Don't Get Cocky, Our Economy Is Behind

"Stay?"

Windchaser held her sword before her. "That tone doesn't sound like good news."

Lumina did not answer.

She merely took a step forward.

Black-red roots spread from beneath her feet, crawling along the tree walls, the ground, and the branching veins in midair. The roots did not rush to attack. Instead, they slowly formed a circle, gradually sealing off the branch hollow where the four of them stood.

Vernacular Poet said quietly, "Don't spread out too much."

Windchaser immediately stepped half a pace forward, taking the front.

Sunken Crow said nothing. His figure slowly lowered, pressing close to the shadows at the side.

Silver Wolf straightened up against the tree wall and pushed her goggles down slightly.

Lumina's data began to appear.

At first, it was blurry.

As though covered by a layer of black-red mist.

Silver Wolf's fingertips twitched lightly, and silver-blue pixels swept across the edge of her vision.

Several lines of text finally stabilized.

[Lumina]

[Identity: Half of the World Tree]

[Status: Abyssal Contamination]

[Level: 68]

[Death Concept: None]

[Contamination Synchronization: High]

[Abnormal Authority: Bestow Death]

Silver Wolf looked at those lines, one brow twitching slightly. "Oh?"

Vernacular Poet did not turn around. "What did you see?"

"A mini-boss."

"Be specific."

Silver Wolf chewed her bubble gum, her tone flat. With a flick of her finger, a panel appeared before everyone.

Windchaser froze. "What?"

Meanwhile, Vernacular Poet cast an Appraisal on their opponent himself:

[Lumina]

[???]

[???]

Lumina gave them no time to catch their breath and raised her hand.

Black-red roots suddenly stabbed out from the ground.

Windchaser rode the wind and slid aside, her blade cutting through the foremost roots. The roots were severed, yet neither bled nor withered. They merely turned into a patch of black-red mist and returned beneath Lumina's feet.

Sunken Crow swept out from the shadows at the side, his short blade thrusting straight for the back of Lumina's neck.

Lumina did not turn around. The blade pierced through her body.

There was no blood and no wound.

Her figure seemed to overlap with the tree's shadow for a moment. The blade passed through her body, and the next second, Lumina was still standing where she had been.

Sunken Crow immediately retreated. A thin black-red line surfaced on the back of his right hand.

Vernacular Poet's expression changed. "Sunken Crow!"

Sunken Crow lowered his head for a glance. "My maximum health has dropped..."

A notification popped up on Vernacular Poet's interface as well, and his voice sank. "Mana too."

Windchaser's pupils contracted slightly. "How are we supposed to fight this?"

Silver Wolf looked at the black-red line on the back of Sunken Crow's hand.

[Death Concept Bestowal]

[Effect: Maximum Health Reduction / Maximum Mana Reduction / Slowed Movement / Self-Immortality]

[Duration: Unknown]

[Removal Condition: Unknown]

She fell silent for half a second, then spat out two words. "Trash boss."

Lumina tilted her head slightly. "Trash boss?"

Silver Wolf looked at her. "What else?" She raised her hand, and a hand cannon unfolded in her palm. "The designer deserves to be strung up from a streetlamp."

Windchaser could not hold it in. "You're still complaining at a time like this?!"

"It's a reasonable demand." Silver Wolf pulled the trigger, and a silver-blue beam blasted toward Lumina's chest.

Lumina did not dodge. The beam pierced her body, struck the tree wall behind her, and burst into silver-blue sparks.

Her body merely swayed.

The next second, the hole in her chest filled back in, like water closing over after a stone had pierced its surface.

Silver Wolf's wrist sank slightly as a string of warnings flashed within her goggles.

[Target Has Not Established a Death Determination]

[Damage Resolution Failed]

[Contamination Backlash: Low]

Silver Wolf clicked her tongue. "She completely ignores it."

Vernacular Poet spoke at once. "Don't attack the main body directly!"

"Got it."

"Chasing Wind, draw the roots away! Sunken Crow, don't touch her body—find the connection point first!"

