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Though the sun shone brightly in the sky, the temperature remained extremely low in this frigid land. The ice and snow showed no signs of melting, crunching underfoot with every step. The direction the group was headed confirmed their destination: the mage tower radiating an aura of evil.

As Fang Senyan approached, he could see that, strictly speaking, the structure couldn't truly be called a mage tower. Most of its building materials were of a deep black, solid rock. This material appeared incredibly sturdy, bearing obvious marks of axes and chisels, even hinting at a rough, unrefined grandeur.

Because of this, it could be called a fortress, a stronghold, with adjectives like "magnificent" or "impregnable" preceding it—but it had little to do with magic. Only the top floor showed mithril wires connecting the cracks in the walls, calcite used for spell conduction, protective runes etched in graphite lines, and separate, dedicated energy zones. Clearly, only the top floor deserved the title of "mage tower."

It was obvious that this tower was mostly built by orcs driven by Saruman's division—a massive undertaking. That these creatures, whose brains seemed filled with muscle, had managed this much was already an all-out effort; one couldn't ask for more. When Fang Senyan reached the tower's entrance, a particularly tall and strong orc emerged. His face was exceptionally fierce and savage, and he carried a massive bow and arrow on his back. The bow appeared crude, but a thin, watery light flowed over both the string and the bow's surface, clearly indicating it was no ordinary object.

The other orcs showed considerable fear toward this strong orc, splitting apart and retreating to the side. The tall orc glanced at Fang Senyan and asked, "Who is this?"

His voice, low and rumbling, contained a hint of a roar, indicating a considerable degree of anger. The watch chief, Gekolo, who was leading the way, hurriedly stepped forward. "Lord Lutz, the great envoy instructed me to bring him here."

Hearing the name Lutz, a thought flashed like lightning through Fang Senyan's mind: "This guy... could he actually be Lutz?" In the movie, Boromir, a crucial member of the Fellowship of the Ring—the son of the Steward, the commander of the Gondorian forces—died at the hands of this incredibly skilled archer. Even the elven prince Legolas was once blocked by him. His strength was evident. Judging by his current appearance, he was clearly trusted by Saruman's division.

Lutz said coldly, "Wait here."

He turned and walked inside. After a short while, he emerged and simply nodded at Fang Senyan, signaling him to enter. Clearly, orcs possessed far more intelligence than hobgoblins; they also spoke the common tongue of Middle-earth fluently.

The mage tower appeared small from the outside, but the interior space was quite large. As Fang Senyan followed Lutz, he felt as if he was constantly going upstairs and passing through doors. He committed everything he saw to memory in a rough manner, intending to slowly contemplate it later.

Their final destination was a laboratory filled with a pungent odor. Inside were large oak tables, test tubes, distillation equipment resembling joined glass spheres, various alcohol lamps, incubators, and more. The walls of the room were constructed from heavy stones, iron blocks, and other alloys, protected by a net of arcane energy. The inner walls were also protected by various elemental effects. It seemed that accidents and incidents occurred frequently here. Of course, Fang Senyan didn't recognize some of the magical mechanisms and experimental items.

Saruman's division was sitting in a chair, deep in thought. In front of him was a container holding a shard. Fang Senyan was quite familiar with this object; it was a piece of the cursed potion vial he'd thrown earlier to scare the orc guards. When the powerful mage looked up, Fang Senyan felt his gaze was like a sharp blade, wanting to dissect his internal organs. Clearly, the difference in strength between them was immense.

Not to mention Saruman's division, Lutz could kill Fang Senyan with a single arrow. Fang Senyan estimated that even with Jiao Shi, they could only, at most, kill the watch chief Gekolo, and that would require a one-on-one situation.

Fortunately, Fang Senyan and his team's initial goal in this world wasn't to kill or fight, but to delay and prolong their stay.

