Watching the little money tree in the game return to the surface world and head toward the residential area to look for "cooperative partners," Ji Huaichu absentmindedly diverted her attention and sensed the fluctuations of Miss White beside her.
Miss White and Mr. Black… putting aside "her" strength, Ji Huaichu felt that Mr. Black's way of addressing Miss White gave her some insight. Perhaps she should also learn to give the little money tree a nickname?
"Dear…" she couldn't bring herself to say it.
But she seemed unable to say anything else either. She and the little money tree weren't married yet, so official and intimate terms were naturally out of consideration. She could say nicknames like "little girlfriend," but it never felt particularly intimate. Thinking of something else…
General Ji fell into deep thought.
…
The surface world had a "residential area." And wherever there's a residential area, there are naturally community management personnel. If one needed to deliver letters to residents, cooperating with these people would, of course, be the best choice.
Of course, Mu Anqi originally intended to find that "Miss Bluebird," but encountering that Bluebird Miss was purely luck. She didn't have any information about that lady, so naturally it wasn't easy to find her. Fortunately, the surface world's city planning was relatively centralized, as could be seen in Experimental City. The residential areas were the same—mostly concentrated together under unified management. So when Mu Anqi approached the managers of this area directly, she was able to smoothly propose a cooperation request.
Well, of course, it was initially rejected. The managers here clearly knew of the existence of the inner world. Regarding the matter of sending farewell letters from "missing" residents to their original families, they considered the risks too high, and it wasn't conducive to the continuation of the surface world.
"These can be treated as Miss Miss White's secret blessing request to keep the receiving residents' letters confidential, and it's just a limited-time event." Mu Anqi took out the two scales. "You see, the inner world has already agreed. I'm only here because I need help."
"This is meaningless."
"Whether it's meaningful or not, I think it should be decided by the families of the missing residents." Mu Anqi thought of the cries outside the hospital rooms, of the countless residents listed as disappeared in the missing persons collection, and gently comforted them. "It's just an attempt." Saying this, she placed a Guansi coin into the palm of the residential area manager for Miss White.
"…I will cooperate with you." After a brief silence, the manager gave his response.
Mu Anqi smiled slightly, took out a white whistle, and blew it, then headed toward the residential area in Mr. Black's domain.
The city planning of the surface world's black and white sides was exactly the same, roughly like the other side reflected in a mirror. Mu Anqi easily found the manager of Mr. Black's residential area. Using the same explanation and showing the two dragon scales representing the inner world arena BOSS, she placed a Guansi coin into the manager's hand, confirming the cooperation.
…
"An unconventional way to clear the game." Miss White's tone revealed no emotion as she watched the changes in the game arena. This player no longer performed battles for them, but instead became a busy messenger, constantly shuttling between the surface and inner worlds.
"How strange. Clearly this player dislikes the disorienting nature of the inner and outer worlds." Mr. Black stood in front of the mirror. Naturally, he could see Mu Anqi's increasingly unpleasant expressions with each trip. This player was unexpectedly fragile in this regard; during multiple trips, she even leaned against the wall and vomited into a trash can.
The result of the game had long been decided. From the moment the Alchemist died and Mu Anqi reached a cooperation agreement with the arena, Mr. Black had already lost beyond recovery. He let out a faint sigh, thinking that perhaps Miss White had taken advantage of the white side. Maybe next time they could use symbols to represent the factions? The thought was immediately dismissed by Mr. Black—symbols like the white dove for peace and the black crow for ill omen… players would probably choose the white dove without a second thought.
Miss White quietly watched Mu Anqi shuttle back and forth between the surface and inner worlds, returning to the rest area only when she was too exhausted to continue, to rest and eat. Time passed this way in the inverted city until the fifth day of the game. That player came across a special letter. She compared it with the missing persons newspapers in her storage ring and the information on them, and then observed the letter's sender through the arena. Finally, she returned to the surface world, and instead of handing the letter to the managers, she blew her whistle and went to the hospital, personally delivering it to the lady in the ward.
Even while in the inner world, constantly forced to fight, the gentleman had still put great care into writing this letter. The letter carried a faint, elegant fragrance, and the wax seal on the envelope bloomed with a rose pattern. The petals of the rose looked as if they had been carefully trimmed and attached by him after stamping, forming a pattern that appeared almost like a real rose.
Mu Anqi didn't look at the letter herself, but seeing the lady's complex expression—tears streaming yet on the verge of laughter—Mu Anqi felt that the gentleman might not only be romantic but also quite humorous.
On the seventh day of the game, Mu Anqi finally returned to the inner world to settle the last account with the arena BOSS. During her daily trips back and forth, she would sometimes deliver the heads of the contaminated residents to the White Dove front desk, and also go underground to hand over the agreed-upon Guansi coins.
