Chapter 527: The King's New Clothes

"Venerable Liu." Yun Maoran spoke slowly, once again trying to smooth things over. "Actually, things have reached this point, and we are helpless. Regardless of whether Qionglin's previous strategy was correct, and regardless of the current situation, the fact is that there are few measures we can still take—as Mage Liu said, the situation has actually been deteriorating. Furthermore, I think now is not the time to pursue anyone's responsibility; if handled poorly, the Mage World will face a great disaster."

Bailida sneered, "Old Yun, what exactly do you mean by that? Do you mean that although the incident has occurred, it is not Qionglin's responsibility, not our responsibility, and not Luo Qi's responsibility, so everyone should just pretend it's in the past?"

Liu Xiuyun glanced at him, seemingly surprised to see him starting to freely express his opinions again. "That is not what Mage Yun meant, Mage Baili does not need to be so caustic. Now is indeed not the time to discuss these things; regardless, Apprentice Luo Qi has already poked through the paper window and spread the news. We really do not need to sit here and discuss it; tomorrow morning, countless bounty hunters will be competing with the Lotus Burners, and it will depend on who gets the sealed evil beast first."

Hearing him emphasize the words "Apprentice Luo Qi," Luo Qi grinned and let out a scoff, just about to open his mouth to retort, "Then you should thank me; after all, it was I who created obstacles for the Lotus Burners, and it might even be my obstacle that causes the most damage to the Lotus Burners."

Who would have thought that just as he took a breath to speak, Du Zhengyi beside him turned his face and gave him a cold look. He closed his mouth and swallowed those superfluous words. Du Zhengyi turned his head back and stared blankly in silence.

Luo Qi slumped back onto the table, ran his hands through his hair, which had grown a bit long, and pondered these very representative Great Mages. It was very interesting that because his case was supposed to be the biggest in a century, the qualifications of the personnel hearing his case were extremely high, spanning almost all major magical fields. The Magician Safety Department, the Magician Experimental Department, the Magician Population Resources Department, the Magician Business Association, Battle Mages, the most senior... retired Mage Yun Maoran, and... the most baffling Mage Wusu, who no one knew who he represented.

Doubt and uncertainty shrouded the round table he was not yet qualified to sit at. Luo Qi wondered if he could really make these senior Great Mages feel anxious and uneasy. Using Du Zhengyi as a reference standard, they might have more flaws in some aspects, but their magnitude should be about the same; they should just be older versions of Du Zhengyi, and there was no reason for them to regress as they aged. Unless they had long been full of doubt and worry, and these elite mages were just now having their long-accumulated emotions ignited by him.

He was just the child who shouted in public that the king was not wearing any clothes.

Perhaps Du Zhengyi thought so too, which was why he tacitly allowed him to keep blabbering here.

"I am very interested in Luo Qi's proposal."

Luo Qi looked up and saw that the person speaking was Wusu.

That elf-like man smiled, making the light in the forest brighten a little. "Anyway, Luo Qi has already acted first and reported later; he probably doesn't care if we support this proposal. I suggest we all be sensible and pass his proposal immediately, rather than waiting until tomorrow when everyone knows about the scandal of the seal beast and then coming to hold us accountable for why we didn't accept the first discoverer's warning."

Sanchun gave a wry smile as he looked at him. "Wusu, do you have to put it so bluntly? Although that is indeed the case."

"Whether we accept the proposal or not, the result is the same; we all have to wait for Pei Shu to convene the Supreme Committee meeting." Liu Li said stiffly, "We indeed must deal with the problem of the seal beast, but I hope we can still rely on the old rules and act low-key. Luo Qi's behavior has made us very passive."

"If one hundred thousand Qiongqi flood the city tomorrow, being low-key beforehand won't be of any use." Luo Qi said in a low voice.

"Luo Qi!" Liu Li said, raising her voice.

"But Apprentice Luo Qi is not wrong." Liu Xiuyun firmly took over the conversation and said, "I still say the same thing: facing the problem and following public procedures will help Qionglin integrate resources. Having Execution Mages conduct large-scale investigations is more efficient than sending Battle Mages to act underground; after all, time is limited now."

"We have long sent people to track down in the Black Market..." Liu Li did not want to use the name "seal beast," so she considered it and said, "the abnormal creatures that have appeared." Then she gave a brief explanation of the situation of small Abnormal Beasts appearing in the Black Market; in fact, this matter could not be hidden.

Sure enough, as soon as she finished speaking, Wusu smiled and said, "Yes, I have also heard about it in the Black Market. It's a pity that when I went to the Grass Market, it was already after the pet shop had been smashed by Great Mage Luo. However, thinking about it afterwards, it is truly unexpected that Venerable Fan has such a sense of humor. Are the credits allocated to Venerable Fan by the Planning Committee not enough?"

"How is that possible?" Luo Qi rubbed his hair and said, "Du Zhengyi can afford it; Boss Fan wouldn't be so bad off that he's worse than a mage with only about ten years of seniority."

Wusu was amused. "I also don't think it was Venerable Fan Shi. This matter is full of irony; the form is greater than the content, and the person behind this has a very dark sense of humor."

Luo Qi had a candidate in his heart for the person who did this. Besides the Clownfish who was manipulating the big picture behind the scenes, who else could it be? Who else would mock Qionglin so insidiously and bitingly? Ah, on this point, Luo Qi admired him and should learn more from him in the future.

"I don't know what the content is or what the form is." Liu Xiuyun said without a shred of humor, "This looks more like an insider warning Qionglin."

"Hmm." Luo Qi raised his head abruptly. "You're right." Of course the Clownfish would warn Qionglin; the seal beast was used by mages to kill mages, but the original design was intended to attack humans. He could be sure that the Clownfish's full hatred was directed at the Mage World; it was the mages who took away his human wife.

Liu Li's gaze bore down on him, and she asked sharply, "What else do you know?"

"What?" Luo Qi asked, immediately looking confused.

"I hope you are truly confused." Liu Li said sternly.

"I have another idea." Luo Qi said, "The seal beasts circulating on the market do not have much harm; compared to Aliens, they are just little white rabbits, so there is no need to pay too much attention to them. I suggest that we should form teams of Battle Mages and Mind Mages to explore the Seal Land."

After he finished speaking, everyone, including Du Zhengyi, looked at him, and the entire forest became deathly silent again.

"There is still a Seal Land?" Liu Xiuyun asked quietly. "Isn't it all stored under Qionglin's jurisdiction?"

Sanchun stood up excitedly. "Unopened?"

"Luo Qi!" Du Zhengyi called out in a deep voice.

"Luo Qi, as far as I know, there is no such thing as an 'unopened' Seal Land." Liu Li said in astonishment.

"Teacher Liu." Du Zhengyi warned, interrupting Liu Li's words, implying that they had already reached the boundary. At the same time, he stood up and reached out to pull Luo Qi.

Luo Qi spoke quickly at this moment, "Shuozhou, Xizhou, Ganzhou."

He was sure everyone heard it, although Du Zhengyi then pinched the back of his neck, and he didn't know how he passed out. However, the moment he passed out, he was sure he heard Zhou Quan say, "Damn, Luo Qi's big mouth finally lost power."

He would settle this score with Zhou Quan.

(End of chapter)