Grabbing Books

Before the scholars arrived, Huangyi had already left the library.

He reappeared in a narrow alley near the library.

“Forbidden Fruit, is your true form also suspended in midair, shackled by iron chains so you can’t move?”

The Forbidden Fruit Bestiary thought for a moment before responding:

“Those aren’t iron chains, they’re rune chains. I haven’t reached the level of the Withering Verses yet, so I only have two rune chains.”

“So, you’re saying you’re weaker?”

“If we’re talking about combat power, all books are pretty much on par. The difference lies in the scope of the content we carry.

My name is straightforward—I mainly catalog fruits, specifically forbidden fruits, which is a third-level subcategory under ‘Plants—Fruits—Forbidden Fruits.’

The Withering Verses is different; it covers the entire lifecycle of all plants, including their withering and flourishing, as well as the rotation of the seasons. Its scope is much broader.

You can tell how important the library is just by where these books are sealed. Books stored here start at the outline-level, first-tier parent categories.”

Huangyi pondered and concluded, “So you’re basically weak, Forbidden Fruit? Just a small-time nobody among the strange books?”

The Forbidden Fruit Bestiary immediately bristled and retorted loudly, “Not at all! If I weren’t powerful, how could I be good friends with the Withering Verses?

It’s not about the breadth of content alone; depth matters too. Those like me, who record ‘Mystery’ content, are the real hidden heavyweights!”

“Then why weren’t you sealed in the library? And why do you have two fewer chains?”

The Forbidden Fruit Bestiary wasn’t annoyed; instead, it became smug:

“Heh, because I’m more dangerous and need to be sealed somewhere with tighter security.”

Huangyi felt a bad premonition because the next half hour was planned to be spent at the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary’s true form.

“Where are you sealed?”

“Underneath the Sealed Books Guild Alliance building.”

Huangyi: ……

In a city, if there’s any place harder to breach than the government headquarters, it has to be the Guild Alliance building.

The Guild Alliance is the city’s most powerful armed organization.

Ten minutes later.

Sealed Books Guild Alliance building.

At this moment, alarms blared throughout the entire building. Mysterious figures rushed out of their rooms, chaos erupting everywhere.

No one expected someone to be bold enough to stir up trouble inside the Guild Alliance building.

The Guild Alliance president is a middle-aged woman surnamed Yu, codename Geometry Jailer. She is also one of the Six Great Scholars.

President Yu wore a white scholar’s robe, gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose. Her robe was decorated with various triangular, circular, and polygonal line patterns.

“Have you identified the intruder?”

“President, the intruder appears to be made of light points, wearing old yellow clothes. There’s no record of this person.”

“Which direction did they come from?”

“They bypassed our defensive array and teleported underground. Their target is presumably the forbidden book’s true form.”

“Good, very good,” President Yu gritted her teeth. “Daring enough to use spatial techniques right under my nose? I’ll make sure you can enter but never leave.”

“With the president’s intervention, that’s inevitable.”

It wasn’t just subordinates flattering her—everyone present truly thought the same.

President Yu outwardly claimed to be a [Mystic] level 5, but everyone knew she was at least a [Mystic] level 6, a spatial mystic.

In her eyes, everything was composed of geometry. She could temporarily lock the “spatial geometric attributes” of a target, rendering them unable to move or transform. The more an opponent’s thinking relied on spatial awareness, the stronger the binding effect would be.

Of course, no matter how powerful she was, most people preferred to keep their distance from President Yu. She went through a dozen or so secretaries every year.

Because of the side effects of her [Mystic] abilities, President Yu insisted on living in an environment of extreme order and symmetry—in simple terms, she had obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Underground.

Huangyi stood before the core of the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary.

“I know you’re strong, but this chain of runes is the physical manifestation of knowledge. The more mysterious the sealed book, the more unbreakable the chain becomes. You can’t just shatter it outright—just like no one can instantly kill knowledge. You need to find the person in charge and force them to disable the related seals,” the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary explained.

*Crack.*

The chain in Huangyi’s hand shattered with a snap.

