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

"Are you really Eileen?" Lu Qing looked at Eileen, who was not much different from her memory, and was filled with doubt.

She had been asleep beneath the roots of the sacred tree for fifty years, so why did Eileen look exactly the same as she remembered, with almost no change?

“Fifty years have passed, yet Your Highness, you still look exactly the same as before,” Eileen said, voicing her thoughts first.

"Um, I wanted to say that to you too," Lu Qing said after a slight pause.

“I…” Eileen’s expression looked a little strange after hearing Lu Qing’s words. She subconsciously put her arms behind her back, but then, as if she remembered something, she put her arms back.

“Because of some special reasons…” Eileen hesitated for a moment before slowly pulling open the sleeve of her right arm, revealing a patch of wrinkled, seemingly wriggling dead skin.

“I was corrupted by the power of the void, but the effects of the corruption are not deep…” Eileen said, somewhat hesitant to look at Lu Qing, “It is precisely this power that has allowed me to survive until now.”

“Hoo…” Taking a deep breath, Lu Qing looked at the head maid who was almost identical to her memory and said, “Relax, I have no ill will toward those who have been corrupted by the power of the void.”

"..." Eileen didn't say anything, but judging from her expression, she seemed somewhat relieved.

"May I ask what brings you here?" Eileen asked Lu Qing with some curiosity.

“There are some things to do.” Lu Qing nodded. After thinking for a while, she decided to tell Eileen why she had come here.

Fifty years had passed since their last conversation, so it was hard to say how much credibility Eileen still had. However, after Eileen was willing to show her the marks on her arm that had been contaminated by the void, Lu Qing decided to believe her.

Moreover, this information isn't that important, and telling others won't have any impact.

"You've come to purify the fire element?" Eileen looked somewhat surprised after hearing Lu Qing's words, and said, "But I haven't heard of any signs of the fire element being contaminated."

As she spoke, Eileen pointed to the streetlights in the distance and said, "All the streetlights in the Steel City, as well as many factories, use the power of fire element. If there were really a problem with the fire element, it should have been detected long ago."

“The elves’ judgment is never wrong,” Ling, who was hiding under Lu Qing’s cloak, retorted after hearing Eileen’s words.

"Are you the legendary elf?" Eileen asked the spirit hiding under the cloak with some curiosity.

After thinking for a moment, Eileen looked at Lu Qing and said, "This is not the place to talk. If you don't mind, you can come to my house first."

"Thank you." Lu Qing nodded, then, as if remembering something, she added, "Don't use honorifics anymore. You're not my head maid anymore."

“…Okay.” After a slight pause, Eileen nodded.

After following Eileen for about fifteen minutes, they arrived at a very "lively" street.

The crimson lights shone on the pedestrians on the street, and scantily clad women stood in front of various shops, attracting passersby with the most seductive voices.

“This place wouldn’t be…” Lu Qing’s eyes twitched twice, and she whispered, “It’s the red-light district, isn’t it?”

"Red-light district?" Eileen had never heard of this term before, but after thinking about it, she understood what Lu Qing meant and said, "It's like what you're thinking, this is... um..." Eileen was thinking about how to put it more tactfully.

"No need to say anything more, I understand." Lu Qing pulled her hood up to cover her blushing cheeks.

"Why are we here?" she asked Eileen, looking at her with a puzzled expression. As she spoke, she saw a man hugging two slender legs in a dark alleyway not far away...

"Hey~" Lu Qing condemned the other person in her heart for doing such a thing in public, while her gaze couldn't help but drift in that direction.

"I'm sorry, but I felt that this was the only place where I could talk without worry." Eileen smiled apologetically at Lu Qing, then led her to a huge building.

"This is...the stage?" After entering the building, Lu Qing looked at the stage with a red carpet in front of her.

“That’s right, that’s a dance hall. Professional dancers perform there every day to attract people to come and spend money.” Eileen led Lu Qing up a flight of stairs on the right side of the building and said, “I’m the owner here.”