Windchaser's feet exploded with wind currents as she charged to the right. "Understood!"

Black-red roots stabbed after her.

Rather than cutting them apart, she used the flat of her sword to lift, block, and redirect them, drawing them as far away from Vernacular Poet and Silver Wolf as possible. Several roots brushed her shoulder armor, instantly leaving thin black-red marks.

Vernacular Poet stared closely at her status. "Chasing Wind, don't let that line stack too high!"

"I see it!"

"If you see it, why'd you step on it?"

"I didn't have time!"

"You dodged the wrong way!"

Windchaser forcefully twisted her step, and the wind swept her between two roots. The next instant, a black-red circular mark appeared where she had been about to land.

It was as though an eye opened within the mark.

Silver Wolf raised her hand and tagged it. "Remember not to step on that."

Windchaser shouted, "You said that too late!"

"You haven't stepped on it yet."

"Oh, oh! Then thanks!"

Sunken Crow moved along the tree wall.

His short blade no longer touched Lumina. Instead, he followed the black-red patterns in search of their source. Soon, he stopped before a thin root extending from Lumina's back.

That root was inconspicuous, mixed among the vast network of tree veins and nearly impossible to distinguish.

But it connected to the black-red ring beneath Lumina's feet.

Sunken Crow said quietly, "Here."

Silver Wolf looked over.

The data in her goggles flickered.

[Abyssal Blessing Circuit]

[Stability: 82%]

[Function: Death Concept Transfer / Main Body Damage Nullification]

Silver Wolf's gaze shifted slightly. "Found it."

Vernacular Poet asked, "What do we do?"

"Dismantle it."

Vernacular Poet immediately adjusted his position. "Chasing Wind, hold her off. Sunken Crow, cut the circuit. Silver Wolf, mark the point. I'll suppress the contamination."

Lumina raised her eyes. "You shouldn't know."

Her finger curled slightly.

The roots around Windchaser suddenly gave up their pursuit and all stabbed toward Sunken Crow.

Sunken Crow did not forcefully dodge. His figure sank as he pressed himself into the shadows.

But the shadows in this space were still suppressed by contamination. He moved less than two meters before a thin root grazed his calf.

Black-red patterns immediately crawled up the side of his leg.

Vernacular Poet raised his hand and sent down a ray of Holy Radiance.

The Holy Radiance fell, and the patterns receded slightly, but did not vanish. "Purification can only suppress it temporarily."

Silver Wolf looked at the circuit. "I'll do it."

Vernacular Poet immediately turned back. "No, you need to save some strength..."

Silver Wolf gave him a look. "Then you do it?"

Vernacular Poet fell silent for a moment. "Then good luck."

Silver Wolf raised her hand.

Silver-blue data lines spread from her fingertips, winding along the circuit Sunken Crow had marked. She did not touch Lumina's main body, only dismantling the command structure within that thin black-red root.

For the first time, Lumina showed an obvious expression. She frowned. "Get lost!"

The eyes on the tree wall opened at once.

A mass of black-red circular marks emerged from the ground.

Windchaser looked at those marks, her scalp prickling. "What are those?!"

Silver Wolf bit through her bubble gum. "Judgment zones."

"What happens if I step on one?"

"Guess."

"I don't want to guess!"

Windchaser rode the wind into the air, her body nearly sliding sideways along the tree wall.

Roots chased her from below. She continuously blocked them with the flat of her sword, forcibly drawing them away from Silver Wolf.

Vernacular Poet added a Holy Radiance Shield to her. The shield had barely formed when a tree root shattered it.

"A resistance shield—don't tank it!"

"I know!"

Taking advantage of Windchaser drawing the roots away, Sunken Crow approached the circuit again.

Silver Wolf's silver-blue data lines had already dismantled the first layer of black-red structure.

The interior of the circuit was exposed.

It was not a tree root, but more like a dark-red blood vessel that pulsed.

Sunken Crow turned his short blade and stabbed down.

Crack.

A section of the circuit broke.

Lumina's body jolted sharply.

