"Regardless of whether the Garden's main city has fallen to Spider Tower and the Oasis or not, the panicking Garden Legion is bound to be pulling back its forces. There's no way they'll send commanders out to collect resources. This is our chance..."
Yaxiu's analysis was spot-on. Following the Garden's map to scour the resource points, he found them packed with garrison creatures that had yet to withdraw, along with massive caches of resources.
What was more, he noticed that the resource volume in the Garden territory was nearly double or triple that of other regions. There were two possibilities: either the Garden's harvesting cycle was two to three times longer than that of other factions, leading to piles of accumulated resources; or the gathering efficiency of the pack-dwelling creatures under the Garden's jurisdiction was two to three times higher, allowing them to collect several times more resources within the same cycle.
After plundering several resource points, the scales of truth gradually tipped toward the second possibility.
Compared to the pack-dwelling creatures in other areas, those in the Garden territory had no notable increase in combat prowess, yet their tactical acumen and cooperative coordination far exceeded their peers elsewhere. When Yaxiu and his companions tried to lure them into tight terrain to bottleneck and slaughter them, the creatures actually holed up inside the mine shafts and refused to come out. They even glared at Yaxiu with disdain, wearing expressions of sheer contempt that seemed to scoff, *How much cunning can mere beasts possess, after all?*
Not only that, but Yaxiu also discovered that the mine shafts in the Garden territory were far more intricate than those in other regions. Interconnected in all directions, a moment's lapse in vigilance could leave them flanked and besieged from every side.
Although they always emerged victorious in the end, the danger of these battles was several times higher than at ordinary resource points. Moreover, there were three sorcerers among them, more than capable of fighting back-to-back to cover all angles when necessary. If a solitary sorcerer were to attempt tackling resource points like these, they would inevitably be stretched thin, overwhelmed and beaten to death, or even torn apart and devoured by the pack-dwelling creatures—leaving their soul incapable of recovering for at least half a year.
During the most perilous encounter, after Yaxiu and the others scattered the monsters guarding the entrance and ventured down a side passage, the remaining pack-dwelling creatures actually attempted to collapse the tunnel and bury them alive. If not for the Sword Princess blasting clean through the rubble with a single strike of Blood Moon Shattered Lake, they might very well have perished inside.
Such complex networks of side tunnels could never have formed naturally. When Yaxiu and the others checked back, they could clearly see claw marks where the walls had been deliberately excavated.
All signs pointed to the pack creatures of the Garden possessing intelligence remarkably close to that of sorcerers. If such wits could be applied to combat, they could naturally be applied to labor as well. That the Garden territory's resource production outpaced other regions several times over made complete sense.
"...No wonder works like *Tales of the Golden Rain*, *Second Secret Record*, and *Beneath the White Ox* all mention the hypothesis of a 'Void Realm civilization.' Most likely, their authors suffered greatly at the hands of the Garden's creatures, which led them to firmly believe that Void Realm creatures possess the intelligence to build a civilization..."
As Sonia drew parallels between what she witnessed in the Void Realm and her real-world readings, she fed Unfaithful Silver to her Killing Intent Sword sorcery spirit. The Killing Intent Sword belonged to both the swordsmanship and mind factions in an approximate six-to-four ratio; consequently, feeding it the high-grade mind material Unfaithful Silver was quite effective.
The red-robed sorcery spirit wielding dual swords suddenly let out a burp. A second blood-colored wing sprouted from its back, a black-and-gold shoulder mantle draped over its red robes, its twin swords transformed into even more ferocious scimitars, and its countenance shifted from that of a brooding man to a feminine, delicate woman.
"The Killing Intent Sword has advanced to Two Wings." Sonia appraised the sorcery spirit before her and shook her head. "Doesn't look much like me. When have my eyes ever looked that cold?"
Generally speaking, native humanoid sorcery spirits summoned independently by a sorcerer shared their summoner's gender (save for sorcerers with gender identity discrepancies), and their appearance reflected the sorcerer's own traits.
When an external sorcery spirit advanced under a sorcerer's care, its appearance and gender would also shift toward that sorcerer. If a spirit continuously advanced through the hands of sorcerers of different genders, its gender would literally shift back and forth.
"Congratulations, Sword Princess!"
"Congratulations."
"Thank you." Sonia recalled the Killing Intent Sword and beamed at them. "I've picked out all the essences I need. I'll head back to the car and wait for you two."