"Are you the owner here?" Lu Qing was even more surprised.

“…” After a moment of silence, Eileen said, “That was all a long time ago.”

She led Lu Qing and Ling into the innermost room as she went up the stairs to the second floor: "This is where I usually live. I don't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping here."

Lu Qing entered the room and carefully observed its layout.

A brass chandelier, a huge double wooden bed, a dressing table covered with cosmetics, a polished floor mirror, bookshelves densely filled with various reading materials, and a book on the desk that is open but not yet finished.

In addition, there's a warm fireplace, soft leather sofas...

“Alright, you can speak with peace of mind here,” Eileen said, sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"Hmm." Lu Qing withdrew her gaze from looking around the room and pulled down the hood of her cloak.

"Finally, I can come out! I've been suffocating!" Ling flew out from under Lu Qing's cloak, her body shimmering with pale blue light.

"Is this an elf?" Eileen asked curiously, looking at the elf flying in the air.

“Yes, this is Ling, an elf who came here with me from the Elf Forest,” Lu Qing introduced to Eileen. After speaking, she said to Ling, “This is Eileen, my former head maid who took care of me.”

"Hello," Eileen greeted Ling.

"Hello." This is the spirit.

After nodding to Ling, Eileen looked at Lu Qing and said, "You can ask me anything now, and I will tell you everything I know."

“I already said, honorifics aren’t needed.” Lu Qing looked at Eileen with a hint of helplessness and said, “First of all, there’s the matter of contraband…”

Lu Qing took out the box she had snatched from the soldiers and placed it on the table.

"This is..." Eileen's pupils contracted subconsciously after hearing Lu Qing's words and seeing what she took out.

"Is this something dangerous?" Lu Qing asked after seeing Eileen's reaction, and stopped trying to open the box.

Eileen's reaction made her suspect that there might be a bomb hidden in the box, which would explode with a "bang" if the box were opened.

------------

Chapter 600: Void Potion

Of course, there was no bomb in the box. When Lu Qing opened the box, what appeared in front of her was a tube of black and red medicine.

[Item Name: Void Potion]

[Item Quality: Blue]

[Synopsis: A special potion developed by the Guiji Sect that allows ordinary people to wield the power of the void. However, this power comes at a price: after injection, the ordinary person's mind is affected by the void's power, becoming unpredictable and volatile.]

[Once the body undergoes mutation, it will transform into a mindless monster, until its destruction.]

[Skills: Steady Injection, Void Transformation, Ascension Elixir]

[Stable Injection: The Void Elixir can be injected into any part of the body, even into the heart, without causing death. Furthermore, the stability of the fingers increases during injection.]

[Void Modification: The power of the void will modify the injector's body, comprehensively improving their physical attributes, but will decrease their mental state and make them more susceptible to [epilepsy] states. Additionally, there is a certain probability of [flesh ulceration] occurring after the injection.]

Epilepsy: The brain loses its ability to make rational judgments, becoming extremely irritable. When provoked, there is a certain probability that the individual will deform into a hideous, fleshy monster, from which there is no chance of recovery.

[Flesh ulceration: There is a certain probability that the flesh and blood throughout the body will ulcerate after the injection of the drug, ultimately leading to a gruesome death.]

[Sublimation Potion: A select few will trigger both [Sublimation] and [Semi-Sublimation] effects upon injection.]

[Ascension: The power of the void merges perfectly with the body, without any side effects.]

[Semi-sublimation: The fusion of void power with the body has some flaws and a few side effects.]

[Note: This is the last gamble for someone who has nowhere else to turn.]

"Such a long-lasting effect," Lu Qing thought, looking at the Void Potion's panel.

As expected of a top-grade blue item radiating a deep blue light, the number of words displayed on the panel is much more than that of normal items. However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that the reason why the Void Potion has so many words on the panel is entirely due to its severe side effects.

