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Chapter 109: Preparing for the Chamber of Secrets
Chapter 109: Preparing for the Chamber of Secrets
After investigating the situation in the Chamber of Secrets, Liam opened a spatial gate to the Plants vs. Zombies world and stepped through.
With the help of the robots, the city construction progressed quickly. The fortress that was only planned on paper during his last visit was now almost complete. Liam found Kenvi, who had just returned from the open sea for a vacation.
"Good afternoon, Kenvi. You seem to be enjoying yourself. I need to speak with Dave. Could you tell me where he is?"
"I heard the Spider you sent him gave him a lot of inspiration. He's been in the Laboratory for days, working on something. But he already told me to bring you to him if you came asking for something."
Kenvi put down his coffee cup and led Liam towards the Warehouse, saying, "I think you look good in that Assassin's Uniform. It's definitely better than the Black Robe you wore last time."
As they walked, they reached the entrance to the underground Warehouse. After showing their Identity Badges, the Warehouse guard opened the heavy door for them.
Once inside the Warehouse, Kenvi opened the door to the innermost room. Liam saw the shelves piled high with the items he needed.
"Looks like you're going up against a big target. I have one piece of advice: these big targets are usually very strong. Don't approach them until you're sure they're dead." With that, Kenvi waved and turned to leave, closing the Warehouse door behind him.
It was a good piece of advice, and Liam silently noted it. He then began to inventory the weapons that had been prepared.
The weapons were of two types, both controlled by a miniature mechanical Difference Engine. Liam had insisted on this because he was concerned that electrical power might fail within the range of Hogwarts.
One type was ten Weapon Stations, each equipped with three Harpoon Guns. These Harpoon Guns were single-action weapons that fired explosive-tipped darts using gunpowder. Fortunately, thermal weapons were allowed in Hogwarts. Liam had discovered in the school history that Peeves had once fired a cannon inside the castle during the 19th century.
The other type was a cleverly designed Steel Repeating Crossbow, capable of firing five explosive-tipped javelins in rapid succession. However, these were more difficult to manufacture, so only five were available.
All the weapons were controlled by the Difference Engine, and Liam programmed them to unleash a barrage of firepower in the predetermined direction.
Finally, there were thin Copper Plates, each engraved with intricate patterns. The grooves of the patterns were inlaid with fine silver threads, and each Copper Plate had a number for easy identification. These Copper Plates and silver threads were infused with a large amount of Sunlight Crystals during the initial smelting process. This was a new discovery in the Plants vs. Zombies world, where workers found that adding Sunlight Crystals to the metal smelting process could significantly reduce the smelting time.
During his battle with the Giant Octo-Eyed Spider, Liam noticed positive energy reactions at some of the repaired areas on the Gatling Gun. Upon inquiry, he learned about the existence of this metal. Therefore, he specified that these items must be made from this newly smelted metal.
This was why it took several months to prepare just these few items. The Plants vs. Zombies world generally recycled old metal and processed it for simple items. To obtain this new metal, it had to be custom-made, which naturally slowed down the manufacturing process.
After inventorying the supplies, Liam opened the spatial gate to the Chamber of Secrets and used a handcart to transport everything inside. He then began the setup.
First, Liam took out the Copper Plate and placed it at each designated node position, forming a ritual array. Then, he retrieved a bottle of Elixirs from his Spatial Bag and dripped a few drops onto each Copper Plate.
This Elixir was primarily made from the blood of a Giant Octo-Eyed Spider. To balance yin and yang, Liam had added a few strands of Unicorn Tail Hair. The final product was an excellent Magic Conductor.
As the Elixirs dripped onto the Copper Plates, they seemed to come alive, absorbing the liquid. Once the Elixirs were completely absorbed, the silver threads embedded in the Copper Plates emitted a faint glow.
Finally, Liam used a Writing Brush dipped in the potion to draw a ritual array on the ground, connecting all the Copper Plates into a single, cohesive unit.
When the last stroke was completed, the ritual array suddenly burst into a bright white light. Then, all the metal plates melted into liquid and flowed along the pattern drawn on the ground. In the end, they formed a substantial ritual array in front of the statue.
As the light dimmed, Liam walked to the center of the ritual array and found that the melted metal plates had transformed into metal threads embedded in the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, creating a ritual array that now glowed with a soft white light.
He drew his Hidden Blade and cut his finger, dripping blood onto the Array Core. This allowed him to control the Demon-Binding Array he had just set up.
This ritual array was described in the Maoshan Daoist Scripture. In the Era of Decline, it was one of several ritual arrays used by the Maoshan Sect to capture large demonic beasts. Compared to other methods, its main advantage was that it required only one person to operate and had low requirements for the operator's cultivation. However, it was rarely used in history.
One reason was that once the ritual array was set up, it could not be moved, making it less flexible than arrays formed by a group of people. Another reason was that in ancient times, copper and silver were valuable, and the materials needed to set up the ritual array were often enough to hire a powerful practitioner. Few people were willing to waste resources on such a task.
However, for Liam, a ritual array that could be operated by one person and had low requirements for the user's cultivation was his favorite. The silver and copper he used were not particularly precious to him. Since the Basilisk had only one exit, the immobility of the ritual array was not a problem.
Once Liam had complete control over the ritual array, it retracted all its radiance and aura, and the floor appeared no different from before.
With the most important ritual array in place, Liam arranged the 15 Weapon Stations according to the optimal plan calculated by the group in the Plants vs. Zombies world. He then embedded the Talismans he had drawn on the Spider's carapace into the slots on the arrowheads, which had been left empty during their creation.
These Talismans were the reason Liam had chosen not to use firearms. He lacked the confidence to condense so many runes into the small bullet heads, especially since the environment in which bullets were used was far more harsh, with high temperatures and speeds likely to damage the magic on the bullet heads.
Finally, Liam launched the Grapple Hook from his left arm to the side of a pillar, where a cage containing a rooster was placed. This way, once he opened the Basilisk's entrance, he could quickly move away from danger and immediately use the rooster to weaken the Basilisk.
(End of Chapter)
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