Inside the video store, Wise and Belle were still discussing a plan to let Lord Dragon Emperor stay there temporarily. The atmosphere remained relaxed.
But inside the Hollow, tensions had already reached a breaking point.
Billy could no longer spare a thought for the discussion about lodging. He hurriedly scooped up Eous, which was still in its normal basic operating state.
"Stop talking! Someone's really going to die!"
The warning lights on his body flashed faintly as Ether corruption warnings flooded his screen:
"The three of us have already reached the limits of our Ether tolerance!
"If we waste any more time, our bodies will be completely assimilated by the Hollow's Ether, and we'll turn into Ethereals the very next second!
"The only thing we need to do now is get out. Everything else can wait!"
Nicole and Anby's hearts tightened at his words, their already taut nerves stretched to the limit once more.
Belle snapped to attention at the terminal, her expression turning grave.
"When you were hit by that hacker's attack just now, they erased and tampered with the Hollow detection data!"
Speaking rapidly, she revealed the most critical problem:
"Every conventional evacuation route has failed, and the Hollow coordinates are completely scrambled!
"Our only chance of survival is the commission-specific safe you're holding!
"The key device inside is the only thing that can activate high-level permissions and rebuild a passage through the Hollow!"
As everyone else was gripped by the urgent struggle between life and death, Lu Yingheng sat quietly in the center of the Hollow, his consciousness slipping into the depths of his mind.
In the unseen depths of his mind, the long-dormant link to his personal consciousness quietly lit up.
He asked silently, I've been asleep for a year. Has everything out there... changed?
The next moment, a little girl's soft, childish voice rang out, carrying a hint of petulant reproach.
"Changed? It's changed a whole, whole lot!"
The little system spirit counted on her fingers, listing everything with earnest care, her voice full of complaint.
"Master, you're so mean! During the whole year you've been fallen and asleep, the three girls who cared about you have all changed completely!
"All of them have turned into yanderes! It's just that some are worse than others. And it's all because of you!"
Lu Yingheng: o((⊙﹏⊙))o
When he revived in front of them, they probably wouldn't dismember him... would they?
Probably not, right?
The crisis outside waited for no one.
Belle hesitated no longer. She immediately directed Nicole remotely to open the safe and take out the core key, which gleamed with a distinctive Ether light.
She took a deep breath, determination in her eyes, and forcefully jammed the key into the core interface of the ordinary Eous.
Buzz-!
In an instant, a blinding light erupted in the video store's little back room!
The entire circuit overloaded in an instant, current surging wildly as the equipment's power shot past its limit. Dazzling white light engulfed the entire screen.
Belle froze in her seat, eyes wide as she stared blankly at the system interface, which had gone completely haywire and was reconstructing and refreshing itself. She couldn't make sense of the earth-shaking change before her.
The ordinary AI program, once low-end and rudimentary, was being forcibly torn apart, rebuilt, and upgraded!
Eous's screen went black inside the Hollow. It stuttered, then crashed completely.
Listening to Nicole's panicked cries and Billy's distraught wails beside him, Lu Yingheng merely sighed softly, completely unmoved.
Still immersed in the consciousness space within his mind, he reached out a fingertip and gently teased the sulking little system spirit.
The little girl grew both embarrassed and annoyed by his teasing. She pounced on him and nibbled at his ear, her soft little fists gently thumping his shoulder again and again as she fussed.
After several long seconds of system reconstruction,
The black-screened Bangboo suddenly lit up with a golden-blue glow. Brand-new high-level data flooded the screen, and a line of golden text was fully unlocked:
[FAIRY Type III: Fairy General-Purpose Artificial Intelligence, Master Sequence - Activation successful]
A luminous glow flowed over Eous's body. Brimming with life, it had been completely transformed.
Seeing the system finally reboot and recover, Nicole's tense face instantly broke into a relieved smile. She spoke softly, full of anticipation:
"Finally, it's working! Phaethon, can you get us out of the Hollow now?"
Now lively and animated, Eous bounced over to Lu Yingheng. Equipped with its newly unlocked advanced intelligence, it spoke with exceptional warmth and excitement: "Lord Dragon Emperor!"
It tilted its round body upward and offered a sincere invitation:
"You've lost your memories and your voice, and you can't see. It's too dangerous for you to be alone! Come back to the video store with me!
"It's hidden and safe there. No one can easily track you down, and you can rest and recover from your injuries while quietly regaining your strength!"
Belle: Operation Kidnap the Dragon Emperor! Officially underway!
In the livestream:
Xia Linxi was beside herself with excitement, cheering the bold Belle on.
"You can do it, little sister! You have to kidnap my husband and bring him back to the video store again! Just lure him back like you're kidnapping a child!
"Then we players will get to see him every day, won't we? I'll definitely give you credit for this!
"I can hardly imagine how great it'll feel to log in every day and see my husband arranging videos in the store first thing."
Comments:
[If she really pulls it off, the video store will be completely untouchable from now on. Anyone who wants to investigate the protagonist will have to get past the Dragon Emperor first...]
[The gacha game protagonist with the most outrageously powerful backing in history. The game just launched, and they've already lured the strongest character in the game right into their own home...]
[Eating there and taking stuff home too...]
[Wait, the protagonist isn't going to take advantage of Lord Dragon Emperor's amnesia and just ＊ him, are they?]
[Wait, there's something wrong with you!]
Lu Yingheng kept his eyes closed. Unable to understand the complex weighing of pros and cons, he relied on pure instinct alone, blankly rising to his feet and following right behind Eous.
The slender, lonely black-haired youth obediently shuffled after the little Bangboo like an innocent, unguarded child, so docile it made one's heart ache.
Lu Yingheng: Your Brother Heng is still an Oscar-winning actor!
Hehehe, no, I can't laugh yet...
I'm about to succeed! I'm about to win!
Lu Yingheng's expression: (Light Yagami holding back laughter.jpg)
Hehehe! In the end, I won!
The little system girl complained helplessly in the mental world:
"Host, your laugh is so evil! How many Hall of Souls elders do you eat per meal?"
"What do you know? This is called a friendly smile."
Nicole watched the scene, her heart full of sorrow and helplessness.
She had been the first to be saved by the Dragon Emperor and was the one who most wanted to repay him. She dreamed of bringing her benefactor home and protecting him.
But the Cunning Hares were poor and strapped for cash day after day. They had no ability to shelter a fallen powerhouse coveted by multiple factions.
Though unwilling, she could only painfully give up what she cherished, silently reproaching herself for her own helplessness.
Anby stood to one side, her gaze cool and calm as she quietly watched the path ahead, tacitly accepting the safest and most reliable arrangement available.
As the FAIRY system operated at full power, a clear white evacuation passage slowly opened. The route out of the long-sealed Crete Hollow had finally reopened.
[Ding! Story concluded. Emotion Points earned: 100 million]