There's a big problem with dreams in this world.

Some experienced researchers have discovered that the force influencing the Mother's power appears to be a spirit that cannot be killed and constantly affects the Mother's state.

Initially, in an attempt to resolve the problem of the Matrix, the Guiji Cult tried to use the power of the void to erase the spirits hidden within it. This operation ultimately ended with the deaths of many official members of the Guiji Cult.

The problem with the spirits remains unresolved, and the operation to secretly control the capital has also faltered, revealing a new force called the Steel Order as the hidden controller of the capital.

[They seem to be taking others to a city called Steel City. The Silent Cult wouldn't miss this information; they abandoned their base there and disguised themselves as ordinary residents of the capital to infiltrate the Steel Cult's ranks...]

"Is this why Lin's resentful spirit is so weak?" Lu Qing pondered, looking at the contents of the diary.

The spirit that has been affecting the flesh giant's mother body must be Lin, otherwise she wouldn't have met it here by such a coincidence.

It was because she was constantly entangled with the mother of the flesh giant that she became so weak. After Lu Qing dealt with the mother of the flesh giant, she was very lucky to encounter her before Lin recovered, thanks to the effect of the lucky coin.

The eye she "saw" when she used the Listener skill...

If I'm not mistaken, it's probably a vengeful spirit hiding underground.

"Ahem, may we continue?" Yeggs coughed lightly, reminding Lu Qing and the others that they had been here for quite some time.

"Um, sorry, let's keep going." After hearing Yeges's words, Lu Qing came back to her senses and said.

“I’m a little impatient, I hope you can understand,” Yegges said with a smile to Lu Qing.

They continued walking towards the location where the flesh giant mother had died. When they could see the corpse lying on the ground in the distance, Jaegers took out something that looked like an air filter from his pocket and put it on his face.

“A qualified researcher will be fully prepared,” Jaeger said.

Arriving at the corpse of the flesh giant mother, Jaegers put down the backpack behind him and took out a large number of devices and portable tools.

These props all look rather rough, with very obvious signs of handcrafting. If I'm not mistaken, they should all have been made by Jaeger himself.

“I’m going to set up a new research lab here later,” Jaegers said.

After he finished speaking, a slightly embarrassed expression appeared on his face. He said, "Actually, it's just about where I live. Otherwise, it would be too inconvenient to travel back and forth to such a distant plane every day, and I'd also be more likely to encounter wild beasts along the way."

"Do you need any help?" Lu Qing asked.

“No need, no need…” Jaegers waved his hand and said, “You have already helped me enough, there is no need to waste any more time here.”

"The train to the steel city is ready, and you can go about your business at any time."

"It's alright, I'm leaving tonight. Just let me know if there's anything I can help you with," Lu Qing said, looking around at her surroundings.

There are many trees here, so setting up a temporary shelter is not a difficult task.

After being corrupted by the Void, Jaegers' body was also strengthened by the power of the Void, making him much stronger than he appeared on the surface, so there was no need to worry too much about him.

Lu Qing was simply trying to help someone to the end, which is why she asked Yeager if there was anything she could help with.

“Well, if possible, I would like you to help me cut down some trees, and…” He paused, then continued, “help me move the box where I keep my tools at the old capital city wall.”

These are not difficult tasks, but they are very physically demanding. Although Jaeger's body is stronger than that of an average person, the strength is still limited.

"Okay." After thinking about it, Lu Qing felt that it wasn't a troublesome matter, so she agreed.

She first went back to the old capital and moved the box that Yeges used to store various tools. Then she used the [Elf Blade] to quickly chop down trees. After she believed that Yeges would never lack wood again, she left.

Following the direction in her memory, Lu Qing led Ling to the old capital's train station and loaded two large boxes of coal onto the locomotive. She then spent some time clearing away the rubble that had been buried on the road during her battle with the black mist giants.

“Buzz.......”

With the heavy roar of the train engines, the two trains, which had been abandoned for decades, started moving again and headed towards the steel city in the distance.

According to Ling, they wouldn't arrive at Steel City until at least noon tomorrow. Lu Qing didn't want to waste this time, so after learning the last skill on her skill panel, [Ancestral Light], she took out the [Mask of the Lamenter].

As Ling poured all the remaining souls into the [Mask of the Lamenter], Lu Qing watched the development progress increase and slowly closed her eyes.

【The Mask of the Lamenter】

The rescued souls will spontaneously gather around the fire, for it is their light; the moment the fire goes out, their faith collapses as well.

Development progress: 89%

[The Weeping Man's Lucky Coin: Flip a lucky coin. If the coin lands heads up, your luck increases significantly; if it lands tails up, your luck increases slightly.]

However, it's worth noting that once the luck gained from landing tails up ends, the coin will have a negative effect, reducing your luck.

A familiar feeling welled up in her heart, and Lu Qing once again entered the world of Queen Minasha's memories.

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Chapter 596: The Dark Alley

Minasha's father did not die. After careful treatment and care, although his legs could not be saved, his life was saved.

According to the doctor, he was practically standing at the gates of hell, but ultimately he didn't go in. His tenacious will to survive prevented him from dying in that dark and sunless cave.

Compared to losing his life, losing only a pair of legs was already a good thing, and Minasha's father had no complaints about it.

He no longer needs to travel around doing business all year round, so losing his leg isn't such a serious matter.

As for why Prince Vanhustan happened to pass by that trade route and rescued Mina and the others who were buried under the rubble...

It was just a coincidence. During a hunting trip to practice archery, an injured reindeer ran away from the original hunting grounds and led the prince and his party to the vicinity of the trade route.

The mage in the party, after sensing the earth elemental riot, informed His Highness the prince and sent them to investigate.

