One hundred and twenty thousand.
This is a heavy number.
And this is only the data from the Inner Sea Desert, only the data of those who had the chance to live in the Living People Cemetery, only the number of people who survived various fires.
Heaven knows how many people outside the Inner Sea Desert have been harmed by the magical flames of this Flame Realm.
Even knowing that he possessed the Golden Finger, and had the ability to treat these patients, Andrew still felt a heavy heart.
This is why, as An Ya said, he was "not very happy."
An Ya obviously was also aware of the statistic of "one hundred and twenty thousand cemetery residents."
However, unlike Andrew’s somewhat heavy heart—
An Ya suddenly slapped Andrew’s shoulder forcefully and laughed, "Why so depressed? What’s wrong with one hundred and twenty thousand? There’s nothing to be afraid of!"
Having not slept all night, her complexion was still weary.
But at that moment, the spirit in An Ya’s eyes seemed to shine with a kind of sacred light.
She looked at Andrew and said seriously, "Because now... we have you, Andrew."
Andrew was taken aback, then also smiled, "You’re right. I’ll do my best."
In his heart, he said, "Thank you, Sister An Ya."
With An Ya and Barbara around, it felt like they were no ordinary women.
If Barbara was someone who appeared exquisite and proper on the surface, but was actually sharp in personality.
Then An Ya was gentle and charming on the outside, but actually capable and full of tenacity.
"Didn’t expect to be encouraged instead."
Andrew smiled to himself and pulled himself together.
He asked, "By the way, are there any Living People Cemeteries outside the Inner Sea Desert?"
"No."
An Ya replied very decisively, shaking her head with certainty, "Only our Inner Sea Desert has Living People Cemeteries."
Such a firm attitude instead made Andrew a little puzzled, "Why is that?"
"Because first, the Inner Sea Desert is the place least infiltrated by the Magic Guild’s influence."
An Ya said, "Many Chief Mages in various towns, like the Mage in Baal Town, are Warm Fire Mages like you, Andrew."
"This..."
Andrew scratched his head.
He thought to himself that he might be on the side of the Warm Fire Commerce Association, but not a Warm Fire Mage. Though in reality, most of the people in Wildfire Town, including Purple just now, probably thought so.
"In places where the Magic Guild’s influence is strong, there can’t be any Living People Cemeteries?"
"Yes, the strongest influence of the Magic Guild is in the ’Scholar’s Fortress’. If someone is burned by magical flames, it’s considered that they should die, which they call ’Returning to the Embrace of Flames’. Both treatment and extinguishing fires are seen as desecration."
An Ya said, biting her lip.
Andrew couldn’t help but snort after hearing this, thinking to himself, this is ridiculous! Surely, these Magic Guild folks can’t be viewed through the logic of ordinary people.
He silently vowed in his heart: "Someday, I will become strong enough to uproot this damned Magic Guild!"
Only to hear An Ya continuing, "Another reason is, in our Inner Sea Desert, there’s a special kind of ’Deep Sea Giant Cactus’. Its flesh can be made into a potion that alleviates lung burns to some extent, prolonging life."
Andrew nodded.
This much he knew.
In fact, the main ingredient for the magic potion he planned to make next was this Inner Sea Desert specialty, the "Deep Sea Giant Cactus."
"Is there no such cactus outside the Inner Sea Desert?"
"No. Outside the Inner Sea Desert, this special cactus cannot survive."
"What if the flesh of this cactus is transported outside the desert—"
"That’s also not feasible. Someone tried it before, but the result was that as soon as it’s taken out of the Inner Sea Desert, the flesh of this cactus loses its effectiveness."
An Ya explained a bit, summarizing, "Simply put, there’s no long-term survival of lung burn victims outside the Inner Sea Desert. Once your lungs are burned, you’ll basically die quickly.
Without patients, there are no residents, so naturally, there are no Living People Cemeteries either."
Andrew responded with an "I see."
He then pondered: This magical Deep Sea Giant Cactus, being a plant from the desert, yet named ’Deep Sea’, is indeed quite peculiar.
For the first time, Andrew wondered: Perhaps his crossing over to this Flame Realm, with the starting point being this Inner Sea Desert, was not a coincidence?
"Then..."
Andrew opened his mouth again.
He originally wanted to ask about the initial initiator and organizer of this Living People Cemetery and who exactly they were.
However, seeing An Ya’s weary and pale face, and those eyes long filled with bloodshot.
Andrew couldn’t help but change his words and said, "It’s nothing. Sister An Ya, go back to the Living People Cemetery and have a good sleep."
An Ya indeed was exhausted beyond belief, nodded with a smile, "Okay, that’s good."
So Andrew personally escorted An Ya back to the Living People Cemetery.
Many of the cemetery’s residents had recovered from their illnesses but were so accustomed to living there that they hadn’t moved out.
Seeing Andrew and An Ya return together, the older residents couldn’t help but be taken aback, then showed a playful smile.
Some shameless ones even winked at Andrew.
As for the younger residents, especially the young men, they were beating their chests and stamping their feet!
Feeling that if Andrew were not their savior, they might just rush up and tear Andrew apart!
"..."
Andrew felt a bit awkward.
But An Ya was as usual, returning to the Living People Cemetery... and directly fell asleep!
"Next up, let’s first go and make the magic potion I promised Aunt Purple."
Andrew thought to himself, "The fire suppression business in and out of Wildfire Town has now, more or less, taken off!"
However, just at that moment, a cemetery resident who, along with Alpha, was responsible for guarding the warlock apprentices Cook and Sally as prisoners, rushed in: "Huh? Andrew, you’re here! That’s great, I... I was just going to the temporary camp to find you!" He was gasping for breath.
Andrew was startled, "Could it be that there was an issue with those prisoners? Did someone break free from restraint and Alpha couldn’t hold them down?"
He immediately deployed his "Water Spirit Sensing", and his invisible sense touched almost immediately reached the temporary prison where Alpha was holding the prisoners.
The result was... all was well.
He could "see": In the prison, Sally and Cook had both already woken up.
Though Andrew had pierced their hands and feet, Sally was still vigorous and kept swearing incessantly, saying things like "Let me out and see if I don’t kill you."
Cook, Sally’s partner, remained silent.
In short, there didn’t seem to be anything unusual.
Andrew looked again at the person who had come to find him, "What’s really going on?"
"The, the Water Tower Tree... the town’s ’Water Tower Tree’..."
The other person had fear and confusion in his eyes.
Andrew, upon hearing the words "Water Tower Tree", immediately stood up. Find the newest release on novel~fire~net
The reactions of the other Living People Cemetery residents were similar.
Only to hear the person reporting say: "The town’s Water Tower Tree, someone or something struck... struck it down."
"What?"
"What did you say?!"
"Water Tower Tree? Are you sure it’s the Water Tower Tree?"
Everyone crowded over.
It was as if they had heard some catastrophe was about to befall them.
It almost compared to the fear among the townsfolk when they used to mention the old mage Humboldt!
Andrew then deployed his "Water Spirit Sensing" again, this time not covering all directions but extending focusedly in one direction. This was a technique gradually mastered after becoming an Official Mage to manipulate the Water Spirit Sensing.
The sensing tendrils extended outside the range of Wildfire Town and finally, approximately a thousand meters outside of Wildfire Town, "saw"—
A "Water Tower Tree", which was originally over thirty meters tall, sturdy as a column, storing the daily water supply for all the residents of Wildfire Town, was broken.
The massive trunk lay on the ground.
The living water once stored within the trunk for the townsfolk had spilled all over the ground.
It was already about to be baked dry by the desert’s scorching sun.