Millennium Witch

Yes, in this fifth-tier city called "Fusijiang", there is indeed a dreamlike mist.

It's also thanks to the fact that she stays in each ruined city for a long time. While the fact that long-lived beings are not sensitive to time is certainly one factor, another hidden factor is that she needs to conduct a thorough search to ensure that no dream mist is missed.

Now her efforts have finally paid off; in a flooded neighborhood, she saw a dreamlike mist.

It was hidden in a corner of a street-facing shop that was completely submerged and covered with slippery moss. Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult to find. She was only discovered by a fleeting glimpse when she was really frustrated after being out of the water for a long time and wanted to go down to see if there was a problem with this body of water.

It's just a matter of fate.

So, on a cold morning, after arriving at this shallow area, Yvette broke the floating ice on the river and dived underwater.

She shouldn't be able to drown, thanks to the confidence of an immortal witch, but just in case, she cast a spell on herself that was once written in the "Pure Blue Codex" to ensure that she could maintain underwater breathing for a long time.

Then, before entering the mist, she quickly clarified her basic goals for entering the dream.

Firstly, Fusjiang is a border city of the Rusty Bone Free State, and its main target is naturally the necromancy technology possessed by the cult "Holy Spirit Sect".

She only had a superficial understanding of the five major concepts of magic, but now she finally had the opportunity to come into contact with one of the two major branches of soul magic.

Secondly, she needs to find Zero and One. Although it was just a dream from the past, it can deepen her understanding of herself and help her better grasp the uniqueness of her body, figuring out what her mutated magic and pure white tentacles really are.

Then there are some other small, miscellaneous goals with similar priorities.

For example, you could look up information about the hollow base beneath Cooks to see what secrets it holds.

For example, deepening the relationship with the Civilization Preservation Society, or even finding an opportunity to join the organization.

Another example is burying time capsules in specific locations to test whether dreams can influence reality.

After going through the series of mission objectives in her mind, Yvette used earth magic to seal the dream mist, then used ice magic to freeze the interior, excavating and moving the ice blocks out, barely creating a small basement where she could breathe normally.

Then she walked into the mist, yawned, and slowly closed her eyes.

……

When consciousness refocused and the heavy eyelids slowly lifted, a strange and narrow space came into view.

The first thing you perceive is absolute darkness, and a few broken streaks of streetlight light filtering through the window. They fall on the dusty floor, cutting out irregular patches of light. The only window is fitted with rusty iron security bars; looking through the bars, you see only the deep, boundless night outside, with only a few pale, flickering lights in the distance, as if they might go out at any moment.

To her surprise, this place didn't seem to be in the city center of Fusjiang—the area with its skyscrapers and high-rises—but rather in a very remote suburb. The buildings were low and dilapidated, and outside the windows were streets that were almost deathly empty, with very few streetlights. A sense of abandoned desolation and marginalization permeated the air.

Reaching the room's door, Yvette turned the handle, only to find it locked from the inside. She frowned slightly, not rushing to break down the door, but first surveying the room's layout, her expression gradually becoming somewhat strange.

The room looked like a multi-person prison, reeking of a strange mixture of old dust, sweat, and disinfectant. Rows of old-fashioned bunk beds were crammed together, their paint peeling off to reveal dark red rust. The walls were a pale white, covered in stains.

In short, it's very much like a closed school from the last century, the kind with a Thunder God in charge.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside, accompanied by relaxed laughter as if they were chatting, seemingly heading straight for this room.

Yvette hesitated for a moment, not rushing to leave, but instead walking to a corner of the room, a yellowish-brown runic ring swirling around her hand. With a gentle tug, she tore a layer out of the wall beside her, creating a recessed compartment just big enough to accommodate her, perfectly concealing her figure.

She was a little curious about where she was, and she took the opportunity to observe the people outside. If they were ordinary, kind-hearted locals from Rustbone, she would ask them for directions to a place with an elemental wave receiver, that is, a signal station.

