Standing through the iron-barred windows, Richard looked down, and he saw countless rolling hills and wide rivers, smooth and wide metal walls, and faint clouds, and occasionally saw white birds with vibrating wings gliding through the clouds, gliding among the high and low towers—

The crowd around was bustling, and there was noisy chattering and quarrelling everywhere. This is the most populous floor of the entire Magic Tower, and it is also a place of utter chaos, but at the same time the most vibrant. Having spent a long time in the deserted and lonely Rasputin garrison like a huge tomb, Richard occasionally missed the bustling environment.

But recently, his life has been much better than the previous year, and the situation has become pampered for the time being, and there are still eye-catching Miss Artificial Intelligence and a beautiful witch dangling around Richard every day, although one can't touch the other, it's always good to pass the eyes.

This is not the first time Richard has been at the bottom, and the monthly tax was only two weeks ago, but his mood at this time is very different from the last time.

A rush of footsteps approached him. Richard turned his head and saw that it was still an acquaintance. He had a thin body and a gloomy face, and he was the same Mr. Neighborhood Supervisor who had a relationship with him.

Compared with the last time when he was calm and breezy in front of the low-level residents, the flexible attitude of groveling in front of himself and the deep appearance of the city government, this time the middle-aged wizard's face was gloomy and gloomy, so gloomy that it was difficult for ordinary people to approach, and anyone who saw it knew that this person was in a very bad mood, so that the residents who knew this person's "notoriety" noticed it, and avoided it far away for fear of being affected by the bastard's ignorant fire. To the huge floor-to-ceiling windows,

The wide, bustling streets were suddenly empty.

Mr. Director was in no mood to pay attention to such a trivial matter, after all, he had forgotten to even do the superficial work in front of the top emissary, and just hurried all the way to the agreed place with his head down.

"Your Excellency...... Yes! ”

The director raised his head, only to notice that Richard's face was a little familiar, and subconsciously exclaimed.

"What's wrong?"

Richard's brow furrowed slightly, revealing a very unpleasant expression.

Now he exudes this kind of expression, but he is quite a bit of a non-angry and arrogant momentum. After all, after being a "big man" for two weeks, Richard worked hard all day not to reveal his identity, and his bluffing acting skills have long been imprinted into his bones.

"Yes, I'm sorry!"

The district supervisor was frightened.

"Envoy, I didn't expect you to come this time......"

This rare top-level messenger who did not accept bribes and "had a clean breeze on his sleeves" left a deep impression on him.

"Stop talking nonsense." Richard feigned impatience and waved his hand, "Take me there." ”

If you say too much, you will lose, this is his consistent code of action. It is necessary to show a tough enough attitude in front of such people in order to make the situation more favorable.

Although Mr. Director was a little surprised, he was already accustomed to the commanding attitude of the top-level envoy, so he nodded and immediately turned around to lead the way for him.

……

Although his identity has not changed much at this time, Richard would definitely not dare to do such a thing in the past, because he used to be afraid that he would pretend to be too much and be beaten.

The Neighborhood Director is weak-hearted, far less promising than the promising young people living on the top floor, but at least he is a full-ranking wizard, and he has more than enough to teach himself. Now Richard is full of confidence.

On the one hand, his courage has been trained, and on the other hand, he does have confidence.

Even if he's not a legendary wizard......

Richard quietly stroked the magic book in his arms, and the hand holding the suitcase containing the snake staff was slightly stronger.

Although his own strength is a level 1 wizard apprentice and a level 1 knight squire, the two magic items created by using "psychic creation" are equivalent to two magic masters by their side, including the "Prophecy Domain", which is known for its life-saving ability, and the "Mental Domain", which is known for its strange and difficult to defend against attacks. Except for facing the threat of "Steppenwolf", the rest of the magic tower, other people, are no longer a threat to his life.

"What's going on on the street lately?"

Richard asked quietly.

He looked around and saw that some of the people had a look of trepidation on their faces, which he hadn't seen before.

The living conditions of the low-income residents are not good anywhere. The cramped environment, the brutal competition, and the exploitation of interests from the top schools, associations, and the level of supervisors downward......

No one can be trusted, they can only rely on themselves.

