Chapter 152: High-energy Calculation Crystal

"When I calculated the second result, I was quite confident, thinking I had found the right Calculation Model." Majiang took off his glasses, leaned back in his chair in exhaustion, and turned to look at Du Zhengyi, as if hoping he would give him some affirmation.

As it turned out, Du Zhengyi said in a flat, ruthless voice, "We have already discussed this; there is no great significance in continuing to calculate. Now we should go back and analyze what exactly is different between the remaining data and the data already decrypted."

"Du Zhengyi, we have argued about this many times. We might not have that much time left, and besides, we can't spare that many Calculation Crystals to do this work." Majiang irritably put his glasses back on and glared at Du Zhengyi through the lenses.

"Haste makes waste; no matter how anxious you are, the laws of things are right here," Du Zhengyi said indifferently.

"You should know that when Guan Yushan set these data puzzles, he prepared them for a team of professional Calculators. A team! Not one amateur Calculator," Majiang said angrily.

Du Zhengyi's poker face was actually, in Luo Qi's eyes, basically equivalent to being furious. He watched the excitement nervously, eating his apple with a thrill amidst the standoff between the two Great Mages.

"Since you know it is a calculation task that should be completed by a team of Mages, you should know that your anxiety is useless," Du Zhengyi said with a sour expression, also biting down hard on the words "a team."

Majiang threw himself back against the chair in annoyance. He didn't continue the argument with Du Zhengyi, but suddenly turned his head. "Damn it, Luo Qi!" he suddenly roared.

Luo Qi was startled. The gods above could bear witness, he hadn't done anything!

"Are you sick, Luo Qi?" Majiang scolded him unpleasantly. "Who told you to come over? If you want to eat an apple, go eat it outside; don't sit here crunching away, it's annoying as hell."

Unexpectedly, before Luo Qi could react, Du Zhengyi suddenly tossed his book aside. "Majiang, all four of us are trapped here, forced to circle around in this small group every day; it's not just you who is annoyed. Stop taking it out on Luo Qi!"

Ah.

Luo Qi swallowed the apple in his mouth with a surprised "gulp" and looked at his boss with admiration.

"Exactly," a small voice of agreement came from the other side.

Majiang was so angry his face turned red. He glanced at Guan Xinyue and didn't say anything more.

Luo Qi thought for a moment and carefully took another bite of the apple. Right in this eerie atmosphere, he slowly managed to finish the apple.

Majiang was so angry he turned to watch him finish, and after a long while, he suddenly laughed in frustration. "You really are a piece of work."

Luo Qi shrugged and took the wet wipe Guan Xinyue handed him to wipe his hands.

"How about," Luo Qi said slowly, "we buy another High-energy Calculation Crystal."

Majiang looked up at him again.

"It's just that I see Guan Xinyue shopping every day, and her mood is always great when the goods arrive, so I think I should also shop to relieve stress," Luo Qi said with a smile. "I'll pay. I can use my dad's credit points; I've wanted to do this for a long time anyway."

"Do you think a High-energy Calculation Crystal is something you can just buy whenever you want?" Majiang said. "You have to make an appointment first, register, and have your purchase eligibility reviewed; that is an item with a monitored sales range."

"Diesel also requires several permits to buy," Luo Qi hummed softly and said.

"Damn it," Majiang said, his anger flaring up. "Look at you, so capable."

Luo Qi turned to seek help from Du Zhengyi. "Isn't the most important thing right now to speed up the decoding? Majiang's work has been at a stalemate for a long time. In Ganzhou, Wen Lin hasn't made any progress either. We've been sitting here doing nothing, and I keep feeling like Da Hei won't give us much time."

After he finished speaking, he looked at Du Zhengyi expectantly. Du Zhengyi seemed to hesitate for a moment, but his expression clearly softened.

Majiang was observing them from behind the desk and also saw what Du Zhengyi meant. "Du Zhengyi, don't tell me you're compromising with Luo Qi again? The influence Luo Qi has been exerting on you is getting greater and greater; haven't you two even noticed it yourselves?"

Du Zhengyi and Luo Qi were both pondering things and didn't say anything, but Guan Xinyue sighed. "Seriously, Doctor, I'm getting annoyed just listening to you say these things."

Luo Qi came back to his senses and looked at the young girl with some awe.

Unexpectedly, Guan Xinyue continued with a strange expression, "Does Luo Qi really need to use any profound Telepathy? Those puppy eyes of his always manage to get him benefits. Can't you tell that Du Ge is the type who responds to soft tactics rather than hard ones, and is especially susceptible to this act of his?"

Majiang looked at Du Zhengyi thoughtfully, then looked at Luo Qi with annoyance. Luo Qi had his mouth half-open as if startled; those soft deer eyes made him look like a five-year-old cub, with a roll of books still stuffed in the back of his jeans, looking like an innocent, well-behaved baby beside his elder brother. If one didn't know how many tricks he had up his sleeve, one would really be fooled by this appearance.

Majiang knew that what Guan Xinyue said was likely true, and he really wanted to cover his face.

Luo Qi touched his nose, feeling a bit uneasy and confused. "Am I really that shameless?"

Guan Xinyue ignored him, and he turned to look at Du Zhengyi inquiringly. Du Zhengyi sighed. "Let's talk about serious matters; there is no need for you to take that kind of risk. Even if we get a better Calculation Crystal, it doesn't necessarily mean it will speed up the decoding process."

"But doing this will definitely have benefits..." Luo Qi argued, but was interrupted by Du Zhengyi reaching out.

As soon as Du Zhengyi held up his hand in a "shut up" gesture, Luo Qi immediately closed his mouth, waiting humbly for his big brother to speak.

Majiang saw this and couldn't help but say "Damn." Du Zhengyi didn't actually respond to soft tactics over hard ones, but he probably had never encountered a younger brother like Luo Qi, who was always showing loyalty and was determined to follow him. It was just that Du Zhengyi had no way to deal with him; his father died early, and his mother had suddenly produced a brother like this, making him feel uneasy even if he died, and he was painstakingly trying to raise his brother to adulthood.

Sure enough, Du Zhengyi said, "There is no need to go to legitimate places to buy a Calculation Crystal. There are also high-quality Calculation Crystals on the Black Market, as long as you find the right path, though the price is a bit more expensive. It just so happens I also want to see if my account is still usable. Anyway, we do need to decode faster, and we will eventually need to purchase equipment."

"Hey," Majiang said suddenly.

Du Zhengyi looked at him sharply. He shook his head and made a gesture indicating he didn't want to say anything, looking like someone who wanted to die early and be reincarnated, full of self-abandonment.

"The Black Market?" Luo Qi's eyes lit up. "This is interesting; can I go? I want to go see it too."

"Let me think about it," Du Zhengyi said seriously. "Let me think."

Luo Qi nodded, but he couldn't hide the wild imagination all over his face.