Introducing myself

The person on the other side of the wall seemed surprised to have his identity exposed and said nothing for a moment. Cheng Jianxue quickly ran through what had happened before she lost consciousness, forming a guess about her current situation:

"Is this Moon City?"

Zaphir fell silent for a moment, then answered, "Yes. We're beneath the Black Tower in Moon City. Every team returning from an expedition has to spend fifteen days here in quarantine."

Moon City...

Cheng Jianxue instinctively tried to think, but a faint discomfort in her abdomen distracted her. She frowned and asked, "How long was I unconscious?"

On the other side of the wall, Zaphir answered, "It's been over ten hours since we found you and brought you back."

Over ten hours... Cheng Jianxue pressed a hand to her stomach. This time, she was genuinely hungry, rather than experiencing hunger triggered by memories.

Moon City probably intends to quarantine me... Hmm, let me think...

Cheng Jianxue spoke again. "What time is it outside?"

After another brief silence, she heard Zaphir's reply:

"It should be nearly time for breakfast. Someone will bring it soon.

"How should I address you?"

How should he address me...

Cheng Jianxue paused. Her original plan had been to pose as someone who had emerged from the Western Continent, but now, perhaps there was another figure she could claim a connection to...

After considering it for two seconds, she spoke calmly:

"Neph.

"The Lord used to call me Neph."

-In truth, that was the English name her English teacher had given her.

Zaphir remained silent. The girl on the other side called herself Neph. Her language differed from theirs, though he could just barely understand it. She had probably noticed this, which was why she spoke rather slowly. Zaphir did not mind. They all suspected that this girl had come from within the barrier, so this was only natural. But...

Who was the "Lord" she spoke of?

-From the sound of it, she was someone who had received the honor of being named by the "Lord" himself.

Zaphir's silence meant nothing to Cheng Jianxue-to Neph-because she still had more lines to deliver. The pause merely gave him time to think:

"Moon City... Are the people of Moon City still the Lord's subjects?"

-Do you still believe in the Lord?

The girl's question came through the wall, and Zaphir's heart gave a sudden thump. Recalling High Priest Nim's words, he spoke in a composed voice:

"May I ask which Lord you mean?"

"The Lord that Created Everything, of course," Neph answered without hesitation.

Although the True Creator and the former Ancient Sun God could not be considered entirely the same person, both called themselves "The Lord that Created Everything." Neph had exploited a loophole here.

Zaphir of Moon City knew nothing of this little calculation. His breathing grew increasingly rapid, and he raised a hand to his chest, yet still said nothing.

Neph said no more. She merely gave a soft laugh and returned to sit on the bed.

As Zaphir had said, someone soon brought breakfast. Only then did Neph realize that the stone door had a hatch in it. Whoever delivered supplies would open the hatch and pass the food through.

As Neph, who could see in the dark, picked up the food tossed inside, she could not help thinking of the people of Moon City who had to be quarantined every time they returned.

...Feeling around in the dark, would they sometimes be unable to find the food on the floor?

The thought flashed through her mind and was gone. Neph soon returned to the bed with the food. Its wrapping was made from some kind of woven fiber, rough to the touch, while the food inside left her speechless.

The people of Moon City survived by eating monsters from the Forsaken Land of the Gods. They stripped away the rotten, pus-oozing outer layers of skin and flesh, selected the relatively intact flesh beneath, then used special methods to remove the corruption. Even so, some corruption remained in the food, and the finished product could hardly be called appealing.

It was a piece of roasted meat. Neph could see numerous irregular lumps on it, like waxy-yellow tumors of various sizes. The whole piece seemed to be made up of these tumors, and it gave off an indescribably foul, rank odor that left her with no desire to eat.

Neph felt she had sworn too soon earlier. This was the moment when she should have let loose a torrent of curses. Never had she so desperately hoped that Klein, the Fool in the outside world, was already in position, so she could find a way to trade for some food.

In the grip of her intense emotions, Neph felt as though the room had grown several degrees warmer. But she soon wilted again, because even if Klein really was in position, she had no way to perform a ritual requesting a bestowal.

Neph looked at the Blank Canvas. She thought it was probably her only hope. Although imagining food earlier had produced nothing but phantoms of memories, she still had other ideas she had not tried. She entered that pure white space again. Now that she knew the essence of this space was memory, one particular thing naturally came to mind.

-Specimens.

Animal and plant specimens!

Neph thought the space should be capable of preserving things, so if she obtained an animal or a plant, it should at least be fresh, perhaps even alive. As for how to obtain one...

Her spirituality reached into the Blank Canvas, and with Neph's desire for edible plants, the scene before her abruptly began to transform.

-Yes, she had not specified any particular plant, only performed a broad search.

This search undoubtedly worked. Neph saw white walls surrounding her, with plant "specimens" hanging on them. She lifted a leg to walk forward, only to find herself abruptly beside the wall to her left, leaving her briefly stunned.

Space here seemed to be scrambled, but as long as she could get close to the walls, Neph was not about to ask for more. She looked at the plants on the wall. Before transmigrating, making specimens had actually been one of her hobbies, and she knew quite a few types of plants. Yet as she looked around, she found none she recognized.

Her heart sank slightly. Neph reached out to touch a "specimen" on the wall. Sure enough, she received the memories of the broad-leaved plant she touched, from seed to germination, then through its growth and development up to the present.

In addition, a string of information appeared in Neph's mind.

Skipping over the unnecessary details, Neph smiled when she caught the words "leaves can be eaten raw," then grabbed it off the wall without hesitation.

Just like that, Neph secured her first meal in the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

This was no long-term solution. Once she left the Pure White Space, Neph began considering what she could do.

Leaving the Forsaken Land of the Gods did not necessarily require her to reach a particularly high Sequence, nor did she necessarily have to push open that door in the Giant King's Court. The True Creator certainly had other ways, but first, she needed

to find a way to reach the other end of the Forsaken Land of the Gods.

She also needed to establish the date, continue studying the Blank Canvas in greater depth, understand her current circumstances, obtain normal food, and perhaps work out the Acting Method...

But regardless of how feasible any of these things were, she first needed to escape her current situation, in which she seemed to be under surveillance.