Chapter 459: Ruins 3

"Try it," Luo Qi urged, coaxing the Technical mage. "Theories can be saved for writing papers."

"Fine, I know what you mean," Liu Ziyi gave Luo Qi a sharp but not unkind look. "You just don't understand, and you don't want to hear my analysis either."

"But I can tell who is a genius. I only need to know you can do it, isn't that enough?" Luo Qi said.

This remark made it impossible for Liu Ziyi to remain unhappy; she had merely been unable to vent her problem-solving thought process to her heart's content, and Luo Qi's affirmation (flattery) had already expressed it clearly and plainly, fully making up for the part she hadn't finished saying.

She pondered for a moment and said slowly, "Even if I know clearly and exactly how to do it, my actual operational ability won't be as fluid as my senior brother's, not to mention that I don't fully know the specific steps right now; I can only test and adjust bit by bit. I might not get a result immediately, and it's very possible I won't get a result at all; theories aren't always guaranteed to work."

"Ziyi, shut up," Luo Qi interrupted her gently but firmly. "You can definitely do it, now shut up and start trying. You're so smart you're practically dying of it, your only flaw is being long-winded."

Liu Ziyi rolled her eyes at Luo Qi, but couldn't help smiling. She pondered silently for a while, reviewed her plan, moved her gaze away from Luo Qi's face, and looked toward the tallest building in the depths of the ruined city, where the gradually golden sunlight was painting that high-rise.

Liu Ziyi took a deep breath and began to chant a string of Spells; Luo Qi could roughly tell it was one of the Ancient Mage Languages.

Her operation was indeed different from Du Zhengyi's; Luo Qi silently thought that he had almost never heard Du Zhengyi chant a Spell aloud. He guessed that Du Zhengyi's Magic Ability was far stronger than the average person's, and even for complex Magic, he could complete the casting process with his intent. According to the principles of Magic operation they had told him, mages chant Spells, activate the Magic, then use their personal Magic Energy to call upon the Magic in nature, and finally, the Magic responds to the summons. In this process, Du Zhengyi was powerful enough to complete the process of chanting complex Spells in an instant with his intent, not to mention that his own energy was exceptionally abundant, capable of summoning powerful Magic forces. Liu Ziyi was executing a breakdown of the movements; she had dismantled Du Zhengyi's operation into a process visible to the average person.

Luo Qi shifted his attention back to Liu Ziyi slightly, carefully restraining the power that had been simmering within him so as not to affect her. His core had become increasingly unstable; he could feel the scorching heat in his chest. During the time he waited for Liu Ziyi to chant, perhaps because he sensed the fluctuations of Magic Energy in the space, or perhaps for no reason at all, he suddenly discovered his fingers were numb. He forcibly suppressed himself, calming the tangled mass of Spirit Fire.

Liu Ziyi had already chanted the Spell three times; Luo Qi discerned that for the fourth time, she used another kind of Ancient Mage Language. Although he couldn't understand it, he could feel that this language was neat and orderly, with short words and powerful force. Just then, as Liu Ziyi chanted to a certain section, Luo Qi felt a shift in the command, and a cluster of golden sparks burst forth from the void.

He heard Liu Ziyi's cheerful exhale; she excitedly reached out her hand, using gestures to adjust the symbols in the air. Her voice was somewhat unsteady with excitement, but she restrained herself and successfully continued chanting the Spell.

Luo Qi looked up and saw a string of symbols gradually taking shape in the air, dots and lines intertwining into strange vine shapes, tangling and extending like chains. Liu Ziyi's breathing gradually grew heavier, and her gestures became increasingly complex. Luo Qi observed her with some concern; using this Spell put a great deal of physical pressure on her. He also found it quite marvelous; when Du Zhengyi did these things, it was as easy as breathing, yet the same Magic had such different effects on different mages.

Liu Ziyi's speaking speed began to slow down; a section of intertwined vine chains had already appeared completely in the air and began to extend in two directions. She struggled to chant the last word and let out a sharp breath. Luo Qi recognized the last word she used; that word was also frequently used in modern Spells, a command indicating a loop. He followed the characters in the air and identified them carefully; sure enough, behind the characters about half a meter long, he discovered the shape of the vines themselves began to repeat.

"Alright," Liu Ziyi said after catching her breath, "they will start looping now; in a while, we'll be able to follow the trail."

"Is this text? Can you read it?" Luo Qi looked at the golden vine chains with interest.

"Sorry, this is encrypted information; the Secret Language for decryption is set by the mages themselves. To unlock the information they transmitted, the workload is huge; it requires a whole bunch of Calculators and calculation crystals," Liu Ziyi said.

"It's okay, that doesn't matter," Luo Qi said quickly, patting Liu Ziyi's shoulder encouragingly and giving her a thumbs-up. "Do you know what the only gap between you and Du Zhengyi is?"

Liu Ziyi was touched on a sensitive spot; her dazed eyes became sharp, and she looked at Luo Qi guardedly. For a girl who had said countless times that she didn't need a man to protect her, for a smart person who could always take care of herself, even if she admired her senior brother, she still resented the situation of being second best.

"Only physical strength," Luo Qi pulled a handful of pistachios from his pocket and placed them in her pocket. "It's just that he's stronger than you."

Liu Ziyi was taken aback; sweat was rolling down from her temples. She subconsciously raised her hand to wipe the sweat away, and couldn't help but take out a few pistachios to look at them, gradually revealing a smile. "Thank you."

She let out a sigh of relief; she understood Luo Qi's meaning completely, and it made her heart feel warm.

Every child in the Qionglin was born full of a competitive spirit; staying in the laboratory seemed to imply that she could only belong to the second tier. Although she had always believed that intelligence was the most important thing, she hadn't expected that one day a man would tell her this, and this young man was neither humble nor arrogant, equal and humorous.

Luo Qi gave her a small smile.

"It's really strange, come to think of it. You're really good at interacting with people, and you also understand very well what girls are thinking. Why does Guan Xinyue say she is often so irritated by you that she screams? Do you really not like her?"

The topic suddenly turned to a female companion helping to ask about love; Luo Qi was a bit embarrassed. "Shall we see if the Magic can mark all the sensors?"

"Right, I should be more professional," Liu Ziyi smiled mischievously, looking as if she didn't care at all. She looked up at the golden chains continuously extending above their heads, like a dome woven from golden threads, gradually obscuring the sky above them, and gradually covering the entire city as far as the eye could see. "The surveillance is really dense, but don't worry, if you want to transmit communications across the Sandbox, there must be an amplifier here. Let's go find that and turn it off."

Speaking of this, a wicked smile appeared on Liu Ziyi's face. Luo Qi secretly reminded himself that if Liu Ziyi ever showed this expression toward him in the future, he must be very careful.

"I think the thing you mentioned should be in the depths of the city," Luo Qi pointed at the density of the gold. "Perhaps in the very center of the city?"

"I guess there's more than one; according to the topology, the largest one should be in the center, but in reality, it's not necessarily at the physical center," Liu Ziyi said very academically.

"Uh, what is topology?" Luo Qi asked humbly.

"It's relative position," Liu Ziyi said.

"Then can't you just say relative position?" Luo Qi asked.

"I could also say nothing at all," Liu Ziyi warned.

"I suspect you can't hold it in," Luo Qi said cunningly, while simultaneously maintaining a certain social (assault) safety distance from Liu Ziyi.