Chapter 28: To Be Honest

Simon Adrian’s magical recording continued to play. "My dear fellow Necromancer, although my Magic Laboratory is more than happy to welcome you as a distinguished guest, for security reasons, this iron door will only open for you if you repeat a ’Security Passphrase’ after me!"

Master Laurie was instantly on high alert. A "Security Passphrase"?

The profession of a Mage inherently dealt with mystical forces. This meant that certain things considered trivial by ordinary people had to be handled with extreme caution within Mage circles. And "language" was exactly the sort of thing a Mage needed to pay special attention to in their daily lives.

For an ordinary person, casually venting or swearing in the street wouldn’t cause any real problems—at worst, they might annoy someone and end up with a ball gag in their mouth. However, for practitioners wielding Magic Power, every word and sentence that left their lips could resonate with the tides of Magic Power, triggering unforeseen consequences! After all, to put it bluntly, the Spells chanted by Mages when casting Magic were simply strings of the Iolian Ancient Language. According to the textbook *Principles of Magical Mechanics*, using specific combinations of words and phonetics to stimulate fluctuations in Magic Power and produce Spell-like effects was an incredibly standard operation.

Therefore, Adrian’s message forced Master Laurie to be vigilant. Adrian’s intent seemed straightforward: as long as the Lord repeated a phrase from the recording, the doors to the Magic Laboratory would open. This appeared to be a completely harmless, risk-free process. But Master Laurie remembered with absolute clarity that before his death, Simon Adrian was a legendary figure who had reached the dizzying heights of an eighth-tier Grand Mage! For a Mage of Adrian’s caliber, concocting a phrase with hidden magical effects would be as easy as breathing.

If the Lord actually repeated the recorded text word for word, not only could it trigger a massively destructive magical effect, but it wasn’t even out of the realm of possibility that his soul could be enslaved by this senior Mage from eight centuries ago! Throughout history, which eighth-tier Grand Mage wasn’t a top-tier expert freely navigating the boundless sea of magical research? Which of them wasn’t an exceptional individual who had survived countless life-and-death trials, crawling out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood? Which of them wasn’t a meticulous, endlessly cunning veteran who had seen everything the world had to offer?

Even though his body had perished and his soul had dissipated, leaving a verbal trap for his successors eight centuries later would still be all too easy for Simon Adrian. Master Laurie had to guard against this!

Seeing that the Lord was eager to give it a try, Master Laurie abruptly lunged forward two steps, grabbing the Lord’s sleeve and urgently saying, "Beware of a trap!"

Prompted by the Master’s warning, Xiahou Yan—who had also received an education in Magic—immediately realized the inherent danger. However, Adrian’s Magic Laboratory was right behind this iron door. The Magic Rhythm left behind by this Legendary Mage was very likely sitting out in the open on one of the tables inside! This was highly likely their only chance to manipulate the surging tide of corpses and lead the convoy safely out of the infected zone. They were already in too deep. They couldn’t just get cold feet at such a critical juncture and give up at the final hurdle, could they?

Xiahou Yan gritted his teeth and pondered for a moment before speaking. "No matter what, let’s first hear what this Senior Adrian actually wants me to recite for the passphrase... If it feels off, we’ll figure something else out!"

Master Laurie nodded; that was all they could do for now.

While the two modern Mages were still conflicted, Simon Adrian’s recording continued. "My dear fellow Necromancer, to open the doors of the laboratory, please repeat the following sentence after me—"

Xiahou Yan took a deep breath, listening attentively with a hint of nervousness.

Adrian’s recording enunciated the "Security Passphrase" with perfect clarity: "’To be honest, Simon Adrian is an Iron Handsome Guy!’"

Xiahou Yan and Master Laurie were dumbfounded. The three Guards of the Igor Family looked at each other in dismay. What... what the hell kind of "Security Passphrase" was this?! An Iron Handsome Guy?!

The Lord had every reason to suspect that the so-called "security" was a complete excuse. The shameless Adrian just fucking wanted to hear someone compliment him!

Without waiting for Master Laurie to react, Xiahou Yan steeled his resolve and gritted his teeth, repeating after Adrian’s recording, "To... to be honest, Simon Adrian is an Iron Handsome Guy..."

The air fell silent for a moment before Adrian’s jubilant recording sounded once more. "No signs of disgust, nausea, or insincerity detected. Security check passed! Welcome to Adrian’s Magic Laboratory, my dear fellow Necromancer!"

A loud BOOM echoed from deep underground. Amidst a shower of falling dust and an ear-piercing SCREECH of friction, the metal door that had blocked their path sank into the floor. It slowly and completely revealed the Magic Laboratory hidden behind it to Xiahou Yan.

This was an exceptionally spacious, circular hall. As far as the eye could see, one could clearly make out twelve marble pillars arranged in a ring at the center, serving as the load-bearing supports for the subterranean space. As the doors opened, the giant Magic Crystals embedded within the marble pillars lit up one by one, immediately illuminating the entire hall in a warm, bright-yellow glow.

Thus, the Igor Family party was treated to a panoramic view of the Magic Laboratory.

Smooth tiled floors, pure white marble walls, a circular vaulted ceiling carved with the archaic images of deities, and ebony bookshelves lining the edges of the hall—the furnishings inside the entire laboratory showed absolutely no signs of rot or decay. There wasn’t even a single speck of floating dust to be found in the air. This spotless, gleaming environment stood in stark contrast to the dilapidated, filthy old mansion on the surface.

Towards the outer edges of the Magic Laboratory sat six curved long tables. Master Laurie and Xiahou Yan could tell at a glance that the dazzling array of crystal vials and jars, oddly-shaped multicolored crystals, and neatly stacked parchment Scrolls on those tables were all precious tools of the trade that a Mage relied on for their livelihood!

However, everyone’s gaze was undoubtedly drawn to the object in the very center of the hall.

It was an exquisitely detailed bronze statue standing over two meters tall. The subject of the statue was an imposing man standing tall with his head held high. He wore ornately carved aristocratic robes, and his medium-length hair was combed with meticulous precision. His features were exceptionally handsome; his full cheekbones and cold lips exuded a dashing, weathered charm unique to a middle-aged man who had experienced the world.

The round-headed Magic Staff—taller than a person—gripped in the man’s hand, along with the skull-adorned Magic Book hanging from his waist, left absolutely no doubt as to the identity of the figure depicted by the statue: Simon Adrian, the legendary eighth-tier Grand Mage, and a peerless genius of Necromancy!

Standing before this bronze statue that was practically overflowing with sheer pretension, the five members of the Igor Family party were momentarily left speechless.

"What kind of person," Tom Lawrence asked dryly, "puts a bronze statue of themselves inside their own laboratory?"

Xiahou Yan thought about it seriously and provided the only logical answer: "...An Iron Handsome Guy."