Female Simp? The Lost Tempering Flower of the Extremely Dark Zone

Inside a towering private high-rise that reached into the clouds.

A silent young woman stood before a desk. Her features were exquisite, her bearing exceptional. She seemed surrounded by icy frost, making others afraid even to breathe too loudly for fear of disturbing her.

Jialan.

"Can they do it?" A uniformed Pioneer beside her frowned deeply.

"The Extremely Dark Zone is perilous. The moment one enters, dark-attribute mist seals everything off. Our people cannot obtain any information from within. Going in this time is practically feeling our way through the dark."

The only response was silent stillness.

The question was far too heavy.

To this day, the nation had never successfully extended its reach into the Extremely Dark Zone.

They had previously sent people to gather information near the outskirts of the Extremely Dark Zone, but the losses had been devastating. Those people had been corroded by the dark attribute and still lay unconscious in medical centers.

The dangers of the Extremely Dark Zone were far beyond what current Pioneers could handle.

Without question, this was an exceptionally dangerous mission.

"Besides, even the Spirit Qi Cultivation Association's professional squad failed to retrieve the item this time. Can these ordinary Pioneers... really do it?"

The Pioneer spoke again, his tone becoming increasingly uncertain.

The Spirit Association consisted of nationally certified Pioneers. Their combat strength did not compare to the military's, but their squads were built to complement one another. Skilled at handling all kinds of anomalous missions, they could often achieve unexpected results in situations like this.

The Spirit Association squad that had entered the Extremely Dark Zone last time, codenamed "Sword Bearers," had carried out several Tier C anomaly-clearing missions. The members trusted one another and worked seamlessly together. Logically, they should have gained something.

Yet when such a squad returned from the Extremely Dark Zone, they still brought back no information, and two members had been injured. From then on, the Extremely Dark Zone had been classified as a Tier A zone, with the note: Information currently impossible to extract.

Unknown dangers required the brave to carve a path with their lives.

This was the other side of the world, one entirely unknown to the other Pioneers.

Hearing this, Jialan looked out the window.

At some point, a vast mass of dark clouds had gathered outside, hanging heavily overhead and stirring an inexplicable sense of tragic grandeur, as though black clouds were pressing down upon a city on the verge of collapse.

After a moment, she spoke calmly.

"We have no choice."

"Xia Kingdom's top core combat power is our greatest leverage in negotiations with other nations before and after Spirit Qi Recovery. Their existence is no different from nuclear weapons. So long as they remain stationed there, they are a source of reassurance, buying Xia Kingdom time to peacefully develop alongside other powers."

"But now, one of them is in mortal danger. Only the Lost Tempering Flower from the Extremely Dark Zone can save him."

"So we have no choice but to make this trip into the Extremely Dark Zone."

Determination appeared in Jialan's eyes.

The Pioneer beside her froze for a moment before softly saying, "Understood."

Jialan said nothing more. She saw Yiyi Wind Raises the Lotus speaking in the group chat, saying she would bring her Cousin along for this operation. The squad entering the Extremely Dark Zone was gradually growing.

After the Pioneer beside her left the room.

Jialan's back stiffened slightly. She lowered her head and looked at Huang Tian's terrifying injuries displayed in the file, a rare trace of concern appearing in her eyes.

"Uncle Wu watched me grow up as an elder."

"Even for the sake of that bond, I have to obtain the Lost Tempering Flower."

Outside the subway station.

A dense crowd poured out like a swarm of spilling ants, surging from one opening toward another.

Fang Yi and Lin Yiyi had been squeezed out by the crowd.

"Bro..."

"We're buying a car. We have to buy a car. As soon as we get back, we're going to the 4S Store and getting one."

Fang Yi gulped down fresh air. The stench of sweat in the train car, mixed with cheap perfume, had practically marinated him.

Ever since becoming a Pioneer, this was the first time he had resented his sensitive sense of smell so much.

"I support... blegh!"

Before Lin Yiyi could finish, she threw up.

After clinging to a trash can and vomiting her guts out, Fang Yi handed her a bottle of water.

"You're really pushing yourself. You're vomiting like this and still running around everywhere."

Lin Yiyi rinsed her mouth and drank some water. Her palm-sized face was white as paper, and her lips had no color at all. She looked like a patient who had just pulled out her IV tubes and snuck out of the hospital.

Even in that state, she still stubbornly checked the map on her phone and pointed Fang Yi in the right direction.

"Come on, let's meet up with them."

The gathering point was located in a desolate area.

The Extremely Dark Zone itself was an exceptionally special space that could only be entered through a specific method, so they had agreed to gather in the nearest Desolate Land.

