Chapter 17

“Awake already?” Xia Xifeng left the kitchen carrying a freshly made pot of Creamy Potato Soup just as Qin Lang approached him.

“Yes,” Qin Lang said. “She’s been crying non-stop since she woke up. Can’t articulate what she went through.”

Xia Xifeng sighed helplessly. “Even adults struggle to calm down after a near-death experience. She must be terrified.”

Qin Lang said, “Perila and Leo started arguing.”

Xia Xifeng gestured for Qin Lang to get the soup. “Why?”

Even though it was for the little girl, and he’d specifically spent some of his very limited early-game gold coins to unlock this spirit-soothing recipe, since they had a new dish, he definitely wanted his friends to try it.

Qin Lang said, “Leo says the girl might be a member of a Dwarf Merchant Caravan. He wants to search for the caravan. Perila thinks we should ask the girl about her situation first, then decide who to contact.”

Xia Xifeng was baffled. “What’s there to argue about that?”

Qin Lang explained, “Leo said he knows this caravan leader; they’re all good people, no need for suspicion. Perila thinks Leo is too naive. So they argued.”

Xia Xifeng was speechless. Those two really could argue about anything. It was a wonder they hadn’t broken off their friendship. He and Qin Lang didn’t have nearly as many arguments.

Because Qin Lang simply wouldn’t argue with him, which was even more annoying than arguing!

Clearly, the content of their argument was so pointless that Qin Lang had excused himself. When Xia Xifeng entered the room with the soup, Leo and Perila smelled the fragrance and stopped arguing.

Just like many times before, the argument was one thing, but even without a resolution, the moment they stopped, neither of them would hold a grudge over the quarrel.

Both looked on with anticipation, waiting for the steaming hot soup to cool. Qin Lang stayed as well.

He wasn’t good at dealing with crying little girls.

The girl had been temporarily placed in Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s bedroom.

They’d only had the Housekeeping Golem clean up one bedroom; the other rooms weren’t yet organized. Sunflower Valley was close to their manor, so the halflings helping out all went home to sleep.

Leo’s mother was looking after the little girl. The girl was curled up, hugging her knees, capable only of crying and trembling, unable even to speak clearly.

Thankfully, the halflings’ friendliness was well-known. Learning she had been saved by halflings, the girl’s mood had stabilized considerably. Leo’s mother took her to bathe, change clothes, and examine her injuries.

The protective power of the Ruby Brooch was quite strong; the girl only had some bruises.

“Have some soup. It’s a bit hot.” Xia Xifeng placed the bowl on the nightstand.

The little girl lifted her head, her nose twitching as her stomach rumbled.

She looked at Leo’s mother.

Leo’s mother said, “Feng is a friend of us halflings, a very good person. Dear child, please don’t worry and drink the soup.”

The little girl rubbed her stomach, hunger overcoming her fear.

Xia Xifeng set up a small wooden table on the bed.

The girl picked up the wooden spoon, ready to scoop the soup into her mouth.

Xia Xifeng quickly stopped her. “It’s too hot. Wait a little while.”

The little girl’s voice was hoarse. “I-I’m not afraid of heat. We always eat very hot food.”

Xia Xifeng ran through the racial settings in his mind. Oh, right, dwarves are naturally resistant to high temperatures, forging prodigies.

Now that the girl could answer questions normally, Xia Xifeng breathed a sigh of relief.

System item, guaranteed quality. The spirit-soothing Creamy Potato Soup was very effective; the terror in the little girl’s eyes had diminished considerably.

Xia Xifeng wanted to ask about her situation but worried about destabilizing her again.

After thinking for a long time, he asked, “Can you tell me where you’re from and your name?”

Knowing the girl’s name, he could inquire with the arriving Dwarf Merchant Caravan and likely learn her background.

The little girl nodded and said, “My name is Lana Ironhammer.”

A truly iconic dwarven name.

Even just hearing the little girl’s surname, Xia Xifeng instantly understood her origins.

In Fantasy Realms, if a dwarf’s surname wasn’t a phonetic translation but an interpreted translation with specific meaning, it signified coming from an established, prestigious family.

