Building a skyscraper to survive, all the female colleagues in the company begged me to carry them.

Huang Tang enabled [Developer Mode]:

Princess Rose (Sleeping Beauty): A princess cursed into a deep sleep.

Option 1: Let the princess continue to sleep. You will gain nothing.

Option Two: Awaken the Princess. The awakened princess will transform into the "Thorn Queen," and defeating her will unlock a hidden reward.

Huang Tang's eyes lit up.

Hidden reward?

The saying goes, "Fortune favors the bold, and survival is paramount in times of decline." Seeking stability is important, but if one doesn't seize such an opportunity, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

Moreover, he happened to know how to awaken the princess.

He looked at Ji Bai and gave him a meaningful smile.

"Ji Bai, I have a glorious but arduous task for you."

Ji Bai asked excitedly, "What mission?"

Huang Tang pointed to the Rose Princess on the bed: "Be a prince for once and kiss the princess awake."

Ji Bai's eyes lit up instantly: "Such a good thing can happen to me?"

Liu Lingqing found it strange.

She clearly remembered that the way to break the curse was to destroy the spindle, without having to kiss the princess.

But she glanced at Huang Tang and didn't say anything.

Huang Tang said in a serious tone, "I already have a girlfriend, so of course I have to let you have this good opportunity."

Ji Bai hesitated for a moment, then looked at Princess Rose's face.

She is indeed very pretty, with fair skin and delicate features.

It's worth it!

He took a deep breath, walked to the bedside, bent down and kissed the princess on the forehead.

No response?

"It has to be mouth-to-mouth," Huang Tang instructed. "You can't feel my love if I just kiss you on the cheek."

Ji Bai blushed: "Isn't this inappropriate?"

"What's wrong with that? Hurry up."

Ji Bai gritted his teeth, lowered his head, and kissed the princess's lips.

One second, two seconds, three seconds...

Still no response.

Huang Tang then said, "Why don't you sleep with the princess?"

Ji Bai suddenly looked up: "Is...is this really okay?"

Liu Lingqing slapped him on the head: "You know it's wrong, yet you still dare to think about it! You pervert!"

Ji Bai covered his head in grievance: "What should we do then?!"

Huang Tang smiled.

He walked to the bedside, lifted his foot, and aimed it at the spindle on the floor.

"Snap!"

Stomp it to pieces.

Instantly, a gale howled and dust billowed.

The entire castle was shaking.

Princess Rose on the bed suddenly opened her eyes...

Those were blood-red pupils!

When Ji Bai saw that Princess Rose had woken up, he thought it was his doing and was about to step forward to take credit when he saw that the princess's hair began to turn into grayish-brown thorns, spreading out one by one, writhing in the air like snakes.

The blood-red eyes transformed into rose-shaped patterns, and the lips split open, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth.

In the blink of an eye, a beautiful princess turned into a monster covered in thorns.

Ji Bai was stunned.

He just... was kissing and cuddling a monster?

"vomit--"

He bent over and vomited.

Huang Tang had no time to pay attention to him, his face serious as he stared at the Thorn Queen in front of him.

Enable Developer Mode:

[The Queen of Thorns: The Rose Princess, awakened from her slumber, has been corrupted by a curse and transformed into a high-level boss. She will devour any living thing in her path.]

[Weakness: Ogre blood can damage it, but not kill it. Its true weakness is the rose core in its heart.]

[High-risk boss! Immediate evacuation recommended! Repeat! Immediate evacuation recommended!]

Huang Tang wanted to curse.

High-risk BOSS? Why wasn't there a warning just now?

This is ridiculous!

"ah--!!!"

The Queen of Thorns let out a piercing scream, the sound waves shaking the entire room.

Countless thorns surged from her body, piercing the three of them like living creatures.

Huang Tang didn't have time to think. He took out a bottle of ogre blood from his system space and threw it at the Thorn Queen.

"Bang!"

The blood vial shattered, and the dark red liquid splattered onto the thorns.

