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

“I secretly bypassed the guards because I have something very important to tell you,” Congressman Dees explained to the old man on the other end of the phone.

"...What is it?" The old man's voice also became serious when he heard Councilor Dis's earnest tone.

He knew that Congressman Dee wasn't one to joke, and when he said he had something important to say, it was definitely something very important.

“I’ve encountered an elf,” Councilor Dis said. Before the old man could react, he added, “The elf said she has a way to heal the sacred tree.”

Councilor Dis concealed Lu Qing's existence because even he couldn't be sure of the founder of the Steel Order's thoughts.

The Healing Tree is very important; it's even a matter of life and death for the world. But for the founders of the Steel City, the Healing Tree is likely a mythical thing, even if it's something said by legendary elves.

People will always subconsciously think about their own interests first, and those who can give up their interests and make a decision are ultimately a minority.

"Is what you're saying true?" the old man's voice suddenly rose a notch.

“Absolutely true,” Senator Dees said firmly.

"Are you sure you weren't captured by those Guiji Sect people, trying to find out my location?" The old man chuckled twice, half-jokingly.

"Hehe, don't joke around. Those lackeys of the Guiji Sect are still looking for me outside," Councilor Dis said with a smile.

"Here's what we'll do: have your elf friend answer one question for me. If she can give me a satisfactory answer, then I'll trust you."

"What's the problem?" Representative Dis asked.

"Fifty years ago, a mage performed divination for a member of the royal family of Fanhusdan. During that divination, the mage obtained two pieces of information: time and spirits. May I ask, what was the name of that royal member whose divination was performed?" the old man asked in a deep voice.

“This…” Councilor Dis’s pupils widened suddenly upon hearing the old man’s words, as if he had realized something.

"It's Lu Qing, it's Princess Lu Qing!" Before Ling could step forward to answer, Councilor Dis exclaimed in surprise.

.......

The rest isn't finished yet, but I'm working on it and will get it done soon. After that, just refresh the page; you won't need to resubscribe. Sorry, emmmmm.

"This thing is..."

Lu Qing immediately noticed an object hanging on the wall that looked like a public telephone.

"This thing is called a telephone. It allows you to communicate with people over a very long distance," Councilor Dis explained to Lu Qing. "I usually use this to chat with the founder of the Steel Order. Please wait a moment."

As he spoke, Representative Dis gently picked up the phone and then entered numbers on the dial next to him.

008-0000001

"008 is the number on my phone. It can only work properly if I enter the correct number. As for the string of numbers that follows, that's the phone number of the founder of the Steel Order," Councilor Dis said to Lu Qing as he dialed the number.

"..." Although I really wanted to complain, after thinking about it carefully, since trains already exist in this world, it doesn't seem like such an unacceptable thing to have a telephone as well.

"Beep beep beep..." The phone rang with a familiar sound to Lu Qing.

"Hello, is this Representative Dis?" As the call connected, an aged voice came from the hole above the phone.

“It’s me,” Representative Dees said into the hole below the phone.

"........"

"It's so good to hear you're safe and sound. I heard something terrible happened to you after the ball," the old man on the other end of the phone said after a moment of silence.

"Speaking of which, I haven't heard any news of your return..."

“I secretly bypassed the guards because I have something very important to tell you,” Congressman Dees explained to the old man on the other end of the phone.

"...What is it?" The old man's voice also became serious when he heard Councilor Dis's earnest tone.

He knew that Congressman Dee wasn't one to joke, and when he said he had something important to say, it was definitely something very important.

“I’ve encountered an elf,” Councilor Dis said. Before the old man could react, he added, “The elf said she has a way to heal the sacred tree.”

Councilor Dis concealed Lu Qing's existence because even he couldn't be sure of the founder of the Steel Order's thoughts.

The Healing Tree is very important; it's even a matter of life and death for the world. But for the founders of the Steel City, the Healing Tree is likely a mythical thing, even if it's something said by legendary elves.

People will always subconsciously think about their own interests first, and those who can give up their interests and make a decision are ultimately a minority.

"Is what you're saying true?" the old man's voice suddenly rose a notch.

“Absolutely true,” Senator Dees said firmly.

"Are you sure you weren't captured by those Guiji Sect people, trying to find out my location?" The old man chuckled twice, half-jokingly.

"Hehe, don't joke around. Those lackeys of the Guiji Cult are still looking for me outside," Councilor Dis said with a smile.

"Are you sure you weren't captured by those Guiji Sect people, trying to find out my location?" The old man chuckled twice, half-jokingly.

"Hehe, don't joke around. Those lackeys of the Guiji Cult are still looking for me outside," Councilor Dis said with a smile.

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

Very important notice (must read!!!)

My grades are getting worse and worse, and I feel something's wrong as I write. At this point, it's time to admit it no matter what.

I messed up the writing.

From confidently starting a new book to now anxiously watching its declining sales figures, I've experienced a lot.

My mindset is getting worse and worse, and one annoying thing after another is happening. I'm really feeling upset right now.

Haha, I really feel like I'm incredibly unlucky. I resumed updating for two months, but my subscriptions are actually less than when I was slacking off. What's worse is that I didn't actually get the full attendance bonus.

In February, I thought it was because there were only 28 days left that I hadn't reached 120,000 words. In March, I still hadn't received it because the requirement of 500 average subscriptions per month was calculated by dividing the number of subscriptions in that month by the number of chapters updated. The previous 500 average subscriptions were no longer valid.

