Chapter 362: Human Equipment

"Is that human equipment?" Luo Qi asked, puzzled.

In the center of the hall, the plants had withered away to create an open space, with several pieces of equipment set up nearby; the equipment had a distinctly human style. A few Highland Mages were gathered there, and the person in charge of operating it was Liu Ziyi; the dazed expression on her face while she worked had completely vanished, and she looked quite sharp.

"That was bought by people sent out at Liu Ziyi's request. I'm sure she's wanted that stuff for a while; I'm too familiar with that look, it's just like when Guan Xinyue is dead set on wanting a hat," Mahjong said. "I didn't expect it to actually work."

Liu Ziyi looked up, saw them, and said loudly, "Don't get too close from that side, there's radiation."

"Radiation?" Luo Qi was startled and stepped back almost immediately.

"It's not that lethal," Liu Ziyi said with a hint of mockery. "We managed to get our hands on human equipment that can produce a type of ray capable of destroying plant cells, so it is indeed useful. But we still have to study where it is most efficient to use and how to use it safely."

"What kind of ray?" Mahjong asked, confused, and then used a term he didn't know where he had heard, "Cosmic rays?"

"Doctor, don't be so illiterate, it's gamma rays," Liu Ziyi said. "This isn't a comic book."

None of them could respond to Liu Ziyi.

"I don't think we can help much here," Du Zhengyi said. He turned his head to look at the two of them. "Let's go wait by the lake, too."

Mahjong nodded. "They've opened a temporary exit, let's go." As he spoke, he waved at Liu Ziyi, "Junior Sister, keep up the good work, your Senior Brother is proud of you."

The temporary exit was one the Highland Mages had pried open in Corridor 4 near the hall, where they could open a gap in the Barrier wide enough for one person to walk through.

When the Barrier closed, it looked like a soap bubble faintly flowing with blue light. After Luo Qi walked out, he reached out to touch it, and a faint electric current came from his fingertips, causing a slight burning pain.

"This Barrier covers a huge area, and the range of adjustment is very precise; Highland Mages have a stronger grasp of Magic," Luo Qi said.

"Yeah, they have quite a few tricks they don't easily bring out to use," Mahjong said. He pointed to the lake in the distance, "Let's head over there; they've set up a temporary rest area, most people are over there, and my patients have been settled there too."

Indeed, compared to the hot and humid rainforest and the dry desert, not to mention the swamps where crocodiles lurked, the climate of this forest was more suitable for the sick and injured.

Tents had already been pitched there, and some people had started a fire by the lake. Some were setting up Barriers by the lake, racing against time to continue Magic experiments, while most people were just sitting around idly. It was also possible that due to hangovers and other aftereffects of last night's revelry, they couldn't do anything else besides sprawl by the lake.

Guan Xinyue was chatting somewhat reservedly with a young male Mage, and when she saw them coming, she breathed a sigh of relief and immediately ran over.

"Luo Qi!" Guan Xinyue shouted his name from afar. "Have you eaten?"

Luo Qi was taken aback. "Have I eaten? You called me so loudly just to ask that?"

"What's wrong?" Guan Xinyue looked at him guardedly.

"Nothing, just think you're being silly," Luo Qi said.

Guan Xinyue looked at him threateningly and stubbornly asked her question again, "So, have you eaten?"

Luo Qi insisted on not saying, and the two fell into a near-boring stalemate. Mahjong rolled his eyes, and Du Zhengyi also walked toward the lake. Mahjong finally saw Du Zhengyi's face clearly in the natural light outside and followed him to ask, "You don't look so good?"

"I'm fine," Du Zhengyi said casually, standing by the lake and looking around. "Where is Zhou Quan?"

"Not sure, I haven't seen him for a while. I'm about to go crazy with work," Mahjong said, not paying much attention to Du Zhengyi's words. "Now I'm going to find a place to sleep for a while."

Du Zhengyi didn't say anything; he mumbled a few words, feeling truly exhausted, and turned to walk toward the tents.

Du Zhengyi looked back and saw Luo Qi and Guan Xinyue walking along the lake; or more accurately, Guan Xinyue was following Luo Qi aggressively, arguing with him non-stop.

Luo Qi walked slowly around the lake, occasionally turning his head to say something to Guan Xinyue. Du Zhengyi couldn't hear clearly, only hearing Guan Xinyue's angry replies. After a while, he suddenly heard Guan Xinyue roar angrily, "Yes! Pufferfish Queen!"

This was a bit fresh; Guan Xinyue had called Luo Qi all sorts of things, but this was the first time for this one. Du Zhengyi was momentarily unable to decipher the meaning of this title.

A few Mages saw him standing there and came over one after another to ask about the situation. Perhaps whenever the situation became serious, they assumed Du Zhengyi was the most deeply involved and had the latest intelligence. But what he knew this time really wasn't more than theirs; such matters still relied on Mages like Liu Ziyi to solve.

Du Zhengyi stayed by the lake for a while, spending most of the time alone. He watched Luo Qi being followed by Guan Xinyue, interacting with every small group of Mages. He had gotten very familiar with them a few days ago, though Du Zhengyi had always thought it was because Luo Qi wanted to kill time during the boring mornings. Inattentive people might be deceived by Luo Qi's distracted appearance, thinking he lacked energy, but in fact, Luo Qi was a person with unusually abundant energy; a short amount of sleep was enough for him to toss and turn for a long time.

With nothing to do, he slowly left the lake and walked into the woods. The woods seemed to easily dissipate the noise, and the clamor by the lake seemed very far away.

Du Zhengyi savored this tranquility, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply the cold, grassy scent of the forest.

Suddenly. "Brother..." a voice he was familiar with called to him from a distant place.

He opened his eyes abruptly, his heart sinking. Had he reached this point so quickly? Was he about to be unable to resist the call of the Abyss even while he was still awake during the day?

This was not a good sign; he might not be far from being completely lost. His heart raced; all of this was happening too fast, and even though he had been prepared, he was still caught off guard.

Just at this moment, an explosion suddenly came from a definite direction. Du Zhengyi hurriedly turned his head; that direction was the direction of the Highland Mage hall. He immediately ran toward that direction, his intuition telling him something must have happened.

When he ran out of the woods, he saw many Mages also running over from the lake, and those who could still move in the tents also crawled out. Many people were looking around, and people began to gather in the direction of the hall.