“This should be about enough. We can deal with the rest once the rain stops,” Lu Chenyi said after working all night. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he looked at the temporary rain shelter and waterproof tarp they had set up.
Once the rain stopped, the disorienting power within the rainwater would gradually dissipate. Only then could they properly repair the elevator platform and other facilities.
“Is everyone feeling alright? If anyone feels unwell, report it immediately,” Lu Chenyi said. Before he could even finish speaking, several guard soldiers collapsed one after another.
“This…” Lu Chenyi sighed. Although he had repeatedly reminded them to rest the moment they felt they couldn’t hold on, failing to realize one was becoming lost was part of becoming lost itself.
After a full night, more than a dozen people had fallen unconscious due to the effects.
After the rain stopped, those with strong wills might wake up on their own. However, many others would be unable to break free from the lost state and would become vegetables.
……
Su Xiaocheng opened her eyes and found herself sandwiched between Lu Yinxi and Su Xiaowei.
Of course, they had simply slept together last night. After fighting continuously, their bodies were inevitably exhausted.
But now, after a night of rest, Su Xiaocheng felt strength flowing through her fingers.
She was just about to do something while the other two were still asleep when an untimely knock sounded at the door.
Looking at the two startled awake girls, Su Xiaocheng felt full of resentment. “Who the heck is knocking on the door so early in the morning?”
She reluctantly opened the door, only to find an unexpected person standing there.
An Li stood at the doorway with a bright smile. “It’s getting late, Miss Su Xiaocheng. When can we start our research?”
“Is it late?” Su Xiaocheng glanced at her terminal. The time displayed—exactly 6:00 AM—felt particularly glaring.
“Yes! I’ve already been up for an hour and finished writing the research plan,” An Li said matter-of-factly.
Su Xiaocheng felt she might never understand the mindset of a study fanatic. Still, since she had already agreed, she should cooperate properly.
“Alright, let me wash up and have breakfast first…” Su Xiaocheng’s words were cut off halfway by An Li.
“Let’s go then. I’ve already prepared breakfast. See you in the cafeteria~”
“Big Sister, good luck,” Su Xiaowei chose to silently cheer for Su Xiaocheng from behind. Researching a bit in exchange for equipment worth over a hundred million? That was definitely worth doing.
The thirty million An Li had applied for was the production cost. The external selling price would be an entirely different matter. A-rank equipment was truly priceless.
After washing up, the three of them arrived at the cafeteria. To Su Xiaocheng’s surprise, a very familiar breakfast was laid out on the table.
“Steamed buns, soy milk, fried dough sticks, millet porridge, and tea eggs? Does the base even have these?” After yesterday’s pre-made meals from Lu Chenyi, the food before her looked almost unreal.
“We didn’t have them originally. I had them delivered overnight,” An Li answered.
She was always very generous toward her research subjects.
“I also specially hired a chef. What kind of flavors do you like?” An Li stood to the side holding a small notebook, looking like a restaurant waitress.
“You really don’t have to be this polite.” An Li’s attitude had changed so quickly that Su Xiaocheng was still adjusting.
“It’s fine. Just cooperate well with me later.”
Soon, Su Xiaocheng understood why An Li was being so friendly.
“Increase magic output frequency on the left by 2%, reduce intensity by 5%. At the same time, increase intensity on the right by 6%.”
“Good. Now start incorporating purification power on the left.”
“No, no, no! Don’t change the magic intensity on the left. Quickly lower the intensity!” An Li said urgently as she watched the equipment about to lose control.
“How can the magic intensity stay the same after adding purification power?! Do you even hear what you’re saying?” Su Xiaocheng’s vision went dark.
Crack~
The equipment was emergency-shutdown. The released magic power suddenly went out of control. Su Xiaocheng felt as if her head had been smashed with a hammer. She felt dizzy.
“This won’t work. The research isn’t producing any useful results,” An Li said, staring at the data in front of her and sinking into deep thought.
What she needed to study was the purification property carried within Su Xiaocheng’s magic power. However, this purification property did not originate from Su Xiaocheng herself. Conventional research methods simply wouldn’t work. Even the magic fluctuations caused by adding the purification property turned all the collected data into useless garbage.
While An Li was lost in thought, Su Xiaocheng sat to the side and picked up a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
She had to admit the treatment was quite good. Drinking fresh orange juice in a city in the middle of the great desert felt like a dream.
“Wait, maybe this will work!” An Li suddenly thought of something.
“Hm?” Su Xiaocheng put down her glass, mentally preparing herself for another round of torment.
Unexpectedly, An Li put down her equipment, grabbed Su Xiaocheng’s hand, and headed out of the laboratory.
“Eh? Where are we going?” Suddenly being pulled away, Su Xiaocheng looked back longingly at her half-finished orange juice.
“I’ll make you a new one later.” Seeing Su Xiaocheng’s hopeless expression, An Li curled her lip in slight disdain.
After being dragged through the complicated underground base for ten minutes, Su Xiaocheng arrived at a place that resembled an infirmary.
“Eh? What are we doing here?” Su Xiaocheng asked, confused. Weren’t they supposed to be researching the purification property?
Pushing open the door, she saw more than a dozen beds occupied by unconscious personnel.
“What happened to them?”
“They fell unconscious after being affected by the Rain Curtain rainwater,” An Li said, her expression somewhat dim.
“I brought you here because I want to try whether your magic can help dispel their lost state.”
“Eh? In theory it should be possible, but I’m not sure if my magic power is enough.”
Su Xiaocheng released her magic power and attempted to purify the lost state.
A few minutes later, Su Xiaocheng stopped casting.
“It’s not working well. Once someone falls into the lost state, the difficulty of purifying them increases dramatically. My purification power comes from an external source, so its rank isn’t high enough. If I force it, the consumption will be enormous.”
The disorienting power carried by the Rain Curtain itself wasn’t very strong. Resisting it beforehand wasn’t difficult. But once someone had already fallen into the lost state, pulling them back out became exponentially harder.
“It was just a hypothesis. From what I know, magical girls’ magic can produce twice the result with half the effort under specific circumstances,” An Li said unhurriedly.
“But my magic inclination isn’t geared toward healing,” Su Xiaocheng said, puzzled.
To some extent, her magic inclination hadn’t even been properly determined yet. This was also why she had always attacked using the most basic form—Magic Beam.
“I’ve also researched what you call ‘inclination.’ It’s nothing more than an experiential pattern of magic usage. By following certain patterns, the magic consumption required to achieve a goal is reduced,” An Li explained slowly.
“According to my understanding, this pattern can be calculated through deduction.”
“Wait, are you saying that magic inclination isn’t fixed?” Su Xiaocheng had never heard this theory before. She dared say that even the magical girls themselves had not yet grasped this concept.
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