"What has your device detected?" Ian couldn't understand the cryptic language appearing on the surface of the Secret-Peeping Prism Box, so he leaned forward to ask Nicolas Flamel.
"There's something peculiar..."
Nicolas Flamel didn't continue to guard against Ian.
He carefully deciphered the text.
His expression gradually turned puzzled and astonished.
"What's peculiar about it?" Ian was observing the entire structure of the device, underneath the glowing prism lay a very intricate mechanical apparatus. It resembled a gigantic vortex, woven from countless tiny gears, levers, and pipes, akin to a miniature mechanical labyrinth.
"I initially thought this was a Time Converter, but now it seems... something's off." Nicolas Flamel's expression grew more increasingly suspicious and uncertain.
He looked up towards the massive Big Ben, his cloudy yet sharp eyes filled with disbelief. "If my device and my judgment are correct, it isn't a Time Converter, but a Time Suspension Device... it can capture a segment of time and allow it to repeat endlessly."
Hearing this statement.
The first thing that came to Ian's mind was the time loop that Slytherin had tricked him into, although Slytherin's time loop also had a touch of destiny's might.
"Endlessly repeating the same time cycle? Like... repeating the same day?" Ian also felt a bit surprised, while Nicolas Flamel was visibly more baffled.
"No, no, no, it's different from what you're describing. This device functions by capturing a span of time and stitching the beginning and end together."
"Are you familiar with the Mobius Ring? It's essentially like that. Before this device was damaged, it might have been just a few months or just days, with no start or end... as if time was continually flowing, without reset, and those within the cycle would not experience a reset either."
"One year, two years, ten years, a hundred years, as long as this device continues to function, life within its range of influence and our perception of time would be no different."
"I find it hard to understand why there would be a need to recycle a segment of time like this. It's known that maintaining such an apparatus is no simple task."
Nicolas Flamel correct Ian's misconception thoroughly; his device and intellect were truly impressive, deciphering the essence of Big Ben in such a short time.
"Perhaps... to avoid a disaster?"
Ian felt that Nicolas Flamel might be right, as after hearing Flamel's explanation, he instantly thought of the cataclysmic Illusion Realm he had seen before the appearance of the tower.
"Hmm... keeping the disaster at bay before it arrives... there is indeed such a possibility... but has history recorded such significant events affecting a Wizard gathering place?"
"Ancient Babylon? Atlantis? Lemuria? I suppose you haven't left the United Kingdom during your holidays?" Nicolas Flamel's furrowed brow was turning into a deep frown.
"Uh... probably not?" Ian was at a loss for how to respond, as he couldn't pinpoint the location of the Misty Illusion Realm on a globe.
"..."
Nicolas Flamel was left speechless by Ian's answer.
He could only refocus his gaze on the damaged Big Ben.
"Perhaps we should repair this thing... if we can fix it, we might discover how long a period it captures, and possibly unveil which era it hails from."
Nicolas Flamel was clearly intrigued by the functionality of Big Ben, eager to learn which glorious wizarding civilization possessed the foundation to support the operation of such an Alchemy Creation.
"Your Magic Stones are probably used as the energy source to sustain this thing's operation." Nicolas Flamel's judgment carried a certain logic.
However.
Ian felt that perhaps things weren't as simple as Nicolas Flamel thought. In the Illusion Realm he had seen, the Magic Stone appeared to sustain the operation of the entire Mysterious Tower.
Big Ben was merely part of the Mysterious Tower.
"In any case, little one, tonight you've certainly given me one surprise after another. I think I genuinely share your curiosity to understand the tomb you unearthed."
Nicolas Flamel used a tool to pry open the surface of Big Ben. Upon seeing the intricate structure behind the clock face, his gaze fixed on the small and vacant Hourglass within.
"Sure enough, it's in even worse shape than the Time Converter Albus repaired for me. Not a grain of Hourglass Sand remains." Nicolas Flamel's tone carried a hint of disappointment.
"Is this the Hourglass Sand?" Ian stepped back to the front of the desk, looking at the fragmented trinket set aside, he picked it up and gently shook the grains inside.
The color was off.
But its texture and that peculiar "gravity" felt remarkably similar...
"Be cautious, the Hourglass Sand is probably scarce even within the Mysterious Affairs Department. If you lose this Hourglass Sand, we'll have to ask Albus and his friends to seek sponsorship from the Mysterious Affairs Department."
"I've even filled it with my private collection." Nicolas Flamel began dismantling the pipelines from Big Ben, looking up at Ian with a whispered reminder.