Chapter 1 The Anticipation

Su Lun listened to Mr. Black recounting the origin of the "Mirror Library," and his heart was already brimming with anticipation.

He had never wanted to be a phantom thief as strongly as he did at this moment.

And then to empty that Mirror Library of every last detail.

As it stood, no one had yet discovered the existence of the Mirror Library.

However, after a while, that might not be the case.

The explosion had damaged the original stable structure of the vault, which was how Kitt had discovered the hidden restriction.

But if he could discover it, with the Royal Academy's abundance of experts, surely someone else could as well.

Besides, the traces of the second explosion were still there. Leaving such indicative clues meant it was only a matter of time before someone noticed.

Fortunately, during the previous operation, Su Lun had given Kitt a few items with spatial coordinates, for the convenience of providing reinforcements at any time.

That guy had just happened to stuff one of those items into the Mirror Library.

Su Lun sensed the location of the coordinates, his eyes narrowing slightly. "This folded space is hidden quite cleverly."

The distance from the banquet hall to the library was at most a kilometer or two. But according to his senses, Su Lun found himself separated from the spatial marker by hundreds of kilometers, and the coordinates were fluctuating erratically, sometimes closer, sometimes further away.

This meant that even if someone dug through the basement of the library, they wouldn't find the Mirror Library.

This was also convenient for Su Lun.

A "folded space" wasn't an independent plane like a small void realm. It was more like a storage ring. This kind of secondary space was still essentially within the same plane.

It was like a person holding a hydrogen balloon, connected to the main plane by a string.

As long as Su Lun's directional displacement was still within the same plane, he could currently teleport there.

It was just that the distance was a bit far, requiring more energy consumption.

The problem was a little significant, but solvable.

...

The commotion outside the banquet hall was considerable, as if the entire academy had become lively.

Su Lun knew that it was Kitt creating misleading clues.

Outside the door, someone, either a mounted police officer or a Royal Knight, was shouting loudly.

"It's the 'Phantom Thief' Kitt! Quick, catch him!"

"Don't let him get away!"

"..."

When the nobles in the banquet hall heard this news, almost everyone understood everything.

The Royal Academy had many treasures, but generally speaking, only two types of thieves would visit.

The first were those with a screw loose, because stealing anything of equivalent value from the Royal Family would result in a crime ten times worse than stealing it from anywhere else.

The second was someone completing the Thieves' Guild's "Ultimate Challenge."

Hearing that the visitor was the "Phantom Thief" Kitt, everyone understood that it was the second type.

Knowing who it was, the nobles weren't worried in the slightest.

Even the young students and the noble ladies had various expressions in their eyes. Envy, curiosity, and even ambiguous concern.

"Wow, it's actually Phantom Thief Kitt! I heard he's super handsome! I wish I could meet him."

"Hahaha... the vault has really been breached by Kitt? Heavens, this will probably be the headline on tomorrow's newspaper."

"..."

Since the lost items weren't their own, the nobles had nothing to worry about.

Instead, they were excitedly watching the drama unfold.

Su Lun was a little speechless listening to the people outside shouting "Catch Kitt."

Because he knew very well that Kitt had deliberately exposed his identity to be discovered.

If Su Lun himself were to steal something, he would definitely do it secretly.

But that guy said that being caught was secondary; being handsome was a lifetime endeavor.

Without revealing his face, he was just a thief.

But he was a Phantom Thief.

Su Lun still couldn't resonate with this viewpoint.

However, despite the excitement, everyone was genuinely curious: what method had Kitt used to break through the vault's restrictions and steal something?

Although everyone had heard the two loud explosions earlier, no one would believe that someone could really use explosives to break through the supposedly invincible defense restrictions.

...

The commotion outside continued for a long time, as if the pursuit was still ongoing.

But Su Lun had already received news that Kitt had safely escaped from the Royal Academy.

He also breathed a sigh of relief.

Although there had been a few unexpected minor episodes, the [Alchemy Manuscript of Isaac] was finally in his hands.

Now that it had been confirmed that the vault had been breached and Kitt had stolen something from inside, Headmaster Winford couldn't just wait here. The old man was planning to go to the scene of the crime himself to take a look.

A group of nobles and students, using the excuse of being concerned about the theft from the academy's vault, followed along to watch the excitement.

Since they were all old alumni, the school couldn't really stop them.

Su Lun and Sabina also mingled with the crowd and went along.

A large group of people walked out of the banquet hall and arrived in front of the Royal Library.

The place was brightly lit.

Dozens of uniformed mounted police had already sealed off the area and were examining any remaining traces.

