The Upside-Down City is divided into the surface world and the inner world, and when the residents of the surface world enter the inner world, it mostly manifests as them "disappearing." At first, the residents who enter the inner world are extremely unaccustomed to such a life. Even though they have received the power left behind by Mr. Black and Miss White to transform their bodies, they still remain attached to the life of the surface world—until they completely blend into the inner world.
But blending in does not mean they have lost their memories of the surface world, only that they have accepted this reality.
Looking at the missing persons collection in her hand, Mu Anqi thought that perhaps within these few days, she could act as a messenger, delivering letters for residents who had no time to say goodbye and whose relatives were still alive. As for payment, it was naturally simple—just exchange it for the heads of the polluted residents.
The clientele for this service wouldn't be limited to Miss White's faction; ideally, she could even cooperate with the arena.
So, after settling the player opponents in this game, Mu Anqi glanced at the gradually forming black crow mark on her wrist and quickly headed toward the arena.
If she had to spend all her remaining time inside the arena to exchange for the heads of polluted residents, it wouldn't be impossible—it was just too exhausting. Besides, no matter how many blessing words Mu Anqi memorized, the number of blessing words she knew was still limited.
On the first day, she obtained nine tokens, and on the second day, her opponent player was eliminated. Under such circumstances, it was enough for Mu Anqi to try another method to see if she could clear the game more easily.
Thus, she went to find the steward of the arena, attempting to make contact with the more powerful resident who managed it.
"Outsider!" The steward of the arena looked both furious and alarmed. "If you want to obtain polluted residents, you should fight on the stage!"
"In the remaining time, I can serve as a medium between the surface world and the inner world. In the inner world, there must be many residents who need a final farewell," Mu Anqi said, fixing her gaze seriously on the steward's eyes. "I know you don't have the authority for this, so please introduce me to the one who can make the decision."
"Heh." The steward sneered, disdain written all over his face. But before he could utter any insulting or demeaning words, a glint of cold light flashed before his eyes. His scalp went cold, and in the next instant, Mu Anqi's small dagger was pressed against his proud bird-like neck.
"You look rather weak—seems like replacing a steward like you wouldn't be much trouble," Mu Anqi said with a soft laugh near his ear. "As for this feathered crown, I'll take it as a souvenir."
She spoke so lightly, yet thought to herself that if it were the General, she probably wouldn't bother with such useless chatter—she'd simply place her weapon against the man's neck. Unfortunately, Mu Anqi herself wasn't strong enough, had lost contact with her token, and still wanted to cooperate with the arena, so she couldn't act too arrogantly. …After all, this was the largest and most important place in the inner world. If she could work with it, even with only a few days of game time left, she could still gain extraordinary rewards.
The flamboyant peacock steward was completely shaken. He could feel the chill on his forehead but didn't dare raise a hand to touch it. His eyes were empty as he looked at Mu Anqi, as if it were the first time he had encountered such a vicious player.
Yes, vicious.
He still retained his memories from past resurrections—after all, the players who came here before weren't exactly well-behaved, and many had tried to harm him. But compared to being killed… this player who shaved off his feathered crown was far more malicious.
"Mr. Steward, your tail feathers are also very beautiful," Mu Anqi said softly. "Perhaps you'd like to leave those to me as a keepsake too?"
"…I'll take you there." The peacock steward's beak trembled as if he wanted to say more, but in the end, he lowered his proud head. "I'll only lead you inside. I won't accompany you to meet the master."
"That's fine too." Mu Anqi thought for a moment, then asked, "What do you think of my proposal? About the cooperation."
"…Very good," the peacock steward replied weakly. When the dagger finally moved away from his neck, he mustered the courage to touch his slightly chilled head—almost bursting into tears right then. But with that ominous star still eyeing his tail feathers nearby, the peacock steward forced back his tears and resentment, resigning himself to leading Mu Anqi the way.
"The master has a bad temper. If there's a conflict and you get seriously injured, it has nothing to do with me. You're not allowed to come after me for revenge!" As he walked, the steward suddenly recalled this player's strange set of skills. Someone like her… even if the master was powerful, she might still find a way to escape. If this calamity came back to trouble him later, that would be disastrous. So he could only make things clear in advance. "You have to swear it."
"Alright. If I have a conflict with your master and end up seriously injured, it'll have nothing to do with you, and I'll never come after you. If I break this oath, may I be struck by five bolts of lightning and die a miserable death." Mu Anqi agreed readily, without the slightest fear. "How about that vow? Can you take me there now?"
"…" The peacock steward looked at Mu Anqi with a hint of anger. He felt uneasy, as though something was wrong, yet couldn't figure out what it was. But the moment he thought of his master, his anger subsided. He suppressed his emotions and led Mu Anqi down toward the underground levels of the arena.
