diagrams with the equipment recovered from the northern facility. Several pages were spread across his workbench, weighted down with metal tools.“You found something,” Marcus said.Oren pointed to a drawing.“The central assembly wasn't simply a power regulator. It connected the four channels and controlled how mana moved through the frame.”“Can it transfer mana from one person to another?”“The design could support a transfer, but the notebook doesn't specify the destination. It only warns against installing the assembly before the subject is stable.”Marcus pulled out a chair.“Could the frame have been built to repair a damaged mana core?”Oren considered the question.“Possibly. A controlled transfer might stabilize a damaged core, but the same system could also interfere with it. The restraints suggest that whoever underwent the proced
Chapter 81
Oren had spread the diagrams across the laboratory table when Marcus arrived.Several metal pieces recovered from the northern facility lay beside them. The older technician had arranged the pieces according to their shapes and measurements, marking each one with a small paper label.“You found something?” Marcus asked.“I found a connection between the equipment in the northern chamber and the structure beneath the military grounds.” Oren pointed to two diagrams. “The channels were designed using the same principles. The fittings are also compatible.”“Does that mean they were built for the same apparatus?”“Not necessarily. They could be separate parts of a larger system, or two structures designed to perform related functions.”Marcus examined the diagrams. The circular frame from the northern facility had four supports, while the remains beneath the military grounds had an empty platform and channels converging toward its center.“Which one was built first?”“The records aren't pr
Chapter 80
Lord Clifford refused to answer the first three questions.He sat across from Stephan in the council chamber, his hands resting on the table. Two guards stood behind his chair. Since his arrest, his clothes had been replaced with plain prison garments, but he still carried himself like a man accustomed to giving orders.Marcus stood near the window, listening.Stephan placed a copy of the maintenance register on the table.“Do you recognize this facility?”Clifford glanced at the page.“I know the building.”“You knew about it?”“I knew Lord Vale owned several properties outside the eastern district. That does not mean I knew what was inside them.”“Someone has been maintaining this one for months. Equipment was delivered there, and a chamber containing a containment frame was found beneath the building.”Clifford looked up.“Did you open it?”“We found it.”“That wasn't my question.”“We didn't activate anything.”Clifford leaned back. “Then you may have saved yourselves some trouble
Chapter 79
Oren arrived at the northern facility early the following morning with a wooden case of instruments and two assistants from the palace laboratory.Marcus was already there with Stephan and Rowan. His side wound had improved, though the physician had warned him that the healing would take longer if he kept straining it. He had ignored the suggestion to remain in bed but had avoided any unnecessary movement.Oren set his case on the table in the storage room.“I examined the photographs Rowan sent,” he said. “They weren't sufficient to identify the mechanism. I need to see the plate and the surrounding structure.”Stephan led him to the western wall.The soldiers had maintained their positions overnight. No one had entered the building, and the repaired section remained untouched.Oren knelt before the metal plate. He took out a small instrument with a glass dial and held it near the three grooves. The needle moved slightly, then settled.“There's mana running through this,” he said.“C
Chapter 78
The first property records arrived shortly after breakfast.Rowan placed them on the table in the General’s office. They had been gathered from the royal registry, the treasury, and the office responsible for maintaining abandoned government buildings. Most were old documents, some dating back several decades.Marcus stood beside the table, keeping his weight off his injured side.Stephan turned through the first bundle.“Lord Edric Vale owned more than the research archive,” he said. “There were three other properties registered under his name. One was sold to a merchant family. Another was demolished. The third was transferred to the Crown after his death.”“Where is it?”“North of the old military grounds, near the abandoned aqueduct.”Marcus looked at the map Rowan had spread across the table. The property was outside the main residential districts, close enough to the military grounds that someone could have moved equipment between them without crossing the busiest streets.“Was
Chapter 77
Marcus stood beside the archive’s open cabinet while Rowan’s men searched the rooms for a second exit.The intruder had escaped through the rear of the building. Two soldiers had followed him toward the canal, but the narrow streets offered too many places to disappear. By the time they reached the water, the man and his satchel were gone.“Search the nearby warehouses,” Rowan ordered when his men returned. “Check the boats and speak to anyone who was working along the canal. Don’t make arrests without a reason.”The soldiers departed in pairs.Lord Stephan remained near the basement stairs, reading the notes they had recovered. His expression grew more severe with each page.“They knew this place was being investigated,” he said.“They may have been watching it before we arrived,” Marcus replied. “The repairs, the new locks, the register being removed. Someone has been preparing for us.”“Or preparing for whoever came before us.” Stephan folded the paper. “We still don’t know whether
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