Although both are underground, compared to the remains of the Blind Eye Association that was visited before, the new generation of inheritors clearly lacks some style.

The spiraling stairs descend for a long way, but the entire journey is industrial-themed to the max, with no distinctive decorations, like a seemingly endless long road.

Yet even on such a path, Fu Qian’s footsteps remain as if on a pilgrimage, showing not a trace of hesitation throughout.

"Is it them?"

And when the crisp sound of footsteps suddenly halted, Fu Qian turned his head to confirm with Ice.

At the end of the long staircase was a metal door in an entirely consistent style.

Although it looked quite solid, it was not closed at the moment, and through the narrow opening, there stood two figures quietly behind the door.

A man and a woman, both donning robes similar to Ice’s.

The man seemed to be in his twenties and was very tall.

While the girl, in comparison, looked about the same age as the character Fu Qian was playing, her face slightly pale, with long hair that was somewhat dry and yellow, seemingly from malnutrition.

And both of them had obviously noticed the commotion outside, at that moment looking over together, especially scrutinizing Fu Qian who was walking at the front.

"Yes, they’ve been waiting for you for a long time."

As Ice caught up two steps, she casually opened the door further, signaling Fu Qian to enter.

"I’m really sorry, though I’ve been trying to hurry."

Easily yielding, Fu Qian walked straight to the two who were also newcomers, under a lot of scrutinizing gazes, expressing his apology with little emotion.

...

Though it was heard clearly, Fu Qian’s apology was clearly devoid of much emotional investment, to which the two waiting behind the door frowned, with strange expressions.

"Don’t worry, strictly speaking, they’ve been waiting for a third person for a long time."

Ice, however, did not seem to mind, and without waiting for the two to voice their opinions, she explained with a smile.

"The Workshop requires groups of three to enter, then they rely on their talents to acquire weapons."

"After passing the assessment, they’ve been waiting for a third person to appear, from that perspective, what you brought is actually a surprise."

"The summon was received just today during the day, in our original estimation, it would have taken at least a few more days to see results."

Looking Fu Qian up and down, Ice’s exclamation appeared quite sincere.

"After all, some people hesitate for several days just to make a decision."

"Oh, is that so... then there’s no need to thank me."

In response to a compliment, Fu Qian actually responded casually in a humble manner.

In the field of view, the two other graduates, who already had complex expressions because of Ice’s description, looked even more perplexed for a moment.

Ultimately, their display of really responding to Fu Qian’s call made saying the word "thank you" completely impossible.

At the first moment of the team’s gathering, the atmosphere successfully became tense — much like the exploration task in the ruins before.

Ice certainly proved professional, always successfully guiding with just a few words.

Of course, this also indicated that the process of acquiring "weapons" next would not require too close team cooperation.

Amidst the admiration for Ice’s penchant, Fu Qian silently reached this conclusion.

...

"Hehe... now that everyone is finally here, let’s not continue to waste time."

Proving Fu Qian’s judgment correct, Ice didn’t even have the interest to introduce the team members, immediately indicating departure with a cheerful smile.

The sole consolation being that she at least considered the matter of the team attire, quickly indicating to the older gentleman, to help fetch a similar robe.

The clothing style wasn’t much affected by size, so much so that when Fu Qian frowned and put it on, it surprisingly fit him quite well.

Of course, out of the three, he undoubtedly still looked the least impressive.

Contrary to upstairs, the floor they were on had a considerable area, divided into individual spaces.

As they walked, identical metal doors came into view, consistent in size and shape, with no differences in spacing, marked only by numbers on the side.

Compared to a Workshop, it looked more like a warehouse that perfectly inherited a monotonous industrial style.

And from Fu Qian’s perspective, it was easy to notice that both the doors and the walls had undergone special processing.

Although incomparable to the box in Miss Yingzhu’s hand, it still had a certain perception isolation effect.

Building such a project in a place like this affirmed the judgment of Ice and her associates, each should indeed be quite well-off.

"Ahead is the place, I’ll open the door."

Amidst Fu Qian’s commendations, Ice’s voice broke the silence.

"Remember, once inside, don’t act on your own."

But compared to before, her tone suddenly became much more serious.

"What’s inside is beyond your imagination, even surpassing normal perception."

"So regardless of what you see, don’t speak, and don’t mess around; follow every step I say strictly, only then does the Workshop have a chance to successfully forge your ’weapon’. Understand?"

As she spoke, Ice’s gaze swept over the three faces, especially the newly arrived Fu Qian.

After a moment, she finally nodded with satisfaction and stood in front of one of the doors.

...

Indeed, something different.

Ice’s movements were still crisp, as the legendary Workshop door slowly opened, the scene behind it came into everyone’s view.

And once again, unlike the typical "smelting" imagined, behind the door was not a large working area, let alone any boiling high furnace, but rather another passageway.

Compared to outside, it was of course much narrower, almost enough for only one person to pass through, and given the absence of any light source, walking a few steps led to complete darkness.

At this point, the importance of advance mental preparation manifested itself.

Even though Ice, leading at the front, had no intention of pulling out any equipment to illuminate the way, the three-person team still did not have a single dropout, quietly standing at the back as required, following the narrow passage’s twists and turns.

Of course, even with all efforts to suppress it, the shift from excitement to puzzlement in the two team members was still clearly perceptible.

Resulting in this very darkness where vision no longer had meaning for them, yet they couldn’t help but glance left and right.

In contrast, with full middle-schooler vigor, Fu Qian was the only one maintaining the team’s cool, silently counting the steps with an unwavering gaze.

Admittedly, this did not hinder his admiration for the surrounding scene.

It’s believed that even the two team members could deduce that this overly convoluted passage was entirely cast from metal.

What interested Fu Qian was the discovery that he was very certain, unlike the outside doors, these materials were exactly the same as the box in Miss Yingzhu’s possession.

In other words, the team was currently walking into a much larger box.