Chapter 289: Chapter 232: [Unity Lock] Baptism by Fire

Both of them reunited, and Pharmacist’s Wish couldn’t wait: "Now no one can stop us, you said you had a way to get Rabbit Heroine out, now—"

"Wait."

Yan Qing suddenly crouched down, pulling out bandages to wrap Pharmacist’s Wish’s injured leg: "Don’t move, I’m not very good at this. Your leg is so badly hurt, aren’t you afraid of cramping in the magma? By the way, can you swim?"

Pharmacist’s Wish raised an eyebrow: "How could I not? When I was a kid, I used to catch fish in the river."

Indeed, she wasn’t very skilled at it. Even clumsy Shidong wouldn’t have wrapped her leg like a radish. But Yan Qing’s movements were very gentle, worried about hurting her. This bit of pain was nothing to a Third-Turn Messenger, it would be better to tightly secure the injury... but Pharmacist’s Wish didn’t say it out loud.

After tending to Pharmacist’s Wish’s injured leg, Yan Qing stood up and glanced at the still-sealed giant Black Ebony Rock door above, sighing: "I wonder if she can handle it... nothing’s gone wrong, has it..."

The distance from the upper level was too far, the Black Ebony Rock door too thick, and Yan Qing couldn’t hear anything happening above.

Pharmacist’s Wish’s eyes glimmered, and she spoke coldly: "This is not the place for your flirtations. Since you dared to take on this mission, you should be prepared..."

"Black Wolf." Yan Qing suddenly said, "No matter what happens next, I don’t owe you anything."

"You never owed me anything, you owe—"

"Black Wolf!" Yan Qing said sternly, "If you want to keep disliking me, that’s fine, I don’t care, but Red Snake has no reason to be blamed for this, understand?"

Pharmacist’s Wish stared at him in surprise, as if seeing him for the first time. She had experienced many conflicts with Yan Qing before, had seen him angry, but this was the first time he’d been angry on behalf of someone else... so he really does care about others...

She was silent for a moment: "Understood."

So obedient? Yan Qing was a bit surprised, he thought Pharmacist’s Wish would argue with him a bit, seeing as she was the passionate and genuine type who’d give you her life if she liked you, but would be unreasonable if she didn’t. But on reflection, perhaps Pharmacist’s Wish feared he would go back on his word, so she agreed to whatever he proposed.

But since she agreed, she would definitely follow through. She was the kind of person whose word was her bond.

Yan Qing took out a Token, glanced hesitantly at Pharmacist’s Wish, but finally steeled himself to press it.

A Token?

A Return Order? He’s going to give me the Return Order to hand over to Rabbit Heroine?

Pharmacist’s Wish was shocked, although she had always criticized Yan Qing’s ruthlessness, she fully understood Yan Qing’s actions. After all, keeping the Return Order for one’s own use was only natural.

Seeing Yan Qing spacing out, Pharmacist’s Wish thought he couldn’t bear to part with it, so she leaned over to look, only to find the Token engraved not with ’Return’, but with ’Calamity’.

Calamity?

At that moment, a text appeared in Pharmacist’s Wish’s field of vision.

"The Calamity Organization invites you to join, do you accept?"

"What!? What is—what is this?"

"Just accept it," Yan Qing said in a mysteriously profound tone. Seeing Pharmacist’s Wish so shocked, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of superiority, re-establishing his enigmatic persona: "This is my organization. The path to salvation lies within."

Pharmacist’s Wish silently mouthed ’accept’, and immediately a stream of information flowed into her mind. Her pupils dilated instantly, staring wide-eyed at Yan Qing in disbelief:

"You are Yan Qing? The maniac who said he wanted to rule the world a few days ago!?"

"Hey!" Yan Qing tapped her Black Wolf Mask in exasperation: "I also know your real name, but I always call you Black Wolf outside! This world has tracking artifacts, can’t you be more careful?"

Pharmacist’s Wish realized her outburst, but still muttered: "You act like you’re some celebrity... I’ve never heard of any Yan Family..."

"The reason I brought you into the organization wasn’t to reveal my name," Yan Qing gritted his teeth: "Have you learned about those two powers?"