Even outside the police line, everyone could clearly see that there were several large craters where the magic towers used to stand in front of the library.

Many people thought that those magic towers were just decorative ancient relics, but they didn't know that they were also part of the entire defensive restriction.

Now, several magic towers had been blown up, leaving several charred, deep pits.

A peculiar burnt smell permeated the air.

There was also a dark, deep pit that looked like a robber's tunnel, leading directly to the underground.

This was a very precise directional blast, directly blasting through the outer shell of the underground vault.

Su Lun wasn't surprised at all by the scene, because the scene was almost identical to the explosion schematic Zeke had drawn earlier.

Su Lun hadn't done nothing when he came to scout the location earlier.

He had used his spatial abilities to create a detailed depiction of the entire vault's spatial structure, and then Zeke had analyzed the precise blasting points, resulting in such a precise explosion.

At this time, the mustached person in charge of the police station saw the old headmaster arrive and quickly pointed to the pit, reporting, "Headmaster, this hole leads directly to the vault. It has been confirmed that Sir Isaac's treasures in the vault have been looted. Judging from the explosive residue at the scene, it was a special explosive that has never been seen on the market. It cannot be ruled out that other means were used to create this hole. It has been confirmed that the thief who did it was Kitt..."

Not many items were lost from the vault, because each treasure's display case had independent anti-theft restrictions, and Kitt didn't have that much time to break them all.

But for him, who was completing the Thieves' Challenge, it didn't matter what he stole.

The key was to steal something, and the challenge would be completed.

And as long as he wasn't caught on the spot, the Royal Family wouldn't even try to recover the item.

Because behind this "Ultimate Challenge" was a story that had happened more than a hundred years ago.

Back then, Emperor Luying Bonapart VII, because he was so confident in the Royal Collection's anti-theft measures, had once proclaimed that anyone who went to the Royal Academy to steal something would be hanged if caught; but if they actually stole something, it was theirs, and they wouldn't be prosecuted.

That's why the Thieves' Guild had this "Ultimate Challenge."

Success meant becoming a Thief Emperor.

Failure meant death.

In the past few decades, only "Thief Emperor" Carlo Meredith, one of the "Ten Legendary Bounty Hunters," and Kitt had succeeded.

Everyone else had grass growing several meters high on their graves.

...

Seeing the dark pit, everyone present was shocked, finding it hard to believe what they were seeing.

They never expected that someone would actually use explosives, a chicken-rib alchemy item that traditional alchemists looked down upon, to blow up the Royal Collection, which was said to have the strongest anti-theft restrictions in the plane?

The Royal Library had countless ingeniously designed anti-theft restrictions designed by countless court alchemy masters over thousands of years, with layers of reinforcement, almost without any flaws.

After "Thief Emperor" Carlo successfully stole through spatial means last time, that loophole was also plugged.

Theoretically, no one could now forcibly break through the Royal Library's incredibly complex defense barriers!

But unexpectedly, someone had directly and crudely blown open the outer shell, perfectly bypassing those exquisite restrictions that the Luying Royal Family was so proud of, and gone straight to the vault.

"Oh, heavens, can explosives really have such power?"

"I think it must be some kind of special cursed object, right? After all, even high-level professionals can block ship-borne shells. How could it be possible to break through the vault's restrictions?"

"That's right! If it were really explosives, it would take tens of thousands of tons to do it."

"..."

Although there were some great alchemists in this group, their understanding of ballistics was indeed very limited.

These old-fashioned alchemists' knowledge of explosives was still stuck in the concept of "clumsy alchemical powder that burns black and produces thick smoke."

Their arrogance even prevented them from wanting to learn about new things.

Su Lun hadn't come here to watch the excitement.

He just wanted to make sure that the folded space hadn't been exposed.

As soon as he released his senses, he didn't detect any special spatial fluctuations in the vault.

It seemed that, as Kitt had said, the Mirror Library had only appeared with an opening after the explosion, and had now disappeared again.

Old Headmaster Winford had already gone to the vault himself. This eighth-order professional was knowledgeable and well-informed, and would likely discover the hidden restrictions in a short time.

However, since it was a treasure room even more advanced than the vault, it wouldn't be so easy to break open.

Su Lun felt that time was of the essence, and he planned to find a place to set up teleportation measures.

The excitement wasn't worth watching anymore, so Su Lun and Sabina turned and left.

...

Su Lun didn't leave with Sabina by carriage. He came to a deserted place and contacted Kitt again. That guy said he was safe.

Su Lun then sensed his location and began to form the warlock's seal.

A spatial fluctuation flashed, and he used directional teleportation.

Looking again, the scenery around him changed, and Su Lun found himself in a luxurious room.

