Chapter 153: Be Careful of Being Squeezed Dry...
Meanwhile.
Covered in blood and filth, Lance had no time to deal with the chattering Witch floating in mid-air.
His mind was a complete mess right now.
The Half-Elf Maiden he had gently set down was now completely unconscious. Her head drooped listlessly as she rested quietly in Lance’s broad embrace, having temporarily fallen into a deep slumber.
But her body still trembled from time to time.
Lance’s mind was racing.
They had been forcibly pulled into this historical projection, and the commotion caused by the red Technique Array outside was simply too great.
He guessed that someone must have come to investigate the situation in the real-world forest by now.
If those people outside saw Cecilia in this state when they got out,
he wouldn’t be able to explain himself even if he had ten mouths.
Without any hesitation, Lance immediately activated the ring.
A faint glimmer of Magic Power flashed.
He decisively chose the Zero Ring Spell: Cleaning Skill.
A gentle, invisible breeze swept over the two of them, swiftly stripping away the dirt and sand from Cecilia’s clothes and the dust from his own.
This was especially true for his own hands.
After such a long and brutal brawl, his fingernails were caked with monster blood.
He then activated the Water Creation Skill.
A stream of clear water appeared out of thin air, and Lance scrubbed his hands meticulously until the smell of blood was completely washed away.
Then, he used his hands to wipe Cecilia’s small face clean.
Finally, he used the Drying Skill three times in a row.
The warm wind generated by the Spell enveloped the Half-Elf Maiden, completely drying the parts of her skirt that had just been splashed with water.
His movements were so practiced that Elisya, watching from the side, couldn’t help but wonder if this man was a repeat offender.
After completing this whole cleaning routine, Lance carefully lifted Cecilia back onto his broad back.
At that moment,
he could clearly feel the air around him beginning to distort slightly. This historical Projection Space was rapidly pulling away.
He estimated that they would be forced to leave in a matter of seconds.
Moreover, his system panel was blinking manically, seemingly backlogged with a ton of unread settlement messages.
"You’re leaving already?"
Elisya floated leisurely in front of Lance.
As a Witch, she had also keenly perceived that this space was rapidly collapsing.
In truth, it wasn’t because Lance had perfectly completed his role. It was simply that the Energy required to maintain this historical projection had been completely exhausted by him.
It could only default to assuming Lance had met the conditions and begin the Life Track Grafting.
Elisya extended a translucent palm and gave Lance a little wave.
"Well, bye-bye then. If we ever get the chance to meet again in the future."
The beautiful Witch paused, her tone becoming somewhat meaningful.
"From now on, if you see any of the poor girls from our Witch Race out there, especially the ones with empty stomachs, remember to take extra good care of them, okay?"
’Why would they have empty stomachs?’
’Is the Witch Race having a hard time during this era?’
Lance looked at Elisya’s stunning face, her eyes crinkled in a smile.
Her expression seemed incredibly friendly at that moment.
But Lance couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her smile.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
It was the kind of feeling you get when someone has pulled up a stool, ready to watch a good show.
But Lance was simply too busy right now. He didn’t have the spare energy to ponder the deeper meaning behind the Witch’s words.
Besides, she had indeed helped him understand the mastermind’s intentions just now.
So, Lance could only nod quickly and reply in a serious tone.
"Thank you for the advice. If I get the chance in the future, I will certainly do my best to look after them."
As he finished speaking, Lance felt the flow of time around him seem to suddenly slow down.
An immense spatial pulling force instantly enveloped his entire body.
In the final moment before his vision was completely swallowed by darkness,
he saw Elisya in front of him suddenly open her mouth, smiling as she said something to him.
"Be... ware... of... being... drained..."
’What does that mean?’
’It seemed she hadn’t finished saying the last word.’
Lance’s vision abruptly went black, and his consciousness was plunged into a brief state of weightlessness.
...
In the real world, in the sea of flowers within Copper Creek Forest.
The campfire Lance had built nearby had long since burned out, leaving only a few faint wisps of green smoke.
Two old men were standing beside the Crystal Cluster, their expressions grave.
"The Energy inside has been completely depleted. What in the world were those young people doing in there?"
Gideon’s face was filled with confusion.
According to his Knowledge, the amount of Energy contained within these magical radiation points generated by the Underground City was immense.
It was enough to serve as the basic Magic Power source for an entire city for a very long time.
After receiving news of the intern’s accident, he had used High Ring Space Magic to jump directly from White River City, then immediately dragged his old friend Necros to Cecilia’s mission location.
Fortunately, along the way, Necros had mentioned that he’d already performed a divination using his unique Fire-Stealing Relic.
He had confirmed that none of the students from Violet Academy were in any mortal danger.
Only then had Gideon’s anxious heart been able to relax slightly.
Still, he had to figure out what exactly had happened.
So, as soon as he arrived, he began squatting on the ground to carefully study the enormous Technique Array.
As a top scholar, he quickly confirmed that it was a composite Array designed to trigger a historical projection, and that it involved the dangerous, forbidden domain of fate.
What startled Gideon the most was that the other party had somehow managed to use a Chaos Ether Crystal Cluster as a stable Energy source for the entire Technique Array.
This could absolutely be described as a technology that transcended eras.
As far as he knew, this was the core topic currently being researched by the Truth Council.
This suggested that the person who had set up this Technique Array was perhaps a high-ranking, influential member of the Truth Council.
However, he had never heard of any major, substantive breakthroughs in this research before.
But looking at the stable Technique before him, it was clear this technology had already reached a very mature stage of development.
Although he was certain this historical-echo projection would not physically harm the people inside,
the reason fate-related forbidden Techniques were called "forbidden" was because regardless of the outcome, it was very hard to say whether the result for those caught up in it would be good or bad.
Once Cecilia was out safely, he would definitely have to ask the little lass just what she had encountered inside.
Just then, the two old men saw it at the same time.
The massive red Technique Array in mid-air began to slowly descend, its once-blinding light rapidly dimming.
Immediately after, a series of images flashed quickly within the residual glow of Magic Power.