Either way, they at least have hope of climbing up. And compared to the slums in the above-ground cities, the low-level order managed by wizards is relatively stable.

Now it seems that this "stable" environment has been broken by some "foreign thing".

He has the authority to transfer the archives and records, and is aware of the recent anomalous situation at the bottom of the magic tower. Although there is no guarantee that no one from another school will come to check on the situation, in Richard's current situation, as long as the Rasputin school is not allowed to come down. Using this as an excuse, he naturally came to the first layer.

Speaking of "excuses", Richard himself was interested in what was happening here.

He wouldn't forget what Mr. Hanged Man, who was suspected to be a former Steppenwolf member, told him about the plan that would allow the "experiment" to infiltrate the top floor of the Tower. Presumably, the person behind the anomalous incident is that person, or his subordinates. And what the district supervisor knows must be more detailed and close to reality than what is written in the file.

"I don't know ......"

Mr. Supervisor felt like he had a headache and rubbed his temples vigorously.

"Oh?"

Richard only raised his voice slightly, and the thin man subconsciously shrank his shoulders like a frightened bird, and quickly explained.

"I'm sorry, Envoy, but I'm sorry for my low strength and short-sightedness—"

"Getting to the point."

"I—I see. First of all, an epidemic has spread in a few streets," Mr. Director sighed, "At first no one took this seriously, the bottom floor of the magic tower has always been open to the public, and when some rough guys who don't like cleanliness come up, they bring infectious diseases on the ground, which is normal, there are so many times a year. ”

"There are perfect quarantine procedures in the ladder, and wizards are not mortals who can only lie on the bed and scream when they are sick, as long as they refine the corresponding potions."

"The initial symptoms of the epidemic were not bad, just fever, cough, and runny nose, just like a common cold. After drinking the right potion, many people were quickly cured. ”

"But no one could have predicted that things would take a turn for the worse in the weeks that followed......"

For weeks, Richard thought, it was clear that the partnership had been made before Rasputin was dead.

"Those who have not been cured, no matter what method is used after this, surgery, herbal medicine, witchcraft, folk remedies, all have no effect. There is no cure for these patients, as if they were 'selected' from the very beginning. ”

Mr. Director's voice was low.

And their symptoms are getting worse and worse as the days go by. Some critically ill patients begin to have bleeding gums, hair loss, cracked skin, falling nails, photophobia, and become like monsters, and can only shrink into dark corners. ”

Richard could hear a hint of fear in his tone. I guess the other party has seen the patient's appearance with his own eyes.

Not only that, but the disease also seemed to affect their mental state, with patients initially reporting headaches, followed by occasional hallucinations, and finally ...... Eventually, he went completely insane and became very aggressive. ”

"Patients in advanced stages have generally lost the ability to speak, shouting like wild beasts, and have become in the same habit as the bloodthirsty demons of the wilderness, loving living creatures and blood food, and biting people with their teeth and nails. We had no choice but to tie them all up and imprison them in a dark dungeon. ”

"Fortunately, this group of people has lost their minds, and although their frontal combat ability is stronger than that of ordinary soldiers, they have lost the spell-casting ability that wizards are really proud of, so once they encounter it, it is relatively easy to deal with. The problem is that these guys are so good at hiding in abandoned houses and drains under the streets. No one knows how many of the remaining seemingly normal people are potential patients......"

Richard touched his chin.

The setting of the pandemic always felt familiar to him – especially for young people like him living in the 21st century.

"So, what's going on now?"

"The 'Life Management Committee' has issued an order asking us, the district supervisors, to join forces to lock down the epidemic area, and then regularly test everyone in the area to centralize the management of the sick people. We did so, and this did slow down the spread of the epidemic, but it was not a cure. ”

"The most important thing is that the Life Realm wizards who are good at refining potions sent down from both sides above are also helpless against this disease. That's when we realized that something wasn't right, so we started asking for support from higher-ups. ”

Mr. Supervisor had bloodshot pupils, severe hair loss, and dark circles under his eye sockets, apparently because he had not been able to rest well during this time. He hesitated for a moment before whispering.

"If this continues, maybe the entire bottom layer will be infected, and it will really be over. So for safety, I heard that the ladder system to the higher levels has been shut down, is that right? ”