The thorny bushes, covered in barbs, twitched and recoiled as if they had been scalded.

But after only a short while, even more thorns surged up.

Huang Tang quickly pulled out Snow White's crystal coffin, opened the lid, and shouted to Liu Lingqing, "Go in!"

Liu Lingqing was stunned: "What about you?"

"If we don't kill her, we'll all die here!" Huang Tang shoved her. "Hurry!"

Liu Lingqing bit her lip, knowing that she was now a burden and that staying outside would only cause trouble.

She turned over and lay down in the crystal coffin.

Ji Bai also realized what was happening and scrambled to the crystal coffin, shouting, "Big sister! Squeeze in! Let me in too!"

Liu Lingqing glared at him: "No!"

"Just a little squeeze!"

"roll!"

After saying that, he closed the coffin lid.

Ji Bai could only shrink into a corner, covering his head with his hands, muttering to himself, "You can't see me...you can't see me...I'm a stone...stones can't be hit..."

The Queen of Thorns launched another attack, with countless thorns raining down on Huang Tang.

Huang Tang pulled out bottle after bottle of cannibal blood and threw them out, forcing back the thorns.

But the blood vials are becoming increasingly scarce, while the thorns are multiplying.

This only addresses the symptoms, not the root cause.

"Let's give it our all!"

Huang Tang took out a Power Candy, popped it into his mouth, and chewed it.

The heat burst forth, surging into every part of the body.

He felt his muscles swell and his blood burn.

With his left hand gripping Little Red Riding Hood's dagger and his right hand pulling out a vial of blood, he charged toward the Queen of Thorns.

Cut a thorn, and a bottle of blood will spill.

Another one was cut off, and another bottle of blood was spilled.

One step, two steps, three steps.

Every step forward comes at a price tenfold!

The thorns grew more numerous and denser.

The short sword couldn't cut through him at all, and wounds began to appear on Huang Tang's body.

His arm was slashed open, and his shoulder was pierced...

His clothes were stained with blood, but he gritted his teeth and refused to back down.

Inside the crystal coffin, Liu Lingqing covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

She was not afraid, nor was she afraid of death.

She felt sorry for him.

I feel sorry for Huang Tang!

She glanced at Ji Bai, who was trembling in the corner, and couldn't help but mutter, "A good-looking but useless man!"

Ji Bai shrank back in grievance, not daring to utter a sound.

Huang Tang is getting closer and closer to the Queen of Thorns, and the thorns are becoming denser and denser.

In the last few meters, the thorns stood like a wall, impenetrable.

The last bottle of ogre blood was thrown out.

A crack appeared in the thorny wall.

It's now!

Huang Tang took out Little Red Riding Hood's red cloak from the system space and put it on.

Then, using the force of his legs, he jumped up suddenly.

The dagger pierced the blood-red rose on the Thorn Queen's chest.

The Queen of Thorns also launched her final attack, with countless thorns piercing Huang Tang from all directions.

There's nowhere to hide in the air!

"puff--"

The dagger pierced the heart of the rose, and the crisp sound of shattering was like glass exploding.

At the same instant, countless thorns pierced Huang Tang's body.

But suddenly the red cloak glowed with a red light, like a thin shield that blocked all the spikes.

When thorns come into contact with the red light, they break apart inch by inch and turn into powder.

The red cloak faded and turned into an ordinary rag.

Huang Tang landed on the ground, kneeling on one knee, panting heavily.

The Thorn Queen's body began to disintegrate, turning into countless rose petals that swirled and danced in the air.

More and more petals flew, faster and faster, until finally, like a rain of flowers, they filled the entire room.

After the petals had all fallen, Princess Rose reappeared.

She was wearing a long white dress, her face serene, as if she were asleep.

Then, her body began to become transparent, fading further and further until it turned into specks of starlight and dissipated into the air.

Everything returned to calm.

[System notification: Congratulations to player Huang Tang for defeating the high-risk BOSS "Thorn Queen," triggering a hidden reward: The Bell Keeper's Shop.]