"The one who manages the arena… it should be two people, right?" Mu Anqi asked tentatively. "Do they live together?"
"You'll know when you see them." The peacock steward clearly didn't want to say more. He couldn't understand why Miss White had chosen such a coarse outsider. Even the occasional breeze brushing over his head would make him recall that nightmarish experience.
They walked all the way to the lowest level of the arena. The peacock steward tapped on a large wall and then pulled a lever beside it. The wall split directly in two, revealing a staircase leading even further down.
"Keep going down, and you'll meet the master." The peacock steward paused for a moment, then added a rare reminder: "The master is in hibernation—you should keep your voice down."
Hibernation?
What kind of creature was this "master" of the arena supposed to be, anyway?
With that question in mind, Mu Anqi stepped quietly down the stairs. She still held a paper substitute doll in her hand. After this game, she would need to restock her supply again.
Step by step, as she went down, the narrow and dark space became increasingly hot and stifling. Mu Anqi turned on the illumination badge on her chest, carefully observing her surroundings. When she had descended far enough, the stairs disappeared, replaced by a sloping path and a pitch-black cavern.
The air was heavy and hot—Mu Anqi began to wonder if there was magma down here. Then what was this "great being"? A fire-breathing dragon? Thinking of the little dragon-shaped flamethrower in her storage ring, Mu Anqi couldn't help but laugh at her own thought.
She stepped into the cave, and the illumination badge dispersed the unknown darkness for her. She walked inward quietly, as lightly as she could. While proceeding with caution, she noticed that the air temperature was gradually dropping, returning to a comfortable balance—not too hot, not too cold. However, from deep within the cave came a massive sound. Mu Anqi didn't know what kind of creature it belonged to, but the sound rumbled like thunder, rising and falling with a steady rhythm.
A little farther in, an enormous tail entered her sight—thick and long, its countless meters covered in black and white scales interwoven into beautiful, dreamlike patterns. The tail swayed gently with its master's sleeping breaths, yet made no loud noise. Mu Anqi's gaze slowly moved upward—and then she saw the gigantic figure, vast as a mountain.
—A dragon.
It wasn't an Eastern dragon, but one like those from Western legends. It had enormous wings, a powerful tail and claws, and a body vast as a mountain. It even had two heads!
It had two heads!
One black and one white—both were asleep.
What… what should she do now? Mu Anqi wasn't sure if she could handle this dragon. But if she used her skill to control it, she wasn't sure whether the cave would collapse once the dragon moved. If it did, could the carriage rescue her and move her to safety in time?
If this place collapsed, the entire arena would be destroyed. Mu Anqi's plan would fail as well. However… in the chaos, if she decided to take advantage of the confusion to collect heads, she might gain quite a lot. Hmm, though causing such havoc in the world created by Mr. Black and Miss White… her score might get lowered a bit?
Just as Mu Anqi was hesitating, the white head suddenly twitched and smacked straight into the black one. The black head shuddered and opened its eyes at once. Those golden dragon eyes locked onto Mu Anqi instantly. It sniffed the air in the cave, still a bit dazed from sleep, and said coldly, "Outsider?"
"I have a plan I'd like to discuss with you." Mu Anqi quickly pulled out her notebook from her storage ring, tore out the page where she had jotted down her idea, and handed it over. "The arena can run a limited-time message delivery service over the next few days. I can act as the medium, traveling between the surface and inner worlds."
The notebook page was really small, and it took quite an effort for the dragon to pinch the tiny paper with its claws and finally make out the words written on it. None of this mattered much to it anyway—it had little interest in those insignificant ants who had just entered the inner world. It merely existed here as a "guardian," or perhaps even as a "mascot," slumbering beneath the arena—only appearing as a potential hidden boss for players.
"What benefit is there for me?"
"The arena could use this to earn extra profits and service fees," Mu Anqi said. "All I need are the heads of the black-eyed residents."
"I don't care about that," the black dragon head said, clearly displeased. "You've disturbed my sleep, and your proposal holds no appeal to me. You—"
Mu Anqi activated her "Rich Lady Aura." In the next instant, she was enveloped in dazzling golden light. She bowed to the great dragon, then took a Guansi crystal from her arms. "I think you probably haven't seen this kind of crystal before. It can be kept as a collectible—or eaten."
The white dragon head, which had deliberately hit the black one awake just to avoid dealing with the outsider, opened its eyes as well. Its scales gleamed more brightly and beautifully than its counterpart's. Its azure dragon eyes locked onto Mu Anqi as it spoke:
"I accept your proposal. I want that."
"?" The black dragon head snapped its gaze toward its companion. "She's negotiating with me!"