Mini World Game Console

"Now it seems that we might be able to establish a cooperative relationship with the World Tree Magicians again!"

Hearing the hearty laughter echoing in the sky, Nan Xi spoke to Dong Chengling with a hint of anticipation, "Chengling, can we get a bit closer? Like to that reef up ahead..."

The production team of "Wandering Traveler Live Broadcast" was undeniably lucky—they had caught highly explosive live content and had access to broadcasting vehicles. TBS Television also immediately decided to interrupt all other programs to air their live broadcast.

From that day on, they became the ace producers who set the viewership record for TBS Television—even if this record was solely due to good luck, it opened a window of opportunity for them.

For countries around the world, it was also a stroke of luck: they could record the battle between the World Tree Magicians and the Source of Disaster with both technological and Transcendent Methods.

Compared with the 'Blu-ray version' provided by Ren Naiser, the international Supernatural Organizations placed greater importance on this 'unedited broadcast version.'

It wasn't that they doubted Ren Naiser would deliberately exaggerate or downplay the combat power of Supernatural Forces, but no country was willing to swallow Ren Naiser's chewed-up leavings—only by acquiring the freshest intelligence themselves could they verify their information for any discrepancies.

For Nan Xi, it meant that Dong Chengling could take her to witness the Transcendent battle on-site—not only was there a live feed, but a simple Google search even provided precise coordinates. Dong Chengling, who was currently learning to cook bamboo rat with generous oil from a video, naturally did not hesitate to teleport directly with her to the Coast of Unknown Parentage.

Due to Dong Chengling's strength, the limit for long-distance teleportation was two people, so only Nan Xi and Dong Chengling arrived, leaving Nan Xi's subordinates to obediently stay in the office doing logistics these days.

Dong Chengling looked at the distant sea surface and shook her head. "No, the sea is too rough, and there's a good chance you could be knocked over by the waves if you stand on it."

The reef that Nan Xi pointed out was indeed large, with what seemed to be a small platform that could accommodate two or three people. However, Dong Chengling knew the surface of rocks frequently worn by waves must be extremely smooth. With the waves surging, even she wouldn't dare say she could stand firm.

The site of the battle between the Magicians and the gigantic Sea Monsters was indeed a distance from the shoreline, but it was so fierce that a slight drizzle of salty rain was falling on the shore, evidently splashes from their clashes hitting the sea's surface.

That was at least several hundred meters away!

The sky was in turmoil, and the sea was even more treacherous. Dong Chengling and Nan Xi had been standing on the sea cliff for less than a minute when they saw over a dozen waves crash against the shore. The keen-eyed Dong Chengling even spotted fish stunned by the waves, floating on the surface with white foam at their mouths!

Too dangerous!

Nan Xi felt slightly regretful but didn't dwell on it, murmuring softly, "The Magicians seem quite friendly to humans. I wonder if they'll come ashore later to communicate..."

The "Wandering Traveler Live Broadcast" crew was right beside them, but Nan Xi and Dong Chengling hid behind the rocks, avoiding a direct encounter—if they appeared live on the broadcast, it would be troublesome, as they had entered illegally, which wouldn't sound good if made public.

However, if the Magicians did come ashore later, it might not sit well with the people of Flourishing Sakura, but Nan Xi would definitely make sure the Magicians knew just how delightful the people of the Mysterious Country could be!

Unlike Nan Xi, Dong Chengling had no interest in the god-like, world-ending battle before her. She turned her head to look in the southwest direction.

200... 210... 215 kilometers.

The straight-line distance is about 215 kilometers.

Unlike in the Mysterious Country, Dong Chengling could vaguely sense the position of two Spirit Energy Coordinates in Flourishing Sakura. By applying her own devised sensing method, she could also determine the straight-line distance to the coordinates.

But that was all.

Since they had not actively activated their Spirit Energy Coordinates, Dong Chengling wasn't about to overstep her bounds, especially with Nan Xi watching her closely. Of course, if she wished, she could easily slip away from Nan Xi, teleport Ren Suo and his companion back, or teleport herself directly to them.

But that would be akin to burning bridges, as Nan Xi was essentially bait for the Great Wall. Dong Chengling had to remain by this bait's side at all times, neither taking it nor letting it go, to prove her innocence. Otherwise, even as a Fourth-Stage Cultivator, and even if the Tactical Bureau wouldn't arrest her, her standing within the Bureau would plummet—if that happened, she might not be able to obtain the third chapter of the Mysterious Sovereign's Secret Records.

