Chapter 460: Ruins 4

That so-called amplifier was quickly located by Liu Ziyi; it was in the northwest direction of the city, certainly not in the city's exact center. According to Luo Qi's understanding, what Liu Ziyi was looking for must be a node, and those monitoring this place obtained information from inside through this node. For Luo Qi, he had had enough of being played in the palm of others' hands; he urgently wanted to reclaim a bit of control. For Liu Ziyi, all of this was mainly for fun; Luo Qi had brilliantly pointed out a path for her to crack the puzzle and toy with the opponent, and she was eager to crack all the technology the opponent had left in this Sandbox, and it would be even better if she could take over this Sandbox. In the current situation, the two were reaching the same goal by different paths, another type of like-mindedness.

If one wants to take out the surveillance while under surveillance, it goes without saying that one must be fast. Luo Qi was under a bit of pressure, while Liu Ziyi was in high spirits. Risking unpredictable crises that could appear at any moment, they successfully and quickly crossed the abandoned city. They walked along asphalt roads that had once been paved; now, the asphalt and concrete layers had peeled off, and gravel pressed against the soles of their feet, making walking not very comfortable. Luo Qi was wearing sneakers, while Liu Ziyi was wearing a pair of sophisticated leather shoes; logically speaking, it shouldn't be very comfortable to walk. However, Luo Qi noticed that Liu Ziyi's footsteps were very light; Guan Xinyue was only nimble when walking, but Liu Ziyi was truly light, as if she could shake off a portion of gravity's comfort.

When turning a corner into a street, Luo Qi couldn't help but suddenly ask Liu Ziyi, "In the future, won't you suffer from osteoporosis earlier than others?"

Liu Ziyi blinked and looked at Luo Qi in confusion.

Luo Qi didn't explain; he made a gesture for Liu Ziyi to just ignore his rambling.

Long-term absence from normal gravity would certainly cause changes in bone density, but that was a topic for future idle chat, not now. Luo Qi sighed inwardly, knowing his attention was starting to wander again; his mind had a tendency to fall apart. While he was thinking about Liu Ziyi overusing Gravity Magic, he simultaneously had seven or eight Yajian considering other things. One of these Yajian was recording the terrain of these abandoned streets, hoping to find some residual billboards on the derelict buildings. Billboards could always reveal a bit of information about time and location, but unfortunately, there was nothing on the facades of the buildings. They must have specifically cleared these away; otherwise, billboards could always last longer than plush toys in cars.

Then things started to become distorted. Luo Qi suddenly realized he remembered every block they had passed, like an experienced soldier with a passion for urban warfare. He froze for a moment; memories of dismantling firearms surged from the depths of his memory, suddenly becoming more vivid and dazzling than his memories as a Mage.

This clear yet misplaced memory made him shiver violently. He snapped awake and firmly suppressed that sudden memory. Those were not his memories; he hadn't even touched a real gun, he was a Mage!

Luo Qi maintained his state of focused attention, and the illusion did not reappear, but to ensure such high concentration, he expended a lot of energy and soon began to feel a bit exhausted. Fortunately, they had only walked about five kilometers to the northwest when they arrived at a small plaza in this block; this was Liu Ziyi's destination. Luo Qi looked into the distance; he couldn't see the northern boundary of the city from here. He couldn't fully estimate the city's boundaries, but if one were to estimate the city's scale from the height of the buildings, a conservative estimate would put the diameter here at over fifty kilometers.

For two pedestrians, this city was too big. Once this place was filled with danger, it would surely be difficult for them to shake off the trouble. But for now, it was calm; Luo Qi looked around at the buildings surrounding the plaza. Behind every broken window, it was empty, as if it had been ransacked. Other windows, backlit by the setting sun, were simply shrouded in silent darkness.

The area of the small plaza was not very large, but it was very flat. If humans still lived here, the small plaza at this time might be shared by middle-aged women dancing and teenagers skateboarding, and there might be children playing in the fountain in the center. But now, the golden symbols above the plaza were beginning to dim, the Magic of formalized information was weakening, and the place appeared increasingly dead and empty. However, since they had already reached the place, Manifestation Magic was no longer that important.

Liu Ziyi looked around, and immediately identified the fountain.

"There!" she called out, and ran toward the fountain.

Luo Qi hurriedly followed closely. When he was less than half a meter from the fountain, he finally felt a slight, strange sensation of Magic disturbing the air. The fountain was built of stone and was about six meters in diameter; it looked entirely like the worst of human aesthetics, and Luo Qi gained a vague understanding of the age of this city. Liu Ziyi didn't have these extraneous thoughts; her movements were very nimble. Luo Qi stared as she rushed over, pried a stone tile off the outer edge of the fountain, reached her hand into the stone crevice, and then pulled out a pile of slender Crystals with her bare hands, tossing them onto the stone to shatter them cleanly. Luo Qi didn't understand how she had pinpointed the location; this was probably what they meant by "the expert knows the ropes."

Following her actions, the last shadow of the golden symbols flickered and disappeared without a trace. Luo Qi subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt as if he could really sense something stopping. It was like a computer fan that had been running for hours—it was clearly very noisy, but no one realized it was noise until it was turned off.

"Done," Liu Ziyi said happily, unable to help but laugh, "What destruction shall we cause next?"

Luo Qi didn't answer. He looked up; at some point, the last golden glow of the setting sun had disappeared at the end of the street. He suddenly had a very bad premonition. Liu Ziyi exclaimed at his side at the right moment; he turned his head, and a pile of edible Energy Pills appeared in the fountain, as if someone had filled a trough with fodder.

"Ugh! What is the meaning of this!" Liu Ziyi cried out in disgust, "Are they planning to keep us here like livestock to toy with?"

Luo Qi bit his lip, staring fixedly at the Energy Pills in the fountain. They didn't look exactly like the beans made by the Highland Mages, but he could tell that their function and purpose were likely similar. But unless he and Liu Ziyi added up to two hundred and fifty pigs, they certainly didn't need a six-meter-diameter food bowl. A chill settled on his spine; he suddenly realized, reached out to grab Liu Ziyi's arm, and urgently dragged her toward the nearest building.

"What?" Liu Ziyi struggled a bit, but Luo Qi pulled her anxiously, using even more force, almost dragging her along.

"Quick," Luo Qi said briefly. His breathing became rapid, and cold sweat broke out from the tip of his nose and his forehead. Then he said rapidly, "Something is about to come out. We must hurry; we cannot stand in an open space, especially not next to the food."

His words had just fallen when a dull, thunderous sound erupted from underground, like countless iron doors slamming open. Liu Ziyi didn't need Luo Qi to urge her again; she screamed and ran swiftly toward the nearest building. Luo Qi followed closely behind her; they rushed into the doorless entrance and jumped into the shadows. Behind them, footsteps resounded through the empty city from all directions; Liu Ziyi swallowed a scream, and Luo Qi pushed her into a dead end.