“What! Impossible! That chain contains conceptual power!” the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary exclaimed, jumping in surprise.

“What are you mumbling about? Can I leave now?” Huangyi had already snapped a second chain.

“Y-yes.”

The folding paper unfolded, but the spatial wormhole was blocked: “Someone has sealed off the surrounding space.”

Upon hearing this, two crescent moons appeared in Huangyi’s eyes, gazing toward the wormhole.

Two tangible-looking beams of sight pierced through the spatial ripples and looked on.

Above ground.

President Yu held her signature tools— a triangle ruler and a compass—gathering a large group of mystics to draw countless lines on the ground.

The entire floor and walls resembled giant blackboards covered in geometric formulas. Countless geometric shapes connected with one another, forming a terrifying sealing array.

This array wasn’t assembled on the spot; those present merely activated it. It had existed for hundreds of years.

The Alliance Headquarters had long ago been a massive mathematics library, where generations of mathematicians and geometers conducted research and calculations.

President Yu was pleased with the efficiency of those present: “Thank you all for your hard work. This time, this bold intruder won’t escape.”

The gathered mystics all wore relaxed expressions.

The reason for such a large-scale setup was that anyone daring to cause trouble in the Alliance and infiltrate underground was no ordinary mystic. Naturally, the regular mystics were nervous.

No sooner had President Yu finished speaking—

Two beams of sight disregarded all obstacles, emerging from beneath the ground.

These yellow beams pressed down on everyone present, making their bodies feel heavier by several times. Even their [Mystic] powers were invisibly suppressed.

What followed was a scene they would never forget.

Countless geometric shapes on the ground were bathed in yellow light, turning the same hue. Various straight and curved lines seemed to come alive, writhing on their own.

Yellow triangles, circles, right angles, and acute angles connected with one another, transforming from flat two-dimensional patterns into three-dimensional solid shapes. Amid the chaos, there seemed to be a certain logic to their beauty.

These lines and shapes gradually converged, pressing tightly together, sketching out the form of a "door."

Then, the "door" opened on its own.

A figure dressed in yellow, holding a book tucked under their arm, rose from below and stepped through the just-opened "door." Once they had completely disappeared inside, the door shut behind them.

The entire process was slow and deliberate.

Yet, including Chairman Yu, everyone remained silent and still—none of the mystics dared to even breathe heavily.

Only after the door closed and the yellow glow dissipated did many people’s legs give way, collapsing to the ground.

“Ch-Chairman… They took the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary,” someone finally spoke after several minutes.

Chairman Yu furrowed her brow. “I’m not blind. What, you want to go ask them to give it back?”

Everyone below shook their heads in unison.

As if! Go ask? You’d be risking your life for that. They didn’t even dare make a sound when leaving; if you want the book back, you’d better prepare your own death benefits first.

It wasn’t that the mystics lacked courage—it was that Huangyi was just too terrifying.

Huangyi single-handedly and instantly transformed the strength of everyone present, combined with the entire alliance’s centuries of accumulated power—not defeated, but transformed.

In other words, if Huangyi wished, everyone there would twist and contort into shapes like those geometric lines.

When a "mystic" advances three tiers upward, the phenomenon called “unbreakable” appears; when descending three tiers, that’s exactly what everyone was experiencing at that moment.

It took a long while for them to recover.

Chairman Yu issued orders: “Tonight’s events are under the highest-level gag order. Clean up the scene and check the situation underground.”

With that, she headed straight toward the Academy of Scholars.

Chen Miemie returned to the shop and exited Huangyi’s state.

Even though he was no longer Huangyi, the Forbidden Fruit Bestiary in his hand remained motionless.

Chen Miemie poked the book’s cover. “Why won’t you move?”

“I was startled by you. Now that I’m in my true form, even with the city’s restrictions, I’ll still exert a little passive power, doing my best to control myself.”

“No need to hold back. You won’t hurt me tonight.”

Forbidden Fruit Bestiary: “I’m not afraid of hurting you. I’m afraid of making you angry and getting hurt by you.”