Fortunately, not all the people in the caravan were buried by the rubble; some survived. They told the kind prince about their ordeal, and upon hearing their pleas, the young and righteous prince decided to rescue all those buried.

There's not much to say about what happened after that; it was just a long excavation. Because the earth element here had been manipulated by the Mountain-Shaking Beast not long ago, the earth element was unusually active. If earth element was used for excavation, it could very likely cause a secondary collapse.

Therefore, only manpower could be used in the excavation process. Even though the prince summoned many guards and craftsmen from the capital, the excavation was still very slow.

This is why it took nearly a week of digging to find Mina and the others.

"Thank you, thank you so much, thank you so much." Sitting in the carriage on the way back, Minasha's father looked at the prince with a face full of gratitude.

"It's alright, protecting citizens is my duty," the prince said with a smile, his armor gleaming.

The eldest prince, Kevin, is rumored to be a very gentle man. It is said that his favorite thing to do is to read knightly publications in his spare time. He has a deep understanding of knightly etiquette and is very willing to admire those who adhere to knightly virtues.

This might be one of the reasons why he would take Knight Myron as his confidant in the future, Lu Qing thought to herself.

She glanced at Minasha again. The little girl had completely become a fan of Prince Kevin, her eyes filled with adoration as she stared at him.

Under such intense gazes, it was hard for Prince Kevin to ignore it. He couldn't help but chat with Minasha and quickly became familiar with the silver-haired girl.

Perhaps on a whim, or for some other reason, the eldest prince Kevin gave Minasha's parents an envelope, telling them that they could use it to enroll Minasha in the royal academy in the capital, and that he would make arrangements with the people there beforehand.

And so, Minasha's first meeting with Prince Kevin came to an end.

This memory fragment becomes blurred here. When Lu Qing comes to her senses, she finds that Mina has grown up a lot and is standing in a clean white corridor wearing a well-made dark blue uniform.

She recognized the uniform; if nothing unexpected happened, it was the Royal Academy's uniform. If that was the case, then Minasha's current location should be within the Royal Academy's campus.

Just then, a burly middle-aged man walked over from the other side of the corridor and stopped in front of Minasha.

"Hmm, you're Minasha?" The middle-aged man looked down at Minasha, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

“Yes,” Minasha nodded, looking somewhat excited.

"Okay, come with me." The man led Minasha into the classroom next door. As soon as they entered, they heard some noisy discussions.

"Quiet down, everyone." The man clapped his hands, then looked at the students below and said, "Today we have a new student in our class who skipped a grade."

"Thump thump." Minasha's heart was pounding, and her gaze couldn't help but drift to the edge of the classroom, to the figure with short blond hair sitting in the sunlight.

"Please introduce yourself," the middle-aged teacher said to Minasha.

“Okay.” Minasha’s eyes shone brightly as she looked at Prince Kevin and slowly said, “My name is Minasha, I’m twelve years old, I skipped a grade, and I’m majoring in talent management, military theory, and political science. My favorite color is gold, and my least favorite color is black.”

As Minasha introduced herself, whispers couldn't help but ripple through the classroom. In a classroom where most of the students were in their twenties, or even thirties, the twelve-year-old Minasha inevitably stood out.

However, the fact that Minasha was able to enter this classroom means that she has passed all the theoretical exams, and it is impossible for her to have been forced in through personal connections.

"Kevin, brother~" After class, Minasha couldn't wait to run up to the eldest prince Kevin and said in a drawn-out tone.

"Long time no see, Minasha," Kevin said with a smile.

"Aren't you curious why I'm here?" Minasha asked, kneeling on the chair in front of Kevin's desk with her two slender little legs, her hands supporting her cheeks.

"I've heard about her before. She's a self-taught genius who gets full marks in almost every subject and keeps skipping grades."

“To be honest, I was quite surprised when I first heard it,” Kevin added after a pause.

"Hmph, I'm very powerful." Minasha raised her head, her face full of pride, and said, "With me assisting Kevin in the future, I will definitely make you king!"

“You can’t say that,” Kevin said, his lips twitching slightly. “There are still quite a few candidates for the king. If this gets out, it could cause a huge problem.”

"Hehe, no one can hear us, it's our little secret!" Minasha said with a slightly mischievous smile.

"."

"How come I never noticed how smart you were before?" Kevin looked at Minasha with a hint of helplessness, then thought for a moment and said, "You're smart."

“Of course I’m smart. How could I assist the king if I weren’t smart?” Minasha said matter-of-factly.

"You didn't apply for military and talent management programs just to come find me, did you?" Kevin said, sounding rather annoyed.

"When," Minasha opened her mouth, then stuck out her tongue and said, "Hehe, guess."

Kevin wanted to say that there was no need to guess, but he opened his mouth and then said nothing. After a moment of silence, a relieved smile appeared on his face: "As long as you're happy."

"Welcome to the military class. Let's get to know each other again. My name is Kevin, I'm 22 years old, and my favorite color is..."

“Blue.” Kevin looked into Minasha’s eyes and said, almost as if possessed.

(End of this chapter)

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Chapter 597: A Chaotic and Disordered Space

【The Mask of the Lamenter】

The rescued souls will spontaneously gather around the fire, for it is their light; the moment the fire goes out, their faith collapses as well.

Development progress: 98%

[The Weeping Man's Lucky Coin: Flip a lucky coin. If the coin lands heads up, your luck increases significantly; if it lands tails up, your luck increases slightly.]

However, it's worth noting that once the luck gained from landing tails up ends, the coin will have a negative effect, reducing your luck.

The heavy roar of the train engine echoed in her ears. Lu Qing slowly opened her eyes and looked at the mask in her hand, whose aura was becoming increasingly intense.