Slytherin's Laboratory

Ivan felt his body grow cold at the sight of the basilisk's bulb-sized eyes.

Fortunately, it showed no signs of petrification, and the Bloodline Magic Unicorn's Shadow was unaffected.

This confirmed his earlier suspicions…

Even so, Ivan did not relax, as the giant basilisk slithered towards him, its cold breath making him gag.

The basilisk opened its fanged mouth, but did not attack. Instead, it fixed its eyes on the owl, which was lying on the ground and cooing.

"Ssss ~ (Hungry… eat! You… give… mine?)"

Before Ivan could reply, the basilisk opened its mouth wide and tore the two owls apart, swallowing them whole.

Ivan, who had witnessed everything through his Patronus, winced. The rooster he had come to deal with the basilisk was dead…

To Ivan's slight relief, the basilisk had no intention of attacking him directly.

This meant that the two parties could communicate.

With that in mind, Ivan followed the basilisk's whisper.

"Yes, this is the present I brought you…"

"Do you know where the Slytherin Study is, where your master used to go when he was here?" Ivan added.

"Eat… not enough! Hungry…" The basilisk ignored Ivan's words and coiled its huge body around him, spinning restlessly, its bulb-sized eyes fixed on him and its tongue flicking out to test his scent.

Yvonne tensed again.

At the same time, Ivan was frustrated. Why did this basilisk act like a foodie? Was it always like this when it was summoned?

Then how did Tom Riddle feed the other party after opening the Chamber of Secrets so many times?

Ivan was worried that the basilisk would be so hungry that it would consider attacking him, and he thought of the information he had found in the Restricted Section before coming to the Chamber of Secrets.

It shows that Basilisk recipes are varied, with mammals, birds, reptiles and insects eating almost anything, but the favourite food is spiders…

Ivan had an idea.

"You tell me where it is? Next time I come, I'll take you to eat an Acromantula!"

"Eight-Eyed…Giant Spider?" the basilisk whispered, flicking its tongue.

It didn't know what an Acromantula was, but from Ivan's expression, it was a very large spider, which should satisfy its appetite.

This particular term reminded the basilisk of the last time it woke up, when it smelled something in the castle that it was sure must be a delicious spider.

Unfortunately, shortly after, the man who had driven it forcibly ordered it to sleep…

Noticing the basilisk's reaction, Ivan composed himself and spoke again. "It's a very special kind of spider. It's very large, and I'm sure you'll like it! As for now, you should take me to your master's study!"

"Eat… the Acromantula!" the basilisk whispered, weighing the pros and cons before suddenly turning around and meandering back in the direction it came from, as if trying to return to its nest.

Yvonne wondered why he had suddenly fled.

Ivan, however, soon thought of another possibility and grabbed the basilisk by the tail, forcing it to carry him up.

The basilisk allowed Ivan to enter through the statue's gaping mouth and glide down the passage.

Ivan, lying on the basilisk's tail, followed the basilisk into the statue, the Unicorn's Shadow surrounding him, illuminating the surroundings…

It did not take long for Ivan to find himself in a large area, presumably the lair of the basilisk, which had not been cared for for for some time.

The walls were covered with murals of various magical creatures, the last of which depicted a basilisk.

When the real basilisk brought him in again, it hovered in the corner and moved aside to reveal a door that was covered in mysterious runes and had a large serpentine mark in the middle.

On either side of the door were two stone guards, their swords crossed in front of them, sealing off the entrance.

Yvonne suddenly understood. That was where he was looking.

"Hail to the great forerunner, Salazar Slytherin!" Ivan tried to read the "key" the system had given him.

Rumble ~

The two stone guards sprang into action, drawing back their weapons and pulling the doors open. They then lowered themselves to their knees, as if they were servants greeting their master.

Yvonne grumbled about Salazar Slytherin's penchant for convoluted rituals…

As soon as they entered the room, they were greeted by a sea of light, as well as a ceiling full of glowing witch lights. Perhaps the room had been set up to automatically switch on any spell that detected intruders, as it had been in effect for over a thousand years.

The basilisk, on the other hand, stayed out of sight and did not dare to come in, perhaps because Slytherin had ordered it to do so in the past.

This caused Ivan to open his eyes in relief, and he removed his Patronus. It always felt strange when one's vision was out of sync with their body.

Bang!

Yvonne was walking when she realized that she had stepped on something. She stopped and picked it up, only to find several yellowed, crumpled pages.

It was called a page, but it was actually made of an unknown substance. It had the texture of licorice and felt vaguely familiar to Ivan.

Ivan's face darkened as he read the letter.

"Tom, you really are a liar!" Ivan said through gritted teeth. He was pretty sure that this was the missing page from Bloodline Origin.

Tom had been trying to trick him into believing that Dumbledore had stolen it.

And on these missing pages, just as Ivan had originally expected, was recorded the method to fuse bloodlines, which was the bloodline fusion potion formula rewarded by the school year system.

"As I suspected, I was right."

Ivan was not surprised. When he found out that Salazar Slytherin was the one who wrote The Origin of Blood, he guessed that the System's reward for him was not an invention, but something that was already there.

In addition to these, the missing pages detailed the existence of the Chamber of Secrets and how to access it.

It seemed, Ivan reflected, that Tom's words to him were not entirely untrue.

It is likely that Tom found a clue left behind by Slytherin somewhere in the castle, found this copy of Bloodline Origin, and followed the clues to the Chamber of Secrets…