I really don't want to date a girl addicted to the internet!

Under everyone's gaze, Shen Xi remained silent for a second, her tone unchanged, "Your so-called first Holy Maiden was a Celestial Queen who came to this world. Celestials are one of the most powerful intelligent life forms in the universe. At that time, the civilization of this world was on the verge of destruction for the second time. She helped you eliminate the enemy and built this place to facilitate your communication with the weakened World Tree. Therefore, she was revered as a Holy Maiden by your ancestors."

"Teacher Shen, so you really are the Holy Maiden of the Elf Clan? No wonder you look exactly like that mural!" Cheng Fei clenched his fist and slapped his palm, as if he had discovered a new continent.

"I was just about to ask you, Cheng Fei, what else do you know that you've been hinting at from the very beginning?!" The girl kicked him hard, her brows furrowed, her expression turning annoyed.

"What else do I know?" The boy met her gaze, momentarily choked with emotion. "Shen Xi, this is all a misunderstanding..."

Cheng Fei fell into deep thought.

Why did he initially call Shen Xi the Holy Maiden of the Elf Clan? It seems he was just bored and thought it would be fun to tease her...

Seeing his reaction, Shen Xi thought for a moment, turned her face away, gritted her teeth and said coldly, "Fine, anyway, the hypocritical Cheng Feiyu will never reveal his secrets."

On the other side, Leia stared at Shen Xi with trembling eyes and an expression of disbelief. "The records state that the first Holy Maiden suddenly disappeared and never appeared again, so you are... Your Highness!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Leia quickly stepped forward, knelt on one knee to pay her respects, and Eve immediately followed suit.

Cheng Fei, observing this scene, remarked, "Your Majesty, you have quite the influence."

Shen Xi looked down at the two elves, her brows furrowed slightly. "Please don't misunderstand. I never said I was the Celestial Queen, nor am I your first Holy Maiden. You don't need to treat me like this."

“But you just said…” Leia looked up at her, refusing to stand up.

Cheng Fei put his hands in his pockets, coughed seriously, and said, "By the way, I am Her Majesty's regent. Our Her Majesty went to an alien planet to play for the last few thousand years and damaged her brain. She can't remember things from before and doesn't acknowledge herself as the Star Spirit Queen. In addition, she now prefers to enjoy the company of her people, so you'd better be normal and not kneel to her all the time. If you really want to kneel, you can kneel to me."

Shen Xi took a deep breath without expression, not even looking at him, and said coldly and without emotion, "Cheng Fei, if you dare to slander me or use my name to take advantage of others outside again, don't blame me for throwing you into the superdimensional forging furnace in the future."

"Your Majesty, please calm down. I was just joking to lighten the mood." The young man's expression turned serious. "By the way, what is a superdimensional forge again?"

"It's a place you would never want to go." The girl said, emphasizing each word.

"Okay, I understand." The boy obediently shut his mouth.

Asuna Nagasaki stepped forward and helped Leia and Eve up, smiling at them. "Don't be nervous. Her Majesty the Empress is quite friendly most of the time. You've seen that after traveling together for so long, haven't you?"

Leia looked at Shen Xi cautiously, the awe in her eyes still evident.

"Teacher Shen, I have another question." Cheng Fei said calmly.

"Speak," Shen Xi glanced at him.

"What's with the tree spirits? Since the World Tree is on the side of humanity, why would it allow tree spirits to attack humans?" The boy rubbed his chin.

This issue has attracted everyone's attention.

Shen Xi shook her head. "You'll have to ask the World Tree. There's absolutely no relevant information in the database."

As she finished speaking, the girl looked up at the towering tree behind her.

"Then why don't you ask it now? It seems to only react to you and Leia." Cheng Fei clicked his tongue, a little unwilling.

Shen Xi looked thoughtful, seemingly pondering something.

Leia glanced at her but didn't say anything.

Suddenly, a slender root drooped down in front of the group, gesturing something in mid-air.

Zhou Han's round eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, is it talking to us?"

Cheng Fei looked at it, then turned his head. "This must be the sign language of the World Tree, right, Teacher Shen? What is it saying?"

“Its sign language is meaningless, or rather, it cannot be understood by normal means.” Shen Xi looked troubled. “This species… is not good at speaking.”

"Then how do we communicate with it?" Cheng Fei was stunned.

"Near the roots, it can create illusions to convey information by interfering with brain activity, although it is very unreliable." The girl pinched her chin, as if recalling the contents of a database.

"Show a movie like before? Then why isn't it playing yet..." The boy's words were cut short as the world before him suddenly plunged into darkness.

