Chapter 486: Ruins 30

The rubble still vaguely revealed the shape of streets. The puppets were advancing toward the direction where the Sandbox had opened, the formation's speed increasing, sprinting through the streets with a desperate posture, looking more and more like the Running of the Bulls in Spain. Luo Qi was among them, running stumble-footed, constantly being pushed and scraped by other puppets.

Du Zhengyi stood on high ground, observing in silence. If Luo Qi had already been integrated into the puppet ranks, then this was the second time Luo Qi had managed to lose his own brain.

He did not know why he was so unlucky. In the past, when he rescued someone, a single trip was all it took. But ever since he met Luo Qi, this matter was no longer certain. He might have to make at least two trips: one trip to retrieve Luo Qi's body, and the second trip to retrieve Luo Qi's brain. Come to think of it, a person who could even lose his own brain was truly too stupid.

However, Luo Qi appeared more uncoordinated than the other puppets. Puppets were not more agile; in fact, puppets were much more rigid than living people, looking very much like the zombies of human fantasy—perhaps not fantasy, who knew if humans had truly seen Mages play with such things. But when a group of puppets moved forward at high speed with the same rigid posture, the rigidity became a kind of coordination. Luo Qi's lack of coordination in the formation lay in the fact that he was not in the same rhythm of rigidity as them.

For a moment, Du Zhengyi suspected that Luo Qi was faking it; that was something Luo Qi was capable of. He could do such a thing just for the sake of a whim. But then Du Zhengyi realized that was impossible. This kind of semi-biological puppet would definitely beat the odd one out among them to a pulp; if Luo Qi wanted to blend in, he must also be in a puppet state. Liu Ziyi had said that Luo Qi knew he had been targeted by the Sandbox, that he wanted to leave Liu Ziyi and go into hiding, and Luo Qi had indeed disappeared from the Sandbox's Magic surveillance. He had assumed Luo Qi would find a safe place, let himself pass out, and properly play the part of Sleeping Beauty. But for a Mind Mage, it was also possible to self-suspend a portion of one's consciousness, relying only on a bit of low-frequency consciousness activity. This state was like a human in a state of suspended animation, maintaining only a very low breathing frequency, almost able to evade detection.

The only thing that annoyed him was why Luo Qi was so dramatic. He could have found a place with no one around to be a lonely zombie, but he chose to mingle with the Puppet Legion and even semi-integrated himself into the legion's system. The Puppet Legion's sprint grew faster and faster, and it became increasingly difficult for Luo Qi, who could not coordinate his movements with the legion. Suddenly, a puppet slammed heavily into Luo Qi. Luo Qi stumbled, was clipped by another puppet, and fell sideways. Given the mindless marching posture of this legion, Luo Qi would soon be trampled. For this giant synthesized by the legion, losing a Luo Qi was like losing a strand of hair; it wouldn't care at all.

Du Zhengyi calmly leaned slightly downward, lowered his center of gravity, and then leaped violently from the high ground of the ruins. He stepped on the head of a puppet, swept across half the Puppet Legion, and like an osprey snatching a fish from underwater, grabbed the falling Luo Qi and hauled him out. Before the water surface could react, they had already retreated rapidly, far away from the puppet camp.

Landing on the ground, he pushed the Luo Qi in his hands away, giving him a heavy shove. This puppet indeed had no intention of attacking him; like a bullied child, it took two unsteady steps back, arms outstretched to regain balance. Du Zhengyi confirmed once more at close range that the scars on Luo Qi's body and his blood-stained clothes matched Liu Ziyi's description in every detail; this should indeed be Luo Qi. As if to corroborate this, a black-furred creature, cat-like but not quite, darted out from Luo Qi's clothes, jumped onto Luo Qi's shoulder, and let out a threatening purr in its throat.

Du Zhengyi glanced at the cat and was no longer so rough with Luo Qi. But Luo Qi had no reaction; those eyes raised to look at him were hollow and dull, as if Luo Qi had been drained away, and what stood before him was only the dregs of what remained of Luo Qi.

This feeling was not pleasant. Standing atop a ruin, as if the world had been scrapped and no longer existed, the shoulder gripped under his palm was merely the remains of a friend. This was already the second time—no, the first time was having his soul swapped by an Ancestor Mage, the second was the little puppet seen at Obelisk Square, and this was the third time. And he never wanted to go through it again. Mind Mages were just too damn annoying.

Du Zhengyi shook Luo Qi, "So... what is the safe word?"

Luo Qi did not react. Du Zhengyi pondered that he would surely have designed an awakening mechanism for himself. He was already familiar with most of Luo Qi's thought processes and could basically guess how he would do it. He was very bold; he could even bring himself to actively shut down and push himself directly into deep water. Since he had done so, he would definitely wake up automatically after confirming it was safe. He did not trust outsiders and would not hand over the authority to wake himself to any Mind Mage. He had originally thought Luo Qi would wake up after seeing him, but thinking about it now, Luo Qi could no longer perceive his Yajian at all; how could he be sure it was truly him standing here? With Luo Qi's crafty personality, he might have made this password verification a bit convoluted.

Du Zhengyi pondered for a while and said tentatively, "You know I couldn't possibly call you the Great Civet King. You might have no shame, but I still do."

Luo Qi did not react; it was indeed not that.

The black cat on Luo Qi's shoulder began licking its paws, looking completely relaxed. Du Zhengyi knew the cat recognized him. He looked into the round yellow eyes, "Are you in there?... Certainly not. Damn, this is so stupid, I've actually started talking to a cat."

He sighed, raised his head irritably, and caught a glimpse of the breach in the Sandbox; the vanguard of the Puppet Legion had already reached the breach. There was still time, so he said casually, "How about I beat you up first..." His words stopped short, because it was at this moment that Luo Qi took a deep breath. He was surprised to feel Luo Qi's breathing, heartbeat, and body temperature all change with his words, rapidly flowing toward the body parameters of a near-Mage, and even soaring directly to the upper limit of a Mage. Luo Qi extended a claw, grabbed his sleeve, used him to steady himself, and then began to pant heavily, coughing tremblingly.

"So that was the boot-up password." Du Zhengyi looked down at him, "Your mind is still quite clear, kid."

Luo Qi still could not speak, shaking violently, a layer of sweat on his head, but he stubbornly raised his head to look closely at Du Zhengyi. Soon, Du Zhengyi felt Luo Qi's consciousness reach out toward him, pressing against his Consciousness Barrier. His heart softened, and he relaxed the barrier slightly, allowing Luo Qi to permeate his mental world slightly. In the real world, Luo Qi gasped sharply as if he had taken a drug, and then his whole body went limp.