Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

Lin Yu thought the analysis by the King of Beasts was quite reasonable.

He was never an arrogant person, so he immediately contacted Steelheart via the communication talisman.

The call connected quickly. There was a lot of background noise on Steelheart's end, so he lowered his voice and said, "Witcher? I was just about to contact you! Merlin has already drunk the spring water and recovered."

We sneaked into the kingdom's treasury and found some things inside!

"Get to the point," Lin Yu said succinctly.

Steelheart didn't keep them in suspense and immediately said, "Merlin and I found copies of the manuscripts left by the kingdom's past kings. They contain many things recorded in magical script, including the details of that so-called forest pact..."

"Simply put, although the intruder in the story was sealed away, its magical power aroused the greed of the first generation of monsters."

The first king wanted to use its power to stabilize the then-unstable kingdom.

According to the gift, this contract is free for the king. The only requirement is that every king who wants to obtain the power of the story invader must first undergo a bloodline test to ensure that the bloodline is indeed that of the first king.

Moreover, this process was proposed by the story invaders, and the first king did not feel anything was wrong at the time and directly agreed to the idea.

But the previous king, Snow White's father, noticed something amiss: he discovered that the power of the story invaders seemed to be growing stronger with the passage of time.

And it seemed to have a strong interest in his daughter and wife, which was unacceptable to the king. Therefore, he wanted to get rid of the creature completely, but things went too far, leading to his death.

Lin Yu thought for a moment and asked, "Does the gift contain any details about the intruders?"

"Yes." Steelheart spoke quickly. "The journal mentions that before his death, the king discovered that the story invaders seemed to have been waiting for the birth of his daughter."

The so-called bloodline detection was ultimately intended to allow it to know about Snow White's appearance as soon as possible.

The king was completely baffled by this, and he also discovered that the story invader seemed to value his wife just as much. About a decade ago, his wife had been seriously ill, and it was the story invader who ultimately helped save her life.

It also told the king that his wife had fallen ill because of a curse from an evil witch, and that the king, in a fit of rage, killed the witch, which is why the queen has lived to this day… I think you've figured something out too.”

Upon hearing Gangxin's question, Lin Yu nodded subconsciously and said, "The plot. The intruder has been twisting the plot of this story."

"Yes," Steelheart replied affirmatively, then continued, "Merlin has a guess that this is very likely the source of that guy's power—gaining power by disrupting the plot."

Lin Yu said thoughtfully, "It's not impossible, but if it wants to disrupt the plot, killing Snow White would be the simplest thing to do, since she is the protagonist of the story."

"It's not hard to guess. Wasn't that guy always trying to bewitch Snow White? Perhaps making a originally kind protagonist completely turn evil is the biggest way to change the plot. After all, a new protagonist might be generated after the original protagonist dies."

Haven't you noticed that this guy always uses the same trick to change the plot? The evil witch queen dies prematurely, the kind birth mother queen's personality becomes twisted, and the loyal dwarf turns evil and bewitches the weak.

It keeps tempting Snow White to fall into darkness.

Merlin's voice suddenly rang out through the communication talisman.

"...It seems that's really true."

After hearing Merlin say this, Lin Yu realized that it was indeed true.

"And our mission is actually quite similar to undoing that guy's influence on the original storyline, helping Snow White, helping the Queen, and helping the dwarves."

Merlin continued.

Hearing his words, Lin Yu glanced at the King of Beasts. In this respect, Merlin and the King of Beasts were quite similar. He continued to ask, "So what do you think?"

"Steelheart still has pure spring water. He and I plan to try to destroy the magic mirror and feed her the spring water to remove the effects. You can go help the dwarves first."

I heard from Steelheart that you have a very safe apartment. You can leave Snow White in the apartment and ensure her safety. We'll work together as a three-way team.

If our thinking is correct, then as long as we complete one side quest, that guy's strength will most likely decrease. Once the influence of the dwarf and the queen wears off, we can go together and kill him, completing all the side quests.

Merlin said with absolute certainty.

"Can."

Lin Yu thought about it and agreed with his idea.

The communication then ended.

Lin Yu first looked at the shadow: "Where are the other dwarves? Take us to them."

"They've gathered deep inside a mine," Shadow said.

"Okay, lead the way, let's go."

Lin Yu nodded immediately.

"Shouldn't we settle the snow first?"

The king of beasts asked.

"It's safest for him to come with me. After all, no one knows if we'll encounter any danger later. If I use the card to move the apartment to save my life, then she'll be in trouble. The apartment move won't take her with me."

Lin Yu shook his head and began to explain.

Upon hearing his explanation, the king of beasts immediately understood his meaning and remained silent.

The four set off immediately.

Guided by shadows, they avoided many traps and dark creatures, and soon arrived at the entrance to an abandoned mine.