This time, Silver Wolf's goggles finally caught the change.

[Death Concept: None]

[Abyssal Blessing Circuit: Damaged]

[Damage Nullification: Reduced]

"It worked." Vernacular Poet immediately said, "Keep going!"

Lumina raised her hand, and a black-red leaf pattern appeared in her palm.

She did not attack Sunken Crow or Silver Wolf. Instead, she looked at Windchaser.

"You really are an eyesore."

Windchaser's steps halted.

The next second, the leaf pattern appeared directly on her chest.

Windchaser's body stiffened.

Her maximum health instantly dropped by a huge chunk.

Her maximum mana was suppressed as well.

The wind currents around her legs broke apart.

She fell from midair.

"Chasing Wind!"

Vernacular Poet's healing light immediately descended upon her, but her maximum health had genuinely been reduced.

The upper limit of Windchaser's health bar had been forcibly cut down. The healing light could not restore it, only fill up what remained.

Windchaser crashed onto a tree root, her face pale. "That's way too cheap!"

Silver Wolf said quietly, "Death..."

Windchaser: "..." She gritted her teeth and pushed herself up.

She checked her panel:

Estimated Time: 10s. You will turn into a sculpture.

Silver Wolf continued dismantling the circuit, her tone indifferent. "Like I said, it's just a shit monster."

Windchaser covered her chest. "I feel... kind of unwell..."

Silver Wolf quickly used Aether Editing with one hand. "Simple. Hurry up."

The debuff on Windchaser disappeared, and she stood up again.

She tightened her grip on her sword and blocked the way ahead.

Lumina looked at her. There was no mockery in her blood-red eyes, only a kind of calm that was almost sorrowful. "Why?"

Windchaser caught her breath. "Got a problem with that?"

Lumina was silent for a moment. She raised her hand, and more black-and-red roots burrowed out of the tree wall.

Silver Wolf was forced to slow her dismantling.

She now had to avoid the backlash of the pollution while also working around that unknown self-check. This space's system structure was different from the player interface, and it was mixed with traces of the World Tree, the Abyss, and the Elf gods.

It was hard to dismantle. Very hard. It was like real-life earphone wires tangled together, then being told to sort them out within five seconds.

Silver Wolf's fingers began to tremble.

A warning popped up at the edge of the panel.

[Load: High]

[Status: Further activity not recommended]

Silver Wolf dragged the warning straight into the corner. "Shut up."

Vernacular Poet heard her voice. "How much longer?"

Silver Wolf looked at the circuit.

"Second layer."

"How many layers are there?"

"Three."

Vernacular Poet inhaled. "Sunken Crow."

"Got it."

Sunken Crow did not wait any longer.

He tore open his own sleeve and drove a dark short needle into his wrist.

The next second, his shadow forcibly expanded, like ink sliced open by a knife, spreading toward the depths of the circuit.

Vernacular Poet's expression darkened. "An arcane art?"

Sunken Crow did not answer. His speed had clearly increased.

Black-and-red patterns curled back along his shadow, trying to swallow his burst of power along with it.

Silver Wolf seized the opportunity and violently tore open the second layer of the circuit.

Sunken Crow stabbed in with his short blade, and a second crisp crack rang out.

Lumina took half a step back. Cracks began to appear across her shoulders.

But what flowed from the cracks was not blood. It was black-and-red tree sap.

[Abyssal Blessing Circuit: Heavily Damaged]

[Damage Nullification: Decreased]

[Death Concept: Unstable]

Vernacular Poet immediately lit up his staff. "Windchaser, one last round!"

Windchaser gritted her teeth and charged out.

She was clearly slower than before.

After her maximum health and maximum mana had been reduced, her wind currents were no longer as light and nimble as before. Every step was heavier, and her movements were somewhat sluggish.

But she still charged right in front of Lumina.

Her sword came down.

Lumina raised her hand to block it.

This time, the sword did not pass straight through. Instead, its edge directly cleaved through her arm.

Black-and-red tree sap splattered everywhere.

