Ishtar just ran off like that, so what was I supposed to do?
After a moment of silence, Siduri smiled and asked, "You don't look like a resident of this world. You came from the outside world, didn't you?"
Lan Ze was just wondering how to answer when his eyes widened slightly upon hearing this. "You knew I came in from the outside?"
Siduri kept her smile. "I know a little bit of divination, so I can roughly divine some information."
"Even so, you'll still have to come with me, and we'll wait for the king's return for a ruling," she continued.
Did that mean she was planning to arrest me?
Lan Ze instinctively took a step back. At that moment, the faint sound of successive footsteps came from afar; Uruk's soldiers had heard the explosion and were gathering here one after another!
Lan Ze's heart skipped a beat, and he raised his finger slightly.
Siduri noticed Lan Ze's movement and stepped forward to stop him, but almost at the next moment, a huge flying ship appeared before her eyes.
Lan Ze stepped onto the Dark Night Sun Ship, and with a whoosh, dazzling brilliance erupted from both sides of the sun ship, shooting straight into the sky.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!!"
Lan Ze felt no sense of relief whatsoever. He grabbed the Dark Night Sun Ship tightly with both hands, and the head-on gale made it somewhat difficult for him to breathe.
He had indeed escaped now... but the problem was that he had no idea how to stop this contraption, nor where this thing was taking him!
"System, how do you stop this thing?!" Lan Ze shouted urgently against the gale.
But the system did not reply.
Lan Ze's hair was blown into utter disarray by the gale, and he felt a bit dazed all over.
Not knowing how long he had flown, the speed of the Dark Night Sun Ship suddenly slowed down a lot, but before Lan Ze could breathe a sigh of relief, he suddenly felt the Dark Night Sun Ship he was riding in rapidly descending in a free fall!
"What the hell, judging by the way this ship is free-falling, I'm heading to the Underworld to see Ereshkigal again... But the problem is she isn't even in the Underworld anymore!!"
Lan Ze stared wide-eyed at the ground that was within reach in what felt like a split second, a strong sense of dizziness washing over his brain for a moment.
He didn't know how far this sun ship had carried him, but anyway, the noisy sounds in his head were endless now, and he felt like vomiting.
Lan Ze forcefully suppressed this urge to vomit. Just at the instant before the sun ship landed, he raised his finger, and the magic of the Runes stirred up a gust of wind.
At the same time, Lan Ze leaped down from the sun ship.
The sun ship crashed into the ground, a violent explosion burst beside his ears, and Lan Ze barely managed to steady his stance with the help of the wind, rolling several times on the ground before finally coming to a stop.
His brain was a chaotic mess. Lan Ze clutched his forehead as a wave of dizziness washed over him.
"Why are the things this system sends so unreliable? This is the first time I've ever seen an out-of-control flying ship... And the ability it sent last time was a mess too."
Lan Ze complained wildly in his heart. He barely supported his weakened legs and climbed up from the ground.
However, right at that moment, a terrifying oppressive force surged from ahead. The newly risen Lan Ze felt an immense sense of pressure coming toward him, causing his already somewhat powerless body to involuntarily soften and sit right back down on the ground.
What was going on? Why was there such strong magic power ahead?
Lan Ze sat on the ground, supporting himself with both hands, and managed to raise his head to look.
Then, his gaze could no longer move away from her.
That was an extremely beautiful woman in appearance. Her figure was very huge, and at this moment, her eyes were slightly closed as if she were fast asleep.
She wore no clothes at all, save for strip-like pieces of fabric that barely covered a fraction of her skin, and two strands of falling hair gently veiled her snow-white skin.
Lan Ze was dazed, feeling a dense sense of crisis slowly creep into his heart.
This was—
The Creation Mother Goddess, Tiamat.
Lan Ze carefully took a few steps forward, scrutinizing Tiamat's appearance.
Without a doubt, this was definitely Tiamat, which could be told simply from her hair color.
After all, a mortal woman could not possibly possess such a colossal physique.
At this moment, the Creation Mother was fast asleep. Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, and her body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of gentle maternal radiance. Her skin was snow-white, with almost no impurities to be seen.
"Shouldn't I just retreat?" Lan Ze covered his eyes, peeking at Tiamat through the gaps between his fingers, quickly looking away, and then unable to help peeking a few more times, lingering for a long time on her voluptuous figure.
Why did this game have to be made so realistic?
Even though it was just a game, Lan Ze could clearly feel a terrifying oppressive force rushing at him, and this pressure came entirely from the Creation Mother Goddess before him.
[Warning, standing before you is the Creation Mother Goddess Tiamat. You have strayed into her resting place. You still have one chance to leave; this will be your last chance to leave.]
That sounded pretty scary.
The cold mechanical voice echoing in his ear made Lan Ze feel a faint, inexplicable chill in his heart, making him think about just retreating like this.
He had no idea what was going on with this lousy game; did it even want to let people clear it properly?
Lan Ze raised his head again to look Tiamat over a few times, pondered for a moment, and finally turned around, intending to leave.
Tiamat was a final boss-tier entity, unsuitable for a noob like him who hadn't even entered the newbie village yet. Let alone the fact that Tiamat was currently asleep; even if she only had a single drop of HP left, she was still the ultimate boss, and he, Lan Ze, might not even be able to pierce her armor by rushing up and hacking away blindly.
