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

(End of this chapter)

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Chapter 603: Number Two

"It feels quite fitting..." Lu Qing said, looking at herself in the mirror after changing into the clothes Eileen had brought her.

"Wow, Ling'er thinks this outfit looks amazing!" Ling floated up and down beside Lu Qing.

This is a light black outfit that is very convenient for movement. Lu Qing doesn't know exactly what kind of material it is made of, but it feels very smooth when her palm lightly brushes against it.

The slightly tight design of the upper body of the clothes made the girl in the [Black Rose Vampire] form in the mirror appear even more slender. Her abdomen, which had no excess fat and only sagged slightly near her navel, looked very cute.

Below her lower abdomen was a dark purple pleated skirt, which floated lightly up and down as she turned slightly.

She slightly raised her left hand, pulling up the sheer black middle finger sleeve. Against the backdrop of the triangular black fabric, the boundary between white and black was clearly defined, with her palm and the fabric standing out distinctly.

"It might still be a little tight?" After Lu Qing finished speaking, she took two more steps.

"Ling'er thinks it's just right," Ling said after hearing Lu Qing's words.

“It’s normal for it to be a little tight. If you feel it’s too loose, I’ll have to make some adjustments,” Eileen said, looking at Lu Qing in her dance costume with admiration.

This is a completely different feeling from the princess in peacetime. Perhaps it is because of her temperament. Even in the form of the Black Rose Vampire, Eileen could not see that noble and mysterious feeling in Lu Qing.

On the contrary, the princess might be even cuter now than before?

"This feeling is quite peculiar," Lu Qing said, looking at herself in the mirror before sitting down on the sofa and picking up the breakfast Eileen had prepared for her.

It was still the same body, but suddenly the size of the body had changed a lot, and I was wearing clothes that I had never experienced before. It was as if the world in my eyes had suddenly changed into another form, which was full of novelty.

"Then what about the fate of the river crab? What will happen later...?" Lu Qing asked Eileen while eating.

You know what, the breakfast Eileen prepared for her was quite delicious, consisting of a deep-fried pancake wrapped around some kind of chewy meat, vegetables, and a slightly sweet sauce.

In addition, there was also porridge. The two together made up a considerable amount, at least the size of three adult servings. It seems that even after fifty years, Eileen has not forgotten that Her Highness has a big appetite.

"What kind of meat is this? It tastes pretty good." After swallowing the food in her mouth, Lu Qing looked at Eileen with some curiosity.

“The core members of the sect will arrive around noon today. As for this meat…” After a slight hesitation, Eileen looked at Lu Qing and said, “It’s the meat of a worm called a protein worm. Because it is very easy to raise and the adults are quite large, it has become the mainstream animal raised in the Steel City.”

"Insects, insects?" Lu Qing was slightly taken aback, then said, "The protein content is six times that of beef, and it tastes amazing?"

"What are you saying?" Eileen asked Lu Qing with some confusion.

"No, it's nothing," Lu Qing said with a slightly embarrassed dry laugh.

She didn't feel uncomfortable eating insect meat. In essence, insect meat is no different from pork, as long as it doesn't taste bad.

In real life, don't some people eat cicada pupae and locusts?

Of course, if you're asking her to eat a whole live insect like in some survival shows, then forget it. She'd rather gnaw on wood than eat that kind of thing.

谷眓

"By the way, are there still flour and vegetables in the Steel City?" Lu Qing suddenly thought of something and asked curiously.

Making flour requires wheat, and vegetables also need land to grow. There shouldn't be any problem with the land, but what about sunlight?

"Vegetables and flour are available, and in addition, the Steel City also has rice and various fruits," Eileen explained to Lu Qing after hearing her words.

"There are many greenhouses in the Steel City, which use the power of fire to provide light for crops. The yield is decent, but there are many buyers, so it is very expensive."

Whether it was her imagination or not, Lu Qing felt that Eileen seemed to have a pained expression on her face when she said those words.

Considering her appetite, perhaps Eileen's pained expression wasn't just her imagination...

The core member of the Guiji Sect wouldn't arrive until noon, and since it was neither a short nor a long time away from noon, she decided not to go out for a stroll.

If she didn't go out, there didn't seem to be anything to do in the tavern, so after thinking about it, Lu Qing started cultivating in her room.

Unexpectedly, this practice actually yielded some results; her [Fanhusi Dan Breathing Technique] leveled up.

[Vanhustan Breathing Technique LV7-LV8]

Strength +1, Agility +1, Constitution +1, Spirit +0

Perhaps because Lu Qing's attributes were already high enough at this point, the [Fanhusi Dan Breathing Technique] no longer provided as much of an improvement as before, and her spirit did not increase at all.

Some people may wonder why breathing techniques can increase mental attributes. This is mainly because the body and mind are one.

Physical enhancement can strengthen mental power, and the improvement of mental power can affect the soul. In the dream game, this means that players cannot blindly add all attribute points to mental power. When the mental power value is too high, only by increasing physical constitution can the mental power attribute continue to increase.

"Hmm~"

Stretching her body forcefully, Lu Qing exited her cultivation state. Calculating the time, she figured that the core member of the Guiji Sect should be arriving around now.

Thinking this, Lu Qing left her room and went down the stairs from the second floor of the tavern.

She arrived at the first floor of the tavern and immediately saw Eileen talking to a man in a tuxedo. When Lu Qing saw the man's appearance, she froze on the spot.

She had seen that man before, during the Sacred Tree Festival, when she saw him high in the sky through Wayne's eyes.

Fortunately, she had prepared in advance; otherwise, if she had appeared in front of the other party with Princess Luqing's appearance, she would have been exposed at a glance.

"Ah, perfect timing, she's already here." Eileen said to the man in front of her after seeing Lu Qing come down the stairs from the second floor.