Kitt was leisurely lying on a pink, luxurious bed.

Su Lun looked at the room, which was obviously a noble lady's boudoir, and asked strangely, "Is this... safe?"

Kitt looked at Su Lun and sat up, explaining, "This is the residence of Viscountess Sabina. No one will be coming here for the time being."

Su Lun's eyes twitched. Obviously, this was another of this guy's lovers.

At this time, he noticed the bloodstains on Kitt's chest and asked, "Are you injured?"

"A small problem."

Kitt didn't explain further. At this time, he took out a storage ring and a notebook with black energy emanating from it, saying, "I've brought the items out for you."

The storage ring contained the Isaac relics from the Royal Treasury, and the notebook was naturally the [Alchemy Manuscript of Isaac].

Su Lun wasn't polite and directly put the items into his small void realm, saying, "Thank you."

With the item he had been thinking about for so long finally in his hands, he felt inexplicably relieved.

Now, even if there were tracking marks, they would be useless.

Kitt's handsome face always had a dashing smile, not caring, and instead said, "This time, it was also thanks to the void materials you helped me bring that the operation went so smoothly. Otherwise, the Royal Academy wouldn't be so easy to enter and exit."

After a pause, he smiled again and said, "Next time, if you have any materials that I can use, remember to keep an eye out for me."

"Okay."

Su Lun wasn't overly courteous.

This was the meaning of the Dawn organization.

Su Lun knew the situation was urgent, so he didn't waste any time and directly asked, "About that 'Mirror Library' you mentioned, have you discovered any dangers? I plan to go in and take a look later."

Kitt shook his head and said, "No. The folded space restriction is very clever. I only discovered a little anomaly, and only exposed a slight gap when I probed it. Moreover, I guess there won't be any danger."

After a pause, he raised the corners of his mouth and said, "Because it's not necessary."

Su Lun instantly understood and felt it was reasonable.

The "Mirror Library" was the Bonapart Royal Family's secret treasure house, and it was hidden in the Royal Library's vault. So normally speaking, unless the Luying Empire was overthrown, it would be impossible for outsiders to force their way in.

If explosives weren't used, even if a top professional wanted to break in, the commotion would be great.

The academy and the Bonapart Royal Family couldn't possibly ignore it.

So there was no need to set up any dangerous restrictions.

Whether entering through normal means or abnormal means, it was unnecessary.

The former didn't need to be defended against, and the latter couldn't be defended against.

Having confirmed this, Su Lun finally completely relaxed.

Speaking of which, Kitt said again, "Okay, be careful yourself. I've booked a ticket to leave Lington and will be hiding from the storm recently."

He had stayed here to personally hand over the notebook.

Su Lun knew the matter was serious, so he didn't ask him where he was going, and simply said, "Take care! Contact me if anything happens."

Kitt nodded, "Okay."

Originally, Kitt wouldn't have needed to run away just for stealing a notebook.

After all, it was a "Ultimate Challenge" tacitly approved by the Royal Family.

Even if something was lost, it wouldn't be recovered for the sake of the Royal Family's face.

Just like the previous "Thief Emperor" Carlo.

But now that the legendary Mirror Library had been discovered, the problem was much bigger.

Most likely, Su Lun was going to empty everything inside.

Now, the academy had probably already discovered some traces. Compared to outsiders, they knew more about the Mirror Library. The people of the Royal Family would also inevitably get involved.

That authority restriction might delay them for some time, but they would eventually be able to enter.

When the Royal Family discovered that the items inside were gone, they would inevitably ask Kitt "about the situation."

Running away now was to avoid trouble in advance.

...

Kitt ran away by boat.

Su Lun contacted Mr. Black and told him some response plans in case something happened to him.

Then he teleported again, and he had already arrived at a secret stronghold in the Southern District.

This was an underground warehouse hidden in the slums. The nearby factory area had no high-level professionals, and few people came here.

This was also an emergency shelter that Su Lun had prepared for himself.

He didn't delay, took out a large pile of energy crystals, and began to set up an array.

He couldn't currently perform super-long-distance teleportation by only relying on warlock seals. This required the help of a large array.

Energy crystal cores, flawless crystals, spatial crystals...

Before long, Su Lun had set up an eight-pointed star spatial array.

But entering that folded space wasn't easy. Even if someone knew the laws of space, others couldn't enter.

First, you had to determine its exact coordinates;

Second, you had to have a higher understanding of the laws than the folded space's defense layer to teleport through it.

Su Lun estimated that even a ninth-order spatial professional might not be able to penetrate it. He certainly couldn't do it.

But fortunately, there were external objects to assist him.