"I have." Pharmacist’s Wish took a deep breath, her eyes radiating unprecedented brightness: "No wonder you said you had a way to save her... with these two powers, I won’t betray your trust!"

With that, Pharmacist’s Wish pulled out her full Vajra Armor from her Storage Ring. Watching as she donned layer after layer of armor, Yan Qing didn’t help, as it looked very complicated and he had no idea how to wear it.

"You go get the Exotic Iron first, test the magma’s damage." Yan Qing looked towards the isolated island platform in the Earth Flame Magma, where Exotic Iron lay alone.

Retrieving the Exotic Iron was originally a major challenge of this mission. The platform was in the center of the magma, the Exotic Iron seemed incredibly heavy, and there was practically no way to retrieve it without going there personally. But since Pharmacist’s Wish intended to swim through the magma, collecting the Exotic Iron would be a trivial matter for her.

Pharmacist’s Wish promptly suited up, turning into an airtight iron can, with only her eyes showing a sliver of a gap. Yan Qing took out a Fine Iron Lock Chain from his Storage Ring, each link as thick as a baby’s forearm, a clever tool sponsored by the wealthy White Fox, and Pharmacist’s Wish wrapped the chain around her left hand, stepping back several paces from the magma’s edge.

"Black Wolf."

Yan Qing couldn’t help but say: "If you feel any danger, don’t push yourself."

The iron can fell silent without responding. Given Pharmacist’s Wish’s character, she meant she acknowledged his suggestion but had no intention of heeding it.

"Where are you planning to send Rabbit Heroine?" Pharmacist’s Wish suddenly asked: "To Red Snake’s side?"

"What? Of course not, Red Snake is right above, sending her to her side would still be in the Zhou Kingdom. Besides, Red Snake isn’t in the Calamity Organization, I’ve already arranged a safe place for her and there will be someone to take care of her."

"Red Snake isn’t in the Calamity Organization?" Pharmacist’s Wish noticed something odd.

"What’s so strange about that? If it weren’t for this mission, I wouldn’t have invited you in either."

"So, she doesn’t even know the person who said they’d rule the world... is you?"

"Actually, that wasn’t me," Yan Qing felt he should clarify: "It was just a misunderstanding."

"What’s so hard to admit? Who doesn’t have such ambitions?" Pharmacist’s Wish was quite disdainful of his attitude: "I scolded you so many times before and you never defended yourself, but you defend yourself over such trivial matters?"

She was silent for a moment, then shook her head and said: "Yellow Dog, you really are a strange person."

Are you really qualified to say that? Yan Qing’s mouth twitched, it’s you about to dive into the magma, a normal person would give up at such a sight, yet you think of wearing heavy armor to swim... it’s like you’re afraid of floating up to get a breath.

"However, you’re not as annoying as you used to be."

With that, Pharmacist’s Wish used the Blood Sacrifice Dagger to cut her wrist, then sprinted forward, the heavy iron can causing tremors with each step. Upon reaching the magma’s edge, she leapt with all her might, crossing a good six to seven steps, diving directly into the magma!

Yan Qing gripped the lock chain tightly, ready to pull her back if anything went wrong. Pharmacist’s Wish swam in the magma, even under close to a hundred pounds of armor, without any sign of sinking. Within a few breaths, she successfully landed on the isolated island platform, storing the Exotic Iron in her Storage Ring!

The Bright King Armor barrier hadn’t broken yet!

But only about a quarter remained, and Pharmacist’s Wish silently ingested a Blood Replenishing Pill and absorbed Spiritual Jade to restore her state to its peak, then took a deep breath, found her direction, and jumped into the magma, descending vertically!

The lock chain clattered, each sound representing Pharmacist’s Wish diving deeper into the scorching sea of magma! In less than five seconds, the Bright King Armor’s defense barrier shattered completely, and Pharmacist’s Wish’s spiritual power was completely drained, the defensive prowess of the Third-Turn Messenger was still no match for the might of nature!

With only the heavy armor left to withstand the magma, at that moment, a dazzling golden lock chain suddenly burst forth, linking Yan Qing on the shore to Pharmacist’s Wish in the magma sea!

This was Yan Qing’s confidence in letting Pharmacist’s Wish attempt, a probably magma-impregnable barrier!

Team skill [Unity Lock], activated!