Take the “Ironhammer” family, for example—a dwarven clan that has produced countless master forgers.

While playing the game, most of Xia Xifeng’s high-level forging class quests were taken from members of the Ironhammer lineage.

More and more questions swirled in Xia Xifeng’s mind.

Dwarves, while not as intensely focused on kin and family as halflings, still held very traditional family values and cherished their children, never letting underage children stray from their elders’ sight.

Whether male or female, once a dwarf surpassed fifteen years of age, their facial bones and overall frame thickened, rapidly maturing in appearance.

In other words, dwarves over fifteen were no longer “cute.”

Lana was still a typically cute little girl, meaning she was definitely under fifteen.

The Ironhammer family had many members; many had left the Dwarf Kingdom and settled elsewhere. But so long as someone dared to use the surname form “Ironhammer,” it proved they had received the family’s forging inheritance and weren’t “rebels.”

Adding the value of the Ruby Brooch protecting the little girl, she should be from a well-off family, cared for by relatives, and wouldn’t wander off alone.

On the eve of a joint celebration between Green Sand City and a Dwarf Merchant Caravan, did her attack foreshadow something sinister?

Xia Xifeng couldn’t help but default to conspiracy theories. The Doomsday Era’s onset might only be a few years away. The current Dream World appeared calm, but undercurrents were already surging. Many approaching great disasters must certainly be showing signs now.

Xia Xifeng’s lips moved slightly, but he forcefully swallowed his questions, suppressing his unease.

No matter how urgent, there was no need to rush this moment. Better to let Lana rest another day first.

As he turned to leave, Lana reached out and grabbed the hem of Xia Xifeng’s robe.

Xia Xifeng asked, “Would you like another bowl of soup?”

Lana shook her head. “You… you are a knight, a knight of Green Sand City, right?”

Xia Xifeng replied, “Yes.”

Lana opened her mouth, but before words could emerge, her body shuddered violently, as if recalling something terrifying, making her reflexively lose her voice.

Yet she stubbornly tightened her grip on Xia Xifeng’s robe and managed to speak with difficulty. “Please… please tell the City Lord. The caravan… the caravan was attacked by shadows… very strange, like muck-like shadows… the dead came back to life… so terrifying…”

Lana’s words became rambling and incoherent again.

She released Xia Xifeng’s robe, clutching her head with both hands. Tears welled up once more as she kept repeating “shadows” and “terrifying.”

Leo’s mother quickly gathered the little girl in her arms, patting her back gently. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. Our City Lord of Green Sand City is very powerful. He will surely protect you.”

Xia Xifeng said solemnly, “I will report this to the City Lord immediately.”

He left the bedroom, letting Leo’s mother properly soothe Lana.

Closing the door, Xia Xifeng let out a sigh.

Qin Lang was waiting again just outside. Leo and Perila must have started arguing again for him to seek refuge here.

“You heard everything?” Xia Xifeng said. “Do you remember any small shadow monsters like that—like muck, that can kill people?”

Qin Lang said, “Plenty. The Corrupted Bosses’ summoned minions mostly look like that.”

The corner of Xia Xifeng’s mouth twitched.

He covered his face with one hand. “Oh heavens, aren’t Corrupted Monsters a specialty of the ‘Doomsday Era’? They’re appearing now?”

Qin Lang said, “If the Doomsday truly fully descends in another five years, the Outer Gods should have started laying plans at least a hundred years ago. Now it’s time to reel in the lines.”

Xia Xifeng lowered his hand and took a few deep breaths. “That makes sense.”

After the Doomsday Era began, countless NPCs and players had sacrificed themselves, striving to understand the reasons for the world’s change. The death toll, both NPCs and players, was immeasurable.

But he and Qin Lang came from the final chapter of Fantasy Realms. The grand backdrop’s mysteries had already been solved; they didn’t need to decipher them again.

The Dream World’s final boss, an enemy capable of twisting rules, couldn’t possibly be anything other than the Outer Gods.

The main storyline of Fantasy Realms was purely classic: “The righteous Hero triumphs over the evil Devil King.”