At this time, he took out a large piece of spatial treasure—the [Fragmented Plane Crystal Source].

This was a treasure as precious as the [Sand of Time] in Su Lun's hands, and he was reluctant to use it on ordinary days.

Now it was just right to use it here.

With a formula incantation, a steady stream of dark spiritual power poured into the array.

A black light flourished, and the space in the warehouse vibrated violently.

Su Lun looked at the increasingly clear coordinates in front of him and stepped into it without hesitation.

The scenery around him changed, and he had already arrived in a very special independent space.

...

"I'm in!"

A hint of joy appeared in Su Lun's eyes.

However, he didn't dare to be careless. He released his senses with all his strength, and the Eyes of Omniscience were also looking around everywhere.

The first time, he didn't feel any spiritual fluctuations, nor did he see any dangerous prompts. Su Lun breathed a sigh of relief.

He could breathe normally, and no toxic components were identified.

Looking around again, he saw that there were bookshelves filled to the brim.

Yes!

Floating in the air!

This folded space, like his small void realm, had no gravity.

Su Lun was shocked by the scene before him.

Long-lasting magic lamps spilled orange light, illuminating the entire space.

The material of the bookshelves was the precious mahogany of the Royal Library, engraved with reliefs representing the Luying Royal Family's "Golden Lion and Unicorn Holy Cross."

The bookshelves were custom-made, each with twenty rows, each row holding about a hundred books, with two thousand books per shelf.

And the bookshelves in sight numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

They floated in this void, like stars in the sky, so many that Su Lun was dazzled.

There were hundreds of millions of books.

And probably because no one had organized them for hundreds of years, those books that had been copied later hadn't been placed on the shelves, but were all floating in the space.

*Zabil's Alchemy Collection*, *Philosopher's Assembly*, *Supernatural and Mysterious Things*, *On the Essence of All Things*, *Book of Creation Secrets*...

Su Lun glanced at them and saw many well-known great alchemist books.

Many of them were those that Su Lun had seen during his visit to the Royal Library.

Ancient books, notes, manuscripts... everything was there!

Just then, a gilt book called *Book of Mysteries* floated in front of him. He took it out and saw that it was densely filled with complete text.

"So it really completely copied all the books in the Royal Academy Library. No wonder it's called the 'Mirror Library'..."

Su Lun looked at the floating bookshelves in front of him, and hadn't been so excited for a long time.

Although he didn't know how this "automatic copying" was done, one word - awesome - was enough!

However, in an instant, he thought of a problem: "So many bookshelves, inserting them into the small void realm one by one, how long will it take to collect them all?"

Su Lun thought of what Mr. Black had said, that the Mirror Library not only had books, but was also a royal treasure house.

It held the "divine restricted items" collected by the royal family.

...

In a large empire with a noble power system, the phenomenon of hoarding treasures was very obvious.

As long as it was within the empire, almost all the good things eventually fell into the hands of the feudal lords.

And most of all, the royal family.

Nobles were like magnets, collecting treasures in their hands.

Especially those advanced, rare, and top-level alchemy materials that low-level professionals couldn't use were almost all in the hands of the royal family and top nobles!

Thinking of this, Su Lun wasn't in a hurry to manage those books. Instead, he carefully observed while drifting towards those bookshelves.

This folded space wasn't too big. It looked about the same size as Su Lun's current small void realm.

After bypassing a pile of bookshelves, Su Lun found in the center of the space a platform with gold railings, like an altar.

There were some strange things on the platform.

Only six pieces were left.

Some places were empty, as if something had been taken away.

But except for something that looked like a drawing, the others were sealed.

This wasn't an anti-theft seal restriction.

It was to prevent the cursed properties of those things that Su Lun looked at and saw were all "****" unknown information from leaking.

"This... this is a fortune!"

Su Lun stood there in place for a long time, the shock in his eyes not disappearing.

He had the Eyes of Omniscience, and at a glance, he knew what level of treasures these were.

If the joy of seeing those bookshelves earlier was like a flood, erupting like a dam bursting.

Then looking at these treasures now was like a monstrous tsunami, completely submerging all emotions.

Su Lun didn't suppress the surging joy in his heart.

Because the treasures in front of him were indeed worth being overjoyed about.

There was a nine-pointed star array on the platform, and there were two items in the center of the array.

It was these two items that had created this special space.

[Eleventh Universal Source Material - Myriad Aspects]

Details: A crystal containing the *** laws, one of the ultimate products of the alchemical principle of equivalent exchange; it is the core of the array that copies books in the Mirror Library. With enough energy, it can be used to copy anything that doesn't exceed the material's own law level;

[A Fragmented Manifestation of a Plane]

Details: A broken plane space; the spatial material that maintains the Mirror Library; can expand the plane;

"So the Royal Library's books are copied by this!"