As the game was about to end, Mu Anqi returned the dual-colored scales, handed over twenty Guansi coins, and bid farewell to the underground dragon.
Collecting heads and letters at the arena, Mu Anqi returned to the surface world, handing the heads to the White Dove front desk and the letters to the management personnel of both the black and white sides, then gave each administrator twenty Guansi coins as payment. During the remaining game time, Mu Anqi continued shuttling between the surface and inner worlds, keeping this "limited-time event" going until the game concluded.
As for the contaminated residents? Mu Anqi had long since lost count of the number of heads and didn't wish to count them. It was an enormous quantity; by the first night of the event, her collection had already exceeded a hundred.
Even the arena administrators hadn't expected this limited-time event to be so popular. They had assumed… these residents had long been cut off from the surface world and had forgotten their past. After gaining power strong enough to change their lives, they thought no one cared about their previous lives—but that didn't seem to be the case.
The arena competitions even became increasingly fierce because of this limited-time event.
As for those inner world residents who appeared uninterested in the event, they weren't truly disinterested; it was just—
"It's been so long, the people I wanted to say goodbye to are already gone."
Descendants? Grandchildren? What could they possibly say to them? The people they had longed for, the ones they had carried deep feelings for and couldn't express even on thirty sheets of letters—they were already gone.
"To gain great power, it's normal to pay some price." The Golden Lion administrator crossed his arms, watching the residents crowded and noisy around the limited-time event window. In the preparation room, most of the residents who used this time to exercise their limbs were also diligently biting their pens, writing down each word with utmost seriousness. Some even dared to come up to him to ask how certain characters were written. He kept a stern expression, his flowing, striking golden hair trembling slightly, and after pausing here for a moment, he turned and left.
Old timers like him couldn't participate in this event. He certainly didn't regret the price; entering the inner world and becoming such a strong individual was a blessing from Mr. Black, for which he was deeply grateful and thrilled. It was just that, seeing these newcomers who had just entered the inner world, he felt a sudden stir of emotion.
What is the truth of the inner world and the surface world? Everything was controlled by Mr. Black and Miss White. The Golden Lion administrator walked out of the arena and looked at the black-and-white sky, thinking for the first time: if one day he were to die in battle, and his data were preserved by Mr. Black and uploaded to the surface world… could he meet those people from before again?
…Perhaps he could.
…
[Game cleared: Upside-Down City. Level evaluation in progress—]
[Level evaluation: S (You have gained Miss White's favor and Mr. Black's curiosity)]
[Passive triggered! Earned clearance points: 2000]
[Drawing official player clearance reward items—]
[Ding! Congratulations, player has obtained [Black-and-White Dual Mask]]
[Black-and-White Dual Mask]: No special effects, no disguise effects. Ordinary Upside-Down City merchandise.
[Special mark detected!]
[Beep! Please play the next game within seven days! (Or the game will be forced after 168 hours)]
[Teleport back to Nirvana Space?]
No.
The instant she cleared the game, the world Mu Anqi was in shattered into mirror fragments. Buildings, sky, residents, letters… everything turned into shards of reflection. At the moment the mirror broke, it was as if Mu Anqi embarked on a journey through time and space. Her consciousness seemed to pause, yet everything appeared normal. Amid the flow of time and space, she passed through a field of mirror shards and returned to the Shattered Mirror Continent.
Mu Anqi's choice of "No" was simple. In that long yet seemingly instantaneous void, she saw that small room, saw Miss White on the sofa, and saw General Ji.
Returning from Upside-Down City to the Shattered Mirror Continent still carried a sense of weightlessness and disorientation, but upon stepping onto solid ground, Mu Anqi staggered slightly, still too excited, and ran toward General Ji: "General?"
Ji Huaichu had already risen and, as Mu Anqi stumbled toward her, she drew her into her arms, embracing her fully: "You performed very well."
Mu Anqi's eyes curved in a smile. She stepped aside from the joy of being greeted by the general, stood properly beside Ji Huaichu, and looked at Miss White. Miss White, here in the Shattered Mirror Continent… should be her true form, right? Why wasn't Mr. Black here? "Hello, Miss White."
"Hello." Miss White nodded slightly. She raised her hand, covered the mask, and gently removed it. The moment her white robe disappeared, long hair like a white waterfall flowed down, reaching all the way to the ground. Her deep blue eyes looked at Mu Anqi. "You did very well."
Miss White's gaze shifted from Mu Anqi to Ji Huaichu. Through Mu Anqi's actions in the game, she and Mr. Black could, to some extent, understand Ji Huaichu's choice. After the game ended, she took a strand of black-and-white intertwined hair from her chest and handed it to Ji Huaichu: "A gift for you both."