Chapter 305: Mission Briefing

"Because the appearance of the Lotus Burner leader that Luo Qi and I saw is consistent, we can confirm that what we saw was this person's true face." Du Zhengyi used this sentence as the concluding remark for the investigation mission into the Lotus Burner organization.

Pei Shu pondered, his gaze falling upon Luo Qi, who was holding a red bean in his hand and licking it with an expression of disgust.

Du Zhengyi also followed Pei Shu's gaze to look at Luo Qi, then suddenly scolded him fiercely, "Can you not eat so disgustingly?"

Luo Qi put the bean into his mouth to chew with a miserable face, only to discover that the bean had melted a bit on his fingertips, sticking to his fingers in a gooey mess.

"Ugh." Luo Qi frowned and whined, sticking out his tongue to lick his fingers.

"Enough, stop eating it!" Du Zhengyi said impatiently, "If you really don't want to eat it, I can teach you how to make rations yourself later; you can make a flavor you like."

His attention was entirely captured by the mischievous Luo Qi, and he did not notice that Pei Shu was observing him with slight astonishment.

"I don't want to eat what I make myself!" Luo Qi shouted.

"Why?" Du Zhengyi's brows were furrowed together; this idiot Luo Qi always had so many strange issues.

"Creating food yourself just to eat it, that's a bit perverted!" Luo Qi said.

"How is that perverted? There are too many days where you're well-fed; are you just bored?"

"Spending my own power to create food to feed myself, isn't that equivalent to the Ouroboros devouring itself? It's too perverted, I can't stand it." Luo Qi kept a straight face and argued with Du Zhengyi seriously.

Pei Shu suddenly asked, "You know about the Ouroboros?"

Both of them were startled; Luo Qi had been a bit distracted just now, and Du Zhengyi had been led astray by him, both forgetting they were in front of Pei Shu.

Du Zhengyi glanced at Luo Qi, hinting for him not to speak rashly, and Luo Qi swallowed a yellow bean dejectedly. Du Zhengyi thought for a moment and said, "We saw a large number of Ouroboros symbols in the temple next to the Guan Family Mage, and later we saw them at the Public Post Station, though the symbols at the station were quite old."

"That is indeed an ancient symbol; there are many expressions regarding it in the philosophy of the Highland Mage. Many people, in different eras and for different purposes, have used this symbol." Pei Shu said slowly. He looked at Luo Qi, and the child looked back listlessly, the color of his eyes as pure as one would expect from a much younger child. He was lazy and sluggish, his body language revealing a pampered sense of doing as he pleased; his body leaned toward his teacher, projecting a lazy reliance on Du Zhengyi. It was clear he was a treasure at home, so after stepping out, he wanted to find an older child to rely on. He possessed immense energy, and if pushed, he could accomplish great things, but he did not like to take charge alone, nor did he have the ambition to be loved by others; he preferred to be a little treasure who was doted upon and scolded.

Pei Shu smiled at the sight and corrected him with great interest, "The energy to create food does not come from us ourselves. All things in heaven and earth are our source of energy; our energy is merely the power to mobilize and use this energy, so the energy source of the food created by a Mage is this universe, not ourselves. Energy flows through our hands, but it does not originate from us."

"Oh, otherwise it would create a paradox." Luo Qi nodded, "Our energy is like a program, calling and processing files in a database; this database is the universe."

"So smart." Du Zhengyi said with dry sarcasm, "You successfully explained something I could understand into words I can't comprehend."

Luo Qi smiled at him, bit into a blue bean, and said while eating, "I've already eaten the three primary colors of red, yellow, and blue, and gained a buff; now I can start beating up little kids."

"What?" Pei Shu asked, genuinely confused.

"Don't mind him." Du Zhengyi imparted his experience to his teacher, "If you don't mind him, his nonsense will be a little less. If you really ask what all that nonsense means, we won't have time to discuss serious matters today."

Pei Shu was amused and said to Luo Qi, "I suppose they are human allusions. Many Mages lack a sense of humor and patience; when they don't understand the jokes you make, they might think your brain is a little abnormal. If the Committee were questioning you now, some Mages would give you a higher anti-social reference index."

"Tone it down!" Du Zhengyi ordered Luo Qi directly, then explained the principles of beast taming to Pei Shu, "You have to tell him straight like this; he doesn't understand subtle education. Otherwise... you can also hit him, that's usually more effective."

Luo Qi thought about it carefully, "Alright then, back to the main topic, continuing from what Du Zhengyi said."

"Where was I?" Du Zhengyi said calmly, "I seem to have been completely washed away by the flood you released."

"You were saying that we witnessed Zhao Jiaozhu's true face." Luo Qi said, "I just wanted to add that we didn't actually see what Clownfish looks like. He didn't specifically disguise himself as a strange appearance..."

Du Zhengyi couldn't help but interrupt, "Only you would disguise yourself as the image of a strange slit-mouthed man; most people just make slight alterations to their own appearance."

"Let's just say that then." Luo Qi said loudly, not caring, "What I mean is, his technique is very strange. When I looked at him, I seemed to see his face, and yet I seemed not to see it. That feeling was like my eyes saw him, but my brain didn't react to the optic nerve."

"Explain it in our language, Luo Qi." Du Zhengyi sighed.

"What's wrong? This explanation is clearer, isn't it? Describing it in our language, it would be 'I seem to have seen him, but I also seem not to have seen him'—isn't that even more vague?" Luo Qi asked.

"This is a matter of politeness." Du Zhengyi said.

"Alright." Pei Shu interrupted their bickering, "Alright, I don't like others being overly respectful to me either; Du Zhengyi, you've never been very polite yourself."

Luo Qi laughed out loud and seized the opportunity to continue, "Anyway, we can be sure that Clownfish is indeed a cripple; one of his legs is broken. What's particularly interesting is that as a Lotus Burner, he used a human prosthetic. Ah, though I saw that exoskeleton system was made very well; although I'm not a cripple, if I had the chance to get a tail..."

"Shut up, when did you see his..." Du Zhengyi paused, suddenly realizing he shouldn't show that he was unaware of some intelligence Luo Qi had; Luo Qi shouldn't have met the Lotus Burner alone. "... see his leg?"

Luo Qi met his gaze, understood perfectly, and said with a cheeky grin, "Because I have sharp eyes."

"Then our method of identifying Clownfish in a crowd might mainly rely on pulling down pants." Du Zhengyi said in a low voice. "Assuming he hasn't tampered with Mental Induction."

Pei Shu's attention was drawn by the technical term, "I don't think it's Mental Induction; Luo Qi described it very clearly, this method of mental control has never appeared in the records of our predecessors. If he created it himself..."

Pei Shu shook his head and muttered, "I have almost never seen a Mage who can create Magic themselves."

"Then..." Luo Qi threw out his own question, "Could he be a Progenitor Mage..." He saw a flash of astonishment in the Old Mage's eyes. That was enough. He continued his sentence, dragging out the tone like a brat, "... of direct lineage? Possessing a Golden Bloodline or something?"

"What?" Du Zhengyi frowned, "Genghis Khan? What are you babbling about Golden Bloodline. Luo Qi, you are forbidden from misusing idioms."

"Oh." Luo Qi said obediently, and picked up another rotten bean.