Chapter 469: Ruins (13)

He had just lost control.

Luo Qi wiped the rain that had rushed into his eye sockets and spat; his mouth was also filled with sour, bitter rainwater. He had done the most disgusting thing: he had stuffed a Luo Qi into the brain of every puppet. The only thing that made him feel a bit better was that they were all simplified versions of Luo Qi, lacking emotional capacity and, most importantly, unable to form a complete human nature. But he shouldn't have done this; he had touched upon Mind Magic of too high a level.

If the surveillance had not been dismantled, the Qionglin would have made an analysis report based on the observed situation, digging his behavior and Yajian out completely. He reached out and grabbed Liu Ziyi; fortunately, no innocent people were harmed, and fortunately, he also believed Liu Ziyi would not talk.

"We are leaving here," Luo Qi said. The outburst just now had calmed him down, and he re-controlled his energy. If he had a few more outbursts, he might truly fall into a state of loss of control. As long as he didn't overuse his abilities, the probability of losing control would be kept as small as possible.

"Are we going to find a place to hide?" Liu Ziyi asked. She followed his footsteps, walking hurriedly with him on the rainy night street.

"Or find that... person who caused the rain."

"Can you be sure it's a person? Maybe it's a puppet," Liu Ziyi shouted in the heavy rain.

Luo Qi's footsteps paused. "Can a puppet stably use that kind of Magic?" The weather Magic just now was very appropriate; one must know that weather Magic is very complex, requiring extremely delicate parameters to be adjusted, and correspondingly, the intelligence that needs to be retained must be high enough. Luo Qi was not good at Calculation; although he had recovered his strength, what he created were only extreme weather, such as bitter cold and blizzards, or generating boundless fires. If he were asked to create such a rainstorm, it would likely soon evolve into hail, and the worst part was that it might not stop, entering a death loop of heavy rain until the Sandbox collapsed.

Liu Ziyi shook her head, remembering that Luo Qi might not have seen it, and shouted loudly again, "I was just saying there's a possibility, I can't say for sure."

Luo Qi could not speak. The Luo Qis he had released did not have the ability to use Mind Magic. They were just a segment of thought; although more complex, they were still a fixed pattern of thought and lacked the brainpower to use Mind Magic. Unless there were still some high-energy Mages in the Cubes within this Sandbox who were not only being used but also retained considerable autonomous ability. Just like... just like what the Clownfish did to that great monk in the temple.

But the Clownfish is... the Clownfish, and the Qionglin is the Mage Supreme Committee, isn't it?

"What's wrong with you?" Liu Ziyi pulled Luo Qi hard. "Why are you dazed, or do you need to stay within a certain distance to control those things?"

She pointed behind them, where the sounds of hand-to-hand combat had already begun to appear.

"No." Luo Qi looked back; several puppets he had controlled had already left the main street and disappeared into the city's alleys. "We're going to the main street, find a wide street."

"Why?" Liu Ziyi asked, though she acted immediately. She still remembered the way she came and pulled him out through an alley between buildings.

"If this is a human city, or a city imitating humans, the buildings on the main street will be more useful," Luo Qi said.

"Oh." Liu Ziyi became excited. "Want to try hiding in a prison?"

Luo Qi immediately shivered. "No, I just saw many puppets living in the prison."

"You saw?" Liu Ziyi asked suspiciously.

"I glimpsed a few brains; they also have simple memories," Luo Qi said, then tightly closed his mouth, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "Listen, the most important thing now is time. As long as we hide here long enough, we win; it doesn't mean we have to beat them to win."

"Why?" Liu Ziyi asked.

"Because the Qionglin will definitely come to save us; no matter what happens to me, at least you are very valuable," Luo Qi said. But this was not the real reason; he didn't want to tell Liu Ziyi that this was a test aimed at him. He had just thought that the surveillance had been cut off, so the test could not be considered a complete success. The most important part of a stress test is the length of time, but now they would definitely have to shorten the time. Therefore, he was not competing with zombies; he was competing with the Qionglin. Whoever could hold out longer would win.

