The Wizard of Truth: Starting with Analyzing All Things

News of Kyle's arrest spread like wildfire through the academy's lower levels. Unauthorized resale of workshop-controlled materials was a serious crime at Darkmoon Academy, punishable by expulsion from the academy and even execution. Panic gripped the Seventh Laboratory; Pip and Lina, especially, were terrified, fearing implication as they were closest to Kyle.

After the initial shock and anger, Lowe quickly calmed down. He first reassured Pip and Lina, telling them to continue their work as usual, not to ask questions, and not to talk about it. Then, he immediately began to use all his channels to gather information.

Barton and Lilith rushed to the scene upon hearing the news. Barton, leveraging his connections within the guard, quickly obtained some inside information.

"The situation is very bad." Barton's face was grave. "The enforcement team claims that during their raid on an underground black market location, they caught Kyle red-handed trading a significant quantity of purified 'Mind-Concentrating Incense' with an unidentified businessman. Furthermore, the enforcement team also found several bottles of high-grade meditation aids of unknown origin in Kyle's private locker, which are completely inconsistent with his publicly stated income."

"Purified concentrate of the Tranquilizing Incense?" Lilith frowned. "That's a material strictly controlled by the workshop, mainly used for making high-grade tranquilizing potions and certain soul-related experiments. Its leakage is indeed a grave sin. But Kyle… does he have the guts? And where did he get the means to purify so much of that concentrate?"

Luo Wei remained silent. The purification of the Concentrated Fragrance was one of the techniques he had previously tested in small batches at the Seventh Lab to verify and optimize the process; its efficiency was far superior to traditional methods. Besides himself, only Kyle, Pip, and Lina knew about this. Pip and Lina lacked the ability and motive to leak it, so…

Was Kyle driven by greed, secretly using his optimized technology to refine and resell large quantities of the product? Or... was someone deliberately setting a trap and taking advantage of this?

"Who's in charge of the enforcement team?" Rowe asked.

"It's 'Viper' Quincy." Barton said with disgust. "That guy is notoriously ruthless, he'll do anything for credit, and... I've heard he's very close to the Grey Tower."

Quincy? Grey Tower?

A cold glint flashed in Luo Wei's eyes. The clues seemed to be connecting. This was very likely a conspiracy targeting him, or at least using this as a pretext to attack the forces around him! Kyle had become an innocent bystander, or perhaps he himself had been exploited because of some incriminating evidence.

"I'm going to see Kyle," Rowe suddenly said.

"What?" Barton and Lilith were both taken aback. "Love, the situation is unclear right now. If you intervene rashly, you could easily get yourself involved! Quincy is just looking for something to use against you!"

"I know," Lowe said calmly, but his eyes were firm. "But Kyle was arrested because of the Seventh Laboratory, and the 'changes' in the Seventh Laboratory originated with me. I can't pretend nothing happened. Besides, there are some things I need to confirm myself."

He needed to know whether Kyle was framed or genuinely involved. This would determine his subsequent actions.

Leveraging his current reputation and status as an apprentice of Master Field, he went through considerable trouble to finally gain a brief opportunity to visit Kyle under the supervision of the enforcement team.

In the dark, damp makeshift cell, Kyle Greyfeather huddled in a corner. His once-neat robes were now tattered, his face was bruised, and his eyes were unfocused, filled with fear and despair. Seeing Rowe enter, he clung to the bars like a lifeline, lunging forward.

"Love! Love, save me! I've been framed! I didn't sell those things! Someone forced me! They..." he cried incoherently.

"Calm down, Kyle." Rowe's voice carried a barely perceptible fluctuation of mental energy as he used the subtle influence of the "Heart of Analysis" mark to try to calm Kyle down. "Tell me everything you know, from beginning to end, in detail."

Guided by Loewy, Kyle recounted the events in fits and starts. A few days earlier, a mysterious man approached him, presenting evidence that he had embezzled a small amount of public funds to curry favor with a certain butler. The man threatened him, demanding that he cooperate and regularly supply a batch of "high-quality" concentrated incense extract, or he would be reported. Kyle was timid and reluctant to give up his rising status thanks to Loewy, so he reluctantly took advantage of Loewy's absence to secretly use Loewy's optimized method to purify a small batch, intending to get away with it. Unexpectedly, this transaction was "coincidentally" caught red-handed by the enforcement team.

