Exploring Technology in a Wizard World-Chapter 1406 - 1404: Lawless Land?

Ma Qiu widened his eyes, looking at Donna.

Donna moved her lips a few times, whispering: "Senior, I was afraid I’d get squeezed out and couldn’t find you, so I had to hold your hand. Is... is it okay, senior?"

Hearing this, Ma Qiu felt his heart clench, wanting to hold this adorable junior in his arms and protect her with all his might.

But he also understood where the line was, repeatedly telling himself that he was currently on a school assignment and mustn’t act on impulse. He needed to stay calm, calm. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Calm!

"Phew—hah—"

After a deep breath and over a second, Ma Qiu smiled and looked at Donna, saying: "It’s fine."

He then took Donna into the materials exchange fair hall, maintained his strong resolve, accompanied her through dozens of booths, and bought all the necessary living supplies, totaling two large bags.

More than half an hour later.

Ma Qiu and Donna each carried a large bag of items, walking out of the materials exchange fair hall. As the crowd around them thinned, they naturally let go of each other’s hands.

Ma Qiu let out a long breath internally, feeling like a weight had finally been lifted off, yet he didn’t know why there was a slight sense of loss.

Looking at Donna, Ma Qiu spoke: "Junior, now I can escort you back to school."

"Okay." Donna nodded, her expression changing for some unknown reason as she spoke, as if seeing something, she pointed to the side and asked, "Senior, what’s that?"

Ma Qiu looked over in confusion, and saw four strong men in dark gray clothes quickly walking by, heading towards a booth at the edge of the fair hall. They vaguely surrounded it, clearly up to no good.

This is a fight... or maybe a provocation... thoughts swirled in Ma Qiu’s mind, but he wasn’t very interested.

Atlantis is a big city with rapid growth and a large influx of people in a short time, inevitably leading to various conflicts. The official strict and relatively fair laws alleviated some pressures, but fights and brawls still happened occasionally and couldn’t be completely eradicated.

However, these incidents usually didn’t escalate much, and were quickly suppressed by the sheriffs who hurried over.

In over two years of living in Atlantis, Ma Qiu had seen similar situations at least ten times. Initially, he’d join in out of curiosity, but now he just glanced and walked away, as the outcome was always predictable and he’d long grown bored of it.

On the other hand, it was Donna’s first time in Atlantis, and her first time seeing such a situation. Whether truly pure or a bit naive, she wasn’t very scared, and pulled Ma Qiu’s hand to run over.

When they were close, Donna stopped and with wide eyes asked, "Senior, can we take a look?"

Ma Qiu could only nod helplessly, "Sure, sure, let’s take a look."

At this time, Donna, whether excited or nervous, showed no intention of letting go of his hand. Ma Qiu noticed the sensation, and felt that Donna seemed stronger than before. Recalling how she had jumped over two meters away earlier, he realized, somewhat belatedly, that this junior had quite a good physique.

No wonder she got into the Magic Chemistry College; they say the study and research workload there is very heavy, and it’s hard to sustain without good health.

While Ma Qiu was thinking, another "play" was about to unfold.

He saw the four strong men in dark gray clothes surround a booth selling clothes, exchanged a few glances and movements, quickly dispersing the surrounding customers, then looked at the booth owner.

The booth owner was a small, thin man with dark brown skin and narrow eyes.

He clearly recognized the men who had approached him and even knew why, yet he wasn’t nervous, just sighed wearily, "Is it worth it? I’ve run all the way to Atlantis, and you still won’t let go? I’m just a small fry, don’t know any big secrets, haven’t done anything significant, not even daring to take revenge. Is it worth chasing me all the way from Shaya?"

Hmm? After hearing the booth owner, Ma Qiu raised an eyebrow, quickly deducing from the conversation that today’s event wasn’t a simple fight, but probably more complex.

People from Shaya? So they’d be from the Soma Alliance’s homeland? Is this capturing a fugitive? Or something else similar?

Today’s event probably won’t be easily resolved, it won’t just end with a bit of bloodshed, and there might even be casualties.

More boldly guessing, among the five people including the four gray-clad men and the small booth owner, there might be a Wizard, leading to a battle of Extraordinary Power. If that’s true, it’s best to keep a distance.

In a flash, Ma Qiu figured all this out and tried to pull Donna away. But to his surprise, Donna seemed entranced and stood rooted to the spot, his pulling was useless.

Her strength felt greater than his... Ma Qiu felt a little deflated, but didn’t want to attract too much attention by forcefully pulling Donna away and turning into a focus of the crowd. He could only helplessly stay with Donna in place, mentally prepared to "run away with Donna embarrassedly if something goes wrong."

At this time, one of the four gray-clad men, a bald man, spoke, glancing at the booth owner with a sneer, "Eric, do you think coming to Atlantis will help? It’s still Alliance territory, not a lawless place. You know what you did, cooperate and return with us, and you might still have a good outcome."

"A good outcome? You mean, after I die, being buried with my wife?" The booth owner spoke sarcastically, "Oh, right, I almost forgot, Selena agreed to work with your Judgment Court people, but after following you, she was brutally murdered, her body wasn’t even left, so I probably can’t be buried with her."

"But you can at least strive to have your remains buried." The bald man said grimly, then seriously added, "With an intact body."

"Thanks, but I’d rather live well here in Atlantis."

"Oh, quite ambitious, like your wife Selena. She, as someone who served a rebellious force, thought that after the current emperor ascended, she would be forgiven for what she’d done. But reality showed that thinking is one thing, and reality another." The bald man squinted at the booth owner named Eric, "Last warning Eric, obey and return with us, or you’ll truly regret it."

As he spoke, the bald man demonstrated, squeezing his fist.

Booth owner Eric raised an eyebrow, "What, are you preparing to make a move here?"

"Is there an issue?"

"Just a reminder, this is Atlantis, not Shaya."

"What’s the difference?" The bald man smirked, "As far as I’m concerned, they’re the same, both Alliance territories, both bound by Alliance law. Your arrest warrant was issued by the Judgment Court, carrying the emperor’s mandate. So, capturing you is an imperial order, who dares to interfere!"

"Boom!"

...