Windchaser's eyes lit up. "We can hurt her!"

Lumina lowered her head and looked at her wound. For the first time, a trace of bewilderment appeared on her face.

It was as if she, too, had not understood the meaning of "being injured" for a very long time.

Silver Wolf looked up. "Don't rush to kill her."

Windchaser froze. "Huh?"

"She should be controlled."

Silver Wolf looked at the final layer of the circuit behind Lumina.

Vernacular Poet immediately understood. "All right."

Sunken Crow had already reached the final connection point.

But this time, Lumina was faster than them.

She raised her head, her blood-red eyes fixed straight on Silver Wolf. "You're clearly not a traveler, so why?"

Silver Wolf's fingers paused slightly.

Lumina said softly, "I want you to join me!"

Black-and-red leaf patterns appeared beneath Silver Wolf's feet.

They were not the kind that attacked players.

They had not passed through the player interface.

They pressed directly against Silver Wolf herself.

Silver Wolf looked at the leaf pattern, and a mass of garbled code flashed across her goggles.

[Death Concept Imbuement in Progress]

[Determination Failed]

[Retrying]

[Retrying]

[Retrying]

Silver Wolf stared at it. "Stop trying."

She raised her foot and crushed the leaf pattern. Silver-blue pixels exploded like cracks in glass.

Lumina's expression finally changed.

At the same time, Sunken Crow drove down his final strike.

The third layer of the circuit snapped.

Vernacular Poet's Holy Radiance pressed down over it.

Windchaser swept her sword across, severing the final patch of black-and-red roots beneath Lumina's feet.

Silver Wolf raised her hand, and Aether Editing descended.

She was not modifying Lumina. She was modifying the connection that was "controlling her."

Silver-blue data lines collided with pale-golden Holy Radiance, dark shadow-blade marks, and the sword aura of wind trails.

Crack.

It was as if something had snapped inside the World Tree.

Lumina's blood-red eyes shook violently, and the black-and-red color receded from her pupils for an instant.

She fell to her knees. All around her, the tree roots simultaneously lost control and drooped limply.

Windchaser panted, nearly collapsing to the ground as well.

Vernacular Poet immediately raised his hand to heal her, but the reduced maximum limit still had not returned. "Why is this still..."

Silver Wolf glanced at her. "We'll talk after the battle."

Lumina knelt on the ground, bracing herself against the roots with both hands. Her pupils flickered between azure blue and blood red, and her voice was very soft.

"Hurry..."

Silver Wolf took half a step forward. "Lumina?"

Lumina raised her head. Black-and-red tree sap ran from the corners of her eyes like tears.

"The Forest Moon God... has already been entangled by the Abyss."

The air fell silent.

Lumina's fingers dug tightly into the roots.

"They're... deeper inside..."

Silver Wolf looked at her.

Inside her goggles, Lumina's data finally became clear for an instant.

[Lumina]

[Identity: World Tree Demi-body]

[Status: Temporarily Conscious]

[Abyssal Contamination: Not Cleared]

[Warning: Forest Moon God Connection Abnormal]

Vernacular Poet's expression gradually changed. He did not ask anything else and directly opened the communications interface.

Windchaser saw what he was doing, and her voice turned hoarse. "Vernacular Poet?"

Vernacular Poet looked at the interface, his tone more serious than ever before.

"You know this clearly isn't an ordinary main quest... The story has accelerated."

He pulled the contact to the very top.

[Platinum Courtyard]

[Guildmaster]

Windchaser's expression instantly stiffened. "Are you going to contact my sister?"

"Now isn't the time to be at odds." Vernacular Poet pressed Send. "This is a major event."

Silver Wolf leaned against the tree wall and watched them.

She merely lowered her head and glanced at her own hand.

Her fingertips were still trembling.

Lumina had tried to bestow the Death Concept upon her just now.

The determination had failed.

But in that instant, she had indeed felt something cold press against her.

Silver Wolf chewed her bubble gum. It had already lost its flavor.

Whoa, I really started thinking I was Silver Wolf. I can't goof off anymore...