A cold wind blew out of the cave, carrying the smell of sulfur and decay.

"The dark power inside is very strong," said the King of Beasts.

Lin Yu estimated the time: "Let's make this quick. Our goal is purification, not annihilation. Capture one and immediately pour water into the spring."

The interior of the mine was intricate and dark, as thick and viscous as a physical substance.

The Sharingan and the third eye's perception is also greatly limited here.

Guided by the shadows and with the occasional activation of Lin Yu's Heavenly Eye, they struggled forward.

Finally, at the bottom of a huge mine, they saw the remaining five dark dwarves.

They sat around a strange magic circle that emitted a faint purple light, their bodies completely twisted and mutated, exuding a strong sense of malice.

At this point, their appearance was extremely distorted and looked quite grotesque, clearly indicating that the invasion of dark forces had become quite serious.

"Intruders!" "Kill them!"

The dark dwarves quickly spotted them and immediately charged forward with a roar.

"Proceed according to plan!"

Lin Yu gave a low shout, and Azure Rose fired first, the demon bullets hitting the legs of "Angry" who was charging at the front, knocking him down.

The king of beasts once again transformed into a giant bear, roaring as he charged into the enemy ranks, using his massive body and strength to knock down and suppress his enemies.

Shadow then cast shadow magic, sending out countless dark tentacles to disrupt the dwarves' movements.

Lin Yu moved like lightning, frequently activating Sharingan genjutsu to disrupt the dwarf's mind.

His goal was clear: with the help of the King of Beasts' suppression, he found an opportunity to pour the pure spring water into the mouth of "Sleepy Bug".

The same violent reaction occurred, with black smoke billowing and the whiskers shrinking.

"Sleepyhead" instantly collapsed to the ground, rolling around and howling in pain.

Following the same method, Lin Yu, with the tacit cooperation of the two men and the bear, managed to subdue and purify the remaining four dark dwarves one by one.

When the last dwarf, "Shy Ghost," was forced to drink the spring water and curled up on the ground convulsing in pain, the darkness of the entire mine seemed to lessen.

"...This is really expensive. I hope the reward after completing the mission will be enough."

After filling the spring with water for the five dwarfs, Lin Yu's lips twitched involuntarily.

Although he had no shortage of pure spring water, he still felt bad about using it on a group of unfamiliar NPCs.

"I'll have to split the cost with everyone then."

Lin Yu spoke to the King of Beasts and Shadow beside him.

The King of Beasts rolled his eyes at him, but didn't refuse, since that's normal in games.

"no problem."

Shadow nodded as well. Lin Yu had done him a favor, so he couldn't possibly object to such a small matter.

Soon, the five dwarfs—Angry, Sleepy, Happy, Shy, and Sneezing—regained their senses in painful spasms and returned to their original sturdy, still somewhat ugly, dwarf forms.

However, compared to their previous darkened appearance, they look much better now.

The five people collapsed to the ground, their eyes filled with confusion and a hint of shame.

"So...we were all controlled by that evil thing before?" Ai Shengqi scratched his messy red beard, his face grim.

"And...and gave so much dirty stuff to an innocent little girl?" The sleepyhead was unusually fully awake, his face filled with lingering fear.

Snow White, true to her fairytale roots, showed no anger whatsoever. Instead, she smiled and comforted them, saying, "It's alright. I know that wasn't the real you. Welcome back, my friends."

Her tolerance made the dwarves feel even more ashamed.

"Thank you... thank you for helping us." The dwarves expressed their gratitude to Lin Yu.

As for the King of Beasts and Shadow, they were still in the form of dwarves, and everyone else subconsciously assumed that they were also saved by Lin Yu.

Although it seems that this is indeed the case.

Side Quest 3: Help the dwarves escape the endless darkness. (Completed)

Just after the five people regained consciousness, the system notification sounded.

At the same time, almost the instant the mission was completed, a furious roar came from the depths of the forest.

The entire mine began to tremble slightly amidst the roar.

Upon seeing this, Lin Yu, Shadow, and King of Beasts exchanged bewildered glances.

All three had a hint of excitement in their eyes.

Because they discovered that the intruder's aura in that story had significantly weakened.

"As expected, I knew it would be like this. The system won't assign us opponents that we absolutely cannot defeat."

The king of beasts rubbed his hands together, looking slightly excited.

"Merlin really guessed it."

Lin Yu stroked his chin and began to marvel at the wisdom of others.

"It's even angrier now," Shadow said with a laugh.

Lin Yu laughed: "Just like the king of beasts said, the angrier it gets, the more it proves that we are doing the right thing."

"It certainly won't just sit and wait to die."

The king of beasts suddenly spoke.