Cheng Fei realized that he had fallen into an illusion again. As soon as he had this thought, the darkness in front of him began to fluctuate unstablely.

He suddenly opened his eyes, feeling a disorienting sensation as if he had been suddenly transported outdoors from a dark movie theater.

Everyone else around, including Shen Xi, remained motionless with their eyes closed.

"Oh no, did I interrupt the illusion?" The boy thought for a moment, then looked up at the World Tree. "Sorry, I accidentally logged out. Could you please replay it for me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, darkness fell before the boy's eyes once again.

This time he heard the sound of waves, and some strange, noisy noise in his ears.

An orange-yellow fluorescent light emerged, illuminating the world before him.

He floated near the wall where roots intertwined, with the seawater faintly visible in the darkness below. Dense, thick roots burrowed into the sea to draw water, like a mangrove forest magnified countless times.

783. Shen Xi is also there.

The roots were originally dark red, and the walls they intertwined were also dark red. However, at this moment, the color of the wall in front of us changed abruptly to a yellowish-brown starting from a certain height.

Cheng Fei observed carefully and then realized where the yellowish-brown color came from.

Tree spirits, countless tree spirits covered the walls, their shrub-like monsters twisting and writhing, entwining themselves around the surface, emanating a cacophony of sounds.

The boy listened intently and discerned what the sound was.

A chewing sound.

Countless tree spirits were gnawing at the tree roots in some form, making unsettling, even chilling, sounds.

Such illusions did not last long before disappearing.

Cheng Fei opened his eyes and found Shen Xi standing in front of him, staring at him with her eyes slightly narrowed, seemingly doing something.

"Teacher Shen, did you take the opportunity to steal a kiss from me? That's too despicable." The boy covered his face, feigning shock.

"Stop dreaming." Shen Xi kicked him. "I just wanted to ask why you came out later than everyone else. Did you see something else?"

The boy turned his head and realized that everyone else was staring at him too.

"Actually, I accidentally quit halfway through, so I asked Brother Tree to replay it for me." Cheng Fei clasped his hands together in gratitude to World Tree with a devout feeling.

In response, the World Tree gestured with its roots in front of him.

The boy tried hard to watch, but failed to grasp the profound meaning.

Shen Xi sneered, "Let me tell you, biologically speaking, this World Tree is female."

"Huh?" Cheng Fei was surprised and doubtful, then he put his hands together again in a devout manner, "That is Sister Tree."

The World Tree gestured again, and it's unclear what opinion it expressed.

When the three people (two people and one tree) interact, the others gather together to discuss.

Asuna Nagasaki tapped her chin lightly with her fingertip. "So the illusion just now was the World Tree telling us it was being eaten by tree spirits?"

"We have to think of a way." Leia clenched her fist, a hint of worry on her heroic face.

"Don't be too nervous, the World Tree has been being gnawed on for more than just a day or two." Zhou Han stood on tiptoe and smiled as she patted her head, like a young mother comforting a child.

As soon as she finished speaking, Leia froze for a moment, her expression becoming even more anxious, "Then we need to hurry even more..."

"Uh." Zhou Han opened her mouth, her round eyes empty.

“Miss Zhou Han, I advise you not to say anything more.” Milian covered her mouth and lowered her voice.

Vino's expression was extremely serious. "I think the most urgent thing is to get these messages out. We need to mobilize all our resources to save Elconis."

Ye Shuang thought for a moment, "But your world is at war, do you think those people will listen?"

At this moment, Shen Xi walked over, looked around expressionlessly, and said, "You all saw the illusion just now, so there's no need to explain. That's enough for today."

"We're finally done." Cheng Fei wiped his sweat off with an air of importance.

"Your Highness, what should we do next?" Leia asked Shen Xi.

The aloof young woman glanced at her, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. "Let me emphasize again, I am not your first Holy Maiden, and I don't know how to save the World Tree."

“But you…” Leia’s pupils contracted, and she swayed slightly.

Cheng Fei stepped forward and solemnly patted her shoulder as if saying goodbye. "You've seen it all along the way. Our abilities and time are limited. Ultimately, you have to save your own world. We may not be here again."

"You...you're leaving?" Leia suddenly panicked.

Shen Xi pushed the boy aside, raised her chin, and said, "But I will do my best to save this world. Don't worry, we won't leave for at least a short time."

The elven saintess looked at the two men, a hint of confusion in her eyes, as if she didn't know who to listen to.