"That person... he was wearing a mask, and his voice was altered... but I felt... he was very familiar with the academy, and... he mentioned... 'Things that shouldn't exist shouldn't exist'..." Kyle said, trembling.

Something that shouldn't be there? Does it refer to his optimized processing technology? Or to Luo Wei himself?

Lowe was pretty sure this was a trap set against him. The other side had exploited Kyle's weaknesses and greed to set a snare, likely with the aim of killing two birds with one stone—eliminating Kyle, who might know some inside information, and damaging Lowe's reputation, possibly even luring him into action and thus finding an excuse to deal with him.

"What about those advanced meditation potions?" Rowe pressed.

"Th-those weren't hidden by me!" Kyle vehemently denied. "The law enforcement team found them at the bottom of my closet during their search! I had no idea these things were there!"

It was a frame-up! It really was a frame-up!

Lowe sneered inwardly. The method wasn't particularly clever, but it was ruthless enough. Caught red-handed, with "conclusive" physical evidence, Kyle would have a very difficult time recovering.

"Love...you must save me...for the sake of how I took care of you before..." Kyle pleaded desperately.

Looking at his former senior, who had once been somewhat cunning but had treated him fairly well, now reduced to this state, Luo Wei felt a mix of emotions. Kyle was wrong—he was greedy and cowardly—but his crimes didn't warrant death, much less becoming a victim of power struggles.

To save or not to save?

Rescue means he has to confront the law enforcement team's "ironclad evidence" head-on, fight against the Gray Tower and even deeper forces behind it, and completely expose himself to the storm.

If Kyle is not saved, he will likely be severely punished, and Lowe will be labeled as "cold-blooded" and "unable to protect even those around him." With his supporters scattered, he will face great difficulties in the academy in the future.

Without much hesitation, Lowe made his decision.

He looked at Kyle, his gaze calm yet firm: "Senior Kyle, I will do my best. But you need to tell me all the details, including your embezzlement of public funds, and who you suspect the person threatening you might be. Don't hide anything."

Kyle, as if grasping at a last straw, nodded hastily and told him everything he knew.

Leaving the cell, Luo Wei felt even heavier, but also clearer. The enemy had already made their move; he could not back down.

He found Barton and Lilith and told them his judgment and decision.

"Are you crazy?!" Barton roared. "That's the enforcement team! The evidence is overwhelming! How do you think you can fight Quincy? He might have the Gray Tower backing him, or even members of the enforcement elders supporting him!"

"I know it's difficult," Rowe said, looking at them. "But some things can't be avoided just because they're difficult. Kyle is wrong, but not to this extent. More importantly, this is aimed at me. If I back down, next time it might be Pip's turn, Lena's turn, or even your turn."

Barton and Lilith fell silent. They knew Rowe was right. The struggles within the Academy were indeed this brutal.

"What do you need us to do?" Lilith asked first, her eyes resolute.

"Yeah, Rowe, you say it! We'll get through this together!" Barton patted his chest heavily.

Looking at his two comrades who had gone through life and death together, Luo Wei felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He quickly revealed his plan:

"Barton, you have a wide network of connections. Try to find out the source of that so-called 'stolen goods,' especially those bottles of advanced meditation potions. See if you can trace their origin. Also, keep an eye on Quincy and his men's recent movements."

"Lilith, you're a pharmacology genius, and you know the most about materials and the market. I need you to help me analyze the batch of Concentration Fragrance essence that Kyle secretly purified. Is there anything unique about its purity and quality? Can we trace it back to the specific processing method?"

"And I," a sharp glint flashed in Lowe's eyes, "am going to 'visit' that 'Viper' Quincy, to see just how solid his 'ironclad evidence' really is!"

He will use his newly acquired enhanced abilities—"Heart of Analysis" and "Eye of Insight"—to confront the core of this conspiracy!

He wanted to let those hiding in the shadows know that he, Luo Wei, was not a pushover to be manipulated!

If you want to touch the people around him, you have to ask him for his permission first!

A battle revolving around "ironclad evidence" and "human nature" has quietly begun. The outcome of this battle will directly affect Luo Wei's future standing at Darkmoon Academy.