"Indeed, but having learned from past mistakes, it shouldn't dare to attack us easily; it will definitely think of other ways."

Lin Yu nodded. That was for sure. As the BOSS, it would be too unrefined of the other party to just give up and slack off like that.

(Although its prestige was long ago shattered by the statue of the True Lord.)

Just then, the communication talisman in Lin Yu's arms suddenly began to vibrate.

Lin Yu took out the mirror, infused it with magic power, and Steel Heart's voice rang out quickly: "We have failed. The Queen has completely lost control for some reason and has discovered us. The palace guards are chasing Merlin and me. She seems to be going to do something with the magic mirror, but we don't know the specifics."

Steel Heart recounted his experience on his side at lightning speed.

Clearly, his and Merlin's objectives had completely failed.

Lin Yu's expression turned serious: "I understand. Try your best to hold on, and if you can run, then run."

"Our safety is not a big problem here, but there is basically no way we can get close to the Queen. We will escape Blackwood Castle as soon as possible and head to the forest to meet you."

Steel Heart said quickly.

"Okay, let's meet at the dwarfs' cabin."

Lin Yu thought for a moment and then spoke.

The two then stopped talking and hung up the phone.

He looked at the others: "Let's go, we don't have time to rest."

Among the dwarves, the one who was easily angered spoke up: "If you want to go to our hut, we can help you. We know the forest paths very well and can take you there as quickly as possible."

"Alright, lead the way."

Lin Yu nodded.

Led by the dwarves, the group took a shortcut straight to the dwarves' hut.

However, Snow White was exhausted from the journey, so Lin Yu ultimately chose to carry her on his back.

Actually, carrying it would be more elegant, but Lin Yu thought it would be less strenuous to lift it. There was no other way, after all, his physical condition was not as good as before.

……

The dwarves knew the forest intimately and led the group swiftly through hidden paths.

Lin Yu carried Snow White on his back, his steps still steady.

However, the story invaders certainly wouldn't allow them to reunite smoothly.

Just as they were passing through a forest of dead trees, the ground suddenly shook violently, and countless pale, skeletal hands burst from the earth, grabbing at their ankles.

At the same time, a thick black fog rose up all around, obscuring the view, and even the dwarves instantly lost their way.

At the same time, numerous distorted figures appeared within the black mist.

Clearly, these are all dark creatures under the control of the story's invaders.

"It's here!"

The king of beasts roared and instantly transformed into a giant bear, shattering several bone hands with a single slap.

"Watch out! There's something wrong with this fog!"

Shadow shouted, feeling his shadow magic being greatly suppressed in the black mist.

Lin Yu put Snow White down, his Sharingan glowing crimson in the thick fog.

Are they afraid to take action themselves, so they send these scumbags instead?

"Protect the princess!"

The group immediately formed a defensive circle by standing back to back.

The dwarves wielded pickaxes and tools, struggling to smash the ever-flowing skeletons and the twisted shadowy creatures that leaped out of the black mist.

The gunshots from Azure Rose echoed continuously in the black mist, each demonic bullet precisely illuminating a small area and blasting away the oncoming monsters.

But the number of monsters was enormous, seemingly endless.

They've only killed one batch; more will soon be added to their ranks.

"Is he trying to buy time with these guys' lives? Looks like his arrangements with the Queen are quite important."

Lin Yu frowned.

He activated his third eye, dispelling the black mist that surrounded him for several meters.

"Follow me!"

Suddenly, the irritable dwarf, relying on his muscle memory of the terrain, pointed in a direction and roared.

"There's a cave over there where we can take refuge!"

The group fought and retreated, moving in the direction Ai Shengqi had indicated.

Lin Yu and the King of Beasts led the way, while Shadow and the other dwarves brought up the rear.

Just as they were about to approach the cave entrance, the black mist suddenly surged violently, and a giant skeleton knight, three meters tall and formed from countless bones and shadows, wielding a longsword burning with green ghost fire, blocked their path.

The fire of its soul in its eyes was fixed on Snow White.

"Leave...the princess."

The hollow sound echoed in everyone's mind.

"Get out of here!"

Lin Yu's eyes turned cold.

Charged Shot 1

boom!

The massive explosion sent the skeleton knight staggering, a crack appearing in his chest, but he did not fall apart.

It let out a silent roar, brandishing its flaming longsword as it charged again.

The king of beasts roared and charged forward, its bear paw clashing against the flaming sword, producing a metallic clang. However, she was forced back by the immense force.

"Its core is in its head!"

Lin Yu's Sharingan instantly locked onto the skull of the Skeleton Knight.

He took a deep breath, and a crack appeared in his third eye on his forehead. A thin golden light shot out like an arrow, hitting the skeleton knight's skull directly.

Click!

The skull was instantly covered in cracks, and the fire of the soul in the eyes flickered violently.