Besides these, there are many other things in reality that make me anxious. I feel like a horse pulling a carriage, constantly being chased by the carriage behind me, never getting a break.

Oh right, I left my book club group, and the group owner was transferred. I really didn't want to deal with the problem kids in the group anymore.

This book will not be abandoned; I will finish writing this dream world as scheduled.

After finishing writing in this dream world, I will use about 200,000 words to complete the book, and all 200,000 words will be free!

Anyway, not many people subscribe, so this way more people will watch it, haha...

I will treat the last 200,000 words as a completely new story, with the background being what I wrote earlier. Even those who haven't read the previous chapters can skip directly to this last part without any problem.

After this book is finished, I will switch to a different author account and start a new book.

If all goes well, it will be published on Light. When I publish the book, I will mention it briefly in this book, but I will not reveal the title. Whether you can find it or not depends on your luck.

that's it.

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

Chapter 611: Fire Element Rampage

Passing through the steel-encased corridor, Lu Qing, Ling, and Councilor Dis, led by the mage Moluni, arrived at an empty room.

The room is hexagonal, with a huge circular metal device in the center. Through the glass of the device, one can see intense fire elements operating within it. In addition, there are several translucent tubes through which a purplish-red liquid flows.

An elderly man with white hair sat in front of a huge metal device. He was very thin, and the veins on the back of his hands were clearly visible. A huge, round metal tube was inserted into the old man's chest, emitting a fiery red light.

"It's been a long time, Your Highness..." The old man sat in the chair, slightly raised his head, and looked at Lu Qing.

"Hello." Lu Qing nodded, then looked at the metal device behind the old man and asked, "What is this?"

"This is the steel core that powers the entire city. The fire element you're looking for is inside the core," Will explained to Lu Qing.

"Fifty years... I never thought I'd see Her Highness again, cough cough..." Will coughed violently, the metal device on his chest emitting a crimson light.

"What is this?" Lu Qing couldn't help but ask.

“This is a fire element suppression device.” Before Will could answer, the mage Moruni spoke up first to explain: “The power of the fire element can burn and isolate the power of the void, but that cannot prevent the power of the void from polluting the core of the fire element.”

"Fire elements corrupted by the power of the void are extremely unstable; the energy contained within them can blast the entire steel city into the sky in an instant."

"To solve this problem, Will and I came up with many ideas and finally created this device that can suppress the fire element."

“The operation of this device…” Ling floated beside Will, observing the energy flow inside the device.

"Ah, it's the power of the void and blood!" Ling exclaimed as he retreated a moment later.

“Ahem, that’s right, it’s the power of blood and the void.” Will coughed twice more and said, “The inspiration came from the void potion developed by the Guiji Sect. When my teacher and I were researching the potion, we discovered that this power could suppress the power of the fire element.”

"In addition, the roots of the sacred tree are also filled with these mottled energies, which can clog the sacred tree's nutrient system and erode the sacred tree's body."

"I used the power of the fire element to fuse with the power of the Void Elixir, and this device can absorb the void and blood energy in my body to suppress the fire element."

"Cough cough..." Will coughed again as he spoke.

"This device might affect your health, so why don't you let someone else operate it?" Senator Dees couldn't help but ask.

“Ahem…” Will glanced at Councilor Dis and said, “Using fire element to fuse with Void Potion is very difficult, which makes it impossible for me to have a large number of people fuse with Void Potion.”

"Secondly, after a person has absorbed the Void Potion, they can freely manipulate the Void Power within their body. They can disconnect from the device at will, and due to the immaturity of the technology, we cannot even detect whether the device is operating."

"Simply put, I can't trust anyone else...cough cough cough." Will coughed violently again and said, "Once a person has power, it's hard for them to maintain their true nature."

"And the power of the void is the most dangerous of them all. That power corrodes the soul and amplifies negative emotions. Once this device is installed, it is very difficult to remove it. In other words, the person operating the device can only stay in this room. It's fine for a short time, but once the time is long..."

"Even the most resilient warriors can be corrupted by the power of the void, thus losing themselves."

"Cough cough cough..." Will coughed, looking somewhat pained. He said, "I created this city. The people here trust me and are willing to come with me to live in this underground world without any light. I cannot betray their trust."

"......"

"No, it's alright." Ling sensed the somewhat silent atmosphere and immediately spoke up, "We came here to purify the fire element. Once the void pollution within the fire element is purified, we won't need this device to suppress the fire element!"

"Can you really purify the pollution inside the fire element?" Will looked at Ling and said, "Ahem, it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that the safety of the fire element is related to the operation of the entire city. If there is a problem, the entire city could be blown up."

“I understand your concerns, but trust the spirit. We have already purified the pollution of the wind and water elements,” Lu Qing said, gently placing one hand on her chest.

"Cough cough, I will believe you." Will couldn't help coughing again and said, "To be honest, even if you hadn't come, this suppression device wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"I can feel that the stability of the fire element is getting worse and worse. Perhaps it won't be long before it goes completely berserk and burns me to ashes."

"I'll have the steel core open a hatch, and you can enter the core from there, cough cough cough..."

"Okay, I understand," Lu Qing nodded.

After a moment of silence, Will pulled a lever on the control panel of the Steel Core. A metallic clanging sound rang out, and a hatch in the upper right corner of the Steel Core opened.

The intense heat quickly spread throughout the basement, and before long, Senator Dee's forehead was covered in sweat.

“This is the power of the fire element…” Councilor Dis took out a handkerchief from his pocket and muttered to himself while wiping away sweat.