Above The Sky
Chapter 551 - 551 520 Anyway Freeload First 43

551: Chapter 520: Anyway, Freeload First (4/3) 551: Chapter 520: Anyway, Freeload First (4/3) “The Book of Silver Radiance is just placed here?

Easy as pie.”

Upon seeing this book’s label, Ian immediately started to scrutinize it earnestly—the sacred sacrificial rite book of the Naling Worship Dragon Mountain People was displayed right here, adjacent to the “Breaking Cocoon Rebirth” of the Icewind Valley Butterfly People, the “Charler’s Prayer (The War God of the Nomads)” of the Golden Plain Nomads, the “The Perfect Enemy” of the Worship Snake Cult, which once caused a great disturbance in the central region, and probably, a tome from Steep Ridge Fortress: “Daliga Divine Forge Proclamation.”

In any case, all these were trophies from when The Empire conquered and expanded throughout the lands in days past, carefully situated here—whether for research materials or commemoration, it was uncertain—but the protection they received was quite robust, many of the books appeared as new.

However, this did not prevent Ian from going up to touch one, subsequently replicating its contents.

Honestly, both Mo Feng and Count Phoenix understood Ian’s actions very well—by the grace of Embrace Light, how could a book lover resist the opportunity to touch these precious volumes?

Since there were protective inscriptions in place, a touch wouldn’t cause any wear, and browsing was no issue, but Ian didn’t overstep that boundary, so they saw no problem with it.

Only Hua’an noticed something amiss, Miss Fairy slightly furrowed her brow and murmured softly, “Every time this guy touches a book, his eyes flash with silver light—what exactly is his Spirit Energy?

It definitely cannot be some ordinary observation-based Spirit Energy!”

Of course, her murmuring was just that, and Hua’an didn’t care about what his Spirit Energy actually was; she was just a bit dissatisfied that Ian was keeping things from her… But who didn’t have secrets?

So it was enough; the Fae never delved too deep.

Ian initially felt that his mission was going exceedingly smoothly.

The Dragon Worship Cult hadn’t expressly asked him to retrieve the Book of Silver Radiance; knowing its location was enough—and he had accomplished just that.

However, as Ian reached out his hand and touched the volume that emitted a faint silver glow, he frowned slightly.

The young man turned his head to look at the old Earl engaged in a soft conversation with Mo Feng, prompting Count Phoenix to raise his head in slight surprise and ask, “What is it, Mr.

Ian?

Would you like to browse through that book?”

He smiled, a young man willing to ask for permission from his elders before acting was always welcome: “Go ahead, but don’t browse for too long; the protective inscriptions work for five minutes.

After five minutes, it must be put back to recharge the inscriptions for ten minutes before it can be read again.”

Apart from research times, the protective inscriptions in the collection room were not always active, causing trouble for those freeloaders who wanted to sneak a peek at the books’ contents—after all, you can only read for five minutes at a time, and disjointed reading means you might not be able to complete even a portion of a book in one day.

And those who attempt to extend their reading time would be noticed by the administrators and ejected from the Precious Solitary Tome Collection Room.

Ian’s odd expression wasn’t due to this issue, however; he picked up the Book of Silver Radiance, flipped through it several times, confirmed its contents, and then put it back in place.

“This must be a later imprint, isn’t it, Lord Earl?”

Staring at the bookshelf, he spoke with a hint of confusion: “Would there be imprints in the Precious Solitary Tome Collection Room?

Or could it be that the real Book of Silver Radiance has been taken for research, leaving a replica in its place?”

“Imprint?

Replica?!”

When Ian made these comments, he didn’t realize there was anything wrong; he simply detected that this book was indeed an imprint, although the content should be fine.

However, the energy contained within the whole book was that of an Iron Skin Ground Dragon’s Life Energy, not the power of the Ancient Dragons.

Although Ian did not know whether the Book of Silver Radiance originally harbored the Life Energy of the Qing Steel Dragon, one thing was clear—it shouldn’t be that of an Iron Skin Ground Dragon.

At the very least, it should be a bona fide dragon species, right?

But the discrepancy Ian sensed was perceived as the utmost insult by Count Phoenix.

In an instant—and honestly, even Ian could barely sense the moment the Earl utilized Origin Quality—the old man appeared before Ian, gently yet with a palpable urgency, extracted the Book of Silver Radiance from its protective case.

He earnestly flipped through the holy script of the Naling Worship Dragon Mountain People’s Sacrificial Rite.

The old man had committed to memory the contents of all the sole copy books during his many years of guardianship, even to the point where he could flawlessly recite every book word for word.

He was one hundred percent certain that the content of the Book of Silver Radiance was problem-free.

But just as Count Phoenix puzzledly lifted his head, preparing to ask Ian why he said that, suddenly, he felt something was amiss.

“Indeed, when I first picked up this book, I felt the might of the Ancient Dragons, almost making me bow down to the ground, and although my strength has greatly improved compared to the past, I still fall far short of the ancient gods of the Naling Mountain People’s dragons—its imposing presence shouldn’t be this weak…”

Count Phoenix murmured to himself, completely convinced by Ian’s theory of a ‘fake’…

But how could this be possible?

Who had the capability to secretly switch such an important ancient tome right under his nose?!

“Is it a trick of the Dragon Worship Cult?” the old earl narrowed his eyes, the crimson color of his pupils flaring with a golden-red blaze that exuded a formidable sense of oppression.

Ian didn’t speak.

He did not know who was responsible, but he was certain it wasn’t the Dragon Worship Cult—if the Cult had this capability, why would they need to hire him to investigate the matter?

“It’s a traitor!”

Clearly, Count Phoenix had also thought of this, and in that instant, the fury and Origin Quality oppression he unleashed caused the entire Imperial Capital Grand Library to sound an ‘invasion warning.’ The interior of the Grand Library lit up with dark red warning lights, but it wasn’t long before he used his own authority to turn off the invasion warning and replaced it with an orange ‘theft’ warning instead.

The library announced a lockdown, and soon after, over seventy members of the Book Guard Knights gathered around the collection room, while the staff looked on with fearful expressions, standing to one side—they already knew what had happened, the theft of the collection in the Precious Solitary Tome Collection Room.

This was no doubt regarded as negligence on the part of everyone present, and a pay cut or punishment was likely to be the least of their worries.

Those unimportant staff members would probably all be fired.

Who would want to take on the infamy of being fired for ‘irresponsibility’?

Moreover, working at the Imperial Capital Grand Library was so leisurely and comfortable, and it offered the chance to study the Empire’s knowledge treasury up close.

Count Phoenix was aware of this as well.

To him, it was a disgrace, and it was clear that if even he hadn’t noticed, these ordinary knights and staff would have had no chance of detecting the thief’s techniques—it was high-level theft within the library.

The question was, who could it be?

The old earl’s gaze swept across everyone present.

He was just about to pretend to lash out in anger to scare them, and then proceed with the formal investigation process.

But soon, his anger became genuinely real.

Because while Count Phoenix went out to scold the library guards and staff, Ian began to scan the books in the collection room at a rapid pace—after all, the Silver Chip could scan with a single touch, simply recording the text content, something even the old computers of his past life could manage, let alone the mysterious Core Chip using his brain’s computing power?

So, in such a short span of time.

He had found another eight ‘imprinted’ copies.

Of course, Ian wasn’t foolish enough to disclose them all.

Instead, after stepping outside, he quietly told Count Phoenix that he had noticed two more books that were amiss.

But that was enough to make Count Phoenix’s hair stand on end, turning golden with anger, one strand at a time.