However, Dong Chengling wasn't afraid of blazing her own trail. Although it was much easier to climb using someone else's crutches and following the paths others had carved out, there was more than one route up the mountain. Even without the Mysterious Sovereign's Secret Records, she was confident in reaching higher levels.

As long as I'm not alone on my journey, as long as we can dine together every night, as long as I can share all my joys with someone, I'll be content.

Whether they return in triumph or defeat, I am already prepared to welcome them.

While Dong Chengling was pondering, Nan Xi suddenly let out a scream, clutching Dong Chengling's arm with a trembling voice. "The wave... it's charging!"

Dong Chengling turned her head and saw the Fishman Sea Monster, which had been exchanging blows with the Magicians, now in a frenzied rage, wildly swinging its Sea Lance while its tail stirred up massive waves that surged towards the shore!

The Magicians immediately dodged and chased after it, tearing off pieces of the Fishman Sea Monster's flesh made of seawater and seabed mud. Yet the creature completely ignored them, its speed soaring rapidly, about to hit the coast in a matter of seconds!

The screams of the live broadcast team and Nan Xi were completely drowned out by the explosive sound of the sea—the waves kicked up by the charging Fishman Sea Monster blanketed the sky like numerous torpedoes exploding on the water's surface, as if an entire fleet were bearing down on them!

Dong Chengling was startled as well, but she quickly regained her composure, swiftly locking onto her home coordinates, yet she didn't teleport immediately.

Because she saw that the Magicians had already delivered a fatal blow to the Fishman Sea Monster!

Several Magicians' Spells finally breached the creature's Water Armor, pierced through the back of its head, and blew its brain into foam.

However, the Fishman Sea Monster swayed slightly, then suddenly raised the Sea Lance in its hand, and with all its might, hurled it towards the shore!

As the Sea Lance flew through the air, a grey mist formed around it, ringing alarm bells in Dong Chengling's heart, her skin crawling with goosebumps, and a chill spreading from the depths of her bones to her soul. That was a lethal move she absolutely could not counter!

But the next second, nine figures appeared before them, instantly forming nine layers of Defense: "Magma's Fortitude," "Crystal Mirror's Shadow," "Thunderwood's Defense," "Sword Emperor Formation"...

The foggy mist crashed into the ninefold defenses. Layers of seemingly solid Magma Walls, ice barriers, and thundering wooden doors dissolved into nothingness as silently as Sand Sculptures blown away by a gale.

The Magicians' defenses were exceedingly effective, gradually redirecting the Erosive Mist towards the rocky cliffs below. The rugged and monstrous cliffs crumbled like rotten wood at the touch of the mist, a sight to make anyone's skin crawl.

The Magicians calmly added layer upon layer of Defense, staunchly keeping the Erosive Mist at bay.

At that moment, a white-haired male Magician gently landed before them, smiling. "Are you all okay?"

"We're fine," Nan Xi inhaled sharply, suppressing her excitement and politely responding. "I am Nan Xi from the ninth division of the Asia Department, Mysterious Country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

The white-haired Magician smiled and nodded, then turned to Dong Chengling. "Are you injured?"

Unlike Nan Xi, Dong Chengling's first reaction to the white-haired Magician speaking was confusion. Why is he speaking Mandarin as soon as he arrived?

She remembered that Magicians were ancient scholars proficient in English from various countries, who spoke in the native languages of their assistants during Secret Realm battles.

This is Flourishing Sakura, and we both look like East Asians. How can he be certain we aren't from Flourishing Sakura but from the Mysterious Country instead?

As for Nan Xi suddenly declaring her identity as an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dong Chengling wasn't surprised at all. Nan Xi certainly couldn't tell the Magician, "I am Nan Xi from the World Tree Project Group." What difference would that be from telling a pig, "I am a butcher who specializes in slaughtering pigs"?

There's only one difference: pigs don't understand, but Magicians do!

Although doubts flashed through her mind, Dong Chengling didn't inquire further and replied, "No, we're unharmed. Thank you and the other Magicians for your protection."

"That's good. It would have been troublesome if something had happened to you here," the white-haired Magician chuckled and turned to leave. "Till we meet again."

