Chapter 446
Even if it meant wasting time taking a train to Ansu, it would still take 12 hours, and there wasn’t enough time to earn points for Xia'er.
It wasn’t that the simulations of the past were completely inferior to those of the future; although the planning phase was absent, it offered the ability of foresight.
Should she choose the simulation of the future, 27 days from now...
Xia'er fell into deep thought.
What method could she employ to conduct a grand "ritual" within the simulation, without relying on the other realm, to earn enough Destiny Points?
Xia'er was clear on a few things if she wanted more Destiny Points or rewards in skills and seals.
Change the fated path of death; consume new potions; kill enough people; eliminate different extraordinary beings beyond her level.
So far, the latter two were the quickest ways to harvest points.
If she utilized the other realm, the rewards for killing wouldn’t be very high, which was why the points Xia'er had earned previously felt disproportionately low compared to the number and quality of those she had killed.
Without the other realm, Xia'er realized that her large-scale killing strategies were rather limited—no, they were almost nonexistent.
For a moment, Xia'er found herself at an impasse.
If she didn’t use the other realm, she could still command the extraordinary beings under her...
At least for now, Eleanor from the Goddess of Salvation Church and Percie from the Holy Ascendancy, both at level 4, could follow Xia'er’s orders.
Perhaps... viruses and bacteria could also come into play. Adele had a remarkable talent in this area, and with her "Plague Bearer" archive, Xia'er could assist in research or provide ideas.
Though Adele would certainly obey her, all of this could only happen within the simulation, allowing her simulated self to experiment without affecting the real Adele.
Adele was one of the few genuinely good people around Xia'er, and she didn’t want her "evil" thoughts to taint Adele.
Thud—
As Xia'er pondered, a sudden sound of something heavy dropping onto the carpet beside her broke her concentration.
She looked up to see Tara slumped on the carpet, her face pale.
Tara’s slender arms were propped up on the thick carpet, struggling to stand, but it seemed she could hardly control her limbs anymore. Even the simple act of supporting her body made her arms tremble uncontrollably.
Xia'er knelt before Tara, reaching out to help the light-weight Tara up. With her current strength, lifting Tara was effortless.
“Withdraw your abilities,” Xia'er commanded, her tone firm.
“But...”
Tara opened her cracked lips, about to say something, but Xia'er’s sharper voice cut her off.
“This is an order.”
Hesitating at Xia'er’s words, Tara raised her hand toward Xia'er’s face.
As Tara moved, the white veil obscuring Xia'er’s vision began to dissipate, and the buzzing in her ears gradually overwhelmed her senses. Then, Xia'er stood up, pulling Tara along with her.
Now wasn’t the time to think about this... She needed to spare some time to recover her mental strength.
“I’m going to sleep for a bit...”
Xia'er waved her hand dismissively at Tara, ignoring whatever she wanted to say—there was no point in hearing it—and walked straight to her large bed, collapsing onto it.
Illusions began to swirl before her eyes; she couldn’t even think, let alone read. This might be the worst mental pollution she had ever experienced... but perhaps due to her enhanced mental strength, it wasn’t as painful as before.
Almost the moment she lay down and relaxed, Xia'er slipped into a deep unconsciousness.
In her stupor, she felt herself being dragged into a bizarre dream.
She found herself in a room adorned in pure white.
Lying on a cold operating table, her body was immobile, leaving her to gaze at everything around her.
Countless surgical clamps hung from the ceiling, clutching yellowed papers filled with unknown formulas, blood seeping from the paper’s seams, carrying the scent of rust.
The walls were lined with steam valves, releasing pale mist mixed with fragments of gears every seven seconds, while the floor gradually accumulated metal shavings that submerged her ankles.
In the center of the room floated a suit of white armor adorned with gilded patterns. Inside the armor, a cacophony of metallic cries and the ticking of a telegraph machine mingled, while blood vessel-like copper tubes sprouted from the armor’s face, creeping toward Xia'er’s eyes.
At the moment those copper tubes pierced her eyes, Xia'er seemed to faintly hear something amidst the metallic friction.
“Please forgive me...”
“Please forgive me...”
“Master of Time Binding...”
Sizzle—
“Ahhh!!!!”
The instant the copper tubes stabbed into Xia'er’s eyes, it felt as if they had pierced her very soul, a pain akin to her spirit being torn apart, causing her to emit a horrifying wail.
She felt a powerful energy surge directly into her spirit, and for a brief moment, her mind went blank, as if she had become a puppet.
In her vision, a silver pocket watch loomed larger and larger until it filled her sight.
The pure white armor wielded a hammer, preparing to smash the pocket watch directly into Xia'er’s eyes.
Clang—
With the sound of a heavy blow, Xia'er’s consciousness rapidly dissipated.
“Xia'er...”
Time passed, though she couldn’t tell how long, a phantom voice called from beyond the white metallic walls.
“Xia'er...”
The voice grew louder, and a dark purple figure burst through the pure white metal cage, grabbing Xia'er’s arm and pulling her away.
“Xia'er!”
The call solidified in her mind as the metallic space around her began to crumble.
Finally, Xia'er regained a sense of her body.
Enduring the phantom pain in her eyes, she slowly opened them.
What greeted her was a worried-looking Aivina, with Tara standing behind her, head bowed, unable to meet Xia'er’s gaze.
A buzzing echoed in Xia'er’s mind, as if the reverberations of the hammer striking the pocket watch still lingered.
“Um...”
Xia'er propped herself up, but Aivina pressed her shoulder down.
“What happened...” Xia'er asked softly, glancing at Tara.
At the same time, she looked out the window.
The scene outside seemed to be at dusk, indicating she hadn’t been unconscious for long.
Her mental state appeared to have improved significantly; at least the buzzing in her head had reached a level where she could somewhat ignore it.
“How did you get here, Aivina...” After a moment, Xia'er continued to inquire.
“Tara called me over.” Aivina looked at Xia'er, her expression complex.
“Tara?” Xia'er turned her gaze toward Tara.
Although she hadn’t intended to seek Aivina, she hadn’t explicitly told Tara not to call her over.
Seeing Xia'er’s attention shift to Tara, Aivina stepped to the left, blocking Xia'er’s view, seemingly unwilling to let her blame Tara.
“If she hadn’t called me, I would have come anyway,” Aivina said calmly. “Do you know how long you’ve been unconscious, Xia'er?”
How long had she been out?
From noon... to afternoon?
Seemingly reading the confusion in Xia'er’s eyes, Aivina clarified, “A whole day, Xia'er.”
So, it was already the 19th?
That meant the method she had used in the simulation, the trick with the strong sound, would need some adjustments... The date was different, and the approach had to be optimized; otherwise, there could be unforeseen discrepancies.
Xia'er instinctively fell into thought.
“Tara, could you step outside for a moment?” Aivina turned to Tara and spoke softly.
“Y-yes...” Tara, aware she had made a mistake, lowered her head and turned to leave the room.
Tara truly had no other choice... Watching Xia'er in a coma, she could only feel anxious. As time passed, Xia'er’s mental state grew weaker, and Tara’s worry only intensified.
After a sleepless night, with no sign of Xia'er waking, Tara had made the difficult decision to go against Xia'er’s wishes and had the servants call Aivina.
Once Tara left the room and closed the door, Aivina approached the bedside, looking down at Xia'er, who seemed to be lost in another world.
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