Chapter 110: Cheese!

What puzzled Luo Qi was that Du Zhengyi seemed a bit absent-minded, not really taking what he said to heart.

Luo Qi grew anxious, "You probably don't know, but there are cameras everywhere now. It would be troublesome enough if they were looking for you, the one who acted bravely, not to mention that our actions must look incredibly strange. Two grown men wandering around a shopping mall like they were on patrol for an entire afternoon!"

Du Zhengyi made a gesture for him to relax, "Let's find a place with fewer people and leave here."

"But..." Luo Qi couldn't help but want to say, but he glanced around; there were collapsing people everywhere, medical personnel and police shuttling back and forth, and in the distance, reporters were impatiently holding up their cameras.

He lowered his head and followed Du Zhengyi toward an ambulance. He saw that the police cordon outside had already been set up, and there were police officers everywhere along the cordon; it was impossible to walk out like a human being without registering and being questioned.

The back door of the ambulance was wide open, and it just so happened that the first stretcher had just been carried out from the main entrance of the mall. Luo Qi only caught a rough glimpse of a person being carried on it before he dared not look any closer.

The medical personnel staying by the ambulance also swarmed up, professionally lifting the injured person into the vehicle. Everyone was working, and no one looked at them closely. They took the opportunity to walk to the space between the ambulance and the green belt in front of the mall entrance, where they performed Teleportation.

This time, Du Zhengyi didn't go too far either. After a moment of dizziness, Luo Qi found himself standing behind a bus stop sign across from the mall.

"Don't worry about the surveillance issue," Du Zhengyi said, looking across the street.

"Why?"

"Because the cameras are already broken, so there will be no video surveillance to check," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi looked at him in confusion.

"We have coexisted with humans for so long, we wouldn't fail to study human progress. Haven't you read 'A Discussion on the Impact of Lightning-Type Energy Fields on Human Electronic Components'?" Du Zhengyi asked him, equally confused.

"Why should I have read that?" Luo Qi said, puzzled. "I can't recall having that elective course. It must be a class from after the fourth year, right?"

"It's an introductory course for the first year; that paper is in the bibliography at the back of the textbook," Du Zhengyi said. "Aren't you very curious?"

"Thanks for the affirmation, but no normal person reads the bibliography of a textbook! Especially when the reference is a paper! Not even a book! Only you, Hermione!" Luo Qi shrieked in a low voice like a drama queen.

"Shut up," Du Zhengyi said with an unpleasant expression, "Illiterate!"

"Then tell me, how did you do it? Give me a remedial lesson, honor student," Luo Qi said, hugging his arms.

"Do you know that after a human nuclear bomb detonates, the electronic components nearby all fail?" Du Zhengyi said.

"Electromagnetic pulse?" Luo Qi said.

"Damn, why are you so clear about other people's stuff, but you don't understand your own?" Du Zhengyi said. "Lightning also frequently damages urban electronic equipment; our research had its breakthrough from there."

"Hmm..." Luo Qi pondered, "Humans also have research in this area. Wait, Chen Ritian and his friends once told a ghost story circulating about your family; could it be true?"

"What ghost story?" Du Zhengyi asked calmly, but Luo Qi could now read the trickery behind his calm face.

"A group of little idiots went to kick your wall, and ended up trapped in the hallway all night because they encountered a 'ghost wall,' and everyone's cell phones broke collectively," Luo Qi said. "You actually have such a twisted sense of humor! I knew you were extremely vengeful!"

Du Zhengyi played dumb, observing the situation across the street with a profound expression.

"You... why are you so hypocritical! Wait, do you mean that from the moment we walked into the mall at noon today, the mall's cameras were broken?" Luo Qi exclaimed.

"Then do you have any other way to avoid the cameras?" Du Zhengyi asked indifferently.

"I didn't even notice your movements. Damn, you use energy as naturally as breathing," Luo Qi sighed with some envy, then added, "Is this a common method you use when handling special missions?"

"When entering human territory, it is necessary to silence human technology; this is indeed the standard procedure for the Qionglin," Du Zhengyi said. "It is generally to prevent humans from seeing supernatural phenomena."

"Conversely, as long as an insider sees surveillance suddenly failing continuously, they will suspect that people from the Qionglin have arrived. Since the Lotus Burner has already penetrated the upper echelons of the Qionglin, they should be clear about your work procedures," Luo Qi said.

"What you said is correct," Du Zhengyi said, frowning. "If they already knew the plan was leaked, they were just waiting for the Qionglin people to show up before triggering the incident."

"How arrogant," Luo Qi said, curling his lip. "But that would mean they are targeting the Qionglin, not specifically the two of us. Sigh, too many things have happened recently; I'm a bit paranoid."

"I don't understand why the Lotus Burner has suddenly become so radical," Du Zhengyi said, pondering.

"What? Their previous behavior wasn't called radical? Their very existence is very radical," Luo Qi felt annoyed just thinking about it.

"But if it were just killing humans, to put it bluntly, the Qionglin wouldn't attach so much importance to it." Du Zhengyi paused and looked at Luo Qi, seeing that Luo Qi had pouted again. "It is a fact; the Qionglin has always been more wary of Mages challenging its authority. Publicly challenging the Qionglin will be met with absolute punishment."

Luo Qi thought for a while and said, "Is the person operating this also a Mind Mage?"

"Not necessarily," Du Zhengyi said. "I think it might not even require a Mind Mage at all. From the situation you described, stimulating the human mind and making humans constantly think of one thing only requires setting up a Crystal with hallucinogenic capabilities."

"They should be monitoring us right now, right?" Luo Qi asked, looking around suspiciously, "But no one should be able to recognize me."

Du Zhengyi nodded and said, "Let's go. There is no point in staying here. The evidence and traces must have already been wiped away."

"Speaking of traces being wiped away, this level of mental interference is indeed done very cleverly. It doesn't even count as memory modification, so once the matter passes, it will be very difficult to find traces," Luo Qi said, following Du Zhengyi as he turned and walked along the sidewalk.

Du Zhengyi walked a few steps but suddenly stopped, "Damn it, there are too many Mages living in this vicinity; in the blink of an eye, there are many more Mages."

"Here to watch the excitement?" Luo Qi said indifferently, then suddenly felt that the woman walking toward them was very familiar.

The woman smiled at him, raised the phone in her hand, and took a picture of them.