By now, the Defense Barriers created by the other eight female Magicians had completely redirected the Erosive Mist to the sea. Each stood on feathers or lay in the raging winds, displaying their distinctive postures and charm, waiting for the white-haired Magician to return.

"Magician—"

Before Nan Xi could detain them, the Magicians disappeared into thin air with a gentle breeze, leaving only a white feather spinning in the air, carried into the sea by the salty, humid wind.

Nan Xi stared dumbly at the scene and heaved a heavy sigh. "I missed it again. When will I ever get to talk with someone from the Fairy Palace or the World Tree…"

Dong Chengling smiled slightly and was about to offer her some comforting words when a voice tinged with regret sounded not far away,

"It seems I've arrived just a step too late."

At the sound of this voice, Dong Chengling's expression changed instantly. She turned to look, only to see a blond man in a white windbreaker stepping out of a sedan, approaching them with a smile on his face.

Nan Xi was also slightly taken aback upon seeing him. "Mr. Leopold, what are you doing here!?"

"I'd actually prefer you to call me Bright; my friends call me that, and 'Mr. Leopold' makes me rather uncomfortable." Bright shrugged and said, "I came to Flourishing Sakura a couple of days ago, hoping to appreciate the breathtaking view of the Coast of Unknown Parentage, only to encounter the disaster brought by the Source of Disaster…"

Nan Xi said, "Fortunately, the World Tree Magicians appeared in time to neutralize this disaster. Otherwise, if a Sea Monster of that size charged into the city, it would have caused immense casualties."

"Indeed… Thankfully, we have the World Tree Magicians, or else I might not have been able to handle a Source of Disaster of that caliber." Bright rolled the hair near his ears with his hand and spoke with respectful tones, "Without them, the Demon King would have succeeded again…"

Dong Chengling raised her eyebrows, "The Demon King?"

"Yes, the Demon King. Miss Dong Chengling, while the Demon King may not necessarily be your friend, these deeds are ultimately the works of the Demon King." Bright glanced at Dong Chengling and said, "There might even be Demon King's Followers nearby… If we can find the Demon King's Followers, our chances of capturing the Demon King in Flourishing Sakura would be much higher."

Dong Chengling had met Bright five days earlier. Normally, as an important witness and strategic talent, the Tactical Bureau wouldn't let individuals from other countries question her, except for the Watchers—because among the people who knew that Qiao Muyi's escape was related to Dong Chengling that day, there were not only Tactical Cultivators but also the accompanying Watchers.

Therefore, under the supervision of Tactical Cultivators, Bright had a brief exchange with Dong Chengling, in which he talked about the terror of the Demon King and hoped that Dong Chengling would assist as much as she could…

Throughout the exchange with Bright, Dong Chengling always felt something was off. Bright spoke properly and pronounced words correctly, but a chill in her mind constantly reminded her that she couldn't trust even a single punctuation mark from this man.

Dong Chengling was very wary of Bright, but that didn't prevent her from gathering intelligence from him, "The Demon King is in Flourishing Sakura?"

"Yes, we've confirmed the Demon King is in Kanto," Bright nodded, his tone carrying a hint of sadness. "At the same time, Qiao Muyi, as the prime suspect, has her warrant distributed throughout Flourishing Sakura, known to all—if possible, I really hope she is not the Demon King, nor in Flourishing Sakura. Otherwise, it must be very hard for her."

"Hard?" Dong Chengling was puzzled.

"Convenience store clerks, hotel service staff, ramen restaurant workers… even passers-by brushing shoulders with her might report, harm, or insult her for their own benefit.

"With her in Flourishing Sakura, she has nobody to trust, and might well have everybody as her enemy, no place to stay, no shops to eat in… if she's really in Flourishing Sakura, either she has to harm others to survive, or she has to suffer a miserable flight, exposed to the elements.

"Neither outcome is what I'd like to see. If she could return to prove her innocence, that would be great. Then we could go on searching for the real Demon King."

Dong Chengling narrowed her eyes at these words, asking, "So, have you found where the Demon King is?"

Bright smiled, looked at Dong Chengling and Nan Xi, and said, "That is confidential information... By the way, you two came into the country illegally through teleportation Spells, didn't you? You'd better go back quickly. I'll keep it a secret for Martial Soul Hall."

