The Ninth Level

Although he knew that this was a dream, the magnificence of this tower still exceeded Ebner's imagination! Just the height alone made it hard for anyone to look at it with wonder. Even those skyscrapers that were hundreds of meters tall in his previous life were insignificant in front of this tower.

"This is really tall!" When she came close, Xio, who was only 1.5 meters tall, tried her best to raise her neck, but she couldn't even see the bottom of the tower. All she could see was the black fog swirling around the center of the tower… As for the top of the tower, it was right in front of her. After all, the tower was inverted.

However, even the relatively thin top of the pagoda had a diameter of more than ten kilometers. Looking at it from afar, one could vaguely see other entrances. However, the areas at each entrance were independent of each other, and there was a mysterious force separating them.

"Every Dream Gate leads to the corresponding entrance, so we don't encounter any supernatural beings who enter through other doors in the maze. At least, the first three levels are like this," Mr. Gaston explained.

Then, there might be Players fighting against monsters on the later levels? Ebner increasingly felt that this Dream Maze Tower was created by Emperor Roselle.

After entering the entrance and determining that the three of them were in a party state, Ebner felt his vision blur, and then he was inside a house.

He looked around and realized that it was a four-bedroom apartment with two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a storage room. Don't ask him how he knew so much about it, because there was a blueprint of the room hanging on the wall. As for the furniture in the room, it seemed a little old and had a rich Intis style.

At this moment, a line of words written in Hermes seemed to float in front of his eyes. "Open the combination lock and leave the house from the gate."

At the same time, the fireplaces in every corner of the room suddenly opened, and faint flames flashed from within.

"This is probably the scenario where we find clues to certain numbers in the room and then deduce the password to unlock the door before leaving. These fireplaces should be the difficulty of forming a team. As time passes, the temperature will increase, and we will gradually dehydrate." Mr. Gaston was someone who had cleared the ninth level several times, so he quickly analyzed the key to the problem.

So the mystic realm drawn on this level was a time-limited version of the 'secret chamber escape'… Ebner also understood the current situation. He frowned and asked, "Can you directly destroy the door lock and leave?" This wasn't difficult for Beyonders.

"If you were a locksmith, you might be able to… But brute force won't work because the first three levels of this tower greatly suppress Beyonder powers, and the ninth level seals almost all Beyonder powers. Of course, Beyonder items are the same!" Mr. Gaston answered helplessly. If Beyonder's items were useful, why would he spend money to hire a detective? Even if he trusted the detective.

Xio also frowned. Having been half an Arbiter since birth, she wasn't used to not having Beyonder powers. However, she still took a few steps to the door. After carefully examining the door lock formed from countless gears and bearings, she shook her head at Ebner and said, "It's a very complicated mechanical password lock. If my Arbiter's powers were still present, I might be able to forcefully dismantle it, but not now." She had already felt her body's weakness and didn't make any pointless attempts.

"Alright, let's see the detective's performance now!" Mr. Gaston looked at Ebner, waiting to see if his money was worth it.

Ebner didn't answer. Instead, he activated the Eye of Pure White and looked straight at the door lock. After digesting the Psychoanalytic student potion, his control over the Eye of Pure White became stronger. At the very least, he could forcefully specify the specific target of the analysis. Otherwise, he wouldn't dare to open his eyes in this extremely mysterious maze of dreams. Who knew what he would figure out?

About three seconds later, Ebner completed the analysis. He closed his eyes and said to Xio, "Try these numbers." Then, he reported a series of numbers that were as long as 15.

"From the looks of it, the level of the Eye of Pure White is even higher than this Dream Maze Tower. The tower's ability cannot block it!"

While Ebner was still thinking about the problem of his gold fingers, Mr. Gaston, who had been waiting for him to investigate, was stunned. He had no idea what had just happened.

As for Xio, she was deeply moved by the fact that Ebner had 'suddenly found out. She didn't doubt it at all and directly tapped on the password.

Following that, the door of the house slowly opened.

Seeing this, Mr. Gaston was dumbfounded for a long time. After Ebner started to urge him, he asked in disbelief, "How did you do it?"

Ebner adjusted his glasses as his thoughts wandered. What would happen if Mr. Fool, or Sherlock, faced this secret chamber? He would definitely use the excuse of going to the bathroom, then take four steps counterclockwise to enter the gray fog divination door's password. Finally, when he opened the door, he would say, "This is reasoning."

Thinking of this, Ebner could not help but feel like joking. He smiled at Mr. Gaston and said, "This is reasoning!"