There's no internet here, so her magic terminal can't be used to calibrate the local time.

Yvette activated the local translation function on her magic terminal and waited quietly. As far as she knew, Black Tide Language was the official language of the United States of New Eden, and while it was widely used, it wasn't always effective in many remote areas, especially in smaller countries.

Especially in remote, impoverished areas like Rusty Bone Free State, where most locals speak dialects, a translator may not be accurate, but without one, you really have to rely on body language.

After a slight clinking of keys, the iron door slammed open. Yvette stood quietly in her self-built cubicle, hearing voices outside—not in dialect, but in clear, articulate Heichao language.

"Behave yourselves! As soon as the car arrives tomorrow, I'll send you to the park, you hear me? Don't get any funny ideas, or I'll have to deal with you!" A cold, mocking male voice rang out, accompanied by a crisp metallic sound, as if handcuffs had been produced.

"What...what do you want? I am a citizen of New Eden! The federal government will not let you get away with this!" Another young voice cried out in terror. Upon seeing the handcuffs, the owner of this voice seemed to finally break down, making a last, futile struggle.

"Hahahaha!" Several bursts of laughter erupted outside the door, clearly from three people. "New Eden? Federal Government? Listen to that! Pigs are pigs!" The cold voice's laughter was full of sarcasm. "Go ahead and call them here if you dare! I advise you not to even think about running away. We've already taken your passports, and this place is full of our people. Unless you crawl through a rat hole, you won't get away!"

"Boss, stop wasting time talking to these piglets. Cuff them all. If they try to escape, kill them. Sell their organs to big corporations and their souls to those lunatics in the Holy Spirit Cult. I heard they caught two super cute little mother and cubs in the other park next door, probably not even 10 years old yet. Let's go 'drive the train' together later!"

"What? Under 10 years old? Is there such a good thing?" The man called "boss" suddenly raised his voice, his breathing became rapid, revealing a nauseating ecstasy.

Then came the cold, grating click of the iron handcuffs clashing together, followed by the sounds of beatings from a few struggles and resistance.

Behind the cubicle, Yvette listened expressionlessly and roughly deduced the situation—this was probably a human traffickers' base, and the so-called "piglets" brought in were naturally the victims.

Given that the Rustbone Free State is nicknamed "the nation of human traffickers" in the New Eden United States, it doesn't seem surprising that something like this happened.

Then, as she was pondering how to make her move discreetly and avoid alerting the enemy, she noticed a young trafficker in a yellow jacket had somehow moved to the vicinity of the balcony. He glanced casually into the cubicle, his gaze instantly freezing.

The next second, his mouth opened into an "O" shape, his throat loosened, and he said in a trembling voice, "Boss... there's, there's a super beauty... hiding here..."

"What? How could there be someone hiding in this room?" The burly man known as "the boss" immediately squeezed through. The light was dim, but Yvette could still see him clearly—half of his face was covered with metallic patterns, a prosthetic eye that flashed red, and his bare left arm was a matte alloy skeleton; he was clearly a heavily modified cyborg.

Upon seeing Yvette, he too showed an expression of amazement, swallowed hard, and muttered to himself in an extremely greedy and ecstatic tone, "Good heavens... which guy is hiding a beauty here... I really have to thank that brother..."

Yvette narrowed her eyes and slightly raised the corners of her mouth. With this imperceptible movement, the air in the room suddenly turned icy cold. A gust of wind, seemingly from nowhere, blew the door shut with a bang, as if an invisible ghost had reached out and created a secluded space.

Chapter 100 Fan Meeting

Since she didn't know the cyborg's strength or what kind of equipment it possessed, Yvette didn't choose to use her spell abilities, but instead used the pure white tentacles directly.

The method she used to deal with ruler-level beings was being used on human traffickers, and for a moment she felt a little sorry for her tentacles; it was truly disgraceful.

