Han Qingyu was still afraid Shen Yixiu wouldn't be resolute enough. After all, she was born and raised Azure stock, and what lay before them was a miniature source energy field—even if small, it still carried the word "field."
But this wasn't Azure property anyway. He wasn't stealing vegetables from his own garden; he was raiding the vegetable patch of the Cleansing Faction's ringleader.
Besides, who knew, he might even be getting rid of a massive hidden danger for Institute 2 this time! Otherwise, if this thing were left sitting here until Ne came to harvest his crops, would he leave Institute 2 completely untouched?!
"Rusty Sister," Han Qingyu said, brimming with even more righteous indignation after turning it over in his mind. He asked seriously, "Let me ask you a question. What's the meaning behind the name of our Sole Witness Legion?"
The question came out of nowhere. Shen Yixiu was somewhat bewildered at first. Turning her head to look at him, she ventured, "I see, I destroy?"
"Correct," Han Qingyu confirmed, then asked, "And what do you see right now?"
Shen Yixiu turned back and looked again. "A... miniature source energy field? That's it, right? That's all that's here."
Han Qingyu gave a cool nod. "Who made it?"
"The Cleansing Faction."
"Destroy it."
With that, he made a slicing motion with his hand, like a blade falling. Han Qingyu took the lead and stepped inside. The invisible resistance was still there; it seemed he was inherently incompatible with source energy fields. But this time, it was just a toddler's stroller—he could crash through it all he liked.
Behind him, Shen Yixiu couldn't help but find it amusing.
She thought to herself: *If source energy were a girl, she would definitely fall in love with Han Qingyu, wouldn't she? Because only in front of her is he ever this passionate and entertaining—hm, even a little cute at times.*
"What are you standing there daydreaming for?" Seeing her dazed, Han Qingyu urged from inside the field.
"No—not daydreaming! Coming."
Shen Yixiu answered and hurried to step inside.
Although she couldn't have her degree of fusion tested due to the unique circulation system within her body, entering a source energy field and absorbing source energy was no problem at all—just like those kindred vessels before her who were far inferior to her.
Bathed in the blue light, the two grew quiet.
It felt wonderful. The source energy enveloped his entire body, like the surge of hot spring water, still exceedingly comfortable. Though slow, it was a sensation Han Qingyu had missed, and one he normally couldn't afford to enjoy.
This didn't feel like a metal block, which was always absorbed in a split second, leaving no room to experience or savor it.
In a way, it was like eating a meal. Rather than instantly being stuffed in the blink of an eye, most people would much rather enjoy the process of feasting on a banquet.
"Wait, why does it seem to be dwindling?" Before long, Rusty Sister spoke up, asking in confusion, "Do you feel that, Qingzi?"
Han Qingyu nodded.
Sounding a bit crestfallen, Shen Yixiu continued, "Did what you said come true—is there really only a tiny bit left...? I can barely feel it anymore."
"No!" Han Qingyu shook his head. Far from crestfallen, his eyes were shining. "It's just that the rate of excitation is very slow and can't keep up with how fast we absorb it."
Since this miniature source energy field was designed to sustain itself for so long... it had to be like a little volcano. It couldn't possibly erupt too violently all at once.
The logic was simple, and following that logic further:
What raw material was being excited by it?!
Could the equipment here be none other than a simplified, scaled-down version of the metal block refining system Xin Yaoqiao had introduced earlier?!
The answer was obvious.
"There's a metal block here."
Having said that, Han Qingyu circulated with all his might, finishing the absorption of the field's source energy. In the end, he estimated he had taken in an amount roughly equivalent to a dozen or more fully charged blue crystal blocks.
Faint wisps of source energy were still being continuously excited within the field, but Han Qingyu no longer cared. Recalling Xin Yaoqiao's earlier explanation, he located a device in the upper-left corner that resembled a rice cooker... stepped forward, and drew his blade.
Shen Yixiu saw what he was doing. "A-Are you just going to pry it open like that?!"
"What else?!" Han Qingyu turned his head, sounding as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You expect me to disassemble it slowly? I wouldn't know how to do that anyway—I only graduated from high school!"
"What does graduating from high school have to do with anything?... You're clearly just a bandit," Shen Yixiu muttered under her breath. Then she stepped forward of her own accord. "According to your logic just now, isn't it supposed to be exhausted automatically? What if you break the thing inside?"
Han Qingyu pondered it. "Good point. I forgot for a second."
"..." Shen Yixiu took two more steps forward, shielding him behind her. "Let me try. Back when I was at the research institute... being studied, I was bored and saw the diagrams in their books."
Han Qingyu stepped aside.
As it turned out, knowing the basic structure made the device surprisingly easy to take apart. Rusty Sister's iron hands were also very handy at unscrewing bolts. Before long, Shen Yixiu was squatting on the ground, having removed all the screws. She gave it a test wiggle, turned her head, and asked:
"Should I open it?"
Han Qingyu thought about it, turned his back to it, and said, "You open it. You look." He didn't dare look himself, afraid that after decades of consumption, so little would be left that seeing it would break his heart.
This was a whole source energy field! It would be like robbing a small landlord's manor only to come away with three or five dou of grain—how ridiculous would that be?!
*Clatter.* The sound of the metal lid being opened came through. Han Qingyu waited nervously.
And then... nothing.
"What happened?" Han Qingyu waited for a moment before finally blurting out.
"I... I don't know if this entire thing is all one piece." Shen Yixiu's voice sounded somewhat panicked, a bit shaken. She said, "Come see for yourself."
*One whole piece?!*
*I thought there would be a bunch of pieces. If it's a single block, how big could it possibly be?* Thinking this, Han Qingyu couldn't wait any longer and whipped around to look...
An illusion.
Impurities.
*It has to be fake, right?*
"It's real." In the end, he reached out, picked up the metal block from inside the rice cooker—which was roughly the size of nearly half a brick—felt it briefly, slipped it into his pocket, and said in a calm, composed voice, "It's real. The entire thing."
*Is he really that calm?* Hearing that it was real, Shen Yixiu was nearly beside herself with excitement, yet she was surprised to find Han Qingyu chillingly composed.
She thought to herself, *That's impossible. Is this still Qingzi?* Shen Yixiu turned her head and looked closely, only to realize: Han Qingyu was actually trembling—quivering with sheer excitement.
"This piece... it must be worth fourteen or fifteen metal blocks, right? Comparing it to the big ones, I mean." Hiding her amusement, she asked cautiously.
"Just about." Han Qingyu nodded, then suddenly exhaled a breath of relief. "Well, that's settled. Blood Doll won't have to be placed under isolation and investigated in the future... Otherwise, I was honestly worried I wouldn't be able to hold myself back one day."
Having said that, he burst into laughter.
Shen Yixiu laughed along with him.
As they laughed, both of them suddenly snapped their gazes toward each other.
"How could there be such a huge metal block?!"
There was no answer to this question, only two conjectures:
First, Ne had a source of metal source energy blocks that Azure did not know about—or at least, that the overwhelming majority of Azure had never heard of.
If that were true, the implications would be enormous.
Second, it was created by melting many metal blocks together.
That possibility did seem feasible, but upon further reflection, it would have been entirely unnecessary. According to the books Shen Yixiu had read, placing multiple small metal blocks inside the "rice cooker" at once was also perfectly functional.
Chapter 172