"Reasoning?" Mr. Gaston suddenly felt that he did not recognize the word.

As for Xio, she couldn't help but pursue her lips and smile as she thought to herself, Ebner is beginning to fool people again.

After this brief interlude, the three of them left the room together. Following the changes in the surroundings, they entered a massive library that stretched as far as the eye could see. The library was neatly filled with rows of bookshelves, and the aura of knowledge was abnormally strong.

"This is between rewards. All the books on the shelves are protected by an unknown force and can't be taken away. We can only get the rewards." When Gaston said this, his serious expression became complicated for the first time. It was sometimes passionate and sometimes regretful.

"How do we get the reward?" Ebner asked after a brief examination.

"After you sit on those seats, the reward will automatically appear in your hands," Mr. Gaston replied as he pointed to a table and chair not far away. It seemed to be a seat prepared by ordinary libraries for people who read books.

Ebner nodded and took the lead to sit down. Then, a thread-bound book suddenly appeared in his hand. He subconsciously looked at the book titled "The Adventures of Gwen".

"What's this? A novel? Even if Mr. Gaston said that the reward for the ninth level is average, it's not that bad, is it?" With a confused thought, Ebner flipped through the book and roughly read through it. He discovered that the book was about the protagonist, Miss Gwen, exploring a strange cave and encountering many monsters inside. In the end, she even escaped from the mouth of the Dragon-Eyed Python and returned to the Sword and Fire Bar.

"Dragon-Eyed Python?" Ebner narrowed his eyes at the word. The eyeball of a Dragon-Eyed Python was one of the main ingredients of the Knowledge Keeper potion. It was obvious that such a thing was recorded in the novel.

From the looks of it, the reward is to provide information on the main ingredient of the potion… Mr. Gaston previously said that if I were to challenge the level too frequently, I would only be rewarded with the knowledge that I already know and information that is of no value… In other words, for someone like me who is here for the first time, will I be given the knowledge or valuable information that I want to know?

Abner thought for a moment and suppressed his excitement. He asked Mr. Gaston, who had finished reading the book, "Do you know about the Sword and Fire Bar?"

"It seems like you have obtained an important clue!" Mr. Gaston first looked at him in surprise before answering, "Of course I know. I'm the mastermind behind this bar. I still hold the Beyonder gatherings on the island regularly."

You're also passionate about hosting Beyonder gatherings? It's no wonder you're friends with Teacher… After lampooning inwardly, Ebner asked, "In that case, this bar hasn't been established for long?"

"Yes, I only discovered the school's underground door three years ago. After that, I worked hard to clear the maze while organizing a Beyonder gathering to sell some of the knowledge I obtained here." Mr. Gaston nodded.

In other words, the information in this novel was not outdated… Although this Dream Maze Tower had been established for at least a hundred years, it seemed to have the ability to continuously obtain new information and knowledge.

Ebner analyzed silently for a moment, then turned back to Xio. "Xio," he asked, "what valuable information have you got?"

Xio looked up in confusion when she heard that. She pursed her lips and said, "This is a romance novel. I've read it several times, but I didn't find anything useful."

"What did the novel say?" Since only the award-winning author could read the book, Ebner could only ask.

"It's a love story between a beautiful girl named Shermane and a nobleman. And worst of all, it's not finished yet. The story ends when Shermane becomes the noble's mistress… I have a nagging feeling that her future isn't going to end well." Xio briefly described the story and looked at Ebner in anticipation. She had a nagging feeling that he had 'found out' again.

Ebner did know what was going on, but there were too many angels and the King of Angels involved. He didn't dare say too much and could only ask, "What's that noble's name?" At the same time, he sighed inwardly. The information Xio wanted to know the most was indeed a clue to her father's murder.

"It's strange, but it does not have name because it's written in the first person's name. Miss Shermane has always been dear to that noble title." Xio was actually very curious about this detail.

That was because if he gave the name of a noble, the value of this information would probably exceed the limit of the ninth level's rewards…

Ebner didn't say it out loud. Instead, he said vaguely, "Perhaps you'll meet Miss Shermane in the future. You'll know what's going on then."

Xio nodded helplessly when she heard that and didn't harp on the matter.

After that, the three of them rested for a while before arriving at the other side of the reward room. There was a passageway leading to the next level there.

As to what knowledge Mr. Gaston had acquired, he did not say, nor did Ebner ask.

As the surrounding scenery changed, Ebner and the other two appeared in front of a mountain villa.