Our Daughter Is Depressed

Myconids were intelligent creatures unique to the Underdark. They had a humanoid appearance, but were essentially large mushrooms. Their habits were much like mushrooms as well—they could sustain themselves as long as they had water and soil. Yet myconid reproduction was by no means simple; they couldn't just latch onto any random piece of wood to sprout little mushrooms. They preferred planting their spores in animal carcasses, which allowed their young to grow much faster and healthier. Possessing intelligence close to humans and distinct racial abilities, myconids were also exceptionally dangerous creatures who harbored an innate hostility toward nearly all non-myconid species. Even so, they generally stayed close to their tribes and rarely hunted aggressively, so one would seldom be attacked unless they were provoked. This was the information on myconids that Anbaixiu had gathered from books. Yet, it turned out there were multiple kinds of myconids? Anbaixiu considered himself quite learned, yet he hadn't known something so fundamental. Truly, learning was an endless pursuit. Just as Anbaixiu prepared to ask Rose of Decay for guidance, another reply popped up from her: [Rose of Decay: Our daughter has run into a bit of trouble recently. It just so happens that you should come to the Underdark. I'll bring those myconids over for you to study at your leisure, and you can have a chat with Melina.] Anbaixiu was taken aback. *No way—it's only been a few days, and something's already gone wrong with that soul I crafted?* That seemed improbable. He had created so many Simulated Souls, and not a single one had ever malfunctioned. [Ultraman Tiga: What happened to Melina?] [Rose of Decay: In the phrasing of the living, she might be depressed.] Anbaixiu: ... How could an undead get depressed? Anbaixiu had seen undead go mad, but never one who got depressed. Even if someone crossed an undead's bottom line—like Anbaixiu losing money—the reaction would be an urge to destroy the world, not curling up at home wallowing in self-pity. This seemed serious indeed. Could the Simulated Soul he crafted really have such a hidden defect? [Ultraman Tiga: All right, I'll head over through the teleportation array.] Perhaps a bug had slipped in while weaving her abilities, or something had gone wrong with the ingredients... It was Anbaixiu's first time crafting such a powerful soul, so an operational error really might have left it flawed. With his professional reputation on the line, Anbaixiu dared not take the matter lightly, mulling over countless possibilities in his mind. His mind uneasy, Anbaixiu stepped onto the teleportation array. With a flash of light, Anbaixiu left his dim underground city and emerged into an even darker realm. Gloomy, damp, cramped... Merely sensing the surrounding space filled Anbaixiu with a heavy sense of dread and oppression. This was the Underdark; the subterranean world devoid of sunlight was far more cruel and vicious than the world under the open sky. The teleportation array appeared to be built inside a massive karst cavern. The moment Anbaixiu appeared, a dozen wisps of ghostfire ignited in the gloom. A squad of towering Death Knights marched toward Anbaixiu, pulling a colossal silver-white carriage. The carriage was nearly the size of a house, forged entirely from silver and adorned with intricate patterns of skeletal remains and black roses. The Death Knights dropped to their knees before Anbaixiu in unison, respectfully inviting him to board. Anbaixiu was quite pleased with the grand reception and floated into the carriage. A wave of dark energy greeted him, sealing off the damp chill outside and bringing Anbaixiu immense comfort. The carriage wasn't just for show; it was inscribed with numerous magic circles designed to gather mana, making the flow of his own magic feel significantly smoother. On top of that, several beautiful drow elves were aboard. The moment they saw Anbaixiu, they eagerly stepped forward to divest him of his old magical robe and meticulously dress him in another, far more luxurious mage robe. It was a high-grade enchanted piece, vastly superior to the one he had been wearing. Being dressed by beauties elicited no emotion from Anbaixiu. After all, he was undead now; he had long shed such worldly desires. Next, however, they poured him a brimful goblet of crimson wine. Anbaixiu was about to think that all drinks tasted the same to the undead, but a subtle sense told him this wine was crafted specifically for them. With a single sip, the scarlet liquid broke down rapidly, infusing into every bone of his skeletal frame. His porous bones began to regenerate, turning dense and lustrous, as though freshly detached from a living body. Even his soul registered the wine's rich, aromatic bouquet, evoking the sensation of the very first time Anbaixiu had tasted fine wine all those years ago. "Splendid wine!" The century-old vintage he had encountered on the high seas had induced intoxication by damaging the soul, but the wine sent by Rose of Decay was not only delicious, it offered immense benefits to the undead. Anbaixiu couldn't help marveling. As expected of the Underdark's