But the effect was also remarkable. In just one second, there were a few soft "sizzling" sounds, like the sharpest thread slicing through thin paper. Two of the three traffickers, who looked like henchmen with no special modifications, had their foreheads pierced on the spot and fell straight to the ground.

Only that cyborg was "lucky." Pure white tentacles precisely bypassed his core, severing his arms and legs, revealing the still-glowing magic circuits, magic wires, and cold mechanical structure inside. At the same time, an extremely thin layer of ice instantly covered half of his face, choking any possible scream into his throat.

The cyborg crashed to the floor with a thud, his heavy alloy limbs clattering against the ground. His head bobbed on the floor, his remaining cloudy eyes rolling upwards blankly, as if trying to comprehend this upheaval, wondering why he had suddenly fallen, why his prosthetic limbs had suddenly lost their responsiveness... What on earth had happened?

An even more eerie silence fell over the room. The three young "piglets," tied to the metal bunk bed, stared in stunned disbelief.

They had thought that the pretty girl was doomed and would suffer terrible humiliation in the hands of these demons. They even wanted to turn their heads away because they couldn't bear it. But who could have imagined that the silver-haired girl was actually a mage with unfathomable strength? Before they could even see what happened, the human traffickers and that terrifying-looking cyborg were all instantly killed!

Who is she?

Why is she here?

Where did she acquire such terrifying strength? And what is the purpose of her actions?

Could it be a federal special forces unit that came specifically to rescue them?

With their mouths sealed and their hands and feet cuffed, the three young victims were unable to speak for a while and could only watch nervously.

Yvette looked at them, thought for a moment, and said, "My name is Nameless. I am a mercenary and a bounty hunter. I will save you, so don't panic and stay calm."

Having said that, she used wind magic to tear off the seals from the mouths of the eight people and continued to ask, "Does any of you know what year and what day it is now?"

The person closest was a red-haired young man. After calming down, he blurted out, "It should be, it should be, it should be April 22nd, 2130... it should be!"

April of 2130—was that the spring of the year following Agash's appearance in my dream? Thankfully, the time difference wasn't too great…

Yvette hesitated for a moment, then heard the red-haired youth suddenly speak again, his tone filled with excitement and disbelief: "Um... Miss Nameless, are you that Miss Nameless? The hero who captured the werewolf killer and exposed the conspiracy of the big company?"

Yvette paused slightly, letting out a very soft "Ah?". Although she had only vanished for a year, in reality, she had lived for more than ten years. After a few seconds of hesitation, she nodded: "...It should be me, that's right."

"It really is that nameless lady! My God! You're still alive! I'm your fan!" Now it wasn't just the red-haired youth who was shocked; the other two victims, a high school student and a resolute-looking middle-aged man, also showed expressions of shock and joy.

Following the werewolf killer incident, a surge of public discontent with large corporations sparked even larger-scale protests and demonstrations across the United States of New Eden, lasting for three months. This event, known as the "Werewolf Storm," was one of the biggest and most well-known international news stories in the entire United States of New Eden throughout the previous year.

After that incident, Lintui Bio's stock price was severely damaged, and its market value evaporated by one-third. The founder, "Old Cyrus," who had already stepped down, was forced to return to take charge of the company and apologize to the public repeatedly.

Although the eight companies are still the eight companies, this move was ruthless, dropping Lintui Bio from a high position among the original eight companies to the bottom, even worse than Gravity Group. The damage was considerable.

Incidentally, after the disappearance of the key figure "Nameless", many people speculated that this mysterious hero might have been retaliated against by the Lin Tui creature, otherwise why would he not show up for so long?

But who could have imagined that in this disgusting, hopeless prison for human traffickers, an unsung hero would appear like a divine intervention, rescuing them from danger? The dramatic reversal had such a huge impact that the three men's minds almost stopped, and they were so overjoyed that they nearly fainted.