By the time Fang Yi and Lin Yiyi arrived, a small group was already standing there.

Five men and women stood on the empty ground. Their ages varied; some looked like college students, while others appeared to be in their forties or fifties.

Zhao Meng was the youngest-looking one among them.

She was only slightly older than Lin Yiyi and had just started her sophomore year of college, making her the youngest indeed. But she was pretty and knew how to dress, so she stood out in the crowd.

At the moment, she was looking around restlessly.

"Where's Yiyi? Hasn't Yiyi arrived yet?"

"Strange. After you and Yiyi went through hardship together, you suddenly started caring about her a lot more, huh?"

Another girl chewed on a lollipop and looked at Zhao Meng suspiciously.

She was Romanced and Scammed Out of 50 Cents. She wore a black eyepatch over her left eye year-round, revealing only one amber eye that darted around cutely.

"That's your imagination. I've always cared about Yiyi," Zhao Meng argued.

"I don't believe you."

"..."

The two were about to start bickering like elementary schoolers.

Then Zhao Meng suddenly spotted a figure appearing behind her in the distance, and her eyes lit up.

"Yiyi! Over here!"

Before Lu Jiahe could react, Zhao Meng had already dashed out. The next second, she appeared in front of Lin Yiyi, moving at an outrageously fast speed.

"Yiyi, cough cough, Cousin? What a coincidence, you're here too."

Zhao Meng rushed up to Fang Yi, slammed to a stop, then lowered her head slightly. A strange flush appeared on her cheeks.

She looked... a little shy?

Am I blind???

Lu Jiahe rubbed her eyes. When she looked again, Zhao Meng was still rosy-cheeked.

Fuck.

Looks like my other eye is broken too.

Zhao Meng stood before Lin Yiyi and Fang Yi with slightly reddened cheeks, like a deadweight, showing absolutely no intention of moving aside.

Lin Yiyi was a little surprised by her enthusiasm and took the initiative to greet her.

"Hello, Gorgeous Young Woman."

"..."

Hearing that ID, Zhao Meng's mouth twitched.

She suddenly felt that hearing someone call out the username she had casually chosen was pretty damn embarrassing.

"You're Yiyi's Cousin?"

At some point, Lu Jiahe had leaned over and squinted at Fang Yi.

"Yes. What about it?" Fang Yi raised a brow.

Lu Jiahe shook her head.

She just felt that this Cousin looked somewhat familiar, as though she had seen him somewhere before.

She had seen Fang Yi's profile during the Vine incident and had even briefly become Fang Yi's fangirl. But the situation that day had been too dangerous, and after only that fleeting glimpse, Lu Jiahe had never connected the hero riding seven-colored auspicious clouds with Yiyi's Cousin standing before her.

For a moment, all that remained was an indescribable sense of familiarity.

But...

"Yiyi, your Cousin is a Pioneer too? Doesn't that make your whole family geniuses? What incredible genes!"

Lu Jiahe said enviously.

She had always felt too lonely on her path as a Pioneer, so she wanted someone to walk alongside her.

If she had a powerful Pioneer Cousin too, cultivating together and searching for the Great World Change together, how amazing would that be?

"Is your Cousin even stronger than you?"

Lu Jiahe secretly asked Lin Yiyi.

Lin Yiyi nodded. "Much stronger than me."

Gasp.

Lu Jiahe was stunned.

Lin Yiyi herself was a genius girl. Her Cousin was so young and yet even stronger than her. What kind of monsters were they?

A family of freakish geniuses?

So jealous.

"Cousin, is this your first mission?"

"I never expected you to be Yiyi's Cousin. What a coincidence. Yiyi and I are like sisters, so her Cousin is my Cousin too. Of course, other things work too."

"Cousin, do you want water? Want a drink? I'll go buy one!"

Just as Lu Jiahe was drowning in envy, jealousy, and resentment, Zhao Meng's voice chattered nonstop beside her. That tone... made her rub her arms as goosebumps fell all over the ground.

Wasn't she being a little too enthusiastic?

A female simp?

Lu Jiahe lightly tugged Zhao Meng's sleeve, signaling for her to rein it in.

Someone who didn't know better would think her Cousin had saved her life.

Yet Zhao Meng did not notice at all.

"I don't need anything."

Fang Yi helplessly declined her kindness.

This girl was far too enthusiastic. He truly could not handle it.

The group walked side by side toward the Desolate Land.

The other three had arrived early and had already been waiting for quite some time.

Earlier, when someone in the team saw Fang Yi walking over with the pretty Lin Yiyi, their expression had already turned unpleasant.

When they saw Zhao Meng immediately crowd around him with concern, while the cute Lu Jiahe also stood nearby, one person's face darkened at once.