Neither Financial Management nor offensive tactics were of any help under the current circumstances. They quickly put aside this minor issue—only temporarily, as Sonya would surely tease Ashe in the future, joking about his ‘inability to manage even a penny’s worth of iron.’
“The third option it is: find a special Virtual Realm structure that the heroic soul legion can’t enter, dive in, and disconnect from the Virtual Realm immediately. We lose nothing,” Ashe said as he maneuvered the car to avoid a long-range attack. “But the problem is these types of Virtual Realm structures are hard to find.”
“Is there no option for a counterattack?” Deya asked. “Like using your invincible little car to run them over?”
Sonya looked at Deya and noticed an additional streak of red hair—clearly, a Red Death Eater had also joined the meeting.
Ashe explained, “Most of the modifications on this car are designed to deal with Knowledge Creatures, like the ‘Refractive Barrier’. It can withstand Gregarious Creatures all day long, but against the heroic soul legion, a single volley from them would shatter this thin barrier… If you say the heroic soul legion is the regular army, then we are just street thugs, only bullying the honest folk.”
Sonya responded, “Though we don’t claim to be crusaders of justice, there’s no need to describe us in such an unsavory light.”
Besides this, Ashe was actually still gathering resources to build the ‘Alchemical Throne’. This modification would significantly speed up their absorption of Gold arcane energy. However, he was still missing a key resource, so he had not made any other modifications yet.
Thud!
An attack from out of sight once again struck the ‘Refractive Barrier’, causing ripples to spread. On their escape route, the pursuers’ long-range attacks hadn’t stopped, forcing Ashe to enhance the “Refractive Barrier” to Level 11, otherwise their little car would have been blasted apart long ago.
“Refractive Barrier Level 11: The auto-car is enveloped by a barrier with 4000 health points, all damage to the barrier is reduced by 42%.Level 6 special effect: Additional 30% damage reduction from long-range attacks.
Level 11 special effect: Before damage reduction calculations, refract 22% of the original damage to nearby non-Operator creatures.
Next level requires 1175 Ore Essence, 1175 Wood Essence, and 630 Mercury Essence.”
When the Refractive Barrier was activated, the sports car only received 21.84% of the damage from long-range attacks, calculated as (100% – 22%) * (100% – 42% – 30%). It was thanks to this significant damage reduction that they had managed to hold on until now.
But that was as far as they could go.
Ashe glanced at the barrier’s health. “The barrier is about to break, plan three is about to fail.”
Upgrading the Refractive Barrier further would be just a drop in the bucket, and moreover, the barrier only made sense when facing the heroic soul legion. Against ordinary Knowledge Creatures, the defensive power of the barrier was outrageously high, the reflected damage alone could kill a large group of Gregarious Creatures.
“Swordswoman, it’s your turn.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not really foolish enough to die with me, are you?” Ashe chuckled. “That would be such a waste… Just kill me quickly, and the pursuers will naturally give up. Soul Summoning spirit can keep the soul intact, only I lose a bit of my soul.”
Thud!
The Refractive Barrier trembled weakly, like a candle in the wind that could go out at any moment.
“Hurry up, you’re not the type to hesitate.”
“Why does it have to be me?” Sonya pulled Deya over. “Witch, let the Red Death Eater do it!”
“I can’t, I can’t!” Deya shook her head repeatedly. “I’m actually very afraid of blood—”
“Considering the gore of the scene, your normal attacks are almost comparable to my Blood Flower Water Moon, what are you afraid of, Small horn!” Sonya pushed Deya forward. “Just use your invincible death thread to cut the Observer in half!”
“No!” Deya, skilled in the Fist and Claw Faction, quickly restrained Sonya. “Swordswoman, you’re more familiar with the Observer, you do it!”
“That’s backward, the less familiar the easier it is to act, it’s harder when you care!”
“I’m not doing it, the White Queen also told me not to, and the Red Death Eater doesn’t want to either!”
“Wait!” the rustic girl suddenly thought of something. “Why don’t you just kill yourself instead of making us do it? Are you trying to make us feel guilty, so you can control us better?”
“How could you think that of me, Swordswoman!” Ashe said angrily. “Do I look like someone who would manipulate people’s hearts so thoroughly!?”
“Hard to say, after all, you’ve known me for so long, you must have picked up some of my finer qualities, birds of a feather flock together.”
Damn, the Swordswoman’s words were all too convincing.
“I’m definitely not killing you,” Sonya struggled free from the Witch’s grasp. “Don’t make me do this.”
“I won’t either,” Deya also shook her head. “What if you resent me for it?”
“Even though you can’t really die in the Virtual Realm, actually going through with killing a companion feels like crossing an invisible line.”
Ashe fell silent for a moment, sighed, and drew his longsword, aiming it at his own stomach. “Then I guess I have no choice but—Wait!? A special Area just appeared!”
Sonya remarked, “How convenient.”