Yvette, of course, had no idea that the incident would have such a far-reaching impact; she simply thought it was just good luck that she had run into a few fans who happened to recognize her.

She nodded slightly, then her gaze returned to the cyborg lying on the ground, its body chopped into a human stick. Once the trafficker leader gradually realized the situation and fear and panic showed in his eyes, she released the ice spell sealing his mouth and asked calmly, "Answer me, where else are people like them being held captive?"

Rescuing victims kidnapped by human traffickers and taken to the Rustbone Free State can earn you a federal reward of 10 credits per person rescued.

Since this mission starts in a human traffickers' hideout, she plans to go big and rescue everyone in the area who can be saved. This also aligns with her bounty hunter's survival strategy, allowing her to collect a large reward from the federal government.

Saving 10 people would cost 100 million, which seems more efficient than doing mercenary jobs...

"I...I won't tell!" Cyborg said defiantly, his voice trembling with fear. Clearly, he knew he was close to death; not speaking might save him, but speaking meant certain death. "I'm telling you, 'General' won't let me go either...unless you guarantee I'll live!"

"Then go die." Yvette didn't want to waste words with him, so she used a wind blade to pierce his head, and then used the key at his waist to unlock the handcuffs of the three victims.

After a brief exchange, Yvette learned the identities of the three victims.

The red-haired youth leading the group was named Donil Matt. He and his girlfriend were traveling in a border city when they were tricked into getting into a van and were taken into custody. In the end, they had no choice but to follow human traffickers on a smuggling route and enter the Rusty Bone Free State.

The second youth, a little younger, named "Reece Bing," was just a high school student. He believed the phishing information on online forums and insisted on coming to Rustbone to make big money despite being persuaded by countless people along the way. As a result, after meeting the contact, his passport was snatched away instantly, and in just a few hours, he experienced the feeling of being brutally beaten by society that ordinary people would only experience after many years.

The third one is rather special. His name is Cromwell Hardy, and he turns out to be an undercover reporter and also a mage with some skill. His body has been infused with Black Tower Medicine's active rune set, giving him about 200 points of magic power. He can instantly cast some low-mana-cost, medium-level combat spells, making him quite a skilled individual in the mercenary world.

After being rescued, Cromwell immediately told Yvette, "Miss Nameless, be careful. The handcuffs used by the human traffickers here are not ordinary; they are all 'magic-suppressing handcuffs.' Once they are handcuffed, all connections to spells and mental energy will be severed."

Evie nodded. The anti-magic handcuffs were the bane of mages and were a unique technology of the Spirit Vine Company, using a special raw material. Using this, even if a skilled individual tried to infiltrate the camp under the guise of weakness, they would likely be caught.

I wonder if the anti-magic handcuffs will work on distorted magic...

She then looked at the three men and said, "You three split up now and find out the location of all the rooms in this building where people are being held. Keep a low profile and don't expose yourselves. I'm going upstairs to check and see if I can catch the leader here."

"Are you going alone?"

"Isn't it too dangerous?"

Upon hearing this, Donnell and Reese cried out in alarm almost simultaneously, their expressions showing unease.

Cromwell, with his broader and more extensive knowledge, also looked over with concern. After observing along the way, he discovered that all the human traffickers here had undergone cybernetic modifications and possessed heavy firepower weapons. This was no longer a gang, but a warlord. Even the cyborg lying on the ground was just an ordinary member of this group.

This terrifying human trafficking hideout, which concealed high-level weapons, was something that even the nameless hero who had once arrested a werewolf killer could never have destroyed single-handedly.

Their only correct choice now is still to escape before the situation here is discovered, and then seek help from the federal government!

Chapter 101 Action

Seeing the three people's tense and uneasy expressions, Yvette's expression remained unchanged, seemingly not taking the threats to heart at all, and she calmly replied, "If there is any risk, I will retreat immediately."

