Chapter 466: Ruins 10

"Survival is the most important thing." Luo Qi coughed, reasoning with Liu Ziyi.

"Hmm."

"Could I ask you to treat this place as a testing ground and conduct tests on them using your usual methods?" Luo Qi thickened his skin to remind Liu Ziyi, "Just as you said, the conservative approach is safer."

"Fine." Liu Ziyi agreed without much resistance, though she added with little hope, "But experiments are very time-consuming; I might be testing for a year."

A cold wind blew by. Luo Qi sniffed, but the stench carried on the wind stung him so much he nearly dry-heaved, and he hurriedly covered his nose. "I won't rush you. My brother will definitely be able to come find me before the New Year, and we can open the Sandbox then."

"Thanks for the comfort, it's really useful," Liu Ziyi said half-heartedly, working at only half capacity and looking a bit distracted. "I first need to formulate a test plan and design a complete experiment. But there's definitely not enough time for that; the situation won't stay this stable forever, otherwise why would they lock us in here? I'm afraid attacks could happen at any moment, and one slip-up from us will trigger a disaster. However, I suspect they are active at night; as long as we can survive the darkness... do you know where they hide during the day? It wouldn't be where we are now, would it?" "In the basement," Luo Qi said softly, having already considered this question. "Before they appeared, I heard the sound of a heavy iron door coming from underground. I suspect there is at least one basement with an iron door nearby; these buildings are similar in style, and most will have an underground section."

"But why maintain a nocturnal routine?" Liu Ziyi muttered with interest. Her fear had faded quite a bit, and Luo Qi could see her curiosity beginning to rise. These Experimental Mages were also a strange breed among Mages, their curiosity as intense as any human's.

Liu Ziyi subconsciously moved closer to the window, her hands gripping the glassless frame, and she hesitantly voiced her question, as if the question itself might bite her tongue. "Do you think... they... were originally... ordinary humans or Mage humans?"

Luo Qi didn't speak for a moment, then said when he opened his mouth again, "How about we analyze why they only act at night? What do you think?"

"I have many quite magical ideas," Liu Ziyi said with a strange tone. "If Great Mages were consulting me, I would say it's because of the yin characteristics of Puppet Magic, the boundary theorems of the Sandbox, and so on."

"What do you actually think?" Luo Qi asked curiously.

Liu Ziyi bit her lip, revealing a pale smile. "Wind and sun exposure affect their service life. Luo Qi, that was our line of thinking on the project to restore Psychic Beasts; in fact, puppets are very similar to Psychic Beasts." She shivered as she said this. "But doing this is too terrifying."

"Terrifying," Luo Qi murmured. "Immense psychological pressure. For a Mind Mage, it also means a huge temptation."

"What kind of temptation?"

What kind of temptation—Luo Qi mocked himself in his heart, repeating Liu Ziyi's words. For example, being able to upload oneself into every brain.

He didn't say this out loud, turning instead to say, "Psychic Beasts have much stronger attack power than puppets, and they aren't as cruel or perverted."

"Psychic Beasts require the existence of a master," Liu Ziyi pondered aloud.

"Then Seal Beasts are also a good choice."

"Where would you find so many Seal Beasts to command?" Liu Ziyi said. "Seal Beasts are not easy to obtain; the remnants of the Ancestor Mages are limited, and every bit used is a bit less. Wait, oh..."

She suddenly stopped, realizing where the problem lay.

"The raw materials for puppets are easy to get, obtainable at any time," Luo Qi said. "Madmen, fools—whether they count as people can be very vague under the premise of a great cause and common goal."

"Lions and tigers are also easy to get, and more... than people."

"Right," Luo Qi's train of thought was straightened out. "Unless their advantage is human-like intelligence."

Liu Ziyi suddenly became nervous. "They could hollow out the brain and infuse it with a soldier's consciousness."

Luo Qi couldn't help but crouch down, no longer confident in remaining such a large target. "Do you think they could be a legendary army of the dead?"

"Doing this is quite logical," Liu Ziyi murmured. "It sounds like a project the First Laboratory would undertake."

Luo Qi suppressed a wave of nausea. Outside the window, it was pitch black; the night of this world had completely descended. With the eyesight of two Mages, it was difficult to see the situation downstairs clearly.

"Whatever you do, don't do anything to provoke them," Liu Ziyi said, full of fear.

"Does an army need provocation?" Luo Qi asked in a low voice, both to Liu Ziyi and to himself. "If this is their battlefield, have you ever seen what it looks like when humans fight in a city?"

He turned his head abruptly, staring fixedly behind him. The part darker than the darkness was the entrance leading here.

Liu Ziyi was startled. Luo Qi made a gesture in front of her, signaling her to be completely silent.

He turned his attention inward, not using Mind Magic, but focusing his attention to heighten his hearing. He couldn't do it as well as a Battle Mage, but it was still useful.

After he listened quietly for a minute, a faint sound of scraping against iron bars came through. Luo Qi remembered that it was the second floor; the stair railing was damaged, the ironwork broken and twisted, occupying half the staircase. Someone, or something that was no longer human, had scraped against the iron bars.

Tension and fear gripped the back of his neck like a devil's hand. While his heart was pounding, he obsessively glanced out the window. The situation downstairs was still hard to see, making it impossible to verify his guess. But he believed that after dark, they must have executed the orders of the most intelligent puppet. The army began to move, carrying out the routine task they perhaps performed every night, starting for the thousandth time to search every building for enemies and slaughter all living things.

Luo Qi swallowed anxiously and reached out to grab Liu Ziyi's wrist. He had to think of a way; he had to send Du Zhengyi's junior sister back safely.

Those puppets weren't zombies; the most terrifying thing about the zombies in human imagination was contagion. But even if he and Liu Ziyi were bitten, they would only need to disinfect when they returned. So what could they actually do? Why were they simulating the behavior of an army? Could this place be used to train Battle Mages?

But... how could puppets be a match for Battle Mages?

Luo Qi suddenly realized in this instant, his mouth hanging open in horror.

【Ziyi, in this goddamn Sandbox, which magics are prohibited?】

Liu Ziyi shivered again, barely managing to accept the mental input. She frantically began to organize her magic; she knew some underlying magic, very ancient and crude, but it could force the Sandbox to reveal its rules.

But Luo Qi knew it was too late. Even without unfolding his active consciousness, he felt the stimulation brought by the approach of a strange creature. Those things were right at the door...