"Oh?" Upon hearing Eileen's words, the man turned around and focused his gaze on Lu Qing.

"Hello, I am one of the dancers participating in this ball. My name is..." After a pause, Lu Qing realized that she and Eileen hadn't decided on a name for their fake identities.

Fortunately, her mind worked quickly, and after a slight pause of half a second, she continued, "My name is... Rose."

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Chapter 604: Invitation

"Rose, Screw?" Number Two paused for a moment, then said, "That does fit the name of the city quite well."

“Hehe…” Lu Qing chuckled softly and said, “This name was given to me by my father. He was just an ordinary worker in the factory and hoped that I could become a qualified mechanic in the future.”

"Unfortunately, all I can do is dance; I know absolutely nothing about mechanics..."

As her acting skills improved, Lu Qing's ability to lie through her teeth became stronger and stronger. She could make up a whole story without even blinking.

This made her feel quite emotional. She just wanted to be a simple and kind person, so why did things turn out like this?

Yeah, just take that sentence as fact.

“Everyone has different talents, so choosing what suits you best is the best approach.” Number Two narrowed his eyes slightly after hearing Lu Qing’s words.

He was observing Lu Qing, not because she had anything suspicious about her, but simply to observe her. As the second-in-command of the Guiji Sect, he was used to recording everything he saw.

"Now that everyone is here, let's set off now," Number Two said, turning his gaze away from Lu Qing.

"It's still quite early," Eileen said, somewhat puzzled.

"Arriving early will leave a more lasting impression, won't it?" Number Two chuckled softly.

"I understand." Eileen nodded gently, then led Lu Qing and Number Two out of the tavern. She called for the carriage that had been prepared in advance and headed towards the ball hosted by the core member of the Steel Order.

They traveled in silence, and the three of them soon arrived at the venue for the ball.

Eileen led the way, took out two tickets to the ball from her pocket, and handed them to the bodyguard guarding the door, saying, "I am Eileen, the owner of Azalea Tavern. This is my friend, and this is a dancer who has come to attend the ball."

After taking the admission ticket from Eileen, the bodyguard at the door examined it carefully and nodded, saying, "It is indeed an admission ticket issued by the boss. You may enter." With that, the bodyguard stepped aside.

"Thank you for your hard work." Eileen nodded slightly, then led Number Two and Lu Qing into the ballroom.

There weren't many people around at the moment. Lu Qing looked around and found the core member of the Steel Order. He looked almost exactly like the one in the portrait, the only difference being the clothes he was wearing.

"Isn't this the owner of the Azalea Tavern? Long time no see." Just like Number Two said, because they arrived very early, Lu Qing and her two companions were noticed by the old man almost as soon as they entered, which attracted him to take the initiative to chat with them.

“Long time no see, Councilor Dis,” Eileen nodded to the old man.

"Hahaha." The old man laughed loudly, perhaps thinking of something amusing, and then looked at Lu Qing beside Eileen and said, "Is this the dancer you brought this time? She looks a bit unfamiliar."

As the old man spoke, he frowned again, looking as if his eyesight wasn't very good. After observing Lu Qing carefully for a while, he said, "She is very pretty, but I wonder how well she dances."

"I won't let you down," Eileen said, sounding very confident.

"Oh?" The old man looked at the confident Eileen with some surprise and said, "Then let me wait and see."

谷趏

The conversation ended there, and the old man returned to his original spot, patiently waiting for the dance party to officially begin.

"Not enough..." Number Two thought to himself, gazing wistfully at the old man's retreating figure.

He needed to get information about the location of the fire element from the old man, but forcibly kidnapping him and using violence to coerce him was not a good method.

Leaving aside whether violent interrogation can actually elicit a confession, whether the answers obtained are true or false, and how much time it would take, the question remains.

The series of measures that the other members of the Iron Order might take after discovering that someone has been kidnapped would be a major headache.

Number Two didn't want to alert the enemy, and in order to avoid attracting the attention of the other members of the Iron Order, he preferred to use even gentler methods.

Just now, he tried to use some kind of hypnotic spell on the old man, but the spell failed because the old man did not trust him.

"If Rose's dance can really attract that senator's attention, will it lower his guard when I approach him?" Number Two pondered to himself.

Of course, he couldn't place all his hopes on Rose. If the plan to lower her guard through dance failed, he should consider the backup plan of tracking her and capturing her.

.......

Time passed slowly. Inside the building where the ball was being held, the short hour felt incredibly long, like being back in a childhood classroom, where each day dragged on endlessly.

During that hour, batches of people entered the building from outside. Lu Qing glanced around and found that there were quite a few people. Could it be that so many people liked classical dances from the Vanhustan period?

Of course not. If you think about it carefully, you can guess the purpose of these people attending the dance party.

Most of them probably just wanted to build a good relationship with this core member of the Iron Order. Among them, the number of people who truly liked classical dance could probably be counted on one hand.

The voice of Senator Dis, aged and steady, reached Lu Qing's ears. She saw him standing above the stage, muttering some random things. After listening for a while, she let it go in one ear and out the other, her brain completely forgetting what he said.

Finally, Lu Qing heard only a sparse round of applause. She raised her hands and clapped lightly, watching with the others in the audience as Councilor Dis walked down from the stage.

Next comes the dance performance. The backstage staff will announce the contestants' names, their backgrounds, and who brought them in, and then the dance will officially begin.

"Ha~" Lu Qing let out a long yawn, gently wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes as she watched the dancers on stage move to the soothing music.

The music is not specially adjusted for each person, but randomly selected. How to dance to the music depends on the dancer's ability to adapt.

That being said, most of the music sounded calm and soothing, and with the dark room and the quiet audience below the stage, Lu Qing felt like she was about to fall asleep.