Using this drug is no different from gambling with one's life, but for those who have no other choice, this drug is indeed the last option they can make.

Once the effect of the [Ascension Potion] is triggered, it's no exaggeration to say that one's career will soar to new heights.

"So why is the Void Potion here, and why has it become a contraband in the Steel City?" Lu Qing wondered to herself.

This wasn't the first time she'd heard of the Void Potion. Lu Qing knew it was a special enchantress that the Guiji Sect had been researching for a long time, but she didn't know what the effects of this special potion were.

Now, she finally saw the physical form of the Void Potion and clearly understood its effects.

A potion that allows ordinary people to wield the power of the void—if we ignore its side effects, it's truly a great invention.

"There are so many things you could do with this skill," Lu Qing thought to herself with a pained expression.

However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the development of the Void Potion relied on the results of numerous human experiments. Without those experiments, even if the Void Potion could have been developed, it would have been delayed for a long time.

Shaking her head, Lu Qing temporarily put her thoughts aside and looked at Eileen, asking, "Do you know what this is?"

“Hmm.” Eileen nodded slightly stiffly and said, “This thing is called Void Potion. It’s a special potion developed by the Guiji Sect that can actively allow ordinary people to undergo the transformation of void power.”

“There are many side effects,” Eileen simply reiterated the side effects that Lu Qing had seen on the attribute panel.

"Why would a steel city have something like this?" Lu Qing couldn't help but ask.

She had some vague ideas in her mind. She remembered that her diary had mentioned that the Silent Cult members in the old capital base seemed to have disguised themselves as ordinary residents of the Steel City and infiltrated the Steel City's convoy.

If nothing unexpected happens, these void potions were created by them.

"..." After hearing Lu Qing's words, Eileen thought for a while and then said, "This has to do with the situation inside Steel City. The situation here is a bit complicated. To put it simply, there are three forces in total."

"One type is overt, with members of the Steel Cult managing everything in the city; the other is covert."

"The forces at play are very complex, including gangs that manage the streets, mysterious black markets, and even the various shops, big and small, in the red-light district."

"And the third force is the Guiji Sect, which everyone is wary of."

"The Guiji Cult is very mysterious, not only mysterious but also very dangerous. They are hidden in the Steel City, and anyone could be a member of them."

"And those Void Potions are deliberately released into the city by them, ranging from being sold on the black market to simply leaving a Void Potion at the feet of a homeless person as they pass by."

"Because of the danger of this thing, the Iron Cult considers it a contraband and will destroy it as soon as it is discovered."

“I see.” Lu Qing looked thoughtfully at the Void Potion on the table. As if she had thought of something, she looked up at Eileen and said, “Eileen, you’re probably not just infected by the power of the Void.”

"."

Instead of answering Lu Qing immediately, Eileen remained silent for a while before revealing a bitter smile and saying, "I knew I couldn't hide it from you."

"The Void power I possess was obtained forty years ago after injecting a Void potion. Perhaps due to good luck, I did not experience any side effects from the potion."

“But once the drug is injected, it means that you’ve been targeted by the Guiji Cult,” Eileen said in a slightly low voice.

"I am now a member of the Guiji Sect, but my status is not high; I can only be considered an outer member."

"You've told me so much, aren't you afraid something will happen?" Lu Qing asked, her head slightly lowered, making it impossible to tell what she was thinking.

“I’m almost eighty, Your Highness.” Eileen stood up from the sofa and gave Lu Qing a slightly awkward bow, the kind of greeting a princess would give.

“The moment I accepted the power of the void, I was already prepared to die,” Eileen said, forcing a light laugh. “After all, this potion itself carries the risk of death.”

"..." Lu Qing looked at Eileen, who was staring at her frankly, and after a moment of silence, she smiled and said, "Didn't I already tell you not to use honorifics with me anymore?"

“With Vanhustan gone, I am no longer a princess, and you are no longer my head maid.”