queen, this level of indulgence was truly top-tier; that single sip had just consumed at least a hundred thousand gold coins. The carriage rolled smoothly forward without the slightest tremor. Reclining on a velvet lounge chair, Anbaixiu felt so comfortable he almost dozed off. Joyful moments always flew by, however. Before he could actually fall asleep, the carriage came to a halt before a magnificent palace. Alighting from the carriage, Anbaixiu walked into the palace guided by a ghostly handmaid. The handmaid was also a high-rank undead. Her body, which should have been ethereal and translucent, was nearly as solid as a living person's, suggesting she wasn't far from reaching legend rank. Yet Anbaixiu knew this ghost could never become a legend. The Undead Queen possessed an overwhelming desire for control. Every undead in this subterranean realm was her slave, branded with a soul contract of absolute obedience. With such shackles binding them, an undead could never step into the realm of legends. Without a sense of self, how could one comprehend a legendary boon of their own? Various thoughts turned in Anbaixiu's mind as he was soon led into a lavish, spacious chamber. Rose of Decay sat by the bed, leisurely reading a book. No matter the time or place, this Undead Queen exuded an effortless elegance; nothing ever seemed capable of unsettling her. Melina, on the other hand, was sitting on the bed in a posture of profound melancholy, arms wrapped around her knees and face buried against them. Seeing Anbaixiu enter, Rose of Decay set down her book and said to Melina, "Your father is here. You two father and daughter have a good talk; I'm at my wit's end trying to comfort you." Just as Anbaixiu opened his mouth to ask what was going on, Rose of Decay strolled to the doorway, leaving him with only a parting remark: "Melina seems to have suffered quite a shock. Comfort her well. Once you've cheered her up, come find me—the myconids are ready for you." Without waiting for Anbaixiu to press further, Rose of Decay was already gone. Helpless, Anbaixiu could only walk over to this "daughter" of his. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he said, "What happened? Can you tell me about it?" Facing his nominal daughter, Anbaixiu felt no special familial warmth. In his eyes, Melina was fundamentally no different from the mercury soul puppets he had crafted before—merely a tool endowed with self-awareness. Yet Rose of Decay truly seemed to be raising her as a daughter; her bedroom was larger than his entire laboratory. At the sound of Anbaixiu's voice, Melina looked up. Her striking heterochromatic eyes were brimming with sorrow; had the undead been capable of tears, she would have been weeping uncontrollably. Her voice trembling, Melina asked, "Father, am I really an idiot?" Anbaixiu's very soul shuddered. Something felt terribly off. Was this something an undead should even care about? Had he let his imagination run too wild when designing her? An undead shouldn't be experiencing such turbulent emotional swings! "Why do you ask that?" In an aggrieved tone, Melina recounted everything she had experienced in the Underdark over the past few days. Rose of Decay had indeed treated her generously, sparing no effort to craft magical equipment for her. Bolstered by Melina's own abilities, she had enough power to swagger through the Underdark unimpeded. At first, things went splendidly. Using her eyes that could see through all invisibility, Melina hunted down numerous driders, drastically reducing the raids on the mining districts. In just a few days, nearly a hundred driders had fallen by her hand. Soon, however, the enemy retaliated with a laughably simple trap. To Anbaixiu's mind, it sounded as obvious as placing bait inside an arm-thick noose with a wooden sign planted right beside it reading: "This Is Not a Trap." Yet into that absurdly crude trap, Melina had blindly plunged headfirst without noticing a thing. A large swarm of driders along with hundreds of drow elves surrounded Melina tight, then spent two solid minutes mocking her in unison. Although Melina eventually summoned her invincible sussur tree mount and slaughtered the drow elves to the last man, their ridicule still stung deeply. Word that Melina was an idiot had already spread throughout the Underdark. Everyone knew a powerful undead princess had arrived, but they also knew she had serious cognitive issues—perhaps on par with a low-rank undead, someone so dense you could trap her simply by drawing a circle on the ground. Melina said in deep grievance, "I heard them saying that even if a drow elf stood right in front of me and claimed to be a gnome, I'd still be fooled!" "That's outrageous! That's pure slander!" Anbaixiu consoled her at once. "This has nothing to do with your intelligence. You were only just born. It took me hundreds of years to become this clever!" "Really?" Melina asked eagerly. "As long as enough time passes, I can become smart too?" Anbaixiu pondered for a moment, then replied, "You just lack a good teacher. Since I'm here anyway, let me teach you. I guarantee that from now on, whenever those drow elves see you, they won't even dare to tell a lie."