Leaked Powder

As the Dwarf roared deafeningly, Lu Yuan and Lin En simultaneously turned to look at the source of the sound.

Not far away, on the surface of the heavy lead-sealed iron box being carried by five or six team members using logs, the silver-white Sealing Inscription that was originally engraved suddenly broke open in several places, and a gray-black medicinal mist hissed out from the cracks in the lead plates!

The three or four Wailing Crystal warning tubes hanging on the support above the passage instantly turned the pale blue powder inside into a glaring black the moment they came into contact with the wisp of gray-black medicinal mist, followed by several crisp cracking sounds as they exploded on the spot!

The two young Academy members who were at the front, holding the front of the iron box, were caught off guard because they were closest to the crack. They inhaled half a mouthful of the gray-black medicinal mist that was escaping. Their bodies stiffened abruptly, and the iron chains in their hands clattered to the ground.

In just a breath or two, the two team members' once clear and sharp eyes quickly became empty and vacant. Like the local man at the city gate who had suddenly lost his soul, they stood there staring blankly at their hands, muttering incoherently to themselves:

"What is this box...? Who am I...? Why am I standing here?"

The accompanying pharmacists at the surrounding workstations paled upon seeing this and hurriedly grabbed the Holy Water they had on hand to perform the most basic suppression, but the Holy Water had no effect at all.

Right now, the stubble-faced Dwarf is swinging a hammer and smashing down the ventilation valve on the ceiling while yelling and cursing incessantly.

Seeing this scene, Lin En, who was standing next to Lu Yuan, changed his expression several times. However, considering that Lu Yuan had only just arrived at the base today, he didn't really know how many tricks this young advisor had up his sleeve. Naturally, he couldn't rashly let Lu Yuan get involved in such a dangerous mess.

"Advisor Lu Yuan, there's been a slight mishap with the goods that were brought back from the front. Since you've just arrived, please hide behind the partition for a while. I'll take some people over to handle it!"

Lin En quickly gave Lu Yuan a brief instruction, then, without bothering to continue leading the way, he immediately called to several of the nearby guards and rushed toward the sealed iron box emitting a grayish-black medicinal mist.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan did not rush to take the lead. Instead, he stopped and stood outside the partition of the pharmacy station, calmly watching Lin En and the group of pharmacists who were with him deal with the leaking iron box.

Standing outside the partition of the pharmacy station, Lu Yuan's gaze was fixed on the main passage ahead. He saw Lin En leading several key guards forward. Their expressions did not show much panic; instead, they quickly demonstrated the qualities and methods expected of an advance team.

After all, as personnel dispatched by the North Campus in advance to establish a foothold and conduct investigations in Watch City, there was no situation of them being incompetent or merely filling in the numbers. They were well-prepared for this sudden leak of the strange medicinal mist.

The two guards at the forefront held their breath in unison, took two long-handled iron hooks with chains attached from their waists, and swung them forward with a sudden movement. The curved hooks with thick cloth wrapped around their tips precisely hooked the lower backs of the two young team members who were standing still next to the gray-black medicinal mist.

With a simultaneous pull of their arms, the two men, without even stepping into the area filled with medicinal mist, smoothly dragged the two young team members, whose eyes were vacant and who were still muttering incoherently, away from the vicinity of the iron box in the blink of an eye, and handed them over to their companions who were waiting behind them.

Almost the instant the two wounded were dragged away, the Dwarf craftsman standing below the slide rails leaped onto the iron ladder beside him, gripped the iron bar of the slide rail mechanism above his head with both hands, and pulled it downwards with a low growl:

"Get out of the way!"

With a heavy hum from the sliding Gear, a heavy lead-iron cover suspended above the passage fell straight down along the iron chain, perfectly trapping the shattered lead-iron box and the surrounding surging gray-black medicinal mist inside.

Lin En and three other core guards followed closely behind, and the four of them simultaneously took out badges and engraving pens that they had prepared beforehand, and skillfully arranged something around the heavy lead and iron base.

The next moment, several silver-white Sealing Inscription instantly lit up, tightly gripping the lead-iron shield and sealing it completely against the stone slabs on the ground.

As the Dwarf opened the last ventilation valve, the last bit of powder remaining in the passage was completely removed. From the moment the iron box shattered and leaked to the moment it was completely sealed off, it only took a dozen or so breaths. Lin En and the others swiftly and efficiently contained the unexpected situation that had occurred.

However, although the poison at the scene was quickly sealed under the lead-lined iron cover, the condition of the two young team members being dragged on the empty carpet next to them completely perplexed the pharmacists who rushed to the scene.

Because they had never seen the condition of these two young team members before, the senior pharmacist, who was leading the group, knelt down beside them. After a brief diagnosis, the pharmacists almost reached a consensus: they could not determine what symptoms the two had in a short time, and for now they could only resort to a crude method, trying everything possible to force a diagnosis.

Without a word, the older pharmacist took out two tubes of high-grade, emerald-green Antidote Potion from his medicine box, and together with a calming potion from another apprentice, pried open the two young team members' teeth and forced them to swallow the potions in one gulp.

According to the high-level antidote and calming potion prepared by the North Campus, even in cases involving Third Order- or Fourth Order Contamination or toxins, it should be able to achieve immediate and stable effects.

However, after the two team members swallowed the medicine, their facial symptoms did not improve at all; instead, they revealed an increasingly ashen and lifeless look.

"The potion isn't working, quickly try the Purification Inscription!"

The older apothecary's face darkened, and he quickly beckoned Lin En and his companion to bring two parchment scrolls engraved with intricate Inscription of Purification Inscription, which he then pressed directly onto the foreheads and chests of the two younger team members.

A soft, pure white light flashed along the Purification Inscription, quickly circulating through the two men's bodies. Even after the Inscription's light dissipated, the two team members on the ground stared blankly at the top of the factory, their eyes still empty. In fact, their physical condition began to worsen at a visible rate.

From the start of treatment until now, only a minute or two has passed. When these two team members were first dragged out, their lips were still slightly moving, and they were whispering things like "Who am I?" and "What happened?" But after the Purification Inscription were fully activated, the two of them simply shut their mouths and stopped talking altogether.