The Goblin Laboratory, among the top echelons of scientific research institutions in Clockwork City, is a place dedicated to the study of alchemy.
This kind of important place is naturally heavily guarded, but for Mu You, with his ability to disguise, it isn’t hard to infiltrate.
Now that he has essentially gathered all the components needed for his weapon, he intends to venture into this so-called laboratory.
However, before he could start his journey, a prompt suddenly popped up in the game.
[You see a Mechanical Beetle run along the ground, crawl under your foot, and climb onto your shoulder via your mecha leg.]
[Your Reconnaissance Beetle reports potential news you might need.]
[It learned from two elderly Goblin workers’ conversation: The Clockwork Bell Tower, built eight hundred years ago and located at the city centre, undertakes the city’s time-keeping function.]
[Because of the Clockwork Bell Tower’s significance to Clockwork City, in order to ensure the time is undeviating through years, it requires an incredibly precise and wear-resistant main gearwheel. However, the alchemical abilities of the goblins then were not sufficient to create such precision components. It’s said that the chief designer, in order to complete the Bell Tower, had to install the so-called Everlasting ’Golden Gearwheel’ into the core mechanism of the belltower...]
Mu You paused in surprise.
He was about to go to the Goblin Laboratory, and didn’t expect news about the Golden Gearwheel to come right at this moment.
It makes theoretical sense for a clock tower that requires high precision to use a Golden Gearwheel.
However, since it is something from over eight hundred years ago, the exact details still need verification.
After some thought, he decided to head to the Bell Tower first, to verify the truthfulness of this information.
[You walk towards the central street of Clockwork City...]
[You have arrived at the base of the Clockwork Bell Tower.]
[The Clockwork Bell Tower is the core time-keeping device of the whole Clockwork City, and one of the city’s most important buildings. Every Goblin and mechanical being in the city base their daily work and live on its time. If the bell tower’s time becomes erratic, the whole city could descend into chaos and halt.]
[You hide in a blind spot beneath the Bell Tower and activate ’Detect Sand Spider Nest’.]
[Mechanical spiders the size of sand pebbles crawl from the nest, quickly crossing the ground towards the top of the bell tower...]
The Detect Sand Spider Nest is a reconnaissance device that Mu You stumbled upon in Clockwork City, an epic-alchemical tool that instantly produces 160 Mechanical Sand Spiders upon activation, which last for an hour. Each spider possesses outstanding climbing, jumping, and reconnaissance capabilities.
When these sand spiders leave the nest, they leave behind a thread invisible to the naked eye which can extend up to two thousand meters. Any information found by the spiders will be reported to the body through this thread in real-time.
[The spiders quickly climb to the top of the Bell Tower, entering into its interior through the cracks in the wall. Images of intricate, precise construction keep emerging within your mind...]
[The dense cluster of gearwheels also fails to stop the spiders’ infiltration. One spider finally reached the nucleus of the bell tower after overcoming multiple obstacles.]
[You see that amongst countless grey-black gearwheels, there is a compact flash of golden light.]
[Golden Gearwheel: A gearwheel with the ’everlasting’ property; unbreakable and resistant to wear and tear in any form.]
"So it really does exist!"
Mu You’s eyes sparkle, not expecting the rumors from eight hundred years ago to actually be true!
In this way, the origins of both quest items are complete.
However, this Bell Tower is the timing device for the entire Clockwork City. If the Bell Tower malfunctions, all the robots’ perceptions of time would be thrown into disarray. Therefore, even if he knows where his target is, he shouldn’t rush. Doing so may reveal his presence prematurely.
As for the Golden Gearwheel, he can revisit it later. Right now, he needs to go and investigate the Goblin Laboratory.
[You have arrived in front of the Goblin Laboratory.]
[This is a large academic base covering more than 100 acres and is one of the most heavily armed areas in the entire Clockwork City. There are many fully armed guard robots patrolling the periphery, and the base’s walls are also equipped with various types of monitoring devices.]
[You switch to the disguised form: Cleaning Robot.]
[You sway the dust brushes on your forearm, cleaning the dust on your way, gradually approaching the base’s main gate.]
[You cross the guard line. The Guard Robots around you continue their patrols as usual, paying you no mind...]
Expectedly, no matter how intricate a defense system, it can never completely prevent such rudimentary loopholes.
Those monitors on the wall target biological beings trying to get close, while mechanical beings are not within their jurisdiction. Who could imagine that a robot would possess human consciousness?
Among the robots spread throughout the city, Cleaning Robots are the most easily ignored. Even a heavily guarded place like the Goblin Laboratory can’t do without these low-level workers.
[With the help of your disguised form, you successfully infiltrated the interior of the laboratory.]
[Inside the main building of the laboratory, many cleaning robots like yourself are dispersed and busy with their respective work. You blend in among them, not standing out.]
[You wipe the walls as you pass by, observing the layout of the building. You see on the display shelves various Mecha models, most of which are still unfinished.]
[M-9 Type Guard Robot...]
[U-7 Type Flying Scout Robot...]
[S-12 Type Goblin Manned Airship...]