Chapter 440: Laboratory Girl (2)

"Why?" Liu Ziyi cried out in surprise, stubbornly pushing away Luo Qi's hand. "That thing is right there; how am I supposed to pretend I don't see it? And why are you so emotionally agitated? Do you know some intelligence that I don't?"

Luo Qi hesitated. Du Zhengyi had cooperated with the Lotus Burner to save him, even concealing the vital intelligence that the Lotus Burner had appeared here; this was something he certainly would not speak of. But at this very moment, it suddenly occurred to him that because so many things had happened these past few days, because he had just been poured out of a canister, and because Du Zhengyi always wore a devil-may-care, indifferent, calm face no matter what he did, he had almost overlooked the fact that Du Zhengyi had calmly committed an act that severely violated the Mage Code. Afterward, he hadn't boasted about it to him, hadn't demanded gratitude from him; he couldn't even figure out if Du Zhengyi had experienced any intense, dramatic moral conflict or inner struggle in this matter. He hadn't thought about anything; all he had thought about was that he would eventually lose Du Zhengyi as a friend, almost ignoring the small things that composed reality right before his eyes.

"What?" Liu Ziyi asked impatiently, looking as if she wanted to bite his head off. He didn't know why girls these days were all so irritable; perhaps it was because humans used too much plastic, and some ingredient within it was affecting females of all races.

The girl's eyes shone in the darkness. Mages had much better vision than humans and could see more clearly in weaker light. The external manifestation of this ability would, more or less, make their eyes brighter, like elves in games or cats in the wild. Although it wasn't so glaring as to terrify humans, the difference still existed; after all, it had to conform to the laws of physics. The laws of physics discovered by humans weren't discovered in vain; they could see things because of the reflection of light, and if they could see things in darker places, then their eyes must necessarily reflect more light, so...

"Have you ever thought about how, if that thing really is a person, they manage to be invisible?" Luo Qi asked. He swept a glance at that glowing point; it was still firmly staying on the level below, and he relaxed slightly. "Since you assume it's a person, and it's constantly glowing on the energy chart, that means this person is constantly invoking energy to use Invisibility Magic. Does such magic exist in this world? This person clearly has ill intentions, but how exactly do they manage to be invisible? Do you think the Highland Mages know? I remember they have their own Sensing Crystals." Liu Ziyi pondered for a moment and admitted, "I don't know." Seeing Luo Qi's distrustful expression, she had to take the question seriously. "Listen, the Highland Mages' Sensing Crystals have two main purposes: one is to monitor the temperature and humidity of plants, and the other is to monitor the ruins they guard underground, forbidding anyone from going too deep. The first thing I did after arriving here was to study the Highland Mages' security measures. The Highland Mages' Sensing Magic is not of the same technical school as ours, but I can be certain that theirs is not that high-end either. It is very possible that they cannot detect Invisibility Magic. Analyzing subtle magic is Du Zhengyi's strength, after all; he would certainly be able to sense Invisibility Magic. So I believe that, in essence, Invisibility Magic must be developed from some magic we already possess. As long as we get closer and I obtain more data, I will definitely be able to find the reason." Luo Qi thought that what Liu Ziyi said was actually correct; after all, Du Zhengyi had to have a way to find the clownfish before he could cooperate with him. But upon second thought, he knew Du Zhengyi too well; he knew Du Zhengyi's pragmatic, supremacy-oriented thinking style—he could always achieve high-difficulty goals using very simple methods. "I don't think so. You know the wind is coming when you see the branches move; you don't need to actually see the wind. It's just that simple. I think this is Du Zhengyi's mode."

An offended expression appeared on Liu Ziyi's face. "My senior brother is not the kind of Mage who is good at finding loopholes or cutting corners; he is a genuine Great Mage. In a few years, he will definitely be a Venerable of the Qionglin."

Liu Ziyi's offhand remark was like a knife stabbing into Luo Qi's heart. He didn't want Liu Ziyi to see his pained expression; his mind was a bit scattered right now, and he couldn't control his mask very well, so he had to turn his head away and cast his gaze onto the Energy Grid.

"Then you really are more naive than I am," he muttered. He couldn't help but think with some irony that if Du Zhengyi didn't win by wisdom, but really relied on supreme Magic Ability to dominate, he wouldn't have been severely wounded by the clownfish. "We are staying in this dangerous place, so let's stop with the useless idol worship, okay? Hurry up, girl; time is money."

Liu Ziyi bit her lip and said nothing, her eyes shining. Luo Qi suddenly understood what she was thinking; people were becoming more and more transparent in front of him. He rudely shoved the girl and growled in a low voice, "I get it. You don't care about danger at all. You little lunatic, you help me, you help Du Zhengyi, you help Guan Xinyue—besides you having a bit of a kind heart, it's also because you simply don't care about danger. You don't care about danger right now either; you're just interested in Invisibility Magic. You want to figure out the answer to the puzzle. If someone gave you a cup of poison and told you that if you drank it, they'd tell you the answer before you died, you'd drink it without hesitation, wouldn't you? In your eyes, this world is just an experiment; you just want to see how far everything can go, whether it matches your theoretical predictions."

Liu Ziyi looked at him calmly, and Luo Qi couldn't help but secretly admire that she was truly rational. "I've encountered that mass of energy at least three times, and nothing happened. We'll go down one more level; there's a fairly high probability that it still won't do anything. You just need to tell me what you feel, give me a bit of experimental data, that's all. We're just going to make an observation, not capture it, so it's not as serious as you say. I've assessed the risk; honestly, you really don't need to be so serious or scold me so forcefully." She sighed, held up three fingers to emphasize to him, "Three times. All three times I went to track it alone. Are you afraid?"

Luo Qi kept his mouth tightly shut. He was angry, very angry. She didn't know anything; she was innocent and naive, yet she insisted on getting involved. She was just like Guan Xinyue, not knowing where she had walked into.

"If you don't come with me," Liu Ziyi said, "I will tell them where you are and how long you've stayed."

How long he had existed in the valley, in the container, in the form of consciousness.

He completed Liu Ziyi's words in his heart and hesitated for a moment. Guessing men was easier, but girls were not so easy to guess, and he didn't know if she would betray her senior brother for this. Just as Luo Qi was hesitating, he suddenly heard the "beep" of human machinery starting up. He and Liu Ziyi were both startled, and Liu Ziyi immediately reached toward her waist.

This was a bit strange; Liu Ziyi was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with tight athletic pants underneath, and he couldn't guess what kind of human machine she could have tucked into her waist.

"Are you carrying an alarm clock on your waist?" Luo Qi asked her.