Lan Ze turned around and walked toward the glowing exit ahead. After taking a few steps, he hesitated again.
The Dark Night Sun Ship had brought him to this kind of place by accident. If he left now, would he ever have another chance to get back in?
...Whatever, why am I being so indecisive playing a game? The worst that could happen is just logging out of the game directly!
Thinking of this, Lan Ze turned back and strode right up in front of Tiamat.
She truly lived up to the name of Creation Mother Goddess, giving off a sacred and inviolable feeling even while asleep.
To be honest, though, as Lan Ze looked up, his gaze had already subconsciously strayed to Tiamat's chest several times.
That's right, he was just that base.
This heart was something the big loli at home could never possess.
Crave as he might, Lan Ze wasn't perverted enough to sneakily do wretched things while someone was sleeping. He took another two steps closer and carefully observed Tiamat's sleeping posture.
Since the system had given a prompt, there should be some kind of hidden quest or something here.
But how was it triggered?
When Lan Ze walked up to Tiamat, an option suddenly popped up.
[You have discovered Tiamat's Dreamscape. Do you wish to enter? Accept / Decline]
Lan Ze smiled and shook his head.
Did even need to ask?
If Tiamat discovered that a human had burrowed into her dreamscape, she would definitely slap him to death.
Lan Ze raised his finger and pressed the agree button.
A desolate land, a vast and boundless blue sea, and nothing else besides.
"End up coming in anyway." Lan Ze shook his head with some resignation.
Originally, he had intended to run away directly and focus on tracking Ereshkigal, but on second thought, since he was already here, he might as well treat it as getting familiar with the game's background lore in advance.
"--Aaaaa--"
A wonderful song came from afar. Lan Ze raised his head to look. On the beach ahead, a woman seemed to be standing there, her hands clasped at her chest, singing with a soft and sweet voice against the ocean waves.
[You have discovered the Creation Mother Goddess Tiamat. The following choices will affect the final ending of the game. Please make your choice carefully.]
[1. Walk up to Tiamat in big strides, throw yourself into her arms, and call her mother]
[2. Hide in the shadows and observe Tiamat's actions]
[3. In for a penny, in for a pound; launch an attack on Tiamat]
Following the red-boxed text warning marked with "caution," a trace of vigilance grew in Lan Ze's eyes.
The game system had marked this directly in red; at a glance, it looked extremely dangerous.
He needed to think it through before making a decision.
Just as Lan Ze was still hesitating, the woman standing by the shore suddenly turned her head to look over.
Her mouth suddenly opened slightly, revealing a cute canine tooth.
"-Aaa-"
Then, she began singing a song that was completely incomprehensible.
Crap, I've been spotted, Lan Ze thought to himself, sensing disaster.
He soon realized another very serious problem.
—Tiamat apparently didn't speak human language.
[Tiamat Language is available in the inventory items.]
The game system popped up a box with a remarkably human touch.
"What the heck is Tiamat Language?! Since it's that simple, can't you get me some IELTS English instead? I have a school exam in a couple of days!" Lan Ze complained, clicking open his inventory.
Sure enough, he found a book-like item.
Lan Ze clicked to use it.
"--Aaaaa--" At this moment, Tiamat made her call once more, and this time Lan Ze was able to understand what she was saying.
"Come here, child."
Under Tiamat's gaze full of maternal love, Lan Ze slowly walked up to her.
Then, wearing what he hoped was a friendly smile, he said, "Is there something you need, Goddess Tiamat?"
"You are the first child to enter this place," she said softly, her gaze incomparably clear.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" Lan Ze looked at her with a gaze filled with awe.
Tiamat reached out and stroked his head, then said gently, "Sleep with me."
Lan Ze was startled.
He figured there must be something wrong with his ears.
"Goddess Tiamat, what did you just say?" Lan Ze felt he needed to confirm it again.
"Sleep with me," Tiamat repeated, a gentle expression dwelling in those red cross-pupils. She opened her arms and pulled Lan Ze into her embrace, gently stroking his head like a mother soothing her child.
"Sleep together."
"I... under... stand, could you please... loosen up a bit?" Lan Ze's voice became muffled. His face was pressed completely against Tiamat's chest, the soft texture making it somewhat difficult for him to breathe, and even his words became blurry.
Tiamat finally relaxed her hold a little, still lowering her head to look at Lan Ze.
"Goddess Tiamat... may I ask, why does it have to be me?" Lan Ze looked up at her.
"You are a good child," she said gently.
"But I'm a human, you know?"
She shook her head gently. "You are not human."
"Why are you cursing people?"
"I am not cursing," she said very seriously. "You are not human."
"Aren't you just insulting me...?"
"You are not human," she said again.
Lan Ze: "..."
"You are my child," she said.
Fine, whatever makes you happy.
Lan Ze couldn't be bothered to argue anymore, thinking to himself whether something was wrong with this system—why hadn't any quests popped up yet?
He couldn't just keep waiting here for a quest, could he?
A warm hand rested on Lan Ze's head, pressing his face back into her chest.
Before you continue