Watching the Sword Princess's retreating figure, Yaxiu and Diya looked like adventurers beholding a slumbering, terrifying dragon. The tension gripping their chests finally loosened, and they couldn't help but let out a long breath of relief.
Their legs even felt slightly weak, forcing them to lean against the wall and huddle in the shadows out of sight.
Diya couldn't resist asking, "Watcher, why did the Sword Princess suddenly turn out like this? Do you have any idea?"
"Just like you, I only meet her in the Void Realm. Whatever idea you have is the same as mine." Yaxiu's eyes flickered.
Diya didn't doubt him. Although the Sword Princess had suddenly become extraordinarily terrifying, she wasn't singling out the Watcher. Furthermore, just as the Watcher said, their time together was confined to these brief hours in the Void Realm. If the Watcher had upset her, wouldn't Diya have noticed the signs? It wasn't as if the Watcher could have upset the Sword Princess in reality, right?
"Then do you have any solution, Watcher?"
"Not at the moment."
"Well, I have one, but I'll need your cooperation."
"Really?" Yaxiu was so thrilled he almost grabbed the Witch by the shoulders, but he pulled his hands back just as quickly. "No problem, I'll definitely cooperate!"
"Then there's no issue," Diya said. "Here's my plan: First, I'm going to sit in the front row of the sports car."
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!"
"Then, you go sit in the back row with the Sword Princess."
"Mm-hmm... wait, what?"
"And finally, we endure until tonight's Void Realm exploration comes to an end. If she's still in a foul mood tomorrow night, we repeat the process."
"Wait... what?!"
Yaxiu was completely baffled. "What kind of solution is that? That doesn't solve the Sword Princess's problem at all!"
"Well, it solves *my* problem. As for yours, that's your own business." Diya brandished her fist menacingly. "You already promised to cooperate just now. Cross your heart and hope to swallow a thousand needles if you lie... Besides, the Sword Princess is your operator; take some responsibility! In short, don't you dare come sit in the front row, or I'll punch you!"
With that, the Witch slipped away, giving Yaxiu zero opportunity to back out.
Even though the Witch had played him, she had a point: if something was wrong with the Sword Princess, Yaxiu bore the greatest responsibility. The Sword Princess was his operator, not the Witch's. More importantly, Yaxiu knew deep down that he was the root cause behind her sudden change in temperament.
Although the miracle Treat People with Sincerity couldn't literally read minds, judging from the shifts in the Sword Princess's expression, Yaxiu knew she had already guessed seven or eight tenths of the truth based on his emotional fluctuations.
Yaxiu would never underestimate a woman's intuition in such matters. Back in middle school, his mother had keenly detected his faint crush on his deskmate and nipped it in the bud (his grades had slipped because of it, after all). Not to mention, the Sword Princess's intuition was an innate personal trait recognized even by *Aurora's Sorcerer Handbook*: Pitch-Black Mind's Eye.
What was worse, Yaxiu knew he couldn't hide it. Just as Annan's confession had brought back a flashback of the streak of color in the Sword Princess's eyes when she was frozen in the Black-and-White Domain of Stillness, standing before the Sword Princess now made his tongue feel as though it were still relishing the passionate entanglement from just hours ago.
He could navigate effortlessly between corporate departments, deftly shifting blame and deflecting responsibility in reports, and could even hoodwink project managers with an earnest face. Yet he couldn't duplicate that skillset in his romantic life. If his romantic aptitude had been even a tenth of his professional acumen, his only nightlife wouldn't have been overtime, and going to the movies wouldn't have always been a solo trip.
What to do, what to do... Honestly, Yaxiu was panicking. He had never seen the Sword Princess this angry. Even back when he arranged that Sincerity summoning ritual for her, she hadn't been this terrifying.
Back then, the Sword Princess would never have given him and the Witch a chance to be alone together. Yet just now, she had walked off without looking back. That sullen, give-up-on-everything resentment made Yaxiu suspect she could explode at any second.
Most abnormal of all was how she acted as though she knew nothing and nothing had happened—fighting and adventuring as usual, explaining the Void Realm, and even...
...seeming more polite and conscientious than ever before.
After gathering the mercury materials from the resource point, Yaxiu looked at the Witch and the Sword Princess sitting apart in the front and back rows. Inhaling deeply to soothe his nerves, he carefully climbed into the back row.