A cataclysm occurred in the Outer Gods’ universe; their world teetered on the brink of destruction, even their own Deities couldn’t escape it. They thus scattered detection artifacts everywhere, searching for a new world to immigrate to.

Through the “curiosity” of a Dream World native, Pandora’s Box was opened. The Outer Gods received a response and obtained the coordinates of this world. Thus, the Dream World’s “Doomsday” began.

The Outer Gods’ invasion wasn’t simple slaughter.

Between worlds created by different Creator Gods, worldviews were utterly incompatible. In the perceptions of both worlds’ inhabitants, the other was completely twisted.

What players and Dream World NPCs saw of the Outer Gods and their minions was grotesquely distorted, nightmarish in appearance. But from their own world’s perspective, they might look quite fine; it was the players and Dream World that were twisted.

For the Outer Gods to immigrate, they needed to assimilate the Dream World’s rules.

They corrupted the natives into accepting their power, slowly infiltrating the very “concepts” of this world, plundering the World’s Origin.

The continent of the Dream World was waging a “proxy” war, but the greatest battlefield lay in the Divine Domain.

The outcome of the “proxy” war influenced the strength of the main battlefield in the Divine Domain.

In turn, the Divine Domain was also a “proxy” war. Ultimately, the power contest was between the two worlds’ Creator Gods.

The Creator Gods’ “battle” wasn’t a physical brawl in the conventional sense, but a higher-level contest that even Innate Deities couldn’t understand.

Yet the final outcome of this higher contest was also determined by the victories and defeats in the two proxy battlefields. Therefore, those on different planes need only defend their own world and fulfill their own missions.

This Doomsday struggle, concerning the survival of two worlds, was beyond good or evil; it was purely a matter of stance. There was no possibility of communication or reconciliation—just destroy the other side completely.

The true villains wouldn’t be redeemed; players enjoyed grinding monsters immensely and unanimously praised the game’s storyline.

These days, what gamers detest the most is feeling frustrated!

“Could this dwarf attack be linked to the ‘Inson’s Ascension’ event?” Xia Xifeng’s mind raced with possibilities. “The timing is too close.”

Qin Lang said, “Possible. Ask Mr. Suer for a Potion of Forced Calm. Question Lana thoroughly about the details of the attack.”

Xia Xifeng sighed. “That’s too cruel.”

Qin Lang countered, “The Dwarf Merchant Caravan might already be inside the city. The living people in Green Sand City are more important. It would be truly cruel if we asked too late and failed to prevent a conspiracy. The Potion of Forced Calm has no side effects; it won’t harm her mentally…”

“Alright, alright, stop lecturing me. My heart just aches for her, I didn’t say I object.” Xia Xifeng interrupted. “She was so frightened, yet still grabbed my clothes to tell us the truth. If you let her choose, she’d probably choose to drink the potion herself. Even children understand hatred.”

Qin Lang said, “That’s exactly what Leo and Perila are arguing about. Perila thinks we should extract the details as soon as possible. If the Dwarf Merchant Caravan is compromised, every day of delay makes Green Sand City a step more dangerous. Leo is unwilling to pressure the terrified Lana and trusts his dwarven friends in the caravan.”

Xia Xifeng said, “I’ll go contact Mr. Suer. Didn’t Leo put the Power Suppression Rune back on? Hit him with a ‘Sap,’ then let Perila follow up with Silence to shut him up.”

Reaching Level 20, the first control skill Qin Lang had chosen was “Sap.” “Sap” could only target humanoid creatures outside of combat. Depending on skill level, it could render the target unconscious for 10 to 30 seconds. The target would instantly awaken upon taking any damage.

Xia Xifeng maliciously speculated whether Qin Lang had chosen this skill to replace Silence, purely to force him to shut up.

Qin Lang, of course, vehemently denied this.

“Drowsiness Potion. I’ll pour it down his throat.” Qin Lang extended his hand. “You made it but forgot to put it in your inventory.”

Xia Xifeng handed over the Drowsiness Potion. “Forgot to store it. Definitely not because I wanted to prank someone.”

Qin Lang: “Heh.”