CHAPTER 525: CHAPTER 258: YOU NEED SOME VOLUNTEERS

The appearance of the electric element made Lindong realize that elemental elves can be both good and bad, and should not be generalized. As a senior, the electric element set a good example.

"Very well, the deal is effective! You can start preparing now."

The electric element also became excited by the stimulating scene in front of him. He couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Lindong, showcasing the advantage of seeing through people’s hearts. He had seen through Lindong’s thoughts and intentions, and all he needed to do was go with the flow.

Moreover, he had supported the relationship between Ethan and Lindong from the start.

"I have an idea."

Lindong licked her lips with a sense of lingering satisfaction. This intimate gesture stimulated her thoughts, making her brain run rapidly. This seemingly simple action could make a mage’s practice twice as effective with half the effort.

She was serious.

If your practice is at a bottleneck, then you should have a passionate love affair—she decided to include this insight in "Fireball Ice Arrow Magic Power Studies".

"We can hold a banquet and announce the plan to rebuild the magical network to everyone at the banquet."

Lindong believed this was definitely an inspiring piece of news. For a long time, the Elemental Shapers at the academy had blamed the inability to advance to Saint on the destruction of the magical network. Throughout each period after the Second Epoch, professors proposed rebuilding the magical network, yet these proposals were ultimately rejected.

Not only due to Magian addiction, but the subsequent heads of the academy also couldn’t figure out how to repair the depleted magical network.

With the changing times, for today’s magicians, Magian addiction has become an unfamiliar term, only read about in academy books. The disease is caused by only one thing—excessive exploration of the magical network.

To many today, this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem; it can be easily avoided by strictly limiting the quota and time for exploring the magical network.

"But this won’t be good news for the Time Travelers."

Lindong said.

The first reaction in her heart upon hearing this news was enough for the electric element senior to see the flaw.

She acknowledged the electric element’s ability and changed her title for him from "street rascal" to "senior".

"You haven’t attended the academy’s banquet, have you? Professors only gather all students in the grand hall when announcing major decisions and during important annual festivals."

Lindong didn’t reject such lively occasions; the bright energy-saving chandeliers, the long tables filled with food, and the chatter of classmates briefly made her feel not alone.

"Let’s do just that."

The only difference of opinion between Ethan and Lindong was on Magian addiction. He didn’t think this was a disease that could be averted simply by strictly limiting exploration time; in fact, it never truly disappeared.

When exploring the contamination zone, agents of the Imperial Containment Bureau invariably exhibited the same symptoms.

Initially, they experienced mental languor accompanied by slight nausea and vomiting-like symptoms, which could be alleviated with short-term recuperation. The next stage was persistent nightmares; most developed severe insomnia, needing medication to sleep; at the symptom’s final stage, all nightmares would spill into reality. They couldn’t distinguish between nightmares and reality, perceiving those around them as monsters from nightmares, turning extremely aggressive.

In some tragic incidents, "veterans" with these symptoms mistakenly killed comrades and even perpetrated village massacre events.

Eight years.

This is the boundary summarized by the Bureau through countless real cases. Once agents have worked this long, those on the front lines are forcibly retired; in principle, the Bureau orders that they do not step into the contamination zone again.

However, reality often cannot adhere well to the Bureau’s principles.

The Empire’s territory is vast, and investigators with more than eight years of contamination zone exploration experience are veterans among veterans. Most investigators die in the contamination zone before reaching retirement age, so if an area becomes a contamination zone, these experienced veterans have to be sent to the scene.

And for these retired veterans, the contamination zone has a certain fatal allure.

Even the founder of the Bureau, Mr. Yakwell himself, ultimately got lost deep within the contamination zone.

For modern people like Ethan, this is well understood.

Every human in this world has an invisible value called "rationality points"; there’s a variance in the level among individuals. Each entry into a contamination zone would consume equivalent rationality points, and Magian addiction is an expression of low rationality points.

If you were to look a creature like Old Ba, an old god, in the eye during your contamination zone exploration, all rationality points would immediately drop to zero.

Theoretically, the most fervent Evil God’s followers are severe Magian addiction patients; their perception of the world might have long differed from ordinary people. Those appearances, bizarre and distorted to ordinary people, might conform to the Magian addict’s aesthetics.

In many recorded cases at the end of the First Epoch, magicians who fell victim to Magian addiction weren’t innately evil. Instead, they could no longer distinguish between the magical network and reality, believing they were still fighting monsters in the perilous areas of the magical network.

According to the information Ethan had, the consumed rationality points wouldn’t recover with natural time. The inhibitors developed by the Bureau could only suppress symptoms, and as rationality points became lower, the effects of the inhibitors became less evident.