The Sword Princess glanced at him. The stone in Yaxiu's heart shot straight into his throat. If she showed the slightest scowl, he would scurry right back to the front row even if it meant getting pummeled by the Witch. Yet the Sword Princess said nothing, gazing ahead placidly. Yaxiu breathed a sigh of relief, opened the Void Realm Map, and continued surveying the Garden territory.
"Captain."
Not only Yaxiu, but even the Witch shuddered. Yaxiu responded immediately, "What is it?"
"We're still missing two maps, one of which belongs to the Oasis. Now that the Oasis and Spider Tower have joined forces, as long as we attack the Garden's main city, the Oasis-Spider Tower legion will definitely appear together. That will be our chance." Sonia pondered aloud. "Compared to resources, wouldn't the Oasis map and the Commander's Handbook be far more important?"
Touching on business, Yaxiu explained in earnest, "Collecting maps is to find the Seven-Colored Tail, but staking all our hopes on the Seven-Colored Tail is far too unreliable. Besides, we're gathering resources precisely to upgrade the sports car's various peripherals so we can navigate the battlefield with far greater certainty and safety during the main city war later."
"I see." Realization dawned on Sonia. "If we still can't find the Seven-Colored Tail in the end, we can rely on the advantages of the Soul Summoning sorcery spirit and the sports car to scavenge spoils from the main city war. So the car really is more important. Come to think of it, while the Star Flinger Warrior suits me well, it doesn't fit you two... Witch, if you were to design one, what kind of troop type would you want?"
Diya immediately grew excited at the topic. "First of all, boosted melee damage. The armor doesn't need to be thick. As for troop traits, I need two the most: one that restores armor by killing enemy units, and another that increases movement speed. My combat strategy differs completely between duels and chaotic melees. In chaotic melees, I usually use Water-Born Line to drag enemies together to cause chaos, so speed becomes vital..."
Yaxiu joined the discussion enthusiastically. Ever since learning about the troop type system, he had fantasized about designing a unit suited to himself, just like how anyone playing a card game couldn't help designing their own cards. While the balance would surely be awful, balance was irrelevant in reality anyway.
Chatting merrily along the way, they arrived at the next resource point. Diya, still concocting her fourth troop type, stepped out of the car, not quite ready to drop the topic. At that moment, Yaxiu hesitated briefly, then said, "Witch, go inside first and try to lure the monsters out."
"Got it!"
Once Diya disappeared into the mine shaft, Yaxiu collected himself, plucked up his courage, and said earnestly to the Sword Princess, "Sword Princess, I'm sorry."
The atmosphere on the road had been cheerful and lively, and she had laughed and talked without avoiding conversation with him. Yaxiu felt she might not be quite so angry anymore, so he wanted to strike while the iron was hot and clear things up.
He had prepared several contingency plans in his head; whether she reacted with anger, resentment, or by taking a swing at him, he would be ready.
Yet her response caught him completely off guard.
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Sonia asked with a smile.
Yaxiu froze. "Be-because you seemed very upset. Actually, what happened in reality was—"
"Whatever happens in your reality has nothing to do with me." Sonia looked toward the mine shaft, her voice calm. "I can't see it, I can't hear it, and I certainly can't interfere."
"Besides, I should be the one apologizing. Probing you with a miracle like that out of nowhere was wrong of me." Her face was filled with remorse. "Putting myself in your shoes, if someone tested me like that without warning, I would definitely feel hurt and furious. I truly am sorry."
Yaxiu spoke up at once. "I don't blame you."
"Yet I still feel awful inside, just as hurt as you were when I probed you." Sonia met his gaze. "Only when you feel just as hurt as the other person does an apology count."
"You don't need to treat me with such solemn restraint either. At the end of the day, we are merely teammates in the Void Realm, partners during exploration. We have no business meddling in each other's real lives; we only need to fulfill our duties here."
"Beyond that, we have no other relationship—nor could we ever have one." Sonia reached out, her finger brushing against his hand. "You see? I can't even feel your body temperature."
"The Witch is coming out. Looks like the knowledge creatures here are pretty sharp too and won't be lured out. That's enough idle chatter."
"Let's go, Captain."
Watching the Sword Princess's back, Yaxiu stood silently in place for a long while before following after her.
Chapter 469