Deya added, “The White Queen thinks it’s convenient too.”
“Were you just testing to see if we’d go through with it? Then using our guilt as leverage?”
“Observer, you really are despicable.”
Ashe decided not to stoop to the level of these two cold-hearted Operators and steered the sports car toward the golden hint Area. From his experience, any golden hint usually indicates a very rare Area, like ‘Destiny’s Inquiry,’ ‘Miracle Isle,’ ‘Whirlpool,’ or ‘Legendary Library.’
But this golden hint was a bit odd…
“It seems like it might be suitable for you, but then again maybe not.”
Despite some unease, Ashe drove into the special Area.
It was a cabin with a small garden around it, appearing just like an ordinary farmhouse.
Before entering, Ashe emphasized, “As soon as we get inside, we leave the Virtual Realm immediately. Don’t get tempted by any rewards inside, in case we can’t hold off the heroic soul legion outside.”
After the Swordswoman and the Witch nodded earnestly, they entered the cabin together and found nothing particularly mysterious inside—the hardwood floors creaked pleasantly underfoot, a simply patterned woven carpet made the plain rectangular dining table feel cozy, kitchen utensils were arranged on a windowsill, and various artworks rested on a handmade rack.
In the cabin, there were no lights, but on the Time Continent, lighting was the least of concerns. The Reverse Golden Rain operated as independent providers, offering ‘delivery to your doorstep’ services, and in terms of business capabilities, they were in no way inferior to the monopolistic, customer-deceiving sun.
Additionally, the cabin was furnished with soft chairs, swings, toddler rocking horses, hammocks, lounge chairs… There were unexpectedly many places to sit, suitable for ages from one to a hundred, as if the original owner of the cabin had a large family spanning five generations.
“Chairs, so many chairs…” Sonya mused, “I feel like I’ve seen this somewhere before…”
“Yes! I remember now, this place is the House of Reflecting Souls, the biggest feature is that any Sorcerer who enters will…”
“…lose their memory.”
As the rustic girl finished her sentence, she noticed a man in a Dark Red Trench Coat and a strange, dirty-haired young girl appearing beside them.
“Who are you!?” Sonya immediately stepped back, sword pointed at them: “Don’t come any closer!”
“I should be asking you that!” Ashe also drew his sword in response: “How did I end up here?”
Deya stumbled against the wall, then slumped down, her expression twisted in pain, covering her face and muttering to herself: “Who are you… why are you in my head… get out, get out now!”
At that moment, a piece of information surfaced in the minds of all three:
[You have lost all memories of your non-knowledge skills]
[You have also lost three precious treasures along with your memories]
[To retrieve your treasures, answer three questions posed by ‘you’]
[Answer incorrectly, lose the treasures; answer correctly, receive a reward equivalent to the treasures’ value]
[Failing to answer is the same as answering incorrectly; leaving this cabin will restore all memories]
[‘You’ is already waiting for you]
The three turned their heads and saw on the bench beside them, on the soft chair, on the swing, each sitting their…
“Now we are the real entities.”
Phantom Ashe smiled, “Because I possess your memories, and now you’ve even forgotten your own name.”
Phantom Sonya sat on a mahogany soft chair, legs crossed, scrutinizing them with sharp eyes: “Shouldn’t there be only one person…”
“What does it matter!” the multi-colored haired Phantom Deya, swinging on the swing, laughed: “Isn’t it more fun with everyone together?”
Ashe, Sonya, and Deya were completely stunned by the scene before them.
Just then, Danzel, wearing a Spiderweb Cloak, pushed open the wooden door and entered, instantly triggering their stress response.
“Who are you now?”
“The same as you,” Danzel responded, looking at the three strangers in front of him. “Someone who has lost their memory.”
Simultaneously, Danzel’s Phantom appeared on the lounge chair.
However, unlike the Danzel shrouded in the Spiderweb Cloak, Phantom Danzel had her cloak open, revealing her wheat-colored skin and prominently curvaceous upper body. With her striking eyebrows and starry eyes, she exuded a bold and robust aura, lounging carelessly on the chair.
It took a moment for the three to realize—was she actually a woman?
Phantom Danzel, groggy and sleepy-eyed, sat up from the lounge chair and rubbed her eyes, then looked at her own hands as if discovering a treasure. After a second of gathering her thoughts, a look of realization spread across her face: “Well, that’s alright…”
“Though there are quite a few of us, it doesn’t hinder the game,” Phantom Ashe said cheerfully. “But since there are indeed many, for convenience, let’s have code names to distinguish us from you nameless ones… Hmm, call me Observer.”
“Swordswoman.”
“Should I go by Princess, or Death Eater, or perhaps Empress… No, let’s stick with Witch!”
Phantom Danzel pondered for a moment: “Empress.”
“Alright.”
Observer clapped his hands: “Who among you will be the first to answer ‘your own’ question?”
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