Chapter 689: Chapter 427: Bizarre Behavior
Shelley was still surprised, but Colin could not hold on any longer and walked toward a small bed nearby.
"I’ll tell you the details when I get up."
This time, the one and a half hours of observation had pushed Colin to his limits; the fatigue from his soul came like a tide, engulfing him in an instant as his head touched the pillow, as if he had fallen unconscious.
When he woke up, night had already fallen.
Shelley was sitting at an experiment table nearby, recording something.
"Snap."
Colin propped himself up and subconsciously took out his pocket watch.
"You’re awake," Shelley looked up and saw his action, then said, "It’s almost ten o’clock at night now."
"That late?" Colin was slightly startled, looked at his pocket watch, and saw it was 9:53 p.m.
After putting the pocket watch away and patting his head, he suddenly added, "I need to go and tell my mentor and senior."
Usually, after observing the polluted farmland for an hour, he needed about three hours of sleep, and he would repeat the observation and rest in the afternoon.
However, at nine o’clock at night, he would always make it a point to return to the Wizard Tower to handle the affairs of the Tilamei Plain.
Atbolde, his mentor, and Lillian would also wait for him every evening at the Wizard Tower.
Shelley nodded slightly, paused, then said, "Let me make a run for you; you rest some more."
The experimental area was of crucial importance due to the pollution in the farmland. Apart from Colin and Shelley, only Atbolde and his granddaughter knew about it, though the latter seldom came over, usually just Colin’s Elemental Shadow and Shelley stayed there.
Colin had no plan yet to reveal his special resistance to divine pollution until he could manage to resolve the Tainted Babbling.
And to reach the capability to observe the Tainted Babbling, he had a long way to go.
At least in the recent tests, while Colin could manage to persist in researching the farmland pollution, he could hardly endure even a moment when delving deep into the ubiquitous Tainted Babbling in the world.
At first glance, those Tainted Babblings seemed like mere ash-like black spots, very ordinary, nothing to fuss over.
But if one observed carefully, one could see countless bizarre and nauseating bugs, slimy tentacles...
He might have been able to withstand and bear them, but if one looked even closer, everything in front of him would undergo drastic changes!
It was like a million kinds of paint being poured into the ocean, dense colorful flowers blooming on a Blue Gemstone, or the sun and moon collapsing, releasing endless light and heat...
With Colin’s current ability to resist, he could only feel intense dizziness coming over him, the layer of starry veil flickering like a candle in the wind, and soon he could only rely on the last bit of clarity to quickly withdraw from this state.
"No, I’ll go over myself," Colin hesitated for a moment but refused Shelley’s offer.
The mentor and Lillian must have been waiting for a long time, particularly Lillian; he felt it was better to explain in person.
Shelley didn’t insist further, only asking him to come back soon to discuss today’s findings.
Colin quickly headed toward the lab’s exit and encountered Lillian, who had come to look for him.
"Senior sister," walking out of the concealing Witch Array, Colin greeted the approaching Lillian.
"Junior brother," Lillian landed, looked behind him as if trying to peer through the Witch Array’s concealment for another figure, "Did you encounter any trouble tonight, why have you not come over yet?"
"There were some breakthroughs in today’s experiment, which made me miss the evening hours," Colin explained.
"I see," Lillian nodded, then asked, "May I come in?"
"Of course." Colin had no objections, opened the Witch Array, and led Lillian inside.
"Is there anything urgent needing attention in the Tilamei Plain today?"
"There’s nothing pressing, just some trivial matters. Hm... the serfs in the Merlin Kingdom don’t have much food, they’re seeking aid from the Roon Kingdom," Lillian said.
"Has the mentor reviewed it? If they truly have no food left, then approve it."
Lillian nodded, looking curiously around.
Colin and Shelley were usually here, and she had long wanted to see, but Atbolde had always forbidden it. Though she knew the stakes and understood that Colin’s time was precious, she had refrained from disturbing him.
However, today she had a valid reason to finally come and take a look.
"If there’s nothing important, I won’t go to the White Tower tonight. Senior sister, please go back and tell the mentor, so he doesn’t keep waiting," Colin added.
At that moment, they walked through an open-air farmland area and came to the inner part of the laboratory.
"Okay." Lillian nodded, took a glance around, her gaze lingering on the single bed for a moment, then greeted the serene-faced Shelley, "Long time no see, Shelley."
"Long time no see," Shelley stood up, moving to Lillian’s side.
The two of them started a conversation in Colin’s presence.
Colin suddenly remembered that Shelley and Lillian seemed to have a good relationship.
It was just that since coming to the Tilamei Plain, Shelley had been busy with researching the farmland pollution with him, while Lillian had been helping him handle the affairs of the plain, and there had hardly been any time for them to meet.
"Oh, senior sister..." after the two had chatted for a while, Colin interjected to bring the topic back to the main subject: "How is the progress with the ’Magicless Steam Engine’?"