At the same time, its movements suddenly froze.

The king of beasts seized the opportunity, his massive bear body standing upright, and with all his might, he slammed a violent blow into the cracked skull.

boom--!

The skull shattered completely, and the flame of the soul was extinguished.

The enormous skeleton crumbled to the ground with a crash, turning into ordinary, withered bones.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but dared not linger, and quickly entered the cave that Ai Shengqi had pointed out.

The cave was dry and spacious inside, and the entrance wasn't large, so the monsters couldn't all squeeze in at once; they could only rush in one at a time, which greatly reduced the pressure on everyone.

The group immediately took up advantageous positions and cleared out waves of monsters, quickly killing a large number of them.

The invaders seemed to realize that this couldn't go on. If they continued to charge recklessly, they would probably exhaust all their men before they could kill any of the enemy. Therefore, they had no choice but to let the monsters retreat first.

"They ran away already?"

Once he confirmed that the monsters had left, the King of Beasts transformed back into human form and said speechlessly.

"That's normal. Given the current situation, that guy probably wouldn't dare to waste too many of his men."

Lin Yu said casually.

"What do we do next?"

Shadow asked.

"We must reunite with Steelheart and the others as soon as possible." Lin Yu took a sip of a potion to restore his mana and continued, "The Queen's situation is out of control, and the invaders definitely have more tricks up their sleeves."

"It's struggling to survive," Shadow analyzed.

"With each side quest completed, its foundation is shaken a little more, and now only the Queen and its original form remain."

Just then, Lin Yu's communication talisman lit up again; this time it was Merlin.

Merlin quickly spoke up: "Witcher, we've shaken off our pursuers, but the Queen seems to be using the magic mirror to do something big."

This is most likely a backup plan by the story invaders; I feel we'd better not let their plan succeed.

Lin Yu's eyes sharpened.

It seems that guy is planning to go all in and bet everything.

"Let's go straight to the castle!" He stood up, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"Since he wants to fight, let's give him the chance."

Lin Yu narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke.

After a short rest, the group set off immediately.

The dwarves were familiar with a hidden path leading to the back of the castle, which allowed them to avoid most of the guards.

This time, the story invaders didn't seem to have any intention of stopping Lin Yu and his companions, and they didn't encounter any dark creatures along the way.

On the way, Lin Yu re-arranged a meeting point with Steelheart Merlin via a communication talisman—the abandoned clock tower behind the castle.

As night fell, the group arrived at the clock tower.

Steelheart and Merlin were already waiting there, both bearing some wounds, but in good spirits.

"The Queen is performing some kind of ceremony," Merlin said, drinking a potion of mana.

"According to my perception, it seems to be a large-scale transformation ritual. The dark power is quite strong. That guy wants to transform all the creatures in the entire Blackwood Castle and the surrounding area into dark creatures."

"That's quite a grand scheme. Is that guy planning to massively alter the world, completely transform this story world, and then gain even greater power?"

Lin Yu thought about it using his previous guesses.

"It's very possible, but I think it's definitely risky, otherwise it wouldn't have waited until now to implement this plan."

Merlin nodded and echoed Lin Yu's guess.

"In short, we can't let this plan succeed no matter what."

The King of Beasts added.

"Indeed, no matter how risky this plan is, we certainly can't just stand by and watch."

Merlin agreed with the King of Beasts' idea.

"Shall we just charge over there and stop the Queen?"

Steel Heart gripped his longsword tightly and spoke directly.

"A direct assault would be too drastic. The Queen's guards and the dark creatures that might be transformed would hold us back, and the ritual cannot be interrupted."

Lin Yu rejected the proposal.

"Charging straight in would be the stupidest thing to do." Merlin shook his head. "You know the Queen is heavily guarded, and with the dark enhancement from the ritual, forcing your way in would almost certainly get you bogged down."

"What can we do? We can't just wait for her to finish the ceremony," Gangxin sighed and said.

Lin Yu looked at Merlin: "Do you know where that mirror is?"

A glint of light flashed in Merlin's eyes: "You mean... to cut off their supply lines?"

"That's right, that ritual must rely on the magic mirror as the main force. In that case, we'll split into two groups. One group will launch a feint attack to draw attention, while the other group will infiltrate and destroy that broken mirror!"

Merlin thought for a moment and said, "It's not impossible, but isn't that a bit too reckless? After all, we only have so many people. If we encounter a trap, we're doomed."

Lin Yu shook his head: "Let's just go for it. Anyway, we've already completed the main storyline. If all else fails, I'll just move the apartment over, hide until the end of the game, and then run away. I have a way out, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Lin Yu's statement was very straightforward, but Merlin was speechless because what he said seemed to make sense.

After all, it's not them who need to risk their lives.