Fortunately, Liu Ziyi never dwelled on this too much; her attention was habitually focused on how to execute. "We need a shelter, no windows, and the door must be able to be sealed. Preferably not a puppet nest. However, once we reach this step, strategically, the puppets should send out their general who can make it rain."

"Then we will have achieved the second goal: finding the one who can make it rain," Luo Qi said. It saved the Magic required to identify them. If they were forced to fight, dealing with one or two brains was always better than being consumed by wheel battles until they collapsed. "If we are lucky, maybe the rule here is to stop fighting at dawn; I'm counting on that."

"Having hope is better than having no hope," Liu Ziyi agreed.

"Come this way." Luo Qi suddenly pulled Liu Ziyi in one direction as if he knew the way, as if in this dark, rainy night, he could see the pitch-black buildings around him by the guidance of a little cold light.

Liu Ziyi followed him closely. They ran in the heavy rain, and Luo Qi turned left and right as if he were equipped with a navigation device, yet he could head straight for his destination. It wasn't until Liu Ziyi saw a puppet strangely wandering in place on the street that she realized Luo Qi was running straight into the building the puppet was guarding as if he hadn't seen it. She understood; that was Luo Qi's puppet. She remembered that Idea Torrent that devoured everything; Luo Qi must have controlled many puppets and built his own Mind Network, and his current visual range far exceeded that of an individual.

She ran until she was out of breath and was pulled by Luo Qi up a high flight of stairs. The gate of the building opened on the stairs, and a row of majestic columns stood at the edge of the platform. They passed through the gate, and the heavy rain was blocked outside. Luo Qi's pace also slowed down, and he began to check the surroundings. Liu Ziyi was finally able to catch her breath and asked, "What is this place?"

"It should be a bank," Luo Qi said, looking around. "It is indeed. Judging by the scale, it should be a central bank; a bank of this scale will have a large vault. Vaults are generally underground, have no windows, and the doors can be sealed. And there are no puppets here; they don't live in the vaults, probably because it's too inconvenient to get in and out."

"Great." Liu Ziyi exclaimed in surprise, "Let's go find the stairs now."

In the underground hall of the Highland Mages, Du Zhengyi sat on a chair, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped together, lost in his own thoughts. Around him, the members of the Investigation Team, although they had nothing to do, all remained here. The Technical mages were all at their posts, trying to find a way to restore contact with the Sandbox, like mending the fold after the sheep had been lost.

Liu Li had talked to a few people and had now returned to the center of the hall. She glanced at the time; another two hours had passed.

Du Zhengyi suddenly said, "I have been inside this Sandbox."

Liu Li turned her head at the sound and looked at him.

"This is a training ground for Battle Mages," Du Zhengyi said. "I remember the situation inside; once a counterattack begins, the difficulty will be adjusted according to the performance of the Battle Mage. Once the ability of a High-level Combat Mage is identified, the difficulty will be adjusted to high-level."

"I know," Liu Li said. "But I have already had them turn off the Battle Mage mode; there won't be any High-Reaction Mages."

Du Zhengyi straightened his back in the chair and looked up at Liu Li. "You also didn't expect Liu Ziyi to follow him in, and that the surveillance would be cut off, did you?"

Liu Li pursed her lips tightly.

"We are all Mages, but who among us dares to say we truly understand the real Magic principles of the Sandbox? If the outside world cannot control the Sandbox, will the Sandbox make its own judgments? Just like humans... bypassing roadblocks like a car entering self-driving mode? High-Reaction Mages were put in by you to train Battle Mages; originally, there were no High-Reaction Mages in this Mind Mage puppet Sandbox." Du Zhengyi stood up and buttoned his suit jacket. "I am starting to feel more and more uneasy. Teacher, if you believe I am a qualified warrior, please believe in my premonition of danger."