Chapter 182: Irony

“Every time, netizens always manage to surprise me with something big without saying a word!”

Yun Ruoxi shook her head in amazement, then quickly tossed in a coin, liked, and bookmarked the video.

She thought that maybe one day, when all of this was over, there would still be a chance to show this video to others, so they’d know just how much she had given.

But it had been a while since she’d last checked; now that the anime had aired up to episode ten and was nearing the end of the first season, there were more and more videos and discussions online about 《Starfall》.

With just a casual swipe, she could find several fan-made videos with over a million views.

And in nearly every one of them, she appeared.

That left her quite satisfied—it meant that her popularity and her role had been widely recognized by the netizens.

Her promotion at the end of the season was practically set in stone.

***

Afternoon.

Yun Ruoxi took out the energy gel she always carried and squeezed out a mouthful. Not long after, she heard footsteps outside.

She immediately took off her Civic Card and checked it, discovering that it was no different from the one made with Green Elf Blood—at least, on the surface.

She swapped it with the one the Shopkeeper had made.

Then she watched as he inspected it carefully, nodded in satisfaction, and stuffed it into his pocket.

After that, she followed him out of the small room.

A short while later.

Yun Ruoxi returned to the designated meeting point they had agreed on earlier.

As expected, Genbeier, now dressed in new leather clothes, had been waiting for a long time.

They entered the black market, obtained the Civic Card, and immediately rushed to the Hunters’ barracks without delay.

“Gan Siting is a very snobbish person, miss. As long as you show a little of your skin, he might not even need to see your Civic Card before nodding and agreeing,”

On the way, at Yun Ruoxi’s request, Genbeier kept telling her everything he understood about the city and the nation.

Genbeier had great faith in Yun Ruoxi’s identity and assumed this was her way of testing him, racking his brains for any bits of knowledge he could muster.

“I, like everyone else, worship the Tree God and the Fire God. But compared to the Fire God, who represents destruction and ruin, I still prefer the Tree God, who symbolizes new life and creation, and bestowed us with our homes.”

“If not for the Tree God, we wouldn’t have the Root Passage, the whole nation would have split into countless pieces, and without the powerful Tree God Weapons, we probably couldn’t even defeat the Soil Worms.”

“I also worship the Tree God,” Yun Ruoxi replied casually, then feigned curiosity as she asked, “Do you know what kinds of Tree God Weapons are here?”

Of course, she knew what Tree God Weapons were.

They were weapons made from extraordinary plants, each with different abilities, but all undeniably powerful.

But even though she knew, she couldn’t act like she knew everything while under surveillance.

Staying in a military camp had its downsides.

Otherwise, she’d love to try being the enigmatic sage or prophet.

“There are a few in the Hunters’ barracks, all kept by the Captain.”

Genbeier said, suddenly stopping in his tracks.

“Miss, we’re here!”

Hearing this, Yun Ruoxi looked up to see a camp sprawled across three massive trees.

The trunks were crowded with doors and draped in hanging vines.

People were constantly swinging back and forth from above, or clambering down the sides like they were walking on rooftops.

As an under-citizen, Genbeier could only enter through the small door in the tree roots.

But perhaps because this was a military camp and no one dared cause trouble, there was no guard at the small door.

So Yun Ruoxi was able to meet Gan Siting together with Genbeier without trouble.

And just as Genbeier had said before, Gan Siting was the very picture of a snob.

The moment Yun Ruoxi pulled back her hood, his eyes widened in shock, and he dropped to his knees in terror.

After she showed her Civic Card, he obediently removed Genbeier’s military status.

“I’m no longer a member of the Hunters!”

Outside the Hunters’ camp, Genbeier turned back in a daze.

Yun Ruoxi comforted him, “But now you’re a knight. Your future is much brighter than guarding the city gates.”

“That’s true.” Genbeier grinned. “Miss, it’s time to leave this city.”

“Mm!”

***

A moment later, the two appeared at the entrance to the Root Passage.

Just as the Shopkeeper said, the inspectors here were untrained and couldn’t tell the pass was fake.

Yun Ruoxi took out the Civic Card and successfully passed the check.

They went down the stairs inside the tree trunk, heading all the way down until they reached a hall beneath the ground.

The so-called Root Passage was a road made from the roots of giant trees.

These roots were all interconnected, sprawling across the land with the power of the Tree God.

That meant they could use these roots to go almost anywhere.

Yun Ruoxi looked at the five pitch-black tunnels in the hall and compared their directions with the red dots on her map.

Finally, she pointed at the tunnel on the right and walked over.

“This way.”

“That passage leads to Giant Stone City,” Genbeier whispered.

“I know. We’re heading to Giant Stone City.”

Yun Ruoxi and Genbeier walked up to the tunnel entrance. A lazy middle-citizen attendant yawned and said, “Tickets are twenty Wood Sona each.”

Before Yun Ruoxi could reply, Genbeier tossed out forty Wood Sona.

“Leftover from buying clothes.”

Yun Ruoxi nodded, then heard the attendant say, “No need to tell you the precautions, right? Don’t move around midway, don’t poke holes in the transport Amber, if there’s danger, pull over and wait for rescue.”

“Got it.” Genbeier nodded.

The two followed the attendant to the tunnel entrance and lay separately on a huge tree leaf.

The attendant picked up a vine, waved it over the two of them, and a stream of yellow liquid instantly poured down, soaking them and forming a huge yellow “Amber.”

But strangely enough, even though she was sealed inside the Amber, Yun Ruoxi didn’t feel suffocated at all.

She resisted the urge to knock on the shell out of curiosity, and was promptly shoved into the tunnel by the attendant.

Her vision went dark, and all she could hear was the rushing sound of wind past her ears.

She tentatively extended her mind to sense her surroundings and found herself moving forward at an astonishing speed of nearly five hundred kilometers per hour.

“So this is the Root Passage that connects the whole world… Only something born of the Star Core could be this wondrous.”

Yun Ruoxi sighed inwardly.

Such mysterious creations, beyond the reach of ordinary technology, could only be made by a Star Core, a being that defies the laws of the universe.

But it was a pity.

Once the Saints’ Hand Society seized the Star Core, this green planet filled with magical plants would immediately fall into decline. Even the Green Elves and Huang Elves would be captured by the Saints’ Hand Society, and used as labor.

These two races, enemies for nearly a thousand years, probably never imagined that in a few months, they’d be working side by side.

Under the enemy’s hand, old racial grudges would be forcibly erased, and they’d have no choice but to work together.

Just thinking about it, Yun Ruoxi found it rather ironic.