Su Lun saw the two treasures above the alchemy array and suddenly understood.

That piece of space fragment was understandable.

But that [Universal Source Material] had a string of asterisks. He looked at the information he identified and only knew that this thing had the function of a "copier."

Su Lun turned his eyes to the other items.

[A Sealed Black Iron Coffin]

Details: The coffin is engraved with ninth-order sealing runes; it exudes terrifying and incomprehensible energy and is extremely dangerous;

[Dwarf Race Battle Angel Gold Wings (incomplete)]

Details: A part of the 'Battle Angel' forged by the mechanical Protoss for the Dwarven God General in ancient times; even if it is broken, it still retains divine power and has extraordinary combat effectiveness; damaged state, needs to be repaired;

[Energy Core of a Goblin Sky Fortress]

Details: A complete energy core of a sky steel fortress; the ancient goblin race sealed a small vein core inside it, which can provide a continuous heat source for billions of years;

Su Lun frowned slightly as he looked at these three things.

Because they were too high-end, it seemed that he couldn't use them.

The coffin was engraved with a huge human face. The face had three eyes, and the vertical pupil in the center of the eyebrows looked very evil.

"It seems like an alien race?"

When Su Lun looked over, it was as if living eyes were staring at him.

Just by looking at the magic patterns on it, he guessed that it didn't seem to be something from an alchemy civilization.

Back then, the great alchemists of the Dawn Era fought in all directions and plundered resources, leaving behind too many things in the alchemy plane that people in the modern era couldn't understand.

And this black coffin was probably left behind at that time.

Few people could come into contact with the concept of "divine restricted items." It could be understood as something involving gods.

Su Lun vaguely suspected that the coffin was sealed with the corpse of a god?

The seal was very tight, and it wouldn't be a big problem if he didn't touch it.

Su Lun didn't want to pay attention to it.

As for the other two items, a pair of golden wings and a red glass bead like the sun, the words identified were understandable at a glance.

They were all extremely high-level things.

After identifying the other five items, Su Lun turned his attention to the last item, which was the drawing-like item.

As he approached and focused his eyes, he immediately saw the dense mechanical design patterns on the drawing.

[Sky Fortress Drawings]

Details: A technological product of the advanced goblin civilization of the ancient era, a mechanical city that can float in the sky;

"It's actually the original drawings of that airship?!"

The moment Su Lun saw the contents of the drawing, he immediately realized what it was.

The "Gusmao Airship" that he and Sabina had gone to at the Full Moon Ball was just made from this drawing.

However, on closer inspection, Su Lun discovered that the design on this drawing was thousands of times more complicated than that airship.

Su Lun himself was proficient in mechanics, and when he saw those designs that made his own scalp tingle, he immediately guessed, "It should be a part of what Luying's existing technology can make, so they created the 'Gusmao Airship.'"

Because the technology was not advanced enough hundreds of years ago, it was sealed.

Now, after so many years of secret research and development, they had created that "Gusmao Airship" that had been simplified too much.

But that behemoth was already a mechanical miracle of today's civilization.

Because this drawing was the only thing that wasn't sealed, Su Lun looked at it carefully.

As he looked, he was immediately impressed by the technological level of the ancient advanced goblin civilization.

To really break down the technology, this one drawing could be divided into at least several thousand types of top-level mechanical technology.

As expected, in this world with endless history, archaeology would discover many treasures beyond the era.

Civilization always flourishes and declines, and rises again after decline...

Su Lun glanced at it and had already determined that Luying Empire's current technology couldn't completely build this mechanical city.

Maybe Martha could?

Su Lun looked at the [Energy Core of the Goblin Sky Fortress], the small red ball beside him, and narrowed his eyes slightly.

To make that super-large mechanical city take off, mechanical level was one thing, but the energy consumed was truly terrifying.

The steam machinery of the two major empires in the current stage was large because the energy supply required super-large steam boilers to drive those big guys.

And the sky castle required a huge energy supply from a limited volume energy system, and the difficulty of the technology and law level involved was unimaginable.

Su Lun didn't think that alchemists below the divine level could create such complex things.

But now, there happened to be a finished product here.

This also made Su Lun inexplicably look forward to it, thinking, "The current Bonapart Royal Family should have a copy of this drawing. But this energy core is probably the only one in the entire plane. If it can be built, it might be good to use it as a camp for the Dawn organization in the future, so it can fly around and at least not be restricted by the two major empires..."