Chapter 214: Strengths and Weaknesses

"Then who is the Progenitor Mage? Who exactly is it?" Guan Xinyue's angry voice pulled Luo Qi back. He was startled; he had never seen Guan Xinyue this angry before. Her face was flushed red, and she glared furiously at the cold First War God of Qionglin. Luo Qi knew that she was usually even a bit afraid of Du Zhengyi; she felt closer to the kind Doctor uncle.

Du Zhengyi did not answer. Luo Qi understood that where one comes from was never an easy question to answer. Guan Xinyue continued angrily, "I only know that among us humans, within the scope of us humans, only those in a coffin believe that when God created man, there were routines of hierarchy. That set of racial differentiation theories, that stinking, rotten stuff of racial discrimination, we have already overcome. If your Mage Supreme Committee still holds onto this stuff as a bible, then I can only say, sorry, our human level of civilization is much stronger than you Mages."

Luo Qi secretly felt that Guan Xinyue's words were resonant. If he weren't arguing about whether the Ancient Scroll announced by the Gushan Guard was real, and if he weren't concerned about the connection between the situation recorded in the Ancient Scroll and the practical problems they were facing now, he would have jumped up to join Guan Xinyue's side right then.

"Really?"

Luo Qi was stunned for a moment and looked up to confirm if this sentence was said by Du Zhengyi; he thought Du Zhengyi was someone who would absolutely never argue. Du Zhengyi's expression was hard to read. "I haven't spent much time on the internet, but I can almost always see so-called netizens insulting those of your female clansmen who marry Black people. If I haven't misunderstood, when you face white people, you always feel that white people look down on you, but when you face Black people, you can righteously look down on Black people. As a Mage, I don't quite understand this point."

Guan Xinyue was stunned. Just as she was about to deny it, Du Zhengyi continued, "When Luo Qi was a Mage without ability, his status was not higher than that of a female Mage with ability. When our race evaluates an individual, it is measured by the magnitude of their contribution to the entire Mage World, not by whether or not there is that thing in the crotch. A few days ago, when Luo Qi was watching TV at the hotel, in your 2018 new drama, a wife confessed to her whole family that because she could not bear children, she was sorry to the whole family and requested permission to divorce."

Luo Qi looked at Du Zhengyi strangely. That was a segment he had watched for a while when he was flipping through channels; he really didn't know that Du Zhengyi had actually watched it too.

"This has never existed in our Mage world, and women often appear as Supreme Mages," Du Zhengyi said. "I would like to ask in return, do you estimate that among your clansmen, if a man cannot bear children, would the woman's family consider dissolving the marriage with him and forming a marriage with someone else to bear children?"

"That seems unlikely," Luo Qi couldn't help but interject in a low voice.

"So," Du Zhengyi said gently, "you distinguish between high and low based on skin color, and you distinguish between high and low based on gender. Where exactly are you truly more civilized than us Mages? Not to mention that you even kill baby girls, buy and sell children, and traffic innocent girls into mountain villages. You are truly merciless when treating the weak. If I were to say it, I am truly too disappointed in you humans."

This time, even Maji opened his mouth wide, staring blankly at Du Zhengyi, as if he had never realized his old friend would say such things. Luo Qi, however, suddenly realized that he didn't really feel surprised. On one hand, Du Zhengyi was indeed loyal to the Du Clan of the Mage race; on the other hand, he had always known the warmth in Du Zhengyi's heart. He was not a War Machine; he was flesh and blood. The injustices of the world and the sorrows of life perhaps left particularly deep marks in his heart. Compared to those hypocritical and numb people, he was cold yet sensitive. Such a person really made him feel a bit sad.

However, Guan Xinyue looked like she was about to cry. Luo Qi hurriedly said to the stunned Maji, "Brother Ji, what do you think?"

Maji turned his head, looking at Luo Qi in astonishment, as if the ball Luo Qi kicked to him had stunned him too. "I... I don't care about anything! Anyway, my money is earned by seeing patients! Besides, why argue about who is superior? We are all human; whether we live long or short, we are all going to die. I don't care about any grand principles; I only care about the people who exist in my personal field of vision, which is you and my other friends. I will run around for your lives. If one day humans want to kill you, I will betray humanity; if Qionglin wants to kill you, sorry, I will betray the Mages too. Damn it, what do those big concepts have to do with me? I am just a Doctor. Come on, Xinyue, come over, don't cry, don't be angry anymore. I don't believe that nonsense from Qionglin either. Even if what Du Zhengyi said is all reasonable, anyway, Mages and humans just exist like this. Existence has its rationality; I don't want to delve into anything else."

Who knew that Du Zhengyi would happen to take up his words and continue, "I am the exact opposite. I am forever loyal to Qionglin and the overall interests of the Mages. If one day a choice needs to be made..."

"Don't worry," Luo Qi interrupted him calmly, "I won't let you have that day; you won't need to choose."

Du Zhengyi looked at him. They stared at each other almost seriously for three seconds, until Luo Qi made a face at Du Zhengyi. "I am determined to be the boss of Qionglin, so Du Zhengyi will only be able to be loyal to me. What's wrong? I have the qualifications in every aspect to succeed Pei Shu."

Du Zhengyi looked at him silently.

Luo Qi looked at Guan Xinyue. "You still don't understand Mages. If you want to attack Mages, you should say it like this: You cheetahs, lions, tigers, and great white sharks are useless except for running faster, being stronger, and being more agile. You have no imagination, no artistic talent, no Shakespeare, and no Cao Xueqin; you can't play football and have no rock stars. You are all specialists who only understand technology, never science. When one day humans overcome the problem of population decline, artificially reproduce offspring, and fly into the universe, you Mages will still be on this mud ball, waiting for a meteorite to smash the world."

Guan Xinyue opened her mouth, and her voice seemed to have disappeared.

Luo Qi stood up and walked to Du Zhengyi's side. "Humans are different from us; they are diverse. Every possibility has its pros and cons; one more possibility is one more hope for the future. Don't you feel that we have been rigid for too long? Haven't you thought about why our imagination and creativity were stifled? Perhaps it is because we are too comfortable compared to humans, doing nothing while relying on the protection of our ancestors, with all our energy used to maintain the rules of our ancestors. But if it weren't for the inspiration of humans, we might not even be able to handle a plague by now, right? Even if the starting point is different, do you dare to say who is the more successful species now? So if one day I am the Supreme Mage, I would hope that the Mage race would stand up and shake hands and cooperate with humans."

"There will be many Mages who want to assassinate you," Du Zhengyi said finally.

"You will definitely save me," Luo Qi said shamelessly.