After coming to her senses, Lu Qiuchen stepped backward. The system interface slowly faded away, leaving her vision unobstructed and much clearer, but dizziness soon returned.
“Beta, can you hear me?” There was no response.
“This is probably another method of system shielding! Could it be caused by some property of adamantine?” Lu Qiuchen’s heart surged with excitement.
However, this place was still filled with unknowns, and with the dizziness returning and faint whispers lingering just out of reach, staying here recklessly could lead to danger.
Lu Qiuchen moved out of the adamantine ore’s range, and the game interface reappeared in her vision.
“Beta! Run a full scan on my status!” The moment she reconnected with the system, she immediately thought of the miraculous detection abilities of some novel “mainframe” systems. Thinking about it, this Beta really was quite sci-fi… no, it had a strong touch of fantasy!
“I think I’m relying too much on Beta’s scanning capabilities… but with such a useful function, in this mentally dangerous world, it would be a waste not to use it.”
Lu Qiuchen began to reflect on her own behavior and finally concluded that she should use it boldly and without hesitation!
As for what to do after breaking free from the system, by then she would have reached a realm beyond legends and probably wouldn’t be so easily affected by mental attacks.
“Beta, scan complete. No abnormalities detected in the player.”
Relieved, Lu Qiuchen had another idea. If she stayed under Beta’s close surveillance while chatting and simultaneously entered the adamantine ore’s range, would the connection suddenly cut off?
And if it did, after stepping out and reconnecting, would Beta detect the previous anomaly?
After careful consideration, Lu Qiuchen decided to try, as this could be a chance to break free from Beta’s control. Even if this method failed or Beta detected and sealed it, she still had the Curse Breaking Sphere as a backup.
“Beta, check if there are any danger sources near my login location.” Lu Qiuchen thought, waiting for Beta’s answer as she prepared to enter the adamantine ore’s range.
“Un…” Beta’s voice echoed in her mind just as Lu Qiuchen stepped into the adamantine range.
“Un what?” Lu Qiuchen was startled and immediately retreated.
“… No danger sources detected. Player status updated. You may exit the game at any time.” Beta’s voice returned without any abnormalities.
No danger sources, and she could exit the game! And this preliminarily confirmed that this environment could shield Beta’s monitoring without triggering any suspicion.
Good things come in pairs!
Lu Qiuchen decided to leave a permanent teleportation coordinate here both in the game world and reality. If Beta ever gave her commands she didn’t want to follow, she could teleport here to temporarily avoid them.
Now, she should return to the Eternal World. The immediate priority was to move her real body to a safe place!
After confirming again with Beta that there were no dangers nearby, Lu Qiuchen logged out with a heart full of excitement.
*****
Lu Qiuchen’s figure appeared in the Broken Void. After scanning the surroundings and seeing no enemies, she prepared to slip away quietly.
Although she was curious about where the Flame Demon King, who had been guarding her, had gone, she dared not tempt fate again. Maintaining her human form, she hid at the bottom of the canyon, recalled the way she had come, and set a spatial teleportation destination to leave.
Having successfully teleported into the Broken Void, Lu Qiuchen dared to shift into her dragon form and fly away. Only after safely leaving the Broken Void did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Since she didn’t know the exact exit point from here, Lu Qiuchen could only follow the direction from her memory, combining it with the map, to head toward Zhaoles.
Only then did she have the leisure to observe her talent space. A chunk of mythril lay there perfectly intact. She took out a small piece and placed it in her mouth, experiencing a taste no different from that in the game.
She then released a not-so-fluent Level 6 magic spell—Ice Snowstorm—and found it felt much more natural than before. Her tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
“The game and reality are at least partially connected!” Lu Qiuchen concluded. This was important information! Next, she should head to the Knight Kingdom and check on the situation at that mine.
Speeding up, Lu Qiuchen passed through the city of the Drow again. Though she had no intention of staying, her excellent hearing picked up a commotion from a nearby cavern, and the conversation caught her attention.
“Leti, you can’t run anymore! Tell me the secret Meya gave you, and I can let you live!” a cold female voice said.
Another voice, younger and angry, responded, “I won’t tell you, you traitor who colludes with demons!”
“Heh! Your mother’s education was flawed! What do you mean by colluding with demons? We’ve been on the demon side for ten thousand years! I’m sick of your mother’s foolishness! I didn’t even need to lift a finger before she was dead! Your Dark Moon clan’s era is over!” The cold voice continued.
Hearing this, Lu Qiuchen roughly understood what had happened. The Drow truly lived up to their elven reputation, having inherited “fine traditions” from the High Elves.
And among elves, the Drow were the most treacherous and ruthless. Though the Drow had declined, their clans still fought bitterly among themselves—no wonder they’d spent ten thousand years living underground.
“You! You really wanted to kill my mother!”
