153: There's a problem with the medicine.

After being thoroughly drenched and invigorated by the potion, that group of people left contentedly, leaving Cheng Zhen full of questions.

"The protective cover can be used for a while longer, continue."

The leader's voice came, and the NPCs resumed their work.

Cheng Zhen touched the protective cover on his body.

This was the second time the leader had mentioned the usability of the protective cover.

So... this clothing or mask might have a time limit?

What would happen if the time limit was exceeded?

Cheng Zhen didn't know yet, but looking at the surrounding environment, he felt it wouldn't be a good thing.

When all the medicine had been sprayed, the leader looked at the 'empty' street and finally nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good, next we'll go to the next street."

The leader said, then turned to look at Cheng Zhen and the others, pointing his finger, "The medicine is gone, you newcomers go and bring the stuff over. It's still in that room, hurry up!"

Cheng Zhen followed his finger, which happened to point at several strategists, including himself.

Everyone had no objections, and then returned the way they came, as per the NPC's request.

The few people on the road looked at each other, but said nothing.

After all, they still didn't understand what this instance was about, so it was better to be cautious.

"This should be it, right?"

The tall man opened the door and was relieved to see several boxes.

If the quantity wasn't enough, they might have to worry about others fighting for them to complete the task, but with so many boxes, there was no need to worry.

They each carried a box and returned to the vicinity of the NPCs.

The leader opened the boxes and then told everyone to refill the sprayers with medicine, continuing their previous actions.

Hmm?

Cheng Zhen sniffed, feeling something was off.

Why did the medicine smell a bit different from before?

Constitution potions could enhance sensory perception, and Cheng Zhen had already taken various intermediate enhancement potions before entering the instance. His nose wasn't as good as a dog's, but it was several times stronger than an ordinary person's.

Cheng Zhen sniffed carefully again, but smelling through the mask wasn't clear, he could only vaguely sense a little, and couldn't be sure if it was an illusion.

He secretly looked at the others, wanting to see if anyone else reacted, but he couldn't see clearly at all.

Pitter-patter...

Footsteps came, and it was a few more skinny black spot patients, rushing towards the leader, as if if they were a moment late in getting the water cut off, they wouldn't be able to take this bath.

The leader operated the shower as before, but this time, it was different from before...

Those few people didn't feel refreshed after showering at all; after being drenched for a while, they actually knelt on the ground like wilted plants, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"No, stop!"

The leader immediately discovered the problem and told everyone to stop the sprayers.

Then, he quickly walked towards those few people, reaching out to check their condition, and his expression changed.

"This medicine is not right!"

He said loudly, turning to look at Cheng Zhen and the others.

The strategists were all startled.

They didn't know what was going on and were thinking about how to react when the leader, suppressing his anger, spoke:

"The swapped medicine will affect the protective suits, let's go back quickly!"

After saying that, he didn't bother with the strategists, packed up the boxes, and walked back quickly.

The NPCs, like echo chambers, followed him with the boxes, and Cheng Zhen and the others had no choice but to follow.

And on the way, Cheng Zhen also noticed that his protective suit was a bit off.

Before, the clothing looked like a grayish-green, like mung beans, but now it looked like it had faded, almost turning dark gray.

The most obvious was the leader; his protective suit, which was originally a bright orange, was now gradually turning gray, as if a fresh orange had become aged tangerine peel.

Bang!

The leader closed the door in a bad mood, shutting out all the filth.

He pressed a mechanism on the wall next to the assembly hall, and something like an alchemy array emerged from the ground, glowing faintly.

The NPCs stirred, seemingly wanting to go up immediately.

"What's all the fuss about, one by one!"

The leader roared, then was the first to step into the alchemy array.

After a flash of light, his protective suit immediately returned to its original appearance. The bright orange became very clean, looking brand new.

This one-click cleaning method was really appealing.

After the leader, the NPCs also stepped up one by one, and as the light flashed, their dusty protective suits seemed to be cleaned, turning back to bean green.

But when it was the strategists' turn, the leader suddenly reached out to stop them.

"Answer the questions honestly, otherwise..."

He didn't say the rest, but anyone could guess it was some kind of punishment.

The few of them didn't know why things were developing this way, but they had no choice but to honestly accept the interrogation.

"Who tampered with the medicine?"

Although the leader's gaze wasn't visible, the pressure from him was already bearing down on the few people.

The strategists looked at each other, feeling more wronged than Dou E.

Who the hell knew who tampered with the medicine!

I just entered the instance, how would I know what this medicine of yours is for!

"Leader, I just took the medicine boxes as you requested, I didn't do anything else," the tall man was the first to speak, explaining to the leader.

"Didn't do anything?" The leader sneered, "Then how did the medicine go wrong?"

The tall man's tone was full of helplessness: "The few of us took the boxes together, and everyone else was watching. If someone tampered with it, others would definitely notice something was wrong!"

The others naturally nodded in agreement, refusing to accept the NPC's baseless accusations.

The leader scrutinized the few people and then said, "Then, on the way to move the boxes, did you see anyone else doing anything?"

At this, everyone fell silent, and their gazes towards each other became a little suspicious.

After all, at that time everyone was moving boxes to do the NPC's task, and they really didn't think about whether others would do anything.

Moreover, skill users are diverse, who knows if there's a skill that can hit an ox through a mountain or swap medicine through a box?

"Leader, we really didn't find anything at that time."

While everyone was struggling, Cheng Zhen suddenly spoke: "Please, Leader, resolve the protective suit issue first. We will try our best to investigate what exactly happened with this medicine later!"

Although Cheng Zhen was not clear about what happened to the medicine, the leader had already emphasized the time limit of the protective suit before, and Cheng Zhen did not want him to waste time and cause him any harm.

"Investigate? Heh, a few newcomers who don't understand the current situation, do you think this is some kind of guessing game?"

The leader snorted, but still stepped aside, allowing the few people to stand on the alchemy array.

Light flashed, and the protective suits on their bodies were also as clean as new.

"Understand your position, then come and work with me!"

After saying that, he called the other NPCs and went inside, no longer paying attention to Cheng Zhen and the others.

The NPCs left, and the five people in the hall fell silent.

Whoosh--

The next second, all five people jumped away, looking at each other warily, and then asked in unison:

"What is your clear mission?!"