Chapter 869: Chapter 573: Mad Fire—You Have It, I Have It, Everyone Has It (Part 2)

The others weren’t as lucky as him to have a wealth of magic tools for protection, as the impact from the Mad Fire Patients erupted simultaneously at this moment.

"Ahhh!" The performer on stage screamed, covering their eyes. Those with weaker endurance collapsed to the ground, while those with stronger endurance felt dizzy, their minds bombarded by a mental shock, overwhelmed by chaotic thoughts.

"Hey, hehehe?"

"Argh, go to hell!"

Some inexplicably started laughing, some brimmed with anger from nowhere, and others cried in despair, creating a scene that was a microcosm of life’s various states.

But whether it was laughter, crying, or anger, only adventurers with a certain level of power and resilience could truly experience it.

Among the surrounding crowd, more than ninety percent were ordinary citizens. Considering the negligible spiritual power of a normal person, which wouldn’t even be considered in Sain Dungeon, their reaction after making eye contact with the Mad Fire Patients was surprisingly uniform.

"Aghhh—"

It was as if ten thousand Tom Cats had all been beaten by Jerry Mouse at once, the exaggeratedly absurd howl of pain reverberating across the entire city!

When the eyes of the Mad Fire Patients appeared over Black Stone City, half the city instantly fell into a "sea of happiness"!

The commotion here naturally couldn’t evade the notice of other residents, so the normal folk, who were initially uninvolved, were drawn over by the sound, and then looked up at the projection in the sky.

"Aghhh—"

Soon, this agony transformed into a city-wide public incident!

Anyone who dared to glance at the sky fell victim to it without exception, the disaster spreading at a Demon King speed!

"What’s happening, what’s in the sky? Aghh—"

"Why are you screaming? Aghh—"

"What’s happening to everyone, you all... Aghh—"

Chaos and disorder were rampantly spreading.

This might be an event worth recording in the history of Black Stone City!

Amongst the crowd enacting bizarre behaviors due to mental torment, Gong Qiying sighed as if nothing was wrong.

He looked around, pondered for a moment, and eventually found a corner to squat down slowly.

Hmm, this way he wouldn’t stand out as much.

"What a pity, all this spiritual power going to waste."

Mad Fire, a horrific entity, residing in one’s eyes, manifesting as yellow flames externally, yet its mode of transmission was akin to an infectious disease.

Contact with a Mad Fire Patient could infect a healthy person, but this "contact" varied in degrees.

Just like shaking hands with an AIDS patient doesn’t lead to infection, regular contact with a Mad Fire Patient was generally safe, not causing infection.

Directly staring at the powerful Mad Fire could lead to mental pollution and thus infection, like the Mad Fire Lighthouse.

Engaging in an intense eye-to-eye Mad Fire exchange with an infected individual could also cause infection.

Being pierced by the cane of the Forbidden Old Man would infect one like Midra, the King of Mad Fire.

One could say that direct contact was one of the most crucial transmission methods of Mad Fire.

So, would directly looking into the eyes of a Mad Fire Patient cause infection now?

As long as Gong Qiying had no desire to annihilate the world, the answer was a definite "no."

Moreover, the probability of ordinary people getting infected by making eye contact with a Mad Fire Patient was inherently low, even strong beings like the Forbidden Old Man don’t spread infection just by being looked at without contact.

If Gong Qiying didn’t amplify the effect on the Mad Fire Patients, then they posed little threat to adventurers. Merely making eye contact would only provide a degree of mental impact.

Just like the performers moments ago, momentarily overwhelmed with mental chaos, emotionally volatile, the extensive spiritual release was about the extent of it.

However, in Black Stone City, the audience for this performance wasn’t limited to adventurers; there were far more ordinary people.

This... meant that what was "moderate" mental shock to adventurers translated into an unbearable burden on ordinary people.

Even when the image of the Mad Fire Patient’s eyes was further distorted and weakened due to the projection, it still exerted considerable mental pressure on ordinary people!

Hiss, terrifying indeed! It’s no wonder Mad Fire is regarded as something filthy!

Just as Gong Qiying was considering whether he should sneak off and turn off the live broadcast as a good deed, Lanle had already taken action.

Lanle, with a serious expression, walked towards the broadcasting equipment, eyes tightly shut to avoid seeing the projection, yet still feeling an immense mental strain.

He couldn’t describe his feelings right now, anger and frustration among other emotions were surging within; all he wanted was to shut down Luluwo’s big spectacle and then decide whether to sentence this group to perpetual imprisonment or exile them entirely.

Even if Luluwo’s group didn’t do this on purpose, they couldn’t be allowed to remain in the Warrior Country!

Lanle’s emotional turmoil hadn’t been this intense in a long while, probably he would remember Luluwo for the rest of his life.

"It should be here; I remember the switch is here..."

While the prince was groping for the switch, Luluwo’s voice came through the projection again, sounding as if she were chatting from afar.

"Are you sure that after making eye contact with this thing, you can end up laughing, Ais, Em?"

"Yeah! It feels really good after making eye contact, making you want to laugh out loud~"

"I have a feeling that I can’t really trust you two masochists... oh well, it’s probably been long enough now that everyone outside should have seen it, right?"

Luluwo’s tone conveyed a sense of delight as she said:

"Do you think the prince will reward us with something extra if he laughs? Though no one’s short of money now, I’m quite interested in the treasure of the Warrior Country."

"Perhaps they’ll gift us an ancient warrior’s unmatched sword?" Tami’s voice was full of anticipation as well.

"I’d be content with just a pair of enchanted glasses," Berto said, quite satisfied.

It seemed the Skyrim Strategy Group thought they were doing something incredibly amusing, eagerly anticipating a hero’s welcome upon returning to Black Stone City, hoping a hundred handsome guys and ladies would greet them, offering various goodies in tribute.

As Lanle heard these remarks, his actions froze on the spot, as if petrified, completely motionless.

A moment later, his body started to tremble, his lips loosening from stiffness and beginning to curve upwards continuously.

"Ha, hahaha..."

His laughter resounded, not at all hearty.

It sounded like there were unsettling emotions behind his laughter, and if the attendants were still conscious, they would likely exclaim:

He laughed, Luluwo’s actions indeed made the prince laugh!

Although, he laughed out of anger...