“Hah, her foolishness angered the Demon King, or else she wouldn’t have suddenly aged at only three hundred years old. I don’t understand why the previous generation chose that idiot as queen, but the Drow will be great again! Because I am now the Drow Queen!”
Lu Qiuchen hadn’t planned to meddle, but hearing the argument, it seemed to be a quarrel between the new queen and the former queen’s heir. Should she intervene and save them?
Recalling her earlier meeting with the queen, Lu Qiuchen’s impression was good. Though she almost died in the Broken Void, the queen’s information was reliable. Lu Qiuchen figured it was her own overconfidence and reckless entry without proper investigation that got her into trouble.
As Lu Qiuchen pondered, the dialogue continued.
“I will never hand it over! Give up on that hope!” The girl’s voice grew stubborn.
“Heh heh, Leti’s experience is still too little! So easily fooled into telling me— that secret is an item, right?” The cold voice sneered before turning stern: “Since you won’t speak, I’ll kill you and find it myself!”
Hearing this, Lu Qiuchen hesitated briefly, then activated spatial teleportation.
Consider it a reward for the information she’d received earlier.
Before either side could react, Lu Qiuchen quickly scooped up the Drow girl who had fallen to the ground and teleported away.
The new Drow queen only caught a flash of light before Leti disappeared. She stamped her foot in frustration and ordered the Drow around her, “Chase them!”
The Drow nodded and took a few steps, but the queen’s voice rang sharply from behind, “Wait! That was a dragon just now…”
Gritting her teeth, the queen commanded, “Return to the city!”
‘A dragon has appeared; we won’t accomplish our leader’s mission now… The city’s forces are still weak. We can’t let any more of our people die!’
After several consecutive teleports, Lu Qiuchen felt the distance was enough to shake off the pursuers. She glanced down at the Drow girl in her arms. The girl’s eyes were full of terror and confusion.
Lu Qiuchen set Leti down gently but found herself at a loss for words.
She had never been good at socializing, and recently hadn’t spoken much with strangers. Though she knew the girl’s name, she still had nothing to say: “What’s your name?”
Only then did Leti come to her senses. Sensing no harm from the dragon before her, she quickly sized up Lu Qiuchen and replied in a soft voice, “Respected Dragon Lady, thank you very much for your rescue. My name is Leti, from the Dark Moon clan of Dark Moon City… ah, now Red Moon City.”
Leti looked about fifteen or sixteen, her Drow physique petite. Unlike typical Drow pride and brutality, her voice was soft and tender, tinged with sadness.
Still maintaining her post-dungeon exit disguise, Lu Qiuchen forgot she had revealed her true form. Hearing the girl’s thanks reminded her.
She reactivated her disguise, nodded, and turned to leave.
She had helped on a whim. Now that she confirmed the girl was indeed the former Drow queen’s heir, she decided not to get involved.
Leti watched the life-saving dragon leave without a word, then glanced around anxiously. The Red Moon City was only half an hour away, and there had been no forks in the passage earlier. If the Red Moon clan caught up, she would have no escape.
“Please wait!” Leti called out urgently to the humanoid dragon ahead.
When the figure turned, Leti saw the dragon had changed form completely, unrecognizable from before.
“What magic is this?” Leti instinctively took a step back, then leaned forward, her eyes bright with fascination. “Can you teach me this?”
When the dragon refused, Leti looked disappointed. Then she remembered her purpose and spoke bluntly, “Can you take me to the surface? Anywhere but the elven territories… Ah! I can pay!”
To prove her ability to pay, she pulled a bulging pouch from her waist, unfastened it, and revealed piles of gleaming gold coins interspersed with a few gemstones.
Lu Qiuchen glanced at Leti and asked, “Do you know the way to the surface?”
After Leti nodded, Lu Qiuchen pretended to consider, though she was already thrilled inside.
She hadn’t expected such an unexpected gain from this whim—helping with directions and getting paid! Such good fortune was rare in her twenty-plus years of dragon life. Plus, she had found the mythril mine and a potential way to escape the system’s grasp. What a great day!
And this little princess was truly innocent. Dare to show off her wealth so openly—was she not afraid Lu Qiuchen would simply snatch her gold? Lu Qiuchen wondered why such a pure child existed among the Drow.
The new queen might be right: the former queen’s parenting was truly bizarre, raising a child even more naive than the Forest Elves.
Since money was being offered, Lu Qiuchen naturally wouldn’t refuse. Taking the pouch with an expectant look from Leti, she weighed it a bit, put on a troubled expression, and tossed the pouch straight into her talent space.
“This should be barely enough. Lead the way. Even if you want to go to the Southern Continent, I can take you there!” Lu Qiuchen said generously.
Her real goal was the Southern Continent, so if this Drow wanted to head the opposite direction, she’d be less than pleased.