Professors at Augustus College had duties far beyond just teaching students.

In reality, they spent no more than three hours a day on direct face-to-face instruction. After that, more critical tasks awaited them.

Thanks to its dual nature as both military academy and college, Augustus College housed massive labs and training grounds. These facilities boasted the most complete, cutting-edge equipment—updated monthly thanks to Mechanical Mages. Students could freely use them after approval.

But these were only surface-level facilities. The college’s underground secrets were known solely to professors, select senior instructors, the board of directors, and a rare few postgraduate students.

Lu Yun opened a hidden door behind his office bookshelf in the administration building. He rode an elevator down six hundred meters. There lay Augustus College’s colossal underground experimental complex—its footprint larger than all surface structures combined.

Security was extreme. Every forty meters, isolation gates and mechanical checkpoints partitioned testing zones. Each professor’s pass granted access only to their assigned zone.

Strict confidentiality ruled the underground base. Personnel from different zones kept secrets, except those sharing the same experiment.

Everyone knew only a fragment of the grand plan.

Yet one truth was unspoken: they researched the world’s most powerful, mysterious technology—Lost Technology rivaling the Divine and Demonic.

Lu Yun oversaw a device called the Phase Transmission Crystal.

At the testing zone, a bare-chested giant over two meters tall waited—Professor Fang from the Forging Department, Lu Yun’s colleague.

"Professor Lu, you’re late today."

"Ah, sorry. This new student’s foundation is shaky; lots to handle."

"No worries. Perfect timing—Test Specimen No. 6744 is prepped for testing." He handed Lu Yun a pair of goggles.

"Hmm. Let’s observe."

Ahead, a sealed chamber held a mechanical arm placing a perfectly hexahedral crystal into a slot.

The slot charged the crystal. As Mana flowed in, it glowed brilliantly and floated upward.

"Eighty-five percent charged. Data stable. This might work."

"Hmm. Yeah."

A massive explosion erupted from the chamber. Blinding light forced both men—even goggled—to turn away, shielding their eyes.

"Sigh. Always like this. It collapses near ninety percent." Professor Fang shook his head despondently.

"Gather the data first. Then retry." Lu Yun offered a bitter smile. After nearly seven thousand failures, one more meant little.

"Hmm… embarrassing…" Professor Fang sighed, scratching his head. He glanced around gloomily and whispered, "All of us combined couldn’t reach that person’s toes…"

"Heh… Professor Fang, don’t be so pessimistic."

"You’re the optimistic one. No one knows that person’s abilities better than you."

"That person" was none other than Lu Yun’s mentor—Lin Shixiong. Builder and director of this underground marvel, he was a genius Lost Technology expert.

After Lin Shixiong’s departure, research stalled completely. Even Augustus College’s elite teams achieved nothing substantial.

Frankly, without Lin Shixiong, the facility was useless.

"Enough sighing, Professor Fang. Time to work—the data just arrived." Lu Yun smiled faintly, feigning indifference.

"Alright. Retry."

But Lu Yun knew the true reason better than anyone: before leaving, his mentor Lin Shixiong had destroyed all critical data and components.