"Teacher Shen, haven't you had enough of playing games yet? Let's not get involved in such a laborious and exhausting thing as saving the world, shall we?" The boy turned his head.

"Shut up, Cheng Feiyu, stop backing down. The matter at the crash site isn't as simple as you think. We're not here for sightseeing and just to leave." Shen Xi kicked him, her cold voice revealing her undisguised disgust.

"So we're going to continue? Never mind, whatever makes Her Majesty happy." The boy met her gaze, slapped his forehead, and sighed.

Nagasaki Asuna peeked out with her hands behind her back, smiling at Leia, whose gaze kept shifting back and forth between the two of them as they talked. "Um, remember one thing: usually when the Empress and the Consul argue, the Empress always wins in the end."

"Nana, I don't agree with your point of view. Please take it back," the boy next to her said discontentedly.

"Sorry, pretend Nana didn't say anything." Nagasaki Asuna shrank back and zipped her mouth shut.

“Miss Nagasaki is so cute…” Miriam hid behind Zhou Han with starry eyes.

Shen Xi looked at Leia and said, "We'll discuss the next steps after we've taken action. We're all very tired today. There's a safe place to stay here, so let's rest for now."

"So even internet-addicted girls get tired?" Cheng Fei feigned surprise.

The aloof girl ignored her and handed the silver triangular pendant to Leia, saying, "This is the key to the dimensional rift; you can freely enter and exit this place."

“Your Highness, it should be kept by you.” Leia pursed her lips and lowered her head.

"I can come and go freely anyway, I don't need this," Shen Xi said coldly.

Cheng Fei deliberately lowered his voice, "She built all the teleportation devices here; she doesn't need them."

The elven saintess took a deep breath and accepted the pendant with both hands, holding it tightly in her palms. "Understood, I will definitely take good care of it."

Shen Xi nodded casually, raised her hand to summon the interface, and said while clicking, "Alright, now let's go back to the corridor and log off."

"Bye-bye~ We'll be back tomorrow." Nagasaki Asuna waved her little hand with a smile.

As soon as the words were spoken, the group of players were enveloped in a halo of light and disappeared from the platform.

Only Rhea, Eve, Vino, and Shadow remained, stunned in place.

"Wait, where did they go?!" Wino stared in disbelief.

Leia and Eve exchanged bewildered glances.

……

Cheng Fei took off his diving helmet and saw the sun sinking into the sea outside the window, the sunset coloring the water and sky like fire.

As the boy left the room, Zhou Han was stretching in the corridor. The petite girl's flat figure had an indescribable charm. "So tired! I've been lying in bed for a week, and I'm still inexplicably tired."

On the other side, Nagasaki Asuna, who was holding Ye Shuang's arm, seemed to have caught the urge and stretched as well, revealing her awe-inspiring full curves and slender waist. "Hmm~ Shuangshuang, is there anything you want to eat? I feel like I can cook for myself tonight?"

Zhou Han held Ruan Jingyi's arm, but for some reason her eyes became vacant.

Cheng Fei casually strolled around with his hands in his pockets, admiring the scenery.

Then, her calf was struck from an unknown source. The aloof girl with long, dark hair walked past with her eyes slightly narrowed, her face showing displeasure.

The boy followed along nonchalantly, "Teacher Shen, would you like some tomato shrimp balls? It's been a long time, I'll make you a meal. We can still make it to the supermarket now."

Shen Xi glanced at him, her voice cold and unmoved, "I want to eat braised Cheng Feiyu."

"Braised grouper? No problem, as long as the supermarket sells it." The boy nodded immediately.

After some time, night fell.

With Cheng Fei and Nagasaki Asuna in charge of cooking, the Corridor Research Department, who had been busy all week, sat together to enjoy dinner.

Zhou Han picked up a piece of braised grouper with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, blinking her round eyes. "Shen Xi, Shen Xi, so what should we do about the Fallen Land? It feels like the people in that world are too miserable, being tormented by all sorts of enemies in turn."

"We still need time to analyze the situation. All the teleportation stations in the crash site have been restarted, and the training camp can end tomorrow." Shen Xi lowered her eyes.

"Is it already over?" Miriam chewed on her spoon, looking reluctant to leave, and spread her arms wide. "How about we play for another two days? It's summer vacation after all!"

Zhou Han pondered for a moment, then looked to the other side with interest. "Okay, okay, we're already out, so what's a couple more days? You agree, right, Cheng Fei?"

"I don't really care," the young man said with a nonchalant shrug.

Shen Xi raised her head, her brows furrowed slightly, and opened her mouth.