More importantly, Fang Senyan could return to the Nightmare Space at any time in this world. This was Fang Senyan's greatest advantage! Otherwise, he could see that this Saruman division was capricious and tyrannical. If his Tier 6 ability, Black Magic Concoction, was exposed, there was at least a 30-40% chance he would be killed on the spot! But with the ability to return at any time protecting him, Fang Senyan didn't have to bear too much of the consequences of failure. Of course, he was willing to take a gamble, because even if he lost, Jiao Shi would survive and continue the mission's timeline.

Seeing Lutz bringing Fang Senyan in, Saruman's division didn't look up. He continued to sit in the chair for a while before saying,

"My servant said that he discovered something very interesting, and has enough evidence to prove that he wasn't lying."

Having said that, the old Saruman division slowly stood up, his body hunched over. He coughed a few times, still speaking from his abdomen. His eyes were fixed on the glass shards on the table.

"I didn't believe it at first, so Mr. Gekolo was whipped three times for nothing, but because of his persistence, I didn't miss this very interesting item... or rather, evidence. Now, I will first reward Mr. Gekolo for his loyalty and wit. After that, please answer a few questions. If your answers don't satisfy me, or you're simply lying, then I'll have to cast the Memory Extraction spell." "This excellent spell can perfectly obtain most of the memories in your brain, and has only two side effects. The first side effect is that it will stir your brain into a paste thicker than red wine juice, and the second side effect is that the subject will suffer a very, very great deal of pain during this process"... you have ten seconds to consider my suggestion"一"Lutz, give Mr. Gekolo a barrel of strong wine and fifty pounds of meat, the kind with blood still on it."

Fang Senyan walked towards the table. Lutz's fierce eyes narrowed. Fang Senyan, however, calmly picked up a shard of glass and bowed slightly to Saruman's division, saying, "Advanced alchemical assistant, Sailor, pays his respects to you, great mage. My teacher has been committed to the research of biological weapons for several years. He always believed that the most powerful weapons are not forged, but grown; things that have self-repairing capabilities. So, he began tireless research on this point and has had some small gains." "I am a student who has inherited part of his insights." "Given that I have deeper theoretical knowledge, more nimble fingers, a clearer mind, richer work experience, and faster, stronger work efficiency than these orcs, I have reason to demand some delicious food, clean accommodation, and limited privileges." "Oh, please don't look at me with such eyes. Great mage, I am just a guy who is good at analyzing and thinking..." "This is also one of the weapons that an outstanding alchemical assistant must possess." "...This Mr. Lutz seems to be in a bad mood. There may be many reasons for a human to be in a bad mood, but for a simple orc, the only reason to be in a bad mood is the master's scolding. Looking at the corner of the wall, those large clumps of stains, and the small fragments of test tubes that haven't been swept away, it shows that your assistant is not competent. Of course, the reason I have enough courage to stand in front of you is because I have heard a saying more than once: a clever and efficient alchemical laboratory assistant is welcome everywhere."

Saruman's division said coldly, "If your real skills can catch up with half of your smooth-talking, then I can guarantee that your first two requests can be met. But before that, you have to tell me, who is your teacher?"

"Unfortunately," Fang Senyan shrugged his shoulders, "I can't say his name. Otherwise, the oath I swore will come true, and my head will explode with a bang, even worse than having Memory Extraction cast on me. Believe me, mage, a surviving sailor is more useful than a dead one."

Saruman's division was, of course, an old schemer. He only heard half of Fang Senyan's words, and he only believed half of what he heard. However, Fang Senyan had painstakingly infiltrated this mage tower, not expecting to move Saruman with just a few words. Smart people in this world often believe their eyes more than their ears.

Just as Fang Senyan was planning to pull out a bottle of mixed bear bile and fox blood potion to further gain Saruman's division's trust, he suddenly saw two orcs carrying in a dead snow bear. Blood flowed all over the ground. His eyes lit up, and he immediately shouted at the two orcs, "What are you two doing? Why didn't you block the snow bear's wound? The more blood it loses, the more it will affect the quality of the concoction!"

The orcs' brains were indeed missing a screw. Stunned by Fang Senyan's roar, they became somewhat flustered and actually intended to put the snow bear down to block the wound. Fang Senyan shouted, "Never mind, you two go get the knife and pliers from over there for me."