The dismissal couldn't have been clearer. Dong Chengling asked no more and took Nan Xi's hand, ready to go home and cook.

Before leaving, she cast another glance towards the southwestern sky—where it had already turned dark.

At that moment, she heard Bright sigh behind her, as if musing aloud, "What will she choose? To harm others for survival, or to endure hunger and cold, with no place to even live, forever hiding here and there… These days, it looks like Flourishing Sakura is about to start snowing too, doesn't it?"

Hearing these words, Dong Chengling remained unperturbed, a slight smile even curling at the corner of her mouth as she left gracefully with Nan Xi.

She believed that Ren Suo and Qiao Muyi would never be reduced to taking either of those paths.

"...So there's only this room left?"

Although I already knew about this plot twist from the game, when it actually happened, it was still quite troublesome.

After they arrived in Missile City, their first step was naturally to look for a place to stay. However, there were not many lodges in Missile City, and they were all fully booked, so Ren Suo had no choice but to reach out to a lodge in Takayama City. After much searching, they finally found an inn with a vacancy in Okuda Onsen Village.

They took a train and bus for over an hour to reach Shirakawa Village in Okuda Onsen Village. Upon inquiring at the front desk of the lodge, they were told that the last double room had just been taken by other guests, just moments after their phone inquiry.

However, while the double room was taken, they were informed by the lodge staff that there was still a couple's suite available — more luxurious and comfortable than a double room, with a private hot spring inside, and the lodge would even provide a luxurious dinner served right to the room.

Hey, hey, hey, this isn't what the game said would happen!

The game clearly said there was only one double room! How did it turn into a couple's suite now?!

Ren Suo looked at Qiao Muyi with a pained expression and sighed, "Is that so... What should we do? There are quite a few lodges around here; should we keep looking...?"

Qiao Muyi didn't bother with any more discussion and simply pulled out her wallet to pay, assertively.

Then, she reached into Ren Suo's pocket and took his driver's license — stolen from a twenty-three-year-old young man who had lost his memory in a Mahjong Parlor three days ago.

Qiao Muyi brought out a residence registration card — also stolen, from a twenty-two-year-old young woman who had lost her memory in the same Mahjong Parlor three days ago.

Indeed, of the three young people who had taken unflattering pictures of middle-aged individuals that day, one of them was actually a woman...

The receptionist glanced at them, had no objections to their identification, and led them to the best room in the lodge.

Once the staff member had left and they entered the room, Qiao Muyi explained, "Let's just stay here; moving from place to place might increase our chances of being exposed."

Ren Suo took off his shoes and stepped directly onto the tatami in the living room, muttering, "But this means..."

"Don't worry about it. If I don't mind, what's there for you to mind?" Qiao Muyi snapped, walked into the room to take a look, and the more she saw, the more satisfied she became. Suddenly, she pointed excitedly at the courtyard and exclaimed, "It's snowing!"

"What, it's snowing!?" As soon as Ren Suo heard this, he immediately rushed to the courtyard with Qiao Muyi and indeed saw the delicate snowflakes gently falling from the night sky, unable to help but exclaim in awe.

The two Southerners, who had never seen snow before, happily spun around in the yard a few times, until Qiao Muyi was the first to realize that she must look rather funny. So, she suppressed the joy in her heart, sat back inside the house, and quietly sat by the table, watching Ren Suo dance with the fluttering snowflakes. He really does look funny!

After a few turns, Ren Suo was somewhat satisfied. It's mainly because the snow is so light. If it were falling a bit harder and starting to accumulate, I'd definitely build a snowman to fulfill my childhood dream.

"Come back and sit down, I've made tea," Qiao Muyi called him from inside the house. When Ren Suo came in, he commented, "You call steeping a tea bag in hot water 'making tea'?"

"Be grateful you have something to drink," Qiao Muyi huffed as she blew on her hot tea. "Staying here is really nice, right? We can go play with the snow directly and watch the snow from the warmth of the room, and later we can also watch the snow while soaking in the hot spring."

"Mm-hmm," Ren Suo nodded repeatedly, no longer having any complaints.

The two of them enjoyed the indoor heating, sipped on the hot tea, watched the snowflakes in the courtyard, anticipating the sumptuous dinner to come. The fatigue from their day of travel seemed to melt away, and their faces broke into a silly, blissful smile.