Doniler, Rhys, and Cromwell exchanged glances, their eyes still uneasy, and they strongly believed that Miss Nameless's actions were a serious case of underestimating the enemy and acting rashly.

But there was nothing they could do; she was the leader here, and if she insisted on courting disaster, the three of them had no say.

Cromwell thought for a moment, then turned to Donil and Reese, the two young men, and said, “You two can check this floor. We’ve observed this floor on the way here. There are only a few rooms, and there should be a few people locked up. The guards are already lying on the ground, so they’re probably not in any danger. Could you two please go and free them?”

Then he turned to Yvette and said, "Miss Nameless, I do have some fighting ability, you see..."

A runic ring appeared in his hand, and a blue flame rolled in his palm, yet it gave a sense of fluidity, like a beautiful and dreamlike liquid crystal.

Yvette recognized the spell immediately. It was a medium-sized spell with around 1 runes, called "Water Wave Flame," and it was one of the combat spells that many young mages preferred.

It has many advantages.

For example, high cost-performance ratio, or rather, due to too much junk code and outdated and primitive design architecture, it belongs to the old relics of the technique, and therefore the price is relatively low.

For example, it has a high aesthetic appeal, and its appearance is a classic design that has transcended a century, making it timeless and fashionable.

For example, "low mana consumption" and "high controllability" are of paramount importance. Her meticulously designed small-scale spells in the *Pyromancy Codex* require tens or even hundreds of mana points to maximize damage. In contrast, "Water Wave Flame" consumes only 0.5 to 3 mana points per second, depending on input, resulting in an outstanding mana cost-performance ratio. Coupled with stable control and a built-in aiming assist module, it's very suitable for beginners.

Unfortunately, in terms of destructive power alone, this water wave flame is probably less lethal than some of the spells with 100 or 200 runes that she compiled in the "Flame Magic Codex".

So even though Doniler and Rhys considered it a very safe magic, Yvette felt it was far from enough, at best a slightly more convenient means of self-defense than rune guns.

She shook her head, preparing to refuse.

Cromwell, however, reacted faster, quickly adding, "I know that if I were to help you, I might be a burden, but having an extra person would make it easier for you to do many things, right?"

That makes a lot of sense. After weighing the pros and cons, Evie said, "Okay, but you have to stay in a safe place until I give you permission to come closer before you can come up."

“No problem, Miss Nameless.” Cromwell breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat gratified.

Like the other two, he did not approve of Miss Anonymous's radical actions.

But the difference is that he also has a bit of confidence in his own abilities.

After all, if he dared to be an undercover reporter, he would have undergone some special training and preparation. Water Ripple Flame was just the top card in his hand.

Although he was certainly not as powerful as the nameless lady, it didn't stop him from thinking that if the nameless lady got into trouble in the battle, he would have a chance to break the deadlock and offer some help.

Perhaps I can even win the admiration and favor of Miss Wuming...

Soon, after confirming their respective tasks, Donil and Rhys rummaged through the corpses of the two underlings lying on the ground, finding stun batons and other miscellaneous items such as physical coins.

Yvette picked up the anti-magic handcuffs, examined them, and narrowed her eyes slightly, sensing the threat they posed.

As the core technology of Lingman Corporation, the key material for the anti-magic handcuffs comes from specialized branches of Lingman Corporation's signature product, the "Rune Source Tree." Unfortunately, this is a technology that is almost impossible to replicate. Even if one obtained Lingman Corporation's core technology, the difficulty of growing a "Rune Source Tree" in reality would be no less than resurrecting an ancient dragon from 3 years ago.

Speaking of which, both Lintui Bio and Black Tide Company had ancient creature resurrection plans, especially targeting ancient dragons... However, these projects later disappeared without a trace, and it's unclear whether they were abandoned...

Having finished her mental exercise, she put down the handcuffs and, seeing that the three were ready, nodded slightly.